|
Chronology of Islam in America (2007)
By Abdus Sattar Ghazali
November 2007 Page II
School urged to address threat against Muslim girl
Nov 12: The Council on American-Islamic Relations called on Pinellas County (Florida) school officials to investigate a threat it says was made against a sixth-grade Muslim girl at Azalea Middle School. The 11-year-old girl, Hannah, told reporters she's afraid to go to back to school after a boy pulled off her head scarf and the next day threatened to shoot and kill her. "I feel so afraid," she said. "I should just switch schools." According to CAIR, Hannah and her parents, this is what happened: The boy had been harassing the girl for about a week. He had punched her and pushed her up against the wall, choking her. He had tugged at her head scarf, and last Wednesday, he pulled it off her head. Hannah began crying and was told by the teacher to go to the bathroom to fix her scarf. She said she asked to have her seat moved to get away from the boy, but was told she would have to work for it. The next day, the boy told the girl he was going to go home and get a gun to shoot and kill her. Ahmed Bedier executive director of CAIR's Tampa chapter, said the boy didn't say anything against Muslims, so there's no way to know yet whether the harassment was directed at Hannah solely because of her religion. He said Hannah is the only girl in the school who wears a hijab. "I wear the head scarf because I love my faith," Hannah told reporters. "It was my choice … My mom is my role model, and she teaches me to put the head scarf on. She teaches me to be a good Muslim." (The Tampa Tribune)
Tancredo's anti-terror ad exploits anti-Muslim bias
Nov 13: Rep. Tom Tancredo defended a controversial TV ad Ttoday that depicted a hooded terrorist blowing up a shopping mall, despite allegations by some that the congressman was engaging in fear-mongering. The 30-second spot, which has started running in Iowa, links a potential terrorist attack to U.S. immigration policy, with a voice condemning porous borders and "spineless politicians who refuse to defend our borders against those who kill." It ends with a man leaving a backpack in a shopping area before a loud explosion is heard, followed by the words "Tancredo ... before it's too late." "There are people in this country who are preaching hatred from mosques. There are people who are planning to do bad things beyond getting the job that other Americans don't want," Tancredo said in a phone interview. "He's obviously seeking to exploit the unfortunately rising level of anti-Muslim rhetoric in our society to promote his own political agenda," said Ibrahim Hooper, spokesperson for the advocacy group Council on American-Islamic Relations. (The Denver Post)
CAIR initiative to enhance understanding of Islam in the media
Nov 13: CAIR today called on Muslims to support a major new initiative to help improve coverage of Islam in the American news media. At a press conference in the nation's capital, CAIR said the centerpiece of its "Beyond Stereotypes" campaign will be distribution of the newly-published "American Muslims: A Journalist's Guide to Understanding Islam and Muslims" to some 40,000 media professionals nationwide. CAIR's new guide offers journalists the tools needed to gain a better understanding of Islam and to write accurate and balanced stories about Muslims. The guide also offers background information on issues related to Islam and Muslims, best practices for reporting on the American Muslim community and definitions of terminology often used in news stories or editorials. (CAIR Bulletin)
LA Police Department cancels Muslim profiling program
Nov 15: Amid an uproar by Muslim and civil right groups, the LA Police Department today shelved its program to ‘map’ (read profile) Muslims in the Greater Los Angeles where at least 500,000 Muslims reside. After a meeting with the Muslim leaders, LAPD Chief William Bratton declared the plan “dead on arrival.” “It is over and not just put on the side,” said Chief Bratton. The meeting was moderated by Deputy Mayor of Los Angeles Arif Alikhan and attended by LAPD Deputy Chief Mike Downing, one of the “mapping” plan's original architects. Chief Bratton acknowledged the hurt and offense caused to Muslims and agreed to send a letter to the Muslim community announcing the official termination of the “mapping” plan. Several representatives from other religious and civil rights organizations turned out to support the Muslims. They included representatives from the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles, the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles, progressive Jewish and Christian organizations and Japanese American civil rights groups. Japanese Americans in particular said they did not want to see anyone targeted the way their community was singled out before and during World War II. (AMP Report)
Federal court ruling in "state secrets" lawsuit about warrantless wiretapping
Nov 16: The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in San Francisco ruled today that a charity that sued President Bush for engaging in unconstitutional surveillance can pursue its case in court. The Bush administration had asked the appellate court to dismiss the suit on the grounds that the very subject matter of the litigation – the National Security Agency's warrantless wiretapping program – was a state secret. The Ninth Circuit rejected this argument, noting that the government had publicly acknowledged the surveillance program and that senior officials had discussed the program in press conferences and statements. (ACLU)
Hundreds convicted using faulty FBI tool
Nov 18: Hundreds of defendants sitting in prisons nationwide have been convicted with the help of an FBI forensic tool that was discarded more than two years ago. But the FBI lab has yet to take steps to alert the affected defendants or courts, even as the window for appealing convictions is closing, a joint investigation by The Washington Post and "60 Minutes" has found. The science, known as comparative bullet-lead analysis, was first used after President John F. Kennedy's assassination in 1963. The technique used chemistry to link crime-scene bullets to ones possessed by suspects on the theory that each batch of lead had a unique elemental makeup. In 2004, however, the nation's most prestigious scientific body concluded that variations in the manufacturing process rendered the FBI's testimony about the science "unreliable and potentially misleading." Specifically, the National Academy of Sciences said that decades of FBI statements to jurors linking a particular bullet to those found in a suspect's gun or cartridge box were so overstated that such testimony should be considered "misleading under federal rules of evidence." A year later, the bureau abandoned the analysis. But the FBI lab has never gone back to determine how many times its scientists misled jurors. The Post and "60 Minutes" identified at least 250 cases nationwide in which bullet-lead analysis was introduced, including more than a dozen in which courts have either reversed convictions or now face questions about whether innocent people were sent to prison. (Washington Post)
