Terrorists alone must apologize

In response to Mr. Pontarelli's Fence Post letter: In order to offer a sincere apology one must accept accountability and feel a sense of remorse. Those responsible for 9/11 are not remorseful and never will be. With that said America was built on religious freedom. The attacks were not the responsibility of every Muslim living in America. Muslim families lost loved ones in 9/11, too. Do you apologize for acts in which you have not committed or have not been responsible for?

Leaders of the Muslim world have felt compassion, empathy and sympathy over 9/11. You seem to think they owe us an apology. For what? For being a Muslim? Did every American apologize when the Kansas City bombing occurred and it was an American who committed that horrible tragedy? Where the "white Americans" told they could not build within a certain area surrounding the Oklahoma bombing? I could go on and on.

As an American I feel no need to apologize to the African-American community for the cruel and horrific acts of my ancestors. I can feel mortified by what our people did. I can feel compassion and sympathy, but I should not have to apologize.

As a person of German decent must I apologize for the horrific events of the Holocaust? We, as a people, as a country, should not have to apologize for every horrific act of terrorism ever committed - and that does include our American Muslim communities. What we as Americans need is to learn to love, to understand, to accept and to have tolerance for those who we may not agree with or understand. Anger, hatred and intolerance breed more of the same. America was built on religious freedom. Let freedom ring! Mosque or no mosque, Muslims are a part of this great nation.

Kim Zelden

Schaumburg