SAN FRANCISCO (Diya TV) — The best way to combat Islamophobia in the U.S. and around the world is to showcase the collective successes of Muslim-Americans, said Farooq Kathwari, chief executive of home furnishing firm Ethan Allen.
Kathwari, co-chair of the newly formed Muslim-Jewish Advisory Council, was reacting to a February tweet from retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, who has been chosen as national security advisor by President-elect Donald Trump. Flynn wrote, in part, on Twitter “fear of Muslims is rational.”
“You have to be concerned about those kind of statements,” Kathwari said Friday on CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street.”
He said the objective of the Muslim-Jewish Advisory Council is not meant to discuss the people who are being discriminated against. “What we want to talk about is to show the contributions of Jewish and Muslims in America,” Kathwari said. “The best way to building a brand is to show the positive contributions.”
One bright spot — since the president-elect’s victory became official, Kathwari has been impressed with the rally in the stock market. “For our consumer, that’s an important element and I believe that is going to help us really move forward.”
A Muslim immigrant from India, Kathwari and his wife, Farida, donated $1 million in 2015 to Western Connecticut State University to support an honors program named for their son Irfan, who was killed in Afghanistan in 1992, according NewsTimes in Danbury. Some accused Irfan Kathwari of being a radical Islamist because of his presence in Afghanistan during the turmoil in Soviet-backed Afghanistan. Kathwari said his son had been upset by the Russian invasion of the country and was in the wrong place at the wrong time, according to the NewsTimes.
