|
Chronology of Islam in America (2011)
By Abdus Sattar Ghazali
March 2011
How we train our cops to fear Islam
March 1: Sam Kharoba belongs to a growing profession, one that is ballooning on the spigot of federal and state dollars set aside for counterterrorism efforts since the attacks of September 11, 2001…. Since 2006, the Department of Justice has been developing a program called the Nationwide Suspicious Activity Reporting Initiative, through which local cops are meant to act as intelligence gatherers on the ground, feeding reports of suspicious activity to a network of data “fusion centers” spread out across the country. The system is scheduled to be up and running in all seventy-two of the nation’s fusion centers by the end of this year. But in order for the cops to play a role in counterterrorism, the thinking goes, they need to be trained. And that’s where Kharoba and his ilk—counterterrorism trainers for hire—come in….While expertise in counterterrorism training may be in short supply, money for it is not. Each year the federal government directs billions of dollars (no one knows exactly how much) in terrorism-related training grants to state and local governments. These funds cascade down into myriad training programs like the one at Broward College, where instructors like Kharoba ply their trade with only minimal supervision….
Similarly, when we examined his manual, A Law Enforcement Guide to Understanding Islamist Terrorism, we found the claim that when the Muslim population of a country exceeds 80 percent, one should expect “state-run ethnic cleansing and genocide.” The examples given were Iran and the United Arab Emirates. Neither state has ever been involved in genocide. In fact, large sections of Kharoba’s guide turned out to be word for word the same as open-source materials found online—everything from publicly available Facebook pages to anonymously authored PDFs….
Police attend classes like Kharoba’s for a variety of reasons. Local and state law enforcement officers must meet annual or biannual training requirements, a certain number of hours of which are slated for maintenance of “perishable skills”: things such as driving and shooting. Officers or their departments can generally pick the rest. Often, departments need a “go-to” person, someone who is a source of information on a subject such as counterterrorism. Attendees tend to be self-selected, motivated by an awareness of how little they know about Islam or a heightened concern about Islamic terrorism, and this can make them more inclined to be receptive to an instructor like Kharoba…. When we attended one of Kharoba’s seminars in California, the training coordinator happened to sit in with us on the class. He too had serious reservations about the course, which he expressed to us and in a memo he later sent to his superior. His superior privately contacted some of his peers; to date, Kharoba has not been invited back to teach in California…..But regardless of what role cops on the streets should or should not play in fighting terrorism, the fact is that rivers of federal training dollars are already flowing, many of them straight into the pockets of instructors like Sam Kharoba. (Meg Stalcup and Joshua Craze - Washington Monthly – March/April, 2011)
Meet the white supremacist leading the GOP's anti-Sharia crusade
March 1: The Tennessee bill, SB 1028 , didn't come out of nowhere. Though it's the first of its kind, the bill is part of a wave of related measures that would ban state courts from enforcing Sharia law. (A court might refer to Sharia law in child custody or prisoner rights cases.) Since early 2010, such legislation has been considered in at least 15 states . And while fears of an impending caliphate are myriad on the far-right, the surge of legislation across the country is largely due to the work of one man: David Yerushalmi, an Arizona-based white supremacist who has previously called for a "war against Islam " and tried to criminalize adherence to the Muslim faith. Yerushalmi, a lawyer, is the founder of the Society of Americans for National Existence (SANE), which has been called a "hate group " by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR). His draft legislation served as the foundation for the Tennessee bill, and at least half a dozen other anti-Islam measures—including two bills that were signed into law last year in Louisiana and Tennessee.
