The Inverted Logic Award goes to Hammasa Kohistani, “[t]he first Muslim to be crowned Miss England”:

“Even moderate Muslims are turning to terrorism to prove themselves. They think they might as well support it because they are stereotyped anyway.”

Makes sense. No better way to disprove the stereotype than by blowing some people up.

Ms. Kohistani added that “there is this hostility” which comes “mainly from the Government.”

Someone should remind the beauty queen that last summer’s London bombings suggest that “this hostility” might be coming from somewhere besides “the Government.”

Thankfully, there are a number of Muslims far more sensible than Ms. Kohistani:

“This sentiment of denial, that sort of came as a fever to the Muslim community after 9-11, is fading away,” said Muqtedar Khan, a political scientist at the University of Delaware and author of “American Muslims.” “They realize that there are Muslims who use terrorism, and the community is beginning to stand up to this.”

Muslim leaders point to two stark examples of the new mind-set:

A Canadian-born Muslim man worked with police for months investigating a group of Islamic men and youths accused in June of plotting terrorist attacks in Ontario. Mubin Shaikh said he feared any violence would ultimately hurt Islam and Canadian Muslims.

In England, it’s been widely reported that a tip from a British Muslim helped lead investigators to uncover what they said was a plan by homegrown extremists to use liquid explosives to destroy U.S.-bound planes.

[...]

Salam al-Marayati, executive director of Muslim Public Affairs Council, an advocacy group based in Los Angeles, says working closely with authorities underscores that Muslims are not outsiders to be feared. It also gives Muslims a way to directly air their concerns about how they’re treated by the government.

“We’re not on opposite teams,” al-Marayati said. “We’re all trying to protect our country from another terrorist attack.”

In 2004, his group started the “National Anti-Terrorism Campaign,” urging Muslims to monitor their own communities, speak out more boldly against violence and work with law enforcement. Hundreds of U.S. mosques have signed on, al-Marayati said.

[...]

Imam Muhammad Musri, head of the Islamic Society of Central Florida, said he has tried to address this problem in the eight mosques he oversees in the Orlando area.

He regularly invites law enforcement officials to speak with local Muslims and encourages mosque members to come to him with any suspicions, even if they overhear something said in jest. Musri says he also speaks regularly with local FBI and police to establish a relationship in case a real threat emerges.

“Here in Central Florida, talking to most people, they are literally upset by the actions of Muslims—or so-called Muslims—overseas in Europe and the Middle East, because they say, ‘We wish they would come and see how we’re doing here,’” Musri said. “We know who the real enemy is—someone who might come from the outside and try to infiltrate us. Everybody is on the lookout.”