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Chronology of Islam in America (2007)
By Abdus Sattar Ghazali
July 2007 Page III
Report card on prejudice in America
July 23: Most Americans believe their fellow citizens hold strong biases against minorities, according to a landmark poll by Zogby International commissioned by GSN. The survey of 10,387 American adults, one of the most comprehensive ever conducted on prejudice, according to Zogby, explores attitudes about race, religion, age, sexual orientation, gender, physical appearance, and politics. The "Report Card on American Prejudice" is part of a wide-ranging effort by GSN to spur a national dialogue on intolerance and bigotry. The survey's release provides a powerful follow-up to the July 17th premiere of the groundbreaking new television series, "Without Prejudice?" which airs Tuesdays at 9 pm (EST) on GSN -- the network for games. On Race: While 67% of respondents claimed to have no preference themselves between a white, black or Arab clerk in a convenience store, 71% said, "most Americans" would seek out the white clerk. Just 1% said Americans' first choice would be to approach a black clerk, while less than 0.5% said the same for an Arab clerk. And yet, ironically, 55% of respondents said race relations have improved over the past 10 years. (Newswire)
Many oppose new mosque in Ann Arbor, Michigan
July 24: A hearing on a proposed mosque along Ellsworth Road in Ypsilanti Township drew more than 150 people today, with most of them opposing the project. The Hidaya Muslim Community Association is proposing an 85,770-square-foot-community center on seven acres. The project includes a mosque, a recreation facility, an educational center and 264 parking spaces.The project would cost about $6 million and would be built in phases. The township Planning Commission held the hearing today but postponed voting on the project until the association addresses issues regarding access and utility easements. Neighbors at the hearing also expressed concerns about increased traffic, loudspeakers sounding the call to prayer five times a day, the holding of late functions for a large number of people, having dormitories in the facility, and holding functions during the last 10 days of Ramadan, the month of fasting for Muslims. (Ann Arbor News)
Muslim support for suicide attacks down sharply
July 24: Popular support for suicide bombings has dropped sharply across the Muslim world in what could suggest a rejection of Islamist militant tactics among Muslims, a global survey released today said. The 2007 Pew Global Attitudes survey, based on polling data from 47 countries, also showed waning confidence in al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden among Muslims but said the United States is viewed as the biggest threat by a majority of people in Muslim countries. "The marked decline in the acceptance of suicide bombing is one of several findings that suggest a possible broader rejection of extremist tactics among many in the Muslim world," the Washington-based Pew Research Center said in a report that accompanied the data.Nearly six years after the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington, Pew found dwindling support for suicide bombings in seven of eight Muslim countries since 2002. (Reuters)
Trial begins for leaders of Holy Land Foundation
July 24: A group that was once the nation's largest Muslim charity went on trial on terrorism-support charges today. The trial of the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development is expected to last several months and caps an FBI investigation that lasted more than a decade. The organization and five of its top officials are charged with aiding terrorists, conspiracy and money laundering. Prosecutor James T. Jacks said in his opening statement that the foundation was created to raise money for the Palestinian militant group Hamas. The charity's leaders lied about their purpose "because to tell the truth is to reveal what they were all about — the destruction of the state of Israel and replacing it with a Palestinian Islamic state," he said. Defense attorneys say Holy Land supported humanitarian efforts in Palestinian neighborhoods and did not knowingly aid Hamas. "Holy Land had nothing to do with politics. Its focus was on children in need," Nancy Hollander, lawyer for Holy Land chief executive Shukri Abu Baker, said in her opening statement. Defense lawyers said Holy Land approached U.S. officials, including prosecutor Jacks, asking how to stay on the right side of the law while working in the Middle East. The five men on trial aren't accused of being terrorists. Rather, they are charged with funneling $36 million to individuals and groups tied to Hamas, including $12.4 million sent after Clinton's designation.Prosecutors today dropped six of the 42 counts in the 2004 indictment against the men related to specific financial transactions. (Houston Chronicle)
Agents raid two Muslim charities in Michigan
