Ed Durr’s apology to Islam “Not enough” for Muslim advocacy group, will it ever be enough?

Shore News Network

Muslim advocates on Thursday called for New Jersey State Senator-elect Edward Durr to apologize for offensive tweets against the Muslim faith, or resign immediately.

“Mohammed was a pedophile! Islam is a false religion! Only fools follow Muslim teachings! It is a cult of hate,” Durr posted in 2019. Durr also called U.S. Senator Robert Menendez a pedophile.

“Anti-Muslim smears like the kind Mr. Durr posted on his Twitter account have been directly responsible for hate and violence against American Muslims. The hateful words and false conspiracy theories spread by Durr should have no place in society, let alone the New Jersey State Senate. Mr. Durr must either sincerely apologize and disavow his hateful and dangerous social media posts or resign,” the D.C. based Muslim Advocacy group said.

Later in the day, Durr issued a heartfelt apology to Muslims after calling the prophet Mohamed a ‘pedophile’, then deleted his Twitter account.


“I’m a passionate guy. And I say things in the heat of the moment. And if I said anything in the past that hurt anybody’s feelings, I sincerely apologize,” Durr told Tennyson Donyea, a reporter at WHYY. “I support everybody’s right to worship in any manner. They choose to God of their choice. I support all people. And I support everybody’s rights. And that’s what I’m here for, to work for the people and support their rights.”


After his apology, Muslim Advocates Communications Director Eric Naing said he wasn’t satisfied.

“While we appreciate Mr. Durr’s response, it falls short of a sincere apology. Mr. Durr very clearly said what he thinks of Islam and Muslims in his tweet. Saying that he apologizes ‘if I said anything in the past that hurt anybody’s feelings’ and that he supports ‘everybody’s right to worship in any manner they choose to’ fails to acknowledge the real harm of his tweet or disavow it. Reading between the lines of his response, Mr. Durr could still very well believe and support the disgusting, incendiary statements he made about Islam and Muslims while still generally supporting a person’s right to believe what they wish.”

Now, Naing is still calling on Durr to surrender his victory in which the majority of the people in his voting district chose him on Election Day, seeking to upend the election for Democrat Steve Sweeney. It is evident that no matter what measures Durr takes, Naing and his Muslim Advocacy group are now seeking only to remove him from office to reinstate Sweeney.

“This kind of anti-Muslim rhetoric is dangerous. Muslims regularly face hate, violence and worse from people who say the same things that Mr. Durr tweeted. Anyone who says what Mr. Durr said about Muslims and Islam and fails to explicitly disavow it should not be serving in the New Jersey legislature,” Naing continued. “We call on Mr. Durr to explicitly acknowledge that his anti-Muslim tweet was wrong and that he disavows his statement. If he fails again to do this, he is unfit to represent New Jersey’s Third District and must give up the office.”

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