A family friend came to the United States from Lebanon. She has been trying to fit in as a Muslim woman living in a primarily Jewish and Latino community. Not always easy. In recent years her main concern has been threats against the family she left behind from ISIS in Lebanon.
I was reminded of her when the terrible news came of the murders of four United States Marines in Chattanooga today. My father-in-law was a Marine decorated for valor. These deaths affect all Americans, but especially those in the intense family of Marines, and those new Americans who have had loved ones threatened or persecuted by terrorists.
Although certain politicians will soon try to make political hay by attacking American Muslims, we need to recall that many of this country’s Muslims had been warning against ISIS long before other Americans even heard of the imposter “Islamic State.”
The terror in Chattanooga is a horrible end to lives of four young Americans, and a terrible loss to their loved ones. Our prayers are with them. We also pray for those Americans whose families in Syria, Lebanon, and Iraq still lay in harms way.
