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Chronology of Islam in America (2013)
By Abdus Sattar Ghazali
September 2013 - Page Two
Stop-and-Frisk Replacement? NYPD Using Social Media Surveillance
Sept 20: After a federal judge ruled stop-and-frisk unconstitiutional, and Bill de Blasio triumphed in the Democratic mayoral primary in part by running against Mayor Bloomberg favorite police tactic, the NYPD was forced to come up with a new plan. The New York Times is reporting that the NYPD has apparently pumped up their social media monitoring as a tactic to essentially replace stop-and-frisk. According to the NYT article, published early yesterday, 30-percent of shootings over the past several years can be connected to youth gangs, and Facebook posts sometimes can tip off a potential threat. The NYPD reported claims that people involved in gang activity often threaten people or boast about their various illicit activities on the social media platform, which gave the department the ability to thwart a potentially violence incident earlier this year. The tactic, known as "Operation Crew Cut", is being relied on more and more heavily, and has found a surprising array of supporters, including Bill De Blasio. This is sure to prompt the already loaded questions regarding internet privacy and government surveillance, and it would seem to run the risk of ensnaring harmless teenagers who just might post something dumb, but not truly threatening. But for now, the NYPD is going full tilt on the new surveillance technique. [Alternet]
Graham: 'Allahu akbar' is a 'war chant'
Sept 23: Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) today said "Allahu akbar" is a "war chant" that sends him running for cover. “When somebody yells ‘Allahu akbar’ in the Middle East, I duck,” the senator said on Fox News radio. “It’s not like, ‘Hey, how you doing Lindsey,’” he said on Fox News radio. Graham was asked about the phrase, which translates to “God is great,” in light of Sen. John McCain's (R-Ariz.) remark that people shouldn't find the phrase offensive. “For someone to say 'Allahu akbar,' it’s about as offensive as someone saying, ‘Thank God,’” McCain said earlier this month. But Graham, who is a friend and ally of McCain's, said he's sees it differently.“'Allahu akbar,’ I associate with a war chant,” Graham told host Brian Kilmeade. “It’s not exclusively owned by al Qaeda. I’ve seen people kill al Qaeda guys and yell, ‘Allahu akbar.’” The Arabic phrase is used often; it's said during every call to prayer in the Muslim tradition. [The Hill]
Hillsborough County allows CAIR Florida to advertise on its buses
Sept 24: Reversing course, Hillsborough County's transit agency will allow the Florida Council on American-Islamic Relations to advertise on its buses. The unanimous vote by members of the Hillsborough Area Regional Transit board of directors is a sharp turn from where members were in August, when eight of the 10 present rejected the advertisement on county buses, citing promotion of religion as a concern. The vote came after CAIR Florida filed a letter requesting an appeal. The nonprofit organization says it is aimed at challenging stereotypes of Islam and Muslims and defending civil liberties. Its ad features a photograph of eight people and the CAIR Florida logo, with the message: "Embracing Diversity at Work, Defending Civil Rights in The Community." It is meant to promote free legal advice the group provides to people of all religions, races or national origin, the organization said. [Tampa Bay Times]
Equal School Holiday Rights urged for Maryland Muslim Students
Sept 24: Standing in front of the Montgomery County Council Office Building in Rockville, Northwest High School senior Anhar Karim said he is one of many students in the county who have faced a hard decision related to two Muslim holidays. Karim said that when a holiday conflicts with school, he can either celebrate and miss class or go to school and miss the celebration. “We are forcing our students into an unreasonable decision,” said Karim, who is president of the Montgomery County Muslim Student Association. Karim and other speakers urged Montgomery County Public Schools to close when classes fall on Eid al-Adha and Eid al-Fitr during a Monday press conference held by the Maryland chapter of the Council of American Islamic Relations and the Equality for Eid Coalition. Eid al-Adha celebrates sacrifice to God and falls on Oct. 15 this year. Eid al-Fitr marks the end of the holy month of Ramadan and was Aug. 8. The dates of the holidays change because of the Islam lunar calendar. The coalition, which is sponsored by the council, formed about a year ago to pursue a long-standing goal for the school closures. Montgomery County Councilman George Leventhal (D-At large) of Takoma Park, another speaker at the press conference, said Muslim students and their families focused on academic achievement face a conflict their Christian and Jewish counterparts do not when it comes to holiday observance. Leventhal said he would face the same conflict if county public schools did not close on some Jewish holidays. “If school was in session on Rosh Hashanah or Yom Kippur, it would be a conflict,” said Leventhal, who later added his son will stay home on Oct. 15 in support of the initiative. [Gazette.net]
