Cultural & social affairs Department

OIC islamophobia Observatory

Monthly Bulletin – September 2013

I. Manifestations of Islamophobia:

1. Canada: Mosque in Saguenay vandalized, possibly splattered with pig blood – Police in Quebec’s Saguenay region had been called in after a local mosque was vandalized over the weekend of 31 August -- splattered with what could be pig blood. Saguenay Mayor Jean Tremblay told The Canadian Press Sunday that he was shocked by what he termed an “isolated and stupid” act of intolerance against a place of worship. The mayor insisted that most local residents would also be appalled by the attack. A letter was also sent to the mosque and to the local Radio-Canada station spouting anti-Islamic rhetoric. Hussein Hassan, co-founder of the mosque, said he believed the actions were the work of “fanatics” and “unbalanced people” or “jokers”, who were not representative of the citizens of Saguenay. Denis Harvey, lieutenant in the Saguenay police service, said inciting hatred against a religious group was prohibited by the Criminal Code -- and that incident would be investigated. In: http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/mosque-in-saguenay-vandalized-possibly-splattered-with-pig-blood-1.1436691, retrieved on 03.09.2013

Related: Canada: Saguenay non-Muslims rally in support of local mosque – About 20 Christians and other non-Muslims gathered before Friday (06 September) prayers outside the Saguenay mosque that was vandalized a weekend earlier, to show their support for the Quebec City’s small Muslim community and its place of worship. In the referred weekend, someone threw what was claimed to be pig’s blood on the building and left behind an angry tract, denouncing Islam and demanding followers “assimilate or go home.”

Christian Bélanger, one of the organizers of the event, said that the demonstration “is a base for building bridges between different faiths within the community — to find a common ground on which to talk to each other, exchange ideas and also support each other when something like this happens.”

Jocelyn Gérard, a pastoral worker with Saguenay’s Roman Catholic diocese, said the importance of that day’s demonstration was making the time “to transform the negative [act] of this person to a positive one — showing our friendship.” Gérard said until the desecration happened, he knew of individual Muslims living in Saguenay, but he was not even aware of the existence of a mosque. “Now that we know”, Gérard said, he and others were planning future interfaith activities, such as inviting Christians, Buddhists and others to mark the start of Ramadan with Muslims in Saguenay or inviting Muslims to gather with Christians at the start of Lent. As an initial step, Gérard had set up a Facebook page called “Co-exister au Saguenay” — “Living together in Saguenay.” In: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/story/2013/09/06/quebec-saguenay-demonstration-support-mosque-muslims.html, retrieved on 07.09.2013

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3. UK: ‘What me, an Islamophobe?’ Stephen Fry replies to critics – Under the headline “Stephen Fry hits back at accusations of Islamophobia”, the Independent on Sunday reported on 1st September on the controversy over Stephen Fry’s endorsement of Nick Cohen’s “superb” defense of their fellow atheist Richard Dawkins and his position on Islam.

In a Twitter exchange on 22 August, responding to the criticism that Dawkins had described the Islamic faith as the greatest force for evil in the world and “clearly targets Islam in particular”, Fry sneered: ”Wonder why. Oh, have a look around the world and see them slaughtering each other, let alone others. So charming to women too…” It has to be noted how, in Fry’s formulation, Islam the faith became “them”, the Muslims. And Muslims were then equated with murder and misogyny. A clearer expression of mindless bigotry would be difficult to find. When his critic persisted in arguing that Dawkins was “entitled to call a small religious minority evil but branding an entire religion as ‘evil’ is beyond ignorant”, Fry did not have an answer.

Fry attempted a more reasoned justification of his views in a blog post on 30 August in which he addressed the question “Am I an Islamophobe?” Did he perhaps take the opportunity here to admit that he had been at fault and apologise for his offensive tweet? Not a bit of it. Instead Fry attacked his critics for engaging in an “Orwellian denial of free speech” and complained that as a “squeezed liberal” he now “finds himself in the position that he cannot criticise Islamofascism because it’s somehow ‘racist’” (which of course it couldn’t be, since “Islam encompasses many many races”). He claimed that he was only against violent extremists rather than ordinary Muslims, but his tweet had made no such distinction. In: http://www.islamophobiatoday.com/2013/09/02/what-me-an-islamophobe-stephen-fry-replies-to-critics/, retrieved on 03.09.2013

2. Australia: Tony Abbott and Islamophobia: The greatest hits – the following is a brief list of quotes outlining the true nature of Tony Abbott, the Australian Prime-Minister Elect, concerning Muslims; an eye-opening reminder for any Muslim or true supporter of multiculturalism:

a) The burqa ban

Only a month after his passionate speech, the one in which he assured his ‘would-be’ Muslim voters that he was a sworn enemy to anyone who would divide Australian over Australian on issues especially pertaining to faith, Abbott commented on the acceptability of the burqa in Australia, essentially negating what he had said a mere month ago by saying: “Frankly, it’s not the sort of attire that I would like to see widespread in our streets”.

