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Chronology of Islam in America (2007)
By Abdus Sattar Ghazali
September 2007 Page II
Six years after Sept. 11, Muslims see more inclusive workplaces
Sept 11: After the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, many American Muslims encountered increased hostility in the workplace, both overt and subtle. But that has changed in the last few years, as more corporations have become increasingly aware of the need for religious inclusion. While reported discrimination cases against Muslims overall continue to increase, the incidents in the workplace are decreasing. As we work with corporations, we're seeing an increasing recognition that religion is the next big issue to deal with in terms of the diversity field and an increasing recognition that they need to be given tools for handling it," says Georgette Bennett, president and founder of the Tanenbaum Center for Interreligious Understanding. This increasing connection to religion in the workplace is clear in Top 50 companies, who set the trends as national diversity leaders. Seventy percent of the Top 50 have floating religious holidays and 16 percent make special religious accommodations, such as prayer rooms. Almost no one else in corporate America does this yet. (Diversity Inc)
Ohio: Residents of Arab descent feel right at home even after terrorist attacks
Sept 11: Six years after the terrorist attacks on the United States on Sept. 11, 2001, Americans continue to be shaped by that horrific day.But Massillon (Ohio) area residents of Middle Eastern descent say they haven’t experienced blatant anti-Arab discrimination or prejudice, the way some have, in the years since 9/11. “I think of 9/11 every day of my life,” said Massillon Municipal Judge Edward Elum, “but I don’t think it’s impacted Arab-Americans in Massillon.” Elum, of Lebanese descent, said he hasn’t even had to downplay his ethnicity in the years since 9/11. “I’m very proud of my ethnicity,” he said. “I’ve never felt like a second-class citizen.” He said anti-Arab bias may be more prevalent toward newer immigrants. The Elums are second-generation Americans. Their grandparents came to the United States from Lebanon in late 1800s, and their father and uncles all served in World War II. Most Lebanese in the Massillon area are Maronite Catholic or Roman Catholic. (Independent)
Michigan lawmaker's measure encourages racial profiling
Sept 12: Representative Kim Meltzer's (R-Clinton Township) "Sanctuary Policy Prohibition Act" would prohibit a recent anti-profiling ordinance that the Detroit City Council passed and any future ordinances in other municipalities. In May of this year, Detroit was the first municipality in Michigan to pass an ordinance prohibiting city employees from inquiring into a person's citizenship status based upon their race or ethnic/religious attire. The Michigan chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-MI) said that the measure would encourage profiling of anyone in Michigan who looks like an immigrant by local government employees, including local law enforcement officers. (CAIR Bulletin)
Islamaphobia on rise, especially in Europe - U.N. envoy
Sept 14: The United Nations investigator on racism today condemned a rising trend of Islamaphobia, especially in Europe, where he said it was being exploited by some right-wing political parties. Doudou Diene, U.N. special rapporteur on racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related forms of intolerance, also accused Switzerland's most popular party, the right-wing Swiss People's Party (SVP/UDC), of inciting hatred. More and more political leaders and influential media and intellectuals were "equating Islam with violence and terrorism," and some were seeking to "silence religious practices by banning the construction of mosques", Diene said. Diene, a Senegalese lawyer, said in his 21-page report to the Council that Islamaphobia had grown since the Sept 11 2001 attacks on the United States. In Europe, Muslims faced growing difficulties to establish places of worship and carry out their religious practices such as dietary regimens and burials, according to the U.N. envoy. "Political parties with open anti-Islamic platforms have joined governmental coalitions in several countries and started to put in place their political agendas. In sum, Islamophobia is in the process of permeating all facets of social life." The Swiss SVP/UDC has launched a referendum to ban construction of minarets in the Alpine country, home to 350,000 Muslims. A similar move is underway in Cologne, Germany. (Reuters)
The oil connection in Iraq War: Greenspan straightens the record
