Najib slams Islamophobia in ‘clock’ arrest of US teen

The homemade clock by Ahmed Mohamed that was mistaken for a bomb. – Reuters pic, September 25, 2015.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak has condemned Islamophobia after a 14-year-old Muslim student in the United States was arrested by police over a homemade clock mistaken for a bomb.

In a blog posting on his official website today, Najib criticised the case linking Islam to violence, and said this became a constant habit despite violence being committed by many including non-Muslims.

"The war that caused many deaths in Iraq is a form of violence. The cruelty of Israel on Palestine is also a form of violence.

"In fact, it is of a much bigger scale and the oppression has gone on for decades," he said.

Najib added that the use of nuclear and chemical weapons that killed millions was also a form of violence.

"These are non-Muslims but they are never referred to as terrorists. The reality is that violence is a humanitarian crisis that affects everyone. 

"We strongly condemn Islamophobia that has become a tool to oppress and discriminate," Najib said.

He urged the public to protect one another from groups that practised religious discrimination and oppression, adding that they were the problematic ones, not the Muslims.

In the case involving Ahmed Mohamed, the Dallas schoolboy reportedly took a clock he made to school to show a teacher.

He was then arrested after another teacher saw it and became concerned.

Ahmed was not charged, but he was suspended from school for three days.

His father, Mohamed El-Hassan Mohamed, reportedly said he had taken all of his children out of schools in the Irving independent school district in Dallas and that the family was still deciding where the children should be schooled next.

- TMI