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Chronology of Islam in America (2010)
By Abdus Sattar Ghazali
August 2010 (Page Two)
Obama endorses Cordoba House
August 13: President Barrack Obama today forcefully supported the construction of an Islamic complex near New York's Ground Zero. Speaking at a White House dinner marking the holy month of Ramadan, he said that opposing the project is at odds with American values. "As a citizen, and as president, I believe that Muslims have the same right to practice their religion as anyone else in this country. That includes the right to build a place of worship and a community center on private property in lower Manhattan, in accordance with local laws and ordinances," President Obama said adding "This is America, and our commitment to religious freedom must be unshakeable." The President pointed out that Thomas Jefferson was the first American President to host a White House iftar, in honor of Tunisian dignitaries over 200 years ago. He noted that Americans of various faiths - including Jews and Catholics - seeking to build their houses of worship have faced discrimination in the past, they were able to overcome those challenges and enriched our nation's pluralism in the process.
Michael D. Shear and Scott Wilson of Washington Post wrote that the president's statement puts him once again at the center of a cultural clash just as his party enters the final stretch of a difficult congressional campaign. He pointed out: “Obama, who has made repairing strained U.S. relations with the Islamic world a centerpiece of his presidency, had remained silent for months about the nonprofit Cordoba Institute's proposal to build the Muslim cultural complex -- which would include a prayer room, the mosque component of the project, and "a Sept. 11 memorial and contemplation space" -- in Lower Manhattan.”
Sheryl Gay Stolberg of New York Times wrote: “After weeks of avoiding the high-profile battle over the center — his press secretary, Robert Gibbs, said last week that the president did not want to “get involved in local decision-making” — Mr. Obama stepped squarely into the thorny debate. The aides to Mr. Obama say privately that he has always felt strongly about the proposed community center and mosque, but the White House did not want to weigh in until local authorities made a decision on the proposal, planned for two blocks from the site of the Sept. 11 attack on the World Trade Center. Last week, New York City removed the final construction hurdle for the project, and Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg spoke forcefully in favor of it.” The proposed Islamic center, formally known as the Cordoba House, would rise 13 stories on land two blocks from the World Trade Center site. The nonprofit bought the property last year for $4 million and plans to spend $100 million on the complex. A New York City planning commission unanimously struck down the final barrier to the project on Aug. 3 by refusing to grant the building currently on the site protection as a historic landmark. That structure was damaged by debris in the Sept. 11 attacks. But what began as a local zoning dispute evolved into a raucous national discussion. (AMP Report)
US Muslims prep for Islamic holiday — around 9-11
August 13: The lunar calendar that Muslims follow for religious holidays is creating a potential for misunderstandings or worse in a year when American Muslims are already confronting a spike in assaults on their faith and protests against new mosques. Eid al-Fitr, a joyous holiday marking the end of the holy month of Ramadan, this year falls around Sept. 11. Muslim leaders fear that their gatherings for prayer and festivities could be misinterpreted by those unfamiliar with Islam as a celebration of the 2001 terrorist strikes. The Muslim Public Affairs Council, an advocacy group based in Los Angeles, is contacting law enforcement and the Justice Department civil rights division to alert them to the overlap. The Islamic Circle of North America, which organizes Muslim Family Days at the Six Flags amusement park in several cities around Eid al-Fitr, this year planned nothing for Saturday, Sept. 11, because of the anniversary. A founder of Muslim Family Day, Tariq Amanullah, worked at the World Trade Center and was killed in the attacks. The Council on American-Islamic Relations, a Washington-based civil rights group, is urging mosques to review the group's security guidelines, including clearing brush where people could hide and installing surveillance cameras. "The issue I can sense brewing on hate sites on the Internet is, `These Muslims are celebrating on September 11,'" said Ibrahim Hooper, national spokesman for CAIR. "It's getting really scary out there." (Associated Press)
Dennis Kucinich makes a serious push to ban govt. assassinations of US citizens