In a 40-minute PowerPoint that's available on the organization's site, Yerushalmi (who is Jewish) explained the ins and outs of the sample legislation. His bills differ from the failed Oklahoma amendment in one key way: They don't mention Sharia. Instead, they focus more broadly on "foreign laws and foreign legal doctrines." As Yerushalmi explained in an interview with the nativist New English Review in December, the language is "facially neutral," thereby achieving the same result while "avoiding the sticky problems of our First Amendment jurisprudence." Since crafting the sample legislation, Yerushalmi's services have been in high demand as an expert witness. In mid-February, he flew to South Dakota to testify in support of a bill modeled on his "American Law for American Courts" plan. (He also offered to provide pro-bono legal support for the state if the law produced any legal challenges.)
But it's not just Muslims who draw Yerushalmi's scorn. In a 2006 essay for SANE entitled On Race: A Tentative Discussion, Yerushalmi argued that whites are genetically superior to blacks. "Some races perform better in sports, some better in mathematical problem solving, some better in language, some better in Western societies and some better in tribal ones," he wrote. Yerushalmi has suggested that Caucasians are inherently more receptive to republican forms of government than blacks—an argument that's consistent with SANE's mission statement, which emphasizes that "America was the handiwork of faithful Christians, mostly men, and almost entirely white." Despite his racist views, Yerushalmi has been warmly received by mainstream conservatives; his work has appeared in the National Review and Andrew Breitbart's Big Peace. He's been lauded in the pages of the Washington Times. And in 2008, he published a paper on the perils of Sharia-compliant finance that compelled Sen. Minority Whip John Kyl (R-Ariz.) to write a letter to Securities and Exchange Commission chairman Chris Cox. (Mother Jones)
Anti-Muslim protestor throws crosses at feet of man praying by White House
March 2: A group of anti-Sharia protestors surrounded a Muslim praying by the White House today. They shouted an array of insults at him: mocking him for drinking Starbucks coffee, telling him to go back to his country and even throwing tiny crosses at his feet as he prayed. (TPM Muckraker)
Calif. Muslim sues FBI over secret GPS surveillance
March 2: Yasir Afifi, 20-year-old Arab American from San Jose, today sued the FBI for secretly attaching a tracking device to his car and threatening him with federal charges when he refused to give it back. Afifi went to a mechanic for an oil change on his car in October 2010 when he discovered the device stuck with magnets between his right rear wheel and exhaust. He wasn’t sure what it was, but Afifi had the mechanic remove it and a friend posted photos of it online to see whether anyone could identify it. Two days later three agents followed him when he drove from his apartment in San Jose, California, and a man who identified himself as an FBI agent questioned him about the device. When he refused to retrieve it the agent threatened him with federal charges. Even after Afifi decided to return the device, agents continued asking questions: Was he was a national security threat? Was he excited about an upcoming trip abroad? Did he have money troubles? Had he traveled to Yemen? Another agent, identified as Jennifer Kananan, “made clear that she knew intimate, private details of Mr. Afifi’s life,” by congratulating him on his new job and commending him on his taste in restaurants.
“The biggest thing here is that the FBI is treating American Muslims as suspects instead of partners,” said Zahra Billoo, Afifi’s attorney and executive director of CAIR in Santa Clara. “This targeting undermines cooperation with law enforcement and chills Muslims’ civil rights. We want to ensure the FBI stops these types of practices. This should be an ongoing cause for concern for all Americans.” Yasir Afifi is not politically active, has no connection to terrorist groups and has no idea why the FBI put him under surveillance, said attorney Zahra Billoo. “He fit the profile – an Arab American male, young, lives by himself, travels frequently to the Middle East to visit his family” in Egypt, Billoo said. She said Afifi is stopped and questioned every time he returns to the United States.
