|
Chronology of Islam in America (2009)
By Abdus Sattar Ghazali
June 2009
Minnesota Rabbi says kill Arab ‘men, women and children’
June 3: The Minnesota chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-MN) today joined with two Jewish groups in asking political and religious leaders in that state to repudiate a rabbi’s call to kill Arab men, women and children and to destroy their religious sites. In an article in the latest issue of “Moment” magazine, headlined “How Should Jews Treat Their Arab Neighbors?” Rabbi Manis Friedman of the Bais Chana Institute of Jewish Studies in St. Paul, Minn., wrote in part: “I don’t believe in western morality, i.e. don’t kill civilians or children, don’t destroy holy sites, don’t fight during holiday seasons, don’t bomb cemeteries, don’t shoot until they shoot first because it is immoral. The only way to fight a moral war is the Jewish way: Destroy their holy sites. Kill men, women and children (and cattle)…with their holy sites destroyed, they will stop believing that G-d is on their side.” (CAIR)
California mosque targeted with hate graffiti
June 4: The Greater Los Angeles Area office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-LA) said today that vandals targeted a local mosque with hate graffiti early this morning. CAIR-LA said the mosque in Cypress, Calif., was vandalized with “huge” graffiti, which stated: “F**k You, “we’re going to kill you,” and “US Military is going to kill you all.” The graffiti was reportedly several feet high across a wall of 20 to 30 feet. Local police are treating the vandalism as a hate crime. Representatives of CAIR-LA reported the incident to the FBI and are in touch with the police department and mosque officials.
ADC official Appointed member of Homeland Security Advisory Council
June 5: In Albuquerque, New Mexico, The Department of Homeland Secrutiry, Secretary Janet Napolitano, today swore-in American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) National Executive Director Kareem Shora as a member of the Homeland Security Advisory Council (HSAC). Shoora’s appointment to the HSAC came one day after President Barrack Obama’s historic Cairo speech in which he pledged a new beginning between the United States and the Muslim community and a statement by the US Attorney General Eric Holder on the outreach to the Muslim community. HSAC members, limited by charter to no more than 21, are appointed by the DHS Secretary and are comprised of national security experts from state, local and tribal governments, first responder communities, academia and the private sector. (AMP Report)
U.S. Justice Department: N.J. woman fired for wearing Muslim head scarf
June 8: The Justice Department filed a lawsuit today accusing Essex County (New Jersey) officials of illegally firing a Muslim corrections officer for refusing to remove her head scarf. The suit, filed in federal court in Newark on behalf of Yvette Beshier, asks for a court order forcing the county to accommodate religious observances as part of its uniform code for corrections officers. "Employees should not have to choose between their religious beliefs and their economic livelihood," said Loretta King, acting assistant attorney general for the civil rights division. The suit accuses Essex County of violating the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discriminating against employees based on race, color, sex, national origin and religion. The religious discrimination provisions require employers to reasonably accommodate workers' religious observances and practices. The Essex County Department of Corrections initially suspended Beshier for wearing her head scarf, or khimar, according to the suit. She asked officials to make an exception to the uniform policy, saying her religion required her to wear it, according to the suit. In 2000, New Jersey's Department of Corrections agreed to relax its no-beard policy after 33 Sunni Muslim corrections officers filed suit. In February, the Justice Department settled a lawsuit accusing Washington, D.C.'s, transit agency of discriminating against a woman who refused to wear pants, citing her Apostolic Pentecostal faith. (The Star-Ledger)
FBI plans to continue mosque monitoring despite concerns in Orange County
June 9: The FBI plans to continue using informants to monitor mosques in America despite strong criticism over such programs leveled this year by Muslim American leaders in Orange County. The Times revealed this year that an FBI informant claimed agents monitored popular gyms throughout Orange County to gather intelligence on members of several local mosques. Some Muslim leaders in area condemned the practice. But FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III is now defending the practice. "We don't investigate places, we investigate individuals," Mueller told the Associated Press. "To the extent that there may be evidence or other information of criminal wrongdoings, then we will ... undertake those investigations. We will continue to do it." In April, informant Craig Monteilh told The Times he posed as a Muslim convert at the request of the FBI to gather intelligence that might aid anti-terrorism investigators. Monteilh said he was instructed to lure mosque members to work out with him at local gyms. FBI agents, he said, later would obtain security camera footage from the gyms and ask him to identify the people on the tapes and to provide additional information about them. He said he was told that the agents then conducted background checks on the men, looking for anything that could be used to pressure them to become informants. (Los Angeles Times Blog)