July 24: Federal agents raided two Shi'ite Muslim charities today in Dearborn, one of which the government said funneled money raised in the United States to Iran-backed terrorist groups in the Middle East. In a news release, the U.S. Treasury Department said that the Goodwill Charitable Organization is a Hizballah front group that solicits money from Hizballah members who live in the United States. "We will not allow organizations that support terrorism to raise money in the United States," said Stuart Levey, the Treasury Department's undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence. The other charity that was raided, Al-Mabarrat Charitable Organization, often holds fund-raisers in metro Detroit and enjoys support from many in the area. Federal officials maintain its founder, Hussein Fadlallah, is the spiritual leader of Hizballah and a terrorist. But the Treasury Department did not designate Al-Mabarrat as a terrorist group, which means it technically can still operate. According to tax records, Goodwill Charitable received $167,628 in contributions in 2005 and $202,500 in 2004. Al-Mabarrat raised $954,027 in 2004, according to its tax records. (Detroit Free Press)
Muslims upset by FBI raid of charity
July 25: For $500 a year, you could sponsor a needy orphan in Lebanon through the Dearborn office of the Al-Mabarrat Charitable Organization. And many metro Detroiters did -- through fund-raisers in mosques and boxes at Dearborn restaurants that read "Orphan's happiness depends on your donation." Even some politicians gave money, including U.S. Rep. John Dingell, a Dearborn Democrat. His chief of staff said Wednesday that the congressman cut a check of about $100 to the group during a Ramadan dinner in October 2004. And so the raid of Al-Mabarrat has unnerved many in metro Detroit's Muslim communities, some of whom met today to discuss how to deal with it. Al-Mabarrat and another Muslim group, Goodwill Charitable Organization, were raided by the FBI and other federal agencies, the same day the U.S. Treasury Department declared Goodwill Charitable to be a front for Hizballah and froze its assets.But the Treasury Department did not name Al-Mabarrat as a terrorist group, leaving many Muslims confused about the government's actions. Al-Mabarrat is still allowed to operate, though agents hauled away its documents and computers, making it difficult to function, Muslim leaders said. (Detroit Free Press )
9/11 bill prompts civil liberties groups, some Democrats to warn of racial profiling
July 25: As Democratic leaders crowed today about nearing completion of a bill to implement the 9/11 Commission recommendations, some civil liberty advocates and lawmakers were furious that conferees slipped in language that they said could substantially increase racial profiling across the country. The measure would grant liability protection for people who divulge information to authorities about possible terrorist actions. It was included in the conference report at the insistence of Republicans, with support from a key independent and some Democrats. The final provision is not as far-reaching as previous versions. It would only apply to people giving information in good faith and would not protect those making false statements with “reckless disregard” for the truth, aides said. (The Hill)
Hate-mongering Hannity and FOX News target NYC Arab school,
falsely paint it as Muslim madrassa
July 26: Just one day after Sean Hannity held himself up as a standard bearer for journalistic integrity, he and FOX News embarked on a smear campaign against a new NYC public school that will focus on Middle Eastern studies. An article in the New York Sun makes clear that the school will be neither politically nor religiously oriented. Yet Hannity and FOX repeatedly called it a Muslim school and deliberately tried to depict it as a training ground for terrorists. As the New York Sun reported, the Khalil Gibran International Academy, a public secondary school, will focus on culture, not the region's political conflicts. "The school will not be a vehicle for political ideology," a Department of Education spokesman, David Cantor, said of the Khalil Gibran International Academy, due to open this September in Brooklyn. But Hannity and FOX News repeatedly referred to it as a Muslim school and implied that it will cater to extremists-in-training. In one teaser, Hannity called it an “all Muslim school” being funded by tax dollars. While he spoke, B roll footage showed scenes from 9/11 in a not-so-subtle effort to tie the school to terrorists. In another teaser, a chyron read, “Islam 101?” as Hannity claimed New York was “blurring the line between separation of church and state.” In yet another, Hannity asked, “Will this be the breeding ground for radicals?” The chyron said, “Funding fatwa?” (New Hounds)
ADC reiterates call for an end to NSEERS
