www.amperspective.com Online Magazine
Executive Editor: Abdus Sattar Ghazali
Chronology of Islam in America (2018)
By Abdus Sattar Ghazali
February 2018
Republicans face fire for claiming Muslims are infiltrating the party
Feb 1: Minnesota Reps. Cindy Pugh and Kathy Lohmer faced criticism for promoting conspiracy theory that claims Muslims are mobilizing to infiltrate Republican caucuses. Two Republican lawmakers from Minnesota, Cindy Pugh and Kathy Lohmer, along with a local GOP official, are facing intense scrutiny over a controversial social media post that warned about Muslims “infiltrating” their precinct caucuses. The now-deleted Facebook post was reportedly created by Minnesota's 4th Congressional District Chair Dave Sina. The Republican claimed a friend of his had attended a caucus training session held at a mosque by the Muslim American Society (MAS), according to the Star Tribune. For those unaware, MAS is a nonpartisan organization that promotes civic engagement among American Muslims with local chapters across the U.S. Sina reportedly wrote about Muslims trying to “infiltrate (our) republican caucuses on Feb. 6.” “They didn’t talk about the general election but I am sure they are ahead of us in that as well,” he added. The conspiracy theory implied American-Muslims are foreigners who want to enter the U.S. politics only to harm the country and have a hidden agenda to enact their own law. As it turns out, the training session Sina was talking about was actually a harmonious workshop led by Laura Johnson, the lead organizer at Christian faith-based coalition ISAIAH, meant to bring together Muslim and Christian congregants, educate their religious communities and work on civic engagements, according to reports. The meeting, which was recorded on Facebook Live, explained how citizens could participate in the political system, how the caucuses work and how to get chosen to be a delegate at the parties’ state conventions in June. Johnson also explained it was important for the American-Muslim community to get involved in the U.S politics so their voices can be heard. However, the Republicans were terrified of a harmless meeting, which had been reportedly held for more than 14 years. The absurd post that had nothing in common with the meeting drew criticism from not only the Muslim community but also other Republicans, human rights activists and religious groups. Minnesota GOP Chairperson Jennifer Carnahan said Muslim Americans are welcome to the caucus and that she believes “there is no religious test to participate in the Republican caucus.” [Carbonated News]
Muslim students’ home searched by police after discussing Middle Eastern politics at Wendy’s
Feb 4: Two Muslim students said they had their apartment searched by the Missoula Police Department Jan. 31 after someone reported they were acting suspiciously in a Wendy’s restaurant on Jan. 28. The two students requested anonymity and for the Kaimin to refer to them to as Zyru and Aishia. On Jan. 28, they visited a Wendy’s, and they don’t recall exactly what they talked about while in the restaurant, although they said they discussed Middle Eastern politics. The couple dresses in traditional Islamic fashion. Aishia, as she usually does, was wearing a hijab on Jan. 28. They were, Aishia said, “just having another Sunday afternoon.” But on Jan 31, Aishia said she found herself at the Missoula police station after someone reported them to police for discussing setting off explosives in that Wendy’s. MPD Sgt. Travis Welsh confirmed police did have an investigation originating at a restaurant “regarding people overheard discussing explosives.” Three days later, Aishia was waiting for the bus to take her to campus when a Missoula police officer pulled up and told her that her picture had been circulated in the department and that police needed to talk to her about Zyru, pertaining to their overheard conversation at Wendy’s days before. Aishia was taken to the police station where she estimates she was questioned for 30 minutes. The questions were broad and concerned the couple’s conversation at Wendy’s, their political beliefs, cellular phones and if Zyru’s hobbies included making bombs. Zyru said they brought their story to the Kaimin “to show what Muslims in America deal with.” He said he feels that reports originating in religious profiling inconvenience law enforcement who could be working on important cases. [Montana Kaimin]
Anti-Muslim Bills in the United States