Toledo mosque elects a female president
June 9: Toledo mosque Masjid Saad has elected a female president, the first woman to hold the leadership position at the 30-year-old mosque. Salmenna Sediqe, a businesswoman and mother of five, was elected last month and will serve a one-year term as president of the mosque on Alexis Road in Sylvania. The administrative position is separate from the mosque's religious leadership. Mrs. Sediqe said hers was not a landmark election for Muslims, but she hopes it will change some negative stereotypes among non-Muslims. It is the second time a woman has been elected president of a Toledo-area mosque. In 2001, when the Islamic Center of Greater Toledo in Perrysburg Township elected Cherrefe Kadri as president, it was believed to be the first time a U.S. mosque elected a woman to that position. (Toledo Blade)
Muslim groups disagree that relations with FBI are 'very good'
June 9: Orange County Muslim organizations disagreed today with FBI Director Robert Mueller's assertion that relations between the groups and the agency are "very good." Despite continued concerns from Muslim organizations about the FBI's use of informants and surveillance in U.S. mosques, Mueller defended the agency's investigative tactics and described the FBI's relationship with Muslim organizations as mostly positive. Mueller's comments came days after a Michigan Muslim organization asked the Justice Department to investigate complaints that the FBI has asked mosque members to spy on Islamic leaders and worshippers, a claim that has been repeated in Orange County after an Irvine man publicly claimed he worked with the FBI as an informant at various local mosques and was asked by agents to identify Middle Eastern men in local gyms.
Answering questions from reporters, Mueller said yesterday that the FBI conducted operations while following evidence or information of possible criminal activity. "We don't investigate places; we investigate individuals," Mueller said. Mueller acknowledged disagreements with Muslim organizations but called relations with U.S. Muslims as "very good." But local Muslim leaders disagreed with the director's comments, stating that the FBI appeared to be casting a wide net of suspicion on local mosques and Muslim organizations, straining the relationship between the law-enforcement agency and Islamic organizations.
Shakeel Syed, executive director of the Islamic Shura Council of Southern California, said he disagreed and said the Islamic Shura Council of Southern California had written to the FBI's regional office in Los Angeles about their concerns about four months ago. Though the FBI had acknowledged receiving the letter, the organization did not get a reply. "We just don't want to be misused and conveniently mistreated," Syed said. "We can't be friends and suspects at the same time."
Munira Syeda, spokeswoman for CAIR, said a concern was also the use of "provocateurs.""The debate is not about the use of informants," Syeda said. "American Muslims understand that informants are needed to fight criminal activities and apprehend those who break the law. However, the issue here involves provocateurs who are sent into peaceful places of worship to entrap law-abiding Muslims and radicalize them."
In February, a convicted felon named Craig Monteilh said he worked with the FBI as an informant, infiltrating local mosques and gathering information for the Orange County Joint Terrorism Task Force. Testifying in a case against a Tustin man charged with immigration fraud charges, including allegations of lying about possible terrorist ties, an FBI agent said an informant had recorded several conversations with the suspect about jihad. The agent refused to identify the informant but said it was the same man who had been reported to the FBI by the Council on American Islamic Relations as harboring violent views in June 2007. That man was identified by CAIR officials as Monteilh, who last week filed a claim against the FBI for $10 million for "having suffered as a result of a violation of his rights as an individual and services he provided to the agency," according to his attorney. (The Orange County Register)
Muslim groups condemn fatal shooting at Holocaust Museum
June 10: American Muslim advocacy groups today condemned a shooting incident at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C., during which a security guard was killed and the alleged gunman was wounded. An 88-year-old man entered the museum with a shotgun and began shooting without warning, resulting in the death of at least one security guard. The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) said: “We condemn this apparent bias-motivated attack and stand with the Jewish community and with Americans of all faiths in repudiating the kind of hatred and intolerance that can lead to such disturbing incidents.” The Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC) Executive Director Salam Al-Marayati said: "Tragic incidents like this one only strengthen our commitment to combating intolerance in all forms through education and dialogue."
