www.amperspective.com Online Magazine
Executive Editor: Abdus Sattar Ghazali
Chronology of Islam in America (2017)
By Abdus Sattar Ghazali
December 2017
Florida man accused of planning mosque massacre arrested
Dec 4: The FBI said today it arrested a man in Jacksonville, Florida who was allegedly planning a mass shooting at a mosque. Bernandino Bolatete has been charged with illegally receiving and possessing an unregistered silencer. Law enforcement said they began investigating Bolatete last week after a concerned citizen reported to police that he had expressed hatred for Muslims and threatened to “shoot up” a mosque, according to a criminal complaint. Police said at a press conference Monday that Bolatete said five rifles, including at least one AR-15. On Facebook, Bolatete posted a fake article accusing Muslims of raping a woman and forcing her to recite the Quran. Bolatete allegedly told an undercover officer that he planned to climb up the tower of the Islamic Center of Northeast Florida and open fire on its congregants. “So we’ll try… we will try a Christian doing uh terroristic act this time to the Muslims,” he told the officer, according to the complaint. “They doing it all the time.” He told the officer he was willing to die during attack, calling it “suicide by cops.” [The Daily Beast]
American Muslims dismayed at Supreme Court decision to implement Trump’s Muslim Ban 3.0
Dec 5: The seven-million strong American Muslim community was dismayed Tuesday (Dec 5) over the U.S. Supreme Court's decision to allow President Trump’s “Muslim Ban 3.0” to be implemented until the court makes a final decision about the executive action's constitutionality. Earlier Monday, the Supreme Court issued two orders staying the Hawaii and Maryland federal courts' injunctions that had, until Monday, largely prevented the Trump administration from implementing Muslim Ban 3.0's visa restrictions. "This decision ignores the very real human consequences to American citizens and their families abroad imposed by President Trump’s Muslim Ban 3.0," said Lena Masri, National Litigation Director of Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization. "The Supreme Court's actions today are a good reminder that we can't simply rely on the courts to address the Trump administration's efforts to marginalize Muslims and other minorities," said CAIR Senior Litigation Attorney Gadeir Abbas. "We must all do everything we can to oppose Muslim Ban 3.0." It may be recalled that the CAIR and the Brennan Center for Justice filed suit against President Trump's Muslim Ban 3.0 on behalf of six American Muslims impacted by the immigration restrictions. Civil rights attorneys, including CAIR National attorney Gadeir Abbas, delivered oral arguments against the ban in mid-October. In a broad ruling on October 18th, U.S. District Judge Theodore D. Chuang (Hawaii) granted CAIR and other groups' request for a nationwide injunction prohibiting the Trump administration from implementing its latest attempt to exclude Muslims from the United States. Judge Chuang ruled that the plaintiffs were likely to ultimately succeed in proving that anti-Muslim animus motivated the travel ban in violation of the Establishment Clause. He also noted that the ban violates federal law, which forbids the government from discriminating against visa applicants based on their nationality. Sirine Shebaya, senior staff attorney for Muslim Advocates, a national legal advocacy organization, said the Supreme Court decision and the administration’s efforts are deeply injurious to Americans since families have been divided, businesses have suffered, and the American Muslim community has been marginalized and stigmatized. “We will continue to fight against the ban with even greater resolve knowing that the consequences are so imminent for millions of families.” The apex court’s Monday orders mean that the administration can fully enforce its new restrictions on travel from eight nations, six of them Muslim. For now, most citizens of Iran, Libya, Syria, Yemen, Somalia, Chad, and North Korea will be barred from entering the United States, along with some groups of people from Venezuela. [AMP Report]
Civil rights groups rally against Muslim Ban in New York
Dec 7: Tonight, the New York chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-NY), a leading Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, joined other civil rights organizations at a rally and press conference in Washington Square Park against the Muslim Ban, the Tax Scam, and to demand a DREAM Act Now. On Nov 30, the Supreme Court reinstated Muslim Ban 3.0; the U.S. Senate has moved forward with a Tax Scam that will devastate New York families; and since October, thousands of DACA recipients have been put at risk for deportation. The rally sponsors include: Mpower Change, Strong Economy for All Coalition, The New York Immigration Coalition, Arab American Association of NY, Asian American Federation, Bangla Brigade NYC, CAIR- NY, Iranian Alliances Across Borders, MoveOn.Org, National Action Network, New Immigrant Community Empowerment (NICE), New York State Immigrant Action Fund, Planned Parenthood NYC, UNITEHERE Local 100, The Workmen’s Circle andIranian Alliances Across Borders (IAAB) [CAIR]
