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Chronology of Islam in America (2012)
By Abdus Sattar Ghazali
May 2012
Muslims grow, Baptists decline in Metro Orlando, religion census says
May 1: Metropolitan Orlando's Muslim population grew dramatically in the past decade, gaining more than 25,000 worshippers since 2000, according to a new census of religions released Tuesday. Muslims were second only to Roman Catholics, whose numbers increased by nearly 64,000, the census found. Muslims now outnumber Presbyterians, Lutherans and Episcopalians in the Orlando area of Lake, Orange, Osceola and Seminole counties. Imam Tariq Rasheed, director of the Islamic Center of Orlando, said the growth comes from Muslims moving to Central Florida from other American cities and from abroad. "Because of the good weather, they are moving here in big numbers. They choose Florida because of the climate, and housing is cheaper," he said.
Central Florida roughly followed the national trend, in which Muslims and Mormons experienced the greatest increase from 2000 to 2010, said Rich Houseal, who worked on the survey for the Association of Statisticians of American Religious Bodies. "The Muslims were the second-fastest-growing group across the nation. The number of congregations almost doubled from 1,200 to 2,106," Houseal said. "Mormons were No. 1 [in numerical growth] with almost 2 million." Houseal said the Mormons and Muslims have expanded throughout the nation, and their growth represents new congregations in places beyond their traditional strongholds.
The count, conducted every 10 years, found that Roman Catholics remain the largest religious affiliation in Metro Orlando, with 281,165 members, followed by nondenominational evangelicals at 121,531 and Southern Baptists with 107,542. There are more nondenominational churches — 323 — than any other house of worship, representing nearly 20 percent of the 1,636 congregations in the Orlando area. Though still the largest denomination in Central Florida, Southern Baptists declined by 20,467 members from 2000 to 2010 — the most of any religious group. Orlando's decline represented half of the state's drop in Southern Baptists. Overall, membership in churches, mosques, temples and synagogues increased by 101,935 worshippers in the past decade. Altogether, 867,228 residents in Central Florida said they were affiliated with some religious organization. About 1.3 million had no active religious affiliation. [Orlando Sentinel]
Muslim Americans take on U.S. government in ‘no-fly’ lawsuit
May 1: Fifteen U.S. Muslims, including four military veterans, are suing the federal government, alleging they were placed on the “no-fly” list without any explanation — or any way to get off it. The lawsuit, argued by the American Civil Liberties Union, is now before a U.S. Appeals court. It is the first broad challenge to the government’s no-fly list, which was established in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks to block anyone suspected of terrorist ties from boarding a flight to or from the U.S. The group of 13 U.S. citizens and two permanent residents claim they pose no threat, and say their constitutional right to due process was violated when they were given no reason why they were included on the watchlist. Many of the Muslim Americans involved in the lawsuit have been prevented from visiting family or traveling for work, Nusrat Choudhury, staff attorney at the ACLU national security project, told the Daily News. Several discovered they were on the list after getting stranded overseas when they were forbidden from flying back into the country. The suit was first filed in 2010 in Oregon, where a district court dismissed it due to lack of proper jurisdiction. At that time, the government gave each of the 10 travelers who were stranded a one-time waiver to fly home, but no explanation of why they were put on the list or if they were still on it, Choudhury said. The ACLU appealed the decision to the 9th U.S. Appeals Court, which heard the case today and will decide the proper venue for the case, Reuters reported. [New York Daily News]
CAIR, Fla. Muslims meet US attorney, FBI on civil rights, bullying
May 1: Representatives of the Florida chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-FL) and the South Florida Muslim community met today with U.S. Attorney Wilfredo A. Ferrer, Assistant U.S. Attorney Norman Heming and an FBI official to discuss issues of mutual concern, including civil rights and school bullying. The meeting was part of an ongoing outreach effort by the Department of Justice to strengthen relations with the American Muslim community. At the meeting, CAIR-South Florida Executive Director Nezar Hamze related reports by members of that state's Muslim community of alleged civil rights violations by law enforcement authorities. Members of the Florida Muslim Congress also shared reports of Muslims being profiled during travel, allegedly because of their race, religion or ethnicity. During the meeting, Muslim participants also highlighted ongoing cooperation with state and national law enforcement authorities. "Meetings such as this one provide an excellent opportunity to discuss the need to protect the constitutional rights of all those who interact with state and federal law enforcement authorities," said CAIR-South Florida Legal Counsel Wilfredo Amr Ruiz, who also took part in todays meeting. [CAIR]
Bush torture memo author John Yoo immune from American enemy combatant's suit
