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Executive Editor: Abdus Sattar Ghazali
Chronology of Islam in America (2015)
By Abdus Sattar Ghazali
June 2015 - Page Two
Presidential Candidate Ted Cruz urged to drop Anti-Muslim Tennessee campaign chair
June 10: The Council on American-Islamic Relations, the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, has urged Republican presidential candidate and Texas Senator Ted Cruz to remove Kevin Kookogey as his state chairman for Tennessee because of his longstanding support for anti-Muslim causes. “If Senator Cruz chooses to keep Mr. Kookogey on his campaign staff, it would serve as an endorsement of anti-Muslim hate,” said CAIR Government Affairs Manager Robert McCaw. “In the past few months, Senator Cruz has attended several conferences featuring notorious Islamophobes like Robert Spencer and Frank Gaffney. Despite calls to distance himself from such anti-Muslim bigots, it seems that Senator Cruz is only drawing closer to hate-mongers.” As chairman of the Williamson County Republican Party, Kookogey oversaw the adoption of a resolution condemning Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam for appointing a Muslim lawyer to the state’s Department of Economic and Community Development. [www.theventureonline.com]
Hate vandalism targeting Iowa Muslim's house
June 24: In Cedar Rapids, Iowa, a Muslim house, which is under reconstruction following flood damage, was vandalized with hate graffiti such as "f**k Muslim" and "You will be killed here." When a CAIR-IA representative went to the scene to investigate the incident, she was called a "raghead" and "f**king Muslim" by a local resident. The site of the vandalism is only three blocks away from one of the oldest mosques in America. "The apparent bias motive for this vandalism should be investigated by state and federal law enforcement authorities. The perpetrators should be apprehended and face the full force of the law," said CAIR-IA Executive Director Miriam Amer. "This and other recent incidents targeting American Muslims and their institutions should be viewed in the context of the overall rise in anti-Muslim sentiment in American society." [CAIR]
Killings in US only defined as terrorist when carried out by Muslims
June 25: According to the US policy think tank New America Foundation, right-wing extremists have carried out almost twice as many deadly attacks in the United States since September 11, 2001, and killed 48 people versus radicalized Muslims who killed 26. “Unfortunately it’s something that’s come to be accepted by the public and by the media that unless a Muslim is involved in an act of violence, it can’t be labeled as terrorism.” Dylann Roof, who murdered nine African Americans in a church in Charleston, South Carolina on June 17, 2015 for racial ideological reasons and with the intention of starting a civil war, was identified by US media as a “racist,” and not as a “terrorist,” Hooper said. Hooper argued that such stereotypical bias was “counterproductive to our nation’s [United States’] interests, it is counterproductive to inter-faith relations, it’s just something that is harming us as a nation.” “People need to assign importance to attacks of violence by racist groups, supremacist groups and by government groups, instead of just putting it down to deranged loners or other kinds of dismissive people.” The New America Foundation report noted that some US law enforcement agencies view the threat of domestic terrorism as equal to or greater than, foreign terrorist groups, including the Islamic State, according to media accounts. [Sputnik]
American Muslim groups condemn series of terror attacks
June 26: American Muslim groups have condemned a series of deadly terror attacks on a US-owned French gas factory, a Tunisian tourist resort and a mosque in Kuwait. The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation's largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, condemned the terror attacks. In a statement, CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad said: "We join the world community in condemning these appalling attacks on ordinary people going about their daily lives. Such cowardly attempts to create fear and hatred will only result in universal revulsion at the attackers' monstrous agenda and twisted mindset." The Islamic Shura Council of North America also denounced the terror attacks. In a statement, the Shura Council said it records its deepest sorrow over the killing of innocent worshippers at the Imam Sadiq Mosque in Kuwait City. "We condemn this attack as well as any and all acts of violence and barbarity directed specially against the worshipers in their places of worship. It is horrible to see such crimes committed in the peaceful and blessed month of Ramadan," said, Dr. Muzammil Siddiqi, Chairman of the Islamic Shura Council. A wave of terror attacks rocked three continents and left dozens dead on Friday (6-26-2015) leaving the world reeling. In Tunisia, a gunman shot at least 39 people dead on a beach in the resort town of Sousse before he was killed by Tunisian security forces. The attack was later claimed by the Islamic State. And in Kuwait City, Kuwait, a suicide bomber walked into Imam Sadiq Shiite Mosque crowded with worshippers during Friday prayers, and blew himself up. At least 27 people were killed and over 200 were injured in the attack. An attacker in France caused an explosion by plowing his car into a gas factory in Saint-Quentin-Fallavier. A severed head was found staked at the factory entrance. [AMP Report]
CAIR puts 2016 presidential hopefuls under its ‘Islamophobia’ microscope
