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Executive Editor: Abdus Sattar Ghazali
Chronology of Islam in America (2016)
By Abdus Sattar Ghazali
September 2016 Page Two
Experts seeing spike in possible anti-Muslim hate crimes
Sept 13: The days surrounding the 15th anniversary of the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, have seen a stunning increase in what may be anti-Muslim hate crimes in the United States, ranging from arson to murder. In one case, a semi-truck driver appeared to deliberately drive his big rig into a Maryland mosque. It’s unclear, according to those who track hate crimes, whether the increase in crimes against Muslims is attributable to the anniversary that claimed the lives of 2,996 Americans (including 60 American Muslims), whether it is linked or inspired by xenophobic rhetoric associated with the presidential campaign or is a coincidental spike in hate crimes. Madihha Ahussain, a staff attorney for Muslim Advocates who heads a program to counter anti-Muslim hate, says hate crimes against American Muslims “have skyrocketed across the nation.” Dr. Zainab Chaudry, an outreach manager with the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), said that American Muslims are being impacted by a “hostile political climate” and are the targets of a “spike in hate crimes and threats.” The list of possible hate crimes is stunning -- and, growing. [SPL Center]
Mosque attacks rising; civil rights group cites Islamophobia
Sept 13: Preliminary data from the Council on American-Islamic Relations indicates that 2016 is on track to be the second-worst year on record when it comes to mosque attacks. This year is barely trailing the record set last year: 78 mosques were attacked in 2015. Between 2009 and 2015, CAIR found that what it deemed Islamophobia interfered with at least 40 zoning proposals for mosques. CAIR started keeping tabs on such incidents at the end of the last decade. In a report released in December 2015, the group also found an increase in incidents targeting mosques -- including vandalism, harassment and intimidation. "We have seen an unprecedented rise in both anti-Muslim rhetoric and resulting rise in anti- Muslim hate crimes and incidents in our society," said Ibrahim Hooper, CAIR's national communications director. The advocacy organization has noted a spike in anti-Muslim discrimination and hate crimes in recent months, attributing it at least in part to Islamophobic rhetoric used by various public figures. "The 2016 presidential election has mainstreamed Islamophobia and resulted in a number of unconstitutional proposals targeting Muslims," said Corey Saylor, director of CAIR's Department to Monitor and Combat Islamophobia. [CNN]
Fear over Islam in schools draws a crowd In Kalispell, Texas
Sept 15: Almost 200 people gathered at the Outlaw Convention Center in Kalispell tonight to talk about Islam, public school curriculum, and American values. The event was put on by the Flathead Chapter of ACT! For America. The speaker of the night was retired Air Force Lt. Col. Roy White, from Texas. He’s chairman of the Truth in Textbooks Coalition, part of the ACT for America Education program. According to its website, the group aims to have 500 trained reviewers across 22 states by the end of 2016. “One-hundred-and-fifty schools are receiving a half a billion dollars worth of federal money and grants for charter schools, which basically is an influence operation for indoctrinating children," White told the crowd, adding, sarcastically, "So, happy news.” Truth in Textbooks works to keep what White called, “soft and gentle” depictions of Islam out of public school curriculum and textbooks. The Council on American-Islamic Relations and the Southern Poverty Law Center, say that ACT! is one of the biggest anti-Muslim hate groups operating across America today. [Montana Public Radio]
2016 on Track to Be One of the Worst Years for Anti-Mosque Incidents
Sept 15: The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation's largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today reported that 2016 is on track to be one of the worst years ever for anti-mosque incidents, with a total of 55 cases recorded as of mid-September. Last year there were a total of 79 recorded anti-mosque cases. The majority of the 2016 incidents have been violent in tone, characterized by intimidation, physical assault and property damage, destruction or vandalism. The Washington-based civil rights organization attributes the rise in anti-mosque incidents at least in part to Islamophobic rhetoric used by public figures like Donald Trump and others. "This trend of increasing violence targeting the American Muslim community is deeply troubling," said CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad. "It is important for presidential candidates and other public figures to unify Americans against hate. Any American should be able to freely practice his or her religion without fear of harm or intimidation." Awad added, "We are releasing this information as 2016 is now one of the worst years on record for bias incidents targeting mosques." In the first two weeks of September, three incidents targeting mosques have occurred. The most destructive of these has been in Florida, where a mosque was intentionally set ablaze and a suspect arrested. [CAIR]
For Muslim voters, a time to speak up with a ballot
Sept 15: Voter-registration tables are set up near each entrance to the mosque. As men and women come in they are asked if they are registered to vote. Some register for the first time. Others stop to make sure their information is updated. With eight weeks to go before election day, multiple efforts are underway to register Muslims to vote. Yaqoob, executive director of the Georgia Muslim Voter Project, is careful not to mention specific candidates or elections. She really doesn’t need to. Like other Muslims across the nation, Yaqoob feels her faith is under attack. During early campaigning, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump proposed a temporary ban on Muslims entering the nation and suggested that the U.S. consider profiling Muslims. An Atlanta Journal-Constitution poll conducted by ABT SRBI in January found that 63 percent of Georgia voters oppose Trump’s proposal. Some 32 percent supported it Other polls show that a growing number of Americans have an unfavorable view of Islam. A Pew Research Center survey in 2014 asked Americans to rate members of eight religious groups on a “feeling thermometer” from 0 to 100, with 0 the coldest. They rated Muslims rather coolly: an average of 40, comparable to the average rating of 41 they gave atheists. Republicans are more likely than Democrats to say they are very concerned about the rise of Islamic extremism in the in the U.S., according to a December 2015 survey. That survey also found Republicans more likely than Democrats to say that Muslims should be subject to more scrutiny than people of other religions. Such feelings manifest themselves in many ways. In South Carolina, a Muslim woman wearing an hijab was escorted out of a Trump rally after she stood up in silent protest. In Georgia and elsewhere, opposition to planned mosques and Muslim cemeteries has reached a boiling point. [The Atlanta Journal-Constitution]
