Dove World Outreach Center Quran-burning controversy

Genocide: Massacres, torture, expulsion: Other incidents: In July 2010, Terry Jones, the pastor of the Christian Dove World Outreach Center in Gainesville, Florida, U.S., announced he would burn 200 Qurans on the ninth anniversary of the September 11 attacks.

[32] The proposal to burn Qurans began with a series of Twitter messages on July 12,[33] and a related discussion on the now-removed Facebook group "Islam Is of the Devil", named after Terry Jones' book.

On August 3, Gainesville mayor Craig Lowe asked the world's media to ignore Jones' church as a "tiny fringe group and an embarrassment to our community", but coverage continued to increase.

[41] The World Evangelical Alliance "asks Muslim neighbors to recognize that the plans announced by a Florida group to burn copies of the Quran on September 11 do not represent the vast majority of Christians."

"[45] U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said, "It's regrettable that a pastor in Gainesville, Florida with a church of no more than fifty people can make this outrageous and distressful, disgraceful plan and get, you know, the world's attention."

On the same day hundreds of Afghans protested in Kabul against the planned Quran burning event, chanting "death to America" and throwing rocks at a passing military convoy.

Roni Ruslan of Hizb ut-Tahrir, which advocates Islamic law, said, No one will be able to control this reaction.... We urge the U.S. government and Christian leaders to stop the crazy plan from this small sect.

[74] On September 15, regarding reports that at least 20 deaths worldwide were connected to Quran desecration protests, Randall Terry responded that "Such logic is like saying that a woman who is abused by her boyfriend or husband is guilty of bringing violence on herself because she said or did something that irritated him.

[80] As of September 16, the Hindustan Times placed the death toll at 90, blaming much of the resentment on the indefinite military curfew, the first in ten years to affect the entire Kashmir Valley.

"[citation needed] Iran's parliament speaker Ali Larijani censured the US for its apparent silence on the "outrageous act of desecrating the holy Quran, urging the Muslim world to take swift action against it."

He added that the "silence of those who beat the drums for freedom and democracy on the blasphemous decision has drawn the ire of freedom-seeking humans and stirred international hatred of the U.S." He also said the desecration of the Quran would be a "brutal" act that shows "barbarism in the modern era."

While he concluded that such measures would "undoubtedly hurt spiritual and religious feelings of millions of Muslims across the world as well as followers of all divine faiths," and warned American legislators they should expect a "harsh fate" if they do not act "wisely.

"[citation needed] The parliament's Presiding Board member, Mohammad Dehqan, said that "Whenever Zionists want to cover up their atrocities in Palestine, they try to trigger anti-Islamic sentiments across the United States and the West to deflect global public attention from their brutalities against Palestinians."

"[citation needed] The head of the National Security and Foreign Policy Commission of parliament, Alaeddin Boroujerdi, said the "U.S. police reluctance to react to such sacrilegious action indicates Washington's green light to such a heinous crime.

"[citation needed] Grand Ayatollahs Hossein Noori Hamedani and Naser Makarem Shirazi favored the killing of Quran-burners, but that the permission of a religious judge was required.

"[67] A hacker with nickname "Iraq Resistance" posted a voice-altered video to YouTube published under the byname "iqziad", claiming to have released the "Here you have" computer worm to "demand respect for Islam", blaming Terry Jones, and saying "I can smash all of those infected, but I wouldn't".

The worm, first discovered August 20, attacked organizations including NASA, Walt Disney, and the Florida Department of Transportation, and produced spam that rose to 10% of all email traffic on September 9.

President Michel Suleiman denounced the plans adding that burning the Quran is a clear contradiction of the teachings of the three Abrahamic religions [Christianity, Islam and Judaism] and of dialogue among the three faiths.

President Barack Obama said "I just want [Jones] to understand that this stunt that he is talking about pulling could greatly endanger our young men and women in uniform who are in Iraq, who are in Afghanistan.

[105] The conservative Powerline blog stated it was against the Quran burning, but also said that "what gives rise to this dilemma, of course, is the fanaticism of radical Muslims, who have, indeed, responded violently to real or perceived slights to their religion."

When everything from sneakers to stuffed animals to comics to frescos to beauty queens to fast-food packaging to undies serves as dry tinder for Allah's avengers, it's a grand farce to feign concern about the recruitment effect of a few burnt Qurans in the hands of a two-bit attention-seeker in Florida."

[112] The Alachua County Sheriff's Office estimated that it spent $100,000 on providing security to Jones, and specifically assigned 160 of the 242 deputies on duty September 11 to police activities related to the planned burning.

The Wall Street Journal quoted an individual calling himself Abu Dujanah from a jihadist website, "Now, I wish to bomb myself in this church as revenge for the sake of Allah's talk... And here I register my name here that I want to be an intended martyr.

[116] In March 2013 the al-Qaeda English-language magazine Inspire published a poster stating "Wanted dead or alive for crimes against Islam" with a prominent image of Terry Jones.

This in turn has drawn criticism from New Jersey state senator Ray Lesniak and the American Civil Liberties Union, which said a person employed in a non-policy related role cannot be fired for off-the-job political expression.

A YouTube video posted by a user "MuslimKnoxvilleOrg" showing the burning of a Quran stuffed with bacon and doused with lighter fluid was also being investigated, though it was not immediately connected to the mosque.

[143][144] According to Knoxville FBI Special Agent Richard L. Lambert, "The fact that the burnt and shot Quran was placed on mosque property can be construed as a threat of force ...

[172] In southern Lebanon, students protested peacefully with Shia sheikh Hassan al-Zayyat outside the Lebanese International University to construct the largest Quran on Earth, weighing 100 kg.

[174] On March 22, 2011, Amir Hamza, the leader of Pakistan's banned Islamic organization Lashkar-e-Taiba, issued a $2.2 million fatwa for anyone who kills pastor Terry Jones.

[180] United States president Barack Obama strongly condemned both the Quran burning, calling it an act of "extreme intolerance and bigotry", and the "outrageous" attacks by protesters, referring to them as "an affront to human decency and dignity".