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Chronology of Islam in America (2013)
By Abdus Sattar Ghazali
April 2013 - Page Two
Ohio Mosque arsonist sentenced to 20 year in prison
April 17: The Washington-based Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR today welcomed a 20-year jail sentence for the man who set fire to a Toledo, Ohio, mosque in September 2012 because he wanted to avenge the killings of American soldiers overseas. The nation's largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization said Randolph Linn, 52, of St. Joe, Ind., was also ordered to pay restitution of more than $1.4 million. “We welcome the lengthy sentence in this case and hope it sends the message to those who might consider committing such acts of terror that they will ultimately face the full weight of the law,” said CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad. ”We thank the Department of Justice for the swift investigation and successful prosecution of this case.”He noted that CAIR offered a $5,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the perpetrator. [CAIR]
Oklahoma governor signs anti-Islam bill
April 19: The debate over Sharia Law in state courtrooms has been going on for years.Today, Governor Mary Fallin signed new legislation to stop the use foreign laws when they violate the Oklahoma Constitution. House Bill 1060 would also ban foreign laws if they violate the United States Constitution.More than 70-percent of Oklahoma voters approved a ballot question that singled out Sharia law in 2010. The Council of American-Islamic Relations then sued for discrimination. Muneer Awad, with CAIR, said, “The tradition that comes out of this practice, the practice of Islam, the Muslim faith, it points to these things as a threat to the American way of life.” The court agreed with CAIR saying you can’t specifically ban Sharia Law. This year lawmakers in the Oklahoma House of Representatives wrote a new law in more broad terms. Senator Anthony Sykes told Fox News, “They’re going to have their way over the voice of the people, which in some ways is what Sharia is all about, kind of ironic.” House Bill 1060, which passed by wide margins in the Oklahoma House of Representatives and the Oklahoma Senate, takes effect November 1. [KRMG Radio]
U.S. Muslims fear backlash after the Boston bombing suspects were identified as Muslim
April 19: Several prominent American Muslim civil advocacy groups held a news conference in Washington today to condemn the Boston marathon bombings as the world learned the two suspects were natives of Chechnya, a predominantly Muslim region. The April 15 blasts at the finish line of the world-famous event killed three people and injured 176. The FBI identified Chechen brothers Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev as the bombing suspects. Tamerlan died in a blazing shootout with police yesterday while Dzhokhar eluded capture, triggering a massive manhunt. Dzhokhar was arrested today. He had been hiding in the stern of a boat parked in the backyard of a house in Watertown. A Massachusetts State Police spokesman said Tsarnaev was bleeding and in serious condition in a Boston hospital. In his prepared statement at the National Press Club news conference, CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad said: “Americans are united today in condemning terrorism and in the conviction that those responsible for the terrorist attacks in Boston must face justice. This cowardly attack resulted in the murders of an eight-year-old-boy and two women, and the wounding of many others. As God tells us in the Quran, if you murder one person, it is as if you murdered all of humanity. While we are outraged at the terrorists, we have been inspired by the unity of Americans of all backgrounds. We are a resilient people. Now that we know the identity of the perpetrators, this unity is ever more important. We will show the terrorists that their plan to sow division and distrust has failed. People of goodwill are not afraid. America will stay united. We will not turn on each other in the acts of false vengeance we have witnessed after other tragedies in the past. We reiterate the American Muslim community’s consistent condemnation of terrorism in all its forms.” Organizations represented at the news conference included: Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA), Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), Masjid Muhammad (Washington, D.C.) and Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC).
Woman attacked by man accusing Muslims of marathon bombings
A mother of Middle Eastern heritage wearing an Islamic headscarf, or hijab, was assaulted yesterday morning in Malden, Mass., by a white male shouting anti-Muslim slurs. The victim told CAIR the attack occurred when she was walking with another Muslim woman also wearing hijab, while both were pushing baby strollers. She said the alleged attacker shouted, "F*** you, f*** Muslims, you are terrorists," and struck her forcefully on the shoulder. The man, who appeared to be in his 30s, also reportedly made statements blaming Muslims for the Boston Marathon bombings. Local police were on the scene within minutes after the woman called 911 on her cell phone. Boston Globe identified the woman as Heba Abolaban from Syria. Abolaban and her husband, Ahmad Almujased, also a physician, moved to Malden about a year and a half ago from Syria. [CAIR]
DuPage Not Ready to Issue Permit for Mosque
April 20: Planners of an Islamic worship center just over the eastern edge of Naperville are still awaiting a permit from DuPage County, Illinois. Officials have yet to respond to a March 29 federal ruling that found the county erred in January 2010 when it denied a conditional use permit for the Irshad Learning Center. The organization of local families wants to open a mosque and Saturday school on a three-acre parcel on 75th Street that most recently was home to a preschool. The property abuts subdivisions where some residents vigorously objected to the proposal, predicting the center would bring unwanted traffic, noise and potential flooding problems. Northern Illinois U.S. District Court Judge Rebecca R. Pallmeyer opined that the county violated constitutional provisions protecting the group’s religious freedom, but did not discriminate against the members, most of whom hail from Iran and have lived in the Naperville-Lisle area for many years. Pallmeyer did cite the influence of local activists in the county’s decision process, however. Some opposed to the project pressed for its rejection “for reasons that suggest religious, racial, or national origin bias and prejudice,” she wrote. [Sun-Times Media]