b) On preachers of hate

During the right-wing Dutch MP Geert Wilders visit, Abbott explained that although Wilders views on Islam were “substantially wrong,” he was nonetheless “entitled to his viewpoint.” Abbott, however, did not deem Taji Mustafa, a Muslim speaker from the UK (who visited Australian roughly during the same period) to be worthy of such a right. Abbott referred to him as a “preacher of hate.” He also said in reference to him: “I don’t think we need the preachers of hate in this country” And: “We certainly shouldn’t be giving visas to people who are the people of hate.” Alarmingly, all of these excitable comments could have been applied to Wilders himself.

c) The segregation issue

At an open event intended for Muslims by Muslims, Abbott took issue to the fact that the event was segregated (which is generally seen as an acceptable practice by those that tend to go to Muslim events):

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“I just think it’s un-Australian what’s happened here and I can’t understand for a second why Melbourne University would tolerate it”. It was odd how the then leader of the opposition found it all too easy to create a political agenda out of this particular matter when the University of Melbourne’s Vice-Chancellor, Glyn Davis, barely had any objection to said segregation. Davis explained that although he did not personally support segregation, it was well within peoples’ rights to do so at such events, he also further pointed out the hypocritical nature of Abbott’s assertion by saying: “When Tony Abbott finds it “absolutely extraordinary that a great liberal institution would take a huge leap back into the dark ages”, he defends liberalism by ignoring other liberal values such as tolerance and freedom of assembly.”

d) “Baddies versus baddies”

When explaining the current crisis in Syria, which had seen the deaths of several innocents, Abbott explained: “It’s not goodies versus baddies, it’s baddies versus baddies and that’s why it’s very important that we don’t make a very difficult situation worse.”

e) Lastly, the piece de resistance…

Held up by a woman with a shopping trolley, the following interchange takes place between Abbott and the aforementioned woman:

Old woman with a shopping trolley: I want to be in a country that’s not going to be run by Muslims. Tony Abbott: I understand what you’re saying ma’am, and as I said the important thing is to make the borders secure and that way people will be happier that the right people are coming to our country. In other words, does he mean to say that “when I become Prime Minister, I won’t let these Muslims in?” In: http://muslimvillage.com/2013/09/06/43519/tony-abbott-islamophobia-greatest-hits/, retrieved on 07.09.2013

3. UK: Three held over mosque arson attack – Three teenagers had been arrested by police investigating an arson attack on a mosque at the Harlow Islamic Centre in Essex in August 2013 after locals discovered evidence of the attempt when they attended morning prayers. Two 16-year-old boys and one aged 17, all from Harlow, have been arrested on suspicion of arson and bailed until October 30 pending further inquiries. A 28-year-old man from Harlow had previously been arrested on suspicion of arson in connection with this incident and was also on police bail. Detectives were still keen to speak to witnesses in connection with the fire. In: http://www.thestar.co.uk/news/national/three-held-over-mosque-arson-attack-1-6028554, retrieved on 10.09.2013

4. US: Venice speakers denounce Islam and Muslims at 9/11 ceremony – What was billed as a 9/11 memorial service took on elements of an anti-Islamic rally Wednesday (11 September), including a lengthy speech by the leader of what had 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, the head of an organization called The United West, which said its mission was to defend “Western Civilization against Shariah Islam.” The United West was based in Lake Mary and was 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

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Islam. And they won’t stop until we do.” Mayor Holic stressed that the event was not city-planned and that an organization called Salt of the Earth had rented out the park and organized the event. “He had some pretty extreme points of view,” Holic said of Trento. “I guess pretty extreme is underplaying it a little bit.” Holic said neither he nor any other city officials left during the political and anti-Islam remarks. Holic said: “Out of respect for the day and the meaning for the day, I don’t think it would have been proper for any of our people to leave and walk away,” adding that in the future he would scrutinize the backgrounds and views of speakers before he attended such an event. Some in the crowd cheered when anti-Islam remarks were made. In: http://www.loonwatch.com/2013/09/venice-speakers-denounce-islam-at-911-ceremony/, retrieved on 13.09.2013

5. US: Burned pages from Quran found outside Tampa office of CAIR – The executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations in Tampa, Hassan Shibly, told WMNF he found burnt pages from the Quran outside the CAIR Tampa office Thursday (12 September) morning.

He later posted a photo of the charred remains on Facebook. Another CAIR employee, Samantha Bowden, posted on Facebook that she found it when she stepped out of her car in the morning. She said a report was filed with the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office, but it was not yet considered a crime because it wasn’t burned on site. In: http://www.islamophobiatoday.com/2013/09/13/burned-pages-from-quran-found-outside-tampa-office-of-cair/, retrieved on 14.09.2013

6. Canada: Quebec religious ban to increase Islamophobia – Salem Elmenyawi, president of the Muslim Council of Montreal, in an interview with Press TV, said Canada’s Quebec Province plan to secularize and remove religious symbols from public places would intensify Islamophobia, adding: “Unfortunately, when the state goes up and says those things they enforce the negative stereotypes, they show that if the state could discriminate so what do you think the name is on the street? This will increase this kind of Islamophobia.”

