 |
Chronology of Islam in America (2014)
By Abdus Sattar Ghazali
September 2014
Muslim cemetery proposed for Idaho creates stir
Sept 1: The Islamic Community of Bosniaks in Boise submitted a proposal for a license to use land outside Kuna as a cemetery. The proposal was appealed, and a public meeting will be held to comments about the appeal and the proposed cemetery. The ICBB applied to build a 10-acre cemetery and a chapel on 36 acres. Due to Islamic burial practices, a Kuna resident sent a letter issuing concerns about to the sanitation and appearance of the cemetery. According to the Islamic beliefs, bodies are not embalmed and not buried in coffins. The body is sheathed in white cotton or linen cloth.[Idaho Press]
Muslim groups speak out against beheading
Sept 3: Washington, DC, area Muslim groups are speaking out against the beheading of journalist Steven Sotloff by ISIS militants, the group that similarly killed journalist James Foley last month. "We unequivocally condemn these brutal attacks and beheadings. These are not Islamic practices. This is just violent evil that has no religion and no faith," says Rizwan Jaka, a member of the board of trustees of the All Dulles Area Muslim Society. With 10 branches in Northern Virginia and D.C., the group -- that calls itself by its acronym ADAMS -- is one of the biggest mosques in the United States. "Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of both journalists in this very, very difficult time and we hope and pray that ISIS can be defeated," Jaka says. The D.C.-based Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation's largest Muslim-American civil rights group, has added its voice to the condemnations. "No words can describe the horror, disgust and sorrow felt by Muslims in America and worldwide at the unconscionable and un-Islamic violence perpetrated by the terror group ISIS," says CAIR in a written statement. [WTOP]
Arab civil rights activists attacked, threatened with beheading in Brooklyn
Sept 3: An Arab civil rights activist was attacked in Brooklyn today by a man who hurled slurs and threatened to behead her to “see how your people feel about it,” authorities and the victim said. Linda Sarsour, 34, director of the Arab American Association of New York, was leaving the group's headquarters on Fifth Ave. in Bay Ridge when Brian Boshell, 45, allegedly threatened her, called her an “Arab b----" and insulted her in Arabic. Boshell, who is white, then allegedly chucked a trash can at her and a woman walking with her, Sarsour said. Neither woman was injured.“It was out of nowhere, like he had taken a shot of Red Bull,” said the Palestinian American Sarsour. She said she had called the police reporting Boshell as a suspicious person before the attack, but officers didn’t respond until afterward. Sarsour vented her anger at the allegedly slow response on her Facebook page. Boshell was charged with menacing and aggravated harassment as a hate crime and criminal possession of weapon. [New York Daily News]
‘Elevating Muslim American Culture’
Sept 5: Over the Labor Day weekend, the Islamic Society of North America held its annual convention in Detroit at Cobo Hall. This was the 51st annual gathering of the Muslim society with the goal of developing better relations between the global Muslim community, improving interfaith relations and civic engagement, and furthering the religious studies of Islam. The theme for this year’s annual convention was “Generations Rise: Elevating Muslim American Culture,” promoting the needs and values of the next generation of Muslims in America. Among the dozens of seminars throughout the weekend, promoting social justice was a common issue. Among the themes for social justice discussed by prominent Muslim American scholars, community leaders and politicians were labor rights, women’s rights, environmentalism, racism and freedom from police brutality. “We have had four decades of income inequality and wage stagnation, and we better get real clear on what opportunity is about,” said U.S. Congressman Keith Ellison, D-Minn., a Detroit native and the first Muslim American elected to Congress. “It’s about education, it’s about public investment, it’s about giving workers some bargaining power on the job.” Citing a Surah from the Qu’ran, Ellison urged Muslims in America to give new consideration for the fair treatment of workers and becoming an example of fair economic practices. [The Michigan Citizen]
Christian magazine op-ed calls for holy war against all Muslims
Sept 9: Over the weekend, a prominent Christian magazine published an op-ed in which a pastor calls for genocide against the world's 1.6 billion Muslims. Entitled "Why I am absolutely Islamophobic," the Charisma magazine article claimed that "every true follower of Muhammad wants to ... subjugate or murder you" and called for outright holy war, demanding that "we crush the vicious seed of Ishmael in Jesus' Name." After the article went viral, Charisma yanked it off their website, but they still haven't apologized or published a retraction. And their website still has plenty of other extremist Islamophobic content, including a video claiming that "ISIL speaks for Islam." Charisma is one of the oldest and most-read evangelical publications in the country -- and they need to hear immediately from Christians of every denominational, political, and theological persuasion that this kind of hateful content is deeply unchristian and unacceptable. A petition was circulated reading: "Calling for genocide against Muslims is deeply unchristian. Please offer an immediate apology for publishing Gary Cass's article, and stop publishing all Islamophobic content." [www.act.faithfulamerica.org]
