9/11 Spike in Anti-Muslim Incidents

[islamirama]

CAIR Concerned About 9/11 Spike in Anti-Muslim Incidents

Sept. 14, 2011

Bias incidents near 10th anniversary include alleged hate crimes in NC, NY, CA

WASHINGTON, Sept. 14, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A prominent national Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization today expressed concern about a spike in reports of anti-Muslim incidents –- including alleged hate crimes in North Carolina, California and New York -- apparently tied to the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks.

The Washington-based Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) cited incidents such as a burned Quran being delivered to a Bronx mosque, a New York mosque sign being smashed by a speeding driver and an alleged bias-motivated arson attack on an Arab-owned business in California. CAIR urged state and national leaders to challenge rising Islamophobia.

Video: Burnt Quran Delivered to NY Mosque - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lcQothlBsBc

Video: NY Mosque's Sign Smashed on 9/11 Anniversary - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1lxIBADu9M

Calif. Fire Investigated as Arson, Hate Crime - http://www.kcra.com/r/29179851/detail.html

Yesterday, CAIR called on the FBI to investigate an arson fire at a Sikh-owned store in North Carolina as a possible hate crime. (NOTE: Sikh men in beards and turbans are often targeted for discrimination by bigots who mistake them for Muslims.)

The alleged perpetrators reportedly spray-painted "911 Go Home" on the outside of the burned store. Officials say an accelerant was used to start the fire.

SEE: Fire Targeted Sikh-Owned Shop in Clay County - http://tinyurl.com/62dhenw

"Our nation's political and religious leaders must step up efforts to address the rising level of anti-Muslim sentiment in our society and speak out forcefully against those who promote or exploit Islamophobia," said CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper.

He cited other apparently bias-motivated incidents, including threats targeting a Muslim family at a 9/11 air show in California, a package containing hate materials left at a Washington state mosque, the alleged profiling of an Arab-American airline passenger, the targeting of a Texas Muslim restaurant customer with hate graffiti, hate rhetoric used at a rally in Michigan, and anti-Muslim views expressed at a meeting of a Washington state hate group.

CAIR-MI: Woman Says Detainment After 9/11 Flight Was Ethnic Profiling - http://tinyurl.com/5wdbswz

Texas Muslim Wished 'Happy Sept. 11th' on To-Go Order - http://tinyurl.com/5v6co7m

MI: Self-Declared 'Former Terrorist' Speaks at Agema Rally - http://tinyurl.com/5r7lmxp

Video: Wash. State Parents Object to Teaching About Islam (CAIR-WA) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32R_as58ypY

Hooper noted that a Muslim community in Tennessee seeking to build a new mosque is having a hard time finding contractors, despite the nation's struggling economy.

SEE: In Bad Economy, Contractors Reluctant to Bid on New Tenn. Mosque - http://tinyurl.com/5vq689m

A number of recent reports have documented the growth and promotion of Islamophobia nationwide.

CAIR: Same Hate, New Target - http://tinyurl.com/66enzm8

Center for American Progress: Fear, Inc. - http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2011/08/islamophobia.html
Southern Poverty Law Center: Jihad Against Islam - http://tinyurl.com/3qsv2v8

People for the American Way: The Right-Wing Playbook on Anti-Muslim Extremism - http://tinyurl.com/6j9fttw

Political Research Associates: Manufacturing the Muslim Menace - http://tinyurl.com/497h5w2

Because of recent incidents targeting American Muslims and their institutions, CAIR is urging members of the Muslim community to review security procedures using advice contained in its "Muslim Community Safety Kit."

SEE: CAIR Muslim Community Safety Kit - http://www.cair.com/ActionCenter/CommunityToolKit.aspx

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/09/14/idUS213848+14-Sep-2011+PRN20110914​

 

[islamirama]

Muslim travelers say they're still saddled with 9/11 baggage

'There is no uniformity in the way in which the Department of Justice applies the law at every level'

By Kari Huus Reporter - 9/6/2011

Imagine it is 5 a.m. and you’ve landed in New York after a 12-hour overseas flight. Standing in the line for U.S. citizens, you wait as a border agent asks passengers ahead a few cursory questions, then waves them through. Your family is instead ushered into a separate room for more than an hour of searching and questioning.

This was the welcome that Hassan Shibly, traveling with his wife and infant son, said they received in August 2010, when they returned to the United States from Jordan, after traveling to Mecca.

“Are you part of any Islamic tribe? Have you ever studied Islam full time? How many gods do you believe in?” “How many prophets do you believe in?” the agent at New York’s JFK Airport asked, according to Shibly, 24, a Syrian-born Muslim American. He said the agent searched his luggage, pulling out his Quran and a hand-held digital prayer counter.

“At the end — I guess (the agent) was trying to be nice — he said, ‘Sorry, I hope you understand we just have to make sure nothing gets blown up,’” said Shibly, a law school graduate who grew up in Buffalo.