The Quebec government proposed in the second week of September 2013 a ‘charter of values’ that banned public employees from wearing religious symbols -- such as kippas, hijabs, turbans and larger- than-average crucifixes -- in the workplace. Advocates said the ban would target government employees, doctors, nurses, teachers and members in the minority community including those belonging to the Sikh, Jewish and Muslim groups. Opponents denounced the plan as discriminatory, saying they did not want their career options to be hampered.

On Saturday (14 September), thousands of people marched through downtown Montreal against the government and called on Premier of Quebec Province Pauline Marois to put an end to “politics of division.” The leftist Parti Quebecois government said the new charter was necessary to protect equality between men and women. According to a report published in May by Statistics Canada, about 7.2 percent of Canada’s population or about 2.4 million people were either Muslim, Hindu, Sikh or Buddhist. In: http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2013/09/16/324331/quebec-religious-ban-spurs-islamophobia/, retrieved on 18.09.2013

Related: Islamophobia in Quebec: Veiled Woman Verbally Assaulted inside a Mall – Badia Senouci, a resident of Quebec for over 10 years, was recently a target of hateful and discriminatory comments for her choice to wear the Islamic veil in public. Senouci, Algerian by birth, was going about her daily business in Quebec while fielding comments from strangers calling on her to change her religion, hounding her for wearing the veil, and using the new Charter of Values as a reminder that “the government will force [her] to remove [the veil].”

When Senouci’s son and husband tried to defend her, they were met with equally vulgar behavior— spitting and being hit with a woman’s handbag. Because of the disturbance, local security was called to 4 the scene and Senouci’s family was accused of causing public disturbance. Senouci’s husband, Abdelmalek Mansouri, a computer scientist for the Ministry of Transport of Quebec, sought psychological support because of the repercussions of the physical and verbal assault. He claims, “it’s as if we were guilty, when we were the victims!”

The family had filed a complaint with the police, and was waiting to file a charge against the woman with an attorney. Senouci asserted that she wore the veil “by choice” and said she did not subscribe to “propaganda of Islam.” Senouci also expressed dismay in the changes that Quebec had undergone since she first arrived. “When we came here, it was for our children. We wanted a true free country. We had seen the advertisements of Canada that spoke of a society of law, where there was no racism. Now I have questions.” In: http://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2013/09/105013/islamophobia-in-quebec-veiled-woman-verbally-assaulted-inside-a-mall/, retrieved on 18.09.2013

7. UK: EDL supporter calls for shooting at Muslims, on Facebook – An EDL supporter, angry about “the islamification of our country” called for people on the English Defence League’s page to shoot at Muslims. For that he got ‘Likes’ rather than having the comment deleted. What was ironic was that he did not even live in the UK, having moved to Thailand permanently.

In: http://liberalconspiracy.org/2013/09/16/edl-supporter-calls-for-shooting-at-muslims-on-facebook/, retrieved on 18.09.2013

8. US: CAIR Report: Islamophobia Network Funded with $119 Million 2008 to 2011 – On 19 September, the Washington-based Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, Council on American- Islamic Relations (CAIR), released a report, “Legislating Fear: Islamophobia and its Impact in the United States,” which revealed that anti-Islam groups received more than $119 million in funding between 2008 and 2011. The new report by also identified 37 organizations dedicated to promoting anti-Islam prejudice in America. CAIR’s second report on the subject more fully identified the “Islamophobia network” in the United States and exposed its funding.

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Corey Saylor, director of CAIR’s department to monitor and combat Islamophobia, said: “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.” Obtain the full report here: http://www.cair.com/islamophobia/legislating- fear-2013-report.html

CAIR’s findings included:

. The U.S.-based Islamophobia network’s “inner core” was comprised [at the of the Report’s release] of at least 37 groups whose primary purpose was to promote prejudice against or hatred of Islam and Muslims. An additional 32 groups whose primary purpose did not appear to include promoting prejudice against or hatred of Islam and Muslims, but whose work regularly demonstrated or supported Islamophobic themes, made up the network’s “outer core”.

. The inner core of the U.S.-based Islamophobia network enjoyed access to at least $119,662,719 in total revenue between 2008 and 2011. Groups in the inner core were often tightly linked with each other. Key players in the network benefitted from large salaries as they encouraged the American public to fear Islam.

. In 2011 and 2012, 78 bills or amendments designed to marginalize Muslims and vilify Islamic religious practices were introduced in the legislatures of 29 states and the U.S. Congress. Sixty-two of these bills contained language that was extracted from David Yerushalmi’s American Laws for American Courts (ALAC) model legislation. While the bias motive behind the bills was clear, the presence of an actual problem that needed to be solved was not -- even to the legislators introducing the measures. In at least 11 states, mainstream Republican leaders introduced or supported anti-Muslim legislation.