Afifi’s lawyers say they are filing this lawsuit in hopes of a decision saying that any use of tracking devices without a warrant in the United States is unconstitutional. The federal appeals court in the Washington circuit where Afifi’s case was filed ruled in August that the collection of GPS data amounts to a government “search” that required a warrant. The Obama administration asked the court to change its ruling, calling the decision “vague and unworkable” and arguing that investigators will lose access to a tool they now use “with great frequency.” The defendants named are Attorney General Eric Holder, FBI Director Robert Mueller and unnamed FBI agents. (AMP Report)
Hate comes to Orange County
March 2: The Greater Los Angeles Area office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-LA) today released a video of a rally organized by anti-Muslim bigots to protest a February fundraising event held by an American Muslim relief group for relief work and charity in the U.S. A few hundred protesters showed up to the rally, which was sponsored by groups such as: "We Surround Them OC 912" (a local Tea Party group), Rabbi David Eliezrie of Chabad -- Yorba Linda, North Orange County Conservative Coalition, ACT! for America, and Pamela Geller (whose group "Stop the Islamization of America" has been designated as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center). Elected officials Congressmen Ed Royce and Gary Miller, and Villa Park Councilwoman Deborah Pauly also attended and spoke at the protest rally. The event -- held at Yorba Linda Community Center, a facility that has been frequented by Muslim families and businesses over the years -- first became a target of anti-Muslim bigots over two of the fundraiser's speakers, who were to speak on the importance of charity in Islam. Initial attempts of some groups to have the Yorba Linda Community Center and the Yorba Linda City Council cancel the fundraising event failed, followed by the protest. In a statement, CAIR-LA said: "As the video shows, the rhetoric of the protesters became increasingly venomous toward the families and children who came to attend the ICNA fundraising dinner. Protesters shouted invective statements such as "Go home terrorist," "Muhammad is a pervert, Muhammad is a child molester," "Go home and beat your wife, she needs a good beating" at the event-goers. Even more disturbing was the participation and encouragement of elected officials in promoting the hateful protest rally. Villa Park Councilwoman, Deborah Pauly, while addressing the crowd at the rally, appeared to threaten Muslim event-goers. Congressman Ed Royce (R-40), in a troubling trend of disparaging Islam and its followers, added fuel to the fire by encouraging protesters to continue on with their hate-mongering.” (CAIR)
Quakers welcome and support Muslims
March 3: As fears about Islam grow within the United States, we of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) would like to voice our support for Muslims within our community and nation. We must work together to stem the rising tide of fear and the threat of persecution and violence. We call for an end to political posturing and misstatements that poison dialogue, stigmatize individuals, inflame the worst in human nature, create divisions in our society and promote a view of America that is anti-Islam. People of all faiths share histories of intolerance and persecution. In the1600s, Quakers were feared and the practice of our faith was against the law. We recall these shared struggles for acceptance when religious freedom is threatened. Our faith and experience teach us that the Divine resides in us all. We bring a commitment to peace and the use of nonviolent means to resolve conflicts. Freedom of religious expression is one of the cornerstones of American democracy. We all have opportunities every day to make this ideal a reality in our local communities. (Wil Rutt, Clerk Oak Park Friends Meeting – Letter to Oak Park Leaves)
Pete King, America's new McCarthy
March 3: Congressman King's House hearing on 'homegrown Muslim terrorism' is bigotry draped in the American flag – nothing more than a fear-mongering attempt, drenched in political theatrics, laced with reactionary hatred, and deceptively packaged in an incredulous label of national security. Same as it ever was. America's tragedy is no longer that fateful day in September of 2001. Our catastrophe is what we have become. As a patriotic American, politicians such as yourself, who manipulate the American public and perpetuate ignorance and intolerance break my heart. The biggest threat to this nation is not radical Islam; it is you, hurling the malignancy of prejudice even deeper into the recesses of the American psyche, for your own gratuitous political gain. A country that is in dire need of aggressive resuscitation by its lawmakers, instead, has you thrusting panic further into the American conscience. Since we all know, from the lessons of Senator McCarthy, how this will end, let me spare you the suspense: “If there is a God in heaven, it will do neither you nor your cause any good… You've done enough. Have you no sense of decency, sir, at long last? Have you left no sense of decency?” – Joseph N Welch, special counsel for the Army, 9 June 1954, the Army-McCarthy hearings. (Seema Jilani, The Guardian)