Feb 5: Since 2010, 201 anti-Sharia law bills have been introduced in 43 states. In 2017 alone, 14 states introduced an anti-Sharia law bill, with Texas and Arkansas enacting the legislation. One of the most successful far-right conspiracies to achieve mainstream viability, the mass hysteria surrounding a so-called threat of “Sharia law” in the United States is largely the work of anti-Muslim groups such as the American Freedom Law Center and ACT for America (ACT), an SPLC-designated hate group. In June, so-called “anti-Sharia” rallies organized by ACT were held across the country and attracted white nationalists, armed right-wing militias and even neo-Nazis. David Yerushalmi, the father of the anti-Sharia movement, serves as co-founder of the American Freedom Law Center (AFLC) and General Counsel of the Center for Security Policy. AFLC has pushed its initiative, American Laws for American Courts (ALAC, principally authored by Yerushalmi, since 2010. Politicians in just eight states have not joined this concerted project of stoking fear of Islam. Guy Rodgers, the former executive director of ACT for America, the largest grassroots anti-Muslim group in the country, concedes that there is no real influence of Islam in courts but says, “Before the train gets too far down the tracks it’s time to put up the block.” The majority of anti-Sharia legislation introduced across the country incorporates the American Laws for American Courts model legislation published on the American Public Policy Alliance’s (APPA) website. This sort of language typically includes a clause prohibiting foreign law in American courts where it would result in a conflict with rights guaranteed by the constitution of the state or the United States. This legislation is totally useless — the U.S. Constitution already expressly denies authority to any foreign law. In fact, Yerushalmi himself admits: If this thing passed in every state without any friction, it would have not served its purpose. The purpose was heuristic — to get people asking this question, ‘What is Shariah?’ [Southern Poverty Law Center]
Trump nominee for U.N. migration post called Muslims violent, Christians top priority
Feb 5: The Trump administration’s nominee to coordinate billions of dollars in assistance to migrants around the world has suggested in social-media posts that Islam is an inherently violent religion and has said Christians in some cases should receive preferential treatment when resettling from hostile areas. In tweets, social media posts and radio appearances reviewed by The Washington Post, Ken Isaacs, a vice president of the Christian relief organization Samaritan’s Purse, made disparaging remarks about Muslims and denied climate change — a driving force behind migration, according to the agency the State Department has nominated him to lead. In June, after a terrorist attack in London, Isaac reposted and commented on a CNN International story that quoted a Catholic bishop saying “This isn’t in the name of God, this isn’t what the Muslim faith asks people to do.” Isaacs responded: “CNN, Bishop if you read the Quran you will know ‘this’ is exactly what the Muslim faith instructs the faithful to do.” Isaacs was announced as the Trump administration’s pick to become director general of the United Nations’ International Organization for Migration, or IOM. The 169-member organization has a nearly $1 billion annual operating budget and for decades has deferred to the United States, one of its top benefactors, to lead the organization. Trump’s pick could be at risk of being the first U.S. nominee since the late 1960s to lose an election by the group’s voting members, according to several people involved in international relief coordination.“I don’t know the nominee, but I’ve seen some of his statements and they reflect a troubling prejudice that is really incompatible with a position of leadership for the world’s most important international migration agency,” said Eric Schwartz, president of Refugees International and a former assistant secretary of state under President Barack Obama. [Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party (DFL) Minnesota]
‘Certain Muslim immigrants should be under long-term surveillance’
Feb 6: A recent draft report by the Department of Homeland Security urges authorities to conduct long-term surveillance of Sunni Muslim immigrants with “at-risk” demographic profiles.The report, compiled in January for U.S. Customs and Border Protection acting commissioner Kevin K. McAleenan and published Monday by Foreign Policy magazine, looks at the people behind 25 terrorist attacks in the United States from October 2001 to December 2017 and, based on their demographics, recommends Muslim immigrants be monitored on a “long-term basis.” In examining the national origin and religious background of the people behind these attacks, the report suggests that there is “great value for the United States Government in dedicating resources to continuously evaluate persons of interest” beyond their initial screenings at ports of entry. The surveillance policies — should they go into effect — would bolster the Trump administration’s goal of limiting immigration from Muslim-majority countries. Trump’s travel ban issued last fall, for example, blocked travelers to the United States from eight countries — six of which have Muslim majorities. Last week the administration said it would continue accepting refugees from Muslim-majority nations but would enforce stricter screening procedures to stamp out potential extremists. The draft report follows a government report on Jan. 16 stating that three-quarters of those convicted of terrorism-related charges between 2001 and 2016 were foreign-born. The report, released by DHS and the Department of Justice, was applauded by President Trump, who in a series of tweets cited the report and said “we need to keep America safe.” [Washington Post]
