HAPPY CHRISTMAS - Sheriff's greeting has militant edge

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Winston-Salem Journal

Wed, Nov 14, 2001 Sheriff's greeting has a militant edge Area Muslims say they're insulted by Hege's personal holiday card

By Deirdre Fernandes JOURNAL REPORTER

LEXINGTON

For his personal Christmas card this year, Davidson County Sheriff Gerald Hege passed on the traditional snowy evening, dazzling tree or a baby Jesus in the manger scene.

Instead, about a dozen of Hege's friends and family will be receiving a controversial card that is being criticized by some local Muslims.

The card, printed on letter-size Kodak photo paper, depicts a desert background. Hege, dressed in his black combat-style uniform and new black beret, holds the severed head of Osama bin Laden in one hand and a bloody sword in the other hand.

The greeting reads, "Happy Ramadan!! Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! Sheriff Gerald K. Hege."

The card, which Hege paid for with his own money, is a reflection of the times, he said.

"You've got the president asking for him dead or alive," Hege said.

But it also emphasizes his paramilitary fashions and gives him an opportunity to show off the black berets that his officers began wearing last week, Hege added.

Hege and 25 of his deputies traded in their black baseball caps for the berets to complete their combat-style uniform. Until this summer, the black berets were the exclusive headgear of the U.S. Army Rangers. But now all Army units and law-enforcement personnel can wear them, Hege said.

Still, some area Muslims aren't impressed. They said they are insulted by the content of Hege's card and the way he depicts Ramadan, one of Islam's most sacred times.

Ramadan is one of the five pillars of Islam. Adult Muslims observe the 30-day period by fasting from sunrise to sunset.

The fasting is meant to help each Muslim achieve self-control and focus on the spirit, which will bring him closer to God. The fasting also helps Muslims understand the plight of the poor, who can't afford food, said Houssam Atassi, the president of the Muslim Association of the Triad.

"Ramadan should not be associated with blood ... considering with thousands of civilians are dying because of the winter and thousands will die from famine," said Atassi, who emigrated from Syria 15 years ago. "What Sheriff Hege is trying to do is not really appropriate, but then it's a free country."

The card also associates bin Laden with all worshippers of Islam - a connection that is unfair and false, said Abdel Hadi, a Muslim who owns a sandwich shop in Winston-Salem and recently bought property in Davidson County.

"I liked Hege as a sheriff," Hadi said. "But he has no business insulting 1.5 billion people. That's wrong. That's sad that we're in the United States and there is such bigotry."

Bin Laden doesn't represent Muslims around the world, he said.

Hege could have expressed his anger at the Sept. 11 bombings and his hope that the United States wins this war in other ways, Atassi and Hadi said.

Hadi said he recently saw an illustration of a bald eagle clutching bin Laden's head that would have been more appropriate.

Hege said he isn't concerned by the complaints, however.

The cards aren't for the public. He will be sending them only to relatives and friends, including other sheriffs, Hege said.

"That's my private Christmas card," he said, arguing that it isn't newsworthy. "It's for a private reason and not for publicity. I do have a private life."

Unlike other sheriffs around the region, Hege said he does not send out official Christmas cards.

Davie County Sheriff Allen Whitaker is sending out Christmas cards that show a farm during a snowfall.

"It's a traditional Christmas card," Whitaker said. "I try to pick out something that is appropriate to send and conveys the sentiment of the season. I try not to send something that offends somebody."

But Forsyth County Sheriff Ron Barker said he understands Hege's message, though he said he wouldn't be following suit.

"He's trying to relay the feelings probably all of us have," Barker said. "Gerald's heart in the right place. He's enjoying law enforcement, and he's doing it his way."

That's not how Atassi sees it, however.

"I think it's irresponsible," he said. "It's not something for the holiday, either Ramadan or Christmas."

-- Anonymous, November 14, 2001

Answers

>The cards aren't for the public. He will be sending them only to relatives and friends, including other sheriffs, Hege said.

ain't nobody's business . . .

-- Anonymous, November 14, 2001


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