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Chronology of Islam in America (2012)
By Abdus Sattar Ghazali
August 2012
Meet Judge Halim Dhanidina
August 1: Whenever American Muslims feel unwelcome by elected officials and their government, Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC) shows them we have both the right and opportunity to serve our government. For the past three years, MPAC has advocated for the appointment of Halim Dhanidina as a superior court judge for the state of California. This spring, Dhanidani received a phone call that changed his life -- Gov. Jerry Brown's office called to notify him he had been named a judge to California Superior Court. With his success, Dhanidina shows we all have a place in civic life. MPAC advocated for Dhanidina due to his outstanding record in California. Since 1998, he has completed high-level prosecutions of gang units and has served as a deputy district attorney in the LA county district office. Overall, Dhanidina has prosecuted more than two dozen murder cases, including six capital cases. “I am grateful to MPAC for supporting me during this process," Dhanidina said. "I also thank Gov. Brown for the opportunity to contribute to the pursuit of justice as a Muslim and as an American. Above all, I am thankful to God for this achievement. As a judge, I hope to show the Muslim American community that there is a place for us to participate in all aspects of civil society. I also help to show members of society at large that people of all backgrounds can serve the public with honor and integrity.” [MPAC]
Tennessee candidates engage in anti-Islam contest
August 2: An argument over who is more opposed to the Islamic faith and the construction of a mosque near Nashville has become an unlikely issue in a nasty Tennessee Republican congressional primary. Freshman Republican Representative Diane Black is challenged by Lou Ann Zelenik, who lost to Black in a primary to represent the rural district two years ago by less than 300 votes. The heart of the struggle is over the Islamic Center of Murfreesboro, about 30 miles south of Nashville, which has been controversial since construction began two years ago. Zelenik, who vigorously opposed the mosque and warned of potential terrorist connections, said Black was not forceful enough in her opposition. "I will work to stop the Islamization of our society, and do everything possible to prevent Sharia law from circumventing our laws and our Constitution," Zelenik said. Black did oppose the mosque in statements issued in 2010. She said communities have a right to be vigilant in ensuring that Islamic institutions in this country do not aid the "jihadist viewpoint." "The mosque was rushed through the local process, and people were mad about it ... This isn't about religion, this is about people staying vigilant," Black said. A judge ruled last month that the mosque could be occupied by its congregation in time for the fasting month of Ramadan if it passed an inspection. But the inspection showed that some additional work needed to be done before it could be used. [Reuters]
Santa Clara Planning commission approves mosque
August 2: The Santa Clara County Planning Commission approved plans to build the Cordoba Center in San Martin – a mosque, cemetery and meeting place for the South Valley Islamic Community – at its today’s meeting, according to Hamdy Abbass, spokesman for SVIC who attended the meeting in San Jose.The decision is a culmination of two back-to-back public meetings in Morgan Hill that unearthed anti-Muslim sentiment among San Martin residents, and drew counter opinions from others expressing tolerance. Hundreds of residents mostly from southern Santa Clara County attended two planning advisory meetings to discuss the mosque and cemetery proposal. SVIC urged the commission to approve the project, as all previous environmental and impact studies support the proposal. The Cordoba Center was first proposed by the SVIC in 2006, but stalled a couple years later due to a lack of financing. The project was resubmitted in December 2011. Situated on a 15-acre property on the 14000 block of Monterey Highway, just north of the intersection of California Avenue, the proposal includes two ranch-style structures - a prayer hall and a community center - as well as a cemetery and open space. [Gilroy Dispatch]
Euro-US far-right groups anti-Muslim rally again flops
August 4: Far-right anti-Islam fringe but vocal groups from across Europe and the United States staged a rally in the Swedish capital, Stockholm, which attracted only 200 people, according to Reuters news agency while the Associated Press put the numbers to 100 only. This was the second flopped rally of the Euro-US far right groups. On March 31, 2011, an anti-Islamic gathering in Denmark's second city, Aarhus, had attracted fewer than 200 supporters compared with thousands of counter demonstrators. Reuters said the Stockholm rally by European and U.S. far-right groups seeking to create a global "counter-jihad" movement attracted fewer than 200 people who were outnumbered by anti-racist protesters. Police said the rival demonstration was kept apart from the far-right rally and drew a few hundred people, a small number of whom were detained. Reuters pointed out