May 2: John Yoo, the Bush administration lawyer best known for authoring the infamous "torture memo", has immunity from a lawsuit by an American citizen held in a military jail as an enemy combatant, a federal appeals court said today. The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in California threw out a civil suit against Yoo from Jose Padilla, who alleges he was tortured at a South Carolina military jail. Padilla, who was convicted on terrorism charges in 2007, sued Yoo for his role in shaping Bush administration policy that led to his torture and detention without access to counsel months after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Yoo, who worked in President George W. Bush's Justice Department, was the legal mind behind the torture memo released in 2008 that concluded there were no constitutional constraints on the president in designating enemy combatants and interrogating them. The appeals court judges sided with the former White House lawyer, because the uncertain times following the 2001 attacks undercut Padilla's claim that his detention and torture was the result of an intentional abuse of the office. The right of enemy combatants to receive the same constitutional protections as convicted prisoners was unsettled when Yoo was at the White House from 2001 to 2003, and so was the scope of the definition for torture, the court ruled. [International Business News]
Declaring War on 'Political Islamism'
May 4: Like George W. Bush, Mitt Romney has responded to his lack of foreign policy experience by surrounding himself with clever neoconservatives who are now looking forward to expanding Bush's "global war on terror" into what neocon ideologue William Kristol calls a U.S. "war with political Islamism." In a Washington Post op-ed on Thursday (5/3/2011), Kristol dismissed President Barack Obama's phased military withdrawal from Afghanistan -- and his statement that "this time of war began in Afghanistan, and this is where it will end" -- as foolish wishful thinking. "It would be wonderful if Obama's view of 9/11 and its implications were correct," Kristol wrote. "But if it's not going to be true that Afghanistan is where 'this time of war ... will end' -- even if Afghanistan is pacified and we're no longer fighting there -- then the American people should know that." What the American people should know, in Kristol's view, is that a post-Obama administration -- presumably headed by Republican Mitt Romney and staffed by neocon hawks -- will undertake a grander "war with political Islamism," a conflict whose full dimensions even "war president" George W. Bush shrank from. "This isn't a pleasant reality, and even the Bush administration wasn't quite ready to confront it," Kristol wrote. "But President George W. Bush did capture the truth that we are engaged in -- and had no choice but to engage in -- a bigger war, a 'global war on terror,' of which Afghanistan was only one front. "There are, of course, problems with 'global war on terror' as a phrase and an organizing principle. But it does capture what we might call the 'big' view of 9/11 and its implications." As part of an even "bigger" view of 9/11, Kristol called for engaging in a broader conflict, ranging "from Pakistan in the east to Tunisia in the west, and most visibly now in places such as Iran and Yemen and Somalia." In other words, Kristol and the neocons expect a President Romney to let them refocus the United States onto a "war" not simply against al-Qaeda and its affiliates but against nations where "political Islamism" gains power, which could include Egypt, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and many other Muslim countries. [By Robert Parry - OpEd News]
Muslim woman wins $6 million in damages from AT&T over discrimination
May 5: A jury in Jackson County Circuit Court today ordered AT&T to pay $120,000 in actual damages and $5 million in punitive damages for discrimination against Susann Bashir, a Kansas City woman who converted from Christianity to Islam. Susann, 41, had sued AT&T unit Southwestern Bell for a pattern of offensive and discriminatory conduct by supervisors following her conversion to Islam in 2005. This was after six years of service as a network technician for the company. Susann alleged that when she started wearing a head scarf and attending Friday prayers at mosques, her colleagues and manager started calling her names like “terrorist” and told her that she would be going to hell. On top of verbal abuses, a manager repeatedly insisted that she remove her hijab, insulted her for wearing the religious head scarf and once grabbed her physically and tried to rip it off her head. Susann complained to the human resources department of the company and also filed a formal complaint alleging discrimination before the EEOC following which she was fired. The jury found that a “hostile work environment” occurred following the plaintiff’s religious conversion from Christianity to Islam. [JD Journal]
Rights groups continue to call for dismantling of NSEERS
May 7: The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), National Network for Arab American Communities (NNAAC), Rights Working Group, Sikh Coalition, and South Asian Americans Leading Together (SAALT) today expressed serious disappointment regarding the Obama administration’s announcement last month that it will not fully terminate the National Security Entry-Exit Registration System (NSEERS), which, in the aftermath of September 11th, required certain nonimmigrant men from predominantly Muslim nations to register with the federal government. In addition, the administration has indicated that it will not provide redress to all people impacted by the discriminatory program. A joint statement by the civil advocacy groups said: Last month, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued a memorandum about individuals impacted by the notorious NSEERS program. NSEERS was a counterproductive response to September 11th requiring certain non-immigrants to register at ports of entry and local immigration offices. Those required to register were from predominantly Arab, South Asian, or Muslim countries. The specifics of NSEERS revealed it to be a clear example of discriminatory and arbitrary profiling. The Obama administration has itself found that NSEERS “does not provide any increase in security.” DHS’ own Office of Inspector General has called for the full termination of NSEERS. In April 2011, DHS modified the program by “delisting” the countries whose nationals were subject to registration requirements, yet individuals still face harsh immigration consequences resulting from the program, including deportation and denial of immigration benefits for which they are otherwise eligible. [CAIR]
Republicans to FBI: Put those Anti-Muslim materials back!
