By Following the death of American Muslim hero Muhammad Ali, and nearing the first Eid holiday of 2016, the United States Postal Service has released their yearly stamp to commemorate the Islamic holidays.
The new purple stamp, which incorporates elegant gold Islamic calligraphy, and reads in Arabic “May your Eid be bountiful,” also contains an olive branch, which symbolizes hospitality.
Since 2001, the postal service has released yearly stamps to recognize the Eid festivals celebrated by the Muslim community in America. The first Eid of 2016 will fall on July 6th, while the second is set for September 12th.
To honor the passing of the great Muslim boxing champion, this year’s stamp was unveiled in Muhammad Ali’s hometown of Louisville.
The president and CEO of the Muhammad Ali Center said, “Today is a day of celebration, because what the U.S. Postal Service is doing, is they’re giving us the opportunity to educate the world about Islam, that Islam is the religion of peace as Muhammad Ali said often.”
While many, including non Muslims, were thrilled with design and message of the commemorative stamp, news of an Islamic holiday stamp did not sit well with many, considering the recent events carried out by a suspected Islamic terrorist in Orlando, FL.
Well known anti-Muslim blogger – and honorary troll – Pamela Gellar shared the stamp on Facebook, pointing out that it conveniently coincided with the “Orlando Ramadan slaughter.”
Too bad the stamp was actually announced months ago, and issued the week before the shootings.
Naturally, her Islamophobic followers pledged their hate and disgust for Muslims and all things Islam in the comments section.
That’s when one woman, a self-described as a US Mail Carrier, shared the post to her page and added the following caption:
“A US Mail Carrier, I can personally assure everyone here that anything with this stamp on it will be lost or destroyed in the system before it makes its delivery. Guaranteed. Happy Ramadan.”
A screengrab of the original post is below:
The post, which immediately went viral, sparked the USPS to conduct an investigation of Catherine An Ray. However, they yet to locate her in the employee database.
“At this time we cannot confirm if the person involved in this matter is a postal employee, but we can assure you that the incident is being fully investigated and that the Postal Service will take whatever action is appropriate,” said Tony DeLancey, a spokeswoman for the postal service.
DeLancey also stated that the USPS prohibits discrimination based on religion, race, creed, color, or national origin and if an employee were to follow through on a threat similar to the one made by Catherine An Ray, they would be terminated.
Additionally, refusing to deliver mail or destroying it altogether constitutes a federal offense that may ultimately result in jail time.
A quick glance at Ray’s Facebook page reveals a tirade of anti-Islam posts. Her posts also show support for Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, who during his campaign called for a ban against Muslims entering the U.S.
Screenshots of other “rants” from her feed can be seen below.
Since the discovery, Catherine An Ray’s Facebook has been temporarily suspended, perhaps due to the influx of (mostly negative) attention. It has since been accessible, with the original threat still intact.