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Chronology of Islam in America (2013)
By Abdus Sattar Ghazali
October 2013
Canadian anti-Muslim sentiment is rising, disturbing new poll reveals
Oct 3: Across Canada, Muslims have reason to feel concerned about how they are perceived when other Canadians identify them by their religion. A poll conducted by Angus Reid Public Opinion early last month, the results of which were made available exclusively to Maclean’s, found that attitudes toward Islam have deteriorated markedly across the country over the past four years. “It’s disturbing to see this growing level of mistrust,” said Andrew Grenville, Angus Reid’s chief research officer. The way Canadians see the other major religions—Christianity, Judaism, Sikhism, Hinduism and Buddhism—didn’t change much in the same four-year period. This snapshot of public opinion comes as the Quebec government’s proposed “charter of values,” which would forbid provincial employees from wearing obvious religious garb and jewelry on the job, sparks heated debate about religious expression. In fact, the poll shows that opinion in Quebec, while markedly less tolerant of religious minorities overall than in other provinces, hasn’t grown less favorable toward Muslims in recent years. In 2009, Angus Reid found that 68 per cent of Quebecers held an unfavorable opinion of Islam. Asked the same question this fall, the Quebec result was pretty much level, at 69 per cent. But in the rest of Canada, where 46 per cent held an unfavorable view of Islam in 2009, that figure has risen sharply to 54 per cent this year. By comparison, 39 per cent outside Quebec held an unfavorable opinion of Sikhism, the faith with the biggest public-opinion problem after Islam. All the other religions were regarded unfavorably by less than 30 per cent of Canadians, and those who see Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism and Buddhism in a good light far outnumbered those harboring suspicions. In Quebec, 48 per cent said they would find it unacceptable for one of their children to marry a Muslim, up slightly from 45 per cent in 2009. In the rest of Canada, those who found the thought of a son or daughter marrying a Muslim unacceptable shot up to 32 per cent from 24 per cent. [Macleans Canada]
Controversial Bank Sign Removed
Oct 4: Century Savings Bank of New Jersey has announced the removal of the controversial sign. Today, the Bank’s Spokesperson announced they have removed the sign and they are in the process of reviewing their policies. The American-Arab Anti Discrimination Committee (ADC) and the Council on American Muslim Relations (CAIR) urged the Century Savings Bank last month to remove the controversial sign requesting that patrons “please remove hats, hoods, headgear and sunglasses” before entering the bank. [ADC]
CA Governor signs Trust Act to limit immigrant detentions
Oct 5: California Governor Jerry Brown today signed a bill into law barring state and local law enforcement agencies from detaining undocumented residents solely because of their immigration status. The law was sponsored by Assembly Member Tom Ammiano (D-San Francisco). It limits the state's compliance with Secure Communities, an embattled program that allows the Department of Homeland Security to access fingerprints taken by local police, to screen detained individuals for immigration status checks, and to request that law enforcement agencies hold them if they are believed to be undocumented. The program has resulted in thousands of unfair, costly detentions of immigrants in local jails for deportation purposes. Under the Trust Act, illegal or undocumented immigrants would have to be charged with or convicted of a serious offense to be eligible for a 48-hour hold and transfer to U.S. immigration authorities for possible deportation. The bill mirrors a similar measure passed last month by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. Many law enforcement agencies, including those in Los Angeles, Santa Clara and San Francisco counties, already have adopted policies similar to those in the Trust Act. And immigration officials, who are not subject to the state law, can still detain and deport people following federal guidelines. Assemblyman Kevin Mullin, D-South San Francisco, put forth a measure which was also Brown signed that says threatening to report an undocumented resident to authorities can be the basis for an extortion charge. Other bills signed on Oct. 5 will allow people in the country illegally to be licensed as lawyers, impose restrictions on those who charge a fee to help immigrants gain legal status, and make it a crime for employers to "induce fear" by threatening to report someone's immigration status. [AMP Report]
NY City Attorney: "There Is No Muslim Surveillance Program"