July 26: The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) reiterates it call for the end of the National Security Entry-Exit Registration System (NSEERS) and "Special Registration" program. The ADC called on President Bush, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Chertoff, and Attorney General Gonzales to completely terminate this program and address its negative residual effects. ADC President Hon. Mary Rose Oakar said, “NSEERS targets only people from Arab and Muslim countries, along with North Korea, that is discrimination based on national origin. It is time to end the Shame of NSEERS." ADC has noted that approximately 84,000 Arabs and Muslims registered voluntarily and subsequently about 14,000 were subjected to deportation hearings for voluntarily complying with the program. Yet, no registrants were charged with terrorism. It seems clear that NSEERS has become just another tool used in immigration enforcement and law enforcement in general, which raises serious constitutional issues as the program clearly discriminates on the basis of national origin. (ADC Press Release)
Albanian Muslims seek OK for site in a New Jersey township
July 26: A federal judge is weighing whether (New Jersey township) Wayne's attempt to take property owned by an Albanian Muslim group fits the legal description of religious discrimination. But first U.S. District Judge Peter G. Sheridan must determine whether the law -- which protects religious institutions from discrimination through land use regulations -- applies in a lawsuit the Albanian Associated Fund has brought against the township. The Fund's complaint is being supported by U.S. Justice Department officials who contend that the township conducted an irregular review of a Fund application to build a mosque and community center on the property. Reflecting the township's legal position, Wayne Mayor Scott Rumana has said the Colfax Road property is unsuitable for development because of steep slopes and rock outcroppings, prompting its targeting for open space preservation. (The Record)
Prayer OK at lunch at San Diego school
July 27: A San Diego school that drew international attention for setting aside time for Muslim students to pray in the classroom will no longer do so. Instead, Carver Elementary's schedule will be reconfigured so students can say their required midday prayers during lunch. Courts have long upheld students' rights to pray on their own during lunch or recess. Another controversial element of Carver's educational program geared toward Muslim students – single-gender classes – will be eliminated. Superintendent Carl Cohn stressed in memo that single-gender education is legal under federal law, but at Carver it “has become a serious distraction from learning rather than a vehicle to promote learning.” (San Diego Union-Tribune)
Ex-student in Quran flush freed on no bail
July 28: A former Pace University student, Stanislav Shmulevich, 23, accused of flushing two Qurans down a campus toilet was freed without bail after being arraigned on criminal mischief charges in Manhattan Criminal Court. Shmulevich was a student at Pace when he threw the Muslim holy books in the toilet on Oct. 13 and Nov. 21, police said. He was busted after cops discovered a surveillance camera that filmed him leaving the meditation room where the Korans had been kept before the vandalism. Prosecutors asked for $1,500 bail for Shmulevich, who now works at a European banking firm. But a judge denied the request, citing his otherwise clean record. (New York Daily News)
Controversy stirs at Christians United for Israel summit
July 28: Christians United for Israel met with Congress members last week as part of the second annual Christians United for Israel (CUFI) Summit. Led by Pastor John Hagee, the group called on Congress to support pre-emptive military action on Iran and to oppose a two-state solution for the conflict between Israel and Palestine. Journalist Max Blumenthal brought a video camera into the summit and interviewed attendees about the motivation behind CUFI. According to CUFI members, the return of Jesus depends on the protection of Israel, and a peaceful coexistence between Israel and its neighbors is contrary to the Biblical prophecy of the Rapture. Blumenthal asked some hard questions and was escorted out of the summit. Hagee told reporters that "our support of Israel has absolutely nothing to do with end-times prophecy. It has absolutely nothing to do with eschatology." Alternet's Sarah Posner asked one of Hagee's public relations people about CUFI and eschatology. She said that Hagee wears two hats: one as preacher, the other as political activist. (Minnesota Monitor)
Arab boy bound & beaten in class, suit says
Jly 31: Two Brooklyn schoolgirls allegedly bound a boy of Arab descent with tape, locked him in a classroom closet and bombarded him for eight minutes with ethnic slurs before their substitute fourth-grade teacher did anything. The shocking charges are laid out in a lawsuit filed in Federal Court seeking unspecified damages for 10-year-old Abdulla Mohammed, who was 9 at the time. The boy suffered "severe personal injuries - humiliation, ridicule and gross embarrassment" from the incident in his fourth-grade classroom at Public School 114 in Canarsie on Oct. 26, (2006) said his lawyer, Michael Lazarowitz. The suit blames the city and Education Department for failing to supervise the school. (New York Daily News)
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