Reports and comment from Islamophobia Watch 17‑23 November

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Reports and comment from Islamophobia Watch 17-23 November 2014

Connecticut Muslims told to remove headscarves at roller rink

Posted on by Bob Pitt

A Connecticut woman says a roller rink’s request that she either remove or cover her traditional Muslim head scarf was discriminatory.

Marisol Rodriguez-Colon of Windsor tells WTIC-TV that she and her sister-in-law went to the Ron-A-Roll indoor rink in Vernon on Sunday for her niece’s birthday party. She says inside, a woman who identified herself as a manager, told them they would have to either remove their hijabs or wear helmets. She was told the rink has a policy prohibiting headwear.

Rodriguez-Colon said removing her scarf was “not an option,” and they left.

Rink management issued a statement reiterating the no headwear policy and saying helmets are offered for safety purposes.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations says it has filed a complaint with the Connecticut Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities.

Associated Press, 24 November 2010

See also CTnow.com, 23 November 2010

Update:  See “Connecticut roller rink defends policy on headscarves after Muslim woman complains”, Fox News, 24 November 2010

Tucson: Eviction notices served on students after beer and liquor bottles thrown at Islamic Center

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Islamic Center of TucsonFour residents of the Level – a high-rise apartment that primarily houses University of Arizona students – were served eviction notices after management concluded objects were thrown from their balcony onto the Islamic Center of Tucson.

The notices were served Thursday after video from the center and mosque shows objects thrown from a balcony that all four male residents share, said City Councilman Steve Kozachik, who is working to make sure the rowdy behavior stops. “I am less concerned with the sensitivity of these kids than people on the ground dodging a whiskey bottle,” Kozachik said.

For more than a year, the mosque and center’s property has been pelted by beer and liquor bottles, among other objects, thrown off balconies of three high-rise apartment complexes by intoxicated students, Kamel Didan, vice chairman of the board of the Islamic center, has said in earlier interviews.

The mosque is at 901 E. First Street, east of North Tyndall Avenue and south of East Speedway. A total of about 1,200 to 1,500 tenants live in the three complexes situated around the mosque.

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EDL protest in Luton draws around 400

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22/11/14 Policing the English Defence League marchToday’s English Defence League (EDL) march in Luton passed without incident this afternoon (Saturday).

This was down to a high police presence and both the EDL march and protest being kept at a distance from a counter protest organised by groups such as United Against Fascism. Officers from police forces all over the country were brought in, from as far afield as the East Midlands and Essex, to contain the protest.

There was a small incident when speeches were being given by EDL members in the centre of Luton, when some members of the counter protest appeared, with a small number of EDL members trying to confront them, but swift action by the police prevented any violence.

Around 400 members of the EDL, with over a hundred present at the counter demonstration. Six were arrested for breach of the peace in Inkerman Street. One of those arrested, a 43-year-old Luton woman was found in possession of an offensive weapon.

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Hate crime surge caused by media misrepresentation of Muslims

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Shameela Islam-ZulfiqarA friend of Salford terror victim Alan Henning has blamed the media and far-right political parties for the upward trend in hate crime against Muslims.

Speaking ahead of an anti-Islamaphobia event hosted by MEND (Muslim Engagement and Development) in the city yesterday, Doctor Shameela Islam-Zulfiqar explained that the religion was being negatively portrayed in the UK.

She was a close friend to Henning, the 47-year-old taxi driver from Salford beheaded by the Muslim extremist group ISIS (Islamic State).

She told MM: “Irresponsible journalism, mainly tabloid sensationalism around a minority of extreme individuals seems to have become the focus of the mainstream media spotlight in recent months that unfortunately all Muslims are tarnished with and inevitably bear the brunt of.”

“This gradual but constant negative media focus serves to exacerbate the issues through groups such as the Far Right who feel justified in vilifying all things Islamic because the media in a sense legitimises and reinforces their stereotyping.

“The actions of a criminal that happens to be Muslim is immediately related back to the religion of Islam. This is not the case in other religious groups.”

The 36-year-old believes that the presence of ISIS has increased negative stereotyping of Islam as a whole, which she says is unjustified.

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How ‘free speech’ is used to justify Islamophobia

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Over at the London Review of Books Adam Shatz has an interesting review of two books – A Norwegian Tragedy: Anders Behring Breivik and the Massacre on Utøya by Aage Borchgrevink, and Anders Breivik and the Rise of Islamophobia by Sindre Bangstad.

Shatz places against the atrocities committed by Breivik against a background of rising Islamophobia in Norway. He concludes with some good points about how anti-Muslim bigotry has gone mainstream, justified by an appeal to the principle of free speech.

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Fired Muslim workers reach settlement with DHL

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Logo DHL Global Mail

HEBRON, Ohio — DHL Global Mail has reached an agreement with Somali Muslims who say they were fired from the company’s Hebron facility in 2013 because they took a break for evening prayer, The Enquirer has learned.

The Cincinnati chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-Cincinnati) on Thursday announced the settlement with DHL over religious accommodation complaints brought by 23 Muslim workers in October 2013.

