A French Muslim’s emotional plea for his community to lead the battle against Islamic terrorism is getting a lot of traction, reports Yahoo! News.
In a video that has gone viral throughout his country, Bassem Braiki, who is from the city of Vénissieux in eastern France, strongly condemned the Nov. 13 terrorist attacks in Paris that killed 130 and wounded hundreds.
“I am addressing all the French Muslims: Let’s protect our beautiful religion. Let’s go and track these impostors who pretend to be Muslims and kill people. It’s not the authorities who are going to get rid of them. … It’s us,” Braiki said, as translated by The Independent.
Braiki entreated his fellow Muslims to report any suspicious activity to the authorities without worrying about being seen as a “turncoat.” He also lamented that plenty of people will inevitably confuse peaceful Muslims for terrorists but said intelligent people will know that these attacks were “not about Islam.”
“It’s us Muslims who are vindicating the values of the Republic. It is for us to refer anything suspicious to the authorities,” he said. “It is for us, Muslims of France, who have religion in our hearts and obey Islam’s principles — a religion of peace and sharing.”
The video, which was uploaded to the internet on Wednesday, is just one example of Muslims in France and across the globe condemning terrorism since murderers carried out mass shootings and suicide bombings in the nation’s capital. The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attacks, which were the deadliest on French soil since World War II.
An unidentified, blindfolded Muslim man stood in the Place de la République, where crowds were gathered to mourn the victims, with signs that read, “I’m a Muslim but I’m told I’m a terrorist. I trust you. Do you trust me? If yes, hug me.”
Videos from that day show person after person coming up to hug him — according to reports, hundreds did so.
Afterward, he removed his blindfold and told the crowd, “I would like to thank every one of you for giving me a hug. I did this to send a message to everyone. I am a Muslim, but that doesn’t make me a terrorist. I never killed anybody. … I deeply feel for all the victims’ families. I want to tell you that ‘Muslim’ doesn’t necessarily mean ‘terrorist.'”