Were Keith Ellison crying for Mr. Hamdani simply because he was an American hero who did his job on 9/11 - and lost his life for the effort, I would salute this.
The first Muslim elected to Congress broke into tears Thursday as he delivered his opening remarks at a hearing on radicalization in the Muslim American community. Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) became heavily emotional as he spoke about a 23-year-old New York Police Department cadet and paramedic named Mohammed Salman Hamdani.
However, I heard the audio. That is not what Ellison was doing. What he was doing was not saluting Hamdani as a brave American victim of 9/11. He was using Hamdani's death to make him into a cliche, a political victim ... to further Ellison's political agenda, not Hamdani's, for all we know. Given Hamdani's noble actions, how is it he deserves to be made into a political victim like that when he can't speak for himself? For all we know, he detested such stunts. I see his Mother became a commentator of some sort and has used his death for political purposes, too.
Evidently the FBI was interested in Hamdani, and I assume other Muslims, at least somewhat, until his remains were found at Ground Zero. I'm sorry, but I don't believe this constitutes bigotry, as she alleged, under the circumstances. It was a devastating attack, had to be sorted out - and that means being thorough, as well as involving more than a bit of panic and confusion. The attackers were Muslims. That is not the FBI's fault. Had the attackers been devout Christians, I've no doubt any known Evangelicals in the building would have been looked into, too. Were they Jewish, does anyone believe the FBI wouldn't have been interested in the five Isrealis who died on 9/11? Of course they would have felt compelled to ask questions. That was their job.
While most families of 9/11 victims are accorded a special respect, that status hasn't always shielded Hamdani and Ashrafi from bigotry. Hamdani said because her son was a Muslim, authorities investigated whether he was connected to the 9/11 plot. FBI agents interrogated Talat Hamdani and her now deceased husband. "He was an NYPD cadet, he was an EMT, he was a first responder, and he wasn't given dignity," Hamdani said.
So, five Isrealis died on 9/11. It's been estimated that between 400 - 500 Jews died. Per this article, a full seven years after 9/11 many Arabs were still blaming the Jews for 9/11 in 2008. Should we cry all the harder for them simply because of that? Because of someone else's deranged hatred? Or, should we simply now embrace them as Americans and innocent victims who lost their lives in a despicable act of terrorism by Islamic extremists?
Some number of nuts actually blamed and still blame America in the form of the Bush adminstration for 9/11. Would it elevate, or soil the memory of all the Americans who died on 9/11 to mourn them somehow more especially for that? That would not elevate them. It would demean them. And by using the late Mr. Hamdani as a prop in a personal political stunt, that is precisely what Ellison did to him.
Mourning Mr. Hamdani as a noble, self sacrificing American is not simply the only tribute such a man, or any patriot deserves. It is the only tribute befitting an American hero, which is precisely what Mr. Hamdaniwas. He was victimized more than enough on 9/11. His memory should not have to endure being made out as a victim in any other cause, whether it's that of a fellow Muslim who happens to be a politician, or his Mother's. As I said, Mr. Hamdani was victimized more than enough on 9/11 by radical Muslims. They are and were the only culprits complicit in his death, not the FBI, nor American citizens, or America, as a whole.
“Mr. Hamdani bravely sacrificed his life to try to help others on 9/11. [Pause] After the tragedy some people tried to smear his character [pause] solely because of his Islamic faith.
“Some people spread false rumors and speculated that he was involved with the attackers because he was a Muslim," Ellison continued. "But it was only when his remains were identified that these lies were exposed.
“Mohammed Salman Hamdani was a fellow American who gave his life for other Americans. His life should not be just a member of an ethnic group or just a member of a religion, but as an American who gave everything for his fellow Americans.”
