Category Archives: USA

Kansas: Muslims rally against ‘Islamophobic agenda’

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Kansas rally against anti-sharia lawAbout 25 Muslims attended a rally Friday at the Statehouse urging Gov. Sam Brownback to veto a bill banning “foreign laws” that they say is a thinly veiled attack on Islam.

Faizan Syed, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations’ St. Louis branch, said similar “American Laws for American Courts” proposals have been floated in almost half of the 50 states this year. He said proponents have made them purposely vague to avoid running afoul of the Constitution like a 2010 Oklahoma law that specifically targeted Islamic law, or sharia.

“We know this was targeted against Islam because of the Oklahoma law that was struck down,” Syed said. “They just changed the wording.”

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The vilification of CAIR

Posted on by Bob Pitt

“The way in which the most prominent American Muslim civil rights organization has been marginalized and demonized should be cause for alarm not only for Muslims, but for civil rights advocates, and even for those in the law enforcement community who rely on strong local relationships. Lending official legitimacy to allegations that have never seen a day in court is abhorrent to the American value of justice….”

Rabia Chaudry condemns the right-wing witch-hunt of the Council on American-Islamic Relations and the response of the FBI in particular.

altmuslim, 18 May 2012

Reward offered in Wichita mosque fire

Posted on by Bob Pitt

A reward is being offered in connection to a fire that destroyed a Wichita mosque.

Authorities said last week that an Oct. 31 fire at the Islamic Association of Mid-Kansas was intentionally set. The fire caused an estimated $150,000 in damage.

Capt. Stuart Bevis, Wichita Fire, said the fire remained under investigation for some time due to technical analysis being performed in Maryland. The Wichita Police department, the Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and the Federal Bureau of Investigation assisted with the case.

The ATF is offering a $5,000 reward for information leading to arrest and conviction of the person who started the blaze. Anyone with the information about the incident should call ATF at 1-888-ATF-FIRE, FBI at 316-262-0031 or the Wichita Fire Department at 316-337-9146.

KAKE, 16 May 2012

Brookfield aldermen approve mosque – construction set for summer

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Over objections of some residents who sought to table the project, the Common Council unanimously approved a mosque on Pheasant Drive intended to serve a growing Waukesha County Muslim community.

Brookfield aldermen unanimously approved plans for a nearly 13,000-square-foot mosque, to the joy of Waukesha County Muslims and chagrin of opponents who sought to table the project Tuesday.

The Common Council voted 14-0 Tuesday to grant a conditional use permit, with aldermen assuring residents the city had “thoroughly vetted” traffic and other site issues before green-lighting construction.

“We’re elated,” said Mushir Hassan, a Brookfield resident, physician and project leader for the mosque. “We live in a very sophisticated, educated community that understands that they’ve worked with, lived with, and dealt with Muslims and people of all different faiths and cultures on a regular basis,” Hassan said after the meeting.

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Class materials from military’s anti-Islam class repeatedly cite Islamophobic authors

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Sharia and the Constitution cartoon
Slide from a presentation titled ‘Sharia and the Constitution’

A class taught by the military to officers at the Joint Forces Staff College in Norfolk, Virginia, came under fire when a report on Wired’s Danger Room blog last week exposed it for teaching soldiers to engage in a “total war” on Islam and taking a war on Islam “to the civilian population wherever necessary.”

The full set of course materials, hundreds of documents and slide shows obtained by ThinkProgress, reveal just how deep Islamophobia ran through the military instruction. The material contained dozens of citations to the work of some of America’s best known anti-Muslim bigots.

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California: EDL-supporting Senate candidate claims to defend ‘white Americans’ against threat of Islam

Posted on by Bob Pitt

San Mateo, CA — In the US Senate primary in California on June 5th, where 23 candidates vie to challenge Senator Dianne Feinstein in November, conservative candidates were recorded on video verbally attacking teachers, Muslims, and minority groups to excite their base at GOP and Tea Party venues.

The video was recorded at a “Get to Know Your Candidates” event hosted by the San Mateo GOP at the American Legion Hall here. Dr. David Levitt, the candidate who recorded the event, reports unmasked homophobia, Islamophobia, and racism in the Republicans’ speeches.

In the video Republican candidate Rabbi Shifren cries, “… I AM an Islamophobe, and everything we need to know about Islam, we learned on 9-11! I believe in peace and justice for everybody – but that’s not why they’re here…. We’re getting sucker-punched because we as white – yes I said it! – as white, Christian Americans are being taught that somehow WE are to blame for all the problems.”

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Al Jazeera on the US military’s anti-Islam classes

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Al Jazeera has obtained exclusive material of a course taught on a US military base implying that Hamas has influenced the US government at the highest levels.

The course is called “Understanding the Threat to America.” And in it are hundreds of slides that claim to link the Muslim Civil Liberties Advocacy Organisation (CAIR) and other American Muslim groups to the Palestinian group Hamas. It was taught to senior military officers at a base in the state of Virginia.

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Kansas lawmakers pass anti-Islamic law measure

Posted on by Bob Pitt

A bill designed to prevent Kansas courts or government agencies from making decisions based on Islamic or other foreign legal codes has cleared the state Legislature after a contentious debate about whether the measure upholds American values or appeals to prejudice against Muslims.

The Senate approved the bill Friday on a 33-3 vote. The House had approved it, 120-0, earlier in the week. The measure goes next to Republican Gov. Sam Brownback, who hasn’t said whether he’ll sign or veto the measure.

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Muslim Americans challenge ‘no fly’ list in appeals court

Posted on by Bob Pitt

A panel of federal judges grilled Justice Department lawyers on Friday over the government’s “no-fly” list, questioning whether those barred from commercial air travel for suspected terrorism ties are given any realistic avenue for appeal.

Government attorneys were asked to defend the process as lawyers for 15 Muslims in the United States who have been placed on the no-fly list sought to reinstate their constitutional challenge of the airline security measure.

The plaintiffs, who are U.S. citizens or permanent legal residents, said they learned of their “no-fly” status when they were blocked from boarding a commercial flight without prior notice, and were later denied any effective means of petitioning the government to be removed from the list.

“They have been deprived of their rights without redress,” Nusrat Choudhury, an American Civil Liberties Union lawyer, said in court, adding that her clients “want the opportunity to be heard before a decision-maker.”

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