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Executive Editor: Abdus Sattar Ghazali
Chronology of Islam in America (2018)
By Abdus Sattar Ghazali
March 2018
US civil rights groups decry 'anti-Muslim' bill in Idaho
March 1: A spate of bills in state legislatures across the United States have been decried by civil rights groups as Islamophobic. Most recently, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), a Washington, DC-based Muslim civil rights group, has called on Idaho's Senate to vote against a bill recently passed by the state's House of Representatives that seeks to ban the implementation of "foreign law" in the state. According to CAIR, the bill, known as HB-419, targets Muslims and fits into a long pattern of "unconstitutional" bills that demonize Muslims by barring Sharia, or Islamic law. HB-419 was passed by Idaho's House of Representatives at a time when similar bills are being considered in several US states, including Montana, Oregon and Wisconsin. In an open letter to Idaho State Senator Jeff C Siddoway, Chairman of the Senate State Affairs Committee, CAIR's Government Affairs Director, Robert McCaw, described HB-419 as "contrary to our nation's values of not elevating or marginalizing one faith or community"."Legislation designed and adopted to attack a specific religion is a clear violation of the [US Constitution's] Establishment Clause, which requires that government be secular and treat all religions equally," McCaw wrote. "It is impossible to mask the anti-Muslim discriminatory intent behind HB-419." That bill was introduced by House Representative Eric Redman, who had introduced two similar bills in the last two years. According to the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), an Alabama-based hate watchdog, at least 201 "anti-Sharia bills" have been introduced in 43 states since 2010. Earlier this month, the SPLC revealed that it had obtained 47 pages of Redman's email correspondence with anti-Muslim groups between May 2016 and August 2017. The group obtained the emails through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request. The groups with which Redman corresponded - among them American Laws for American Courts (ALAC), ACT for America, American Public Policy Alliance (APPA) and the Center for Security Policy (CSP) - have "a lengthy history of bigotry", the SPLC said on its website. "Anti-Muslim hate groups play an integral role in the introduction of anti-sharia bills and overhyping the nonexistent threat of 'sharia law' in the United States," the group added. Although Redman's most recent version of the bill does not specifically reference Islamic law, the first version, which was introduced in 2016, included pictures of a severed hand and a man about to be decapitated. It also made allegations that the Muslim prophet Muhammad was a paedophile, according to the Associated Press. [Al Jazeera]
New Jersey Homeland Security cites 'dramatic rise' in violence by groups
March 1: A “dramatic rise” in violence by white supremacists, anti-government groups, anarchists and other domestic extremists means New Jersey will face new and growing challenges in the fight against terrorism in 2018, according to a report released yesterday. The 2018 Terror Threat Assessment said extremists inspired by foreign organizations including the Islamic State group were still the top risk, but warned that other groups are expanding and committing more crimes. “In the year ahead, homegrown violent extremists will remain our most persistent adversary,” said Jared Maples, director of the New Jersey Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness, which released the annual report. “Couple this with the dramatic rise in violence between race-based, single-issue, and anti-government extremists and it is clear that our threat landscape has become more diverse than ever before," he added. Extremist groups have recruited at New Jersey college campuses and were behind a rash of hate crimes across the United States, from the stabbing of a black man in New York City to the mowing down of a protester at the “Unite the Right” Rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. The New Jersey Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness review tallied at least eight white supremacist groups that were active in 14 counties in the state last year. And there were arrests noted in several towns and cities. International terror groups, white supremacists and anti-government militias are all harnessing the Internet to influence people and inspire them to commit attacks for their cause, said John Cohen, director of the Center for Critical Intelligence Studies at Rutgers and a former counterterrorism coordinator at the U. S. Department of Homeland Security. These groups are drawing people with mental health issues who turn to social media and other Internet platforms and self-connect with extremist causes, because it gives them a sense of self-worth and social connection, he said. People that commit attacks against groups may have different ideologies or personal grievances that drive them, but they have common behavior traits like disconnect from community, dysfunctional family background, history of violence and behavior or mental health issues and excessive hours spent online. [Northjersey.com]
Muslims see progress in fewer protesters at Oklahoma Capitol
