www.amperspective.com Online Magazine
Executive Editor: Abdus Sattar Ghazali
Chronology of Islam in America (2016)
By Abdus Sattar Ghazali
April 2016 page two
FBI urged to dismantle dangerous and misleading website
April 5: Today, the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee and Muslim Advocates led a coalition of civil rights and civil liberties groups to request that the FBI shut down a website that purports to prevent violent extremism, but in reality, exacerbates an environment of bigotry and bullying that innocent individuals—especially children in schools—are already facing. Among problematic issues the letter highlights, the website encourages teachers and students to report people who may be travelling to “suspicious” regions and speaking “suspicious” languages, leaving the “reporter” to use his or her own biases and stereotypes to judge what may be “suspicious.” Thus, a teenager who talks to his or her classmates about returning from a family trip to a predominantly Arab or Muslim country could be deemed “suspicious” and reported to the FBI. Furthermore, the website deems common teenage activities as “warning signs” of violent extremism. Such “warning signs” include taking pictures in front of national landmarks and government buildings, and use of multimedia communication applications like Tango or Groupme. More disturbing, the FBI is actively encouraging schools to use this website in government, social studies and civics classes. The letter calling for the dismantling of the website comes after months of communication by multiple civil rights organizations offering constructive feedback on the website. The final product, however, perpetuates profiling and negative stereotypes that Arab, Muslim, Sikh, and South Asian Americans are prone to engage in extremist violence and encourages the policing of thoughts, ideas, and beliefs. The letter is signed by over a dozen civil rights and civil liberties organizations, including the American Civil Liberties Union and Teaching Tolerance - a project of the Southern Poverty Law Center. “We all want to keep our country safe, and expect the FBI to do its job based on following legitimate leads and credible intelligence—not stereotypes and bigoted assumptions,” said Farhana Khera, executive director of Muslim Advocates. “At a time when American Muslim children are already experiencing an unprecedented wave of harassment and bullying in schools across our nation, it is deplorable for the FBI to give educators a green light to use bias to single out children and report them to law enforcement.” “The ‘Don’t Be a Puppet’ website will cause teachers to violate the ethical duties they owe to their students and destroy the critical teacher-student relationship,” said Samer Khalaf, national president of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee. This website is teaching students and teachers to profile Arab and Muslim Americans. By labeling such common teenage activities as taking ‘selfies’ at the White House suspicious, the FBI is essentially stating that every American teenager can be a suspect. [ADC]
Muslim woman run down during anti-Islamic rally in Brussels
April 6: A Muslim woman has been run over by a car appearing to drive at speed directly towards her during a right-wing rally in Brussels. Video footage shows a white Audi drive through a police road block and then straight towards into a Muslim woman dressed in a hijab as she crosses the road. She is dragged onto the bonnet and then falls to the ground as the car continues. The footage was from a rally in which anti-immigration "activists" staged a demonstration against Muslims in Molenbeek, the Brussels suburb where the airport bombings and last November's Paris attacks were allegedly planned. About 400 people were chanting anti-Islamic slogans at the rally, prompting many of the Muslim residents in the area to come out onto the streets. Riot police had erected barriers between the two sides. Islamophobia has risen across Europe following terrorist attacks on the Paris office of the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in January 2015 and the second Paris attacks in November 2015, as well as the bombings at Brussels airport and a metro station on 22 March 2016. [The Independent]
Racial profiling? Man escorted from Easyjet flight 'because passenger didn't feel safe'
April 7: A man who was escorted from an EasyJet flight because another passenger "didn't feel safe" has said he was a victim of “racial profiling." Meghary Yemane-Tesfagiorgis was ushered off his Rome to London flight by armed police. He said this was done after another passenger complained she felt uncomfortable with his presence. He then had to wait 15 hours for another flight. The event is the latest in a number of instances where ethnic minority EasyJet passengers were removed from flights after security concerns were allegedly raised. After flight EZY5258 was delayed because of luggage issues, Mr Yemane-Tesfagiorgis, of London, said he was called to the front of the cabin where he was “greeted by armed police". “I was asked to leave the plane by the captain," he told ITV. "When I asked him why, he explained: ‘A fellow passenger has stated that she does not feel safe with you on board.' “I was then directed by the police to the airport police station. I was subjected to further questioning and intimidation by the Italian authorities before being left to sit in the airport for a further 15 or so hours." He said of the incident: “I felt violated, it was racial profiling. If she feels uncomfortable, she should get off the plane.” [Independent]