that the far-right rally was organized by groups including the English Defense League (EDL) which gained international attention through the Norwegian anti-Islamic fanatic (read terrorist) Anders Behring Breivik, who massacred 77 people in Norway a year ago and who referred to the EDL admiringly in his manifesto on the Internet. In February 2012, the British newspaper Independent quoted Weyman Bennett, spokesman for pressure group Unite Against Fascism, as saying: " We should not forget that it was the Norwegian Defense League that gave us [Anders] Brevik. The growth of a Euro-league in a time of economic crisis threatens to resurrect fascist street armies such as those that destroyed European democracies in the 1930s. The development of this network allows fascists and right-wing populists to share ideas, finance and experience in a way that should worry us all." The EDL was founded in 2009 by Stephen Lennon, who also calls himself Tommy Robinson. Not surprisingly, English Defence League leader Tommy Robinson as well as US anti-Muslim bloggers and co-founders of Stop Islamization of America, Robert Spencer and Pamela Geller participated in the rally. Robert Spencer and Pamela Geller were also major supporters of this rally. [AMP Report]
Alarming Increase of Travel Related Harassment-Bans
August 8: Recently the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) has experienced an alarming increase in the number of intakes pertaining to “no-fly” list and travel-related matters. ADC is representing a number of US Citizens who are currently banned from returning home after international travel. The cases include matters involving undue delays upon entry, and intrusive/unconstitutional questioning by officials from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), including the Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) and the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). ADC has also contacted the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Department of State in an attempt to resolve these matters. In the event the matters are not resolved ADC will proceed with appropriate and necessary legal action to ensure the issues are immediately resolved and the rights of the community are protected. Examples of the fact patterns found in the cases currently being addressed by ADC include:
- An Arab American male, who is paralyzed and confined to a wheelchair, is being denied the right to fly back to the US from Lebanon. The man, who is a US Citizen, suffers from multiple medical issues and depends on the support of his immediate family for normal daily activities, such as using the restroom, eating, and cleansing himself. The failure of the US Government in allowing one of its own citizens to return home is not only unconscionable and unconstitutional; in this case it also has an impact on the citizens health and well-being.
- A 17 year old Arab American male from South Florida who was interrogated for nearly 5 hours by CBP agents. During the questioning he was asked questions such as, “Are you Muslim?” “Do you go to the Mosque?” The officers asked for the traveler’s cell phone, and upon receiving the cellphone they proceeded to download all content and data off of the device.
- A distinguished medical professional, also from South Florida, that faced an intrusive and extensive interrogation upon returning from international business travel. He was asked about his religion and political views. Officers requested his cell phone and laptop and proceeded to download all the information/content off the phone --- despite the doctor’s plea not to copy the information as the devices contained confidential and private data for hundreds of patients. [ADC]
Illinois Muslim school hit with acid bomb
August 8: The Chicago office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-Chicago) today called for an FBI hate crime investigation of an acid bomb attack on a Muslim school in that state. CAIR-Chicago said someone threw a bottle filled with acid and other unspecified materials at the College Preparatory School of America during the nighttime Ramadan prayers on Sunday night. Worshipers said they heard a loud bang and discovered that the acid bomb had been thrown at the window of the school. No one was injured. This is the second such incident targeting an Illinois Muslim institution this past weekend. On Saturday, CAIR's Chicago office reported that air rifle shots were fired at the outer wall of the Muslim Education Center (MEC) mosque in Morton Grove, Ill. "These and other incidents of anti-Muslim bigotry are occurring in an atmosphere of hate resulting from inflammatory statements by elected officials nationwide," said CAIR-Chicago Executive Director Ahmed Rehab. On Friday, Chicago Muslims spoke out against fear-mongering comments made by Illinois Congressman Joe Walsh in which he said that Islamic radicals were living in Chicago's suburbs. A diverse group of Muslims, Jews and Christians held a press conference in downtown Chicago to warn against the effects of such irresponsible remarks, especially coming as they did following incidents such as the deadly shooting spree at a Sikh temple in Wisconsin. [CAIR]
Another agenda-driven survey of the PEW Institute
