When Khizr and Ghazala Khan, the parents of slain Army Captain Humayun Khan who died in combat in Iraq in 2004, took the stage at the Democratic National convention last week, CNN makes the point that “you could almost see the collective fist pump from Muslims across the country” as Mr. Khan took out his copy of the Constitution, shaking it at Donald Trump through the TV.
“I was choking back tears,” says Arsalan Iftikhar, author of “Scapegoats: How Islamophobia Helps Our Enemies and Threatens Our Freedoms.” “At a time when Islamophobia is growing thanks to hateful demagogues like Donald Trump, it was heartening to see the Democratic party give a prime-time slot to the father of a fallen Muslim-American soldier who rhetorically slapped Donald Trump in the face with his pocket-size Constitution.”
In taking on Trump, Khan was “representing so many American Muslims who endured having sand kicked in our faces for too long,” wrote Shahed Amanullah, a media entrepreneur and former State Department adviser.
“I think it was an incredibly moving moment,” says Zareena Grewal, author of “Islam is a Foreign Country.” “Khizr and Ghazala Khan paid the ultimate price and moved the crowd and those of us at home with one of the simplest but most powerful testimonies at the DNC. I was touched by their love for their son and their country and their defiant conviction in American values.