. Subject matter experts perceived a small but welcome decline in Islamophobia in America during the period covered by this report. In 2012, CAIR rated Islamophobia as a 5.9 on a scale of one to 10, with one representing an America free of Islamophobia and 10 being the worst possible situation for Muslims. In 2010, CAIR rated the state of Islamophobia in America as a 6.4. The decline made particular sense given that the 2010 rating interviews were conducted in September and October of 2010. This period was the height of the national controversy over Park 51, aka “the Ground Zero Mosque”. The controversy’s proximity to the 2010 mid-term election made it a campaign issue. It was also right at the time of the planned burning of Qur’ans by Florida Pastor Terry Jones. This period in 2010 could be seen as the Islamophobia network’s greatest penetration into mainstream discourse to date.

. There were 51 recorded anti-mosque acts during the period covered by this report, 29 in 2012 and 22 in 2011. Two notable spikes in anti-mosque acts occurred in 2011-2012: May 2011 (7 acts), likely related to the killing of Osama bin Laden, and August 2012 (10 acts), probably all in reaction to the massacre of six Sikh worshippers by a white supremacist in Oak Creek, Wis. By comparison, in June 2010, CAIR published “CAIR: Who we are”, a review of 1,999 CAIR press releases and action alerts spanning 1994-2008. In that report CAIR noted: “Since 1994, CAIR has detailed at least 64 acts of destruction and defilement of Islamic places of worship--including shootings, vandalism, arson, and bombings.”

CAIR’s report also noted that anti-Muslim trainers serving law enforcement and military personnel were dealt a significant blow in late 2011 and that Islamophobic rhetoric remains socially acceptable. In 2011, 6 after significant pressure from CAIR and other organizations that included crucial reporting by Wired.com’s Spencer Ackerman, federal authorities initiated steps to remove biased and inaccurate material about Islam from law enforcement training materials. Studies and a lack of consequences for most candidates for public office who engaged in anti-Muslim rhetoric revealed an unfortunate societal tolerance for prejudicial speech directed at Muslim.

CAIR named individuals, institutions and groups that were at the center of promoting Islamophobia in America during the period covered by the report. The “worst” list included: . Lieutenant General William G. “Jerry” Boykin (retired) . Zuhdi Jasser and the American Islamic Forum for Democracy . Herman Cain . Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.) . David Yerushalmi . Former Rep. Allen West (R-Fla.) . Walid Shoebat and the Forum for Middle East Understanding . State legislators who sponsored anti-Islam legislation . The Clarion Fund . David Caton and the Florida Family Association . Lowe’s

CAIR also named individuals, institutions and groups that deserved recognition for their outstanding contributions to pushing back against Islamophobia in 2011 and 2012. The “best” list included:

. Rais Bhuiyan . New Jersey Governor Chris Christie (R) . Senator Dick Durban (D-Ill.) . Media and interest groups exposing Islamophobia in counter terrorism training received by federal, state and local law enforcement (specifically Political Research Associates, Washington Monthly, Wired, CNN’s “Anderson Cooper 360” and National Public Radio) . The Democratic Members of the House Homeland Security Committee, plus Reps. Mike Honda and Judy Chu . The Islamic Circle of North America’s Defending Religious Freedom Understanding Shariah Campaign . Those involved in the opening of the Murfreesboro Mosque . Groups exposing the Islamophobia Network (specifically People for the American Way, the Southern Poverty Law Center and the Center for American Progress)

This is CAIR’s second report on Islamophobia in the United States. The first, “Same Hate, New Target”, was published in 2010 and argued that anti-Islam sentiment was a manifestation of problems minorities had faced in the U.S. throughout its history. In: http://www.sacbee.com/2013/09/19/5750058/cair-report-islamophobia-network.html, retrieved on 20.09.2013

9. US: The Islamophobes Discover Aaron Alexis’ “Webpage Jihad” – The Islamophobia echo chamber jumped to wrong conclusions about the perpetrator before the facts were in, and before most of the victims had even been identified. Then, a lot more information became available. Hundreds of interviews had been conducted with friends and family, and thousands of articles had been written about the man. All confirming that he was a Buddhist and regularly attended a Buddhist Temple, had served in the military, had mental health issues, previous run ins with the law, etc. But one article and one passage in that article was what had focused the Islamophobia echo chamber on the “real” issue: An NBC News

7 article on Aaron Alexis included this brief passage:“Law enforcement officials told NBC News that Alexis created a webpage with the name “Mohammed Salem,” but they said he never did anything with it. They said they had found nothing else that might indicate any interest in violent jihad or even in Islam.”

