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Executive Editor: Abdus Sattar Ghazali
Chronology of Islam in America (2018)
By Abdus Sattar Ghazali
May 2018
Smear campaign against Michigan candidate shows how hard it is for Muslims to run for office
May 3: The Michigan gubernatorial race took an ugly turn last week, when a Republican contender accused a Democratic candidate of being part of a “civilizational jihad” to take over America. The Republican, state Sen. Patrick Colbeck, stands by his accusation that former Detroit health director Abdul El-Sayed has ties to the Muslim Brotherhood. Just one of Colbeck’s Republican rivals condemned the remarks; Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), a Colbeck backer, did not respond to multiple requests for comment. What El-Sayed is going through happens to nearly every Muslim-American in public life: They face baseless questions about their patriotism and then are left in a no-win situation. If they deny the charges, they risk giving them credence. But if they ignore them, they might get even more traction. “We have to spend the bulk of our time disproving negatives: ‘Prove that you’re not a radical Islamist. Prove that you’re not a member of the Muslim Brotherhood. Prove that you’re not trying to implement Sharia,’” said Wajahat Ali, a Muslim-American writer and co-author of "Fear Inc.," a 2011 study of networks of anti-Muslim bigotry. If elected, El-Sayed, a 33-year-old physician, would be the country’s first Muslim governor. And there is no evidence that he has ties to the Muslim Brotherhood. But thanks to Colbeck and the amplification he received on conservative talk radio, the allegations already show signs of staying power. El-Sayed graduated with honors from the University of Michigan, where his classmates and teachers picked him to deliver the 2007 commencement speech. [Huffington Post]
Resolution introduced in Congress to Recognize the history of American Muslims and their contributions to our nation
May 3: Rep. Judy Chu (CA-27), Chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC), introduced Resolution No. 869 Recognizing the History of American Muslims and Their Contributions to our Nation. It was co-sponsored by Representatives Eleanor Holmes Norton (DC), Sheila Jackson Lee (TX), Luis Correa (CA), Keith Ellison (MN), and Betty McCollum (MN). This resolution highlights the over 5,000 American Muslims currently serving in the Armed Forces, as well as distinguished American Muslims who are U.S. military veterans, including Humayun Khan. Khan was killed in a suicide attack in Iraq in 2004 and posthumously awarded a Purple Heart and Bronze Star. The resolution also recognizes the contributions by American Muslims who are renown physicians, scientists, business owners, service workers, teachers, police officers, firefighters, and first responders. In addition, it highlights American Muslims like Muhammad Ali who have won Olympic medals, and other professional athletes including Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Shaquille O’Neal. The resolution identifies many influential religious leaders and civil rights activists like Malcom X and Imam Warith Deen Mohammed, as well as elected officials like Congressman Keith Ellison (MN-5) and Congressman Andre Carson (IN-7). The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) and the US Council of Muslim Organizations (USCMO) urged members of the U.S. House of Representatives to co-sponsor the resolution. USCMO is a coalition of leading national and local American Muslim organizations. 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). [One click politics]
Two Citizenship Delay Lawsuits Filed
May 3: CAIR-Columbus announced today the filing of two federal lawsuits in the Southern District of Ohio against the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), Attorney General of the United States, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), on behalf of two Muslim legal permanent residents whose citizenship applications have been pending for an unreasonable amount of time without adjudication – sixteen and eighteen months respectively. Neither of the Plaintiffs have any criminal history and one of the Plaintiffs is a doctor at the Department of Veterans Affairs. Both Plaintiffs have been repeatedly told by USCIS that they are unable to determine when the adjudication of their cases will be completed. Plaintiffs have made numerous other inquiries with USCIS on the status of their applications but have received the same proforma responses from USCIS each time. CAIR-Columbus attorneys continue to see an increase in delays of all types of immigration applications. Since the beginning of 2017 alone, CAIR-Columbus has filed immigration delay lawsuits for over thirty-two different plaintiffs. The vast majority of those lawsuits have already been successfully resolved in favor of the Plaintiffs. “USCIS has been instructed by this administration to ‘rigorously enforce all grounds of inadmissibility and/or denial of immigration benefits’ and we believe this is contributing to USCIS indefinitely delaying applications while they look for any reason to deny, even for minor issues that typically would not result in a denial,” said CAIR-Columbus Legal Director Romin Iqbal. “One of the Plaintiffs here is a doctor who been employed by the Department of Veterans Affairs for the past twelve years. It is simply unjust that a doctor who serves our nation’s veterans and is subject to regular security clearances is experiencing an unexplained delay in becoming a citizen.” The complaints, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio, request the Court to order USCIS to immediately issue a decision on the pending applications and also request attorney fees and damages. [CAIR]
