Email Urges Boycott of USPS 'Muslim Stamp'
Email urges boycott of a Muslim holiday stamp (or so-called 'Christmas stamp' for Muslims), an actual U.S. postage stamp released in 2001 and re-issued annually to commemorate the Islamic holidays Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha.
Description: Email flier
Circulating since: Late 2002
Status: Partly true
2009 variant:
Email example contributed by Lloyd J., Aug. 26, 2009:
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FW: A not so new stamp Dear Fellow Patriotic Americans USPS New 42-Cent Stamp!!! Celebrates Muslim holiday If there is only ONE thing you forward today.... let it be this! REMEMBER the MUSLIM bombing of Pan Am Flight 103! REMEMBER the MUSLIM bombing of the WorldTradeCenter in 1993! REMEMBER the MUSLIM bombing of the Marine Barracks in Lebanon ! REMEMBER the MUSLIM bombing of the military Barracks in Saudi Arabia ! REMEMBER the MUSLIM bombing of the American Embassies in Africa ! REMEMBER the MUSLIM bombing of the USS COLE! REMEMBER the MUSLIM attack on 9/11/2001 ! REMEMBER all the AMERICAN lives that were lost in those vicious MUSLIM attacks! Now President Obama has directed the United States Postal Service to REMEMBER and HONOR the EID MUSLIM holiday season with a new commemorative 42 Cent First Class Holiday Postage Stamp. REMEMBER to adamantly & vocally B! OYCOTT this stamp, when you are purchasing your stamps at the post office. All you have to say is "No thank you, I do not want that Muslim Stamp on my letters!" To use this stamp would be a slap in the face to all those AMERICANS who died at the hands of those whom this stamp honors. REMEMBER ~ pass this along to every Patriotic AMERICAN that you know and lets get the word out !!! Here is something to chew on... They (MUSLIMS) don't even believe in Christ, & they're getting their own Christmas stamp! BUT, don't dare to dream of posting the ten commandments on federal property! This is truly UNBELIEVABLE !!! |
2002 variant:
Email example contributed by J. Kravec, Dec. 9, 2002:
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Subject: AMERICANS, REMEMBER !!! Dear Fellow Patriotic Americans, REMEMBER the MUSLIM bombing of PanAm Flight 103, REMEMBER the MUSLIM bombing of the World Trade Center in 1993, REMEMBER the MUSLIM bombing of the Marine Barracks in Lebanon, REMEMBER the MUSLIM bombing of the military Barracks in Saudi Arabia, REMEMBER the MUSLIM bombing of the American Embassies in Africa, REMEMBER the MUSLIM bombing of the USS COLE. REMEMBER the MUSLIM attack on the World Trade Center on 9/11/01. REMEMBER all the AMERICAN lives that were lost in those vicious MUSLIM attacks. Now the United States Postal Service REMEMBERS and HONORS the EID MUSLIM holiday season with a commemorative first class holiday postage stamp. I strongly urge you to REMEMBER to adamantly and vocally BOYCOTT this stamp when purchasing your holiday stamps at the post office. To use this stamp would be a slap in the face to all those AMERICANS who died at the hands of those whom this stamp honors. I also strongly urge you to pass this along to every Patriotic AMERICAN you know, whether by email or otherwise. |
Analysis: The so-called "Muslim holiday stamp" or "Muslim Christmas stamp" (a misnomer, given that Christmas isn't a Muslim holiday) does exist, and has existed for the past eight years. The U.S. Postal Service issued its first Eid stamp commemorating the Muslim holidays Eid al-Fitr (marking the end of Ramadan) and Eid al-Adha (marking the end of the pilgrimage to Mecca) on September 1, 2001.
It was apparently the reissuing of this popular postage stamp one year later in October 2002 — barely a month after the first anniversary of the terrorist attacks of 9/11 — that prompted the angry email protests above.
The assertion that buying and using the stamp is a "slap in the face" to victims of terrorism is arguable, to say the least. While the historical claims in most versions of the email are factually accurate — i.e., all of the unconscionable acts of violence enumerated in the email were indeed committed by Muslim extremists — it's rather a large leap from there to blaming all Muslims and the Islamic faith in general for those atrocities.
There are pundits, granted, who claim that violence and terrorism are endemic to Islam, but theirs is a minority view staunchly rejected by experts in comparative religion, not to mention the U.S. government and President George W. Bush himself. "The face of terror is not the true faith of Islam," Bush stated during his term in office. "That's not what Islam is all about. Islam is peace." The vast majority of Muslims agree.
George W. Bush issued annual proclamations commemorating the Muslim holidays Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha from the first year of his administration to the last, yet no one ever questioned his patriotism or condemned his statements as "a slap in the face to victims of terrorism."
Why these attacks on a humble postage stamp?
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Sources and further reading:
Postage Stamp Celebrating Muslim Holiday to Be Issued
USPS press release, 1 Aug 2001Muslim Stamp to Be Reissued
USPS press release, 12 Aug 2002A Stamp Stuck in Controversy
Philadelphia Inquirer, 25 Nov 2002President Commemorates Eid al-Fitr
White House document, 5 Dec 2002
Last updated: 09/18/09
