Islamic Center of Lawrence calls for compassion, worries about political leaders’ reaction

The recent terrorist attacks in France are weighing heavily this week on Baha Safadi, spokesman for The Islamic Center of Lawrence.

“These acts of savagery are criminal and perpetrated by a few people who we don’t consider in any way Islamists,” Safadi said Wednesday of the ISIS attacks that left at least 129 dead in Paris. “Those people have proven time and time again, they are not worthy of being mentioned as Islamist. Islam is about peace and harmony and helping your neighbor.”

Safadi said he was disappointed when he learned that Gov. Sam Brownback had issued an executive order late Monday prohibiting any state agencies and organizations receiving public money from the state from participating or assisting “in any way in the relocation of Syrian refugees in Kansas.”

“We don’t want to sound negative toward the governor, but we are hoping he will reconsider and open our doors to those in need as we have in the past,” he said.

Brownback said in announcing his executive order that America had always been a refuge for the oppressed but that it would be better to try to resettle refugees from the Syrian civil war in a country closer to their homes.

Safadi said he came to Kansas University 40 years ago from Jordan as a student and never left Lawrence. He is now a real estate developer and is chairman of the Lawrence Alliance, a city advisory board on cultural and diversity issues.

He said he had always found Lawrence to be an enlightened city when it came to differences in religion and race. He said he found it difficult to process that more than half of state governors wanted to turn away the Syrian refugees.

More education about his religion might lessen concerns, he said. About 10 million people are Muslims in the United States, and 1.6 billion people are Muslim worldwide, making it the second largest religion behind Christianity.

“This country was made up by immigrants and those people needing shelter and needing our love and kindness,” he said. “We should not be hating and be in a knee jerk reaction. We should not deny those people who are fleeing ISIS.”