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Chronology of Islam in America (2005)
By Abdus Sattar Ghazali
June 2005
Iranian Americans launch “know your rights” campaign
June 2: In Los Angeles, at a breakfast briefing this morning the American Civil Liberties Union and leaders of the Iranian American community launched a "Know Your Rights" Campaign designed to address community-specific concerns. There have been increased patterns of discrimination against Iranian Americans in the past six months, according to the organizations, including allegations of employment discrimination, FBI interrogation and surveillance, problems in getting security clearance and immigration discrimination. While mindful of security concerns, the organizations unequivocally oppose targeting Iranian Americans on the basis of ethnic origin, saying it does nothing to increase safety. As a result of these concerns, for the first time these organizations have joined together to reach out to the Iranian American community to educate individuals about their rights. (ACLU)
Desert Mosque burns to ground in California
June 3: A suspicious fire gutted a mosque early today in the high desert city of Adelanto, the site of Southern California's only cemetery built exclusively for Muslims. San Bernardino County arson investigators who inspected the ruins of the United Islamic Youth Organization mosque believe that the blaze was possibly arson or a hate crime, authorities said. The fire was labeled suspicious because the 1,500-square-foot mosque on Morning Glory Street did not have electric or gas service, ruling out an electrical fire or a gas leak as possible causes. Power was provided by a portable generator that was not on the premises, Martinez said. (Los Angeles Times)
Michigan Muslims protest Quran abuse
June 3: Members of the Muslim Community Association of Ann Arbor voiced their outrage at the U.S. government and military today in response to Quran desecration and alleged mistreatment of Muslim detainees in American Military detention facilities. The crowd of about 100 protesters gathered outside the Islamic Center of Ann Arbor and demanded that a commission be created to investigate allegations of torture and abuse. They also demanded that all detainees be given full due process rights and that they either be charged with a crime or be released. Protesters specifically said they want the detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba shut down, saying it disregards universal human rights and is a national embarrassment. (The Michigan Daily News)
American prisons become political and religious battleground over Muslim inmates
June 4: Across the United States, tens of thousands of Muslims are practicing their faith behind bars. Islam is most likely to win American converts there, according to U.S. Muslim leaders, and the religion has for decades been a regular part of prison culture. But the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks have brought new scrutiny to Muslim inmates, many of whom are black men focused on surviving incarceration. While prison chaplains of various denominations argue that Islam offers a spiritual path to rehabilitation, others say it has the potential to turn felons into terrorists. The FBI calls prisons ''fertile ground for extremists.'' The reality is harder to read: Those on opposing sides have such divergent views they seem irreconcilable. Who's right matters not only for national security, but for the development of American Islam itself, which is struggling to be accepted alongside the major faiths in the United States. Sen. Charles Schumer, a New York Democrat, has said: ''Wahhabi influence is inculcating them with the same kind of militant ideas that drove the 9-11 hijackers to kill thousands of Americans. Prison chaplains and others say such warnings are dangerously ignorant. In interviews with The Associated Press, chaplains, prison volunteers, correctional officials, inmates and former inmates all insisted that there was no evidence of terrorist recruitment by Muslims in their prisons - although banned pamphlets and books sometimes slip in. Chaplains describe the typical inmate convert as a poor, black American upset about racism, not Mideast politics, or someone who turned to Islam to cope with imprisonment. When they get out, these men are so overwhelmed by alcoholism or poverty that the crimes they are most likely to commit are the ones that landed them in jail to begin with, chaplains say. (The Salt Lake Tribune)
Five Lodi Pakistanis arrested in terrorist probe
June 6: FBI today arrested two Pakistani Americans and two Pakistani nationals in the city of Lodi, CA., for allegedly operating an Al Qaeda cell in the city. One of the men arrested, 22-year-old American citizen, Hamid Hayat, is accused in a FBI criminal complaint of training in an Al Qaeda camp in Pakistan to learn “how to kill Americans” and then lying to FBI agents about it. His father, 47-year-old Umer Hayat, is charged in the complaint with lying about his son’s involvement and his own financing of the Al Qaeda camp. Meanwhile, Two Pakistani nationals, Shabbir Ahmed, imam of the Lodi Mosque, and Mohammad Adil Khan, a former Imam of the mosque, were arrested this morning on immigration violations, according to official sources. Two days later, on June 8, Mohammad Hassan Adil, 19, son of Mohammad Adil Khan was arrested on immigration charges. (Sacramento Bee)
Islamic School of Miami vandalized for third time in past year
June 7: Islamic leaders renewed their calls for a hate-crime investigation today after someone threw a rock through the glass doors of the Islamic School of Miami. The incident, which occurred on June 6, was the third at the mosque and the fifth in South Florida in the past year, according to Altaf Ali, executive director of the Florida branch of the Council on American-Islamic Relations. Miami-Dade police spokesman Juan Del Castillo said officers will investigate the case but the department has not classified it as a hate crime. (South Florida Sun-Sentinel)