Oct 7: A lawyer for New York City today denied that the NYPD has a surveillance program to spy on Muslims. Responding to an ACLU lawsuit claiming religious discrimination that seeks to force police to turn over surveillance records, city lawyer Peter Farrell claimed "there is no Muslim surveillance program. ... I 100 percent disagree that there was ever a Muslim surveillance program." The hearing in a Brooklyn courtroom dotted with spectators wearing conservative Muslim religious attire was part of a federal lawsuit filed by Brooklyn Imam Hamid Hassan Raza and other Muslims. The Raza lawsuit is the testiest of three simultaneous legal fights over NYPD surveillance of political activities, which include challenges by civil rights groups and New Jersey-based Muslims. The Associated Press has reported that, beginning in 2011, the NYPD had a broad-ranging practice of spying on mosques and Muslims. But the city has argued in response that it only follows leads when it visits Muslim neighborhoods, and does not target Muslims as such. Nevertheless, Farrell said it was logical for the police to be concerned about extreme members of the faith. [Huffington Post]
Lomita City Council Approves Islamic Center of South Bay Building Permit
Oct 7: The Lomita City (CA) Council has unanimously approved the Islamic Center of South Bay’s application to renovate and consolidate its aged and dilapidated facilities. The Greater Los Angeles Area chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-LA) and the law firm of Hadsell Stormer Richardson & Renick, LLP (HSRR) welcomed the Lomita City Council approval. Anne Richardson, partner at Hadsell Stormer, stated: “It’s been five years since the Islamic Center first submitted its building application to renovate its facilities and the South Bay community can finally celebrate its long overdue success.” On October 7, the Islamic Center went before the city council in its second attempt to gain permits for renovating its property. Members from the mosque leadership and youth spoke alongside interfaith leaders from the South Coast Interfaith Council and the Jesus Christ Church of Latter Day Saints. While the majority of the comments were in favor of the project, some residents strongly opposed the project, including a few individuals who made defamatory comments referencing “Osama Bin Laden.” Yet at the end, after two of public testimony, the city council unanimously approved the mosque’s application. In March 2010, the Islamic Center had gone before the city council to seek approval of a similar plan to consolidate its facilities into a single structure building with an indoor community hall for dining and meetings and increased parking. At that time, the council unanimously denied the mosque’s application, despite the City Planning Commission’s approval of the plan. In response, CAIR-LA and HSRR filed a lawsuit against the City of Lomita in March 2012 alleging that the city council’s denial substantially burdened its exercise of religion and violated federal law and constitutional protections guaranteeing equal treatment. The United States Department of Justice subsequently filed suit similarly alleging that the city violated the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000 (RLUIPA). [CAIR]
Man allegedly fired over beard awarded $66,000 in back pay
Oct 8: A federal judge has awarded back pay and other costs to a Muslim man who said he was fired from his security-guard job two years ago for refusing to shave his close-cropped beard. Abdulkadir Omar, 23, who worked for American Patriot Security in 2009 and 2010, was awarded over $66,000 in back wages, attorney fees and court costs. U.S. District Judge Robert Lasnik ordered a default judgment against American Patriot on Sept. 27 after the company declined to mount a defense. Across the country and here in Washington, a number of lawsuits have been brought against employers by workers with religious-discrimination claims — from those who want to pray during their work shifts to men and women wearing head coverings. “There’s a religious conflict in some workplaces where employers make broad policies they then seek to implement, even if they prevent employees from being able to practice their religion,” said attorney Hardeep Rekhi, who represented Omar in the case. Omar's lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington, claims the company violated federal and state laws by harassing, retaliating and discriminating against Omar based on his religious beliefs. Further, it said the company violated state law by failing to accommodate those religious beliefs. [Seattle Times]
Why so many Latinos are becoming Muslims
