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Chronology of Islam in America (2012)
By Abdus Sattar Ghazali
April 2012
Annual Muslim Day at the Minnesota Capitol
April 5: The Minnesota Muslim community gathered today for the 8th annual "Muslim Day at the Capitol," which began with a rally addressed by Governor Mark Dayton, Secretary of State Mark Ritchie, and other elected officials. In the afternoon, the Muslim participants met with their elected officials. The annual event seeks to promote community engagement in local politics and to discuss issues of interest to the Muslim community with legislators. This year, the topics of interest include Islamophobia, anti-Muslim legislation, photo ID legislation, and gun violence. "As one of the nation's most educated and integrated religious communities, American Muslims have an important role to play in our society's social and political fabric," said CAIR-MN Executive Director Lori Saroya. "It is important that members of our community engage with state and national lawmakers to share innovative ways to help build a stronger America and a stronger Minnesota." [CAIR]
Mehenna sentence affirms: There is a Muslim exemption to the First Amendment
April 12: Following a two-hour hearing in U.S. District Court in Boston, Judge George A. O’Toole, Jr., sentenced Tarek Mehanna, 29, to 210 months, to be followed by seven years of supervised release. In December 2011, Mehanna was convicted by a jury, after 10 hours of deliberation, of four terrorism-related charges and three charges related to providing false information to the government. No evidence was presented in court directly linking him to a terrorist group. He never hatched a plot – indeed, he objected when a friend (who went on to become a government informer and has never been charged with anything) proposed plans to stage violent attacks within the United States. He never had a weapon. He did lie to the FBI. According to Defense attorney Jay Carney Tarek Mehanna was being punished for activity protected by the First Amendment, for translating documents freely available in Arabic on the Internet and for his refusal to be an informant. The government, Carney said, does not want people to be able to read the views that other people hold. “This case goes further than any other in attacking speech protected by the First Amendment,” and involved important constitutional issues at every turn.
Judge George O’Toole refused to allow the First Amendment to be introduced in the Mehanna case. He refused to admit an ACLU of Massachusetts brief asking for certain charges to be dismissed on First Amendment grounds, he did not allow defense attorneys to bring up the First Amendment and he did not instruct the jury on what the First Amendment protects. On December 20, 2011, American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts executive director Carol Rose issued the following statement on the conviction of Tarek Mehanna: "The ACLU of Massachusetts is gravely concerned that today's verdict against Tarek Mehanna undermines the First Amendment and threatens national security. Under the government's theory of the case, ordinary people--including writers and journalists, academic researchers, translators, and even ordinary web surfers--could be prosecuted for researching or translating controversial and unpopular ideas. If the verdict is not overturned on appeal, the First Amendment will be seriously compromised. The government's prosecution does not make us safer. Speech about even the most unpopular ideas serves as a safety valve for the expression of dissent while government suppression of speech only drives ideas underground, where they cannot be openly debated or refuted. The ACLU believes that we can remain both safe and free, and, indeed, that our safety and our freedom go hand in hand." [AMP Report]
CAIR-MI sues FBI, CBP over invasive border questioning of Muslims
April 13: The Michigan chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-M) is suing the FBI and U.S. Customs and Border Protection agencies for alleged “invasive religious questioning” and “prolonged detention” of Muslim Americans at the Canada-U.S. border. “A number of people have said they were detained for hours and handcuffed, even had guns drawn on them and questioned for hours regarding their religious belief, their whereabouts, where they’re going,” Raheem Hanifa, spokesman for CAIR-Michigan, said today. “They were never given any reason; none of these individuals have been charged or found guilty of any wrongdoing.” CAIR is filing the lawsuit on behalf of four American citizens who reported that border and FBI agents detained and handcuffed them without evidence of wrongdoing and questioned them about their religious beliefs and worship habits. The lawsuit asserts that those actions violated the plaintiffs’ First Amendment rights, Dawud Walid, CAIR executive director said in a statement. Questions reportedly asked of Michigan Muslims by CBP and FBI agents have included: (1) How many times a day do you pray? (2) Do you pray your morning prayer in the mosque? (3) Who else prays in your mosque? [Windsor Star (Canada)]
Shah Rukh Khan detention at US airport sparks row
April 13: Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan was detained at a New York airport for 90 minutes today, sparking outrage in India. The US immigration authorities apologized for the incident, but that did not seem to pacify New Delhi that reacted sharply, telling Washington this “habit of detention and then apology” won't do. Khan, who has millions of fans in India and around the world, was detained at New York's White Plains airport for 90 minutes as he arrived to visit Yale University. He was honored at the Yale as a Chubb Fellow, joining a distinguished list which includes former presidents George W Bush, Ronald Reagan and Jimmy Carter and authors Octavio Paz, Carlos Fuentes, and Toni Morrison. India lodged a diplomatic complaint after Khan said he was detained for over 90 minutes when he landed at New York’s small White Plains airport on his way to deliver a speech at Yale University.
