Category Archives: USA

Fear creates opposition to planned mosque in Virginia Beach

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Virginia Beach mosque planSome Virginia Beach residents don’t want a mosque in their neighborhood.

“I have deep concerns about the proposed Islamic mosque in Virginia Beach. It is well known that mosques are the recruiting and training ground for radical Islamists and terrorists,” Atwood Brooks wrote.

“This proposed mosque is something Virginia Beach citizens should think twice about. NYC police monitor the sermons there as they often contain messages which incite and co-ordinate violence against citizens,” Cyndy Welde wrote.

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Posted in USA

NSS thinks allowing Muslim employees to wear hijab is giving in to ‘Islamist demands’

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Yesterday it was reported that the clothing retailer Abercrombie & Fitch had lost two lawsuits brought by the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission after the company sacked one young Muslim woman and refused to employ another because they wore headscarves. The company announced that it had now changed its policy and would allow employees to wear the hijab.

Most of us would think this was a welcome victory against discrimination. But how does the National Secular Society report it? Under the headline “Abercrombie & Fitch accede to Islamist demands”. It’s the sort of response you would expect from the likes of Pamela Geller.

Abercrombie to let workers wear hijab

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Trendy clothing retailer Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF) has agreed to make religious accommodations and allow workers to wear head scarves as part of a settlement of discrimination lawsuits filed in California, lawyers announced Monday. The retailer will now allow hijabs, the traditional head scarves worn by many Muslim women when in public.

One judge determined the company fired a Muslim worker from a California store, while another judge said it refused to hire another woman in the state because of their refusal to remove their hijabs during work. The rulings came after the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed lawsuits on behalf of both women.

In court papers filed Friday, Abercrombie agreed to pay the women a combined $71,000 and unspecified attorney fees. Additionally, it has established an appeals process for workers who believe they were denied religious accommodations.

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Sikh professor beaten up, attackers shouted ‘get Osama’ and ‘terrorist’

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Prabhjot SinghA Columbia University professor was assaulted on Saturday night in what police say is being investigated as a hate crime.

According to a New York Police Department source, Dr. Prabhjot Singh, who is Sikh and wears a turban and a beard, was attacked at 8:15 p.m. while walking along 110th Street near Lennox Avenue in upper Manhattan. An unknown suspect or suspects shouted anti-Muslim statements, knocked the professor down and punched him numerous times in the face.

Simran Jeet Singh, a student and friend of Dr. Singh, visited the victim at Mt. Sinai Hospital where he is recovering from several severe but non-life-threatening injuries. According to Simran Jeet Singh, Dr. Singh said that during the attack the assailants shouted “get Osama” and “terrorist.”

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New York: Muslim woman assaulted, called ‘terrorist’ at pro-democracy rally

Posted on by Bob Pitt

The New York chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-NY) today reported an apparently bias-motivated assault on a New Jersey Muslim woman taking part in a pro-democracy rally in Times Square on Saturday.

CAIR-NY reports that the woman, who wears an Islamic headscarf (hijab), was called an “f**king terrorist” during the assault. The incident and the arrest of the alleged perpetrator were caught on video.

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School ends field trips to Nashville mosque after complaints

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Islamic Center of NashvilleA certain kind of field trip is now off limits in one Middle Tennessee school district after students and parents complained.

Some Hendersonville High School students came to the Islamic Center of Nashville as part of a world studies class field trip. The students took a tour of the mosque and were offered a copy of the Quran, and one parent isn’t too happy about that.

“If you can’t go to one, you shouldn’t go to any. I mean, if you are going to be fair and balanced about it, that’s the way you need to handle it,” said parent Mike Conner.

Conner’s daughter refused to go on the field trip. “[The teacher] couldn’t understand why we didn’t want our children to experience different cultures. Well, different cultures is fine, but in our opinion, non-tolerant religions is not something you want to take your kids to,” Conner said.

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CAIR report: Islamophobia network funded with $119 million 2008 to 2011

Posted on by Bob Pitt

CAIR Legislating Fear coverThe nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization today released a report, “Legislating Fear: Islamophobia and its Impact in the United States,” which reveals that anti-Islam groups received more than $119 million in funding between 2008 and 2011.

The new report by the Washington-based Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) also identifies 37 organizations dedicated to promoting anti-Islam prejudice in America. CAIR’s second report on the subject more fully identifies the “Islamophobia network” in the United States and exposes its funding.

“This report sheds light on the groups promoting Islamophobia in our society and reveals to the reader the impact those groups have on our nation’s discourse about Islam, pluralism and the future of the protections enshrined in the U.S. Constitution,” said Corey Saylor, who directs CAIR’s department to monitor and combat Islamophobia.

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Police see bias motive for New Hampshire mosque vandalism

Posted on by Bob Pitt

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3SMuYcYfXf8

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, said today that law enforcement authorities in New Hampshire are investigating a bias motive for extensive vandalism of the construction site for the Islamic Society of Greater Manchester.

CAIR said the vandalism, which cost more than $30,000 to repair and included a number of smashed windows and attempted arson, occurred in July but was not determined to be bias-motivated until recently. The perpetrators were caught on video surveillance cameras.

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New Miss America accused of being ‘Arab’ and ‘terrorist’ on Twitter

Posted on by Bob Pitt

The news of an Indian-American contestant winning the national Miss America beauty pageant, has resulted in a barrage of racist messages over the internet.

Although Nina Davuluri told a press conference after winning Miss America that she was “so happy this organization has embraced diversity,” social networking platform Twitter erupted with users expressing their displeasure at her victory. Reactions to Davuluri’s success in the competition included claims that she was of Arab origin.

Offensive comments ranged from outrage at the proximity of the “Arab” win to the Sept. 11 attacks, to her faith, to jokes about her having possible ties to militant group al-Qaeda.

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Posted in USA