Oct 9: Just as the U.S. Latino population is on the rise – Hispanics are now the nation’s largest minority – so is the number of Latino Muslims. And it’s not just a result of Arab Latin Americans emigrating to the United States. According to organizations like WhyIslam.org, Latinos are one of the fastest growing segments of the Muslim community. About six percent of U.S. Muslims are now Latino – and as many as a fifth of new converts to Islam nationwide are Latino.The American Muslim Association of North America, based in North Miami, says heavily Hispanic South Florida in particular is home to a rising number of Latino Muslims.....If it’s a surprise that many Latinos are moving from a predominantly Roman Catholic culture to an originally Arab faith, perhaps it shouldn’t be. For one thing, like African-Americans in the 1960s, Latinos are discovering their own historical and cultural ties to Islam and the Arab world. And that starts with what most defines Latinos: Spanish. “Our language is nurtured by more than 4,000 words that come from Arabic,” says Wilfredo Ruiz, a Puerto Rican-born Muslim who converted a decade ago and is a lawyer for the South Florida chapter of the Council of American-Islamic Relations. “Every word in Spanish that starts with ‘al,’ for example, like alcalde, alcantarilla, almohada.” That’s because Arab Muslims ruled Spain for some 800 years during the Middle Ages – and made the Iberian Peninsula one of the most advanced civilizations of its time. A millennium later, Ruiz says that past is an inescapable part of the Hispanic DNA. The American Muslim Association of North America, based in North Miami, says heavily Hispanic South Florida in particular is home to a rising number of Latino Muslims. “What most Latinos who have embraced Islam find most amazing is their cultural affinity to the Muslim culture,” says Ruiz. “It’s like rediscovering your past. That area of our past has been hidden from us.”..... More Latina women convert to Islam than Latino men do. Islam is admittedly questioned for its segregation of women. But Latinas say it's hypocritical for a male-dominated Catholic Church – which forbids women priests, birth control and divorce – and an ultra-macho Latino society – whose Spanish-language television networks still portray women as spitfire sexpots – to criticize their new faith in that regard. [WLRN-Miami Herald]
Blacklisted by a British company for Being Muslim
Oct 11: This week, construction giants Balfour Beatty, Kier, Laing O’Rourke and Sir Robert McAlpine were among 40 companies which have pledged to compensate thousands of workers who were unlawfully blacklisted and denied employment for years. The firms funded a clandestine agency which kept secret files on construction workers labelled as ‘politically disruptive’. Quite how you can put a price on causing such hardship and distress to workers and their families remains to be seen, but this is probably one of the worst examples of McCarthyism that has, thus far, been exposed in Britain Today. Personal files containing information dating back to the 1980s show that individuals were described in negative terms such as “militant ringleader”, “agitator”, “is a good worker but has proved to be very militant”, “do not touch”, and “that subject is a very bad troublemaker and would not be re-employed”. In their apology, the companies issued a statement admitting their involvement with The Consulting Association after it emerged that it held data on 3,213 construction workers and traded their personal details for profit. Blacklisting is a very un-British concept, not least because such secret briefings bear the hallmarks of cowardice and are all the more morally repugnant when money is the prime motivation for ‘digging’ the so-called ‘dirt’.
In mid-20th century America some of the most talented screenwriters, actors and directors in Hollywood lost their careers after being secretly targeted by the anti-Communist witch hunt promoted by Senator Joseph McCarthy. Many were barred from their profession on the basis of unfounded links to, or alleged membership of, the American Communist Party during the height of the persecution in the late forties through to the late fifties. By the time McCarthy was on the scene he had little proper regard for evidence. Sadly this vile form of state-backed oppression and persecution has crossed the Atlantic and those targeted today are not confined to trade unions in the construction industry. The new blacklists contain the names of people of Faith, more specifically the Muslim Faith, and you don’t have to be a bomb-plotting, subversive, western-hating dingbat to get on the list. For the last few years counter-terrorism units and so-called academic think-tanks have made a lucrative living out of their toxic briefings and reckless and often unsubstantiated accusations which have brought into question the character, motives and patriotism of people who dare to disagree with or challenge them. My name has found its way on to these lists, courtesy, I believe, of the Quilliam Foundation, a controversial London based ‘counter-extremism’ think-tank which claims to challenge Islamic extremism in Britain. I am no more a threat to my own country than my 86-year-old mum and her friends in the Mothers’ Union that I was invited to address in a County Durham pit village last year.