Interfaith groups protest Dillard’s ‘No Hijab’ Policy
Dec 9: Interfaith groups today held a rally outside Dillard’s in Garland, Texas, to protest Dillard’s “no-hijab” policy. On November 30, 2017, the Dallas-Fort Worth chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-DFW) and Tremain Artaza PLLC filed a Complaint of Discrimination with the Texas Workforce Commission against Dillard’s on behalf of a young Muslim woman who was refused employment due to her hijab. The woman applied to work as a salesperson at the Dillard’s department store in Garland, Texas, and wore her hijab to her interview with a department manager. The woman’s employment discrimination complaint asserts that the department manager offered the woman the sales position but told the woman that she would not be permitted to wear her hijab while working on the sales floor. The complaint further asserts that after the woman’s sister intervened and complained to the store manager about the no-hijab policy, the store manager did not allow the woman to begin training but instead told the woman Dillard’s would be conducting more interviews for the position and keep her application under consideration. The woman has not since heard from Dillard’s about the position. “This is an unfortunate and obvious case of employment discrimination, and we are disappointed in the actions of Dillard’s managers. We look forward to the Texas Workforce Commission fully investigating this act of religious discrimination and to bringing justice for this young woman,” said CAIR-DFW Civil Rights Director and attorney Nikiya Natale. “The United States Supreme Court held in 2015 that employers cannot deny sales positions to Muslim women who wear hijabs. Our country embraces religious freedom and this includes the right of persons of faith to wear religious garb such as crosses, yarmulkes, and hijabs, in the workplace,” explained Tremain Artaza PLLC attorney Christine Hopkins. [CAIR]
Australia attacks free speech of Senator Dastyari, Muslims, Chinese, & truth-tellers
Dec 10: Free speech in Australia has been long severely constrained by draconian libel laws and neoliberal corporate domination of a mendacious Mainstream media. This century Australia has passed draconian laws with custodial punishments of up to life imprisonment for saying things. Now it appears that Australian Intelligence has leaked elements of a private conversation of a Chinese businessman with Iranian-born Senator Sam Dastyari to destroy this star Labor Opposition senator’s political career. In short, it appears that Australian Intelligence is behind a murky but extremely damaging report in a major newspaper that Senator Dastyari had warned a wealthy Chinese businessman (a major donor of funds to the major political parties) to avoid surveillance of their conversation. In vain Dastyrari declares that he has not received and accordingly has not transmitted any classified information. However the cowardly, US lackey Labor Party has deserted him, the Mainstream media and Government are demanding his removal from Parliament, and it appears that the political career of this leading young Labor MP is finished. Ironically, it is not Senator Dastyari but the Coalition Government, Mainstream media and the likely Australian Intelligence leakers who have criminally betrayed a secret and partisan surveillance program by US-beholden Australian Intelligence, noting that (a) Australia shares intelligence with the US which in turn passes this on to nuclear terrorist and genocidally racist Apartheid Israel, and (b) revealing Australian Intelligence operations is a crime punishable by 5 -10 years in prison. Racist White Australia is peculiar among asserted Western democracies in not having a Bill of Rights. Freedom of speech has a wobbly existence in Australia as a sometimes “implied” right. [Gideon Polya – Counter Current]
Racist Trump supporters call 5-year-old child a 'terrorist'
Dec 10: In yet another pathetic display of racism and Islamophobia by people who identify as supporters of President Donald Trump allegedly called a five-year-old girl a "terrorist." In a shocking video, which has taken social media by storm, three (grown-up) Trump supporters, can be seen confronting a little girl, who is holding a "Dump Trump" sign outside a rally in Los Angeles, California. “You called my 5-year-old cousin a terrorist,” a woman, accompanying the little girl, can be heard saying in the clip. The woman has been identified as a Palestinian-American named Rawan. “Looks like one,” responds the man, who has been identified as Johnny Turano. “It doesn’t matter what age you are.” “You’re calling a 5-year-old a terrorist,” Rawan points out. Idiot Trump Supporter Wants To ‘Bomb The Sh*t’ Out Of ISIS Near Israel "But this is America, we can say whatever we want,” interjects Turano’s daughter, Bianca, who is wearing a pink "Donald Trump: Make America Great Again” T-shirt. “Freedom of speech," she adds. The argument further escalates as the girl goes on to accuse the woman, the little girl and a teenage boy with them, of being terrorists. “You guys are terrorists, get out of here,” Bianca says. “If you hate America so much leave,” she added. “I don’t hate America — I just hate [inaudible] f***s like you,” yells the boy with Rawan. The Raw Story found Turano goes by the nickname “Based Spartan." Ironically, he previously described alt-left protesters as “cowards”, before distancing himself from the hate movement, according to a July Vanguard report. [Raw Story]