May 9: A few Republican members of Congress would really like the FBI to stop coddling Muslims. Right-wing blogs have been complaining for months about the FBI’s decision to purge less than one percent of their counterterrorism training materials which a review found contained inaccurate, and often inflammatory information about Islam.Today, a few members of Congress joined the fight to get that biased information reinstated. Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) demanded that FBI Director Robert Mueller turn over the names of the subject experts the FBI used to review their counterterrorism training materials. Rep. Howard Cobel (R-NC) also suggested the Obama administration was forcing the FBI to get rid of materials because of political correctness. Their remarks followed Rep. Allen West’s comment last month which suggested the FBI was committing “cultural suicide” and letting the Muslim Brotherhood influence policy. “If we continue to be recalcitrant in identifying who the enemy is and want to be less offensive to them, then we’re going to put ourselves in a bad situation,” West said. “Now you have an environment of political correctness which precludes these agents from doing their proper job and due diligence to go after the perceived threat.” Rep. Trent Franks told CQ earlier this year that the FBI was letting outside parties “censor the true or critical material from FBI training curricula just because someone feels it to be politically incorrect.” The FBI said in March that their review of 160,000 of pages of training materials found that less than one percent contained “factually inaccurate or imprecise information or used stereotypes.” The bureau issued guidelines on how training should be handled in the future. [TPM Muckraker]
Anti-Sharia Amendment Dies in Iowa Legislature
May 10: The Iowa chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-IA) said today that a proposal to include anti-Islam language in that state’s constitution has died in the legislature. CAIR-IA said Iowa's legislature ended its 2012 session last night, forcing the death of HJR14 -- a proposed amendment to Iowa's constitution that would have banned courts from considering “Sharia,” or Islamic principles. The proposed amendment was drafted by Rep. Kim Pearson (R-House Dist. 42), a Tea Party member who targeted Islam and its practice in Iowa. Pearson has been quoted as saying Islam treats women “like they are pigs and dogs.” CAIR-IA Executive Director Miriam Amer said a constitutional amendment such as HJR14 would seriously impact the state's estimated 80,000 Muslims and their constitutionally-protected freedom of religion. [CAIR]
Halloween mosque fire in Wichita declared an arson
May 10: The fire that heavily damaged a west Wichita (Kansas) mosque early on Halloween morning was an arson, a fire department official said today. The fire at 3406 W. Taft, southeast of Maple and West streets, was reported at 12:45 a.m. on Oct. 31 and caused an estimated $120,000 in damage. The damage was so extensive the congregation only returned to the mosque last Friday, Capt. Stuart Bevis said. Test results received from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives lab in Maryland ruled out the last possible accidental source of the fire, Bevis said. The mosque, which was the first formal mosque in Kansas when it opened in 1978, had received anti-Islam letters before the fire. But investigators have been unable to prove a connection, Bevis said today. There are now three mosques in the city. [The Wichita Eagle]
18-month-old Muslim baby on no-fly list ordered off plane
May 10: Toddlers may be jokingly called terrors when they hit the "terrible twos," but one little girl's parents said their daughter was accused of being an actual terrorist. The family said the Transportation Security Administration and JetBlue have some explaining to do after ordering their 18-month-old daughter off a plane at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport. The couple, who asked not to be identified, said they were pulled from the plane because officials told them the toddler's name was on a no-fly list. "It's absurd," said the girl's father. "It made no sense. Why would an 18-month-old child be on a no-fly list?" "The whole situation was bizarre," the toddler's mother added. "It was completely bizarre." After standing in the middle of a terminal for about 30 minutes, the girl's parents were told they could reboard the plane. But they refused, saying they were too embarrassed. The couple said they think they were targeted because of their Middle Eastern descent. But they were both born and raised in New Jersey. "We were put on display like a circus act because my wife wears a hijab," said the toddler's father, referring to his wife's headscarf traditionally worn by Muslim women. [Bay News9]
NYPD Muslim surveillance: House Democrats call for end to controversial program
May 10: House Democrats today urged the New York Police Department to purge its intelligence databases of information gleaned from its clandestine spying on Muslim neighborhoods. They also criticized the Obama administration for offering tepid responses to questions about whether it endorses such tactics. Lawmakers introduced a resolution calling for an end to NYPD programs that infiltrated mosques and monitored even innocent conversations in cafes and bookstores. Muslim business owners were included in police files, even with no allegations of wrongdoing. The resolution has little chance of passing but it followed a heated debate Wednesday night over a House amendment that would have banned racial profiling by any department that receives federal money. Rep. Rush Holt, D-N.J., introduced the amendment, saying wholesale surveillance has proven ineffective in disrupting terrorist plans. "Contrary to the blanket assertions by some that the tactics have kept New York City safe, the NYPD failed to uncover two actual plots against New York City," Holt said, referring to attempted bombings in Times Square and the New York subway system.
