LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Re: 'Targeting Muslims on the Upper East Side' by Daniel Fitzsimmons, September 19, 2013

With all due respect for the opinions of Mr. Sayeed Chawdhury and Sheikh Mostafa, the NYPD's monitoring of the Muslim "community", i.e., specifically its mosques, is not for the reason that the people practice Islam. It is because, unwittingly, the mosques can serve as breeding grounds for the few radical, potential terrorists and loosely hinged who will, intentionally, due to ignorance and/or misinterpretation ofthe Koran, use their faith as justification of their murderous acts around the globe. Admittedly, we have our own home-grown, mentally disturbed terrorists.

Sheikh Mostaf refers to the American government's "hypocrisy"; how so? Yes, the American government is concerned with the lack of human rights in other countries, i.e., freedom of religion, gender equality, however, the Muslims living in the U.S. have not been constrained from practicing their religion. Indeed, mosques are continually being built without confrontation unless designated for an area which may cause great controversy.

Yes, we believe that 90 percent of Muslims here In the U.S. are decent, hard-working people who contribute to their community. Yet it would be most helpful if these people would be more vocal in denouncing the deplorable acts of terrorism commited by terrorists in the name of Islam.

We need to continue to pray for peace on this earth.

B. Brandon, NYC