The ugly face of Islamophobia in Orange County, California
March 4: A profoundly depressing video of protesters hurling abuse at attendees at an Islamic fundraising event in Orange County. The Southern California chapter of the Islamic Circle of North America Relief USA organised a fundraising dinner in Orange County, last month. But guess who also turned up? A motley collection of protesters who can be seen here chanting in the above video distributed by the Council on American-Islamic Relations civil rights group: As the video shows, the rhetoric of the protesters became increasingly venomous toward the families and children who came to attend the ICNA Relief fundraising dinner. Protesters shouted invective statements such as "Go home terrorist," "Muhammad is a pervert, Muhammad is a child molester," "Go home and beat your wife, she needs a good beating," at the event-goers. One of the protesters' guest speakers, seen in the video, is a local councilwoman who denounces the event as "pure, unadulterated evil." Two Republican congressmen also attended the protest rally, including one, Ed Royce, who spoke of how "multiculturalism" was paralyzing America. (The Guardian)
Alabama State Senator can't define, but wants to ban, sharia law
March 7: A Republican state senator named Gerald Allen, who represents Cottondale and once tried to ban books by gay authors, last week introduced a standard anti-sharia measure that would bar Alabama courts from considering Islamic law. It was at that point that Anniston Star reporter Tim Lockette put a simple but inspired question to Allen: What is sharia? Allen could not readily define Shariah. "I don’t have my file in front of me," he said. "I wish I could answer you better." Making the Alabama story even richer, the Anniston Star also discovered that the text of Allen's anti-sharia bill is lifted directly from Wikipedia. The bill (and Wikipedia) defines sharia as "a form of religious law derived from two primary sources of Islamic law: The divine revelations set forth in the Qur’an and the example set by the Islamic Prophet Muhammad." What Allen is missing is that sharia is not a single set of written laws like the U.S. code; there are myriad interpretations of sharia -- a fact that, ironically, the full Wikipedia article discusses at length. For example: "There is tremendous variety in the interpretation and implementation of Islamic Law in Muslim societies today." (Salon)
Manufacturing the Muslim menace
March 8 – A comprehensive report was released today by Political Research Associates (PRA) that details a systemic failure to regulate content in nationwide counter-terrorism training. It exposes the inaccurate and conspiratorial myths that may put the rights of millions of American Muslims at risk from the very public servants who have sworn to protect them. The nine-month investigation, aimed at increasing government oversight into both funding and content of private counter-terrorism programs, highlights three key firms whose speakers and materials promote a range of harmful teachings, and the possible repercussions if corrective actions are not immediately implemented. The report appears as the House Homeland Security Committee prepares to conduct controversial hearings on the alleged threat of homegrown Islamic terrorism.
The Boston-based research group reports the appropriation of $1.67 billion in federal funds to states in 2010 for the purpose of counter-terrorism training, with critical gaps in oversight of the money. The practices of three groups illustrate the dangers in the lack of regulation: the International Counter-Terrorism Officers Association (ICTOA), the Center for Counterintelligence and Security Studies (CI Centre), and Security Solutions International (SSI), the latter two of which claim a collective exposure to upwards of 130,000 security professionals. In the investigation, PRA reveals a common set of conspiratorial myths propagated in varying degrees by speakers from all three organizations. These narratives equate Islam with terrorism and depict a covert effort by American Muslim “stealth jihadists” to infiltrate U.S. institutions for the purpose of bringing down American infrastructure and, eventually, implementing Sharia Law. Walid Phares, once slated for testimony at Rep. King’s hearings before complaints by rights groups derailed the effort, teaches “The Global Jihadist Threat Doctrine,” at the CI Centre. Phares claims “Jihadists within the West pose as civil rights advocates, interested solely in the ‘rights’ of their immigrant communities,” “radicals sweep into community institutions using petrodollar funding,” and “[a]lmost all mosques, educational centers, and socioeconomic institutions fall into their hands.” Walid Shoebat, a frequent guest speaker at ICTOA, self-proclaimed ex-terrorist, and reformed-Muslim (he is now Christian) goes so far as to say “Islam is of the Devil.”