August 10: It is a well established fact that the wording of the questions, the order in which they are asked and the number and form of alternative answers offered can influence results of polls or surveys which are sophisticated propaganda tools. From its inception a century ago, and in its current construction, the terrain of public opinion polls is far from being a neutral. This applies to the latest survey results of the PEW Institute - The World's Muslims: Unity and Diversity – released on August 9, 2012. According to the PEW survey , the world’s 1.6 billion Muslims are united in their belief in God and the Prophet Muhammad and are bound together by such religious practices as fasting during the holy month of Ramadan and almsgiving to assist people in need. But they have widely differing views about many other aspects of their faith, including how important religion is to their lives, who counts as a Muslim and what practices are acceptable in Islam, according to the survey. Perhaps, one of the most important finding of the survey was hidden in the subtitle of the report – Core Beliefs – which said that 46 percent Muslims of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and 41 percent Muslims of Guinea Bissau say that the Quran is not a word of God. Intriguingly, the PEW report pointed out that the question if the Quran is the word of God was asked only in the sub-Saharan Africa where almost 25 percent Muslims in Kenya, Chad, Mozambique and Uganda and about 20 percent Muslims in Djibouti, Ethiopia, Liberia and Senegal do not consider the Quran a word of God. It is a common knowledge that just as a Chrisitian cannot call himself/herself a Christian unless he or she believes in Christ, similarly Muslim cannot call himself/herself a Muslim unless he or she believes in the divinity of the Quran. One may ask why the PEW researchers asked this question from the Muslims in sub-Saharan Africa? Why not in the Muslim majority countries like Indonesia, India, Saudi Arabia and Egypt. Interestingly, only 1.5 percent population of the Democratic Republic of the Congo is Muslim and around 35 percent adhered to the faith of Islam in Guinea Bissau.
“The World's Muslims: Unity and Diversity,” is not the first agenda driven survey of the PEW Institute. Its most misleading survey is regarding the estimate of Muslim population of America. The PEW survey claims that the current population of Muslim Americans is no more than 2.75 million. Not surprisingly, it is basing this calculations on its own 2007 survey that estimated the Muslim American population at 2.4 million which was closer to the estimates announced by the American Jewish Committee in October 2001. The AJC study – titled Estimating the Muslim Population in the United States – claimed that the best estimate of Muslims in the United States is 2.8 million at most, compared to the 6 or 7 million figure used by many researchers and Muslim organizations. The PEW surveys, just like the AJC report, seem to undercut the influence of American Muslims. It looks another desperate attempt to discount the role of American Muslims. The PEW’s misleading demographic figures of American Muslims already made an entry into the Wikipedia encyclopedia’s article on American Muslim population estimates. Pew numbers are now quoted as authentic reference when estimate of American Muslims is given. Religious denominations, like all interest groups, can gain or lose political clout based on perceptions of their size, according to J. Gordon Melton, director of the Institute for the Study of American Religion in Santa Barbara, Calif. In the case of the U.S. Muslim community, Melton says, its efforts to influence policy in the Middle East would get a boost if it were viewed as being larger than the country’s Jewish population, which is estimated at 6 million. “It’s a political question: How does it sway votes?” he argued. [AMP Report]
Racial profiling rife at airport
August 11: More than 30 federal officers in an airport program intended to spot telltale mannerisms of potential terrorists say the operation has become a magnet for racial profiling, targeting not only Middle Easterners but also blacks, Hispanics and other minorities. In interviews and internal complaints, officers from the Transportation Security Administration’s “behavior detection” program at Logan International Airport in Boston asserted that passengers who fit certain profiles — Hispanics traveling to Miami, for instance, or blacks wearing baseball caps backward — are much more likely to be stopped, searched and questioned for “suspicious” behavior. “They just pull aside anyone who they don’t like the way they look — if they are black and have expensive clothes or jewelry, or if they are Hispanic,” said one white officer, who along with four others spoke with The New York Times…….At a meeting last month with T.S.A. officials, officers at Logan provided written complaints about profiling from 32 officers, some of whom wrote anonymously. Officers said managers’ demands for high numbers of stops, searches and criminal referrals had led co-workers to target minorities in the belief that those stops were more likely to yield drugs, outstanding arrest warrants or immigration problems. The practice has become so prevalent, some officers said, that Massachusetts