The man, James von Brunn, is known white supremacist who embraces various conspiracy theories involving Jews, blacks and other minority groups and has at times waged a personal war with the federal government. On his racist website, von Brunn claims that in 1981 he attempted to arrest the leadership of the Federal Reserve. He says he was arrested after surrendering to a guard who called von Brunn's bluff on his threats to open fire, and was sentenced to 11 years in prison. Von Brunn wrote a book titled "Kill the Best Gentiles," alleging a Jewish "conspiracy to destroy the white gene pool." Writings attributed to von Brunn on the Internet say the Holocaust was a hoax. "At Auschwitz the 'Holocaust' myth became Reality, and Germany, cultural gem of the West, became a pariah among world nations," it says.
The Associated Press said: The attack was the third in a recent wave of unsettling shootings that appeared to have political underpinnings. A 23-year-old Army private, William Andrew Long, was shot and killed outside a recruiting office this month in Arkansas and a fellow soldier was wounded. The suspect, a Muslim convert, has said he considers the killing justified because of the U.S. military presence in the Middle East. Late last month, abortion provider Dr. George Tiller was shot to death in his church. Johns, the security guard killed today, was black. (AMP Report)
Muslim groups condemn fatal shooting at Holocaust Museum
June 10: American Muslim advocacy groups today condemned a shooting incident at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C., during which a security guard was killed and the alleged gunman was wounded. An 88-year-old man entered the museum with a shotgun and began shooting without warning, resulting in the death of at least one security guard. The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) said: “We condemn this apparent bias-motivated attack and stand with the Jewish community and with Americans of all faiths in repudiating the kind of hatred and intolerance that can lead to such disturbing incidents.” The Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC) Executive Director Salam Al-Marayati said: "Tragic incidents like this one only strengthen our commitment to combating intolerance in all forms through education and dialogue."
The man, James von Brunn, is known white supremacist who embraces various conspiracy theories involving Jews, blacks and other minority groups and has at times waged a personal war with the federal government. On his racist website, von Brunn claims that in 1981 he attempted to arrest the leadership of the Federal Reserve. He says he was arrested after surrendering to a guard who called von Brunn's bluff on his threats to open fire, and was sentenced to 11 years in prison. Von Brunn wrote a book titled "Kill the Best Gentiles," alleging a Jewish "conspiracy to destroy the white gene pool." Writings attributed to von Brunn on the Internet say the Holocaust was a hoax. "At Auschwitz the 'Holocaust' myth became Reality, and Germany, cultural gem of the West, became a pariah among world nations," it says.
The Associated Press said: The attack was the third in a recent wave of unsettling shootings that appeared to have political underpinnings. A 23-year-old Army private, William Andrew Long, was shot and killed outside a recruiting office this month in Arkansas and a fellow soldier was wounded. The suspect, a Muslim convert, has said he considers the killing justified because of the U.S. military presence in the Middle East. Late last month, abortion provider Dr. George Tiller was shot to death in his church. Johns, the security guard killed today, was black. (AMP Report)
Religious slurs used during assault on Texas Muslim
June 10: The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) today called on law enforcement authorities in Texas to investigate an alleged assault on a Muslim in that state as a hate crime. The alleged victim, a 34-year-old white convert to Islam, reported to CAIR that two former co-workers came to his Gilmer, Texas, home after midnight on Saturday and punched, choked and kicked him without provocation. During the assault, the alleged attackers reportedly used religious slurs such as, “You Muslim piece of sh*t,” “Pray to Allah motherf**ker,” and “You are a traitor…We’re at war with these people.” At one point during the alleged assault, the victim says he felt the barrel of a gun pressed to his head. As the attackers left, they allegedly threatened to harm him again if he called the police. He was reportedly told by one assailant, “If I can’t get you, my people will.” The victim has since moved out of his home in response to this threat. (CAIR)
Southwest Mosque Vandalized; Not Considered Hate Crime
June 10: In Bakersfield, Calif, three boys were arrested today for allegedly trespassing onto a mosque and desecrating several religious artifacts.But the investigation indicates the act was not a hate crime, police said. The vandals, described by police as three 14-year-old white males, hopped a fence, walked into an open door, and ransacked an office before throwing paint onto a wall and destroying a holy book and scattering leafings across the floor, according to Fakhruddin Shakir of the Anjuman-e-Hakimi Bakersfield Masjid. Someone at the mosque spotted them and called police. The boys were cited for trespassing and vandalizing a place of worship. The matter will be referred to the District Attorney's office, police said. (Turnto23.com)