Sept 17: Alan Greenspan, the former Federal Reserve Bank Chairman has blithely declared that the Iraq war was 'largely' about oil. Critics of the administration have often argued that President George Bush was motivated by a desire to gain access to Iraq's vast oil reserves while Bush cited President Saddam Hussein's pursuit of weapons of mass destruction - which were never found - and his support for terrorism as reasons for the invasion. Now in his book, released on September 17, 2007, The Age of Turbulence: Adventures in a New World Greenspan writes: “I am saddened that it is politically inconvenient to acknowledge what everyone knows: the Iraq war is largely about oil.” What Greenspan was acknowledging casually has always been denied by the Bush administration and the news media faithfully ignored? "Blood for oil." To straightens the record, now 81-year-old Greenspan decided to state the obvious in the book for which he already received $8 million cash advance. However, it is not difficult to explain the obvious and the mechanics of the oil war in Iraq. Before the war, Iraq's oil production and reserves lay outside the direct control of the US/UK oil industry. The major international oil companies, headquartered in the United States and the United Kingdom, are keen to regain control over Iraq’s oil, lost with the nationalization in 1972. (AMP Report)
Greetings on the beginning of Ramadan
Sept 18: Elected officials have issued greetings in honor of major religious holidays since the founding of the Republic, but it is only recently that Islam has become part of that tradition. Virginia Governor Tim Kaine sent “greetings and best wishes to Muslim citizens throughout the Commonwealth…The economic and cultural outreach of Muslim Virginians have enriched us all….” New Jersey Senator Robert Menendez observed, “During this holy month, Muslims commit to strengthening family and community ties through acts of selflessness.” And in an uncoordinated bipartisan action, Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean said “my family and I wish to express to Muslims in America and around the world our very best wishes;” while from President George W. Bush came the message “Laura and I send our best wishes;” and both statements conclude “Ramadan Mubarak.” The month of Ramadan began on 13th September in North America. (The Arab American Institute)
Pentagon sued over mandatory Christianity
Sept 18: A military watchdog organization filed a lawsuit in federal court today against the Pentagon, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, and a US Army major, on behalf of an Army soldier stationed in Iraq. The suit charges the Pentagon with widespread constitutional violations by allegedly trying to force the soldier to embrace evangelical Christianity and then retaliating against him when he refused. The complaint, filed in US District Court in Kansas City, by the nonprofit Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF), on behalf of Jeremy Hall, an Army specialist currently on active duty in Speicher, Iraq, alleges that Hall’s First Amendment rights were violated beginning last Thanksgiving when, because of his atheist beliefs, he declined to participate in a Christian prayer ceremony commemorating the holiday. “Immediately after plaintiff made it known he would decline to join hands and pray, he was confronted, in the presence of other military personnel, by the senior ranking … staff sergeant who asked plaintiff why he did not want to pray, whereupon plaintiff explained because he is an atheist,” says the lawsuit, a copy of which was provided to Truthout. “The staff sergeant asked plaintiff what an atheist is and plaintiff responded it meant that he (plaintiff) did not believe in God. This response caused the staff sergeant to tell plaintiff that he would have to sit elsewhere for the Thanksgiving dinner. Nonetheless, plaintiff sat at the table in silence and finished his meal.” (The Truth.Org)
Muslim groups sue FBI over surveillance
Sept 18: Several Islamic groups in Southern California sued the FBI today to force the agency to release more documents about the alleged surveillance of individuals and local mosques following the Sept. 11 attacks. In May 2006, 11 Muslim leaders and community groups sent the FBI a Freedom of Information Act request for documents about suspected surveillance of them and sued after the bureau released just four pages, one of them largely blank. The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in Santa Ana and alleges that the FBI's document search was inadequate. The suit says there is concern that FBI investigations "threaten to erode the constitutionally protected freedom of religion that Muslim Americans enjoy." Last year, local Islamic leaders said they turned to the ACLU for help after the FBI provided little information in response to their concern about government monitoring. They said mosque-goers reported being questioned by the FBI about their religious practices and the sermons given during prayer services. (Los Angeles Times)