It's unclear where the Obama administration stands. White House grants helps pay for the NYPD's programs but the White House says it has no control over how the money is used. President Barack Obama's counterterrorism adviser, John Brennan, recently declared his "full confidence that the NYPD is doing things consistent with the law." An anonymous White House official then issued a clarification to those remarks, saying Brennan wasn't referring to NYPD surveillance. Rep. Keith Ellison, D-Minn., the first Muslim elected to Congress and one of the lawmakers who introduced the resolution, said he understood the political difficulties the White House faces in wading into a debate over racial profiling and national security. "But transformational leadership is about standing up and doing the right thing," he said. [Huffington Post]
“U.S. military taught officers: Use ‘Hiroshima’ tactics for ‘total war’ on Islam”
May 11: The U.S. military taught its future leaders that a “total war” against the world’s 1.4 billion Muslims would be necessary to protect America from Islamic terrorists, according to documents obtained by Danger Room. Among the options considered for that conflict: using the lessons of “Hiroshima” to wipe out whole cities at once, targeting the “civilian population wherever necessary.” The course, first reported by Danger Room last month and held at the Defense Department’s Joint Forces Staff College, has since been canceled by the Pentagon brass. It’s only now, however, that the details of the class have come to light. Danger Room received hundreds of pages of course material and reference documents from a source familiar with the contents of the class. The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff recently ordered the entire U.S. military to scour its training material to make sure it doesn’t contain similarly hateful material, a process that is still ongoing. But the officer who delivered the lectures, Army Lt. Col. Matthew A. Dooley, still maintains his position at the Norfolk, Virginia college, pending an investigation. The commanders, lieutenant colonels, captains and colonels who sat in Dooley’s classroom, listening to the inflammatory material week after week, have now moved into higher-level assignments throughout the U.S. military. For the better part of the last decade, a small cabal of self-anointed counterterrorism experts has been working its way through the U.S. military, intelligence and law enforcement communities, trying to convince whoever it could that America’s real terrorist enemy wasn’t al-Qaida — but the Islamic faith itself. In his course, Dooley brought in these anti-Muslim demagogues as guest lecturers. And he took their argument to its final, ugly conclusion. “We have now come to understand that there is no such thing as ‘moderate Islam,’” Dooley noted in a July 2011 presentation, which concluded with a suggested manifesto to America’s enemies. “It is therefore time for the United States to make our true intentions clear. This barbaric ideology will no longer be tolerated. Islam must change or we will facilitate its self-destruction.” [By Noah Shachtman and Spencer Ackerman – Wired]
Offensive US Senate California candidate speeches captured on video
May 15: In the US Senate primary in California on June 5th, where 23 candidates vie to challenge Senator Dianne Feinstein in November, conservative candidates were recorded on video verbally attacking teachers, Muslims, and minority groups to excite their base at GOP and Tea Party venues. The video was recorded at a 'Get to Know Your Candidates' event hosted by the San Mateo GOP at the American Legion Hall in San Mateo. Dr. David Levitt, the candidate who recorded the event, reports unmasked homophobia, Islamophobia, and racism in the Repubilicans' speeches. in the video Republican candidate Rabbi Shifren cries, "... I AM an Islamophobe, and everything we need to know about Islam, we learned on 9-11! I believe in peace and justice for everybody -- but that's not why they're here. ... We're getting sucker-punched because we as white -- yes I said it! -- as white, Christian Americans are being taught that somehow WE are to blame for all the problems." [PRWEB]
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