2017: Another difficult & hard year for American Muslims (Page 2)
Anti-Sharia Law Bills in the United States
Playing fear-mongering, hate groups and the American Laws for American Courts (ALAC) have campaigned to demonize Islam across the nation through legislation and rhetoric.
One hundred twenty anti-Sharia law bills have been introduced in 42 states since 2010. This year alone, 13 states have introduced an anti-Sharia law bill, with Texas and Arkansas enacting the legislation.
One of the most successful far-right conspiracies to achieve mainstream viability, the mass hysteria surrounding a so-called threat of Sharia law in the United States is largely the work of anti-Muslim groups such as the American Freedom Law Center and ACT for America (ACT), an SPLC-designated hate group. In June, so-called anti-Sharia rallies organized by ACT were held across the country and attracted white nationalists, armed right-wing militias and even neo-Nazis.
David Yerushalmi, the father of the anti-Sharia movement, serves as co-founder of the American Freedom Law Center (AFLC) and General Counsel of the Center for Security Policy. AFLC has pushed its initiative, American Laws for American Courts (ALAC), principally authored by Yerushalmi, since 2010. Politicians in just eight states have not joined this concerted project of stoking fear of Islam. Guy Rogers, the former executive director of ACT for America, the largest grassroots anti-Muslim group in the country, concedes that there is no real influence of Islam in courts but says, “Before the train gets too far down the tracks it’s time to put up the block.”
The rise in legislation and anti-Muslim rhetoric within state legislatures is not without consequence for Muslim communities. In fact, hate crimes against Muslims increased by 67% according to FBI statistics released in 2015. In March, three Muslim students attempted to visit Rep. John Bennett in the State Capitol in Oklahoma City. Before meeting with them, Bennett insisted they fill out a questionnaire about Islam which included questions like, “The Koran, the sunna of Mohammed and Sharia Law of all schools say that the husband can beat his wife. Do you agree with him?”
Experts including professors, attorneys, politicians, and the American Bar Association (ABA) have been quick to denounce anti-Sharia law bills. In response to an uptick in anti-Sharia law bills introduced in 2010 and 2011, the ABA published a formal letter of dissent, saying in part:
“The American Bar Association opposes federal or state laws that impose blanket prohibitions on consideration or use by courts or arbitral tribunals of the entire body of law or doctrine of a particular religion,” adding, “… American courts will not apply Sharia or other rules (real or perceived) that are contrary to our public policy, including, for instance, rules that are incompatible with our notions of gender equality.”
The ABA further discussed the concerns of highly publicizing this type of legislation. The mass hysteria created by these organizations and further perpetuated by politicians at state and federal levels, is alarming. The misconstrued understanding of both Sharia and the United States constitution by these groups has sought to create an actionable goal of exterminating Islam. Some states, including v have explicitly named ‘Sharia organizations’ and Muslims, the enemy.
It may be recalled that pro-Israeli, Hasidic Jew Islamophobist, David Yerushalmi, in 2006 established an anti-Islam group known with the acronym SANE: the Society of Americans for National Existence. The sole objective of the group is banishing Islam from the US by making "adherence to Islam" punishable by 20 years in prison.
In February 2007, SANE released a policy paper that in part stated: "Whereas, adherence to Islam as a Muslim is prima facie evidence of an act in support of the overthrow of the US. Government through the abrogation, destruction, or violation of the US Constitution and the imposition of Shari'a on the American People. . .It shall be a felony punishable by 20 years in prison to knowingly act in furtherance of, or to support the, adherence to Islam."
Echoing Yerushalmi’s anti-Islam legislations in several states to ban the non-existent Sharia law, an anti-Islam question was included in the Republican Party survey titled as “Listening to America.” The question No. 27 of the 32 question survey asks: “Are you concerned by the potential spread of Sharia Law?”
Hate Crimes
The divisive rhetoric of US President Donald Trump has fomented hate crimes against the Muslims. According to a quarterly civil rights report released in October by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest civil rights and advocacy group, 354 incidents of anti-Islam religious bias were reported during the third quarter of 2017. Hate crimes were the most frequently documented type of bias incident, with 61 cases in the third quarter of 2017. Bias incidents rose 9 percent in the first nine months of 2017 as compared to the same period in 2016.
According to Brian Levin, Director of Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University in San Bernardino, hate crimes in nine US metropolitan areas increased over 20 percent last year, fueled by the divisive rhetoric of US President Donald Trump during his presidential campaign and more willingness for victims to report such crimes. Among US cities, Washington, DC, reported the largest increase in hate crimes at 107 incidents, a 62 percent rise from 2015. New York City reported the greatest number of hate crimes at 380, a 24 percent increase. Bias crimes against Muslims, Jews and Hispanics accounted for much of the growth in hate crimes that were reported following the election of Trump on November 8, said Levin.
The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), a civil rights organization that tracks hate crimes, said that the number of organized anti-Muslim hate groups in the United States nearly tripled last year. The SPLC report also found that there are now more than 900 active hate groups across the US, ranging from neo-Nazi groups to racist black separatist organizations. Jewish community centers and schools in the United States have also received several waves of hoax bomb threats since the beginning of this year, prompting fears of an increase in anti-Semitism.
On April 5, 2017, the US Senate passed a resolution condemning hate crime and any other form of racism, religious or ethnic bias, discrimination, incitement to violence, or animus targeting a minority in the United States. The resolution was introduced by Democratic Senator Kamla Harris from California. It was approved by Unanimous Consent. The resolution calls on federal law enforcement officials, working with state and local officials, to: (1) expeditiously investigate all credible reports of hate crimes and incidents and threats against minorities in the United States, and (2) bring the perpetrators to justice.
Hijab (headscarf)
Anti-veil/hijab sentiments are on the rise in the US. No doubt veil/hijab is provoking animosity against Muslim women. This animosity some time becomes violent. Veil is rarely used by American Muslim women but simply using headscarf makes them target of hate attacks. In May last, a tragic incident occurred when two men were assassinated while trying to stop a white supremacist from abusing two young Muslim women on a train in Portland, Oregon. One of the Muslim women was wearing hijab. One of the men who intervened died on the train. The other died later in hospital.
There are incidents of scarf snatching across America. Here are chilling examples of anti-hijab (headscarf) incidents:
In April, a 14-year-old Muslim girl’s headscarf was ripped off by an unidentified man yelling “terrorist” in the state of Georgia. The victim was walking with a group in the parking lot of Perimeter Mall in Atlanta when the man approached and fled after snatching the hijab.
In May, a teacher at a New York school was fired after he ripped the hijab off an 8-year-old girl's head for "misbehaving" in class.
In Aug, the city of Long Beach, CA, agreed to pay $85,000 to settle a federal lawsuit filed by Kirsty Powell, an African American Muslim woman, whose hijab was pulled off by a male officer while she was in police custody. Her lawsuit, filed in 2016, prompted the Long Beach Police Department to reverse its policy barring inmates from wearing religious head coverings.
In Nov, a Nashville (Tennessee) charter school suspended a teacher after video emerged showing a student's hijab being pulled off during class. In two videos posted to Snapchat, the student was seen covering her face as her head covering is removed in the classroom.
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