www.amperspective.com Online Magazine
Executive Editor: Abdus Sattar Ghazali
Chronology of Islam in America (2017)
By Abdus Sattar Ghazali
August 2017
Vandals Target Minnesota Muslim Cemetery, Write Leave, "You R Dead"
Aug 1: Vandals targetted the Muslim Cemetery Al Magfirah in Castle Rock Township in Minnesota. The vandals went into buildings on the property and spray-painted profanities, Nazi swastikas and a statement that appears to be "leave, you r dead." They also damaged walls, ceilings, furniture, and equipment on the property. The Minnesota chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-MN) today called on law enforcement authorities, including the FBI, to investigate a possible bias motive for vandalism. "This attack on a Muslim cemetery property comes at a time of increasing anti-Muslim incidents across the country. Because of this rising Islamophobia, and because the cemetery has been the center of controversy in the past, we urge law enforcement authorities to investigate this incident as a possible hate crime," said CAIR-MN Executive Director Jaylani Hussein. Hussein noted that last year, CAIR-MN welcomed a Dakota County District Court judge’s decision forcing Castle Rock Township to issue a conditional use permit for the cemetery. Judge David L. Knutson granted a summary judgment motion to the Al Maghfirah Cemetery Association in which he ruled that the township’s decision to deny the conditional use permit (CUP) was “arbitrary and capricious” because the township did not provide any written findings of fact to support its decision. In 2015, CAIR-MN asked federal authorities to determine whether the denial of land usage for the Islamic cemetery was discriminatory on the basis of religion and questioned whether the denial constitutes a violation of the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA). [CAIR]
Right-Wing militias are now actively supporting some state and local Pro-Trump politicians
Aug 7: Energized by Donald Trump’s coarsely confrontational nationalism, the armed right-wing fringe is doing more than stepping out of the shadows in 2017. Detachments of armed men in fatigues have become fixtures at liberal protests, forming the vanguard of what’s become known in some quarters as the “counter-resistance.” Now, in a smattering of states with histories of right-wing extremism, chapters of groups like the Oath Keepers and Three Percenters may be emerging as even more direct political players, providing security for local pro-Trump politicians and Republican organizations. In one case, a Three Percenter was found to be employed on a state lawmaker’s staff. With right-wing extremists who venerate the president looking for new enemies, some state and local politicians who are remaking partisanship in Trump’s image may see militias as a way to tighten their grip on power. The brash political style and “America First” agenda ushered into the Republican Party by Trump appeals to people in the militia movement, drawing them toward the political mainstream, said Amy Cooter, a sociologist at Vanderbilt University. Just as important, Cooter said, groups like the Three Percenters are eager for confrontation with anti-Trump liberals, who are themselves taking to the streets. “On the local level, some Republicans appear to be tapping into that agenda.” The Trace has identified at least five occasions, spread across three states, where gun-carrying anti-establishment protesters provided security, demonstrated in support of, or worked for conservative local elected officials or Republican Party functionaries. [The Trace.Org]
Muslim woman awarded $85,000 after her hijab was forcibly removed by police officer
Aug 10: The city of Long Beach, CA, has agreed to pay $85,000 to settle a federal lawsuit filed by a Muslim woman whose hijab was pulled off by a male officer while she was in police custody. The settlement concludes the legal battle undertaken by Kirsty Powell, an African American Muslim. Her lawsuit, filed in 2016, prompted the Long Beach Police Department to reverse its policy barring inmates from wearing religious head coverings. “There really is no justification for taking off a person’s religious headgear,” said Powell’s attorney, Marwa Rifahie, who also works for the Greater Los Angeles Area Chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations. The case started in May 2015 when Powell and her husband were stopped by two officers because he was driving a low rider vehicle on Long Beach Boulevard, Rifahie said. She provided them with her identification information. When officers ran her name through their database, they discovered she had three misdemeanor warrants for petty theft, vehicle theft and resisting arrest, police said. As officers prepared to arrest Powell, her husband requested that a female officer be called to the scene since physical contact must be done by a woman, the lawsuit contends. The officers refused and handcuffed Powell, according to the suit. She was then told she would have to remove her hijab. Powell told the officers “that she wears a hijab in accordance with her religious practice and that it is her legal right to wear it,” the lawsuit said. She was driven to the Long Beach police station, where she was booked and stripped of her hijab in front of other male officers and inmates, according to the lawsuit. [Los Angles Times]