August 13: Lawyers for US citizen Anwar al-Awlaki, who has reportedly been targeted for assassination by the CIA and Joint Special Operations Command, had to fight the US government to have the right to represent him. On August 11, following a lawsuit by the ACLU and the Center for Constitutional Rights, the Treasury Department issued a license to the pro-bono lawyers. Now the battle for due process begins. In a statement, al-Awlaki's new lawyers said the license would "allow us to pursue our litigation relating to the government’s asserted authority to engage in targeted killings of American civilians without due process." Al-Awlaki is originally from New Mexico and now lives in Yemen. He has been accused of providing inspiration for Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the alleged "underwear bomber," and Major Nidal Malik Hasan, the alleged Fort Hood shooter. Most lawmakers have been mute about the Obama administration's policy to target a US citizen for assassination. Representative Jane Harman, who serves on the Homeland Security Committee, said recently that Awlaki is "probably the person, the terrorist, who would be terrorist No. 1 in terms of threat against us." One of the few who has spoken against the policy is Ohio Democrat Dennis Kucinich. "The assassination policies vitiate the presumption of innocence and the government then becomes the investigator, policeman, prosecutor, judge, jury, executioner all in one," Kucinich said in April. "That raises the greatest questions with respect to our constitution and our democratic way of life." He called the policy "extrajudicial." (The Nation)
Florida Congressional candidate says: Islam is against everything America stands for
August 17: A Congressional candidate told local high school and middle school students today that Islam’s plan is to destroy the American way of life. “I’m totally against it. If I had my way, it would pretty much be over my dead body,” said Ron McNeil, a candidate for the U.S. House District 2 seat, who was referring to a controversial plan to build an Islamic center and mosque near Ground Zero in New York City. “That religion is against everything America stands for. If we have to let them build it, make them build it nine stories underground, so we can walk above it as citizens and Christians.” Some people in the audience applauded McNeil’s response. However, one student appeared up-set and asked McNeil what gave him or the federal government the right to tell an American that they can’t build an institution. “This religion’s plan is to destroy our way of life,” McNeil said. The student responded by saying he did not feel it was a Christian’s place to determine whether Islam is right or wrong. “It’s our place as Christians to stand up for the word of God and what the Bible says,” McNeil replied. (News Herald)
New Florence, Kentucky, mosque draws criticism
August 17: A new mosque that is set to be built in Florence is coming under fire. Organizers said the mosque will be built on a 5.5 acre site in New Florence, Kentucky. City officials said someone is passing out fliers denouncing the mosque and calling on residents to get the city to stop the project. "We usually get some phone calls," Florence Community Development Director Joshua Wise said. Wise said the city has received about 15 calls, including some in support of the new Islamic Center of Northern Kentucky. "If anyone owned a piece of property in the city of Florence and it is properly zoned -- whether it was a business development or residential development -- they could do that, and that's the case with the Islamic center," Wise said. Karen Dabdoub, the executive director of the Greater Cincinnati Council on American Islamic Relations, said she believes any opposition in Florence is related to opposition to a proposed Islamic community center near ground zero in New York City. "If it wasn't for that, and for election season, perhaps a lot of this wouldn't have happened," Dabdoub said. (www.wlwt.com)
Fears over Eid-9-11 anniversary clash
August 18: Islamic groups in the US fear an overlap between Eidul Fitr and the anniversary of 9/11 will lead to criticisms that Muslims are celebrating the 2001 terrorist attacks. This year, Eid falls on or around September 11. Some groups worry that the coincidence will increase suspicion and hostility towards Islam at a time when feelings towards their religion are already running high. Americans Against Hate have accused organizers of one Ramadan event of “spitting in the face of Americans” because they had scheduled activities for September 12. The Islamic Circle of North America decided against holding its Muslim family day on September 11 out of respect for victims and families. The Muslim Public Affairs Council contacted police to alert them to the overlapping dates. Ibrahim Hooper, of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said it was up to each individual community how they celebrated Eid but they might change the nature of the public events because of its proximity to 9/11. “We always tell mosques to revise their security when Islamophobia is on the rise. We have a whole industry of people searching for any excuse to bash Islam and this is one of them.” (Dawn)