Muslims detained and harassed at US border
Sept 24: Sarah Abdurrahman, a producer with National Public Radio’s “On the Media” program says the US Customs and Border Patrol agents who interrogated her and her friends and family while they attempted to return to the States following a recent wedding in Toronto, Ontario were anything but courteous. Sarah Abdurrahman told NPR that she attempted to cross into the US at Niagara Falls earlier this month on Labor Day when CBP agents stopper her entire party and subjected them to around six hours of questioning. For six hours, the CBP agents detained Abdurrahman, her family and her friends, all the while refusing to even explain why they were being held. A division of the Department of Homeland Security, Abdurrahman said CBP is now the largest federal law enforcement agency in the US. Even if it’s impressive in size, though, the CBP isn’t increasing its efforts to be transparent. “During my detainment, I tried asking the guy in charge, Supervisor McPherson, why we were held for so long. He said it wasn't my right to know,” she recalled for a recent episode of On the Media. “I asked him the names of the agents who interacted with us while we were detained, and was once again told it wasn't my right to know.”
Other members of the party were grilled about their religious background. All of them were told to surrender their cell phones, unlocked, and not expect them to be necessarily returned. Munia Jabbar, an attorney at the Council on American-Islamic Relations, told NPR that CAIR has noticed a pattern of CBP agents imposing “really invasive and personal questions about their protected religious activity” when questioning Muslim travelers. “You’re singling out people based on their religion and then subjecting them to longer detentions and to humiliating questioning about stuff that they're allowed to do legally, in fact, stuff that is part of the bedrock of our Bill of Rights,” Jabbar said.
Another carload of US citizens entering America from Canada at the Detroit, Michigan crossing following the wedding near Toronto were stopped as well, hundreds of miles away from Abdurrahman. Weeks later, they still haven’t been told why they were held up. The American Civil Liberties Union has since gotten involved, but haven’t been able to come up with many answers either. “The accounts are so widespread and so consistent, that it's very hard to see this as anything other than a systemic problem and not just a couple of bad apples here or there,” James Lyle of ACLU Arizona told NPR. [RT]
Connecticut school district recognizes Muslim holidays
Sept 26: The New London Board of Education (Connecticut) has recognized the two major Muslim holidays, Eid ul-Fitr and Eid ul-Adha, by including them on the school calendar along with all other major religious holidays.The decision came today after the Council on American-Islamic Relations Connecticut (CAIR-CT) raised the issue with the New London board prior to its meeting. Muslim parents spoke out during public comments and thanked board members for responding positively to CAIR-CT’s request. The decision passed without any objections from board members or the public.The board’s president directed the superintendent of schools to advise all teachers and educators in New London schools not to schedule tests or special events like field trips on those days to ensure that students who are celebrating their holidays would not miss tests and important activities. CAIR-CT Executive Director Mongi Dhaouadi spoke during the board meeting and said in part: “This speaks volume of the nature of our diverse city that fosters a sense of understanding and acceptance toward its Muslim members. We hope that our community here in New London will serve as a model to others around the state and the nation.”At least six school districts are known to have included Muslim holidays in their school calendar. The six school districts are: At Burlington, Vt.; Cambridge, Mass.; Dearborn, Mich.; Paterson, N.J.; Skokie, Ill.; and Trenton, N.J. [AMP Report]
Seymour Hersh: Story about killing Osama Bin Laden is one big lie
