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Executive Editor: Abdus Sattar Ghazali
Chronology of Islam in America (2016)
By Abdus Sattar Ghazali
June 2016
Turkey designates US-based Gulen religious group as terrorist
June 1: President Tayyip Erdogan officially designated the religious movement of U.S.-based Islamic cleric Fethullah Gulen a terrorist group and said he would pursue its members whom he accuses of trying to topple the government. The move puts the organization built by his former ally legally on par with Kurdish militants currently fighting the army in Turkey's southeast. Erdogan might use the designation in pressing Washington to extradite Gulen, a step U.S. authorities are nonetheless unlikely to take without concrete grounds. "We will not let those who divide the nation off the hook in this country," Erdogan told flag-waving supporters upon arriving in the coastal city of Izmir where he will observe military exercises. "They will be brought to account. Some fled and some are in prison and are currently being tried. This process will continue." Erdogan said the cabinet had approved a decision to designate Gulen's followers as the "Gulenist terror group". Gulen, who has lived in self-imposed exile in the United States for more than a decade, preaches Islam together with a message of interfaith dialogue. His movement, known as "Hizmet" or "Service" operates in Europe, the United States, Asia and Africa. [Reuters] Gülen has long been accused by leading Justice and Development Party (AKP) lawmakers, President Erdoğan and his inner circle of forming and heading a terrorist organization to topple the Turkish government through insiders in the police and other state institutions. A Turkish court in December 2014 issued an arrest warrant for Gülen, who has lived in self-imposed exile in the United States since 1999. [Daily News of Turkey] In May 2015, Tajikistan has become the latest Central Asian country to close schools linked to the Gülen movement. The decision to close the schools was announced by President Emomali Rahmon in May. In fact, Tajikistan’s decision to close the schools reflects a wider trend in the region. The Turkish Daily Sabah reported in mid-May 2015 that Kosovo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kazakhstan, Somalia, and Japan have all begun procedures to close Gülen-linked schools. In July 2014, Azerbaijan closed Gülen schools on fears of a parallel government. Uzbekistan shut down its Gülen schools in 1999. [The Diplomat] In Russian Chechnya and Dagestan regions Gulen-backed schools were once banned by President Putin. The Gulen website says that the schools are back in operation. [Forbes]
Media blacks out pentagon report exposing U.S. role in ISIS Creation
June 3: In a story reverberating across the world, last week award winning journalist and scholar Dr. Nafeez Ahmed exposed startling information about U.S. complicity in the creation and rise of ISIS, as contained in a recently declassified Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) report. Possibly more terrifying than the report itself may be the fact that this information has been virtually blacked out across global mainstream media. This silence speaks volumes as to the weight of this information. It illustrates the complicity of the English-speaking media, in collusion with government, to keep people ignorant of the harsh realities of U.S. style realpolitik. The stunning report, dated August 2012, proved that the growth and expansion of ISIS was a direct result of arms being sent by the U.S. to anti-Assad Islamists, with the strategic U.S. intention of toppling the Assad regime in Syria. The report stated, “major forces driving the insurgency in Syria” comprise “the Salafist, the Muslim Brotherhood, and AQI [al-Qaeda in Iraq],” showing explicitly what elements were providing the true velocity of the insurgency. Although the U.S. has held to the official line that only moderate rebels are being armed in Syria, figures such as Presidential candidate Rand Paul stating that “war hawks” in congress were responsible for the rise of ISIS, to Vice President Joe Biden stating (start at 1:30:00), that there were no “moderate rebels,” say otherwise. “The secret Pentagon document provides extraordinary confirmation that the US-led coalition currently fighting ISIS, had three years ago welcomed the emergence of an extremist ‘Salafist Principality’ in the region as a way to undermine Assad,” Ahmed said. [Mint Press Media]
The time Muhammad Ali knocked out Trump over his Islamophobia