Khan was also detained for more than two hours in 2009 at Newark airport outside New York, sparking a similar Indian outcry and a US apology. Last November, the United States apologized to former Indian president Abdul Kalam after the New Delhi government complained he had been frisked at a New York airport. Kalam, 80, is a Muslim who served as a popular president of India from 2002-07. He was previously the country’s chief military scientist. A similar diplomatic incident erupted in 2009 when Kalam was questioned in New Delhi before boarding a flight to the United States. [AFP/The Daily Star]
Far-right anti-Muslim network on rise globally as Norwegian terrorist Breivik's trial opens
April 14: The international network of counter-jihadist groups that inspired Anders Behring Breivik is growing in reach and influence, according to a report released on the eve of the Norwegian's trial. Far-right organizations are becoming more cohesive as they forge alliances throughout Europe and the US, says the study, with 190 groups now identified as promoting an Islamophobic agenda. This week Breivik will appear on trial in Oslo after confessing to the murder of 77 people in Norway last July, killings that he justified as part of a "war" between the west and Islamists. The report, by anti-racism group Hope Not Hate, states that since the 33-year-old's killing spree, the counter-jihad movement – a network of foundations, bloggers, political activists and street gangs – has continued to proliferate. Campaigners cite the formation three months ago of the Stop Islamization of Nations (Sion) group, designed to promote an umbrella network of counter-jihad groups across Europe and the US, as evidence of a global evolution. An inaugural Sion summit is planned in New York this year to coincide with the anniversary of 9/11. Speakers are set to include Paul Weston, chairman of the anti-Islamic British Freedom Party (BFP), which recently announced a pact with the English Defense League. In the manifesto that Breivik published online 90 minutes before his attacks, he cited blog postings by Weston which discussed a "European civil war" between the west and Islam. Researchers at Hope Not Hate name the UK as one of Europe's most active countries in terms of counter-jihad extremism, with 22 anti-Islamic groups currently operating. In Europe as a whole, 133 organizations were named in the report, including seven in Norway, and another 47 in the US, where a network of neo-conservative, evangelical and conservative organizations attempts to spread "negative perceptions of Islam, Muslim minorities and Islamic culture". [The Guardian]
The hardening of links between European and US anti-Islamic organizations
Another development concerns the hardening of links between European and US anti-Islamic organizations. US blogger Pamela Geller is a key figure driving closer transatlantic relations. Geller, who is president of Sion, was mentioned in Breivik's manifesto and was a vociferous protester against the development of a mosque in Lower Manhattan in 2010. The co-founder of Sion is Denmark's Anders Gravers, organizer of Stop Islamization of Europe. Gravers met Campaigners are concerned that US neo-conservative and evangelical groups will begin sharing resources with the leagues. Images of EDL demonstrations are already used at Tea Party movement fundraising events, while officials from groups such as the Christian Action Network have met EDL activists. Other US and UK links include the Virginia-based anti-Islamic blog, the Gates Of Vienna, which counted Breivik as a contributor. As attention turns to Norway, experts are keen to stress that the country was not unusual in terms of the extent of its counter-jihadist movement. Among the online forums linked to Breivik are the nationalist blog Document.no, on which Breivik posted more than 100 comments. Breivik – an admirer of the EDL – was also an online supporter of the Norwegian Defense League, which retains close links with its English counterpart. [The Guardian]
Kucinich recognizes the CAIR Ohio
April 17: Rep. Dennis J. Kucinich Democrat from Ohio has recognized the services of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) Ohio Chapter for its role in helping to bridge the divides between Greater Cleveland's diverse communities. Kuchinich gave the following statement today in the House of Representative: Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) Ohio Chapter. CAIR is a nationwide, nonprofit organization whose mission is to ``enhance the understanding of Islam, encourage dialogue, protect civil liberties, empower American Muslims and build coalitions that promote justice and mutual understanding.'' For the past ten years, CAIR Ohio has played an instrumental role in helping to bridge the divides between Greater Cleveland's diverse communities. Mr. Speaker and colleagues, please join me in recognizing the Council on American-Islamic Relations Ohio Chapter for their tenth years of outstanding achievement. May their efforts to promote dialogue and create a more inclusive world continue to endure. [Capitolwords.org]