Booker Washington, staff attorney for CAIR-Cincinnati, said the agreement “brings the case to a satisfactory close and recognizes the needs and rights of all parties.”

CAIR-Cincinnati officials said they could not reveal details of the settlement or answer whether workers had regained their jobs or received a financial settlement.

Muslim workers who sorted mail DHL said management reversed a policy that had allowed flexible break time for workers to say required evening prayers. Fired workers, three of them full-time employees of DHL and the others part-time who help through two temporary service agencies, said they had been allowed to pray by previous supervisors. The prayers took about five minutes, workers said.

The workers filed complaints with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission that alleged DHL Global Mail fired the group for exercising their legally protected religious rights.

“We welcome this settlement, which represents a mutually agreeable resolution of this case,” CAIR attorney Washington said.

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Muslim cemetery vandalized; Bosnian refugees fear hate crime

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Snohomish County cemetery vandalismThe Bosnian community in Western Washington was shocked to find headstones and memorials destroyed at their Snohomish County cemetery.

The refugees who escaped bloody violence in their home country now fear hate has driven vandals to target the place where their loved ones are laid to rest. “They’ve died in peace, they can’t rest in peace,” said Meliha Babic. “This is unacceptable for any place to have your headstones turned over and your grave site vandalized.”

For the Islamic Community of Bosniaks in Washington State, the Bear Creek Cemetery near Maltby is their final resting place.

Babic’s mother and uncle’s bodies are buried at the cemetery. She said her uncle’s headstone was toppled and smashed some time after the weekend. “He came here to escape that, to start a new life and to live in a safe area, and now look what’s happening,” she said.

But it’s what wasn’t damaged that has this immigrant community worried they have been targeted because of their faith. “We have two parts of the cemetery, one Christian, one Muslim,” Babic said. “It seems like all of the damage was in the newer part where the Muslim Bosniaks were buried.”

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Vegemite, ice-coffee and BBQs all in the cross-hairs as halal certification fallout continues

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Boycott Halal in Australia

Vegemite is the latest brand to be targeted by an ongoing campaign to boycott halal-certified products, with a member of federal parliament also entering the fray as the fallout from the anti-halal movement continues.

The iconic Australian spread is latest company to draw the attention of an online network of anti-Islam campaigning groups, which SmartCompany recently revealed had political ties to One Nation and were deliberately targeting Australian businesses in an organised social media assault.

National Party MP George Christensen has suggested in a blog post the halal certification fee paid by Vegemite in order to sell its products to Muslim customers is funding organisations with extremist views and activities in Australia. “It’s lovely to know a jar of the salty black stuff is sponsoring the advocacy of robbing women of all of their marital property rights,” Christensen said.

The coalition backbencher said because the products were not clearly labelled as halal, customers were forced to complain. “This is exactly what many consumers are now doing and the commentariat are condemning; they are exercising their rights as consumers,” he said.

Mike Holt, chief executive officer of the Queensland-based anti-Islam lobby group Restore Australia and former One Nation candidate, previously told SmartCompany a network of anti-Islam groups were responsible for the online attacks against a number of Australian businesses. “What we do is target companies and if we coordinate that protest, it has much bigger effect. They start to see all backlash against it,” said Holt.

The ongoing campaign has gathered momentum in recent weeks, with one of the key Facebook groups, Boycott Halal Australia, now boasting more than 36,000 followers – rising by 3000 likes in just over a week.

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Graffiti attack on Santa Cruz mosque

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Santa Cruz mosque graffitiBlack graffiti of the Star of David was found on the front door of a mosque in Live Oak on Wednesday, and Santa Cruz County sheriff’s deputies are investigating it as a hate crime.

Spray paint of the star, which is a Jewish symbol, and above it the number “26” were written on a white front door of the Islamic Center of Santa Cruz at 900 17th Ave. early Wednesday morning, said Santa Cruz County sheriff’s Sgt. Mitch Medina.

Medina said “night vision” surveillance images show what appears to be a woman in a hooded sweatshirt spraying paint. The letters “SC” appeared on the left torso of her sweatshirt. Deputies said they were unsure of her height, weight and other features.

“She had something covering the bottom half of her face,” Medina said. It was not clear to what the “26” referred, he said.

Safaa Ibrahim, a board member of the Islamic Center of Santa Cruz, said the graffiti might have been related to Tuesday’s attack at a Jerusalem synagogue. Five people were killed with meat cleavers and a gun including three rabbis with joint United States citizenship, according to news reports.

“We strongly condemn any violent acts as a means to achieve religious or political beliefs,” Ibrahim said Thursday. “Our thoughts and prayers go out to the victims and their families on both sides of the conflict to reach peace. We would like to send a message to the person or persons who attacked our mosque, that reciprocating acts of hostility or intimidating innocent people will not make the wrong right.”

Ibrahim said the mosque had “rarely experienced such acts of hostility” in its 20 years in Santa Cruz County. Other faith leaders expressed their support and concern after it was reported, Ibrahim said.

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