Fresno Islamic center cancels Eid festival
August 18: Furor over plans for a mosque near Ground Zero in New York City -- along with an accident of the calendar -- has prompted the Islamic Cultural Center of Fresno to cancel its Eid al-Fitr carnival on Sept. 11. For the past several years, the Islamic Cultural Center has celebrated Eid al-Fitr with a carnival on the first Saturday after the holiday, when the potential is greater for large attendance. The center opened in northeast Fresno in June 2003. The center had planned to hold the carnival on Sept. 11 this year, but today announced the event's cancellation. Center officials said the cancellation was an acknowledgment that any celebration could be misinterpreted and also could be seen by some as insensitivity to the remembrance of 9/11. "The decision to cancel the carnival was due to the recent increase in levels of hostilities against Islam and Muslims following the proposal to construct an Islamic center in Lower Manhattan, and to deprive extremists from the opportunity to claim that American Muslims are celebrating 9/11," said the center's director, Kamal Abu-Shamsieh. (The Fresno Bee)
ACLU sues over detention in United Arab Emirates
August 18: American Civil Liberties Union lawyers filed a lawsuit today against the FBI, CIA and other federal intelligence agencies, accusing them of detaining and torturing an American citizen later convicted on terrorism charges in the United Arab Emirates. The lawsuit filed by the ACLU of Southern California seeks information about the treatment of Naji Hamdan, an American of Lebanese origin who was arrested in the United Arab Emirates in August 2008. The ACLU accuses U.S. agencies of colluding with United Arab Emirates security forces, which kept Hamdan in a secret prison in Abu Dhabi without charging him with a crime until an earlier lawsuit by the rights group prompted his transfer to an official prison. Hamdan, 44, who now lives in Lebanon with his family, was released in October 2009 after being convicted and sentenced to time served. (Associated Press)
Muslim employee: Disney banned her head scarf
August 18: A Muslim woman who works as a hostess at a Disneyland restaurant (Anaheim, CA) alleged today the theme park would not allow her to appear in front of customers while wearing her head scarf. Imane Boudlal, 26, appeared outside the resort's Grand Californian Hotel after filing a complaint with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. She said when she wore the hijab to work Sunday, her supervisors told her to remove it, work where customers couldn't see her, or go home. Boudlal, who wore the scarf in observance of Ramadan, chose to go home but reported to work for the next two days and was told the same thing. "Miss Boudlal has effectively understood that they're not interested in accommodating her request either in timing or good faith," said Ameena Qazi, an attorney from the Council on American-Islamic Relations who is consulting with Boudlal. Boudlal, who is a native of Morocco, has worked at the Storyteller restaurant at the hotel for 2 1/2 years but only realized she could wear her hijab to work after studying for her U.S. citizenship exam in June, Qazi said. (Associated Press)
Jihad hoax leads to arrest
August 19: A Lake Bridgeport (Texas) man associated with an international Christian organization called the Voice of the Martyrs was arrested earlier this month for allegedly making terroristic threats under the guise of radical Islam. Allen R. Burgess, 42, was arrested for making a terroristic threat after Bridgeport police identified him as the suspect in a string of flyers posted around town that startled several citizens. The bulletins indicated that radical Muslims were intent on staging a deadly attack on the city of Bridgeport. The police department began receiving calls about the flyers. "At the first of the month, people started finding flyers hung up around town at places like Sonic and Diamond," said assistant police chief Steve Stanford. "The letters were terrorist based. They demanded that everyone leave town now, and that Islamic terrorists were going to kill 'you and your families.'" (http://www.wcmessenger.com/news/content/EklkEuyuEkqRKrYQPZ.php)
ADC Denounces Islamophobia
