Category Archives: USA

CAIR calls on FBI to investigate hate crime against California Muslim

Posted on by Bob Pitt

The San Francisco Bay Area office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-SFBA) today called on the FBI to initiate a hate crime investigation into an attack on a local Muslim allegedly beaten after being called a “terrorist.”

CAIR-SFBA said the Sunnyvale, Calif., resident was walking down the street Friday afternoon when he was approached by three young men who asked him if he was Jewish. When he said he is Muslim, one of the alleged assailants reportedly responded, “That’s worse, you’re a terrorist.” After the alleged victim tried to explain that Islam does not permit terrorism, he was reportedly punched multiple times in the face, resulting in lacerations. Police are searching for a young male suspect.

“Whenever racial, ethnic or religious slurs are used by alleged perpetrators, additional state and federal hate crime charges should be considered,” CAIR-SFBA Programs and Outreach Director Zahra Billoo. “This disturbing incident shows that Jewish and Muslim Americans must continue to work together to challenge bigotry and intolerance.”

CAIR news report, 12 June 2010

Islam’s plot to conquer the West (part 687)

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Grand Jihad coverAndrew C. McCarthy outlines the thesis of his new book The Grand Jihad: How Islam and the Left Sabotage America in an interview with Jamie Glazov of FrontPageMag:

“Islamists consider themselves to be in a ‘civilizational jihad’ – their words, not mine – against the West. They use terrorism to great effect, but the battle proceeds on every conceivable front in our society: the media, the academy, and our politics, law and culture. And their aim is nothing less than the ‘destruction of the West’ – as Sheikh Yusuf Qaradawi, the Muslim Brotherhood’s spiritual guide (and probably the most influential Sunni cleric in the world), puts it, ‘to conquer America’ and ‘conquer Europe’….

“The very title of the book, ‘The Grand Jihad’ and the invocation of ‘sabotage’ in the subtitle, is taken from a 1991 internal Muslim Brotherhood memorandum in which the group’s leadership in the U.S. explains to its global leadership in Egypt that the Brothers (or the Ikhwan) consider their work in North America as a ‘grand jihad’ aimed at ‘eliminating and destroying the Western civilization from within’ by ‘sabotage’.”

Glazov chips in: “Sounds like something the Left would embrace. That’s why you argue that Islamists work together with the Left to sabotage America, right?” McCarthy replies: “Exactly.”

McCarthy does, however, exempt some liberals and leftists from his attack – “not all of what might generally be called ‘the Left’ is part of what I am homing in on” – which is fair enough, given the prevalence of liberal Islamophobia and the role played by the likes of Christopher Hitchens. McCarthy’s target is “the hard Left – in America, the Obama Left or the Alinskyite Left – pushing to change our society radically”.

Anti-Muslim abuse in Minnesota schools

Posted on by Bob Pitt

The U.S. Department of Education has agreed to look into possible civil rights violations at two Minnesota public schools, after a group based in St. Paul filed complaints against the two districts.

The Minnesota chapter of the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) filed the complaints in March, saying Somali and Muslim students were harassed about their race and religion.

These included name-calling, vulgar language, derisive comments about Muslim traditions and obscene gestures, threats on Facebook and the refusal of a school bus driver in St. Cloud to pick up Muslim students at bus stops.

Taneeza Islam, civil rights director for CAIR, a Muslim advocacy organization, said the organization is pleased that a neutral body will look into its complaints.

Meanwhile, a St. Cloud Baptist minister is defending himself against charges of racism after he placed an ad in a newspaper claiming that “when Muslims take over a nation they will destroy the constitution, force Islam on society, take freedom of religion away, and persecute all other religions.”

In a radio interview, the Rev. Dennis Campbell of Granite City Baptist Church insisted he was not racist and his ad was misjudged. Other religious leaders condemned the ad as fear mongering, shocking and untrue.

GIN, 9 June 2010

Robert Spencer leads bigots in protest against Staten Island mosque and community centre

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Spencer Staten Island

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — A meeting about a controversial plan for the Muslim American Society to build a mosque in Midland Beach ended the same way it began: with tension, anger and even hostility.

The two-hour affair, organized by the Midland Beach Civic Association, was intended for members of the community to ask questions about MAS and determine whether the mosque would be a welcome addition to the neighborhood. It was held last night at the Olympia Activity Center, which was filled to its 384-person capacity five minutes before the meeting was to start, and no one else was allowed in.