Federal panel sides with Muslim meatpacking workers in fort Morgan prayer dispute
Aug 10: The federal commission in charge of enforcing workplace anti-discrimination laws found a Colorado meatpacking plant violated the rights of its Muslim workers during a dispute over prayer breaks. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) found reasonable cause that Cargill Meat Solutions and labor union Teamsters Local No. 455 violated the rights of Somali workers when it fired nearly 150 of them for failing to show up to work after a walk-out at its Fort Morgan, Colo. beef plant in late 2015. The dispute flared up during the second shift in late December 2015. A small group of workers said a supervisor at the Fort Morgan beef plant told them they could no longer pray at work -- a practice that until that point the beef plant management allowed. The incident snowballed over the course of three days, with more than 150 Muslim Somali workers joining the original group and refusing to work until the company clarified its prayer policy. Cargill cited its “no call, no show” policy in firing the workers who didn’t show up. The company maintained that its policy never changed and that the whole situation was a misunderstanding. Soon after the walkout and firings, workers sought representation from the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR). Lawyers with CAIR lauded the EEOC determination, saying the decision now allows the group to seek compensation for workers who lost money from the firing. The fired workers also claimed that their union, Teamsters Local No. 455, failed to take action in the wake of the incident, and that lack of effort was based on the workers’ race, ethnicity and religious identity. The EEOC agreed. [kunc.org]
White supremacists celebrate Trump's muddy remarks about the Charlottesville riots
Aug 13: White nationalists and neo-Nazis celebrated President Donald Trump's remarks about the protests in Charlottesville, Virginia on Saturday (August 12), in which he denounced violence "on all sides" rather than explicitly condemning white supremacism, the Business Insider reported. The founder of the Daily Stormer, a neo-Nazi and white supremacist website that considers itself a part of the alt-right, celebrated the fact that Trump "outright refused to disavow" the white nationalist rally and movement, the Business Insider said adding: "People saying he cucked are shills and kikes," wrote the founder, Andrew Anglin. "He did the opposite of cuck. He refused to even mention anything to do with us. When reporters were screaming at him about White Nationalism he just walked out of the room." "Cuck" is short for "cuckservative" — a portmanteau of "cuckold" and "conservative" used by the alt-right to describe white Republicans "who are participating in the displacement of European Americans," according to white nationalist Richard Spencer. "Trump comments were good," said another Daily Stormer commenter. "He didn't attack us. He just said the nation should come together. Nothing specific against us. He said that we need to study why people are so angry, and implied that there was hate... on both sides! So he implied the antifa are haters." The commenter continued: "There was virtually no counter-signaling of us at all. He said he loves us all. Also refused to answer a question about white nationalists supporting him. No condemnation at all. When asked to condemn, he just walked out of the room. Really, really good. God bless him." "We condemn in the strongest possible terms this egregious display of hatred, bigotry, and violence on many sides," Trump said at a press conference. "On many sides." [AMP Report]
The County of Santa Clara proclaims August 2017 as Muslim Appreciation Month
Aug 14: The Board of Supervisors of the County of Santa Clara today proclaimed the month of August as the month of Muslim Appreciation. The Santa Clara County proclamation said Muslims have been part of U.S. history from the beginning, have contributed to the production of wealth and construction of the nation, and have served in defending our nation; they are also part of the rich history of the civil rights movement; and over 67,000 Muslims live in Santa Clara County and make innumerable contributions to the cultural, political, and economic fabric and well-being of California and the United States. The proclamation pointed out that the South Bay Islamic Association (SBIA), established in 1980, was one of the first mosques to be established in the Bay Area and the Muslim Community Association (MCA) in Santa Clara is the largest mosque in Northern California; and Santa Clara County is home to numerous mosques in the Bay Area from Masjid-al Hilaal in Milpitas and the Hatemi Masjid in Palo Alto to as far south as the South Valley Islamic Center in San Martin. Hence, the proclamation said, it is appropriate to acknowledge and promote awareness of the myriad and invaluable contributions of American Muslims in California and across the country, and extend to them the respect and camaraderie every American deserves. [Santa Clara County]
USCMO Condemns the Brutal Attack by White Supremacists Against Peaceful Protestors