State Police officials have asked why minority members appear to make up an overwhelming number of the cases that the airport refers to them. “The behavior detection program is no longer a behavior-based program, but it is a racial profiling program,” one officer wrote in an anonymous complaint obtained by The Times. ….. Reports of profiling emerged last year at the behavior programs at the Newark and Hawaii airports, but in much smaller numbers than those described in Boston. The complaints from the Logan officers carry nationwide implications because Boston is the testing ground for an expanded use of behavioral detection methods at airports around the country. While 161 airports already use behavioral officers to identify possible terrorist activity — a controversial tactic — the agency is considering expanding the use of what it says are more advanced tactics nationwide, with Boston’s program as a model. [New York Time]
Video shows paintball attack on Oklahoma mosque
August 13: The Oklahoma chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-OK) today called on state and federal law enforcement authorities to investigate a paintball attack on an Oklahoma mosque as a hate crime. CAIR-OK said vandals fired numerous paintballs at the doors of the Grand Mosque of Oklahoma City early Sunday and then fled the scene. The attack, which the mosque's director first thought was a volley of bullets, was captured on surveillance video. Local police are investigating the incident. "We call on the FBI to join with state law enforcement authorities in investigating this disturbing incident as a hate crime targeting an American house of worship," said CAIR-OK Executive Director Adam Soltani. "The growing number of these attacks should be of concern to national religious and political leaders who have an important role to play in challenging the rising level of anti-Muslim rhetoric in our society, and particularly Islamophobic rhetoric coming from the right-wing of the political spectrum." Soltani said CAIR-OK has developed a "Community Safety Guide" to help protect against anti-Muslim bigotry and to protect constitutional rights. He noted that Chicago Muslims spoke out against fear-mongering comments made by Illinois Congressman Joe Walsh in which he said that Islamic radicals were living in Chicago's suburbs. A diverse group of Muslims, Jews and Christians held a press conference Friday in downtown Chicago to warn against the effects of such irresponsible remarks. Soltani also cited the recent smear campaign by Rep. Michele Bachmann targeting American Muslims who seek to contribute to the nation through public service. [CAIR]
Interfaith witnesses show support for Muslim community
August 13: In a response to a hateful act, Interfaith Witnesses came together tonight to show support for the Muslim community after pig parts were thrown on the driveway of a mosque. "I was ignorant to the Muslim belief at one time," said the Reverend Jan Chase of the Unity Church of Pomona. "I finally allowed myself to learn about the religion and the people associated with that religion." Chase added that the worshippers in the Muslim community are the same as in every other faith. "They hold the same essential beliefs that we all do," she said. "I find the evilness and hatred associated with last week's desecration disgusting and hurtful." Chase was speaking about the incident where someone was seen throwing pigs legs on the mosque grounds. The incident happened two days following the slaughter at the Sikh temple in Wisconsin. "We are scared and for good reason," said Faisal Qazi, a board member of the mosque. "There have been many attacks on our religion many times in the last few weeks." Qazi was speaking about the mosque that burned to the ground in Joplin, Mo. on Aug. 6. It was the second fire to spark there within a month. "This is enlightening to see all these faiths coming together for us," said Rachid Achmed, Al-Nur Islamic Center chairman. "This hatred has prompted a community outcry, and it's working." Some neighbors don't have any issues with the Muslim community wanting to build a mosque in their backyard. "They are the kindest people," said Martial Leonard. "I feel religion is one of the freedoms I fought for in Vietnam, and they have a right just like I do to pray to whomever they want to." [Daily Bulletin]
Kentucky bill based on anti-Islam legislation
August 13: The laws in Kentucky and the United States Constitution take precedence over foreign laws, according to a bill pre-filed by Kentucky Rep. Kim King, R-Harrodsburg, for the 2013 session. The bill closely mirrors bills filed in more than 20 other states that some Muslims have criticized as anti-Islamic, though the bill doesn’t mention Islam. King said she’s not singling out any foreign law or culture but addressing the concerns that a constituent brought to her. “We don’t need to be citing foreign laws to determine cases in the United States that would undermine our constitution and our laws,” King said. Some Muslims, however, said that while such bills in other states don’t mention Islam, many of the bills’ sponsors and supporters have stirred anti-Muslim sentiment in public hearings. “They don’t mention Sharia or Islam except at the hearings,” said Ibrahim Hooper, spokesman for the Council of American-Islamic Relations(CAIR) in Washington, D.C. “For the one in Tennessee, the sponsor of the bill gave an hour long presentation about the bill and focused on Islam. They said this clearly has not a thing to do with any faith or religion, and then spent the next hour slamming Islam. The bill’s intent is to stigmatize Islam, which becomes evident when you probe or question the sponsors on why they introduce such bizarre bills.” [Cincinnati Enquirer]