Peaceful Muslim groups, politicians and at least one Islamic television station have all found their way on to lists drawn up by the Quilliam Foundation which is going to extremes itself these days to drum up funding and support. One loony briefing document from Quilliam says: “The ideology of non-violent Islamists is broadly the same as that of violent Islamists; they disagree only on tactics… These are a selection of the various groups and institutions active in the UK which are broadly sympathetic to Islamism. Whilst only a small proportion will agree with al-Qaida’s tactics, many will agree with their overall goal of creating a single ‘Islamic state’ which would bring together all Muslims around the world under a single government and then impose on them a single interpretation of sharia as state law.” Another toxic briefing document was marked for the attention of the director general of the Office for Security and Counter-Terrorism (OSCT) and carries a warning that it should not be shared with civil servants. The fact that it was leaked and posted on the web is not surprising and perhaps an example of the contempt with which the British Establishment views tittle-tattle, snitches and squealers. [By Yvonne Ridley - Information Clearing House]
28 years after terrorist attack, ADC demands Alex Odeh's murderers be held accountable
Oct 11: Today, The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) (www.alexodeh.org) launched a national petition calling on the Department of Justice to hold those responsible for Alex Odeh's murder accountable. Today marks the 28th anniversary of Odeh's death. ADC President Warren David said, "50 years ago, NAACP leader Medgar Evers, was shot to death in his driveway. It took 33 years until his murderer was brought to justice." Mr. David went on to say, "After 28 years, ADC and the Arab American community are still demanding justice for Alex Odeh." On the morning of October 11, 1985, in the city of Santa Ana, California, a pipe bomb exploded as Alex Odeh opened the door to the Southern California Regional Office of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC). Alex was pronounced dead at the local hospital. The explosion injured seven other people and demolished the office. Shortly after the attack, the FBI identified three individuals they believe held some responsibility for the bombing. Those suspects, holding both American and Israeli passports, fled immediately to Israel. On November 9, 1985, the FBI named the Jewish Defense League (JDL) as the terrorist organization behind Alex Odeh's murder. On July 16, 1986, while testifying at a Congressional hearing, FBI Executive Assistant Director Oliver Revell confirmed that "extremist elements" responsible for Alex's murder had been identified. The FBI has designated the JDL as a right-wing terrorist group. The Southern Poverty Law Center lists the JDL as a hate group for its "long history of bombing, assaulting and threatening its perceived enemies" such as "Palestinian leaders, prominent black Americans and even Jewish moderates." [ADC]
Muslim students want time off for holidays, too
Oct 14: Several school districts with significant Muslim populations already observe one or both of the Eid holidays as official days off, including Paterson and Trenton in New Jersey; Dearborn, Mich.; Burlington Vt.; and Cambridge, Mass. Similar efforts in New York City, Connecticut, and Baltimore County, Md., have stalled, while those in Maryland's Montgomery County, just north of Washington, have recently restarted. There, schools are closed for Christmas, Good Friday and the Monday after Easter; since the 1970s, schools have closed for the Jewish holidays of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur if those days fall on a weekday. Muslims in Montgomery County have lobbied for school closures on Eid holidays for at least 10 years. The school district established guidelines a few years ago allowing Muslim students to take excused absences on Eid days, which are also considered non-testing days. But the county's board of education has resisted making Eid days official holidays, arguing that religion can't be cited as a reason to close school. Rather, Eid supporters must show that the school day will be affected by a number of student and staff absences. Muslims counter that the board's demand is vague because it offers no numerical minimum, and unreasonable because it wasn't made of other groups. By one count, there are at least 12,000 Muslims living in Montgomery County, and local Muslims say the eight mosques and anecdotal evidence suggest their numbers have indeed grown significantly in recent years. [Omar Sacirbey - RNS]
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