March 5: About 100 Muslims participated in the 2018 “Muslim Day at the Capitol” today and they were met with fewer protesters than in previous years. The event, sponsored by the Oklahoma chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), was designed to bring Muslims together with their state legislators to discuss issues of importance to the Muslim community. The probability of more interactions between Muslims and their legislators increased substantially today as compared to previous years because the event had been held on a Friday when the Legislature typically is not in session. This afternoon, many Muslims sat in on a legislative session as their elected leaders discussed proposed legislation, while other participants visited legislators' offices to meet with their representatives and senators. At least one such interaction was described as positive by all parties involved, although they disagreed on at least one matter of significance. Abdullah Ashraf and Khalid Marakah, both sophomores at Mercy School, a private Islamic school near Edmond, said they appreciated State Rep. Kevin Calvey for welcoming their school group into his office Monday. They said Calvey's repudiation of CAIR disheartened them but they saw the legislator's overall friendliness as positive. Calvey said CAIR is an organization that was listed as an un-indicted co-conspirator in the Holy Land Foundation trial about funding terrorism in 2007. Adam Soltani, executive director of CAIR-Oklahoma chapter, said that he and Calvey agreed to disagree on the facts surrounding CAIR."I appreciated the fact that he did open the doors and allow us to voice our concerns for Muslim Americans. That's saying a lot," Soltani said. He said there were numerous groups listed as un-indicted co-conspirators in the trial that Calvey mentioned and CAIR was not indicted because there was no evidence for indictment. "I say to him what I say to anyone and that is just look at our track record of the state organization and the national organization. That does not point to any wrongdoing or anything harmful to the state of Oklahoma," Soltani said. Meanwhile, he said he was encouraged that there were fewer protesters on Monday than in previous years — a sign of progress. In 2017, about 10 people stood outside the Capitol with anti-Islam signage. In 2016, there were about eight protesters. Two protesters, a husband-and-wife who only gave their names as "Ron" and "Tempest" of Moore, showed up about 10 minutes after the event started at 9 a.m. The Moore couple said they are not angry with Muslims but they think individuals who ascribe to the Islamic faith are trying to bring Sharia law to essentially make Oklahoma a Muslim state. Around 11 a.m., three more protesters joined the Moore couple. [The Oklahoman]
Legalizing Tyranny: Corporations have taken over larger and larger segments of prison life
March 6: Corporations have taken over larger and larger segments of prison life, from food service to money transfers, commissaries and phone communications. A million prisoners work for corporations in prison and are often paid under a dollar an hour. Prisoners and their families are exploited for billions in corporate profits. Corporate lobbyists sponsor legislation to make sure this captive population remains captive.The students I teach in prison who have the longest sentences are, almost without exception, the ones who demanded a jury trial. If everyone charged with a crime had a jury trial, the court system would implode. Prosecutors, defense attorneys and judges use those who insist on a jury trial -- often people who did not commit the crime with which they were charged -- as examples. Their sentences, frequently life sentences, are grim reminders as to why it is in the best interests of a defendant, even if he or she did not commit the crime, to take a plea agreement. Ninety-four percent of state-level felony convictions and 97 percent of federal felony convictions are the result of guilty pleas. And studies by groups such as Human Rights Watch confirm the punitive nature of jury trials: Those who go to jury trials get an additional 11 years, on average, tacked on to their sentences. The rich get high-priced lawyers and lengthy jury trials. The poor are shipped directly to jail or prison. The corrosion of the moral authority of the legal system has ominous implications as we veer closer and closer to despotism. It is an example of one of the fundamental precursors of tyranny, as political theorist Hannah Arendt pointed out in her book "On Violence." Arendt wrote that "power and violence are opposites: where one rules absolutely, the other is absent." When institutions such as the judicial system break down and lose legitimacy, their moral authority is destroyed. To fill the moral vacuum these institutions turn exclusively to violence. "Violence," Arendt wrote, "appears where power is in jeopardy." Violence is no longer an expression of power. Rather, violence and coercion, which disregard any semblance of justice, are the only mechanism left to exert social control. Trust and respect for the rule of law is replaced by fear. And as Arendt warned, "Violence can destroy power; it is utterly incapable of creating it." The court system collapse now afflicting the poor is working its way like gangrene up the body of the judiciary. Violence is increasingly the only tool left to a discredited corporate state and its