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Chronology of Islam in America (2014)
By Abdus Sattar Ghazali
February 2014 page two
Hate group pushes new anti-Islam textbook bill introduced in Tennessee
Feb 22: A fight over content in Tennessee’s social studies textbooks is part of an emerging national effort by groups who believe God commands Christians to support the nation of Israel and that Islamic radicals are the biggest problem in America. In Volusia County, Fla., a November school board meeting was canceled over safety concerns after textbook protesters showed up with anti-Islam signs. In January, representatives for ACT! for America and other anti-Islam groups vowed to fight on after the Alabama Board of Education dismissed allegations that 11 textbooks on the state’s social studies materials list were unfairly tilted toward Islam. After school boards in Williamson and Sumner counties dismissed debates over textbook content, parents successfully requested a bill that would change textbook adoption at the state level. Instead of the governor appointing nine of the 10 textbook commission members — the education commissioner is the 10th —the bill would divide appointments among the governor and the speakers of the state House and Senate, which supporters say will bring in a diversity of viewpoints. But more disturbing to some is language lower in the bill that insists textbooks reflect “the values of the citizens of this state as manifested in the United States Constitution, the Constitution of Tennessee and other foundational documents of this nation’s republican form of government.” Opponents, including the American Center for Outreach — formed after another anti-Islam bill was proposed three years ago — wonder who will decide what those values are. Last summer, Lisa Moore of Christiana and a member of ACT! for America wrote a guest column about the issue in The Reader, a Murfreesboro-based community newspaper. “If you’re OK with your children/grandchildren being taught extreme Islamic Bias and indoctrination ... ignore the fact that your children’s minds are being stolen right out from under your nose and it is all indeed part of the grand design to bring this country and everything it stands for to its knees,” it read. Moore is a plaintiff in a lawsuit that seeks to stop construction of the Murfreesboro Islamic Center. It’s been unsuccessful so far and has cost Rutherford County more than $343,000 to defend, including in the current attempt to get the U.S. Supreme Court to hear it. [The Tennessean]
Jewish, Muslim communities unite for peaceful cause
Feb 23: And for a few hours today in Nashville, more than 200 members of the Temple Congregation Ohabai Sholom and members of the Islamic Center of Murfreesboro shed the perception that Jews and Muslims — locked in decades of bitter strife — can only be enemies. Yet it was outrage that drew the groups together. After hearing the heated public opposition to the Murfreesboro mosque, Temple Rabbi Mark Schiftan reached out to ICM Imam Ossama Bahloul and organized a trip late last year to see the mosque and learn more about Islam. Today, Bahloul and three busloads of ICM members returned the favor, giving Schiftan and Bahloul a chance to field questions from each other’s congregations about faith, Scriptures and the future for each religion. “We went because the level of xenophobia against the Muslim community, particularly in Murfreesboro, was so high in terms of religious intolerance (and) bigotry,” Schiftan said. “We went really on the grounds of another minority community of faith, to stand in solidarity with the Muslim community in the affirmation of the protection of First Amendment rights.” Could visits by members of one synagogue and one mosque break years of opposition? Bahloul thinks so, and he said the visits’ importance could bring greater acceptance later. [The Tennessean]
Anti-Islamic messages in Bothell get FBI attention
Feb 24: The FBI is working with local law enforcement to determine if a Feb 22 incident at the Islamic Center of Bothell was “bias-motivated and a violation of federal law,” according to a spokeswoman for the FBI’s Seattle division. Ten Islam-related books were discovered with handwritten “hateful messages” Saturday morning, each one placed in a separate parking spot in the lot near the center, according to Arsalan Bukhari, the executive director of the Washington chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-WA). In one book, part of the handwritten message stated that “Islam is a Satanic Pagan religion desiring slavery torture maiming and the beheading of Gods true followers the Christians and Jews.” Ayn Sandalo Dietrich, a spokeswoman for the FBI’s Seattle division, said in an email that the FBI office in Everett is going to look into it. [Seattle Times]
Jewish, Muslim communities unite for peaceful cause