Sept 27: Seymour Hersh is writing a book about national security and has devoted a chapter to the bin Laden killing. He says a recent report put out by an "independent" Pakistani commission about life in the Abottabad compound in which Bin Laden was holed up would not stand up to scrutiny. "The Pakistanis put out a report, don't get me going on it. Let's put it this way, it was done with considerable American input. It's a bullshit report," he says hinting of revelations to come in his book. The Obama administration lies systematically, he claims, yet none of the leviathans of American media, the TV networks or big print titles, challenge him. "It's pathetic, they are more than obsequious, they are afraid to pick on this guy [Obama]," he declares in an interview with the Guardian. "It used to be when you were in a situation when something very dramatic happened, the president and the minions around the president had control of the narrative, you would pretty much know they would do the best they could to tell the story straight. Now that doesn't happen any more. Now they take advantage of something like that and they work out how to re-elect the president. He isn't even sure if the recent revelations about the depth and breadth of surveillance by the National Security Agency will have a lasting effect. [Alternet]
Catholic campus houses Suffolk’s first Islamic school
Sept 28: In classrooms where Catholic girls once studied the Bible and prayed the Our Father, young Muslims now study the Quran and pray in Arabic. The girls no longer wear uniforms of skirts and blazers, but traditional Muslim floor-length dresses called jilbabs, with hijabs covering their heads. Boys are neatly attired in light blue dress shirts and navy blue pants. They are the 265 students of MDQ Academy, Suffolk County’s first and only Islamic school, which for the third year is calling the majestic Academy of St. Joseph its home. The former all-girls Catholic high school in Brentwood closed five years ago because of declining enrollment. The number of students in the Islamic school is growing as it continues the cross-faith coexistence. Their classrooms are on two floors of the structure, part of a complex on the grassy 211-acre property that also includes the headquarters of Long Island’s largest order of nuns.The arrangement is working out wonderfully, leaders of the groups said. The partnership underscores Long Island’s growing ethnic and religious diversity. While Catholics still predominate — two of every three Long Islanders are Catholic — Nassau and Suffolk counties are home to at least 75,000 Muslims, according to Muslim community leaders. Two other full-time Islamic schools are located in Valley Stream and Hempstead, and the Island has about two dozen mosques. [US Today]
Festival booth sparks outrage in Bartlett, Tennessee
Sept 29: A booth at a festival for family fun is sparking outrage in Bartlett. Action News 5 (TV network) received calls about a booth covered with anti-Muslim displays. One caller was too afraid to go on camera, but stated she found the display inappropriate and offensive. Although there was not much left in W.J. Freedman Park in Bartlett when Action News 5 arrived, one booth did stand out. Sponsored by the ACT! Memphis, a national non-partisan group concerned about the threat of radical Islam, the booth showed a picture of the fiery World Trade Center towers on September 11, right next to a photo of President Barack Obama. ACT! Memphis organizers confirmed they paid $50 to set up at the Bartlett Festival. They also stated the festival was sold out until another vendor offered them an extra spot. However, the organizer would not go on camera and claimed the national group ACT! for America does not do interviews that can be edited. According to this individual, the organization only does live interviews. [WMC-TV]
Minn. Woman Ejected from Event for Being Muslim
Sept 29: A Muslim woman reported to the Minnesota chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-MN) that she was physically escorted out of the Chisholm Baptist Church for attending the Annual Hibbing Area Women's Retreat. CAIR-MN says it will pursue legal options if any federal or state anti-discrimination laws were violated. The 16th annual event, featuring anti-Muslim speaker Cynthia Khan, was publicized as a public event. An article in the Hibbing Daily Tribune stated that "all area women are invited." The Muslim woman, who wears a headscarf (hijab), was initially welcomed to the event by organizers. She completed the registration, paid the entrance fee and was given a nametag. As she was entering the auditorium, Khan approached event volunteers and asked that they remove the Muslim woman. When the Muslim woman explained that she was only there to listen and would not interrupt the speech or disrupt the event, Khan said she did not want a Muslim in the audience. Khan told her that videos and materials "offensive" to Muslims will be shown and distributed during her talk. Despite her objections to the unfair treatment due to her religion, the Muslim woman was physically escorted outside by event volunteers. [CAIR]
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