That was it, one brief passage in a long list of what was known about the perpetrator of the Navy Yard shooting. He once created some sort of webpage which he never used, and used a Muslim name to do so. No one knew why he chose that name, or what he planned to post on that page. For all anyone knew, he planned to use it like Werner Reimann who had a much used webpage under the name Sheikh Yer’Mami where he posted anti-Muslim propaganda. That was at least in the realm of possibility since many news reports had noted that Aaron Alexis told his friends that he had been in New York when the 9/11 tragedy happened and was distressed by that event. No facts were available, and any thoughts on the why of this webpage were only speculation.

Not having facts never stands in the way of the Islamophobia echo chamber:

. Robert Spencer wrote Navy Yard murderer Aaron Alexis created webpage with name “Mohammed Salem” saying: “There has been no other published indication that Aaron Alexis was a Muslim or had any interest in Islam. It may be, however, that in his delusional madness, he began to identify with the jihadists who have committed mass murder in the name of their bloodthirsty god.”

. Libertarian Republican wrote Confirmed! Aaron “Mohammed Salem” Alexis saying: ”... We now learn, 5 days after the attacks, that Aaron Alexis at one time, at the least, actively flirted with Islam. ... Building a web page is no small task. Most times it takes hours, sometimes it can take days, and even weeks.”

. Pamela Geller wrote Navy Yard murderer Aaron Alexis created webpage with name “Mohammed Salem” in which she says: Law enforcement officials told NBC News that Alexis created a webpage with the name “Mohammed Salem,. This is the first I am hearing of this and have seen no media mention of it (although the fact that he had been a Buddhist has been headlined and recounted numerous times, despite the fact is that there is no compulsion to violence, oppression and ethnic cleansing in the teachings of Buddhism.)

It is striking that he would create a page “Mohammed Saelm [sic].” Perhaps as he became more violent he identified with the homicidal doctrine of jihad. I do not expect the jihad-aligned media to look into this aspect of the case. Clearly, Muslim Brotherhood groups were concerned it was jihad. Hamas-CAIR canceled a press conference on Tuesday that was going to expose the funding of the “islamophobia” industry. What funding? I mean, really. And devout Muslims cheered and suggested responsibility for Navy Yard shooting that killed 13. And many jihadists “expressed their joy” that the Nazy shooting was a response to Muslim leader Ayman al-Zawahiri ‘s strikes in America.

Actually, CAIR rescheduled a press conference planned for Tuesday the 17th because they, like other Americans were mourning the Navy Yard shooting that happened the day before. The day after such a national tragedy would not have been an appropriate time for a press conference. What funding of the Islamophobia industry was CAIR going to release? CAIR had then released the report “Legislating Fear: Islamophobia and its Impact in the United States” exposing that funding of at least $119 Million between 2008 to 2011.

Using a name did not prove that Aaron Alexis “actively flirted with Islam” unless the same could be said for Sheikh Yer’Mami and many others. In fact, Pamela Geller’s Atlas Shrugs was listed as a team member on a webpage called “Muslims Against Sharia”, and somehow there would be doubts that that meant she was really a Muslim. It is known creating a basic webpage is not a major accomplishment. Almost anyone who can follow simple directions can put up a basic Wordpress or other webpage in a very short time. The people who were reported as cheering the Navy Yard shooting tragedy were NOT “devout Muslims”, but al-Qaeda criminals. Some of them also falsely claimed responsibility for this action. That was pretty 8 much what was to be expected from criminals. Such a criminal action could never be a jihad, no matter what criminals claim.

It was important to remember that these were the same Islamophobes who thought the fact that Seung- Hui Cho the Virginia Tech shooter’s father had worked in Saudi Arabia before he was born, and that Cho had written the words “Ismail Axe” were meaningful facts. These were the same people who thought the fact that Joel Henry Hinrichs, the University of Oklahoma bomber walked through the parking lot of a mosque was a meaningful fact. These were the same people who tried to connect Tyler Brehm, the Hollywood shooter to Islam. In fact, they consistently try to find any tenuous connection to Islam in any criminal act. If they can’t find anything, they simply make something up, and if their lies are exposed they attempt to conceal the evidence. In: http://theamericanmuslim.org/tam.php/features/articles/aaron-alexis-webpage/0020050, retrieved on 22.09.2013

10. Russia Bans Qur’an Translation – One year after a controversial ban on classic Hadith collections and books on the Seerah (biography) of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), a Russian court had ordered the destruction of an interpretive translation of Qur’an, inviting a storm of fury from Russian Muslims. Rushan Abbyasov, the deputy head of the Russian Council of Muftis, with close ties with the Kremlin, told Reuters on Saturday, September 21: “Russian Muslims are very strongly indignant over such an outrageous decision.” If the ruling was acted on, the scholar warned: “There will be unrest ... not only in Russia but all over the world, we are talking about the destruction of the Qur’an.”

A court in Novorossiysk, a city in southern Russia, on 17 September ordered ban on the widely read translation of the noble Qur’an by Azeri theologian Elmir Kuliyev. The court said that the text was outlawed under a Russian anti-extremism law that rights activists said had been abused by local officials out of prejudice or to persecute groups frowned upon by the dominant Russian Orthodox Church.