Republican Congressman Peter King says there are too many mosques in US
Sept 19: Republican Congressman Peter King from New York told The Politico today that "unfortunately, there are too many mosques in this country". King, the ranking Republican member on the House Homeland Security Committee stated that "there are too many people sympathetic to radical Islam" and that "we should be looking at them more carefully and finding out how we can infiltrate them." He also stated "I think there has been a lack of full cooperation from too many people in the Muslim community." (The Politico)
US companies aim advertising at Muslim Americans
Sept 19: A recent study by the nation's largest advertising firm shows that the Muslim American community has an estimated purchasing power of about $170 billion. JWT Advertising conducted the study, and it is now working with a wide variety of companies to develop strategies to attract Muslim American customers. The six to eight million Muslims in the U.S. are beginning to be sought after by marketers and consumer goods manufacturers. The study shows that the six to eight million Muslims in the United States are looking for recognition and respect, and that companies should make sure they are not neglecting or offending their community. JWT Advertising says companies in the Detroit area are leading the way in using the cultural aspects of the Muslim faith to expand their share of the Muslim American market. (Voice of America)
Antioch 'March Against Hate' unites wide range of faiths, cultures
Sept 23: With religious strife rampant all over the world, one Contra Costa city made a vow today that whatever pits community against community elsewhere, it must not and will not happen in Antioch, California. A "March Against Hate" from Antioch City Hall to Antioch High School by Muslims, Jews, Christians, Sikhs, Baha'is, Zoroastrians and other believers was a denunciation of the torching of a mosque in Antioch last month. It also was a call to look past differences of doctrine to focus on ethics that are common to most of the world's religions.It was not a simple call for tolerance, organizers said. "It's moving beyond tolerance to active respect -- to stand together as a community," said Father Tom Bonacci of St. Ignatius Catholic Church in Antioch. He also sits on the board of the Interfaith Council of Contra Costa County, which organized the event. The Aug. 12 arson fire that destroyed the mosque of the Islamic Center of the East Bay on 18th Street was the latest in a string of attacks. Three times this year, the mosque was broken into and vandalized. (San Jose Mercury News)
Post-9/11 cases fuel criticism for nominee Attorney General
Sept 23: The 21-year-old Jordanian immigrant was in shackles when he was brought into the courtroom of Judge Michael B. Mukasey in Federal District Court in Manhattan. It was Oct. 2, 2001, and the prisoner, Osama Awadallah, then a college student in San Diego with no criminal record, was one of dozens of Arab men detained around the country in the days after the Sept. 11 attacks as potential witnesses in the terrorism investigation. Before the hearing, Mr. Awadallah told his lawyer that he had been beaten in the federal detention center in Manhattan, producing bruises that were hidden beneath his orange prison jumpsuit. But when his lawyer told this to Judge Mukasey, the judge seemed little concerned. “As far as the claim that he was beaten, I will tell you that he looks fine to me,” said Judge Mukasey, who was nominated by President Bush last week to be his third attorney general and is now facing Senate confirmation hearings. Even though Mr. Awadallah was not charged at the time with any crime and had friends and family in San Diego who would vouch that he had no terrorist ties, Judge Mukasey ordered that he be held indefinitely, a ruling he made in the cases of several other so-called material witnesses in the Sept. 11 investigations. A prison medical examination later identified the bruises across his body. Although Mr. Mukasey is otherwise widely admired by prosecutors and defense lawyers alike in New York, his handling of the cases of Mr. Awadallah and other material witnesses taken into custody in terrorism investigations after Sept. 11 produced some rare, sharp criticism of his performance on the bench and raised concern among civil liberties groups. Senate Democrats have suggested they will focus on the issue when Mr. Mukasey is questioned at his confirmation hearings. (In Novemer 2006, Osama Awadallah was acquitted of federal charges that he lied to a grand jury investigating the September 11th attacks.) (New York Times)
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