www.amperspective.com Online Magazine
Executive Editor: Abdus Sattar Ghazali
Chronology of Islam in America (2016)
By Abdus Sattar Ghazali
December 2016 - Page Two
Islamophobia will be in White House
Dec 11: Terrorism is indeed a cancer, but it cannot be defeated by labeling all parts of the Islamic body as cancerous. Fear of all terrorism is rational; making enemies of nonterrorists is not.President Barack Obama’s refusal to use that term “radical Islamic terrorism” is based on the correct proposition that nothing is gained by tarring an entire religion, as Flynn does. Our bombs and bullets seem to be killing a lot of terrorists without using the term.But if none of that is reason enough for Republican leaders to urge Trump to rescind this appointment, which is not subject to Senate confirmation, there’s this. While the retired military intelligence officer reportedly served with distinction in Iraq and Afghanistan and this earned him an appointment to run the Defense Intelligence Agency in 2012, he was canned from that position.He says he was fired because he refused to agree with the administration that Islamist militants were in retreat (in fact, they were). But he was removed essentially because he was not an effective administrator or leader.And since that firing, he has ventured into full-blown Islamophobia, a position that much of the Republican national security establishment rejects as reckless and dangerous. His words while running the DIA were so inaccurate that subordinates reportedly labeled them “Flynn facts.”Unsurprisingly, this is who Trump found to be a kindred spirit, a supporter who joined in those chants of “lock her up,” and who apparently shares his boss’s tolerance for Russia’s Vladimir Putin.Several of Trump’s choices for top posts, including Flynn, portend badly for U.S. policy, foreign and domestic. This is not a good start for the president-elect.[San Antonio Express-News Editorial Board]
‘Vandals deface Korans and books about Islam in libraries across US
Dec 12: A number of libraries across the U.S. say that they have seen an increased number of anti-Muslim acts of vandalism and hate speech in the wake of the election of Republican candidate Donald Trump. The Guardian reported today on a survey by the American Libraries Association (ALA), which found that copies of the Koran and books about Islam have been defaced with swastikas and other hate speech at a number of libraries. The worst incident so far, the Guardian said, was an attack on a Muslim student in which a man tried to forcibly remove her hijab. Four days after the election, the BBC said, a Muslim student said she was studying at the University of New Mexico library when a man in a Trump shirt tried to pull off her hijab, the scarf women of certain Islamic sects wear over their hair. “I told him that he has every right to believe what he wants and he can say whatever he wants but as soon as he puts his hands on me, then things get serious,” the student told BBC Trending. “He then walked away saying ‘I’m going to sit down before you throw a grenade at me.'” In Oregon and Illinois, libraries are reporting defaced books and hateful graffiti. An Evanston, Illinois vandal was particularly busy, defacing seven books and adding “swastikas and comments about the prophet Muhammad in a copy of The Koran for Dummies, copies of the Qur’an, textbooks and conservative commentator Glenn Beck’s It’s All About Islam.” [Raw Story]
Hateful, racist messages left in Reed College, Oregon, library
Nov 13: Reed College (Portland, Oregon) administrators said they were taken aback after hateful, threatening messages were discovered on the school’s library walls.Vandals wrote the N-word, drew swastikas and scrawled notes with abusive language, essentially sending the message that minorities are not welcome at the school.Hateful graffiti was left in Reed College’s library in the week after Trump’s presidential win. (Facebook)“The idea that anyone in this community could feel intimidated or threatened in any way, I was heartsick and it was very clear we needed to respond immediately,” Reed College VP for Student Services Mike Brody told KOIN 6 News.Administrators are trying to calm fears that student safety may be at risk in the wake of vandalism at the school and around the country following Donald Trump’s election.A day after the election, a student at Shasta High School handed out deportation notices to students of different ethnicities. Video of the incident was posted online.Brody said the behavior won’t be tolerated at Reed College.“We are paying a lot of attention to who might have [done] this and working together to do everything we can to keep our students safe,” Brody said.[KOIN 6 News]
Tustin, CA, mosque receives voicemail threatening to 'drop a bomb'
Dec 13: A Tustin mosque received a voicemail Friday afternoon from an individual who threatened to “drop a bomb” on the mosque, community Muslim leaders said Monday (Dec 13).The incident at the Islamic Center of Tustin was reported to the Tustin Police Department on Sunday, said Sgt. Mike Van Cleve.“It appears there was no caller ID on the call,” he said. “We took a report and are investigating.”The voicemail is among several threats Southern California mosques have received over the past few weeks, said HussamAyloush, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations’ Los Angeles chapter, or CAIR-LA, which is based in Anaheim.“The main aim here is to terrorize people and create panic, and unfortunately, they do succeed to some extent because you never know if and when a person will act on a threat,” Ayloush said.He released a copy of the voicemail in which a male-sounding voice speaking in an apparent Middle Eastern accent can be heard saying, “I was wondering where I was supposed to drop the bomb. Because I’m a (expletive) and I do not know where to drop the bomb. OK, thank you. Have a lovely day worshipping your pedophilic God.”Most mosques in Southern California have been on high alert since last month, Ayloush said, when many received threatening letters calling Muslims “vile” and “evil,” and saying President-elect Donald Trump will “cleanse” the United States of Muslims just as Adolf Hitler did with Jews in Nazi Germany.Ayloush said the threat to the Tustin mosque should be taken seriously.[Orange County Register]
