It is possible that the perpetrators, who we have not yet identified, may have based their actions on Middle East events, but it is not related to what I feel are the issues in the Palestine-Israeli conflict.

That is an outrageous exaggeration and I think even the video is fraudulent. The fact is that every responsible Palestinian leader in government and in our many organizations and community groups in the West Bank and Gaza Strip have denounced this act of violence.

This denunciation was unhesitant.

Instead, we see a video, un-sourced, that claims to show Palestinians celebrating. There are about 20 Palestinians in the video. Most are young children who probably are dancing because they are in front of the TV cameras. People seem to want to believe that these 20 unknown Palestinians represent the views of the Palestinian people more than their own elected leaders. It is one of the only videos of so-called celebrations and it is ridiculous.

But, I understand that the media and even those who hate Arabs want to promote this video because it casts us in a bad light.

Well, there have been reports but we are encouraged that the responsible police agencies are taking these reports seriously and they are investigating them from Orland Park to Palos Heights, in Chicago and throughout the Chicagoland area.

I understand the anger. I am angry too. I am just as upset with the images as everyone else. But, there is no reason for people to take their anger out on the Arab community. This is an act of terrorism. It is a crime. We don't attack a group of people based on their ethnicity when individuals are arrested for committing brutal acts of violence. We shouldn't put an ethnic face on this kind of violence. It is wrong.

I think also we can praise most of the media for their cautionary words. Many media have said that we shouldn't blame Arab Americans, even if it turns out that an Arab was involved.

Strike out at the perpetrators. But strike out at those who are responsible. It is a difficult thing to hold individual criminals and their sponsors accountable for their acts, but that is the process of judicial law that we live by. That is the fundamental basis of our freedom and Democracy and that is what sets us apart from other, non-Democratic countries.

We can't become like the terrorists and use things like "collective punishment" to punish those whom we dislike. Let's not punish those we disagree with. Punish those who are guilty of the crime.

This is a terrible tragedy. I am an American. I oppose violence and I have always supported the peace process. We can't allow this to separate a group of people because of their ethnicity. I support this country and I feel that we, as Americans, must be careful not to punish Arab Americans like myself simply because we are of a different ethnic background or we sometimes share opposing opinions and views. The violence is wrong. It is unjustified. I can only say that I feel such tremendous sadness and grief for the victims.