Carter calls on U.S. to shut down Gitmo
June 7: Former President Carter today called for the United States to shut down the Guantanamo Bay prison to demonstrate its commitment to human rights."The U.S. continues to suffer terrible embarrassment and a blow to our reputation ... because of reports concerning abuses of prisoners in Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantanamo," Carter said after a two-day human rights conference at his Atlanta center. Such reports have surfaced despite President Bush's "bold reminder that America is determined to promote freedom and democracy around the world," Carter said. (Washington Post)
Lodi arrests: Terror allegations disappear from court filing
June 10: The Los Angeles Times reported today that the Federal Bureau of Investigation apparently gave the media a different, far more damaging version of an affidavit against a Lodi, California father and son – Umer Hayat and Hamid Hayat - charged with lying to federal officials than the one that was finally given to a court in Sacramento on June 9. Under the title, “Affidavit Changed in Terrorism Accusation:The FBI version filed in court lacks several prominent details in the publicized original,” the Los Angeles Times reported that the affidavit filed did not contain any of the sensation material from earlier in the week which said the son's "potential terrorist targets included hospitals and groceries, and contained names of key individuals and statements about the international origins of 'hundreds' of participants in alleged Al Qaeda terrorist training camps in Pakistan." (Los Angeles Times)
Only 39 people and not 200, as officials have implied, were convicted of crimes related to terrorism or national security
June 12: An analysis of the Justice Department's own list of terrorism prosecutions by The Washington Post shows that 39 people -- not 200, as officials have implied -- were convicted of crimes related to terrorism or national security. Most of the others were convicted of relatively minor crimes such as making false statements and violating immigration law -- and had nothing to do with terrorism, the analysis shows. For the entire list, the median sentence was just 11 months. Taken as a whole, the data indicate that the government's effort to identify terrorists in the United States has been less successful than authorities have often suggested. The statistics provide little support for the contention that authorities have discovered and prosecuted hundreds of terrorists here. Except for a small number of well-known cases -- such as truck driver Iyman Faris, who sought to take down the Brooklyn Bridge -- few of those arrested appear to have been involved in active plots inside the United States. Among all the people charged as a result of terrorism probes in the three years after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, The Post found no demonstrated connection to terrorism or terrorist groups for 180 of them. Just one in nine individuals on the list had an alleged connection to the al Qaeda terrorist network and only 14 people convicted of terrorism-related crimes -- including Faris and convicted Sept. 11 plotter Zacarias Moussaoui -- have clear links to the group. Many more cases involve Colombian drug cartels, supporters of the Palestinian cause, Rwandan war criminals or others with no apparent ties to al Qaeda or its leader, Osama bin Laden. But a large number of people appear to have been swept into U.S. counterterrorism investigations by chance -- through anonymous tips, suspicious circumstances or bad luck -- and have remained classified as terrorism defendants years after being cleared of connections to extremist groups. (Washington Post)
The Terrorism Case That Wasn't -- and Still Is
June 12: Soon after Sept. 11, 2001, the FBI learned that 18 Middle Eastern men had obtained licenses in Pennsylvania to haul hazardous materials across the nation's roadways. Deeply concerned about another terrorist attack, prosecutors filed fraud charges against the men on Sept. 24, 2001. The next day, then-Attorney General John D. Ashcroft appeared before Congress. Invoking the threat of attacks with poisons from crop-dusting aircraft or other hazardous materials, he said some of the defendants "may have links to the hijackers." Within two days, the FBI was backing off that allegation. Two months later, prosecutors in Pittsburgh, where the men -- mostly Iraqis -- were convicted, said they had no apparent terrorist ties. The U.S. attorney's office later learned that the men never intended to buy the hazardous-materials permits. Robert Cindrich, a former U.S. district judge who heard the case, said that he would "not continue to characterize this as a successful prosecution of a terrorism case, because it was not." Yet the case still makes up the largest single portion of the government's list of terrorism prosecutions. Rena Zottola's husband, Kumeit Al-Saraf, was put on probation after pleading guilty to a conspiracy charge and remains unemployed. She said that "what Americans need to realize is that for the people in this case, their lives are ruined. His name is tainted now. That's it." (Washington Post)
Immigration law as anti-terrorism tool