Since Russia’s anti-extremism law was passed in 2002, with the purpose of curbing potential militant threats, over 2,000 publications had been placed on a blacklist posted on the Justice Ministry’s website. The inclusion of some texts, such as the Russian edition of the diaries of Nazi Germany’s propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels and Adolf Hitler’s “Mein Kampf”, had won praise from human rights campaigners. But critics said too many innocuous works had been added, threatening the rights of minority groups. Once a court anywhere in Russia judged a text extremist, it would be automatically added to the nationwide blacklist.

In the letter to Putin, the council drew a parallel with violence in the Middle East and Afghanistan over the actions of an American pastor, Terry Jones, who threatened to burn the Koran on Sept. 11, 2010, saying: “Is it necessary to discuss how the destruction of books, especially sacred religious books, has been received in Russia in the past?...We recall how the burning of just a few copies of the Holy Koran by a crazy American pastor elicited a firm protest not just from Russian Muslims but from our entire society, in solidarity with the stormy and long-lasting anger of the global Muslim community and all people of goodwill.”

Experts stressed that the more than decade-old translation by Kuliyev was a respected scholarly work, one of four translations of the Qur’an into Russian. Akhmed Yarlikapov, an expert on Islam with the Russian Academy of Sciences, said: “This is one step away from banning the Koran…This is a very high quality translation…The banning of Kuliyev’s translation is utterly unprofessional, you could ban the Bible just as easily because it also has passages that talk about the spilling of blood.” A lawyer representing the text’s author said he would appeal the ruling, which called for the text to be banned and copies of it “destroyed”.

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Similarly, in June 2012 a ban included 65 Islamic books which were deemed extremist literature by the court. The list of these books included such famous titles like Riyadh as-Salihin and Forty Hadiths of Imam an- Nawawi, Prophetic Seerah of Ibn Hisham and al-Mubarakfury, Fortress of the Muslim by al-Qahtani, Criterion of Action of Imam al-Ghazali, and History of Prophets from Adam to Muhammad. Moreover, this list included books of Turkish thinkers such as Said Nursi, Fethullah Gulen, Osman Nuri Topbash, Omer Chelika, Mustapha Ozturk, and even modern post-Soviet Muslim authors like the book of the most popular Moscow Imam Shamil Alyautdinov “The Path to Faith and Perfection” and Azerbaijan translator of Quran Elmir Kuliev’s “On the Way to Quran.” In: http://www.onislam.net/english/news/europe/464563-russia-bans-quran-translation.html, retrieved on 22.09.2013

11. France: Mosque in Montrouge Attacked with dog excrement – After pig meat, dog poo. In the afternoon of 23 September, while the faithful were performing afternoon prayers, around 1400hrs, dog excrement was thrown against the door of the prayer hall of the city of Montrouge, near Paris.

In: http://www.loonwatch.com/2013/09/france-mosque-in-montrouge- attacked-passengers-kicked-off-plane-for-speaking-arabic/, retrieved on 26.09.2013

12. Martinique: Passengers Kicked Off Plane for Speaking Arabic – A French woman freaked out on a Fort-de-France (Martinique)-Paris flight over passengers of Lebanese and Syrian descent speaking Arabic. Due to this, the flight made an emergency landing shortly after take-off on 22 September as the panicked passenger heard, while hearing people speaking Arabic, she understood they were planning to bomb the plane… Four local businessmen of Lebanese and Syrian descent were arrested immediately, and then released after 24 hours with no charge at all. In: http://www.loonwatch.com/2013/09/france-mosque-in-montrouge-attacked-passengers-kicked-off-plane-for-speaking-arabic/, retrieved on 26.09.2013

13. UK: One in four young people distrust Muslims and think Britain would be better off without them – a new poll for BBC Radio 1’s Newsbeat had shown that around a quarter of young people in Britain distrusted Muslims and thought the country would be better off without them. The study also showed that 44% believed Muslims did not share the same values as the rest of the population. Additional findings:

. Of the 18- to 24-year-olds polled, 26% said foreign terror groups were to blame for Islamophobia compared to 21% who thought the reason was UK Muslims who had committed acts of terror. But some 23% thought it was the media who were to blame for anti-Muslim feelings.

. Of 1,000 people interviewed for the study only one in three thought Muslims were doing enough to combat extremism in their communities.

. By and large, around half of those polled agreed Islam is a religion of peace, compared to 27 per cent who disagreed.

. Young people are divided over whether or not immigration was good for Britain overall with two- fifths saying it was a good thing but more than a third disagreed.

. Some 60% thought the British public had a negative image of Muslims.

