WASHINGTON, July 14: Muslims must not let extremists hijack their faith, a prominent American Islamic group warned on Wednesday in a television public service announcement issued in the wake of the London bombings. Stung by criticisms that Islamic leaders have not done enough to condemn the blasts blamed by police on British Muslims, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) sent the spot to television stations across the United States.

“We will not allow our faith to be hijacked by criminals,” says one of the speakers on the advertisement, which features shots of Muslims speaking directly to the camera.

“Islam is not about hatred and violence; it is about peace and justice,” says another of the featured speakers, a young woman.

Parvez Ahmed, CAIR board chairman, said the new TV spot was needed because persistent efforts by US Muslim leaders to condemn terror in the name of Islam had failed to penetrate public perceptions.

“We don’t know why we are not breaking through that. Maybe the rising level of anti-Muslim rhetoric is drowning out our condemnation,” said Ibrahim Hooper, CAIR’s national communications director.

The group quickly condemned the September 11 attacks in 2001, and published a full-page advertisement in the Washington Post offering condolences to victims’ families.

CAIR was quick to hit out at the London attacks last week, and called on US-based imams to condemn terrorism in their Friday sermons.

In 2004, CAIR launched a petition dubbed ‘Not in the Name of Islam’ which garnered the signatures of 700,000 people opposed to terrorism in the name of their faith.

But will the latest television spot appeal to the ‘fair-minded and conscientious Americans’ who make up its target audience?—AFP