August 23: The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) today denounced the hateful and Islamophobic rhetoric over the course of the past few weeks which is aimed in particular at the proposed Park51 Community Center in Lower Manhattan and the Muslim faith in general. The use of hate tactics is not limited to the Park51 development plan. Over the course of the past year there has been a substantial increase in the number of political candidates using Islamophobic tactics in an effort to leverage votes, and use such tactics as a platform to enhance their political visibility. Such hate-filled strategies once identified African Americans, Jewish Americans, and other communities as scapegoats to further political aims. Such political demagoguery, plain and simple, is nothing short of racist, xenophobic, and unacceptable; and it is counterproductive to American values and Constitutional rights. The sad reality is that currently the only form of permissible racism and prejudice is that targeting Arabs and Muslims. Many campaigns are vilifying Muslim and Arab Americans. ADC asks that all national and local community organizations speak up against such hateful and ardent discrimination, and not partake in actions that are aimed at dividing us internally as a Nation. Racism and prejudice, in whatever form, cannot be tolerated. The United States is built upon its people’s rich diversity and multiculturalism, and Islam has long been a part of that American social mosaic. Therefore, Islamophobia must be wholly rejected and opposed. Americans, of all faiths and backgrounds, should be free to practice their faith without fear and prejudice, as safeguarded by the First Amendment, and devoid of political demagoguery. (ADC)
ACLU Report: Spying on free speech nearly at cold war level
August 23: The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has released numerous reports of increased government spying on American citizens. Once upon an unhappy time, U.S. law enforcement agencies, from the FBI to local police, had a history of political spying during the Cold War. The ACLU said that the old political spying tendencies are running high again. Individuals and groups are being monitored and harassed for "little more than peacefully exercising their First Amendment rights." One ACLU report, Policing Free Speech: Police Surveillance and Obstruction of First Amendment-Protected Activity, reveals that, in recent years, Americans have been put under surveillance or harassed by law enforcement agencies in 33 states plus the District of Columbia. What horrific acts did these Americans commit? Organizing, marching, protesting, supporting unusual viewpoints, and engaging in "normal, innocuous behaviors such as writing notes or taking photographs in public. "
In California, there were 22 reports of spying. One such example is the Los Angeles Police Department Reporting Policy which included 65 behaviors LAPD officers were required to report. "The list includes such innocuous, clearly subjective, and First Amendment-protected activities as, taking measurements, using binoculars, taking pictures or video footage 'with no apparent esthetic value,' drawing diagrams, taking notes, and espousing extremist views." 13 incidents in Colorado were reported, including one when FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF) agents opened "domestic terrorism" investigations after the Colorado American Indian Movement, peace groups, and environmental groups posted notices on websites. The announcements were of an anti-war protest in Colorado Springs and a protest against Columbus Day in Denver.
In Georgia, among seven spying reports the ACLU uncovered, a vegetarian activist was arrested for writing down the license plate of a Department of Homeland Security agent who had been photographing her and others during a peaceful protest outside a Honey Baked Ham store. In Chicago, Illinois, the FBI JTTF conducted a three-day manhunt searching for a Muslim man due to him clicking a hand counter during a bus ride. The investigation revealed he was using the hand counter to keep track of his daily prayers. In Maine, the FBI intercepted and stored e-mails planning peaceful protests. In Massachusetts, a "plain-clothes Harvard University detective was caught photographing people at a peaceful protest for 'intelligence gathering' purposes. Protesters who then photographed the officer were arrested." In North Carolina, an honorably discharged U.S. Army woman, whose husband is on active duty, was put under Pentagon surveillance for participating in a protest at Fort Bragg.
Meanwhile, in Maryland, the "Maryland State Police spied on more than 30 activist groups, mostly peace groups and anti-death penalty advocates, and wrongly identified 53 individual activists and about two dozen organizations as terrorists." There are many such surveillance reports on a national level as well. An example is when a DHS contractor reported environmental groups like the Sierra Club, the Humane Society, and the Audubon Society as “mainstream organizations with known or possible links to eco-terrorism." An intelligence bulletin, from a DHS-supported North Central Texas Fusion System, was distributed to over 100 different agencies. It described a "purported conspiracy between Muslim civil rights organizations, lobbying groups, the anti-war movement, a former U.S. Congresswoman, the U.S. Treasury Department, and hip hop bands to spread tolerance in the U.S."
