2014: Another Hard And Difficult Year For American Muslims
By Abdus Sattar Ghazali
02 January, 2015
Countercurrents.org
* A Muslim teen ager is fatally injured in an a hate assault in Kansas City.
* Somali cabbie beaten in Seattle hate crime.
* St. Cloud Minnesota mosque vandalized four times within 4 weeks.
* Hate attack on a Bosnian Muslim woman in St Lous.
* Urine placed at Muslim chaplain’s office at Wake Forest University, North Carolina.
* Florida State University professor resigns after anti-Muslim Facebook comments.
These are some of the news headlines in the first two weeks of December 2014 related to the Muslims in America. These tragic incidents and disturbing episodes embody the dilemma and plight of the seven-million strong Muslim American community which remained under siege since 9/11 terrorist attacks.
Discrimination and hate crimes against the Muslims in America increased after the beheading of American journalists by the so-called ” ISIS or Islamic State” terrorists whose sudden meteorite rise remains questionable.
Not surprisingly, The New York Daily News highlighted the issue with the following headline: Muslims across America, Europe face renewed 9/11-style scorn amid ISIS' violent campaign. The paper said: “Muslims in America and Europe say discrimination against them has seemed more pronounced after the Islamic State terrorists beheaded American and British journalists and aid workers. Hate-filled remarks on social media have also become more prevalent, especially since 9/11, when Facebook and Twitter did not yet exist.”
At the same time, the New York Police Department reported a spike in the number of hate crimes against Jews and Muslims since the Israeli operation against Palestinians this summer and the beheading of two American journalists by the "Islamic State" group. Media coverage of the two major stories to emerge from the Mideast this summer contributed to a 50% combined jump in bias-related attacks against members of the two religions as well as other hate crimes, such as anti-Jewish and anti-Muslim graffiti, New York Police Commissioner Bill Bratton said.
Hate Crimes
On December 4, 2014, a 15-year-old boy, Abdisamad Sheikh-Hussein, was killed in a hit-and-run outside the Somali Center of Kansas City. According to police, the boy’s legs were severed when an SUV intentionally swerved toward him and struck him. He was transported to a hospital but died from his injuries. The driver of the vehicle, a man in his 30s, ran from the scene but was caught by the police and taken into custody.
Family members told WDAF-TV the teenager was the son of the Somali Center’s leader. Community members say the driver has been threatening the Muslim community for months on Facebook and in person. They shared a photo with the media of the man's SUV with anti-Muslim graffiti on its back window that read, "Quran is a virus disease woreste [sic] than Ebola."
The deadly Kansas City incident came a day after vandalism was reported at the Central Minnesota Islamic Center in St. Cloud. Muslim leaders in St. Cloud reported on Dec 3 that vandalism was discovered at the Central Minnesota Islamic Center. On Dec 15, again the Central Minnesota Islamic Center was vandalized with a broken window. This was the fourth incident of damage at the Islamic center within few weeks.
A number of apparent hate attacks were reported on Islamic institutions in the United States. Shots were fired at the Islamic Society of the Coachella Valley in California and a firebomb attack on a mosque in New Mexico. A threatening letter was sent to a local mosque in San Diego. A Star of David and the number 26 was spray-painted on a door of the Islamic Center of Santa Cruz in Santa Cruz, Calif.
Also in November, the Muslim cemetery was vandalized in Washington State. Headstones bearing a star and crescent and Arabic inscriptions were vandalized at the Islamic Community of Bosniaks in Washington State's cemetery near Maltby.
In another manifestation of hate, a bucket of urine was found in November in front of the office of Imam Khalid Griggs of the Wake Forest University, North Carolina. According to Winston-Salem Journal, it was the latest in a series of incidents involving issues of race, religion and ethnicity at WFU during the past four months.