Texas Muslims host interfaith Thanksgiving service at synagogue
Nov 18: For 23 years, Thanksgiving in Austin has come with huge crowds of people in saris, hijabs, clerical robes and yarmulkes, celebrating their similarities. Sunday's 23rd annual Austin Area Interreligious Ministries Interfaith Thanksgiving Celebration marked the first time the service was hosted by Muslims — and it was at a Jewish temple. But the service wasn't without some controversy. Last week, Hyde Park Baptist Church, on whose property the event was originally going to be held, backed out because it objected to non-Christians — particularly Muslims — worshipping at its Quarries location. (American-Statesman)
Mosque arson conviction upheld
Nov 19: The state Appeals Court today upheld convictions of a juvenile in the burning of a mosque in Springfield in 2004. Carlos Escalera, then 15, was convicted in Hampden Juvenile Court of three charges including burning a building, breaking and entering with intent to commit a felony and larceny more than $250. A jury convicted Escalera at a trial in December, 2005. Seven youths were initially charged with the Dec. 8, 2004, fire which gutted the Al Baqi Islamic Center at 495 Union St. in Springfield. Investigators concluded the boys had broken into the mosque to steal money, candy and other items, and then set a fire on the second floor. The mosque building was constructed in 1883. (The Republican)
More Advertisers Refuse to Air 'Savage Nation' Spots
Nov 19: - The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) today announced that two more advertisers have joined a growing list of companies that have stopped advertising or refuse to place their ads on Michael Savage's nationally-syndicated radio program. CAIR said AutoZone, a leading retailer and distributor of automotive parts and accessories, is investigating why its ads recently aired on at least two stations during Savage's program. A representative of TrustedID, an identity theft protection company, wrote to CAIR: "We have already cancelled all our advertising on Michael Savage's radio show last month and our last radio spot ad will run this Monday." (CAIR Bulletin)
Texas church refuses to host interfaith Thanksgiving service
Nov 19: Organizers of an Austin (Texas) interfaith Thanksgiving celebration scrambled to find a new location for the annual event after an evangelical Baptist megachurch objected to Muslims worshipping on its property. Hyde Park Baptist Church notified Austin Area Interreligious Ministries this week that it would not allow the event scheduled for Sunday at Hyde Park's sports complex, known as the Quarries. The Thanksgiving event is in its 23rd year and invites Jews, Muslims, Christians, Hindus, Baha'is and others to worship together. Austin's largest synagogue, Congregation Beth Israel, has now offered to host the celebration. (News8)
Wiretap issue leads judge to warn of retrial of Dr. Timimi
Nov 20 — A federal judge warned today that if the government did not allow lawyers to review classified material on possible wiretapping of an Islamic scholar convicted of inciting terrorism, she might order a new trial for him. The unexpected development is the latest legal complication involving the National Security Agency’s wiretapping program, which has produced challenges from criminal defendants as well as civil lawsuits against the government and phone carriers. Lawyers for Ali al-Timimi, an Islamic scholar in Northern Virginia sentenced to life in prison in 2005 for inciting his followers to commit acts of terrorism, maintain that he may have been illegally wiretapped by the agency as part of its program of eavesdropping without warrants that was approved by President Bush soon after the Sept. 11 attacks. In April 2006, four months after the N.S.A. program was publicly disclosed, an appellate court directed the trial judge in Dr. Timimi’s case to reconsider it in light of his lawyers’ accusations. But the issue has been bogged down in court for 18 months, with intelligence officials making a series of classified appearances before the judge, Leonie M Brinkema, to explain the government’s position. Lawyers for Dr. Timimi and even the trial prosecutors have not been allowed to hear the closed-door discussions. (New York Times)
Muslims dismayed by excessive sentence of Dr. Abdelhaleem Ashqar
Nov 21: Council on American-Muslim Relations today expressed dismay at the more than 11 year sentence given to Dr. Abdelhaleem Ashqar, a Palestinian-American and former professor at Washington's Howard University, for refusing to testify before a grand jury looking into possible terror financing in the Middle East. In Chicago, U.S. District Judge Amy St. Eve today sentenced Abdelhaleem Ashqar to more than 11 years in prison and fined $5,000 for refusing to testify before the federal grand jury. Although a jury in February this year acquitted Dr. Ashqar of all terror-related charges, the federal prosecution sought a life term, a sentence that would not normally be imposed unless he had been convicted of the most serious charge against him. Before being sentenced, Dr. Ashqar delivered a nearly two-hour passionate statement describing the suffering of Palestinian people under the Israeli occupation. He said he would rather go to prison than betray his people as they strive to free themselves from Israeli occupation. "The only option was to become a traitor or collaborator and that is something that I can't do and will never do as long as I live," he told the court. (AMP Report)
Imams’ bias suit against US Airways upheld
Nov. 21: A federal judge today ruled that a lawsuit filed by six imams against US Airways and a Minneapolis airport can proceed. The lawsuit was filed by the six Imams who say that they were singled out because they prayed prior to getting on the plane. The Imams, returning home from the North American Conference of Imams on November 20, 2006, were taken off the plane handcuffed and detained for several hours. In a 41-page opinion Judge Ann Montgomery, in Minneapolis, said that the imams have a plausible claim that their constitutional rights may have been violated. (Media Reports)
Page III
|