The blurred line between war and business
May 6: In 2009, Rand Paul called out Dick Cheney for supporting the invasion of Iraq to benefit his former company, Halliburton, claiming that Halliburton had received a billion-dollar no-bid contract. KBR, or Kellogg Brown & Root, a subsidiary of Halliburton, was neck-deep in military contracts with the United States government, under a no-bid LOGCAP III (Logistics Civil Augmentation Program) agreement, a contingency-based contract invoked at the convenience of the Army. Let’s not forget that the official narrative of weapons of mass destruction was the lie sold to the American people to justify an oligarchical class growing wealthier through creating war. In November 2002, a $7 billion LOGCAP contract was given to KBR for extinguishing oil well fires in Iraq. In 2003, the Army Corps of Engineers awarded a public bid contract with a maximum value of $1.2 billion to KBR to continue repairing the oil infrastructure in southern Iraq. In 2004, the Army Corps handed KBR yet another contract, with the value of $1.5 billion, to cover engineering services in the U.S. Central Command’s area of operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. The contract had a $500 million ceiling for the first year and four one-year options, each with an annual ceiling of $250 million. In 2004, KBR received more orders under the LOGCAP contract for work in Afghanistan, which added up to $489 million. And then there is the $400 million in payments KBR made in subcontracting private securities services like Blackwater in Iraq. In total, $138 billion was awarded in federal funds to private contractors for the Iraq War, with Halliburton receiving more than $39.5 billion of the federal contracts related to the Iraq military invasion and occupation between 2003 and 2013. There were three other primary contractors in Iraq: Blackwater Worldwide, a mercenary army responsible for countless murders and massacres of Iraqis; CACI International, which received $66.2 million in state funds while being accused of the beating, starvation, sexual assault, sleep deprivation and torture of detainees in Abu Ghraib prison outside Baghdad; and Titan Corp., which supplied interpreters to Abu Ghraib and also was implicated in human rights abuses at the prison.
More recently, Steve Bannon, when he was a Trump adviser in the White House, pushed the proposal of Erik Prince, Blackwater’s founder, to deploy private military contractors in Afghanistan, where 6,000 contractors plus U.S. special operations troops and support personnel would embed with local Afghan units. Beyond this, we have the Trump administration also considering Prince’s plan to build a mercenary force in Syria, despite Prince’s conflicts in the United Emirates, where he brought into the country several hundred Colombians posing as construction workers to fight in Yemen. When it emerged that Prince has collaborated with Oliver North and former CIA officer John R. Maguire to develop a plan to create a private spy network to circumvent the CIA, the White House opened its doors. All this plus a 2017 meeting in the Seychelles with the United Arab Emirate’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund Kirill Dmitriev and Prince that ended in a House Intelligence Committee hearing. Journalist Josh Marshall, from Talking Points Memo, has noted how Prince regularly uses “ex-military and intelligence operatives to build parallel national security forces that operate for profit and outside the rule of law.” However, operating outside the law seems to be more the rule than the exception if we are to honestly approach the common pattern repeating itself wherein U.S. foreign policy and private industries collaborate. We cannot ignore that SCL/Cambridge Analytica (which could be reborn under a new name after announcing it is shutting down) works on the tracking, analysis and manipulation of popular opinion abroad related to both U.S. and U.K. military and diplomatic services, any more than we can negate the questionable ties between SCL and Republican billionaire Robert Mercer, his daughter Rebekah Mercer and Bannon (Mercer’s business partner), who later became Donald Trump’s de facto campaign manager. [Julian Vigo - Truthdig]
Lawsuit filed on Behalf of Muslim Woman Stripped of Hijab by Ventura County Sheriffs
May 7: The Greater Los Angeles Area chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-LA), in conjunction with Erin Darling Law, today announced the filing of a lawsuit in federal court on behalf of a Muslim woman who had her religious head scarf (hijab) forcibly removed by Ventura County deputy sheriffs. CAIR-LA’s lawsuit alleges violations under the First Amendment, Fourteenth Amendment, Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA), and the California Constitution. Jennifer Hyatt, 44, was arrested on Jan. 1, 2017, in Thousand Oaks, Calif., after being involved in a domestic dispute. At the Ventura County Jail, Hyatt was told by the deputies that she would have to remove her head scarf. Hyatt made several requests to continue wearing her hijab or be provided an alternative head covering. However, in violation of