On December 10, Jesse Alexander Fleming, 26, was accused of a hate crime for beating a Somali American cab driver while calling him a “terrorist” and asking him if he was a member of ISIS. Two other passengers who rode with him allegedly participated in the assault, according to police. Fleming, was charged in King County Superior Court on suspicion of second-degree assault and malicious harassment, a charge that alleges that the attack was motivated by racial, ethnic or religious bias. Fleming, of San Manuel, Arizona, is on active duty in the military, according to charging papers. The Seattle Globalist reported that the driver, Adan Ali Gaal, 34, was knocked unconscious and suffered a broken nose that may require surgery, according to the charging documents from the prosecutor’s office. According to police, Fleming told the driver “you are a terrorist,” “you should go back to your own country,” and “I will shoot you” before leaning across the seat to punch him in the face. The case is the second high profile assault of a cab driver in Seattle with alleged racial or religious motivation in the past two years, according to the Globalist.
In St. Louis, a Bosnian woman told police she was driving when three men walked in front of her vehicle, ordered her to stop, struck her car and asked where she was from. When the woman said she was European the men called her a liar, and told her “You’re Bosnian. I should just kill you now.”
That early December attack came less than a week after Zemir Begic, a 32-year-old Bosnian man, was attacked by four teens. At least one of the attackers hit Begic with a hammer. Begic later died of his injuries, but police have said they do not believe he was targeted because of his ethnicity. Some in the Bosnian community have doubts. So does Karen Aroesty, regional director of the Anti-Defamation League of Missouri and Southern Illinois. People can say hateful things and be protected under the First Amendment, said A.J. Bockelman, executive director of Promo, a statewide organization that advocates for equality. Hate speech is not punishable, he said. If, however, those words are said during an attack, it escalates to a hate crime.
The latest hate incident happened on December 20 in San Diego, when a Navy officer punched a cab driver in the face. He told police he did it because he thought the cabbie was "possibly a Muslim." According to a complaint filed by the Sikh cabbie Avtar Singh, Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Kyle Blackwell told the investigating officer that he was "'in fear of my life because he [Singh] looked Middle Eastern, possibly from Iraq or Afghanistan."
Islamophobia
Anti-Islam and anti-Muslim bigotry has become acceptable in the post-9/11 America. Just two recent examples:
Earlier in December, Deborah O'Connor, a Florida State University professor, resigned after making racial slurs and disparaging remarks about Muslims, in a heated Facebook exchange about recent police killings of unarmed blacks. "Obama has single-handedly turned our once great society into a Ghetto Culture, rivaling that of Europe. France is almost at war because of his filthy rodent Muslims who are attacking Native Frenchmen and women," O'Connor wrote in one response to a stranger on the Facebook thread.
And on Dec 2, a Houston elementary school teacher resigned after making anti-Muslim comments on a political talk show. "I am so sick of the bacon-haters coming here and demanding that we bend to their culture -- no," Angela Box said on a segment discussing terrorism. She also used profanity when discussing Muslims.
Not surprisingly, the Anti-Muslim Card was played in the 2014 Midterm Election. The use of Islamophobic discourse to exploit voters’ fears remains an acceptable component of political campaigns. Republicans were responsible for the overwhelming majority of anti-Islam electoral prejudice.
The most significant anti-Islam action of the 2014 midterm election, was Alabama’s Amendment One that was approved by voters. Alabama is the eighth state to approve a law intended to vilify Islam. The measure was inspired by Islamophobe David Yerushalmi’s American Laws for American Courts legislation, which stigmatizes Muslims as a group from which the US needs protection.
Georgia Islamophobe Jody Hice handily won a U.S. House seat. Hice believes the First Amendment does not apply to Islam. However, two Islamophobes were defeated. Larry Kaifesh, a Republican who sought a U.S. House seat representing Illinois was defeated. Kaifesh told the Chicago Tribune's editorial board, "I think if you follow Islam the way Muhammad wanted you to, you will be intolerant of nonbelievers, you will support aggression and you will believe that there will only be peace in the world if the world is Islam." In Texas, Republican Larry Smith, who called Islam the "death of humanity," lost his bid for a U.S. House seat.
Bank accounts of Muslims closed
While the Muslims remain on security radar in the post-9/11 America dozens of Muslim bank accounts were closed without any explanation in several US states. None of these individuals have been charged with any crimes or engaged in any transaction that violates US law. The only thing these individuals have in common is that they have Muslim names. The Los Angeles Times reported in September, “From Washington state to Florida, surprising letters from banks have turned up in the mailboxes of at least a dozen people. The message in each case: Your bank account is being closed. What frustrates the recipients is not only that they are all of Middle Eastern descent — leading them to suspect discrimination — but that the banks refused to provide the reason for kicking them out.”
