State representative Rick Womick (R-TN) has made no secret of his anti-Muslim views. A New York Times article from July described Womick on the statehouse floor, warning his constuents that Islamic law was the most urgent threat to their way of life. But in an interview on the sidelines of the “Preserving Freedom Conference” at the Cornerstone Church in Madison, TN, Womick went to new extremes to paint Muslim Americans as dangerous and seditious.
Category Archives: USA
Republican politician calls for all Muslims to be purged from military
State representative Rick Womick (R-TN) has made no secret of his anti-Muslim views. A New York Times article from July described Womick on the statehouse floor, warning his constuents that Islamic law was the most urgent threat to their way of life. But in an interview on the sidelines of the “Preserving Freedom Conference” at the Cornerstone Church in Madison, TN, Womick went to new extremes to paint Muslim Americans as dangerous and seditious.
US Army agrees to review rule against headscarfs
The U.S. Army has agreed to review one of its policies that prevented a 14-year-old Muslim girl in Tennessee from marching in a homecoming parade while wearing her Islamic headscarf.
Freshman Demin Zawity had been enthusiastically participating in Ravenwood High School’s Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps and was looking forward to the parade, her mother Perishan Hussein told a local news station.
However, just before the event Zawity was told she’d have to remove her headscarf, called a hijab, because it wasn’t an official part of the uniform. Even though she volunteered to tuck it under her shirt and wear the uniforms’ cap on top of it, she was told it still was a problem, her mother said.
Heartbroken, Zawity dropped out of the program and her family wrote to the Council on American-Islamic Relations for help. They didn’t want to sue, but simply wanted a policy change, an apology and a chance for Zawity to be readmitted to the program.
Muslim ex-Whole Foods employee sues company for discrimination
A Muslim man formerly employed at a Whole Foods Market in Philadelphia is suing the company, claiming he was mistreated for going on a pilgrimage to Mecca and for praying at work during his breaks.
Glenn Mack Jr., 24, had been working at the Philadelphia store for about two years and, said his lawyer, loved his job. In the fall of 2010, he made a vacation request to take 18 days off, 2½ months before his time off was to start. Whole Foods requires two-weeks’ notice for time off. Mack’s plan was to go to Saudi Arabia and make a pilgrimage to Mecca, the holiest city in Islam.
“When [Mack’s supervisor] discovered [Mack] was going to Mecca for his pilgrimage, that’s when things started to change,” said Mack’s attorney, Amara Chaudhry, the civil rights director at the Philadelphia chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations. “He was told his job would not be guaranteed upon his return.”
In a complaint filed with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Mack claimed his supervisor “had previously been heard making Islamaphobic comments,” according to Chaudhry, and Mack said he was given a difficult ultimatum. “His supervisor apparently said to him, ‘You can choose. It’s either your job or your religion,'” Chaudhry said. Mack chose his religion and made his pilgrimage.
Muslims in New York feel powerless over NYPD secret reports
Justice may not be on the side of people subjected to surveillance, the Associated Press reports.
NYT follows up Crockett Keller story
The New York Times reports on the case of Crockett Keller, the gun instructor who placed a radio ad for a concealed handgun class which told Muslims they wouldn’t be allowed to attend.
Keller asks: “Why would I teach people who have sworn the annihilation of the United States and who can lie, cheat, steal and murder Americans in order to further Islam? Why would I arm someone like that? Why would I enable them to carry a weapon legally?”
“Outside of looking at television, I doubt if he’s ever seen a Muslim”, Mustafaa Carroll of CAIR is quoted as saying.
Trial over Murfreesboro Islamic Center plan set for next April
The trial over the site plan approval for the Islamic Center of Murfreesboro has been scheduled for next April. Seventeen plaintiffs are suing Rutherford County, claiming officials violated Tennessee’s open meetings law.
Plaintiffs’ attorney Joe Brandon Jr. also tried to argue that the mosque violated his clients’ constitutional rights, claiming mosque members were compelled by their religion to subdue non-Muslims. Chancellor Robert Corlew dismissed that claim in May.
Rutherford County attorney Josh McCreary said that Corlew set an April 25 trial date during a hearing on Wednesday. Corlew also agreed to allow The Murfreesboro Post to intervene in the case.
Notice for the meeting where the site plan was approved was printed in The Post. Plaintiffs argue The Post is not a newspaper of general circulation, as required by law.
Right-wing Christian crank to challenge Keith Ellison
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o2Zx6pSO9mc
This is the ad that Gary Boisclair has announced he will broadcast as part of his planned challenge to US Muslim Congressman Keith Ellison in the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party primary in Minnesota. Boisclair’s prospects of defeating Ellison are zero, but he intends to use his campaign to force media outlets to air right-wing fundamentalist Christian propaganda. Abortion rights are Boisclair’s main target, but presumably he hopes to win a wider audience by wrapping his message in rabid Islamophobia.
Offers of aid pour in after fire at Wichita mosque
When the Rev. Jackie Carter learned of the fire that heavily damaged a mosque in west Wichita early Monday morning, she knew what she needed to do.
“They are welcome to use the worship space at our building,” said Carter, pastor of First Metropolitan Community Church at 156 S. Kansas. “We believe it’s important for everyone to have sacred space, and now they don’t.”
It’s just one of numerous offers of assistance for the mosque and those who pray there, said Hussam Madi, a spokesman for the Islamic Society of Wichita. The society posted a letter of appreciation on its website today.
“On behalf of the Islamic Society of Wichita, we would like to thank the Wichita community for the outpouring of support we continue to receive in response to the fire at the Westside Islamic Center,” Jenaya McHenry, office manager for the Islamic Society of Wichita, stated in the letter.
“We have received numerous phone calls and e-mails from individuals and churches offering kind words, support, services and space to aid the Muslim community in Wichita. We are truly grateful to be part of such a giving community and for each and every person who has reached out to us.”
The cause of the fire at the mosque at 3406 W. Taft, southeast of Maple and West streets, remains under investigation.
“There are plans to rebuild,” Madi said. “It’s going to require some fundraisers.” Preliminary cost estimates are in the $120,000 range, he said. People wishing to send financial donations for the mosque can send them to the Islamic Society of Wichita, 6655 E. 34th St. North, 67226.
“We deeply appreciate the help and the offers from other peoples of faith in our city,” Madi said. “That makes us feel that we are a part of this community, which we work hard to be a part of.”
Wichita Eagle, 3 November 2011
See also “Respect, protect rights”, Wichita Eagle, 3 November 2011
Pamela Geller: ‘I endorse Herman Cain. What he doesn’t know, we’ll teach him’
TPM reports on Pamela Geller’s endorsement of would-be Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain. The kiss of death to Cain’s campaign, surely?