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by Russell Simmons

For far too long in this beautiful country we call our home, we have accepted hate and hatred speech.  Although we are a nation that is founded and proud of its freedom of speech, it is also up to each of us to take on the responsibility to not abuse that freedom by spewing hate or allowing others to do so. This is not what makes us America, the beautiful.

The hatred and anger towards Muslims in this country and around the world has gone beyond the tipping point.  This is not acceptable.  We have to cleanse ourselves from this horrible disease.  The long-term karmic effect of keeping this attitude in this country is unthinkable.

It was so obvious when President Obama offered nothing but love in his speech in Cairo, however it was shocking that most Americans were wondering if he should have even used his breathe at all. That is proof to me that we still live in a somewhat unconscious society where we believe that our President would take us down a course that would lead to self-destruction to America and to our neighbors. We must NEVER wage a war, directly or indirectly against Muslims or any group of people for that matter.

The damage that we have done to create greater fear and anger from the Islamic community is well documented. Whether it was Former President Bush’s reference to a ‘crusade’ against terrorism or our country’s ongoing acceptance of horrible statements about the Muslim community…all of it has gone on for far too long.  We have built a foundation of anti-American sentiment by some Muslims by having a country polluted with such horrible Islamaphobia.

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This is precisely the reason why I partnered with Rabbi Marc Schneier to create The Foundation For Ethnic Understanding that promotes a positive relationship with Muslims, especially with the Jewish community.  We have created a twinning program between mosques and synagogues, where we have over 100 programs in America and are spreading throughout around the world, with over 100 in Europe alone.  It is spreading like wild fire.

We urge every American who understands the need for this kind of promotion to take a stance when you hear people speaking words of hate. Say it is not acceptable. Correct people around you. If we speak loud enough most people will be embarrassed by this ugly speech and maybe even cease to do it.  And each individual must become the change we’re talking about.

After 9/11 we had the chance to promote world peace, but instead we promoted an anger towards ourselves.  We missed an amazing opportunity when every Muslim country sympathized with us.  We turned all that love and all that sympathy into a lot of hate. It is now the time to turn this around, and yes we can do it!