MUSLIM COMMUNITY
STANDS WITH BOSTON
Over the past decade the American Muslim community and communities falsely perceived to be Muslim have been on the receiving end of numerous hate crimes. As a nation we experienced a horrible attack last Monday. No community moving forward should fall victim to those horrors twice.
Religious pluralism, equality, and inclusion are core American values that all of our leaders must take responsibility for protecting. In these moments that test our collective strength it’s important to remember that we are strongest when we stand together and that America’s exceptional inclusion has always been a defining characteristic of our national identity. The Tsarnaev brothers were allegedly responsible for these attacks on Monday, not my Islamic faith.
THE NEED FOR STRONG
REHABILITATION SERVICES
A similar program would produce extraordinary outcomes for the victims of the Marathon bombings. The question is whether such a program will be available. I assume the victims have a wide variety of health insurance plans, ranging from some that are comparable to the military’s plan to no health insurance whatsoever.
But beyond the question of financial means another issue looms large: Does the civilian health care system provide access to the kind of care that has been so successful with military patients? This level of care involves multi-hour sessions with physical, occupational, and recreational therapists. Will these civilian patients have their choice of prosthetic limbs designed and built for different activities and different environments?
FROM ANGER TO HOPE
Yeah, we were. I was so angry I drove halfway up to Boston from Providence Friday night before reining myself in. What on earth was I going to do about it? On the way back, I got a call from my mom. The robot they were about to send into the scene was the one my dad had played a major role in designing and engineering, she told me — a robot that had been used largely in the Middle East. He had spotted it on the news. My anger turned to hope: terrorism didn’t stand a chance against Bostonian ingenuity.
THE MARATHON OF FREEDOM
Today, I remembered that magical race, and I suddenly experienced a profound feeling of strength that countered the confusion and disbelief of witnessing the wicked violence of the bombings.
A terrorist’s cruelty did deprive us of our freedom to run . . . But only for a moment in time, because we all united and rushed forth to help our fellow citizens, and defied danger to stand up for our hard-won principles of freedom. Rather than being weakened, we gained strength from this act of terror. We stood united and vowed to not have our freedoms compromised.