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Chronology of Islam in America (2007)
By Abdus Sattar Ghazali
August 2007 Page II
Three Arabs appointed to official positions
August 14: Three Arabs have been appointed this month to official positions in Michigan and New Jersey. Ismael Ahmed was named to lead Michigan's Department of Human Services by Governor Jennifer Granholm. The Department of Human Services is one of the state's largest departments and handles numerous state programs including welfare, foster care, and childcare. In New Jersey, Samer Khalaf and Tawfiq Barqawi were appointed respectively to the Executive Committee of the State of New Jersey Human Relations Committee and the New Jersey Governor's Blue Ribbon Advisory Panel on Immigration Policy. (ADC Press Release)
Radio show host Boortz says Muslims are "sort of like cockroaches"
August 14: In today’s broadcast of his nationally syndicated radio show, while discussing the alleged "Islamization of Western Europe," Neal Boortz claimed that because "Muslims don't eat during the day during Ramadan" and "fast during the day and eat at night," they are "sort of like cockroaches." Boortz was discussing reports that a group of government-run hospitals in Scotland had instructed employees to eat away from their desks during Ramadan so as not to offend their fasting Muslim colleagues. (Media Matters)
Council approves plan for mosque in south St. Louis County
August 14: The St. Louis County Council today unanimously reversed a previous vote and decided to let a group of Bosnian Muslims build a new mosque in south St. Louis County. In the spring, the council voted 4-3 against the Islamic Community Center's request to rezone a 4.7-acre parcel that the center had bought in south St. Louis County for $1.25 million. The Muslims planned to build a second mosque and community center on the land, to accommodate the movement of many in the Bosnian community from the city to the county. (St. Louis Post-Dispatch)
$10,000 Reward Offered In Antioch Mosque Arson
August 15: SF Bay Area Muslims today announced an reward worth up to $10,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons that set fire to an Antioch mosque. The fire that broke out on June 12 morning caused $200,000 in damage to the Islamic Center of the East Bay, located at 311 W. 18th Street. Investigators believe the blaze was intentionally set, but have not found evidence it was motivated by religion. Most of the reward money was raised from the Bay Area Muslim community, and the amount could increase as more funds are raised, said Safaa Ibrahim, who heads the Bay Area chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations. The Antioch Police Department, which contributed $2,000 of the reward money, has agreed to increase patrols around the mosque as the arson investigation continues, she said. (CBS News)
NYPD terror report casts suspicion on all U.S. Muslims
August 15: American Arab and Muslim groups say that the New York Police Department (NYPD) report on "radicalization" may result in all U.S. Muslims being viewed with suspicion. The report - entitled, "Radicalization in the West and the Homegrown Threat" - warns of "radicalization" among otherwise unremarkable young Muslim men in the United States who grow disillusioned with life and sign on with jihad terrorists. The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) National Executive Director Kareem Shora called the findings faulty and inflammatory. He said the report is at odds with federal law enforcement findings, including those of the recently released National Intelligence Estimate, and uses unfortunate stereotyping of entire communities. The Council on American-Islamic Relations said the 90-page report purports to outline a four-step process of radicalization, but in fact describes ordinary activities, associations and behaviors as indicators of a potential terror threat. In a statement, CAIR Board Chairman Parvez Ahmed said: "Whatever one thinks of the analysis contained in the report, its sweeping generalizations and mixing of unrelated elements may serve to cast a pall of suspicion over the entire American Muslim community. The report lists sites that are likely to be visited by any American Muslim as radicalization 'incubators.' The sites listed include mosques, cafes, cab driver hangouts, student associations, nongovernmental organizations, butcher shops, and book stores. Long Island Muslim leaders said that the findings may help perpetuate stereotypes about Muslims. Habeeb Ahmed, President of the Islamic Center of Long Island said: "I don't have any problem if somebody does something wrong, definitely arrest that person to the fullest extent of the law. But if everybody is a suspect that does become a problem. You cannot have six to seven million people as possible terrorists, possible suspects." (AMP Report)
Federal worker faces charges in threats against Arab group
August 15: A State Department employee was indicted today on charges that he threatened and intimidated employees of the Arab American Institute, including James Zogby, the president of the organization. In e-mail and voice-mail messages, the employee, Patrick Syring, is said to have lashed out at Zogby and others in profane, provocative language described in the indictment, which was returned by a grand jury at the federal courthouse in Washington. "The only good Lebanese is a dead Lebanese. The only good Arab is a dead Arab," Syring said in a voice-mail message left late July 17, 2006, after he read comments made by Zogby that he regarded as offensive, the indictment says. The messages were left last summer during the war between Israel and Hezbollah. More than once, Syring praises Israel and its armed forces and accuses Zogby and his organization of being part of Hezbollah. "You and your Arab American Institute. should burn in the fires of hell for eternity," he wrote in an e-mail, according to the indictment. (Washington Post)
CAIR files amicus brief in Holy Land Foundation trial
Listing of 300 Muslim individuals, institutions called ‘unconstitutional’
August 16: – The Council on American-Islamic Relations CAIR) today announced the filing of an amicus brief relating to the ongoing trial of the Holy Land Foundation Muslim charity in Texas. The CAIR brief asks the court to remove the Washington-based group’s name, and that of several hundred other Muslim individuals and institutions, from a list of so-called “unindicted co-conspirators.” CAIR’s brief, filed by attorney William B. Moffitt, alleges that the listing of the organizations and individuals violates Justice Department guidelines and violates the uncharged parties’ First and Fifth Amendment rights. Meanwhile, the National Association of Muslim Lawyers and the National Association of Criminal Defense Attorneys sent a letter to Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales objecting to the list and saying it could lead to increased discrimination against American Muslims. The letter said the “overreaching list” of more than 300 organizations and individuals would further cripple charitable donations to Muslim organizations and could ratchet up the discrimination faced by American Muslims since the Sept. 11 attacks. (CAIR Bulletin)