Muslim Holiday on Maryland County's School Calendar
Sept 9: The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation's largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today submitted testimony to Maryland's Montgomery County Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Joshua Starr and the Board of Education seeking recognition of the Islamic holiday of Eid al-Adha on the 2015-16 school calendar. The school board met today in Rockville, Md., to discuss items of public interest and is expected to vote on the school calendar later this fall. Montgomery County Muslims have been seeking inclusion of the Eid holiday for over a decade. CAIR's testimony read in part: "Federal law grants Americans the right to equal and fair treatment and reasonable religious accommodation in the school place regardless of faith. Montgomery County is widely known to pride itself on being diverse and tolerant. This makes it even more troubling that the American Muslim community here continues to be marginalized and treated differently.In 2015, Eid al-Adha falls on September 23rd. Schools will be closed in observance of the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur, and the MCPS school calendar will state this. However, a significant number of students will also be celebrating Eid al-Adha on this same day. In the interest of fairness and equality, we respectfully urge that the Board of Education not marginalize these students, and instead acknowledge on the MCPS school calendar that schools are closed for Eid al-Adha in addition to Yom Kippur. We understand that this is a symbolic move, but it is one that would send a strong message that Superintendent Dr. Joshua Starr and the Board of Education treats its students equally regardless of faith." [CAIR]
Religious Right Calls for Deportation Sterilization and Holy War on Muslims
Sept 12: You can’t exactly say that the activities of ISIL have ramped up anti-Muslim hatred in this country despite the efforts by the Religious Right to pain all Muslims with a broad brush. After all, it is still being pointed out by the feckless mainstream media that the supposed threat posed by the “caliphate” to our national security is mostly hype. Rather, ISIL has given anti-Muslim forces an excuse to give full vent to their already existing hatred. We are fairly inundated with lunacy, like the cry of “they want to rule the world!’ Which is funny, because the same is true of Christianity (the Great Commission can be blamed for that). It is hardly a coincidence that a Washington State Republican wants to mandate that all prayers at council meetings be directed to the Christian God. Not even a pretense of religious freedom here. I don’t know about you, but it strikes me that it is not Muslims who are the biggest threat to my religious freedom. And even while WND’s Joseph Farah is claiming that there is no difference between CAIR – the Council on American-Islamic Relations – and ISIL, we see Duck Dynasty’s Phil Robertsonem bracing ISIL’s own policy, that Muslims must “convert or die.” Last I checked CAIR, unlike the Religious Right, was not advocating a policy of “convert or die.” And Larry Klayman, fresh from demanding a holy war against President Obama, is demanding a “holy war” against Islam. Klayman also wants an end to immigration of Muslims and, and oh by the way, American Muslims must be deported because “they have no business in our land.” [Hrafnkell Haraldsson - Politicususa]
Retired General Compares Islam to Nazis
Sept 15: A retired three-star general railed against the Obama administration, political correctness, the media and rules of engagement during a speech tonight at Sandhills Community College. Thomas G. McInerney, who retired from the Air Force in 1994 as a lieutenant general, currently serves as a Fox News military analyst and was invited to speak by the Moore County Republican Party. The general was originally slated to talk about how military downsizing may affect preparedness, but changed his topic to instead address current threats facing the nation. The biggest threat, McInerney said, is radical Islam, and the general said the onus for “cleaning house” has to be on the Muslim community. McInerney said American leaders are afraid of offending Muslims, and said radicals have hidden behind their religion. Earning applause from the audience, he compared Islam to Nazis, Fascism and Communism. “Political correctness is killing us,” he said. “It is a global war against radical Islam. Let's call it what it is ... Islam is not a religion of peace.” [The Fayetteville Observer, NC]
Row over social studies textbooks in Texas
