Writing in the Toronto Star, Ihsaan Gardee of the National Council of Canadian Muslims criticises the Canadian government’s failure to take any action, or even issue a statement, in response to Pamela Geller and Robert Spencer’s appearance at a public meeting organised by the far-right Jewish Defence League.
Category Archives: USA
Des Plaines, Illinois: Islamic group sues over rejection of mosque plan
Another federal court battle is brewing over a northwest suburb’s refusal this summer to let a 160-member Islamic group open a mosque in a vacant building in an industrial area.
The lawsuit filed Monday against Des Plaines and five of its aldermen is the latest to take on a “knee-jerk reaction to something Islamic or Muslim,” said Ahmed Rehab, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations-Chicago.
His group helped win a $445,000 settlement from DuPage County in a similar case earlier this year. Now, it’s backing the case brought by the American Islamic Center and its attorney, Tony Peraica. “We believe this was done for discriminatory reasons,” Peraica said.
CAIR to launch new report on Islamophobia
On Tuesday, September 17, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) will hold a press conference to release a groundbreaking report, “Legislating Fear: Islamophobia and its Impact in the United States 2011-2012.”
The 158-page report by CAIR, the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, includes the following:
Cancelled Muslim Sept. 11 speaker was not going to paint Islam as ‘religion of peace’, Arkansas school district says
A teacher in Arkansas thought that the anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks might be a good time to let middle school students know that not all Muslims are like the terrorists who carried out the deadly hijackings. But in the city of Sheridan, that idea didn’t fly with parents.
The superintendent of Sheridan School District was quick to point out that the school had “no thought of having this person address the classes to paint Islam as ‘a religion of peace.’” Even with that assurance, enough parents raise a ruckus that the school district told the guest speaker to stay home. According to one resident of this central Arkansas community with a population under 5,000, “there’s a lot of bigotry and hatred here.”
Burnt pages of Qur’an found outside CAIR Florida office
The day after a controversial Florida pastor was arrested before he could set fire to thousands of Qurans, burnt scraps of the holy book were found in front of the Tampa office for the Council on American-Islamic Relations.
NYC claims Muslim surveillance warranted
The New York Police Department had legitimate reasons to put specific mosques and Muslim worshippers under surveillance as part of its counterterrorism efforts, a city lawyer said Thursday at the first court date in a civil rights lawsuit accusing the NYPD of religious profiling.
Peter Farrell of the city Law Department argued that before the case goes forward, the city should be allowed to present evidence specific to the six plaintiffs that he said would prove police were acting with legitimate law enforcement purposes. If the judge agrees, “then this case is over,” he said.
An American Civil Liberties Union attorney, Hina Shamsi, countered that her clients already had sufficient legal standing to sue the city and that the NYPD should be ordered to begin turning over sensitive reports and documents detailing the alleged spying on Muslims.
U.S. Magistrate Joan Azrack said she would rule at a later date.
San Angelo Tea Party wants Muslims out
“There are four Muslim families in San Angelo … and that’s four too many,” Tea Party member Terry Campbell declared.
By then, the wide and brightly-lit hall had all but cleared, leaving behind only the faint smell of cookies and stale coffee, where a half-hour prior excitement and anger had rung out. There had been roughly 40 members and guests in attendance – a mostly white and graying audience identifiable by their red polos with the name “Tea Party” proudly emblazoned on the breast – but Campbell’s opinion hadn’t stood alone.
“There is 1.6 billion … Muslims in the world, and they claim that only 10 percent of the Muslims is radical Islamists,” Campbell continued. “That means there is 160 million Muslim terrorists in the world. Now, it only takes one with a car bomb to kill hundreds of people. Now, how can you tell which one out of ten is the bad guy?” he paused slightly, “I don’t trust any of them.”
“It’s hard to,” fellow Tea Party member Jack Plott agreed.
Venice, Florida: Anti-Muslim hate group hijacks 9/11 ceremony
What was billed as a 9/11 memorial service took on elements of an anti-Islamic rally Wednesday, including a lengthy speech by the leader of what has been labeled an anti-Muslim hate group.
An audience of about 500 people, including schoolchildren, gathered at Patriots Park at 10 a.m. to hear remarks by city officials, law enforcement and family members of those who died on 9/11 and the ongoing fight against terrorism. But three other speakers used the podium to criticize Islam and the policies of President Obama, taking city officials by surprise, including Venice Mayor John Holic, who called the message “extreme.”
One speaker was Tom Trento, who heads an organization called The United West, which says its mission is to defend “Western Civilization against Shariah Islam.” The United West is based in Lake Mary and is classified as an “anti-Muslim hate group” by the Southern Poverty Law Center. Trento, whose speech lasted for nearly 30 minutes, told the audience: “I’m not talking about radical Islam or moderate Islam. I’m talking about all Islam. Their goal is to get every single one of us to convert to Islam. And they won’t stop until we do.”
DA accepts charges in ‘H8’ mosque vandalism case
Victoria County Criminal District Attorney Stephen Tyler accepted charges on at least one of the juveniles accused of vandalizing a mosque.
Tyler met with those at the mosque Tuesday and visited with defense attorneys. “I believe this will be resolved in a manner that’s beneficial to the young man, the community and, most importantly, those that were offended – those who worship there,” Tyler said. “It’s got to play itself out in the next couple of weeks.” The juvenile faces a vandalism graffiti charge, a class A misdemeanor, he said.
Terry Jones arrested with thousands of kerosene-soaked Qur’ans
Controversial Gainesville Pastor Terry Jones, known for his plans to publicly burn copies of the Muslim holy book, was arrested Wednesday with thousands of kerosene-soaked Qurans, authorities said.
Jones, 61, was arrested on felony charges after a traffic stop near a pharmacy in Mulberry, a small town in Polk County, just before 5 p.m. He faces charges of unlawfully transporting fuel and openly carrying a firearm.
Deputies said Jones was riding in a pickup truck that was towing a smoker and trailer filled with kerosene-soaked Qurans. He also had extra bottles of kerosene inside the truck bed. According to Jones’ website, he planned to burn 2,998 Qurans in the Tampa Bay area on Wednesday.