2017: Another difficult & hard year for American Muslims (Page 3)
Hijab (headscarf) Continued
Also in Nov, another incident of headscarf pulling happened in Virginia when a Muslim student, Yasmin Yahye reported that her teacher removed her headscarf without her consent and has since then she has experienced cyberbullying.
Not surprisingly, on December 9, interfaith groups held a rally outside Dillard’s in Garland, Texas, to protest Dillard’s “no-hijab” policy. The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) and law firm Tremain Artaza PLLC filed a Complaint of Discrimination with the Texas Workforce Commission against Dillard’s on behalf of a young Muslim woman who was refused employment due to her hijab.
In March, this year a decision by the European Union Court of Justice allowed employers to ban headscarf using Muslim women from work. It was denounced by many American Muslims who see this biased decision as an attack on their faith.
On March 14, the European Union Court of Justice said private businesses in Europe can forbid Muslim women in their employ from wearing headscarves if the ban is part of a policy of neutrality within the company and not a sign of prejudice against a particular religion. Such a ban doesn't constitute what the court calls "direct discrimination."
The verdict by the highest court in the 28-nation European Union was in response to two cases brought by a Belgian and a French woman, both fired for refusing to remove their headscarves. France already bans headscarves and other religious symbols in classrooms as well as face-covering veils in streets.
Some non-Muslim communities may justify this biased court order as a way of helping Muslim women better integrate into western societies. However, many American Muslims don’t agree. To borrow Khalid Saeed, President of American Muslim Voice, a leading American Muslim organization, the EU court’s decision was biased because attacks on headscarf in the US and Europe happen as attack on what is considered as an Islamic symbol.
When terrorism is not terrorism
Apparently, the United States has a double standard when it comes to talking about terrorism. To borrow Moustafa Bayoumi of the Guardian, the label is reserved almost exclusively for when we’re talking about Muslims. Consider Stephen Craig Paddock, the shooter in October 1 massacre in Las Vegas. Is he a terrorist? Well, the authorities didn’t call him one. This is all the more remarkable because Paddock’s actions clearly fit the statutory definition of terrorism in Nevada. That state’s law defines terrorism as “any act that involves the use or attempted use of sabotage, coercion or violence which is intended to cause great bodily harm or death to the general population.” Paddock shot and killed at least 59 people and injured more than 500 others. If that doesn’t qualify as a textbook definition of Nevada’s terrorism law, we don’t know what does.
Yet, when asked at a press conference in Las Vegas if the shooting was an act of terrorism, Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo replied: “No. Not at this point. We believe it’s a local individual. He resides here locally,” suggesting that all terrorism is foreign in nature.
Lombardo didn’t call Paddock a terrorist, but he did label him a “lone wolf,” which in our lexicon is the special name we use for “white-guy terrorist.” Nor is this oversight limited to Lombardo. Las Vegas’ mayor, Carolyn Goodman, also described Paddock not as a terrorist but as “a crazed lunatic, full of hate.”
Also President Donald Trump, who craves every opportunity to utter the words “radical Islamic terrorism,” avoided any mention of the word “terrorist” when discussing the tragic events of October 1 night. [By Moustafa Bayoumi - The Guardian]
On November 5, Devin Patrick Kelley, a former member of the Air Force, shot dead at least 26 people and injured 19 in an attack on worshippers at the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, Texas. Alluding to the church shooting, MSNBC Moring Joe Host, Joe Scarboroug said 'If a guy named Mohammad blew up that church. O my God, O my God, Washington would be on fire." Just last week after New York attack (when Sayfullo Saipov allegedly struck and killed eight people with a rented truck in lower Manhattan on Halloween) president immediately talked about terrorism, talked about death penalty, attacked political opponent, Chuck Schumer, and called for radical vetting, Joe said adding: He attacked America's judiciary after these gun incidents that happened more often than the acts of terrorism, and killed so many more people ... all we get is pray. You cannot talk about gun...this is a mental issue." President Trump said that the South Texas shooting that killed at least 26 people wasn't "a guns situation," and blamed it instead on the gunman's mental health.
Conclusion
It will not be too much to say that the post-911 America has become less friendly to Muslims to the extent that they have probably replaced other minorities - Hispanics, Native Americans and Afro Americans - as targets of discrimination, hate and prejudice. Many American Muslims have a story of discriminative treatment ranging from physical attacks, a nasty gaze, casual comments to work place harassment, burning mosques and the Quran. Muslims have witnessed the ever-growing marginalization of their communities.
More than sixteen years after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, American Muslims are profiled, harassed, reviled, attacked, peeped at by the CIA and the FBI, interrogated and permanently controlled at airports. There's no sign that the pressure on the Muslim community is lifting. It remains victim of guilt by association.
Defending civil rights became the single most important challenge before the American Muslims in the post-9/11 America. Arabs and Muslims were the prime targets of the post 9/11 reconfiguration of American laws, policies, and priorities. Their constitutional rights to free exercise of religion and assembly, due process and security from unreasonable searches and seizures had been violated. The erosion of civil rights came in the form of various programs and legislations such as the USA Patriot Act, which effectively nullifies Constitutional Amendments 4, 5, 6, and 8 directly and indirectly amendments 1 and 9. The fallout impacted the daily life of Muslims at schools, in the workplace, in general public encounters and mistreatment at the hand of federal officials.
American Muslims have responded to these challenges by making bridges with other faith and ethnic groups. About 200 people gathered in March in front of City Hall in San Jose, CA, to express the solidarity with Muslims. Masao Suzuki of Nihonmachi Outreach Committee, the architect of the rally, explained: “In the lessons learned from 75 years of resistance from 1942-2017, we say No to Concentration Camps and Islamophobia. President Trump’s Executive Order 13769, banning travel from 7 Muslim-majority countries, has brought back painful memories of internment, among the darkest chapters in American history. We will not let Muslim-Americans stand alone. We will stand by them. We will not allow history to repeat. Never again!”
The County of Santa Clara on August 14, 2017 proclaimed the month of August as the month of Muslim Appreciation. The proclamation said Muslims have been part of U.S. history from the beginning, have contributed to the production of wealth and construction of the nation, and have served in defending our nation; they are also part of the rich history of the civil rights movement; and over 67,000 Muslims live in Santa Clara County and make innumerable contributions to the cultural, political, and economic fabric and well-being of California and the United States.
The Council of Woodland City (CA) on June 20 recognized the Islamic month of Ramadan which is a month of spiritual consciousness and higher sense of social responsibility for the less fortunate. The proclamation said that 1.7 billion Muslims of the world celebrate their holiest month of Ramadan every year. The proclamation was issued in the wake of what has been a nationwide anti-Muslim attitude on the part of some Americans as well as President Donald Trump, Jim Smith Editor of the Woodland Daily Democrat pointed out.
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