Muslim civil rights group celebrates 10 years in Oklahoma
April 9: Muneer Awad has vivid memories of visiting a local bar where a debate about State Question 755 was being held. The debate occurred on his first day as executive director of the Oklahoma chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations. Within days of the discussion, he filed a lawsuit against the state, arguing the constitutionality of the measure that banned Sharia law in Oklahoma. Awad, an attorney, shared his recollections during CAIR-OK's recent 10th anniversary celebration. The festivities on April 2 drew 600 people to the Embassy Suites in Norman. The theme for the banquet was "Advancing Together: Celebrating a Decade of Civil Rights Advocacy." Oklahoma Muslim leaders and several from other states heaped praise on the organization for its work defending Muslim civil rights, whether it was needed on behalf of a woman denied employment because of her hajib or to confront a state legislator for making anti-Muslim remarks or to back a plan for a float representing Muslim veterans in a civic Veterans Day parade. Along with Awad, the chapter's first executive director, Razi Hashmi, and its current leader, Adam Soltani, said CAIR-OK has played a vital role since its inception 10 years ago, but only with the support of Muslim faith communities across Oklahoma. Hashmi said anti-Muslim incidents occurred before a CAIR chapter was established in the state, but there was no organization uniquely prepared to deal with them. [Oklahoman]
Keith Ellison, Muslim Political Figures Respond To ISIS Threats In Propaganda Magazine
April 13: U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison of Minnesota fired back after an ISIS propaganda magazine made death threats against him and other Muslim political leaders in the West. ISIS propaganda publication Dabiq published threats to many high-profile moderate Muslims in Western countries including Ellison, Hillary Clinton aid Huma Abedin, CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad and British politicians Sayeeda Warsi and Sajid Javid. Ellison released a statement in response to the threats, accusing ISIS of twisting Islam's message. "Daesh is a collections of liars, murderers, torturers and rapists," wrote Ellison, using the Arabic acronym for ISIS the terror organization reportedly dislikes. "No Muslim I know recognizes what they preach as Al-Islam. The fact that I'm on Daesh's bad side means that I am fighting for things like justice, tolerance and a more inclusive world." Ellison is the first Muslim-American to be elected to Congress, taking office in 2008. He has been vocal in his criticism of Donald Trump and other GOP candidates for their rhetoric regarding Muslims in America. According to the Hill, the ISIS propaganda piece accused Muslim leaders in the West of being apostates, or people who renounce their religious or political beliefs, and urged Western countries to be prepared for more attacks, referencing the November shootings in Paris and the March bombings in Brussels. "Paris was a warning. Brussels was a reminder," the article read. "What is yet to come will be more devastating and more bitter." [International Business Times]
‘The Trump Effect’: Hatred, fear and bullying on the rise in schools
April 13: According to a new report by the nonprofit Southern Poverty Law Center titled “The Trump Effect: The Impact of the Presidential Campaign on our Nation’s Schools,” the race is stoking fears and racial tensions in America’s classrooms. “My students are terrified of Donald Trump. They think that if he’s elected, all black people will get sent back to Africa,” one middle school teacher told the SPLC. The teacher was one of more than 2,000 educators who opted to take a survey conducted through the SPLC’s “Teaching Tolerance” program. “I have had Muslim students called terrorists,” said another teacher who submitted comments to the survey. “There is a boy from Mexico, who is a citizen, who is terrified that the country will deport him if Trump wins,” wrote a third teacher. “He is also scared that kids and grown-ups can and will hurt him.” Overall, more than two-thirds of the teachers who took the survey reported that their students — mainly Muslims, immigrants and children of immigrants — were worried about what could happen to them and their families after the November election. And more than one-third of the teachers said they’ve noticed a rise in anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim sentiment among their students as well. I have had Muslim students called terrorists. Teacher response to the Southern Poverty Law Center’s survey. The report identified two troubling trends: more openly racist and vicious bullying of minorities, and more fear and anxiety among immigrants and minorities about what would happen to them if certain candidates for president are elected. [Huffington Post]
CA State’s ‘Muslim Day at the Capitol’ draws 600 Muslims