Professor Matthew Goodwin, one of the members of the group, said: ‘Every survey that I have run, and surveys run by my academic colleagues, makes it quite clear that a significant proportion of the British population hold negative views of Islam, and by extension British Muslim communities.’ In: http://metro.co.uk/2013/09/25/one-in-four-young-people-distrust-muslims-and-think-britain-would-be-better-off-without-them-4108190/, retrieved on 26.09.2013 11

14. US: Parents End Mosque Field Trips Because “Pushing Tolerance” Is Bad – Thanks to the watchful stepfather of a Henderson High School student in Hendersonville, Tennessee, teachers would no longer be “pushing Islamic tolerance” on the students in the form of religious field trips. Mike Conner, concerned his stepdaughter would be exposed to knowledge in a 36-week world studies course, got angry at back-to-school night when he heard of a planned Sept. 4 field trip to a mosque and a Hindu temple. So he spoke up because, you know: “If we as parents don’t begin speaking up, no one will.”

And it got better:

The honors course – which is an elective – has been offered by Hendersonville High for a decade. The curriculum includes world religions, and students spend three weeks on that topic, learning about Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism and Islam, said school system spokesman Jeremy Johnson. In the past, the students have typically visited a Jewish synagogue, a Hindu temple and a Muslim mosque without parental complaints.

Conner’s stepdaughter, who elected her elective, decided to forego the field trip. So when she elected to stay home from her elective field trip, she was given an alternate assignment “comparing and contrasting the religious teachings of Jesus, Gandhi and Muhammad.” But this assignment was too difficult for her because the materials she was given “contained a page of Bible verses, two-thirds of a page about Gandhi and five pages about Muhammad.” But Conner hadn’t reached the height of his anger yet:

When his stepdaughter decided she could not compare and contrast the three because she was given unequal information, she was initially told that she would receive a zero and would not be given another assignment, Conner said. That’s when he really became upset. However, school officials later agreed to give a second alternative assignment.

Did he get even angrier? Yes, he did. He got angrier when he heard students who elected to go on the elective field trip were given copies of the Quran and a tour guide demonstrated Hindu meditation:

Conner believes that between the trips and the assignment, the school was clearly promoting the Islamic faith. “The teacher was pushing Islamic tolerance,” Conner said. “We did not want to make this about religion – they forced us to.”

And he won by force. On 17 September, the school system issued a statement:

After receiving a parent complaint regarding field trip locations, our district has reviewed the practice and decided to eliminate field trips to religious venues from this class, as it does not provide equal representation to all the religions studied in the course unit. In: http://gawker.com/parents-end-mosque-field-trips-because-pushing-toleran-1374513673, retrieved on 26.09.2013

15. Norway: Police on Alert for Mosques – According to TV2’s report, World Islamic Mission Mosque received an email on last Wednesday: “Before 2013 is over, all mosques in Norway will be burned to the ground. We are a group of men who have planned this for seven years.” On Friday (20 September) morning, a sausage banner was hung at a mosque in Fredrikstad with an insulting message against the religious members. Also, a cut pig head was found outside the Norway’s largest mosque in Oslo on Saturday (21 September). After the incidents, Oslo police had several meetings with the Islamic Council of Norway. Police confirmed to TV 2 that they looked the issue very seriously. In: http://www.tnp.no/norway/panorama/3991-norwegian-police-is-on-alert-for-mosques, retrieved on 26.09.2013

16. Norway: Pig’s head placed outside mosque in Oslo - It was around 04 o’clock of 27 September that passersby found the pig head outside Central Jamaat-E Ahl-E Sunnat mosque in Oslo. When TV 2 came to the place in the night saw the pig head lying in a trashcan at the mosque, but traces of blood were evident on the stairs at ingangsdøren. Saturday (28 September) morning the police were on site to remove the pig head, and they opened an investigation. In: http://www.loonwatch.com/2013/09/pigs-head-placed-outside-mosque-in-oslo/, retrieved on 30.09.2013

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I.I. On Islamophobic Behavior by US Military & Police:

1. NYPD Secretly Branded Mosques “Terrorism Enterprises” – It was recently revealed that the NYPD branded certain New York mosques “terrorism enterprises” in order to be able to investigate any attendee of said mosque at will, without charging them with a crime. These details came from the same Pulitzer Prize-winning AP probe that previously revealed that the NYPD specifically targeted the Muslim community.

NYPD commissioner Ray Kelly responded to these allegations on Morning Joe, denying that the NYPD had broken any laws while not specifically denying the charge that mosques had been investigated as terrorist organizations. Kelly emphasized that “we’re trying to protect New York City,” invoked 9/11, and repeated his problematic claim that the NYPD stopped 16 terrorist attacks on his watch. (The number, according to Pro Publica, was more in the realm of three)

But had targeting mosques actually helped to protect New Yorkers? After all, the NYPD itself admitted that its investigation into the Muslim community produced zero leads. And there was compelling evidence that mosque attendance actually helped prevent terrorism. A 2011 study found that 95% percent of Muslims who attended a mosque believed that Islam was compatible with America’s political system, as opposed to 77% of those who did not attend. Which made sense given that most of America’s domestically-produced Islam-inspired terrorists were either never members of a mosque community or left their communities prior to launching any attack.