June 4: The boxing legend did not hold punches just seven months ago when he slammed the Republican presidential candidate over his anti-Muslims comments. Renowned boxing legend Muhammad Ali, who passed away at 74 last night was a man known for never pulling his punches whether in the ring or in public when the truth needed expressing. He certainly did not hold back when he slammed Republican candidate Donald Trump over his anti-Muslim rhetoric and his plan to ban all Muslims from entering the United States. Without calling him out by name, Ali delivered a strong worded and on point message to Trump last year following the candidates Islamophobic comments. “I am a Muslim and there is nothing Islamic about killing innocent people in Paris, San Bernardino, or anywhere else in the world. True Muslims know that the ruthless violence of so called Islamic jihadists goes against the very tenets of our religion,” the champion said in a statement on Dec. 9. “We as Muslims have to stand up to those who use Islam to advance their own personal agenda. They have alienated many from learning about Islam. True Muslims know or should know that it goes against our religion to try and force Islam on anybody. Speaking as someone who has never been accused of political correctness, I believe that our political leaders should use their position to bring understanding about the religion of Islam and clarify that these misguided murderers have perverted people's views on what Islam really is.” [Telesurtv]
Black Lives Matter activist sentenced to 90 days in jail
June 7: A Black Lives Matter activist who was found guilty of interfering with Pasadena police officers as they were taking a suspect into custody last year was sentenced to 90 days in county jail and three years’ probation on today. Jasmine Richards was arrested by Pasadena police in September after a demonstration in La Pintoresca Park. Police arrived at the scene after a woman reportedly walked out of a restaurant in the 1300 block of North Fair Oaks Avenue without paying. The woman joined a group of people, including Richards, who had gathered at the park after a peace march, said her attorney, Nana Gyamfi. When police took the woman into custody, Richards tried to start a riot, prosecutors said. Richards was arrested several days later after police reviewed evidence of the incident. She faced a maximum four-year sentence and will get credit for the 18 days she has already served. In the past, Richards has spoken out against the actions of police, including the killing of Kendrec McDade, a black 19-year-old who was shot while running away from two Pasadena police officers in 2012. Nearly 82,000 people have signed an online letter of support for Richards, and during the sentencing hearing nearly 200 people gathered outside the courthouse to show their support for Richards, chanting “Free Jasmine Now.” Gyamfi said Richards’ case has galvanized support for the Black Lives Matter movement. “People who have been on the sidelines have jumped onto the right side of history,” she said after the hearing. Before Richards was sentenced, state Sen. Holly Mitchell (D-Los Angeles) criticized the verdict. “Sadly, this case is likely to contribute to the notion that justice is selectively enforced,” she said in a statement. [Los Angeles Times]
Opposition to 'Combating BDS Act' urged
June 8: The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation's largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy group, today called on American Muslims and other people of conscience to contact their elected representatives in Congress to urge them to oppose the "Combating BDS Act of 2016," which would violate the constitutionally-guaranteed free speech rights of businesses and institutions that participate in the international boycott of Israel's illegal occupation of the West Bank. Sponsored earlier this year by Senators Mark Kirk (R-IL) and Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Reps. Robert Dold (R-IL) and Juan Vargas (D-CA), the bill authorizes "State and local governments to divest from entities that engage in commerce-related or investment-related boycott, divestment, or sanctions activities targeting Israel." CAIR also launched an online action alert urging American's who value the First Amendment-protected right of boycotting to contact their members of Congress to oppose S.2531 and H.R.4514. This bill is designed to counter and undermine boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) efforts that protest unlawful Israeli settlements in Palestinian land. Implementation of the bill would encourage states to alienate a growing number of businesses, university student governments and investors who have called to boycott or take other economic measures against companies and institutions complicit in Israel's human rights abuses. Boycotts such as the Montgomery Bus boycott against segregation or the boycott of companies enabling South African Apartheid have been employed successfully in support of civil and human rights and as an integral part of our political process. [CAIR]
FBI discontinues surveillance of Muslim Americans after completing 15-year study of beautiful culture
