Tulsi Gabbard’s suggestion that Paterson, New Jersey is somehow working to impose “Islamic law” is not merely false it is reckless, inflammatory, and deeply dangerous. It is a textbook example of fear mongering, rooted not in facts, but in prejudice and conspiracy theory.
Paterson is an American city governed by the U.S. Constitution, New Jersey state law, and the democratic will of its residents not by religious doctrine, not by religious law , and certainly not by some imaginary parallel legal system fabricated for political theater. To suggest otherwise is to insult the intelligence of the American public and to deliberately sow division.
For over 45 years, the Turkish American community in Paterson, New Jersey has lived, worked, paid taxes, built businesses, raised families, and contributed to the civic life of this city and our beautiful country of America. In all that time, there has never been a single instance zero of any Turkish American or Muslim American organization attempting to impose Islamic law, Muslim law, or any religious legal system. Not one ordinance. Not one proposal. Not one shred of evidence.
What Ms. Gabbard is doing is not whistleblowing. It is character assassination aimed squarely at Muslim Americans.
Once again, we see Tulsi Gabbard attempting to manufacture fear, to push a smear campaign against an entire community by recycling long debunked Islamophobic tropes. This narrative has been used before by her, and every time it collapses under scrutiny. It relies on the same tired formula: identify a Muslim majority or Muslim visible community, attach the phrase “Islamic law,” and let suspicion do the rest.
This is not leadership. This is demagoguery. The language Ms. Gabbard employs is venomous and venom, once released, does not stay within the boundaries its author imagines. History teaches us a hard lesson: hatred never confines itself to its original target. Those who spread hatred eventually endanger everyone Christians, Jews, Muslims, immigrants, and native born Americans alike. Hate metastasizes. It does not self regulate.
Let us be absolutely clear: Muslim Americans are not a threat to the United States, I am a Turkish American Muslim , I love America , America is my home , home to my daughters , my family, we are proud Americans . The real threat comes from those who weaponize misinformation, Like Ms Gabbard, who delegitimize fellow Americans based on faith, and who normalize conspiracy theories under the guise of “concern.”
Ms. Gabbard is once again pushing conspiracy theories not facts, not evidence, not law. And conspiracy theories, when amplified by public figures, corrode trust, undermine democracy, and place innocent people in harm’s way.
Paterson does not need lectures from politicians seeking relevance through outrage. It needs honesty, responsibility, and respect for truth. Muslim Americans including Turkish Americans do not need to prove their loyalty. We are proud Americans. They have already done so through decades of peaceful civic engagement, military service, entrepreneurship, and community leadership.
Tulsi Gabbard should be called out plainly: Stop lying, Stop smearing, Stop endangering communities for political gain.
Because the moment we allow baseless hate to masquerade as patriotism is the moment we betray the very American values we claim to defend.
Ibrahim Kurtulus
Community Activist
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