Fire at Muslim family's apartment in Windsor Mill, Baltimore investigated as bias crime
Sept 16: A Fire at a Muslim family's apartment in Windsor Mill is being investigated as a possible bias-related crime, Baltimore County police say. The Council on American-Islamic Relations has said the incident was one in a series targeting the family, and called for a thorough investigation. Cpl. John Wachter, a spokesman for county police, said someone entered the apartment in the unit block of Fallridge Court on Sept. 6 and set fire to something on the stove. Wachter said "offensive writing on the wall" led police to classify the incident as a possible bias crime. [Baltimore Sun]
Hate crimes against American Muslims most since Post-9/11 Era
Sept 17: Hate crimes against American Muslims have soared to their highest levels since the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, according to data compiled by researchers, an increase apparently fueled by terrorist attacks in the United States and abroad and by divisive language on the campaign trail. The trend has alarmed hate crime scholars and law-enforcement officials, who have documented hundreds of attacks — including arsons at mosques, assaults, shootings and threats of violence — since the beginning of 2015. While the most current hate crime statistics from the F.B.I. are not expected until November, new data from researchers at California State University, San Bernardino, found that hate crimes against American Muslims were up 78 percent over the course of 2015. Attacks on those perceived as Arab rose even more sharply. Police and news media reports in recent months have indicated a continued flow of attacks, often against victims wearing traditional Muslim garb or seen as Middle Eastern. Some scholars believe that the violent backlash against American Muslims is driven not only by the string of terrorist attacks in Europe and the United States that began early last year, but also by the political vitriol from candidates like Donald J. Trump, who has called for a ban on immigration by Muslims and a national registry of Muslims in the United States. “We’re seeing these stereotypes and derogative statements become part of the political discourse,” said Brian Levin, the director of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at the San Bernardino campus. “The bottom line is we’re talking about a significant increase in these types of hate crimes.” He said that the frequency of anti-Muslim violence appeared to have increased immediately after some of Mr. Trump’s most incendiary comments. The new study from Mr. Levin’s nonpartisan group, based on official police reports in 20 states, estimated that there were about 260 hate crimes against Muslims nationwide in 2015. That was the most since the record 481 documented hate crimes against Muslims in 2001, when the Sept. 11 attacks set off waves of crimes targeting Muslims and Middle Easterners, Mr. Levin said. The huge increase last year was also the biggest annual rise since 2001, he said. The rise came even as hate crimes against almost all other groups — including blacks, Hispanics, Jews, gays and whites — either declined or increased only slightly, his study found. One exception was hate crimes against transgender people, which rose about 40 percent. The statistics almost certainly understate the extent of the problem, researchers say, because victims are often reluctant to report attacks for fear of inflaming community tensions, and because it is sometimes difficult for investigators to establish that religious, ethnic or racial hatred was a cause. [New York Times]
After St. Cloud, Minnesota, mall attack, Muslim community fears retaliation
Sept 18: In the wake of yesterday’s attack at Crossroads Mall in St. Cloud, Minnesota, in which nine people were stabbed by a man as he reportedly referred to Allah, members of the Muslim community expressed sorrow and fear of retaliation. The suspect, who was fatally shot by an off-duty police officer, has not been identified by law enforcement, but The St. Cloud Times reported that members of the Somali community identified him as Dahir Adan, a college student. The FBI has dubbed the attack a “potential act of terrorism.” At a news conference in St. Cloud this afternoon, several members of the Muslim community denounced the violence and asked that the Muslim community be seen as separate from the actions of the suspect. “The central Minnesota Somali community is in distress, and we are afraid of the consequences of this incident,” said Mahmoud Mohamed, a St. Cloud area Muslim who spoke at the conference. “We would like to say, loud, that our community in central Minnesota has no relationship with ISIS or other any other Islamic terrorist group.” Jaylani Hussein, the executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, was in St. Cloud today. He said a history of discrimination against Muslims, including school bullying and vandalism of a mosque, have local Muslims feeling uneasy about the future. “I think it’s a little bit of a shock for the community,” he said. “There’s concern about potential backlash, obviously.” [Twin Cities]
Ban affecting Newton County, Georgia, mosque expires
Sept 20: A small handful of armed protesters outside the historic Newton County courthouse could not stop a moratorium on places of worship from quietly expiring today, clearing the way for a proposed mosque and burial ground. The county issued the temporary moratorium last month after the mosque became a flashpoint for local anxiety over security and religious freedom. The moratorium expires at midnight today, one week after a special called meeting to lift it was cancelled due to security concerns. Although the county did not cite a specific threat, the Newton County Sheriff’s Office said it was investigating a video posted online by a local militia in which members railed against Muslims as terrorists and followers of the Antichrist. [The Atlanta Journal-Constitution]
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