Category Archives: Resisting Islamophobia

‘Super Size Me’ director turns to TV

Posted on by Bob Pitt

The man who made a hit movie out of eating McDonald’s fast food for a month has filmed a “fundamentalist Christian” man living as a Muslim to find out what it’s like to face the prejudice that many Muslims in America deal with since September 11.

The experiment is part of “Super Size Me” Director Morgan Spurlock’s new reality TV show “30 Days,” which places people in a variety of unfamiliar circumstances for 30 days.

“One of my favorite episodes is … what’s it like to be a Muslim in America … who is seen every day as a threat to our freedom simply because of their color, their race, their religion,” Spurlock told Reuters in an interview on Monday.

Reuters, 17 May 2005

Austrian Muslims concerned at new immigration law

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Austrian Muslims have expressed concerns at a modified immigration law, fearing Muslims would take the brunt of the new restrictions as they make up the majority of immigrants in the south-central European country.

“Many Muslims still don’t hold Austrian citizenship, which makes them vulnerable to the new bill,” Omar Al-Rawi, the Islamic Religious Authority (IRA)’s official in charge of the integration file, told IslamOnline.net. He said that the amendments, for example, regard humanitarian work and assistance for refugees as illegal and punishable by law.

“The amendments stipulate that illegal and unregistered residents could face deportation and subject those who provide them with shelter to prison terms,” added Rawi, who is also a Member of Parliament for the opposition Socialist party.

Islam Online, 15 May 2005

British Muslims express their outrage at desecration of the Quran

Posted on by Bob Pitt

“The Muslim Association of Britain (MAB) condemns the latest attack on Islam and all that is sacred to the Muslims. The reported flushing of the Holy Quran down the toilet by US soldiers at Guantánamo Bay detention centre represents the extreme contempt held for Islam and Muslims by the perpetrators of this shameful act which regrettably has been nurtured by the policies of the US Administration at all levels.”

MAB press release, 14 May 2005

See also “Muslim outrage at desecration of Qur’an – President Bush must take responsibility”, Muslim Council of Britain press release, 15 May 2005

Anti US movements sweep Muslim world

Posted on by Eddie Truman

Quran desecration protestRevelations about the use of torture techniques used by US military forces that include the desecration of the Qur’an have sparked unrest across the Muslim world.

Aljazeera reports here.

At least nine people were killed yesterday as a wave of anti-American demonstrations swept the Islamic world from the Gaza Strip to the Java Sea, the Times reports.

CNN report on events in Afghanistan here.

Prosecutions symbolise new American Gulag

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Arab American prosecutions symbolize the new American Gulag

By Ray Hanania

Arab Media Watch, May 13, 2005

If anyone in the Arab World has any doubts about the bankruptcy of the American pledge to bring Democracy and freedom to their country, all they need do is examine the case of Sami Al-Arian.

Al-Arian is one of four political prisoners being prosecuted for criticizing Israel, supporting the liberation of Palestine and opposing the Soviet war against Muslims, issues shared by nearly every citizen of the Arab World.

Next week, American prosecutors will pick a jury to hear charges that Al-Arian, 47, a former University at South Florida professor, raised money to support Palestinian and Islamic causes, and gave speeches denouncing Israel at rallies and conferences.

His co-defendants include: Sameeh Hammoudeh, 44, a former instructor and student at USF and an administrator at the Islamic Academy of Florida; Ghassan Zayed Ballut, 43, a small business owner who lived in Tinley Park, Ill.; and Hatem Naji Fariz, 32, who was manager of a medical clinic in Spring Hill, Florida.

Both Ballut and Fariz are also Arab American journalists who I know. While they are devout Muslims with strong political views critical of Israel, they have never engaged in anti-American activities or promoted violence.

None of the four defendants danced around handing out cookies on Sept. 11 after Al-Qaeda terrorists and followers of Osama Bin Laden crashed planes into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon or try to hit the White House.

Yet that is exactly why they can’t get a fair trial in America. They have been targeted unfairly as a part of the emotional wave of post-Sept. 11 anti-Arab hate that is sweeping this nation.

Continue reading →

US Muslims seek probe of Gitmo Quran ‘desecration’

Posted on by Bob Pitt

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) today called on the Bush administration to launch a public probe of allegations that interrogators at the U.S. detention center in Guantanamo Bay flushed a Quran, Islam’s revealed text, down a toilet. At least four people were killed today in Afghanistan during protests over the alleged desecration.

CAIR news release, 11 May 2005

US Report: anti-Muslim hate crime jumps 52 percent

Posted on by Bob Pitt

A report released by a prominent national Islamic civil rights and advocacy group indicates that anti-Muslim hate crimes in the United States increased by more than 50 percent in the past year, from 93 cases in 2003 to 141 in 2004.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations’ (CAIR) report – the only annual study of its kind – outlines 1522 incidents and experiences of anti-Muslim violence, discrimination and harassment in 2004, the highest number of Muslim civil rights cases ever recorded in the Washington-based group’s annual report. (Hundreds of anti-Muslim incidents reported immediately following the 9/11 attack were detailed in a separate report.) According to the study, called Unequal Protection,” that figure is a 49 percent jump over the preceding year.

CAIR said factors contributing to the sharp increase in reported incidents included the lingering impact of post-9/11 fears, increased awareness of civil rights issues in the Muslim community, a general increase in anti-Muslim rhetoric, growth in the number of local CAIR chapters reporting cases, and abuses associated with the implementation of national security policies.

(The complete report may be viewed at: http://www.cair-net.org/asp/2005CivilRightsReport.pdf)

CAIR news release, 11 May 2005

Report to show sharp jump in anti-Muslim hate crimes

Posted on by Bob Pitt

On Wednesday, May 11, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) will hold a noon news conference in the nation’s capital to release its 10th annual report, titled “Unequal Protection,” on the status of Muslim civil rights in the United States.

The Washington-based Islamic civil rights and advocacy group’s report – the only annual study of its kind – will show a significant increase in anti-Muslim hate crimes during 2004 and an 11-year high in the total number of reported cases. (States with the largest numbers of reported incidents include California, New York, Arizona , Virginia, Texas, Florida, Ohio, Maryland, New Jersey, and Illinois.)

The report’s authors believe at least some of the sharp rise in anti-Muslim incidents can be attributed to growing Islamophobia in American society. That disturbing phenomenon will be addressed at a CAIR conference, called “Islamophobia and Anti-Americanism: Causes and Remedies,” to be held this weekend in Washington , D.C. SEE: http://www.cair-net.org/2005conference/

CAIR news release, 9 May 2005

Islamism and democracy

Posted on by Bob Pitt

“Many moderate Islamists accept the legitimacy of democratic procedures (although many doubt their sincerity). They’re willing to participate, unlike the bin Ladenist types who reject democracy on principle. Having someone like the controversial al-Jazeera cleric Yusuf al-Qaradawi consistently preaching the virtues of democracy to a vast al-Jazeera audience is worth a thousand marginal pro-American figures saying the same thing. Still, liberals (at least) can’t help but be disturbed by their socially conservative views on homosexuality, gender relations, the relationship between religion and state – to say nothing of their hostility to Israel.”

Marc Lynch (Abu Aardvark) offers some thoughts the US response to on democratic Islamism.

Washington Monthly, 5 May 2005