Aug 14: The US Council of Muslim Organizations (USCMO), a coalition of leading national and local Muslim-American organizations, stands in solidarity with the city of Charlottesville, VA, and sends its sincere condolences to the victims and their families. On Saturday, August 12, hundreds of white nationalists, neo-Nazis and Klu Klux Klan members held a rally where they clashed with counter protesters. During the rally a white supremacist plowed his car into the crowd, killing 32-year-old Heather Heyer. Virgnia State Patrol Officers, Lt. H. Jay Cullen, 48, and Trooper Berke M.M. Bates,41, were also killed when their helicopter crashed while en-route to respond to the chaos. USCMO adds its voice in condemnation of violence and terrorism against peaceful protesters and calls on President Trump to be more clear and louder in denouncing these Neo-Nazi and racist groups who promote violence and division in our society. Furthermore, USCMO calls upon public officials, interfaith groups, and civic organizations to stand united against hate and bigotry. USCMO also urges the Muslim community to engage in public debate and to push-back against all types of hatred, racism and violence. Founding members of USCMO: American Muslims for Palestine (AMP), Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA), Muslim Alliance in North America (MANA), Muslim American Society (MAS), Muslim Legal Fund of America (MLFA), Muslim Ummah of North America (MUNA), The Mosque Cares (Ministry of Imam W. Deen Mohammed). [USCMO]
Trump cites fake story to endorse racist mass murder as anti-terror tactic
Aug 17: Trump’s allies have urged him to talk about jobs and tax reform. Instead, the president of the United States has decided to vigorously embrace the racial and religious animus that was central to his campaign success but has alienated and alarmed much of the country and the world. This afternoon, Trump issued a relatively conventional condolence tweet in response to the Barcelona terrorist attack. But 45 minutes later, he returned to anti-Muslim bigotry — asking people to research an invented U.S. massacre of Muslim terrorists with bullets dipped in pigs’ blood. “Study what Gen. Pershing of the United States did to terrorists when caught,” Trump wrote on Twitter. “There was no more Radical Islamic Terror for 35 years!” It would be remarkable even if the story were true: the president advocating extrajudicial killing, involving religious prejudice, as a method of deterring terrorism. But the story is fake, historians say. Trump was citing an internet hoax that has circulated in email forwards since at least 2001. “For a guy who keeps shouting ‘fake news, fake news, fake news,’ what does he do? He tweets fake news,” said Ibrahim Hooper, spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations. No, U.S. General John J. Pershing did not massacre Muslim terrorists with bullets dipped in pigs' blood. Anti-Muslim sentiment is one of Trump’s “core messages,” Hooper said. The persistence of Trump’s rhetoric, Hooper said, has “really created a sense of being under siege in the Muslim community.” Trump did not elaborate, this time, on what the late Pershing supposedly did. But he told a detailed bable at a campaign rally in February 2016. He claimed then that Pershing had executed 49 Muslim prisoners during the U.S. occupation of the Philippines in the early 1900s, adding religious insult by smearing the bullets with the blood of an animal observant Muslims are forbidden to consume. “And he had his men load his rifles, and he lined up the 50 people, and they shot 49 of those people,” Trump said. “And the 50th person, he said, ‘You go back to your people and you tell them what happened.’ And for 25 years there wasn’t a problem, OK? Twenty-five years there wasn’t a problem.” [The Star, Lebanon]
Trump's silence on Minnesota mosque attack prompts criticism
Aug 18: President Donald Trump has tweeted 29 times since a bomb exploded at a mosque in Bloomington, Minnesota, on Saturday, but he has not weighed in to address the shaken Muslim community near the Twin Cities. The Department of Homeland Security on Saturday condemned the attack, which did not result in any injuries, but Trump himself has not, instead tweeting criticism of senators and the media, as well as threatening “tough and decisive" action regarding North Korea. The White House did not respond to requests for comment today. National security aide Sebastian Gorka, however, said that it is prudent for Trump to hold off on commenting because the ideological motive behind the attack isn't known. Despite the silence from Trump, community members have stepped up to help the Dar Al-Farooq Islamic Center rebuild. A Go Fund Me page has raised over $76,000 toward a $95,000 goal in just two days. But Abdu Llahi, a volunteer at Dar Al-Farooq, said it would help if Trump lent his support. “It would start a national dialogue,” Llahi said. “That might change the tone a bit, where him talking about this problem would show that he isn’t the president for a certain group of people but the whole United States.” The Council for American-Islamic Relations said a recent study showed a 584 percent increase in hate crimes against Muslims from 2014 to 2016, when Trump was elected president. Critics say his rhetoric about Islam and his policies, including a travel ban that targeted Muslim-majority countries, may have spurred some of the violence. [Politico]
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