Once you unfortunately land on some kind of watchlist, it's unlikely you will ever have your name removed. One example was a Kentucky minister who had never been arrested, had never been charged with a crime, and had never participated in a protest. During a sightseeing trip, he was detained by Canadian border officials. The ministered learned he was under federal scrutiny because, immediately after September 11, he ordered books over the Internet about the Islamic religion, like the Koran, to help his congregation better understand that faith. (Network World)
PEW Poll: New York Mosque Opposed
August 24: Amid controversy over the proposed construction of an Islamic cultural center and mosque near the former site of the World Trade Center, more Americans agree with those who object to the building of the center than with the supporters of the project (51% to 34%). At the same time, 62% say that Muslims should have the same rights as other religious groups to build houses of worship in their local communities; just 25% say local communities should be able to block mosques in their area if they do not want them. By more than four-to-one (74% to 17%), Republicans say they agree more with those who object to the building of this center. By contrast, more Democrats agree with the center’s supporters than its opponents (by 47% to 39%). By more than two-to-one (54% to 21%), Republicans express an unfavorable opinion of Islam; the balance of opinion among independents is negative (40% unfavorable vs. 28% favorable). Among Democrats, favorable opinions of Islam outnumber unfavorable ones (by 41% to 27%). As in previous Pew Research surveys, most Americans say they know little about the Muslim religion. Currently, 55% say they do not know very much (30%) or know nothing at all (25%) about the Muslim religion and its practices; 35% say they know some about the religion while just 9% say they know a great deal. These numbers are largely unchanged from 2007. (PEW)
NY cabbie stabbed after asked 'Are You Muslim?'
August 24: A 21-year-old man hailed a cab in Manhattan tonight. He asked the driver "Are you Muslim?" and when the driver said yes, the man slashed him with a knife on the throat, arm and face. The driver stopped the cab and approached a police officer, who arrested the attacker.The attacker was later charged with attempted murder as a hate crime, assault, aggravated harassment and criminal possession of a weapon. The New York Times gives a graphic report of the episode: A young man hailed him at the corner of Second Avenue and East 24th Street, wanting to go to 42nd. Once, Michael Enright, a 21-year-old film student who had been recently trailing Marines in Afghanistan, settled in the back, he started asking friendly enough questions: Where was the driver from? Was he Muslim? The driver, Ahmed H. Sharif, 44, said he was from Bangladesh, and yes he was Muslim. Mr. Enright said, “Salaam aleikum,” the Arabic greeting “Peace be upon you.” “How’s your Ramadan going?” Mr. Enright asked, Mr. Sharif said. He told him it was going fine. Then, he said, Mr. Enright began making fun of the rituals of Ramadan, and Mr. Sharif sensed this cab ride might not be like any other. “So I stopped talking to him,” Mr. Sharif said. “He stopped talking, too.” As the cab inched up Third Avenue and reached 39th Street, Mr. Sharif said in a phone interview, Mr. Enright suddenly began cursing at him and shouting “This is the checkpoint” and “I have to bring you down.” He said he told him he had to bring the king of Saudi Arabia to the checkpoint. “He was talking like he was a soldier,” Mr. Sharif said. He withdrew a Leatherman knife, Mr. Sharif said, and, reaching through the opening in the plastic divider, slashed Mr. Sharif’s throat. When Mr. Sharif turned, he said, Mr. Enright stabbed him in his face, on his arm and on his thumbs. Mr. Sharif said he told him: “I beg of you, don’t kill me. I worked so hard, I have a family.” He said Mr. Enright bolted out of the slowly moving cab. Mr. Sharif then found a police officer who apprehended Mr. Enright. The officer told him, Mr. Sharif said, that Mr. Enright said he had tried to rob him. Mr. Sharif received more than two dozen stitches at Bellevue Hospital Center and was released. Mr. Enright was given a psychiatric evaluation there. (AMP Report)
Drunk man urinates on prayer rugs in Queens Mosque
On August 25: A drunk man barged into Iman Mosque in Queens (New York) and shouted anti-Muslim slurs at the congregation during the nightly Tarawee prayers. He then proceeded to urinate on the prayer rugs and gave congregants the finger. Two men managed to subdue him and call 911. The incident is the latest in anti-Muslim incidents that are being reported across the US.(AMP Report)
Continued on page three
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