I am forwarding a message below. I am thinking of writing a column for DNR condemning this attempted terrorist act. As a matter of fact, it will be appropriate to say something on behalf of the PACS From: Pakistani American Leadership Center (PAL-C) [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Pakistani American Leadership Center (PAL-C) Sent: Tuesday, May 04, 2010 9:02 PM To: Ahmed, Ehsan - ahmedex Subject: PAL-C Condemns Attempted Attack on Times Square Weblink: Click Here <http://campaign.constantcontact.com/render?v=001FD0CiKT5Djpymxg0jgqznVpZVFx mt372XUtWtM22i5nmn00kN_BHMr2hH8BRqe15mTdfQETzVcFvq50-ZYJwDYeE9Ln8fr8Q6U_rCLM 7zAs%3D> <http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1103362375509&s=9867&e=001fsTDDh_yB_n5jbb_1aHW GXy9KXFVaDn-I9-u_ZonuM2E_whNCQpfcq6vEyzuTeoqYDdQ5ON1kB9CUN7vKi9Tf2pX-3x7oFzj nX3U2akA-UrcRSLu2zHIUOBkYVHh_tFa> banner PAL-C Press Release PAL-C Condemns Attack Attempt on Times Sq. May 4, 2010 PAL-C Headquarters, Washington D.C., USA Board of National Directors Shoaib Kothawala Najeeb Ghauri Salim Adaya Dr. Salman Naqvi Mossadaq Chughtai Pervaiz Lodhie Dr. Rafiq Rahman PAL-C Condemns Attempted Attack on Times Square Washington D.C., May 4, 2010 - The Pakistani American Leadership Center (PAL-C) condemns the attempted vehicle bomb attack on Times Square. PAL-C commends law enforcement and vigilant citizens (including a Senegalese Muslim immigrant, Aliou Niasse, who first noticed the suspicious smoke coming from the vehicle) for helping to prevent the plot and apprehend the suspect. The Center also applauds the words of New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg who stated, "We will not be intimidated by those who hate the Freedoms that make this city and this country so great. We will not tolerate any bias or backlash against Pakistani or Muslim New Yorkers." PAL-C also recommends the following article published today, partly in response to the attempted attack: Some of My Best Friends Are Pakistanis by Ethan Casey SAN DIEGO, May 4 - As I write this, the news that the man arrested for trying to blow up Times Square is a U.S. citizen of Pakistani origin has only begun to sink in. What is this going to mean for other U.S. citizens of Pakistani origin - and for me, as their friend? This article's headline is an ironic allusion to something people used to say to disavow bigotry: "Some of my best friends are Jews." It's also a straight statement of fact: some of my best friends are Pakistanis. And I want the world to know that, especially in these times and at this moment, because I think it's very important for us to remember that not all U.S. citizens of Pakistani origin blow stuff up. Assuming we're being told the truth about 30-year-old Faisal Shahzad of Bridgeport, Connecticut, it might be fair to ask: With friends like these, who needs enemies? But it's precisely because of the horrific misguidedness of a dangerous few that we need to stay calm and remind ourselves and each other that we're all in this together. I said exactly this, in fact, on Sunday when I spoke in support of The Citizens Foundation (www.tcfusa.org <http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1103362375509&s=9867&e=001fsTDDh_yB_lKoGiPCrsw YSRdNjNpnArJOA2er96lE1jUQfbvzAJT72-7x8MMvrSRjYllcpZ7gi9wnFwXTEGmDVUFGgIjfs6F 4ggw3T8PIMPYTy_1ksQ9Rw==> ) at the South Asian American Arts Festival put on by Zanbeel Art at the Santa Monica Art Studios. I'll say it again tonight, when I speak to the Pakistani Students Association at UC-San Diego. The Citizens Foundation is one of several well-run nonprofits supported by the largely very suburban and middle-class Pakistani-American community that are quietly doing the most urgently necessary work: providing education, and thereby hope and self-respect, to the burgeoning young generation of the Pakistani poor. Too quietly: groups like TCF-USA must start tooting their own horns more assertively to the American public. I would go so far as to say that countering the impression of Pakistanis conveyed by the likes of Faisal Shahzad is not only an opportunity for the Pakistani-American community, but an obligation. I'm not saying that Pakistani Americans have to prove that they're not terrorists. The rest of us must remember that there is no such thing as collective guilt, and that the presumption of innocence is a basic American principle. I am saying that the existing institutions of Pakistani America need to move - now - beyond inviting each other to the existing endless round of charity fundraisers, worthy and useful as those are. Pakistani Americans are a remarkably talented and resourceful community who pay a lot of money to the U.S. Treasury in taxes and contribute very substantially to American society as physicians, engineers, teachers and business people. For better or worse, Americans listen to people who insist on being heard, and if you don't toot your own horn, nobody else is gonna toot it for you. My writing and public speaking are all about emphasizing to Americans the humanity of Pakistanis, their experience of and views on contemporary history, the complexity of their political and geographical situation, and the enjoyable and interesting apects of my own experience of Pakistan, dating back to 1995. As my friend Todd Shea (www.shinehumanity.org <http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1103362375509&s=9867&e=001fsTDDh_yB_maNLDuynuP uVr5wXbZpaMM-fGYJUaE48fGa_w4yHGhPjLV_4Yx7e4Wlq3NgdSveZJZU91EyWK4Us--1a_blu2N zZCJ2UBD_QtgOm5WWoPwKQ==> ) likes to say, Americans hear 2% of Pakistan's story 98% of the time. I feel very fortunate to have experienced Pakistan directly at a relatively innocent time both in history and in my own life, before the country's name became a dirty word in the West. We can't go back to that time, but we can remember it - and we can and should take a deep breath, reach out to each other as allies, and work together to do what needs to be done. What needs to be done? Young Pakistanis need to be given hope and self-respect by way of education and jobs. This is already being done by The Citizens Foundation, by Developments in Literacy (www.dil.org <http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1103362375509&s=9867&e=001fsTDDh_yB_kLYNXf2iFf 1cPt2Kck19S-EPaqtulgwGSWvJhAtBkVcUa6yw5OF5vHbCvw3YFt2C4YRKGyMCkeLOuOkiSpB38o iH629VEF8jk=> ) - at whose San Diego fundraiser I'll be speaking this Saturday, May 8 - by the Human Development Foundation (www.hdf.com <http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1103362375509&s=9867&e=001fsTDDh_yB_lw_r44HGVq plGDKuqDxDsHi6JyD7Dt7bbwuq4zjrTPfbAl1KNiZuUK-Ya535z32S3pfd-XnvlGEmsFz64fSCVt 3E9ZlYR2ONs=> ), by Pakistani pop star Shehzad Roy's Zindagi Trust (www.zindagitrust.org <http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1103362375509&s=9867&e=001fsTDDh_yB_kLtvAzB2Y- D984Wr0nEEBFS3OSbV-jXaBPNapHBKmNHDB7w22KdaMCPgaCImWjRjati6izDVPKQYKQsNfXeCo0 QLi1f3fhsxTpX-492tWlsg==> ), and famously by Greg Mortenson. But why is Greg Mortenson's the only one of these efforts that's well known? Part of the answer, of course, is that he's white: church ladies and Oprah watchers can relate to him as a virtual nephew or brother-in-law. This is fine. But we need to get beyond the toxic supposition that America is primarily a "white" and/or Christian country. It's not, anymore, and that's a good thing. So the other thing that needs to be done is that the Pakistani community needs to ratchet up both its involvement in American society and politics and its visibility. Call up your local schools and churches, invite your neighbors to your home, all that good stuff, and by all means enlist me, Todd Shea, and Greg Mortenson as envoys. But also support Pakistani-American and other Muslm candidates for public office; insist on meetings with existing officeholders, not only but especially those you consider hostile to Muslims or Pakistan; and support and expand the lobbying work of groups like the Pakistani American Leadership Center (www.pal-c.org <http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1103362375509&s=9867&e=001fsTDDh_yB_nkIBJ8tBU6 sKVyD7GuaW1JpCS-xjhpfoeF8dKdik4lQsvCLm7vdDu8rYQ_y9rCnhYqL1ikVtw1WlsO3ftZ_gtj w4T64HwKO24=> ) and the Council of Pakistan American Affairs (www.councilofpakistanamericanaffairs.org <http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1103362375509&s=9867&e=001fsTDDh_yB_mvnlmuaYr2 JFNanXNHI93QD0EYsID8D-NCBEWHnb7t0XBuF99I15UaVl6iTfGFYfDxfay1SRZdMXhF4IuG7MkS xOXlEibEbNlZ37YFkZj8EB0PGtcJqTuqBUGjejWt7RLRnHUurQNWxA==> ). Get in the American public's face, as fellow Americans, and help us all begin having a more honest conversation about Pakistan, America, terrorism, and where our countries and world are headed. And I ask two things of my fellow non-Pakistani Americans: Go to the trouble of educating yourselves about Pakistan - my books and inviting me to speak are, indeed, good places to start. And, when you see pictures of Faisal Shahzad over the coming days, keep in mind that, except for the buzz cut, Tim McVeigh looked a lot like me. ETHAN CASEY is the author of the travel books Alive and Well in Pakistan: A Human Journey in a Dangerous Time (2004) and Overtaken By Events: A Pakistan Road Trip (2010). They are available online at www.aliveandwellinpakistan.com/books <http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1103362375509&s=9867&e=001fsTDDh_yB_nkqr28ynKW 8jjrX2_rtdBg5CJotwYV0jQwMBvkFQXCUo3-apbUdws9Zequ6-gUCPK4GeA-QOJprS_J1x7VjwMB KvpamPzVcCE1Zlrbm0V6DiBuqMouHAqGOhu_8nrBDA4QM4sfyU25mQ==> www.facebook.com/ethancaseyfans <http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1103362375509&s=9867&e=001fsTDDh_yB_ksiTCfdhG_ Qoj63Javh3wVyOqa0hisgKH9FznLktcn4UTWxwlEXqnOZpvh5StAVoazDbXorm8SCKyqoykekfo_ r93c5SJlLakPF22MBjJLtYU6MlL0iJdiOjFmdvypRlo=> , and he can be emailed at [log in to unmask] PAL-C welcomes your feedback and strives hard to better serve the Pakistani American community. Please feel free to give us your feedback on the newsletter, suggest improvements, and please provide any thoughts on PAL-C's efforts. We also ask that you contribute <http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1103362375509&s=9867&e=001fsTDDh_yB_nw5GKm-YDD JwJ7_FEdqQmAbASLjx-lBG9araqkoC4TSEokikca5u2LiHntjw3J2H3o2emP97LpI10iIteSgTZQ yr9J4AP8vYnRM4V5axBCDyI5wcQHPN31> so we may continue to offer these types of services and advocate on your behalf for your rights, your interests, and so that your children may see a better and brighter tommorrow here in America. Sincerely, Taha A. 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