bankrupt ideology of unfettered capitalism. What is being done to the poor will soon be done to all of us. If you are poor, this is how the system works.First, you get picked up for a crime you may or may not have committed. The police have broad legal tools, such as RICO -- the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act of 1970 -- that allow them to charge everyone whom they define as a member of a gang or other group involved in crime. Some of those charged may not have been involved in any way in the commission of the crime. One of my students, for example, was in a room with several other people during a drug deal that went bad. A man pulled a handgun and killed another man. My student did not own a gun. He had no part in the murder. He did not know the killer or the victim. But he went to prison under a plea deal calling for 11 years, losing his job and leaving his son, whom he was raising alone, to the streets. He is out now. His son is in prison. Our prisons are filled with people like him -- poor, black and unfortunate enough to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. [By Chris Hedges – OpEd News]
Counter-terror police in UK investigate 'punish a Muslim' day letters
March 10: Counterterrorism police in the UK are investigating a possible hate crime after several people received letters calling on them to attack Muslims on April 3, termed in the leaflet as "punish a Muslim" day. Several Britons in London, the West Midlands and Yorkshire said they received the printed letter through the post, according to reports.Some uploaded images of the document on social media.The leaflet says: "They have hurt you, they have made your loved ones suffer. They have caused you pain and heartache. What are you going to about it?" It goes on to offer rewards for attackers, from 10 points for verbally abusing a Muslim and 50 points for throwing acid in the face of a Muslim, to 1,000 points for bombing a mosque and 2,500 points to "nuke Mecca". There are more than 2.5 million Muslims in Britain, where Islam is the second-largest religion. West Yorkshire police has joined London's Metropolitan Police in attempting to "catch the person or persons responsible for this". British Muslims, faith leaders, politicians and civil rights groups have expressed fear and outrage at the development. "This vile letter campaign sent to Muslims across the UK has caused deep distress and alarm. We welcome the action being taken by the police to investigate this matter," Miqdaad Versi, assistant secretary-general of the Muslim Council of Britain, one of the UK's largest Muslim umbrella organizations, told Al Jazeera. The Church of England's head of interfaith relations, Andrew Smith, tweeted: "Angry to hear about appalling 'punish a Muslim' letters that have been sent. Can't imagine how horrible & frightening it must be to get a letter like that. Time to redouble our efforts to build peace in our society & support those feeling scared or intimidated. The work goes on." [Al Jazeera]
Bigoted election campaigns, not terror attacks, drive anti-Muslim activity
March 11: An upsurge in anti-Muslim activities across the United States in recent years has tracked closely with changes in the political cycle, according to data released in a new report by the New America Foundation. The report, “Anti-Muslim Activities in the United States: Violence, Threats, and Discrimination at the Local Level,” tracks more than 650 separate anti-Muslim incidents across the country since 2012. These incidents include public denunciations of Islam and Muslims by elected officials, proposed laws targeting Muslim religious practice, mosque vandalism, and acts of violence. According to the data, these incidents have markedly increased in recent years, with public attitudes toward Islam and Muslims darkening significantly. But it’s not clear that these attitudes are being driven solely by acts of terrorism committed by Muslims. Several major terrorist attacks that took place during the period of the study did not produce a surge in recorded anti-Muslim incidents. Those attacks that did coincide with increased anti-Muslim incidents came in particular political contexts. The largest spike in the incidents came after the November 2015 terrorist strike in Paris, but the attack at the Bataclan came as the 2016 presidential campaign was getting into full swing, with Donald Trump’s candidacy propelling anti-Muslim sentiment into the spotlight. “Looking at the statistics, it is clear that the rise in these incidents are tied to the election cycle,” said Robert McKenzie, a senior fellow at New America and the author of the report. “If spikes in anti-Muslim activity only occurred due to terrorism, we would expect to see more incidents following high-profile attacks like the Boston Marathon bombing and Charlie Hebdo, but we didn’t. What we do have are folks running for elected office who are using megaphones to talk about how dangerous Muslims are.” The mix between political opportunism at home and instability abroad is potentially combustible. “There is a very dangerous interplay between global incidents, activities by national politicians like Trump, as well as state and local officials, who are saying and doing things to get people fired up,” McKenzie said. “All these factors are building upon one another.” [The Intercept]
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