Islamic groups alarmed by suburban Chicago incidents
Aug 14: Two suburban Islamic institutions apparently were the targets of weekend incidents that caused property damage and raised concerns among Islamic leaders that the attacks were intended to harm worshippers. Yesterday, David Conrad, 51, of Morton Grove, was ordered in court to undergo an anger management evaluation and to stay away from members of the local Muslim Education Center, at which he is alleged to have fired a high-velocity air rifle Friday evening. No one was hurt during the shooting in the north suburb, but about 500 people were in the building observing evening prayers for the holy month of Ramadan. Meanwhile, police in west suburban Lombard were trying to determine the origin of a soda bottle filled with household chemicals that apparently was thrown at an Islamic school Sunday night, also during Ramadan prayers. The crude, homemade explosive scared worshippers because of its loud noise but did not injure anyone, Lombard police said. Islamic community leaders called for federal authorities to step in, saying they do not consider either case isolated. They believe Muslims were targeted in the past because of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, said Ahmed Rehab, executive director of the Chicago Office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations. [Chicago Tribune]
Judge: Security at risk in O.C. Muslims suit
August 15: Arguing in court over allegations that the FBI collected indiscriminate information about Muslims throughout Orange County would pose a risk to national security, ruled a federal judge, who dismissed several claims yesterday against the agency under the state secrets privilege. After listening to four hours of arguments, U.S. District Court (in Santa Ana, CA) Judge Cormac J. Carney dismissed most of the claims filed by the American Civil Liberties Union and the Council on American-Islamic Relations, which alleged FBI agents and their supervisors allowed and directed a paid informant to collect information on Muslims who attended Orange County mosques in 2006 and 2007. But a portion of the case may still go to trial, Carney decided, including allegations that agents with the FBI violated portions of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act during Operation Flex, an FBI counterterrorism operation in which agents used a confidential informant to collect information during that period. Despite the case being filed in federal court in February 2011, the suit was kept from moving to the discovery phase after U.S. Attorney General Eric H. Holder asserted states secrets privilege over several of the claims in August 2011. On Tuesday, Carney agreed with Holder. "The court is convinced that the subject matter of this action, Operation Flex, involves intelligence that, if disclosed, would significantly compromise national security," Carmac wrote in his decision, which spanned nearly 50 pages. The suit was filed by the ACLU and CAIR in early 2011 on behalf of Orange County imams and members of the Muslim community who came into contact with Craig Monteilh, a former convict who came forward in 2009 with claims that he was a paid informant with the FBI and was instructed to go into local mosques. "They didn't give him any targets; they simply told him to gather as much information on members of the Muslim community," Peter Bibring, an attorney for the ACLU, said in court. "He was told to target people who were more devout because they posed a bigger danger."In interviews, Monteilh alleged he was instructed to record audio and video inside mosques and the homes of members of the Islamic community, often leaving the devices behind to record unsupervised conversations. Carney ruled that allegations that individual agents violated portions of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, regarding electronic surveillance, can be argued in court…. In court documents the litigation has offered some insight. In a classified declaration, Mark F. Giuliano, FBI assistant director of the counterterrorism division, confirms that FBI agents worked in Operation Flex, where Monteilh worked as a confidential informant. Fewer than 25 people were being investigated under the operation, according to the declaration that remains classified, but was quoted in public court documents. But under the state secrets privilege asserted by Holder, confirming or denying who was under investigation, as well as what could have prompted an investigation by the FBI, could jeopardize national security. In his decision in support of the states secrets privilege, Judge Carney referred to the balance of the courts when weighing national security and civil liberties. [Orange County Register]
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