Gasoline found at mosque site in Arlington spurs fears
June 11: Mouffa Nahhas, president of the under construction Arlington said someone cut through the fence, draped the inside of the mosque with drywall tape and left an open can of gasoline under the dome. Construction workers found the scene the next morning. Nahhas said he can’t think of any reason for someone to bring gasoline into the mosque “except to burn it.” But, there was no fire. Muslims in Arlington were already on edge because of a recent posting to a newspaper blog about the threat of radical Islam and sleeper cells in America. "It's going to get bloody this time around Islamo-folks," the post read. (WFFA-TV)
Gilmer, Texas man says he was attacked because he's Muslim
June12: A Gilmer (Texas) man says he was beaten by two men who also threatened his life because he is a Muslim. He calls it a hate crime. James Berry said two drunk former co-workers beat him just inside his front door. The Council on American Islamic Relations says this is a hate crime. "This isn't just a simple assault case. This is a case where religious slurs and a bias nature were evident during the assault," said Council spokesman Ibrahim Hooper from Washington, D.C. Berry says he doesn't believe Upshur County is taking this seriously so he contacted the FBI, who in turn, have opened their own investigation into the matter. Hopper hopes federal involvement will show the real injustice. (CBS)
NY Harley dealer changes sign slamming Obama
June 12: The Milwaukee-based Harley-Davidson Motor Co., forced its New York Iron Block Harley-Davidson motorcycle dealership to remove a controversial scrolling message from its digital sign saying , "Obama, are you kidding? We're not Muslim. You are not Christian!!" The message referred to President Barack Obama's comment to a reporter in advance of his Middle East trip that "if you actually took the number of Muslim Americans, we'd be one of the largest Muslim countries in the world. ... And so there's got to be a better dialogue and a better understanding between the two peoples." Khuram Hussain, Syracuse, a Muslim and an education professor at William and Hobart Smith Colleges, Geneva, had complained about the message posted on the dealership's sign. "The religious implication of the message is clear: in order to criticize the president, the banner is making a negative association with Muslims, particularly in relation to Christians," he wrote in an e-mail to the Greater Watertown-North Country Chamber of Commerce. "This is certain to cause visitors and residents to feel alienated and unwelcome here." (Watertown Daily Times)
CA Muslim man jailed after spies infiltrate mosque
June 14: A Diamond Bar (California) man is being held in a secretive federal prison and his family believes he was targeted for investigation by authorities because of his faith. Seyed Mousavi, 51, was convicted of filing false tax returns, omitting information on naturalization forms and violating an economic embargo against Iran, officials said. He is being held in a Communication Management Unit (CMU) in Indiana and is largely isolated from his family and friends. Despite a recent speech at Cairo University that was well-received by U.S. Muslims, local Muslim Americans like the Mousavi family said much damage has been done at home by tactics used by the FBI, which included sending spies into mosques. Craig Monteilh, 46, of Irvine, said he infiltrated nearly a dozen area mosques as an informant for the FBI, and that his activities led to Seyed Mousavi's arrest. Monteilh recently announced he is suing the bureau for $10 million in damages for informant fees he allegedly never received, and for what he said was mishandling and unfair treatment. "I infiltrated 11 mosques and was undercover 14 months," he said. "They trained me to be very good at what I did. They trained me on the basics of Islam and how to progress in Islam where it doesn't trigger any suspicion, to make it look authentic."He spied on Southern California Muslims between December 2006 and April 2007, Monteilh said. (Inland Valley Daily Bulletin)
ACLU report says US laws & policies hindering Muslim charities, faith
June 16: The American Civil Liberties Union today released an extensive report about how the U.S. terrorism finance laws and policies were unfairly preventing the seven-million-strong American Muslim community from practicing their religion through charitable giving. The 164 page report, "Blocking Faith, Freezing Charity," is the first comprehensive report that documents the serious effects of Bush administration terrorism finance laws on Muslim communities across the nation. The core of the report is about how Muslims are being scared away from making zakat (a religious obligation) donations to Muslim charities. “U.S. terrorism finance laws and policies unfairly prevent Muslim Americans from practicing their religion through charitable giving, create a climate of fear and distrust in law enforcement and undermine America's diplomatic efforts in Muslim countries,” the report said.
