I was disappointed The Daily’s article about Saturday’s CAIR-Oklahoma film screening focused more on a handful of protesters than on the actual event.

The Daily legitimized the claims of fewer than 10 protesters while virtually ignoring the majority who support CAIR-Oklahoma. The supporters of CAIR’s screening of the documentary "Inside Islam: What a Billion Muslims Really Think" filled Meacham Auditorium and included such upstanding people as Dr. Charles Kimball, director of Religious Studies at OU, representatives of the governor and the lieutenant governor, state congressional candidates, local interfaith leaders and more than 300 other supporters who clearly far outnumbered the protestors.

It is ironic that coverage of the event focused on a small group trying to show discord when the screening was presented by CAIR in hopes of bringing about peace and understanding in a community that is clearly caught in a whirlwind of mistrust, misunderstanding and disinformation regarding the American Muslim community.

The protestors’ assumptions and lies were only perpetuated by The Daily’s article, wherein hardly any effort was made to present a balanced view of their claims about CAIR, the country’s largest Muslim civil liberties organization. It would have been helpful to point out that, for instance, the accusation that says CAIR is “linked to a terrorist organization” is a vague claim that intentionally provokes fear and suspicion, yet in fact has no basis.

Say my brother-in-law’s uncle’s cousin is a terrorist … could you then say that I am linked to terrorism? Yes. Does this mean anything? More than likely, it means nothing at all.

You could also think of it this way: The 9/11 attackers most likely utilized cars, banks and cell phones. Using the logic that many people use to accuse CAIR of having terrorist ties, the car dealerships, banks and cell phone carriers are then “linked to terrorism.” But what does this really mean? It means nothing at all.

On still another note, if the writer had researched the accusations against CAIR’s Texas chapter that the protestors tried to use against CAIR-Oklahoma, he might have found that Ghassan Elashi was never even on staff at CAIR and that his involvement with CAIR, along with other claims, have been heavily inflated and fabricated through the internet.

Even if the protestors’ claims about Elashi were legitimate, it does not make sense to protest against CAIR-Oklahoma for the actions of one man who is entirely unrelated to CAIR-Oklahoma. It would be like someone protesting at the Oklahoma state capitol and asking leaders to do away with the entire Oklahoma state legislature because someone connected to a Texas state senator was accused of money laundering. If that were the case, I’m sure that The Daily’s article would have been in favor of the Oklahoma State Legislature and would have seen right through the false and nonsensical accusations.

I am an intern at CAIR-Oklahoma and I am a Christian. I chose to work there because, as a religious studies major, I wanted to learn more about the Muslim community in Oklahoma. I also chose to work there because I am passionate about the things that CAIR-Oklahoma stands for: interfaith dialogue and understanding, equal civil rights for all Americans, taking a stand against religious and other discrimination and promoting general social justice. If you were to spend five minutes with the staff at CAIR-Oklahoma you would understand that they are certainly not here to “hate” anyone as the protestors suggested.

It is ironic that the fear and mistrust CAIR-Oklahoma is trying to dispel is the exact same fear and mistrust that fuels its critics and protestors. I wish The Daily’s coverage had shown the huge turnout and support the film screening drew, the lively presentations and the sincere interest in understanding of the vast majority of those who attended. It was an event worth reporting.

—Kristin Reed

University of Oklahoma Senior, Religious Studies and Ballet Major

Kristin Reed is a Religious Studies and Ballet Major and senior at the University of Oklahoma in Norman, and also the winter 2010 Outreach intern for the Oklahoma chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-OK).