Effects of anti-Muslim training are evidenced by stories like that of the Henderson, Nevada police department, whose officers surrounded and arrested a group of Muslim men for praying in a parking lot. When pressed as to why, an officer indicates his actions were “based on the studies, the classes that I have gone to, and based on the events that happened around the world.” Incidents of unwarranted searches, detentions, or interrogations of innocent Muslim Americans are neither isolated nor coincidental. (Public Eye Organization)
Five charged in alleged plot to kidnap or kill troopers, judge in Alaska
March 10: Five people in the Fairbanks area were arrested today by state and federal law enforcement on charges connected with an alleged plot to kidnap or kill state troopers and a Fairbanks judge, according to the Alaska State Troopers. Francis "Schaeffer" Cox, Lonnie Vernon, Karen Vernon, Coleman Barney and Michael Anderson are accused of conspiring to commit murder, kidnapping, and arson, as well as weapons misconduct, hindering prosecution and tampering with evidence, according to trooper spokeswoman Megan Peters in a written statement. An investigation "revealed extensive plans to kidnap or kill Alaska state troopers and a Fairbanks judge," the statement said. The plans included "extensive surveillance" on the homes of two Fairbanks troopers, the statement said. "Investigation also revealed that extensive surveillance on troopers in the Fairbanks area had occurred, specifically on the locations of the homes for two Alaska state troopers," the statement said. "Furthermore, Cox et. al. had acquired a large cache of weapons in order to carry out attacks against their targeted victims. Some of the weapons known to be in the cache are prohibited by state or federal law." (Anchorage Daily News)
The Peter King hearing is a showcase for the cottage industry
of conspiracy theories about Muslim destabilization of America
March 16: When South Carolina Republican Jeff Duncan went on a tirade about sharia law threatening the constitution at Peter King's hearing on "The Extent of Radicalisation in the Muslim Community" last week, he provided a telling window into the conspiracy theories that motivate many supporters of King's McCarthy-esque probe. The notion that sharia law has infiltrated America through a fifth column of subversive Muslims who secretly want to install an Islamic theocracy in place of a constitutional republic is one that is commonly accepted in many conservative circles. A cottage industry of self-styled national security experts, pundits, ardent Christian Zionists, Republican operatives, thinktanks, and advocacy groups have spent years laying the groundwork for portraying American Muslims as part of worldwide plot to "Islamicise" America. This cottage industry has fuelled rising anti-Muslim bigotry in the US, including growing efforts to thwart the building of mosques and community centres, an increasing number of states taking up bills that would ban sharia law, and now, King's highly publicized hearings. All of this is the result of a relentless campaign years in the making. (The Guardian)
Southwest apologizes for removing Muslim passenger from flight
March 16: Southwest Airlines is apologizing after a Muslim woman wearing a headscarf was pulled off a flight on Sunday because a flight attendant thought she heard her say into her cell phone: "It's a go." Irum Abbasi, a San Jose University graduate student, was slated to fly at 8:15 a.m. from San Diego when she hurriedly finished a phone call to a Verizon representative by saying sharply, "I have to go,'' Edgar Hopida, a spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, tells AOL Travel News. The call prompted a flight attendant to report that Abbasi seemed suspicious and the captain announced the flight would be delayed. Minutes later, TSA agents boarded the flight and escorted the student off the plane. "She went through the security check. She went through the secondary check because of her headscarf, which was fine. We learned that the flight attendant thought she said, 'It's a go.' The flight attendant indicated she did not feel comfortable with the student on the flight. "I tried to explain that I have a lot of work to do, and they still said, 'We'll put you on the next flight.' They did not question me. I even handed over my purse and cell phone for inspection and they didn't even touch it," Abbasi tells a local news station. "In hindsight, we wish that we could have talked to the customer prior to the flight departing so that we could clear her to travel as scheduled. We sincerely apologize for the customer's inconvenience, and we regret that she was unable to travel as scheduled,'' the airline said in a statement to AOL Travel News. "We accommodated her on the next flight to San Jose, and we issued her a travel voucher as a gesture of goodwill for her inconvenience,'' the statement continues. "We are attempting to follow up with the customer directly to apologize again for her inconvenience." The student was able to fly to San Jose later that night. (AOL Travel News)