June 13: In the past two years, officials have filed immigration charges against more than 500 people who have come under scrutiny in national security investigations, according to previously undisclosed government figures. Some are ultimately found to have no terrorism ties, officials acknowledge. Whereas terrorism charges can be difficult to prosecute, Homeland Security officials say immigration laws can provide a quick, easy way to detain people who could be planning attacks. Authorities have also used routine charges such as overstaying a visa to deport suspected supporters of terrorist groups. "It's an incredibly important piece of the terrorism response," said Michael J. Garcia, who heads Homeland Security's Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE. And although immigration violations might seem humdrum, he said, "They're legitimate charges." Muslim and civil liberties activists disagree. They argue that authorities are enforcing minor violations by Muslims and Arabs, while ignoring millions of other immigrants who flout the same laws. "The approach is basically to target the Muslim and Arab community with a kind of zero-tolerance immigration policy. No other community in the U.S. is treated to zero-tolerance enforcement," said David Cole, a Georgetown University law professor. (Washington Post)
Baltimore Countryt Board approves calendar without Muslim holidays
June 14: With nine of its 12 members voting "yes," the Baltimore County (Maryland) school board approved the 2006-07 school calendar without two days off for Muslim holy days. School board members Luis Borunda, Michael Kennedy and student member Nicholas Camp abstained. When the Muslim community appealed the 2005-06 school calendar, which did not include having schools closed on its two major holy days, to the state school board, the state responded that it is illegal to close schools on one particular religious holiday. "Being legal is not the issue," said Bash Pharon, president of the Baltimore County Muslim Council and the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, Baltimore Chapter, at the June 14 school board meeting. "You have discriminated tonight." Baltimore County started closing schools on the Jewish holy days of Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur in the late 1990s. (The Jeffersonian, Maryland)
Burned Qurans left at Virginia Muslim center
June 16: In Backsburg, Va., a bag stuffed with burned Qurans was left in front of an Islamic center, shocking members when they arrived for prayers. The torched copies of the Muslim holy book were inside a plastic shopping bag, members of the Islamic Center of Blacksburg said. They said the bag had been placed at the center's front door sometime before Saturday prayers. Kevin Foust, the agent in charge of the Roanoke FBI office, said his office is helping local police investigate. He declined to speculate whether the incident would be classified as a hate crime under state or federal law. An incident can only be deemed a hate crime if it was meant to intimidate or harass, police said. Laila Al-Qatami, a spokeswoman for the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee in Washington, D.C., said the Quran burning fits that definition. (Newsday)
Muslim cadets allege unequal treatment
June 17: Muslim cadets at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs were prevented from attending mosque services last semester because of school obligations, while similar duties were scheduled to avoid conflict with Jewish and Christian services, a Muslim student says. The issue of unequal treatment for the academy's Muslims comes as the school is working to address charges of religious intolerance, favoritism and proselytizing by its large evangelical Christian population. Of the 4,300 cadets at the academy, about 2,600 are Protestant, 1,300 are Catholic and 43 are Jewish. The nine cadets who are Muslim are too few to justify their own chaplain, the academy has said, so last fall they attended Friday services at Colorado Springs' only mosque as their schedules permitted. (Rocky Mountain News)
Two Lodi Pakistani Americans indicted for lying to FBI
June 18 : Two Pakistani Americans, father and son, have been indicted by a federal grand jury on charges that they lied to the FBI investigating links to terrorist camps in Pakistan connected to al-Qaeda. However, Hamid Hayat, 22, and his father Umer Hayat, 47, were not charged with terrorism. Hamid Hayat is charged with two counts of making a false statement to FBI agents, and Umer Hayat is charged with one count of making a false statement to FBI agents. The indictment says Hamid Hayat was lying when he denied being with any type of terrorist organization and denied attending any type of terrorist training camp. In an affidavit, the FBI said Hamid Hayat attended a terror camp for about six months before returning to the U.S. intending to wage attacks. The indictment says his father, Umer Hayat was lying when he denied having any first-hand knowledge of terrorist training camps in Pakistan. Hamid Hayat's lawyer, Wazhma Mojaddidi said she was not surprised by the indictments but said her client was innocent. Wazhma Mojaddidi said: "My client is not a terrorist. He does not associate with any terrorist organizations or support any terrorist activities, and he has most definitely never attended a terrorist training camp." (Sacramento Bee)
171-Month Prison Sentence for Attacking Mosque
June 22: The Justice Department announced today that Antonio Flores was sentenced to 171 months imprisonment for attempting to firebomb the Islamic Center of El Paso in El Paso, Texas. On March 22, 2005, Flores pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to violating 18 U.S.C. § 247, which prohibits damaging or attempting to damage religious property, and 18 U.S.C. § 844(h), which prohibits the use of fire or an explosive device in the commission of a felony. At his plea hearing, Flores admitted that he threw a Molotov cocktail at the Islamic Center and placed a second, similar device near a gas meter on the Center's property. (Department of Justice news release)
World view of U.S. improves slightly, except among Muslims