ADC testimony at the End Racial Profiling Act hearing
April 17: The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) today submitted a Statement for the Record before the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Human Rights. The Statement discusses racial profiling and its affect on the Arab American community, as well as the importance of enacting the End Racial Profiling Act (ERPA). In the Statement for the Record, ADC stated that “[t]he detrimental affects of racial profiling cause communities to mistrust the government and fuel the perception of the criminal justice system as biased and unjust. . . Of striking importance is the fact that there is not one documented incident in which racial profiling resulted in the capture or detention of a suspect related to terrorism, again showing that racial profiling does not work.” Furthermore, ADC stated that “ERPA is necessary to help guard against racial profiling and civil right abuses. Throughout the U.S. Federal and local agencies must be held accountable for violating the Constitution and discriminating against any minority community.” [ADC]
US Muslim: I was tortured at FBI's behest in UAE
April 18: A Muslim American seeking asylum in Stockhom, Sweden claimed today he was detained at the U.S. government's request while in the United Arab Emirates last summer, tortured in custody and interrogated about the activities of a Portland, Oregon, mosque. Yonas Fikre told a news conference today that he was held for 106 days and was beaten, threatened with death and kept in solitary confinement in a frigid cell. The 33-year-old, a naturalized U.S. citizen born in Eritrea, says he had attended the same mosque in Portland as a man who has been charged in a plot to detonate a bomb in the northwestern U.S. city. He moved to Sudan in 2009 and later to the United Arab Emirates. He went to Sweden, where he has relatives, after being released from detention on Sept. 15. Fikre, who converted to Islam in 2003, is the third Muslim man from Portland to publicly say he was detained while traveling abroad and questioned about Portland's Masjid-as-Sabr mosque. Mohamed Osman Mohamud, a Somali American who is awaiting trial on a charge of plotting to set off a bomb in downtown Portland in November 2010, occasionally worshipped there.
A decade ago, seven Muslims with ties to the mosque were arrested following a failed effort to enter Afghanistan and fight U.S. forces. Fikre says he met Mohamud a handful of times, but wouldn't call him a friend or even an acquaintance. Fikre says he was arrested on June 1 in the United Arab Emirates and taken to a prison in Abu Dhabi, where he was questioned about the activities of the Portland mosque and its imam, Mohamed Sheikh Abdirahman Kariye. Fikre said he moved to Sudan in late 2009 to pursue business opportunities. A few months later, he was asked to contact the U.S. Embassy to discuss safety and security concerns for Americans in the unstable country. He was met by two men who identified themselves as FBI agents and asked questions about the Portland mosque. Fikre says the agents told him he had been placed on the federal no-fly list, and could only return to the U.S. if he agreed to become an informant, an offer he refused. In the ensuing weeks, the FBI met a relative of Fikre's in Portland and urged that person to encourage Fikre to cooperate with authorities, he said. Fikre said he began to notice he was being followed on the streets of Sudan, prompting him to leave the country on June 15, 2010. Fikre then visited relatives in Europe for three months and flew to the United Arab Emirates after his European Union visa expired. [Associated Press]
Dearborn man suing government officials says he was 'treated like a criminal'
April 18: Domestic security agencies and officers on April 13 were sued over allegations of routine improper questioning and detainment of U.S. citizens because they are Muslims. The suit seeks an injunction against an alleged pattern of Muslim Americans being singled out for lengthy questioning about their religious practices and places of worship during security screening at borders and airports. Named as defendants are the directors of the FBI, the U.S. Customs Border Patrol and the Transportation Security Administration as well as those agencies and individual officers and agents within them. The local chapter of the Council on American Islamic Relations filed the lawsuit on behalf of four men, but officials with the civil rights group said the allegations are indicative of a larger problem. “Since the tragedy of 9/11 we’ve seen a steady erosion of the civil liberties of American Muslims and American citizens in general,” said Dawud Walid, executive director of CAIR-Michigan. “What troubles us most about this case is that we tried exhausting all measures to get this type of religious questioning stopped before we came to the courts.”