Israeli witness in Holy Land charity trial falters
August 16: An Israeli intelligence agent whose earlier testimony linked a U.S.-based Islamic charity to Hamas acknowledged today that none of the overseas charities it supported has appeared among hundreds of names on U.S. government terrorist lists. The testimony seemed to cast doubt on a central element of the government's criminal case against former officials of the now-defunct Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development. Prosecutors say the officials dispensed funds to terrorists under the guise of charity donations to community groups called zakat committees on the West Bank and Gaza, knowing that Hamas militants controlled the local groups and benefited from the funding. The Israel Security Agency officer, identified only as "Avi," said the Islamic Charitable Society of Hebron, for example, was Hamas' largest and most important fund-raising arm in the West Bank and was controlled by Hamas activists. "It is no secret in the territories who controls these committees," he said. But on cross-examination, the agent said he could not recall where or when anyone other than an Israeli intelligence official might have read or otherwise known that specific zakat committees or board members had ties to Hamas. In prior court papers, Holy Land officials have maintained that they never supported Hamas and did not have any reason to believe the charity committees were run by Hamas. Defense lawyers also elicited testimony that other large charities such as Holy Land Foundation in England and Holland--also identified by "Avi" as part of Hamas' global network--have been cleared after investigations in those countries. Acknowledging that a British charity called Interpal was allowed to reopen after a commission ruled that there was no evidence against it, the agent added: "Clearly, they didn't have my evidence." (Los Angeles Times)
Roman catholic bishop wants everyone to Call God 'Allah'
August 16: A proposal by a Roman Catholic bishop in the Netherlands that people of all faiths refer to God as "Allah" is not sitting well with the Catholic community. Tiny Muskens, an outgoing bishop who is retiring in a few weeks from the southern diocese of Breda, said God doesn't care what he is called. "Allah is a very beautiful word for God. Shouldn't we all say that from now on we will name God Allah? ... What does God care what we call him? It is our problem," Muskens told Dutch television. "I'm sure his intentions are good but his theology needs a little fine-tuning," said Father Johathan Morris, a Roman Catholic priest based in Rome. Morris, a news analyst for FOX News Channel, also called the idea impractical. The nation’s largest Catholic civil rights group says Catholics won't get behind the proposal. “Bishop Martinus “Tiny” Muskens can pray to “Allah” all he wants, but only addlepated Catholics will follow his lead,” Bill Donohue, president of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, said in a statement. “It is not a good sign when members of the Catholic hierarchy indulge in a fawning exchange with Muslims, or those of any other religion.” (Fox News)
Ellison gets an apology from critical colleague
August 16: U.S. Rep. Bill Sali has apologized to the nation's first Muslim congressman, whose election Sali deemed in an interview as "not what was envisioned by the Founding Fathers." The Idaho Republican has exchanged conciliatory e-mails with U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison, a Minnesota Democrat who became the first Muslim in Congress last year. Both Sali and Ellison were elected in 2006. Sali's comments were first reported on the Christian-themed Web site, American Family News Network. His interview was then picked up by liberal bloggers who disagreed with what Sali said about Ellison - as well as what he said about a Hindu prayer opening the U.S. Senate. Sali's spokesman said: "What he was trying to say, is that he's a Christian and that he believes this nation was founded on Christian principles and that it's important to embrace those principles," Hoffman said. "The congressman is a very strong believer in freedom of religion. The Founding Fathers used Scripture as a reference in devising the type of government we have today." State Democratic Party Chairman Richard Stallings called on Sali to either apologize or resign, and Grant wrote Ellison a letter calling his opponent's comments "thoughtless, uninformed and inappropriate." (TwinCities.com-Pioneer Press)
Daniel Pipes compares Muslims to rapists
August 17: Commenting on the Khalil Gibran International Academy, Islamophobist, Daniel Pipes says: ….."I believe such a school requires scrutiny beyond that of any other groups school, he said. It fits into a larger pattern in which Muslim officials require greater scrutiny, whether they be chaplains [or] law enforcement officers. There is a tendency to sympathize with Islamism that we ignore at our peril. . .When law enforcement is looking for a rapist, it looks at men, not men and women. If you're looking for terrorism you must give special scrutiny to this community." (The Jewish Week)
Third attack on Mississauga mosque alarms Muslims
August 19: Minutes before prayers were set to begin today, a foot-wide slab of concrete came crashing through a window of ISNA Mosque in Mississauga, Canada. It was the second time in less than a month that the mosque has been targeted by vandals and Muslim groups were asking police to treat the incident as a hate crime. Earlier this month, a rock was tossed through the windshield of a van belonging to the mosque. The mosque was also firebombed after Sept. 11, 2001. (Toronto Star)
Six-year-old Muslim boy denied entry to U.S.
August 20: A 6-year-old Muslim boy is at the center of an international immigration fight. Moroccan-born Mustapha Zindinne came to the United States in 2001 and became a U.S. citizen last year. His wife joined him in Woodbridge, Virginia, six months ago as a permanent resident. The couple expected their son would soon follow. The couple told News4's Michael Flynn that bureaucratic red tape is keeping their 6-year-old son from joining them. The couple's attorney, Morris Days with the Council on American-Islamic Relations in Herndon, suspects the delay might be that the boy's name, Youssaf Zindinne, is similar to one on a U.S. security watch list. About two weeks ago, another local couple from Morocco was reunited with their 3-year-old son at Reagan National Airport after two years. The same Islamic civil rights group worked to bring him here. They say that boy's name is similar to the name of the deceased founder of Hamas. (MSNBC)
Continued on Page III
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