Alaska lawmaker smears American Muslims
March 18: Alaska state lawmaker, Carl Gatto (R-Palmer), has claimed that American neighborhoods are "occupied" by "people from the Middle East" who then "establish their own laws." In a hearing on a bill modeled on similar state measures introduced nationwide targeting Islamic principles, or Sharia, Rep. Carl Gatto said the proposed Alaska law is necessary because of the religious beliefs of recent immigrants. "As a kid, we had Italian neighborhoods, Irish neighborhoods ... but they didn't impose their own laws," Gatto said. "When these neighborhoods are occupied by people from the Middle East, they do establish their own laws." In a hearing before the House State Affairs Committee, Gatto’s chief of staff Karen Sawyer said Sharia is an example of the type of transnational law that has appeared in family law, divorce and child custody cases nationally, though she knows of instances of it appearing in Alaska courts. Sawyer added that countries following Sharia law do not allow freedom of religion or equal rights to women.
Similar anti-Sharia bills are being considered in a number of state legislatures. Many of the bills are drawn from a template prepared by David Yerushalmi, head of the anti-Islam hate group Society of Americans for National Existence (SANE). Yerushalmi testified at the hearing for the Alaska bill. On its now password-protected website, SANE offered a policy proposal that would make "adherence to Islam" punishable by 20 years in prison, called for the immediate deportation of all non-citizen Muslims and urged Congress to declare war on the "Muslim Nation," which SANE defined as "all Muslims." SANE's mission statement included white supremacist language such as: "America was the handiwork of faithful Christians, mostly men, and almost entirely white." An online SANE article stated: "There is a reason the founding fathers did not give women or black slaves the right to vote." Yerushalmi is also staff attorney for Frank Gaffney, president of the Washington-based Center for Security Policy. Gaffney was a key witness for the plaintiffs in a controversial lawsuit against a mosque being built in Tennessee.
Some Republican leaders are actively promoting an anti-Muslim agenda nationwide. Last week, Rep. Peter King (R-NY) held a hearing on alleged "radicalization" in the American Muslim community that was widely condemned by members of Congress and interfaith and civil liberties groups. In June, Rep. Allen West (R-FL) will address a gathering of Act! for America, another anti-Islam hate group whose leader, Brigitte Gabriel, claims an American Muslim "cannot be a loyal citizen," that Islam is the "real enemy" and that every practicing Muslim is a "radical Muslim." The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) today again called on the Republican Party to repudiate anti-Muslim hate in its ranks after Rep. Carl Gatto’s claims. "The level of anti-Muslim fear-mongering coming primarily from some elements within the Republican party is really getting out of hand. If passed, this bill and others like it across the nation would result in government-sanctioned discrimination against a minority faith," said CAIR National Legislative Director Corey Saylor. "Moderates in the Republican Party must stand up and return the GOP to the anti-discrimination principles of Abraham Lincoln." Jeffrey Mittman, executive director of the Alaska chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, said the bill was an unnecessary overreach, and adequate protections for religious freedom in court already exist. “It’s a solution in search of a problem that doesn’t exist,” Mittman said. (AMP Report)
Continued on page two
2011 January February March April May June
July August Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec.
|