A decade 9/11, Muslim American travelers say they are still paying the price for terror attacks carried out. At airports, ports and land crossings, many contend, they are repeatedly singled out for special screening and intrusive questioning about their religious beliefs. Others say they have been marooned overseas, barred from flights to the United States.

‘Stories come pouring out'

“Whenever a group of Muslims sit together … stories come pouring out,” said real estate agent Jeff Siddique, a Pakistan-born U.S. citizen who has lived in Seattle for 35 years. “It’s story after story after story.”

That is supported by a survey released in August by the Pew Research Center, in which 36 percent of Muslim Americans who traveled by air in the last year said they had been singled out for special screening. The Transportation Security Administration does not keep detailed records, but a spokesman said that less than 3 percent of passengers receive a pat down, a primary form of secondary screening.

Several civil rights groups say growing evidence points to targeting Muslims — and people who appear to be Muslim — without credible evidence of a crime or intent to commit one. In an array of legal cases, they are challenging the anti-terrorism bureaucracy to articulate its policy.

Among the questions they want answered: Is there a focus on Muslim travelers encoded in policy or encouraged by training? How do travelers end up on security watch lists, and is there any way to get off them? Does the U.S. government have the right to bar U.S. citizens from flying back into the country?

Homeland Security recently launched an investigation of a flurry of complaints from Muslims who, like Shibly, say border agents went well beyond asking about their travels. Instead, the travelers say, they were questioned extensively about their religious beliefs and practices. Some reported being asked political questions, such as their views on the Iraq War or President Barack Obama.

One complaint filed by the nonprofit Council on American Islamic Relations with Homeland Security and the Justice Department said its Michigan branch alone has received “dozens of reports (from Muslim travelers) … that CBP agents pointed firearms at them, detained and handcuffed them without predication of crimes or charges, and questioned them about their worship habits.”

Shibly’s case is one of five included in a separate complaint filed by the the nonprofit Muslim Advocates and the American Civil Liberties Union in December.

Another case detailed in the complaint is that of New Jersey resident Lawrence Ho, who says that when he reached the U.S. border from Canada by car in February 2010 he was surprised to find the border agent knew that he had converted to Islam. Ho, who is Chinese American, said the border agent questioned him for nearly four hours about his Muslim beliefs. But an email to the CBP to complain about the encounter at the Rainbow Bridge checkpoint in New York didn’t get far.

"In 2001, the U.S. was attacked by Islamist extremists,” wrote a senior CBP officer in an email response to Ho. “If a CBP officer inquires as to a person's religious beliefs in order to uncover signs of extremist tendencies, that officer is well within his authority."

The department's office of Civil Rights and Civil Liberties “has notified the complainants and their representatives that it will investigate these allegations and, if appropriate, the department will take corrective action.”

The ACLU and Muslim Advocates also filed a Freedom of Information Act request, seeking all records, standards and statistics pertaining to CBP questioning on religious and political beliefs and practices, border training programs and disclosure of how the travelers’ information is used.

“We hope … (DHS) will condemn the practice of asking any citizen or legal resident of the U.S. about their religious beliefs, political beliefs and religious practices,” said ACLU staff attorney Nusrat Choudhury. “We also hope that (it) will note the troubling nature of the fact that so many Muslim legal residents or citizens are being asked these kinds of questions.”

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/44334738/ns/us_news-9_11_ten_years_later/#.TmcCLY4i9PU​

 

[nyerekareem]

i always find it interesting how 10 years after the 9/11 attacks and how there hasn't been one since, the rise of anti-islamic sentiment continues to grow in the US.

 

[alf2]

i always find it interesting how 10 years after the 9/11 attacks and how there hasn't been one since, the rise of anti-islamic sentiment continues to grow in the US.

There has been attempts, but they were not successful.

At any rate, I dont even leave my house on 9/11.
I would certainly not fly a week within 9/11.

 

[Just a Guy]

There has been attempts, but they were not successful.

At any rate, I dont even leave my house on 9/11.
I would certainly not fly a week within 9/11.

:salam2:

Well, we have been told that there have been attempts and "unspecified threats". Like there was supposedly a terror threat against NYC and DC last weekend during the 9/11 memorials.

I personally just think that they're mongering fear.

 

[alf2]

:salam2:

Well, we have been told that there have been attempts and "unspecified threats". Like there was supposedly a terror threat against NYC and DC last weekend during the 9/11 memorials.

I personally just think that they're mongering fear.

Well lets think back, there was that Pakistani-American who planted a bomb in an SUV and parked it in times square. Thankfully he was an incompetent idiot and it didnt work but if it did, it could have been bad.

 

[islamirama]

The negative views of Muslims is thanks to hate propaganda by well organize and funded pundits. Have you visit this thread lately?

http://www.turntoislam.com/forum/showthread.php?goto=newpost&t=937

 

[Just a Guy]

Well lets think back, there was that Pakistani-American who planted a bomb in an SUV and parked it in times square. Thankfully he was an incompetent idiot and it didnt work but if it did, it could have been bad.

I had forgotten all about that.