Hyatt’s religious beliefs, one deputy allegedly snatched one piece of Hyatt’s two-piece hijab off her head while male deputies were in the room. Hyatt was then taken to another holding room where she again informed deputies that she was a practicing Muslim woman and based on her faith she could not be seen by other men without her hijab. A deputy then reportedly replied, “Not in here, you’re not.” Despite having already been searched, and after Hyatt asserted her request to continue wearing her hijab deserving of constitutional protection, a second deputy allegedly violently removed the second part of her hijab. Hyatt was left fully exposed through a glass wall, thus allowing any passerby to see her without her hijab. “It is shocking that in 2018 the County of Ventura permits its sheriff’s deputies to strip a Muslim woman of her religious head covering,” said civil rights and criminal defense attorney Erin Darling. “Religious expression is protected under the law and the County of Ventura cannot single out Muslim women as being undeserving of this basic right.” Two years ago, CAIR-LA filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of a Muslim woman who had her hijab forcibly removed by a male officer of the Long Beach Police Department (LBPD). After the suit was filed, the LBPD amended its policy in November 2017 to accommodate religious head coverings for persons in custody. Long Beach joins neighboring jurisdictions of San Bernardino County and Orange County, which both adopted policies protecting religious headwear in detention following similar lawsuits that settled in 2008 and 2013 respectively. [CAIR]
Record Number of Congressional Meetings on National Muslim Advocacy Day
May 10: The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) reported today that some 400 delegates from 28 states met on Monday and Tuesday with more than 250 elected officials and congressional staffers during the record-breaking fourth annual “National Muslim Advocacy Day” on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. CAIR, the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, said Muslim delegates participating in this year’s advocacy day event met with a third of the House of Representatives and almost half of the Senate. Last year, delegates met with some 230 congressional offices. The lobbying effort, the largest congressional Muslim advocacy event, was sponsored by the US Council of Muslim Organizations (USCMO), a coalition of leading national and local American Muslim organizations.* Participants posted photos and commentary about National Muslim Advocacy Day on Capitol Hill on social media using the hashtag #MuslimHillDay. In the U.S. House of Representatives, Muslim delegates urged their members of Congress to co-sponsor and support Rep. Judy Chu’s House Resolution 869, a Resolution Recognizing the History of American Muslims and Their Contributions to our Nation. USCMO members applauded Congresswoman Chu for introducing the resolution one week before the month-long fast of Ramadan that begins on Wednesday, May 16. [CAIR]
Kansas City Muslim family leaves new home after hateful slurs, arson ruin it
May 11: A Muslim couple — he grew up in Pakistan and she is an African-American mother from Kansas — saw smoke spewing from their garage as they returned home one night last month with their three children. One or more people had broken in and spray-painted "Allah Scum," a racial epithet and other slurs on various surfaces, including the master bedroom door upstairs, the wall of the master bathroom, the refrigerator and a counter top. Police suspect charcoal lighter fluid had been used to set fire to a staircase, according to a report. The father said he and his wife returned the next day after sleeping at a motel to assess the damage. He and his wife are both managers at area companies. They're in the process of moving with their children into a nearby residence after spending about two weeks in a motel room and at a friend's house. [Kansas City.Com]
Outcry as German company uses Saudi flag with Islamic creed on beer bottle caps
May 12: A German firm has used the Saudi Arabian flag with the Kalimat Al-Tawheed on the cap of its beer bottles, drawing concern and criticism from Muslims across the world. According to a report published in a Saudi newspaper, the Saudi Embassy in Berlin, German capital, has also denounced the company. The embassy said it acted after being alerted of the issue through the social media, in which the news had become viral. Pictures of the beer bottles have gone viral on the social media, with Muslim calling for the withdraw of the alcoholic product. The paper reported that the flag has been used by the German firm “Eichbaum”on the caps of its liquor products. Social media users has condemned the German company, calling for it to tender an apology for this disrespectful act. A local German brewery has announced it was halting a marketing campaign tied to the World Cup after sparking outrage on social media. The Eichbaum brewery, located in the southwestern German city of Mannheim, printed the flags of each of the 32 World Cup national teams on its bottle caps to celebrate the upcoming soccer tournament.But yesterday the company announced it was halting the marketing campaign. [The News]
Hate group leader appointed to U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom
May 15: Tony Perkins, head of anti-LGBT hate group Family Research Council (FRC), has been appointed to the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom. As head of the FRC, Perkins specializes in spreading false propaganda that demonizes the LGBT community and Muslims. His well-documented bigotry has no place in any government entity. [Southern Poverty Law Center]
South Carolina passes law defining any criticism of Israel as ‘anti-semitic’ just as they kill 60 civilians
May 16: The news that Israel killed more than 60 Palestinians on Monday, May 14, alone, has sparked criticism from Americans who are frustrated with the United States’ failure to hold one of its closest allies accountable for the human rights violations it is committing—and individuals in one state will soon be labeled as “anti-Semitic” for openly voicing their opinion. South Carolina will become the first state to legally define criticism of Israel as “anti-Semitism” when a new measure goes into effect on July 1, targeting public schools and universities. While politicians have tried to pass the measure as a standalone law for two years, they finally succeeded temporarily by passing it as a “proviso” that was slipped into the 2018-2019 budget. According to the text of the measure, the definition of “anti-Semitism” will now include:
- a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews. Rhetorical and physical manifestations of anti-Semitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities;
- calling for, aiding, or justifying the killing or harming of Jews; making mendacious, dehumanizing, demonizing, or stereotypical allegations about Jews as such or the power of Jews as a collective; accusing Jews as a people of being responsible for real or imagined wrongdoing committed by a single Jewish person or group, the state of Israel, or even for acts committed by non-Jews;
- accusing the Jews as a people, or Israel as a state, of inventing or exaggerating the Holocaust;
- accusing Jewish citizens of being more loyal to Israel, or to the alleged priorities of Jews worldwide, than to the interest of their own nations;
- using the symbols and images associated with classic anti-Semitism to characterize Israel or Israelis;
- drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis;
- blaming Israel for all inter-religious or political tensions;
- applying double standards by requiring of it a behavior not expected or demanded of any other democratic nation;
- multilateral organizations focusing on Israel only for peace or human rights investigations;
- denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination, and denying Israel the right to exist, provided, however, that criticism of Israel similar to that leveled against any other country cannot be regarded as anti-Semitic.
As can be determined by the long list of ways in which South Carolina will now define “anti-Semitism,” individuals will be forced to tiptoe around a legitimate subject, and expressing an opinion that is no longer considered politically correct can now be legally used against them. “This bill, I fear, will silence professors and student groups who are trying to explain and to give voice to a diversity of opinions about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. I am frankly baffled as to why any legislator would consider an ideal to curtail our freedom of speech,” Caroline Nagel, a professor at the University of South Carolina said. The new measure in South Carolina may focus on public universities right now, but it is setting a blueprint for other states to follow, and in addition to chipping away at the First Amendment, it is serving as a clear reminder that the United States only seems to care about oppressive governments who commit human rights violations when those governments are not considered “close allies,” according to Rachel Blevins of the Free Thought Project. [Free Thought Project]
Florida man arrested for repeatedly threatened to blow up a mosque
May 17: A South Florida man is accused of leaving multiple voicemails saying he would blow up a mosque days before Ramadan. The way officials found him? They checked caller ID. Dustin Hughes, 26, is alleged to have called Jamaat Ul Muttaqeen Mosque in Pembroke Pines, Florida, four times in a week. Hughes made the first call on May 5, claiming he had planted a bomb in the mosque and planned on detonating it, according to a federal complaint. "I planted a bomb in your temple, I'm gonna blow your f------ temple up you f----- Muslim piece of s---," Hughes allegedly said in the first voicemail. He continued, "You guys wanna come here and cause mayhem to America, well I'm gonna cause mayhem to your religion 'cause your religion is nothing but lies. Lies, lies, lies from the devil! Where's Allah now?" During their investigation, officers noticed the digital caller ID listed the man's name as Dustin Hughes, according to the federal complaint. Throughout the week, Hughes allegedly continued to leave threatening voicemails from his own phone, even admitting on one recording that he had been responsible for multiple calls, officials said. The FBI arrested Hughes at his Cutler Bay home on May 15, the first day of Ramadan. When FBI agents interviewed Hughes and told him that the voicemails scared people at the mosque, Hughes allegedly clapped and expressed his approval. Authorities charged Hughes with willfully making a bomb threat by telephone. If convicted, he faces a maximum of 10 years in prison, according to the Department of Justice. [CNN]
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