Category Archives: USA

Jews, Christians and Muslims back bar on Geller

Posted on by Bob Pitt

As Jews, Christians and Muslims united together to find paths to peace, we the participants and friends who are part of the Abrahamic Faiths Peacemaking Initiative, are grateful for The Jewish Federation’s decision to cancel the speaking engagement of Pamela Geller (“Federation Bars Anti-Muslim Activist From Speaking“, June 29). The last thing this or any other community needs is a hate and fear promoter “shouting fire in a crowded theater” in the name of “free speech” or “balanced debate.” Ms. Geller’s record of vitriol and venom speaks for itself, and her appearance, like her other talks, would have been a deliberate, hate-filled provocation. Her words of anger and panic would not have contributed to an honest, respectful expression of a contested viewpoint, but instead would have inflicted significant damage upon any fragile bridges of true understanding that we and others have been trying to build for years.

Rabbi Neil Comess-Daniels
Rabbi Jonathan Klein
Rabbi Steve Jacobs
The Rev. Ed Bacon
The Rev. Carissa Baldwin-McGuiness
The Rev. Paige Eaves
Pastor Ryan Bell
Hussam Ayloush
The Rev. Dr. Art Cribbs
The Rev. Frank Alton
Father Chris Ponnet
Dr. Steve Wiebe

Letter in the Jewish Journal, 5 July 2012

Attack on Missouri mosque part of national pattern

Posted on by Bob Pitt

The Joplin Globe has a good article placing the recent suspected arson attack on the Islamic Society of Joplin’s mosque in the context of a general rise in anti-Muslim bigotry and hate crime.

The report quotes an ACLU spokeswoman as stating that the fact that the incident took place on 4 July is particularly troubling: “On Independence Day, we should be celebrating all of our freedoms, including freedom of religion.”

Why the attacker should have chosen that date is as yet unclear. Perhaps they’d been fired up by reading Robert Spencer.

FBI investigates possible arson at Missouri mosque

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Joplin Islamic Center arsonJOPLIN, Mo. — A fire early Wednesday at the Islamic Society of Joplin’s mosque is being treated as suspicious, according to police and fire officials.

Capt. Kelly Stephens of the Jasper County Sheriff’s Department said the FBI has been called in to join the investigation, and that tapes from security cameras on the property are being reviewed by authorities. Stephens said footage from the tapes is helping direct leads. He would not say what the tapes revealed.

Continue reading →

The ‘Olympic terror plot’ that wasn’t

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Jamaal UddinLast week the right-wing press made a big splash over the arrest of two Muslims who had been reported to the police for “acting suspiciously” while sailing a dinghy on the River Lea at Waltham Abbey in Hertfordshire, near to the Olympic canoeing venue.

While articles in the Guardian and the Evening Standard were quite measured, the Daily Telegraph reported this under the shock-horror headline “London 2012: Two Muslim converts arrested over Olympic terror plot”.

The Daily Mail did at least refer to the plot in inverted commas (“Muslim converts who ‘plotted to attack Olympic canoeing venue’ arrested after police see them acting suspiciously in a dinghy”), but as you can see, the Telegraph didn’t even bother with that formality. In any case, the two individuals had been arrested on suspicion and had not been charged with an offence. So, in the absence of actual evidence, talk of any kind of plot was premature to say the least.

Continue reading →

Islamophobia: a bipartisan project

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Deepa Kumar Islamophobia and the Politics of EmpireDeepa Kumar, author of the new study Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, argues that the demonisation of Islam is nothing new and that “the ‘Muslim enemy’ is inextricably tied to a long history of US imperialism”.

Nor is it just the Republican right that views the Muslim world as a potential threat to US interests. The author argues:

“Liberal Islamophobia may be rhetorically gentler but it reserves the right of the US to wage war against ‘Islamic terrorism’ around the world, with no respect for the right of self-determination by people in the countries it targets. It is the ‘white man’s burden’ in sheep’s clothing.”

The Nation, 2 July 2012

Murfreesboro judge won’t let new mosque open

Posted on by Bob Pitt

A Rutherford County judge is continuing to block a local mosque from receiving a certificate of occupancy.

Chancellor Robert Corlew issued the injunction last month after ruling that county officials did not provide sufficient public notice for the May 2010 meeting where the mosque’s construction plans were approved.

The county has argued that it treated that meeting like any other and has appealed the ruling to the Tennessee Court of Appeals.

County attorneys on Monday told Corlew he should stay his injunction on the certificate of occupancy while the appeal is pending. Corlew declined to do so, saying that a stay would gut his decision that voided construction approval.

Construction of the new Islamic Center of Murfreesboro has been ongoing throughout the dispute and is nearly complete.

Associated Press, 2 July 2012

Posted in USA

Norton, Ohio: Muslim police officer files religious discrimination lawsuit

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Norton PD patchFired Norton police officer Nicholas Matheny has filed a federal lawsuit, contending city officials discriminated against him and violated his civil rights by terminating him because of his Muslim faith.

The suit, seeking job reinstatement, a court injunction to end the alleged discrimination and damages for lost pay, was filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Cleveland.

Matheny, 30, adopted the Muslim faith in early 2010 and initially kept the conversion quiet, according to the suit, because of anti-Islamic sentiment in the police department, including emails he said he received from his direct supervising officer.

But in September 2010, when Matheny handed out wedding invitations to two colleagues, with the heading “May Allah Bless This Marriage,” the alleged discrimination came to a head, the suit said. Just as Matheny was ending his final shift before his wedding, the suit said, Chief Thad Hete told him he would be fired.

Continue reading →

Fox News host can’t get enough of guest’s inflammatory anti-Muslim comments

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Fox News’ Eric Bolling continued his campaign against American Muslims today, endorsing the views of a filmmaker who claimed Islam is “the worst, most deadly idea in the history of the world.” Bolling’s guest was Eric Bell, a filmmaker who produced a documentary on a mosque in Murfreesboro, Tennessee.

Bell claimed he originally saw “the Muslim community as victims” and that he had an “inclination to stick up for them.” Bell further claimed that after doing “some serious research about Islam” he found that Islam is “a radical, savage religion” and “the worst, most deadliest idea in the history of the world.” Not only did Bolling not push back on Bell’s inflammatory rhetoric, he responded to Bell by saying he would “[l]ove to have you back and maybe expand on it a little bit more.”

Continue reading →

Muslims stoning Christians in Michigan? Not quite…

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Bible Believers anti-Islam protest (2)

Last month a right-wing Christian group called Bible Believers demonstrated at the Arab International Festival in Dearborn, brandishing anti-Islam banners and shouting abuse at those attending the event. Some of the younger attendees responded to this abuse by throwing water bottles and pop cans at the protestors.

The Islamophobic Right, Pamela Geller and Robert Spencer prominent among them, have been promoting the sensationalist story that Christians were “stoned” by Muslims. This accusation is backed up by a dishonestly edited YouTube video produced by a group called The United West, which is “dedicated to defending and advancing Western Civilization against the kinetic and cultural onslaught of Shariah Islam”.

Loonwatch has a piece debunking the story.

Update:  See also “Tensions at Dearborn festival written up as attack on Christians”, Bartholomew’s Notes on Religion, 3 July 2012