June 26: The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) has launched a website tracking the 2016 presidential candidates’ positions on Islam, and so far it seems to have the fewest problems with Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican hopefuls New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) But for many of the other GOP candidates, CAIR highlights associations with individuals who, in its opinion, are “Islamophobes.” For instance, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), former Texas Gov. Rick Perry, former Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Penn.), and pediatric neurosurgeon Ben Carson are all implicitly criticized for speaking at events hosted by David Horowitz Freedom Center between 2007 and 2014. The David Horowitz Freedom Center, CAIR informs prospective voters, “is part of the inner core of the U.S. Islamophobia network.” CAIR adds that Horowitz himself has been labeled “the godfather of the modern anti-Muslim movement” – by the Southern Poverty Law Center. Along with Horowitz, CAIR also regards the Center for Security Policy (CSP) and Robert Spencer of Jihad Watch as “part of the inner core of the U.S. Islamophobia network.” Thus it accuses Cruz of having “displayed a growing comfort with Islamophobic groups,” pointing to speeches he gave at the CSP and at a Young America’s Foundation conference where other speakers included Spencer. CAIR cites former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush for appointing as a senior advisor of his political action committee American Center for Law and Justice director Jordan Sekulow. CAIR and others were unhappy about the appointment because they claimed Sekulow had a “history of supporting anti-Muslim legislation and Islamophobic causes.” [CNS News]
Florida Muslim, accused of terrorism based on book collection, set free
June 26: The U.S. government had produced “snippets of information from various sources, out of context, to weave together a narrative of terrorist ideation,” a Florida judge said today, ordering the release of Marcus Dwayne Robertson, an Orlando-based Islamic scholar who stood accused of supporting terrorism. Robertson, also known as “Abu Taubah,” had been incarcerated since 2011 on charges of tax fraud and illegal gun possession. After his arrest and subsequent conviction on those charges, prosecutors sought to add a terrorism enhancement to his sentence, a sentencing guideline modification that would have sent the Islamic scholar to prison for up to 20 years. Instead, following the judge’s rejection of the enhancement, he was sentenced to time served and ordered released immediately. Robertson’s case attracted national attention after prosecutors attempted to argue earlier this year that the contents of his book collection constituted evidence of his connection to terrorism. Prosecutors singled out roughly 20 titles from the more than 10,000 e-books Robertson owned, highlighted a selection of controversial passages, and used that to argue that he should be sentenced as though he were a terrorist. None of Robertson’s charges — conspiracy to file a false tax return and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon — were terrorism offenses. In a memorandum issued along with his decision, Judge Gregory A. Presnell strongly repudiated the government’s argument that Robertson’s book collection proved a connection to terrorism. “[T]here was no evidence produced that Robertson ever accessed these particular documents, much less that he took their extremism to heart,” Presnell wrote, noting that even had Robertson read the books in question, it would not have constituted evidence of terrorism. “The government has never disputed Robertson’s claim of being an Islamic scholar,” the judge continued. “It is not at all remarkable for an Islamic scholar to study, among many, many others, the writings of Islamic extremists.” The memorandum concluded by describing the sum of the government’s terrorism allegations against Robertson as “woefully inadequate,” adding that the government had “not even come close to proving …. Robertson’s relatively minor income tax fraud was intended to promote a federal crime of terrorism.” [First Look]
Houston road rage shooting victim dies: Shooter Shouts 'Go Back to Islam'
June 29: The victim in a Friday (June 26) road rage shooting in southwest Houston died overnight, while hours later, the suspect in that shooting made his first court appearance Yesterday. Robert Craig Klimek, 43, of Houston, is facing a charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, though his attorney is claiming it was self-defense. He's accused of shooting Zaid Abu Naim, 42, in the head after an argument over who had the right of way at Greenridge Drive and Fairdale Lane on Friday. Kilmek told police he shot once in self-defense after he says Naim came up to his window began throwing punches. However, witnesses said the incident started when Klimek allegedly rolled down his window and yelled "Go back to Islam!" Because of that statement, over the weekend, the Council on American-Islamic relations called for the incident to be investigated as a hate crime. "I don't think it's a hate crime, but that's for the DA's office to decide whether or not they want to bring a charge like that," said Craig Seldin, Klimek's attorney. Jeff McShan, a spokesperson with the Harris County District Attorney's Office, told KHOU 11 News the DA' office is reviewing the case and more than likely will file murder charges following news of Naim's death. [KHOU 11 News]
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