Every time a bomb goes off, the surveillance state grows stronger
April 24: The impulse that seizes politicians in the wake of terrorist attacks would be comically ironic if it were not so frightening. For historical context, consider that the Boston Marathon is run every year on Patriots Day, which honors the men who shaped America’s tradition of freedom and due process. These include lawyer John Adams, who offered representation to such unpopular specimens as the eight British soldiers who shot into a crowd of protesters at the Boston Massacre of March 5, 1770. (The defendants claimed self-defence. Six were acquitted.) Yet now, following another Boston massacre 243 years later, Republican Senator Lindsey Graham has declared: “I hope [the] administration will at least consider holding the Boston suspect as enemy combatant for intelligence gathering purposes” — and “the last thing we may want to do is read Boston suspect Miranda Rights telling him to ‘remain silent.’” [Jonathan Kay - Information Clearing House]
FBI investigates vandalism at Oklahoma City mosque as potential hate crime
April 27: Vandals spray-painted a profane message on an Oklahoma City mosque early today, and the FBI is investigating it as a potential hate crime and raising questions about whether the incident was a backlash because of the Boston Marathon bombings. FBI spokesman Rick Rains said, “We are certainly aware of that incident this morning, and we have been notified, and are investigating to determine if it does fit the criteria for a hate crime,” he said. “We're investigating it as a potential hate crime.” Oklahoma City police were initially called about 5 a.m. to the mosque. Hassan Ahmed, the imam of the Grand Mosque, said he was the first member of his congregation to see the vandalism because he was first to arrive at the house of worship today. He said vandals painted the words “Hale (sic) Satan” along with a four-letter profanity and a racial slur on the mosque's exterior. He said the vandals also drew a phallic shape on the building. A leader with the Council on American-Islamic Relations-Oklahoma chapter asked state and federal authorities to investigate whether the vandalism was motivated by the marathon bombing or bias against the Islamic faith, said CAIR-OK Executive Director Adam Soltani. “We're afraid that although we have condemned those acts over and over again, and our faith doesn't support acts of violence or terrorism, we're afraid people may be using that as an excuse to attack the local Muslim community,” Soltani said. The two suspects in the April 15 Boston Marathon bombing are Muslim. Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19, is in custody at a federal prison hospital, and his brother Tamerlan, 26, died after a shoot-out with police April 19. [Newsok]
Man arrested in hate crime incident at Seattle Center
April 28: A group of Arab-Americans was harassed while visiting Seattle Center's International Fountain, according to Seattle Police. Around 7 p.m. Saturday, police say a man, who is white, began shouting demeaning questions at the women in the group, such as how many husbands they had. The men in the group tried to intervene and asked the suspect to leave the group alone. Police say the suspect then took an aggressive fighting stance, according to police, and told them he was going to get a gun and "shoot them all." Members of the targeted group called 911 and police arrived within minutes. The 52-year-old man was arrested for investigation of malicious harassment, the state's hate crime statute, and booked into the King County Jail. [Komonews]
On Right Wing comments about Boston bombing
April 29: The Boston bombing has brought back a familiar RW argument: that "those Muslims" and "us Christians" are very different. The Boston Marathon has predictably provoked a renewal of right-wing religious chauvinism, as Islamaphobes try to claim that one religion above all is associated with violent imagery. The logic often, and quickly, takes a turn that compares the Christian Old Testament (incorrectly equating it with the Hebrew Bible), with the New Testament. The argument goes that the Old Testament (and Jewish law) are focused on justice - i.e., crimes and their punishments - while the New Testament is focused on forgiveness and mercy. To make matters worse, another incorrect idea: that the United States is a "Christian nation" - usually gets added to the mix, creating a full circle of self-satisfying us vs. them mentality.... (Comments by Scottie Nell Hughes of the Tea Party News Network about the bombing) -like many similar ones I have heard of late - has the unfortunate effect of maligning Muslims, misunderstanding Judaism, marginalizing all minority religions in the U.S., and generally feeding a false sense of Western superiority. [Amy Fried by Terrorism, Islam and What The Christian Right Needs to Know About Judaism]
Muslim Day at the Capitol in Sacramento
April 30: More than 150 members of the California Muslim community converged today at the Capitol in Sacramento to participated in “Muslim Day.” This was the second Muslim Day at the Capitol sponsored by the Council on American-Islamic Relations, the largest Muslim civil liberties and advocacy organization. The event is aimed at promoting community engagement in local politics and to discuss issues of interest to the Muslim community with legislators. According to CAIR, Muslims from across the state held about 110 meetings with their legislators in Sacramento and engaged them on three critical issues in efforts to promote equality and diversity within the state. These issues were: the Trust Act (AB 4), a bill that seeks to keep immigration enforcement at the federal level and strengthen trust between law enforcement and immigrant communities; the California Domestic Worker Bill of Rights (AB 241), a bill that aims to protect domestic workers, strengthen stability in the industry and improve the quality of care for Californians by creating uniform and clear industry-wide standards; and a push for free speech legislation that approaches campus issues in a manner that remains faithful to the First Amendment, addresses the sensitivities and concerns of different groups and proceeds with a diversity of viewpoints represented at the table. [AMP Report]
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