Since December 2001, the ACLU reports that the government has seized the assets of three Muslim charities, closed seven others and conducted raids of more. The stated purpose was to cut off the money that supposedly was heading from Muslim charities to groups that support or carry out terrorism. "Without notice and through the use of secret evidence and opaque procedures, the Treasury Department has effectively closed down seven U.S.-based Muslim charities, including several of the nation's largest Muslim charities," said Jennifer Turner, a researcher with the ACLU Human Rights Program and author of the report. "While terrorism financing laws are meant to make us safer, policies that give the appearance of a war on Islam only serve to undermine America's diplomatic efforts just as President Obama reaches out to the Muslim world. These counter-productive practices alienate American Muslims who are key allies and chill legitimate humanitarian aid in parts of the world where charities' good works could be most effective in winning hearts and minds," Turner added.
According to the report, for which the ACLU conducted 120 interviews with Muslim community leaders and donors in several states, federal law enforcement agents are engaging in practices that intimidate Muslim American donors, such as widespread interviews about their donations and surveillance of donations at mosques. Those interviewed say the government's actions have a chilling effect on Muslim charitable giving, or Zakat, one of the five pillars of Islam and a religious obligation for all observant Muslims. "Widespread intimidation of Muslim donors and the arbitrary blacklisting of charitable organizations trample on Muslims' free exercise of religion through charitable giving and tarnish America's reputation as a beacon of religious freedom," said Turner. "Post-9/11 policies have created a climate of fear that prevents Muslims from practicing their religion, and unless the Obama administration takes action, this legacy of the Bush administration will persist."
Muslim prosecutor charges discrimination
June 16: In Youngtown, Ohio, an assistant city prosecutor, who is Muslim, filed a federal lawsuit against the city, the mayor, law director, city prosecutor and co-workers, claiming discrimination and retaliation. The suit also claims the defendants made a concerted effort to keep him from practicing his religious beliefs. “Ally was also subjected to comments regarding his religion and/or national origin” by co-workers, according to the lawsuit. The issue escalated and on Jan. 11, 2008, the lawsuit contends, Law Director Iris Torres Guglucello scheduled a staff meeting to discuss the problem on a Friday afternoon conflicting with Ally’s attendance at his mosque services. “Despite these obvious threats to his job and livelihood, Mr. Ally chose to attend his Friday religious service,” Connell wrote in the lawsuit. That led to Macejko firing Ally, who earns $61,620 annually as an assistant prosecutor. Guglucello sent a letter three days later putting him on administrative leave, according to the lawsuit. Ally filed a charge of religious discrimination on Jan. 15, 2008, with the Ohio Civil Rights Commission. He returned to work Feb. 4, 2008. “Defendants took a host of actions designed to harass, intimidate and humiliate” Ally in retaliation for filing the charge, the lawsuit states. In the lawsuit, Connell wrote that his client was reassigned to a court that meets regularly on Friday afternoons after serving in one that wasn’t in session during that time. Also, he “began to experience various physical ailments, which, according to his doctors, were occasioned by work-related stress,” the lawsuit reads. When Ally returned, he was assigned to five straight weeks of night court, a deviation from the normal practice, according to the lawsuit. Ally is suing the city, Guglucello, Macejko, Mayor Jay Williams and 10 co-workers — listed as John Does 1-10 in the lawsuit — for more than $75,000 accusing them of harassment, creating a hostile work environment and retaliation based on his religious beliefs. (Vindy.com)
ADC Calls for investigation into Miami-Beach Police Department shooting of unarmed Arab-American tourist
June 16: the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) expressed its grave concern over alleged actions by the Miami Beach Police Department (MBPD) whose officers were involved in a shooting that left 29 year-old Husien Shehada dead. Shehada, a native of Woodbridge, Virginia, was on vacation with his friends and family when he was shot and killed in the early morning hours of June 15. Media and eyewitness reports indicate that officers were looking for someone with a gun before approaching Mr. Shehada according to the Washington Post. The victim was unarmed when he was shot by the officers, and the Miami Herald indicated that the Miami-Beach Police Department (MBPD) is refusing to release any information on the shooting. More distributing are allegations that officers asked witnesses at the scene whether they knew if Shehada was "Arabic" or if they heard him "speak Arabic." (ADC)
2009 January February March April May June
July August Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec.
|