The complaint was first taken to the Department of Homeland Security’s civil rights division last year. A DHS officer responded in a letter that “our complaint process does not provide individuals with legal or procedural rights or remedies,” according to the lawsuit. One of the plaintiffs, Wissam Charaffedine of Dearborn, said since 2008 he’s been detained every time he has re-entered the U.S. from Canada. Every time, the story was the same. He’d be pulled to the side for further questioning and then border agents would conduct an “invasive” body search. Charafeddine alleges he was detained anywhere from three to eight hours and asked things like how many times a day he prays, which mosque he goes to, who is his religious leader and so on. Then, without any explanation for the detainment, he’d be released. “I’m treated like a criminal and everything I have is questioned,” Charafeddine said. “I have family in Canada I had to stop visiting, my business was also affected by that and I can’t travel with my children because I don’t want them to see me treated like a criminal.” [Press & Guide]
Oregon Muslim jailed and tortured because he refused to become FBI informant
April 18: A Muslim man from Oregon says he was imprisoned and tortured for 106 days last year in the United Arab Emirates after he refused to become a U.S. government informant and answer agents’ questions about Portland’s largest mosque. Yonas Fikre, 33, tells Willamette Week that Emirates officials denied him sleep, kept him in a freezing cell, beat him with wooden sticks and plastic pipes, and threatened to kill him if he didn’t cooperate with U.S. agents. A U.S. citizen, Fikre says his captors repeatedly grilled him with the same questions Portland-based law enforcement agents had asked him a year earlier about his mosque, the Islamic Center of Portland, Masjed As-Saber. Fikre, living in Sweden, is telling his story now because his lawyer is preparing a lawsuit against the U.S. government and individuals involved in his imprisonment. The case highlights the lengths federal agents have gone to investigate the Portland mosque and its imam, Sheik Mohamed Kariye. A State Department spokesman also confirmed to WW that one of the agents who questioned Fikre works for that agency, employed in diplomatic security. Using public records, WW established that the agent is based in the offices of the Portland FBI. The FBI office houses the Joint Terrorism Task Force, which employs individuals from a variety of federal agencies. As-Saber has been the focus of a U.S. government inquiry for more than a decade. In 2003, five men who attended the mosque pleaded guilty to conspiracy to levy war against the United States, and a woman was convicted of providing material aid. That same year, Kariye pleaded guilty to Social Security and welfare fraud. [Willamette Week]
Missouri Jail to Allow Hijab for Muslim Women
April 23: The St. Louis chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-St. Louis) today thanked county and law enforcement officials for agreeing to provide religious accommodation for Muslim women who wear an Islamic headscarf, or "hijab," and are held in the St. Louis County Jail in Clayton, Mo. CAIR-St. Louis made that request for accommodation after a Muslim woman who was jailed recently for several hours because of an unpaid traffic ticket reported that an officer forcibly removed her hijab. Based on that request, Director of St. Louis County Justice Services Herb Bernsen said he would review existing policies "to try to work out a solution that would satisfy both our security needs and individual religious concerns." In a meeting today that included Bernsen, Chief of Police for the St. Louis County Police Department Colonel Tim Fitch, a representative of CAIR-St. Louis, Muslim community leaders, and other law enforcement and county officials, it was agreed that any Muslim woman wearing hijab would be screened by a female officer in a private area and would have her scarf returned following that screening. A letter of apology will also be sent to the woman whose hijab was removed. The U.S. Supreme Court recently refused to overturn a lower court ruling that said a Muslim woman "had the right to wear the scarf unless jailers could show it was a security risk." In that case, the Muslim woman's suit cited the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA), which prohibits state and local governments from imposing "a substantial burden on the religious exercise of a person residing in or confined to an institution." [CAIR]
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