The stamp actually came out about two weeks BEFORE 9/11, so it's really not all that "new".
As the USPS describes the stamp:
The Eid stamp commemorates the two most important festivals -- or eids -- in the Islamic calendar: Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha. On these days, Muslims wish each other "Eid mubarak," the phrase featured in Islamic calligraphy on the stamp. "Eid mubarak" translates literally as "blessed festival," and can be paraphrased as "May your religious holiday be blessed." This phrase can be applied to both Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha.
The word "eid" is roughly equivalent to the English word "celebration" or "festival." The three-day Eid al-Fitr celebrates the end of the month-long fasting of Ramadan; the three-day Eid al-Adha commemorates the willingness of the Prophet Abraham to sacrifice his son Ishmael in response to God's command, and it marks the end of Hajj, the annual Muslim pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca. In both 2001 and 2002 (by the Gregorian calendar) Eid al-Fitr fell in December, so the USPS issued the Eid stamp to coincide with other entries in their "Holiday Celebrations" series which commemorate holidays (Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa) occurring around the same time of year.
The Eid stamp is not a "semi-postal" issue sold for a price higher than the first-class postage rate in order to raise money for a particular cause (as the breast cancer stamp is), and all the revenues from the stamp's sales go to the USPS. In no way will buying this stamp help to fund terrorists (unless they're working for the USPS), so boycotting the Eid stamp is purely a symbolic act.
Should we boycott a stamp commemorating Islamic holidays as "a slap in the face to all those Americans who died at the hands of those whom this stamp honors" because some Muslims have perpetrated attacks against Americans, even though not all Muslims are terrorists (or support terrorism, or despise the USA), and America itself is home to millions of Muslims? The President of the United States apparently doesn't think so, as President Bush has extended greetings, issued messages, and participated in commemorations of both Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha (even after the September 11 attacks), and the White House web site promotes the Eid stamp as well. If it's appropriate for the President to honor these holidays, it ought to be appropriate for the United States Postal Service and the American public as well. If it's not appropriate for the President to honor these holidays, then Americans should be expressing their dissatisfaction through actions a little stronger than merely boycotting a postage stamp.
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VP #2 for the Coalition of Angry Micks, and the best goddamn American ever.
"You can tell some lies about the good times you've had/But I've kissed your mother twice and now I'm working on your dad..."
This message was edited by TheMojoPin on 1-8-03 @ 7:46 PM