April 15: More than 600 Muslims were in Sacramento today to mark the annual “Muslim Day at the Capitol.” The event, hosted by the Council on American-Islamic Relations’ California office, attracted people from across the state and provided them an opportunity to meet with state legislators and discuss issues of concern, according to the organization. About 60 members of CAIR’s San Diego chapter participated, said executive director Hanif Mohebi. Most traveled to Sacramento on a bus early Sunday and planned to stay through Monday afternoon. Hanif said the growing number of attendees is proof that Muslims are becoming more politically involved. “This is absolutely important in our community,” he said. “It shows the growth in our community and our growth in civic engagement.” Hanif recalled that a group of only about 70 people attended the inaugural event, which was held in 2011. The number of participants from San Diego filled just a small van, he said. In Sacramento, attendees advocated for legislation concerning a variety of civil rights issues, including protection for immigrants from deportation, measures to prevent school bullying, and for police accountability, among others. The group said it supports Assembly Bill 2845, for example, which promotes the creation of programs to address bullying against Muslim, Sikh and Middle Eastern students. A 2015 report from CAIR found that Muslim students are bullied at higher rates than their peers. About 55 percent of Muslim students have experienced some form of bullying in schools, according to the organization. [Sandiego Union Tribune]
Texas Muslims slam Sen. Ted Cruz and staff for refusing to meet with them
April 18: A coalition of American Muslim groups, including a Texas contingent, is blasting Republican presidential candidate Sen. Ted Cruz and his staff for refusing to meet with them during today’s National Muslim Advocacy Day on Capitol Hill. Alia Salem, executive director of the DFW chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said her group tried unsuccessfully for weeks to schedule time with Cruz’s staff ahead of its visit to Washington this week. More than 300 members of the U.S. Council of Muslim Organizations, a coalition of American Muslim advocacy groups, are in Washington to meet with members of Congress. “We traveled all the way from North Texas to come and meet with our elected officials. I know they have things they have to do, but what I’m concerned about is the complete and utter shutdown, not finding one legislative aide to meet with us,” she said. “This is indicative of what a Cruz presidency would look like,” she later said during a press conference on Capitol Hill on Monday. “He has made clear in the media what he thinks about Muslims, how he plans to treat them, and today in his day job, he exhibited no less.” Cruz’s Senate staff did not immediately respond to a request for comment. [Dallas News]
Man pleads guilty to 2012 arson that destroyed Joplin, Mo., mosque
April 18: A 32-year-old Joplin man pleaded guilty today to setting a fire that destroyed a Joplin, Mo., mosque and to trying to burn down a Planned Parenthood clinic. Jedediah Stout pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Springfield, Kansas, to setting the August 2012 fire that destroyed the Islamic Society of Joplin’s mosque. That fire came about a month after an unsuccessful attempt to burn the building. Stout confessed to setting the fire after he was arrested in 2013 for two unsuccessful attempts to burn the Planned Parenthood clinic in Joplin on successive nights by throwing a backpack containing flammable liquid onto the clinic’s roof and lighting a rope attached as a fuse. Stout had been in custody since he was charged in October 2013 in connection with the Planned Parenthood crimes, but he had not been charged in the mosque arson until Monday, when he waived his right to a grand jury. [Kansas City Star]
Muslim student kicked off Southwest flight in US for speaking Arabic
April 18: A 26-year-old Muslim student in the US, who was talking on the phone about a question on the Islamic State he asked to the UN Secretary-General, was booted from a Southwest flight after another passenger felt threatened when he spoke in Arabic. Khairuldeen Makhzoomi, student at University of California, who came to the US as an Iraqi refugee was removed from a Southwest Airlines flight in California after another passenger became alarmed when she heard him speaking Arabic. Makhzoomi, was taken off a flight from Los Angeles International Airport to Oakland after he called an uncle in Baghdad to tell him about an event he attended that included a speech by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. "I was very excited about the event, so I called my uncle to tell him about it," Makhzoomi was quoted as saying by the New York Times. At the end of the conversation, he and his uncle shared a customary farewell – Inshallah, which translates to "if God is willing." He told his uncle about the moment when he got to stand up and ask the secretary general a question about the Islamic State. A nearby passenger overheard Makhzoomi's conversation with his uncle and felt alarmed by his "potentially threatening comments," according to a statement from Southwest Airlines. Zahra Billoo, the executive director of the San Francisco Bay Area office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said there had been at least six cases of Muslims being pulled off flights so far this year, she said. [First Post]
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