US immigration arrests up 30 percent in 2017
Feb 8: The number of undocumented immigrants arrested in the United States rose to a three-year high in 2017, reversing several years of decline, according to new figures. Pew Research Center, a think-tank, said today that a total of 143,470 people were held by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials last year - up 30 percent compared with 2016. ICE enforces federal immigration laws inside the US and has the power to detain and deport undocumented immigrants. "The surge began after President Donald Trump took office in late January [2017]," the Centre, which analysed ICE statistics on administrative arrests, said in a statement. The largest increase in arrests was recorded in Florida, northern Texas and Oklahoma, Pew said. More than 16,500 arrests were recorded in the Dallas area of Texas alone. Arrests also jumped by more than 50 percent between 2016 and 2017 in the areas around the cities of New Orleans, Atlanta, Boston and Detroit.In January 2017, Trump signed an executive order bolstering "interior enforcement" of US immigration laws, and giving local and state law enforcement agencies the power to act in the capacity of immigration enforcement officers. By contrast, arrests made by US Customs and Border Protection (CBP), which enforces US immigration laws the country's borders, declined by 25 percent between 2016 and 2017, Pew reported. ICE justifies the "interior" arrests as part of the agency's "continued commitment to identifying, arresting, and removing aliens who are in violation of US law, particularly those posing a public safety or national security threat". [Al Jazeera]
Calls for probe of 'execute all Muslims' comment targeting Muslim mayoral candidate
Feb 12: The Minnesota chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-MN) today called on law enforcement authorities in that state to investigate a possible threat to a Muslim mayoral candidate in Rochester, Minn. Candidate Regina Mustafa reported that an individual self-identified as “Militia Movement” left a comment last night stating “EXECUTE all muslims [sic] in America” on one of her Google Plus postings from June of 2017. Mustafa told CAIR she has reported the apparent threat to the Rochester Police Department. She believes the threatening comment was prompted by news of her mayoral candidacy. “We urge state and federal law enforcement authorities to investigate this implicit threat of violence targeting a member of a minority community seeking to take part in our nation’s political process,” said CAIR-MN Executive Director Jaylani Hussein. He said CAIR has witnessed an unprecedented spike in hate incidents targeting American Muslims and members of other minority groups since the election of Donald Trump as president. [CAIR]
Law suit filed challenging Southwest Airlines' removal of Arabic-speaking passenger
Feb 13: The San Francisco Bay Area office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-SFBA) and the law firm of Walkup, Melodia, Kelly & Schoenberger today filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of a traveler who was removed from a Southwest Airlines flight in April 2016 after another passenger complained about his speaking Arabic on the phone. Khairuldeen Makhzoomi, then a student at UC Berkeley, was on a Southwest Airlines flight from Los Angeles International Airport after an event at which he had the opportunity to hear UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon. As he boarded the flight, he excitedly called his uncle to tell him about the event. Another passenger, overhearing him speaking in Arabic, reported him to Southwest Airlines staff. Makhzoomi was promptly removed from the aircraft, questioned by law enforcement and barred from returning to the flight. “Southwest Airlines removed Mr. Makhzoomi from a flight and turned him in to local and federal law enforcement for no reason other than his spoken language,” said Zahra Billoo, CAIR-SFBA executive director. “What Mr. Makhzoomi experienced is the essence of religious profiling, and every Muslim airline passenger’s worst nightmare.” [CAIR]
Muslim mayoral candidate in Minnesota receives death threat on social media
Feb 14: A woman who is running to become the first Muslim mayor of a city in Minnesota has complained to police after someone left an Islamophobic death threat on her website. Regina Mustafa is among a number of people seeking to become mayor of Rochester, 100 miles south-east of Minneapolis. If she wins, in addition to being the city’s first Muslim mayor should also be the first woman to hold the position. She said that days after announcing her candidacy, someone posting as “Militia Movement” wrote on her website: “EXECUTE all Muslims in America.” “I have no way of knowing if the person is nearby or across the country,” Ms Mustafa told the Post-Bulletin. “These threats do have to be taken seriously.” She added: “It was more of a general threat to all Muslims in America, but since this person did take the time to search me out and leave this comment, I took it as a specific threat.” Ms Mustafa said she threatening words were left on a Google Plus posting she made last summer that included a photograph of her speaking at Peace Plaza in Rochester. She said she had reported it to the Rochester Police Department. The city has a population of around 114,000 of which 12,000 are Muslims, the majority of them of Somali descent. [Independent]