Sept 16: Texas education officials are looking at a long day ahead, as they hear public testimony on the first new proposed social studies textbooks in a dozen years. More than 50 members of the public signed up to speak at the state Board of Education meeting in Austin. They represented groups as diverse as the Sikh Coalition and Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Dallas to Texas Freedom Network and Texas Values Forum. Several college professors and teachers also are slated to speak. Many of the speakers expressed concerns with perceived biases or inaccuracies in the proposed textbooks. David Brockman, a religious studies professor at Southern Methodist University and Brite Divinity School, said some of the texts "paint Islam as more violent than it actually is" by simplifying the meaning of such politically-charged terms as "jihad." Multiple speakers raised specific concerns with information about the religion of Sikhism, one noting how it is incorrectly portrayed in the McGraw Hill World Geography textbook as a conflation of Islam and Hindu teachings. Others, such as retired San Antonio Independent School District teacher Amy Jo Baker, said some of the texts sacrifice accuracy for political correctness. She disagreed with others, like Brockman and Council on American-Islamic Relations in Houston's Mustafa Carroll, that jihad has a wider current meaning than "holy war" and took issue with what she said was a positive portrayal of communism in Cuba. [Houston Chronicle]
NYPD: Hate crimes up against Muslim, Jewish people
Sept 17: Suspected hate crimes against Jewish and Muslim people have increased in New York City following unrest overseas this summer, but the attacks are random and not from any organized group, police officials said today. Deputy Chief Michael Osgood, who heads the special victims division, said there's been an increase since July 1, when reports about the unrest in Gaza and the Islamic State group became front-page news. Before July 1, reports of the crimes were down. Since then, there have been about 18 reports of anti-Semitic crimes per month. So far this year there have been 89 suspected hate crime attacks, up from 64 last year. There have been 17 reported attacks against Muslims, up from seven last year. Fourteen of the attacks on Muslims occurred after July 1. Osgood said at a briefing ahead of the upcoming holy days that the sustained media attention about overseas conflicts creates "an emotional surge" in New York. "Two things occur: A person who would normally not offend now offends, he's moved by the emotion. And the person who normally not report, now reports," Osgood said. [Associated Press]
Oklahoma Republican under fire for racist anti-Muslim comments
Sept 17: Faith and diversity groups in Oklahoma City said today a state lawmaker’s anti-Muslim comments are an effort to incite violence toward those who follow Islam. At a meeting in Sallisaw, Rep. John Bennett, R-Sallisaw, told constituents that “Islam is a cancer on the nation that needs to be cut out.” He previously posted a comment on his Facebook page telling viewers to be wary of those who call themselves Muslim-Americans. The Oklahoma chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations had called on Bennett to apologize and GOP leaders to repudiate the remarks. Bennett stood by his words, and Oklahoma Republican Party Chairman Dave Weston supported Bennett. Today, various groups including CAIR held a press conference in front of the state Republican headquarters just north of the Capitol. Bennett’s remarks have crossed the line from inflammatory into inciting violence against Muslims, said Adam Soltani, executive director of CAIR Oklahoma. As a result of Bennett’s comments, Islamic institutions and their leaders are on alert, Soltani said. If Republican Party leaders remain silent, they bear the burden of any harm that could come to Oklahoma Muslims, Soltani said. Scott J. Hamilton, executive director of the Cimarron Alliance Equality Center in Oklahoma City, said it sounds like Bennett is taking his cues from Adolf Hitler. Ryan Kiesel, ACLU of Oklahoma executive director, said the remark about a “cancer on the nation” amounts to ignorance. “We all have a moral obligation to speak out against such terrible bias, prejudice and hatred,” said Carl Rubenstein, vice president of the Interfaith Alliance of Oklahoma. [Tulsa World] ]
Basketball body allows head coverings on trial basis
Sept 17: International basketball’s governing body (in Mies, Switzerland) said yesterday that players will be allowed to wear religious head coverings, such as hijabs or turbans, on a trial basis in some competitions. FIBA’s central board met over the weekend at the men’s world cup and voted to allow a two-year testing phase that would let players wear head coverings. Previous FIBA rules only allowed a player to wear a 5-centimeter headband to control hair and sweat. That drew objections that the group was discriminating against Muslim and Sikh players, who wear head coverings for religious reasons.Indira Kaljo, a Bosnian-American Muslim who played college basketball at Tulane, was proud when she heard the news. She called it an “amazing first step.” Kaljo said she didn’t wear a hijab in college or while playing professionally in Ireland, but after deciding to adhere more closely to her faith, she started to last year. She wasn’t able to play overseas because of the decision. She played with the head covering on in an American summer league and didn’t want to return to Europe if she wasn’t allowed to wear it.....In 2012, football’s governing body FIFA changed its rules to allow female Muslim players to wear headscarves, after a campaign by executive committee member Prince Ali Bin Al-Hussein of Jordan. [Saudi Gazette]