The controversy began when residents learned of a plan by St. Margaret Mary R.C. Church to sell its empty former convent to MAS, which planned to convert it to a mosque and community center with after-school programs for children.

During the meeting, people grilled three members of the board of the MAS Brooklyn and Staten Island chapter about their views on terrorism and religion, the first question coming from Robert Spencer of jihadwatch.org. “Do you denounce Hamas and Hizballah?,” he asked repeatedly.

At one point, a veteran from Afghanistan challenged both sides. “Will you work to the benefit of the community?” Bill Finnegan asked MAS. “Yes, absolutely,” came the response.

“And, to the community, will you work cohesively with the new members for the betterment of the community?” At that point, the crowd screamed “no!” while hissing and booing.

Toward the end of the meeting, representatives from the civic association called upon community leaders from Brooklyn to talk about their experiences with a mosque there that has been operated by MAS for several years. The crowd became unruly, refusing to let them speak and the civic association abruptly ended the meeting.

SILive.com, 10 June 2010

See also Jihad Watch, 9 June 2010

Ballot to ban Sharia law in Oklahoma

Posted on by Bob Pitt

EDMOND — State lawmakers say it’s a pre-emptive strike against Sharia law, needed to prevent here what has happened in the United Kingdom. An Islamic leader says it’s another example of a rising tide of anti-Islamic bigotry in America.

State Question 755, which likely will be on the ballot in November, would make in-state courts rely on federal and state laws when deciding cases and forbid courts from using international law or Sharia law when making rulings.

The proposal would amend Article 7, Section 1 of the Oklahoma Constitution, and stems from House Joint Resolution 1056, dubbed the “Save Our State” amendment, passed during the just-finished legislative session.

State Rep. Lewis Moore, R-Edmond, a co-author of HJR 1056, said he wanted to express his support very early for the legislation, which is needed because of the “onslaught” coming Oklahoma’s way. “I don’t think we should accept or encourage Sharia law in any way, shape or form,” Moore said.

State Rep. Rex Duncan, R-Sand Springs, primary author of HJR 1056, said Oklahoma is the first state to pass such legislation and he hopes other states will follow. Duncan said Sharia law is entrenched in the United Kingdom. “It is a cancer upon the survivability of the UK,” Duncan said. “SQ 755 will constitute a pre-emptive strike against Sharia law coming to Oklahoma.”

State Sen. Anthony Sykes, R-Moore, a co-author of HJR 1056, said American courts are being more frequently challenged that international law should trump U.S. law. “Sharia law coming to the U.S. is a scary concept,” Sykes said. “Hopefully the passage of this constitutional amendment will prevent it in Oklahoma.”

Council on American-Islamic Relations spokesman Ibrahim Hooper said he has been working on Muslim civil rights issues for several decades and anti-Islam rhetoric is approaching “Nazi-like” levels. “This is just the flip side of the anti-Semitic coin,” Hooper said.

Edmond Sun, 4 June 2010

Ballot to ban Sharia law in Oklahoma

Posted on by Bob Pitt

EDMOND — State lawmakers say it’s a pre-emptive strike against Sharia law, needed to prevent here what has happened in the United Kingdom. An Islamic leader says it’s another example of a rising tide of anti-Islamic bigotry in America.

State Question 755, which likely will be on the ballot in November, would make in-state courts rely on federal and state laws when deciding cases and forbid courts from using international law or Sharia law when making rulings.

The proposal would amend Article 7, Section 1 of the Oklahoma Constitution, and stems from House Joint Resolution 1056, dubbed the “Save Our State” amendment, passed during the just-finished legislative session.

State Rep. Lewis Moore, R-Edmond, a co-author of HJR 1056, said he wanted to express his support very early for the legislation, which is needed because of the “onslaught” coming Oklahoma’s way. “I don’t think we should accept or encourage Sharia law in any way, shape or form,” Moore said.

State Rep. Rex Duncan, R-Sand Springs, primary author of HJR 1056, said Oklahoma is the first state to pass such legislation and he hopes other states will follow. Duncan said Sharia law is entrenched in the United Kingdom. “It is a cancer upon the survivability of the UK,” Duncan said. “SQ 755 will constitute a pre-emptive strike against Sharia law coming to Oklahoma.”

State Sen. Anthony Sykes, R-Moore, a co-author of HJR 1056, said American courts are being more frequently challenged that international law should trump U.S. law. “Sharia law coming to the U.S. is a scary concept,” Sykes said. “Hopefully the passage of this constitutional amendment will prevent it in Oklahoma.”