In November, the Council on American-Islamic Relations of the Greater Los Angeles office (CAIR-LA) reported that it has been receiving complaints from customers of Bank of America who have been receiving a letter package requesting customers to provide proof of current residence or information about the source of their assets. These letters have targeted Muslims and individuals from U.S sanctioned countries, such as, Syria and Iran. Bank of America claims it is implementing a program designed to comply with United States Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctions. In doing so, customers are threatened with the inability to use debit cards to make purchases and restrictions on all accounts for noncompliance. Similarly, Chase has taken a more aggressive approach. Customers have reported having their bank accounts closed without warning or have been unable to donate to charitable organizations affiliated with the Muslim community.
The American Muslim community was shocked in November at the inclusion of America’s largest Muslim civil liberties and advocacy organization, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), in the terror list of the United Arab Emirates, a US-client Sheikhdom. Another American Muslim group included in the UAE terror list is the Muslim American Society (MAS). Why the American Muslims are shocked? Despite best efforts by the anti-Islam and anti-Muslim organizations and individuals to dislodge the CAIR from its position as the only Muslim voice which is trying to defend and preserve the Muslim civil rights in the post-9/11 America.
Relating all the hate attacks, discrimination, mosque vandalism, and other negative incidences related to the American Muslims are beyond the scope of this article.
On the positive side.
Everything was not black and grey for the Muslim community in America. Since 9/11 tragedy, the American Muslims have embarked on an intensive outreach drive to build bridges and to reach other ethnic and faith communities. Here are few examples:
Washington National Cathedral on November 14 hosted Friday prayer. It was the first time that the National Cathedral hosted a Friday prayer although the church has previously held Muslim prayers. “This prayer marks an historic moment, this prayer symbolizes a grand hope for our community. As we get to know each other … more bridges are built … and there’s less room for hate and prejudice to come between us,” said Rev. Canon Gina Gilland Campbell, cathedral director.
After a long struggle, on December 17, Maryland's Frederick County Public Schools Board of Education adopted a 2015-2016 calendar that includes the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha, which marks the end of the yearly pilgrimage to Mecca (Hajj) and commemorates the Prophet Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his son Ishmael at God's command. CAIR Maryland Outreach Manager Zainab Chaudry said: "This symbolic move indicates that the board supports treating Muslim students equally and promotes inclusivity in the school system."
On December 11, the New Castle (N.Y.) Zoning Board of Appeals unanimously approved a special permit for the Upper Westchester Muslim Society's proposed mosque. The approval ends what has been an eight-year saga for the society's application before the board. It was submitted in 2006 and underwent a lengthy environmental review.
City officials in an Atlanta suburb on December 15 voted to allow Muslim residents to open a mosque in a local shopping center, reversing, under threat of a lawsuit, a decision made two weeks earlier. The City Council of Kennesaw, a community of 30,000 residents 30 miles northwest of Atlanta, voted unanimously to allow the prayer center. On Dec. 1, the council voted 4-1 to deny an application for the mosque, saying that zoning regulations did not allow a place of worship in that particular shopping center.
The Muslim community was delighted in June when the US District Judge Anthony J. Trenga dismissed the indictment against Dr. Al-Arian who has been targeted by the government for his political activity for more than a decade. A 2005 trial in Florida ended in acquittals on eight counts and a hung jury on nine other counts, with 10 of 12 jurors voting to acquit Dr. Al-Arian of all counts. To avoid a threatened re-trial, Al-Arian pleaded guilty to one count, which also allowed for his deportation. But before his deportation, Al-Arian was served with a subpoena calling him before a grand jury to testify about Muslim organizations in Virginia. Al-Arian said the subpoena violated his plea deal and constitutional rights.
Abdus Sattar Ghazali is the Chief Editor of the Journal of America (www.journalofamerica.net) Email: [email protected]
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