Case closed on bugging device amid concerns
Sept 17: After almost two years of finding a possible listening device in the Graham Center’s Serenity Room, the Muslim Student Association (Florida) asked the University Police to analyze the bugging device in a forensic lab. Back in 2013, members of MSA contacted the Council of American-Islamic Relations, an organization that promotes the interests of Muslims in the United States, after they found a small metal object embedded in the carpet with wire attached to it while praying in the GC Serenity Room in 343. Nezar Hamze, director of CAIR, received the device from the students and then contacted the United States Attorney’s office to report the incident. That’s when University Police got involved, said Chief of Police Alexander Casas. “We investigated the situation, but in the end, we found there was nothing that we could do,” said Casas. Several agencies that work closely with the police department, like the Miami-Dade Police Department and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, were contacted but denied any participation in the incident. “Their preliminary was that they could not identify it,” said Casas. “It was not theirs and they assured us that it was not a device typical of what they would use in a surveillance.” [Florida International University student media]
Gaza war, ISIS atrocities fueling hate crime spike in New York City
Sept 17: The war in Gaza and the atrocities perpetrated by the Islamic State have fueled a spike in hate crimes against Jews and Muslims in New York City, Police Commissioner Bill Bratton said today. Media coverage of the two major stories to emerge from the Mideast this summer contributed to a 50% combined jump in bias-related attacks against members of the two religions as well as other hate crimes, such as anti-Jewish and anti-Muslim graffiti, Bratton said. “We have seen this before,” Bratton said following the NYPD’s annual High Holy Days briefing. “When there is attention paid to an issue it brings this about, and when there is continued attention, like it was with Gaza, which was stretched out for several weeks, we see a continuing increase.” “A person normally not offended is offended and is moved to take action,” Deputy Chief Michael Osgood of the NYPD’s Hate Crimes Task Force said of the effect of the Mideast violence. [New York Daily News]
Arizona Police Departments Drop Out of Islamophobic Training by John Guandolo
Sept 18: The Arizona chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-AZ) said today that several police departments in that state now say they will not take part in an Islamophobic training of county prosecutors and law enforcement personnel by conspiracy theorist John Guandolo scheduled for tomorrow in Tempe. In a meeting last night with Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery, the sponsor of the Islamophobic training, representatives of CAIR-AZ and state police departments, and leaders of the Arizona Muslim community discussed Guandolo’s false claims such as his recent statement that state Muslim leaders are members of the Muslim Brotherhood and that the current CIA director is a Muslim “agent.” At that meeting and through other sources, CAIR-AZ has learned that a number of police departments have decided not to send officers to Guandolo’s training. CAIR recently called on the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to protect the civil rights of Arizona Muslims after Montgomery refused to cancel the training session. In August, CAIR joined a coalition of 75 groups urging the Obama administration to take “immediate action to end the use of anti-Muslim training materials and address anti-Muslim conduct exhibited by agencies throughout the federal government.” The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), an organization that tracks hate groups in America, describes Guandolo as "a disreputable character, who regularly attacks the U.S. government, claims that the director of the Central Intelligence Agency is a secret Muslim agent for the Saudi government and says that American Muslims 'do not have a First Amendment right to do anything.'" In February of this year, Virginia’s Rappahannock Regional Criminal Justice Academy rescinded its earlier approval of in-service training credits for state law enforcement scheduled to attend a training Guandolo was conducting in Culpeper, Va., after being made aware of his anti-Islam rhetoric. [CAIR]
Continued on next page
2014 January February March April May June
July August Sept Oct Nov Dec
|