Anti-Muslim hate group ACT for America brags about links to Trump Administration
Dec 13: In a fundraising email today, Brigitte Gabriel, the head of the grassroots anti-Muslim activist group ACT for America, crows about her organization’s connections to the incoming Trump administration and promises an aggressive federal and state legislative agenda in the coming year, including attempting to eliminate the country’s refugee resettlement program, enabling profiling by federal law enforcement agencies and “monitoring the radical mosques.”Gabriel also promises that her group will write and promote a resolution forbidding the Council on American Islamic Relations and other Muslim-American organizations that she says are “Muslim Brotherhood front groups” from “addressing state elected bodies.”Gabriel writes that not only does her organization have ties to top Trump advisers, including incoming national security adviser Michael Flynn, CIA nominee Mike Pompeo and campaign adviser Walid Phares, but it “has played a fundamental role in shaping [Trump’s] views and suggested policies with respect to radical Islam”:We have provided substantial information on National Security to the Trump campaign.Two of our board of advisors Dr. Walid Phares and General Michael Flynn were, and will continue to be President-elect Donald Trump’s National Security Advisors.In addition to this, the next CIA Director Rep. Mike Pompeo has been a steadfast ally of ours since the day he was elected to Congress.[Rightwing Watch]
Islamic group outraged after meme on ex-Rep Allen West's Facebook page says Trump's Defense Secretary pick will 'exterminate Muslims'
Dec 13: Muslim groups have lambasted one of Donald Trump's possible Cabinet pics after an Islamophobic meme was posted on his the Facebook page.The meme, posted Friday on the page of ex-Rep. Allen West, showed Trump's proposed Defense Secretary, General James 'Mad Dog' Mattis, with the message 'Fired by Obama to please the Muslims. Hired by Trump to exterminate them.'West's Facebook editor blamed the post on an unnamed third party and rebuked its contents, but that wasn't enough for the Florida chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), ABC Local 10 reported. West, a retired Army Lieutenant Colonel, has been seen entering Trump Tower for meetings with the President-elect several times this month. He is rumored to be in the running for a Cabinet position.But Hassan Shibly, CEO of CAIR-Florida, demanded that West be pushed out of the running after the meme post, and accused him of being a 'well-known Islamophobe'.West has previously gone on record as describing Islam as 'not a religion' and saying that the violence exhibited by Islamic terrorists is not a 'perversion' of the faith, but what the Koran demands.He has also described the Islamic Prophet Muhammad as 'a murderous warlord, psychopath and, by modern day standards, a pedophile'.In a Facebook post on Saturday, Michele Hickford, Editor-in-Chief of allenbwest.com, apologized, saying the meme was posted 'without Allen West's knowledge or consent' and that it 'was reprehensible in its message'.The post was deleted after it was made, though not before it received at least 46,000 reactions on Facebook - the top three being 'like', 'ha ha' and 'love'.It was also shared by more than 10,000 people. [Daily Mail]
Tech companies take stand against Muslim registry
Dec 13: (SAN FRANCISCO) Local engineers, designers and business executives are vowing not to build a database that would track Muslim Americans or anyone else based on their religion. Their pledge went public today at 10 a.m.So many people have signed up that organizers have had to recruit more people to help them verify names."The Never Again pledge is a pledge by individuals in tech to not participate in any kind of creation of a registry or database or list of people based on immigration status or religion because we believe that list will be used to violate human rights by the trump administration," said Valerie Aurora, an independent consultant who specializes in diversity and inclusion in tech.She says people have signed this list privately over the last couple of days.At 10 a.m. on Tuesday, signups went public. Aurora says since then organizers have had a difficult time keeping up with the volume of requests. "Because we're verifying that the people who are signing actually are the people they claim to," she explained.She is hopeful every person with significant technology skills will sign the pledge.The communications director for President-Elect Trump's transition team previously issued a statement that reads in part: "Trump has never advocated for any registry or system that tracks individuals based on their religion and to imply otherwise is completely false."But that's not slowing down the Never Again the group's website reads, "We have educated ourselves on the history of threats like these, and on the roles that technology and technologists played in carrying them out. Today, we stand together to say: not on our watch, and never again."[ABC7News]
Faith communities unite after hate letter sent to Islamic Society of Vermont
Dec 13: Imam Islam Hassan, of the Islamic Society of Vermont, received a letter a few weeks ago from an anonymous sender saying Muslims were not welcome in America.“We were expecting something like this, to be honest with you,” he said. “The general atmosphere is not generally welcoming to the Muslims as a result of the election."Hassan said he's telling his fellow Muslims, especially young American Muslims, to stay positive, but it's difficult."This is their country. They were born here. They speak the language of the country,” Hassan said. “They don't know of any other country except America. So if someone comes up to them and tells them 'go back home' it seems strange to them."Hassan called Burlington and Colchester police, as well as other faith leaders, such as pastor Ken White of the College Street Congregational Church.White said the writer should focus on spreading love, not hate.Vermont Interfaith Action is planning a community gathering on Friday at the Islamic Center to show support for Muslim neighbors.[MyNBC5]
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