She suggests that the Islamic Society of Boston in Cambridge is host to what she terms “Medina Muslims,” or Muslim extremists with a propensity for terror. Yet the Islamic Society of Boston has repeatedly clarified that there is no connection between the extremists Hirsi Ali names and the ISB. And in the case of the Tsarnaev brothers, the older of whom is known to have sporadically attended the ISB, to make this link is akin to saying that Timothy McVeigh, the Oklahoma City bomber, or Eric Rudolph, the Atlanta Olympic Park bomber, is connected to a church he merely visited and that therefore we should be wary of all American Christians.
The ISB is an American Muslim institution, well respected in Cambridge, contributing positively to the community at large.
The Rev. Daniel Smith
Senior minister
First Church in Cambridge
Cambridge
The writer is vice president of the Greater Boston Interfaith Organization.
The Boston Globe