Somali nationals humiliated and degraded by ICE
Dec 12: The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) said today it was extremely troubled by recent direct reports it has received of inhumane and degrading treatment of 92 Somali nationals by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials. The treatment occurred aboard a flight departing Louisiana and landing in Senegal. The flight, which left the U.S. on December 7, was intended to land in Somalia, but was grounded in Senegal due to technical issues with the plane. The plane sat on the tarmac for nearly 24 hours, with the passengers not permitted to get off-of the plane. Ultimately the flight was diverted back to Miami, Florida, where it landed on late Friday (Dec. 8) evening. For nearly 46 hours passengers on the plane remained shackled, were not given adequate food or water, and denied access to a working restroom. With a lack of a working restroom, ADC has received reports of some passengers being forced to relieve themselves in empty bottles, while others urinated on themselves. The air condition on the plane was not working, and the temperature was at an inhumane level. Reports also indicate that that ICE officials and Senegalese security personnel were extremely abusive throughout the entire transport process. The ADC Legal Director Abed Ayoub states, “Forcing these individuals to remain restrained for nearly a day on an airport tarmac, in smoldering temperatures, without consistent access to food, water, toilets or air-conditioning is simply inhumane and unacceptable. ICE cannot act with such disregard for its detainees, and must be held accountable. ADC demands answers from ICE as to how this occurred and what will be done to prevent it from happening again.” [ADC]
Frank Gaffney: The United States needs a legal mechanism for deporting Muslims
Dec 14: Frank Gaffney, the founder of the anti-Muslim group Center for Security Policy, told Breitbart radio listeners today that he believed the United States government needs to surveil Muslim places of worship and create a legal mechanism for deporting Muslims. Breitbart editor-in-chief and radio host Alex Marlow began the segment by asking Gaffney what can be done about so-called “chain migration,” which Media Matters pointed out yesterday is a new line of attack that is being used by the right to discredit family-based immigration policies that replaced national-origins quotas that prioritized European immigrants. Marlow asked Gaffney what the United States can do “about people who are already here who shouldn’t be here” and called current immigration policies an “offensive way to run a country” that makes a lot of people “fearful.” “Whether people have been admitted to this country through, as I say, legal means—they’ve been allowed to come in and they’re on a student visa, they’re on a business visa, they’re on some other legal status, and then just decide to stay, or whether they’re people that have come here illegally over the border. There are people who are DACA people. There are people who are fully legal. We’ve invited them in and we’ve given them green cards either as refugees or as immigrants. If they’ve embraced this program, or if they came in having already embraced it from their native lands—of Sharia I’m talking about again—it is a serious challenge. And I think the first thing you have to do, where they are not legal, you have to subject them to deportation,” Gaffney said. “Full stop. That has to be one of the options that the government has.” Gaffney went on to elaborate that he believed that the government should spy on mosques and Muslim communities and deport them if they exhibit what Gaffney calls “Sharia supremacism.” “I think the other piece of this is that where they’re congregating,” Gaffney said, referring to Muslim people, “in places like mosques that embrace this tradition in Islam—and by the way, the authorities of the faith say Sharia is authoritative Islam.” Gaffney said he believed many mosques were “incubators for more of this Sharia supremacist business.”He went on to say, “That has to be a function of, at the minimum, surveillance by the United States government and I think probably there has to be new legal authorities put into place to have them removed if we can.” [Jared Holt - Right Wing Watch]
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