Nationwide demos to be held for, against Muslims in US
Anti-Muslims marches have been planned in more than two dozen cities across the United States, prompting opponents to launch nationwide counter-protest rallies against Islamophobia.
The marches scheduled for Saturday come amid a rise of anti-Muslim incidents in the U.S., including arson attacks and vandalism at mosques, harassment of women wearing Muslim head coverings hijab and bullying of Muslim kids at schools.
Act For America, which organized the Islamophobic anti-Muslim rallies scheduled for Saturday, claims the rallies target Muslims' law (Shariah), which "is incompatible with Western democracy".
The majority of US Muslims, however, say they are content with the conditions and do not want to change the US laws.
Only a small minority of Takfiri "radical extremist groups" would want to do that, said Liyakat Takim, a professor of Islamic studies at McMaster University in the Canadian city of Hamilton, Ontario.
"Muslims are not required or expected to impose their laws on the country in which they live as the minority," Takim assured.
Meanwhile, two far-right self-styled so-called "patriot movement" groups, the Oath Keepers and the Three Percenters, are to provide security at some of the anti-Shariah demonstrations, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, which monitors hate groups.
Meanwhile, counter-protests have been planned by the opponents.
The anti-Muslim marches "will be total failures on Saturday because we will be united against them," said Rep. Debbie Dingell from Michigan.
Aneelah Afzali, who heads a Seattle-area group that works against discrimination and hate crimes, said she will also be putting up an "ask a Muslim booth" so people can ask questions directly from Muslims, and discard Islamophobic misconceptions.
"We want to counter (the anti-Muslim march) and keep it as positive as possible, and educate people about what Islam teaches," Afzali told media on phone.
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