Feb 23: And for a few hours today in Nashville, more than 200 members of the Temple Congregation Ohabai Sholom and members of the Islamic Center of Murfreesboro shed the perception that Jews and Muslims — locked in decades of bitter strife — can only be enemies. Yet it was outrage that drew the groups together. After hearing the heated public opposition to the Murfreesboro mosque, Temple Rabbi Mark Schiftan reached out to ICM Imam Ossama Bahloul and organized a trip late last year to see the mosque and learn more about Islam. Today, Bahloul and three busloads of ICM members returned the favor, giving Schiftan and Bahloul a chance to field questions from each other’s congregations about faith, Scriptures and the future for each religion. “We went because the level of xenophobia against the Muslim community, particularly in Murfreesboro, was so high in terms of religious intolerance (and) bigotry,” Schiftan said. “We went really on the grounds of another minority community of faith, to stand in solidarity with the Muslim community in the affirmation of the protection of First Amendment rights.” Could visits by members of one synagogue and one mosque break years of opposition? Bahloul thinks so, and he said the visits’ importance could bring greater acceptance later. [The Tennessean]
Virginia Police Academy nixes ‘advanced counterterrorism training’ taught by anti-Muslim activist
Feb 24: The Rappahannock Regional Criminal Justice Academy announced today that it would no longer sponsor a course for law enforcement officers which was ostensibly focused on counterterrorism, but which would have been taught by an anti-Muslim activist with a history of spreading conspiracy theories. A brief press release from the academy announces that “[a]fter careful consideration and consultation with other law enforcement agencies and academies, having firsthand knowledge of this training, the Rappahannock Regional Criminal Justice Academy will no longer be offering Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services in-service training credit for the upcoming seminar ‘Understanding and Investigating Jihadi Networks in America.’” The training was to be hosted by the Culpeper County Sheriff’s Office. Late last week, Sheriff Scott Jenkins said that he does not plan to cancel the training session, despite outcry from civil rights groups that the event features an anti-Islamic speaker. According to a letter from 15 civil rights organizations and religious interest groups, John Guandolo, a former FBI agent and the featured speaker at the training event, “is closely affiliated with ACT! for America, a known anti-Muslim hate group, and he makes baseless, irresponsible and dangerous statements revealing his animus about the American Muslim community” — including claiming that “American Muslims ‘do not have a First Amendment right to do anything.‘” According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, Guandolo accused Central Intelligence Agency Director John Brennan of bringing “known Hamas and Muslim Brotherhood leaders into the government and into advisory positions,” and claimed that Brennan did so because he “converted to Islam when he served in an official capacity” in Saudi Arabia. Weeks later, Guandolo expanded this conspiracy to include President Obama, claiming that the president has “made a significant effort to protect known members of Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood inside this government.” [Think Progress]
Anti-Islamic messages in Bothell get FBI attention
Feb 24: The FBI is working with local law enforcement to determine if a Feb 22 incident at the Islamic Center of Bothell was “bias-motivated and a violation of federal law,” according to a spokeswoman for the FBI’s Seattle division. Ten Islam-related books were discovered with handwritten “hateful messages” Saturday morning, each one placed in a separate parking spot in the lot near the center, according to Arsalan Bukhari, the executive director of the Washington chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-WA). In one book, part of the handwritten message stated that “Islam is a Satanic Pagan religion desiring slavery torture maiming and the beheading of Gods true followers the Christians and Jews.” Ayn Sandalo Dietrich, a spokeswoman for the FBI’s Seattle division, said in an email that the FBI office in Everett is going to look into it. [Seattle Times]
Imam Offers Opening Invocation for the Harris County Commissioners Court
Feb 25: The Islamic Society of Greater Houston's Imam Hamzah Ghia today offered the opening invocation for the Harris County Commissioners Court. The ISGH website said the court’s initiative of inviting a variety of faith leaders to offer their opening prayers is just one of many examples in which Houston makes our diversity one of the city’s greatest strengths. [ISGH]
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