Council on American-Islamic Relations spokesman Ibrahim Hooper said he has been working on Muslim civil rights issues for several decades and anti-Islam rhetoric is approaching “Nazi-like” levels. “This is just the flip side of the anti-Semitic coin,” Hooper said.

Edmond Sun, 4 June 2010

Radio talk show host calls for ‘Ground zero mosque’ to be blown up

Posted on by Bob Pitt

A Houston talk show host this week called for the bombing of a mosque if it’s built near the site of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in New York City.

In comments Wednesday on KPRC-950 AM, Michael Berry said, “I’ll tell you this – if you do build a mosque, I hope somebody blows it up.” Berry added: “I hope the mosque isn’t built, and if it is, I hope it’s blown up, and I mean that.”

The remarks came in an angry exchange with a caller who insulted Berry and said Muslims should be able to build mosques wherever they want. They were discussing a pending proposal to build an Islamic Center just a few blocks from the attack site in Manhattan.

Houston Chronicle, 28 May 2010

Detroit bus system rejects ‘Leaving Islam?’ ads

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Motown has no use for the anti-Muslim ads plastered across the sides of buses in New York City. Detroit’s SMART bus system has rejected the button-pushing placards that read “Fatwa on your head? Is your community or family threatening you? Leaving Islam?” – and direct Muslims to a Web site urging them to leave the “falsity of Islam.”

“It’s a purely anti-Muslim hate issue,” Dawud Walid of the Council on American-Islamic Relations told the Detroit News on Friday. “The SMART bus company, or any bus company, should not be used to marginalize a minority group.”

Defenders of the ads, dreamed up by Manhattan-based right wing blogger Pamela Geller and the New York-based Stop the Islamization of America, say it’s a free speech issue and they have sued. Americans have a right to know the truth; Islam is a religion of intolerance and violence,” said Michigan lawyer Richard Thompson, who filed the suit.

New York Daily News, 28 May 2010

See also “Bus agency sued for refusing Muslim defector ads”, Associated Press, 28 May 2010

And “The truth behind the ‘Leaving Islam’ campaign in Detroit”, Dawud Walid’s blog, 28 May 2010

Muslim brutally beaten in Brooklyn

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Kamal UddinA Brooklyn man was savagely beaten in broad daylight last weekend.

“They used the bad word. ‘The mother bleeping Muslim, go back to you country.’ They started beating him and after that he don’t know what happened,” the victim’s nephew Abul Kashem said.

Kamal Uddin is in and out of consciousness at Brookdale Hospital after being savagely attacked by four young men.

It didn’t happen under the guise of nightfall or in a secluded area. He was beaten to a pulp at 3:00 Saturday afternoon on the sidewalk at the corner of Barbey and Worthman in East New York.

Why? His family says because he’s a Muslim from Bangladesh. “He has the money. He has the wallet. He was the watch and the cell phone. Nothing taken. Everything is there with him. It seems to me it’s a hate crime,” the victim’s uncle Mohammed Abul Hashem said.

WABC-TV, 26 May 2010

Geller’s ‘Leaving Islam?’ bus ad arrives in New York

Posted on by Bob Pitt

*May 25 - 00:05*

NEW YORK — The questions on the ads aren’t subtle: Leaving Islam? Fatwa on your head? Is your family threatening you?

A conservative activist and the organizations she leads have paid several thousand dollars for the ads to run on at least 30 city buses for a month. The ads point to a website called RefugefromIslam.com, which offers information to those wishing to leave Islam, but some Muslims are calling the ads a smoke screen for an anti-Muslim agenda.

Pamela Geller, who leads an organization called Stop Islamization of America, said the ads were meant to help provide resources for Muslims who are fearful of leaving the faith. Geller said the ad buy cost about $8,000, contributed by the readers of her blog, Atlas Shrugs, and other websites. Similar ads have run on buses in Miami, and she said ad buys were planned for other cities.

Metropolitan Transportation Authority officials said Geller’s ad was reviewed and did not violate the agency’s guidelines. “The religion in question would not change the determination that the language in the ad does not violate guidelines,” MTA spokesman Kevin Ortiz said Wednesday.

Faiza Ali, of the New York chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said the ads were based on a false premise that people face coercion to remain with Islam. She said Muslims believe faith that is forced is not true belief. Geller has a history of speaking out against Muslims, and the ads are “a smoke screen to advance her long-standing history of anti-Muslim bigotry,” Ali said.

Huffington Post, 26 May 2010

Update:  Robert Spencer is not happy.