American Muslims Demonstrate Against Jones and Bin Laden

I think I'd referred to the attention-seeking Jones as Malloy a few posts ago, his name is actually Jones.

Dearborn, MI Muslims burned in effigy Jones and Osama Bin Laden, thus answering the call, did they but know it, of Rush Limbaugh, who has often wondered on his program where the moderate Muslims denouncing terrorism are.


Muslims in Dearborn burn effigies of Florida pastor, Osama bin Laden

Chanting "burn, baby, burn," a group of Muslims in Dearborn lit ablaze Friday night effigies of Pastor Terry Jones of Florida and Osama bin Laden in a protest against religious extremism.


Led by Dearborn attorney Majed Moughni, the group burned a pair of dolls holding hands that were dressed up to represent Jones, the Florida pastor who has plans to burn Qurans, and of Osama bin Laden, the terrorist behind the Sept. 11 attacks.

"They both represent the murder, killing, and war against America," Moughni said before the blaze was lit with a Bic lighter. As the flames flickered on his lawn in Dearborn, Moughni added: "Pastor Terry Jones. Osama bin Laden. It's getting hot in here, it's getting real hot."

Moughni told the Free Press he wanted to burn both of them on the lawn at his home on the eve of the Sept. 11 anniversary because he said both represent religious extremists who should "burn in hell."

"We're watching as the holiest book in Islam is under attack," Moughni said. "This is to show we're against what pastor Jones is doing. We're not going to be quiet. We're going to speak up."

"We're also protesting Osama bin Laden, the man who is the cause of all of this," Moughni added. "He doesn't represent Islam. He represents terrorists, just as Terry Jones does. They're both contributing to attacks on the U.S."

The burning of effigies is usually seen in Muslim countries, where protesters will burn representations of people they are angry with. The Dearborn burning took place in a fire pit on Moughni's lawn. As the flames lit up the night sky, some took pictures and others clapped. Several U.S. flags were on display near the fire as a show of patriotism.

Moughni bought two dolls with skull heads from a Halloween store, dressing them up in ghoulish costumes; he had the faces of bin Laden and Jones placed on the heads. They were hung from a tree above a fire pit. Behind them, members of Moughni's family held up U.S. flags and placards next to each other that read: "Burn" and "Osama & Jones."

Just after 8:45 p.m., Moughni took off the paper faces of the two effigies and threw them into the fire pit below, declaring:

"When you try to burn the Koran ... you are telling the Muslims around the world, this war is a war" against Islam, Moughi said.

Then, Mohammad Moughni, 30, of Dearborn Heights, set on fire the wood and the two effigies, which were quickly consumed.

"We’re fighting fire with fire tonight," Moughni said before the blaze was set. "We’re going to give them both the treatment they deserve, and they both deserve to be set on fire. They can both burn in this world and burn in hell."

Moughni drew attention earlier this year for organizing an anti-terrorism protest in front of the federal courthouse in Detroit after the terrorism attacks on Christmas Day in a Detroit-bound airplane by a Muslim man from Nigeria. Later, Moughni received death threats from an Islamic extremist. Moughni also held a rally to support the Christian missionaries arrested in June at the Arab festival in Dearborn.

Speaking Friday night during the blaze, Moughni said:

"This is a message we wanted to send to America and ... to all the Muslims in the world: America is on the side of Islam. And Islam is on the side of America. Our enemies are Osama bin Laden and Pastor Terry Jones."