Far-right Austrian party revokes statements on Muslims
Feb 17: Austria's far-right Freedom Party (FPO), which entered government last December, will pay compensation to the Muslim Youth Austria (MJO) organisation for failing to prove in court its accusations that the MJO is an Islamist organization. Last June, Heinz-Christian Strache, FPO's chairman, said at a press conference that there are "numerous indications" that the MJO "spearheads Islamist ideologies" and are "part of a nested network … over which political Islam organizes". These allegations were also published on the FPO's website.MJO denied these allegations and filed a lawsuit against Strache, the FPO and the Freedom Parliamentary Club. In proceedings before the Commercial Court of Vienna, the defendants were unable to prove that their allegations were true. This week as part of the settlement, they offered the MJO compensation and revoked their statements. "These statements about alleged closeness to political Islam and the Muslim Brotherhood, which were deliberately circulated by the same individuals, have no basis whatever," the MJO stated in a press release. "The Muslim Youth of Austria will continue to defend against false allegations and slander that seeks to discredit their decades of volunteer work in the service of society." MJO plans to donate the compensation to Austrian organisations that fight racism, Islamophobia and anti-Semitism. The FPO has labeled itself as a "defender of tradition" in Austria and Strache, its anti-immigration leader, has made many Islamophobic statements previously. The FPO controls Austria's foreign, interior and defense ministries. Austria is the only country in Western Europe with a far-right government since Chancellor Sebastian Kurz of the centre-right People's Party (OVP) formed a coalition government with the FPO last December. [Al Jazeera]
Muslims face increasing discrimination, state surveillance under Trump
Feb 19: US President Donald Trump received another setback last week when the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, located in Richmond, Virginia, ruled against the latest version of his Muslim ban. In its ruling, the court stated that the ban is “unconstitutionally tainted with animus towards Islam” and that its central purpose is “to exclude Muslims from the United States.” Despite the ruling, “Muslim Ban 3.0” will remain in effect while the Supreme Court considers the case. The decision by the Fourth Circuit has been cautiously welcomed by Muslims, many of whom have endured prolonged separation from their loved ones as a result of the ban. The Muslim ban has always been a reactionary gimmick aimed at shoring up the most backward elements of Trump’s political base and whipping up anti-Muslim hysteria in the country. It was clearly designed to reinforce the bogus notion that Muslim-Americans and Muslim immigrants constitute a unique threat to “national security.” The consistent, calculated attempt by Trump and his supporters to portray ordinary Muslims as potential security threats has had a devastating impact on Muslim-Americans, contributing to an increase in hate crimes against Muslims and fostering a general climate of fear and uncertainty within the community. There are also indications that the government is planning a further crackdown on the democratic rights of Muslims, with increased surveillance of Muslim communities in the works. Indeed, reports from around the country this month demonstrate how the US is increasingly becoming hostile territory for Muslims. Earlier this month, the non-profit organization, South Asian Americans Leading Together (SAALT) released a report that showed a dramatic rise in incidents of harassment and violence against South Asians and Arabs. SAALT documented 302 of these incidents between November 2016 and November 2017, representing a 45 increase in the number of incidents recorded in the year leading up to the 2016 elections. Non-Muslim South Asians, including Hindus and Sikhs, are also targeted by racists in increasing numbers, demonstrating that sometimes a dark-skinned appearance is enough to invite insults and attacks from the bigots. According to the SAALT report, 20 percent of the perpetrators of the incidents of harassment and violence it recorded directly referenced Trump or one of his policies, indicating a strong link between Trump’s anti-Muslim vitriol and the uptick in attacks on Muslims and South Asians. The SAALT report reinforced the findings of the FBI’s latest Uniform Crime Report, which was found a 20 percent increase in hate crimes against Muslims in 2016. [Counter Current]
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