Dilan Samo holds a picture of slain U.S. Ambassador to Libya Christopher Stevens during a candlelight vigil outside the Libyan embassy on Thursday. (AP)
More than 75 locals from the Dallas community, including members of the SMU community, gathered on Saturday night to participate in a candlelight vigil for the late Ambassador Chritopher Stephens, who died in the attack on the American embassy in Libya.
The locals gathered to celebrate the life of Stephens and condemn the violence holding placards, flags and candles.
“We want to honor the ambassador and his colleagues”, Samir Marvakis, a Libyan American who emigrated from Libya in 1974, said. “Libya lost a friend.”
Ranya Sabbagh, a Syrain-American, said that the concept of freedom of speech is alien to many in the Middle East and they think the American government approved the message of the film.
“However, there is no justification for violence. Two wrongs do not make a right,” she added.
Many in the crowd were of the opinion that millions of Muslims work hard to live up to the values of Islam of peace and tolerance, yet it was the extremists who make it to the news.
They wanted to show the world that as Muslims they do not approve of this violence, and that violence is not a way to express one’s opinion.
Alaa Ali, a senior student at the University of Texas at Dallas, agreed. “This is a way of peacefully assembling to show America and the world that violence is never the answer even if you disagree.”
“To honor the prophet and use peaceful means of protests, [we should] study his biography and act upon it,” he added
Politicians also attended the event.
Katherine Savers McGovern, a Democratic candidate for 32nd Congressional District, was also present.
“It was a moving experience to see Amrican Muslims and people from all backgrounds come together and condemn violence,” McGovern said.
She later posted on a social networking website that “the organizing committee [was] articulate in distancing Islam and American Muslims from the actions of violence in Libya, Egypt and elsewhere.”
In her message to students, McGovern also urged the student body to apply for an absentee ballot before Oct. 9 if they are not registered to vote in Texas. She said it is important that the youth comes out to vote, and impact America and the world to make it what they want it to be.