June 23: The anti-Americanism that surged through much of the world over the American-led war in Iraq shows modest signs of abating, although distinctly negative views persist in the Muslim world, according to a major new international opinion poll. The snapshot of world opinions emerged from a Pew Global Attitudes Survey of nearly 17,000 people in the United States and 15 other countries: Britain, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Pakistan, Poland, Russia, Spain and Turkey. "Anti-Americanism in most parts of the world we surveyed seems pretty entrenched," said Andrew Kohut, director of the Pew Center, in Washington. "But there are some very positive signs of progress in India and Russia and Indonesia." (New York Times)
America's rating was lowest in Turkey, Pakistan and Jordan
June 24: The United States' image is so tattered overseas two years after the Iraq invasion that communist China is viewed more favorably than the U.S. in many long-time Western European allies, an international poll has found. "It's amazing when you see the European public rating the United States so poorly, especially in comparison with China," said Andrew Kohut, director of the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press, which surveyed public opinion in 16 countries, including the United States.In Britain, almost two-thirds of Britons, 65 percent, saw China favorably, compared with 55 percent who held a positive view of the United States. In France, 58 percent had an upbeat view of China, compared with 43 percent who felt that way about the U.S. The results were nearly the same in Spain and the Netherlands. The United States' favorability rating was lowest among three Muslim nations which are also U.S. allies -- Turkey, Pakistan and Jordan -- where only about one-fifth of those polled viewed the U.S. in a positive light. Only India and Poland were more upbeat about the United States, while Canadians were just as likely to see China favorably as they were the U.S. The poll found suspicion and wariness of the United States in many countries where people question the war in Iraq and are growing wary of the U.S.-led campaign against terrorism. (CNN)
ACLU, HRW detail 'Kafkaesque' detention of Muslims
June 26: The government detained at least 70 men, all but one a Muslim, as material witnesses and abused their civil rights in a largely secret operation launched by the Justice Department after the Sept. 11 attacks, Human Rights Watch and the ACLU allege in a report out today. The civil rights groups say that in many cases the detainees were not told why they were arrested and did not get immediate access to lawyers, and that the Justice Department often would not confirm whether they were being held.Federal law allows the government to temporarily detain people who are suspected of having knowledge of a crime to ensure they testify. But the report accuses the government of operating in "a Kafkaesque world of indefinite detention" for many people who were never linked to terrorism. Of the 70 men identified in the report, 42 were released without any charges filed. Seven were charged with terrorism-related offenses. At least 13 received apologies from the government for being wrongfully detained, says the report, which relies heavily on interviews with witnesses, their lawyers and available court records. "Muslim men were arrested for little more than attending the same mosque as a Sept. 11 hijacker or owning a box-cutter," it says. (USA TODAY)
Chicagoan stranded at the border files lawsuit
June 29: When Akif Rahman returns home to the United States after visiting family in Canada over the 4th of July weekend, he doesn't expect a warm welcome. The last time Rahman, 32, drove over the border, guards in Detroit stopped the Chicago man, handcuffed him to a chair and grilled him for six hours about whether he has terrorist connections, Rahman said. Officials detained his wife and two children in a small, dirty office while Rahman was questioned, he said. He has been stopped five times. Today, lawyers from the Illinois chapter of the ACLU filed a lawsuit against Homeland Security Department officials, saying Rahman's Fourth and Fifth Amendment rights were violated when he was allegedly seized and searched with excessive force, then not allowed to make phone calls.(Chicago Tribune)
Muslim worker wins race discrimination case
June 29: A former sales manager for Nicolet Biomedical - now Viasys NeuroCare - has won a $1.56 million damage award in a race discrimination case, and he'll get his job back along with a raise. A seven-member U.S. District Court jury in Madison (Wisconsin) sided with Sami Elestwani, a native of Lebanon, who claimed he lost his job because he is an Arab and a Muslim. Elestwani was a key account manager for Nicolet Biomedical, handling some of the Fitchburg company's larger clients. He said his supervisor told him in 2002 to take a demotion because his high profile with Nicolet was "not good for the company in light of 9/ 11." Elestwani was fired when he reported the remarks to the company's human resources department. (Wisconsin State Journal)
North Carolina Muslims ask judges to reconsider Quran oath
June 30: North Carolina's Muslim leaders said today they are not seeking legal action at this time but want judges to reconsider their refusal to allow Muslims to swear on the Quran in court. The leaders held a press conference at the Al-Ummil Ummat Islamic Center in Greensboro following controversy surrounding a decision by local court officials to deny the use of the Quran for oaths. Guilford Senior Resident Superior Court Judge W. Douglas Albright has said an oath taken on the Quran is not a lawful oath under state law. However, the law refers to laying one's hand on the "Holy Scriptures." (News & Record)
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