June 10: After 15 years of broadly targeting the 3.3-million-member [*] community and extensively monitoring its activities, the FBI declared an end Friday to its surveillance of Muslim Americans, saying its exhaustive study of their beautiful culture was finally complete. Officials confirmed that the program was started in the fall of 2001 when federal agents, captivated by Islam’s complex history and rich spiritual traditions, redirected the full force of the bureau’s intelligence-gathering apparatus toward developing a more thoughtful, nuanced appreciation of the Muslim-American way of life. “We’d always known Islam was one of the great world religions, but it wasn’t until we recruited a network of 15,000 informants and infiltrated mosques all over the country that we came to understand just how magnificent and fascinating it truly is,” said FBI director James B. Comey, who noted that agents gained a valuable and eye-opening understanding of Islam—while also learning a lot about themselves and their own faith in the process—after entering the Muslim places of worship to collect as much information as they could on the intriguing personal beliefs of the religion’s followers. “After analyzing the transcripts of thousands of phone calls and intercepting the communications of prominent Muslim-American leaders and academics, we’ve really come to admire their vibrant culture.” “The considerable amount of intel we’ve gathered and carefully pored over for the past 15 years has shown us that their faith and customs are really quite inspiring,” Comey added. “If there’s one thing we’ve taken away from all our surveillance, it’s what a glorious and enriching part of our world Islam is.” According to sources within the bureau, the harvesting of internet data, widespread racial profiling, and the nationwide mapping of Muslim communities have allowed agents to closely observe the followers of Islam on an extremely personal level, thereby allowing them to develop a deep respect for the amazing ethnic and cultural diversity of the faith’s 1.6 billion believers, as well as the striking distinctions between the religion’s various sects, which, they stressed, went far beyond just Sunni and Shiite. [The Onion]
[*] The American Muslim population is approximately seven million. The 3.3 million figure is perhaps updated quote from the PEW Institute survey of 2007 which arbitrarily estimated the American Muslim population at 2.35 million which is closer to the estimates announced by the American Jewish Committee in October 2001. Tellingly, the AJC study – titled Estimating the Muslim Population in the United States - claimed that the best estimate of Muslims in the United States is 2.8 million at most, compared to the 6 or 7 million figure used by many researchers and Muslim organizations. Read more http://www.amp-oneb.ghazali.net/html/pew_surveys.html
Army Reserve officer threatened members of North Carolina mosque, sheriff says
June 10: A decorated Army Reserve officer left bacon at a mosque and brandished a handgun while threatening to kill Muslims and bury them there, North Carolina authorities said today. Russell Thomas Langford, 36, made death threats against members of the mosque about 20 miles southwest of Fayetteville, authorities said. “He told people at the mosque that he would kill them and bury them behind the mosque,” said Capt. John Kivett of the Sheriff’s Office. “He brandished a weapon while he was on the property.” Langford, who lives in Fayetteville, was charged with ethnic intimidation, assault with a deadly weapon, going armed to the terror of the public, communicating threats, stalking and disorderly conduct, the sheriff’s office said. It began yesterday afternoon when the man insulted a mosque member doing construction work nearby and then left the packages of bacon at the mosque entrance, according to authorities and witnesses. Advocacy groups say pork is often used to insult Muslims, whose religion doesn’t allow them to eat it. The Washington-based Council on American-Islamic Relations said the act constituted a desecration of the place of worship. [Associated Press]
Bay Area Muslims participate in solidarity events & efforts following Orlando attacks
June 12: The San Francisco Bay Area office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-SFBA) today joins Muslims across the Bay Area, and our fellow Americans in grief and anger to condemn the mass shooting at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando. CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad said at a press conference in D.C. this afternoon: "We cannot fight injustice against some group and not against others. Homophobia, transphobia, and Islamophobia are interconnected systems of oppression and we cannot dismantle one without dismantling the others." CAIR-SFBA Executive Director Zahra Billoo said: "We join our fellow Americans in expressing our deepest condolences to the victims and their families. We are horrified by this tragedy and encourage all people to donate blood, support the various victims' funds, and attend vigils in their neighborhoods. We are stronger when we we stand together against hate violence." CAIR-SFBA encouraged members of the Bay Area Muslim community to attend one of the several vigils being held in solidarity with the victims this evening in Castro Valley, Oakland, San Francisco and San Jose. [CAIR]
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