The extent to which mosques were not breeding grounds for terror was perhaps best illustrated by the case of FBI informant Craig Montileh, who was sent by the FBI to spy on the Muslim Center of Irvine. He went around making pro-jihad comments in an attempt to worm his way into the radical community. Instead, the mosque took out a restraining order against him and, ironically, informed the FBI.

Despite all this, a great part of Islamophobic rhetoric continued to be obsessively fixed on the mosque. High-profile Islamphobes like Peter King, Frank Gaffney, and, most recently, Montana senate candidate Liz Cheney, regularly asserted that mosques were the epicenter of radicalization. In: http://www.religiondispatches.org/dispatches/guest_bloggers/7279/nypd_secretly_branded_mosques__terrorism_enterprises_/, retrieved on 04.09.2013

2. A Jewish New Year call for justice for the Muslim community – With increasing revelations about the surveillance and targeting of the Muslim community by the NYPD, the Jews Against Islamophobia Coalition re-commits itself to being an ally and partner with the Muslim community and all communities challenging Islamophobia, racism, and injustice. As many Jews engage during the New Year holidays in a period of reflection and introspection about how we have lived our lives and how we can participate in creating a more just world in the year to come, JAIC calls upon the Jewish community to stand with, and honor the leadership and vision of the Muslim community and communities of color that have been in the forefront of the fight for justice and dignity for all communities.–Donna Nevel, member of the Jews Against Islamophobia Coalition.

The coalition consisting of three groups, Jews for Racial and Economic Justice (JFREJ), Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), and Jews Say No! (JSN!), sent this press statement out:

The Jews Against Islamophobia Coalition strongly condemns the policies and activities of the New York City Police Department (NYPD), which, the Associated Press has just revealed, designates mosques as “terrorism enterprises” in order to more easily spy on them and infiltrates Muslim community organizations. For years, the NYPD has targeted the Muslim community on the basis of religion. As we approach the Jewish High Holy Days season, we urge all Jews and Jewish institutions—and all New Yorkers—to join us in publicly and unequivocally opposing the NYPD’s unlawful surveillance program.

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We were angered, but not surprised, to learn from the AP last week that the NYPD, which sent informants on a Muslim students’ rafting trip in 2008, also had placed informants in mosques: reporting that one mosque is building a gym (planning jujitsu classes), and one young Muslim leader, whose wedding the NYPD videotaped and infiltrated, was organizing camping and paintball trips. All these NYPD activities were part of the newly revealed Terrorism Enterprise Investigations (TEI), which can last for years. According to the AP article, “the NYPD has never criminally charged a mosque or Islamic organization with operating a terrorism enterprise.” This surveillance program operates in a discriminatory and abusive manner, like the NYPD’s stop-and-frisk program, which, as a federal judge recently ruled, unconstitutionally violates the rights of people of color in New York City.

As with earlier NYPD and FBI programs, which focused on African American, anti-war, and other groups, the NYPD program also involves planting informants in the leadership of nonprofit groups. One group targeted by the NYPD is the Arab American Association of New York, a Brooklyn-based social service organization. The NYPD’s effort to place informants on the boards of groups like AAANY violates the civil liberties of those targeted and threatens all of us who work in pro-justice organizations.

The Jews Against Islamophobia Coalition continues to fully support the Muslim community and all those opposing the NYPD’s unjust and unconstitutional attacks on Muslim individuals, religious institutions, and community groups. In: http://mondoweiss.net/2013/09/a-jewish-new-year-call-for-justice-for-the-muslim-community.html, retrieved on 07.09.2013

II. Positive Developments:

1. US: Wal-Mart fires NY employee for criticizing Muslims – Wal-Mart had fired an employee of a western New York store after he posted derogatory comments about Muslim customers on Facebook. The firing followed a request by the New York chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations for Wal- Mart to discipline the assistant manager of the store in Hamburg, a suburb of Buffalo. Along with a picture of Muslim women in traditional dress, the manager’s expletive-filled posting read: “Halloween came early this year. ... Do they really have to ... dress like that.”

A spokeswoman for Bentonville, Ark.-based Wal-Mart Stores Inc. said company officials looked into the posting immediately upon learning about it and fired the employee. CAIR identified him as Terry Earsing. He apologized when reached by The Buffalo News Wednesday (04 September). In: http://www.sacbee.com/2013/09/05/5709691/wal-mart-fires-ny-employee-for.html, retrieved on 07.09.2013

III. On Muslims in US and Americas:

1. McCain Slams Fox News: Muslims Thank Allah Like Christians Thank God – Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) pushed back hard Tuesday (3rd September) against a Fox News host who raised concerns over a Syrian rebel’s use of a ubiquitous Islamic phrase. McCain was making an appearance on “Fox & Friends” to build his case for supporting the rebels fighting the Assad regime in Syria when co-host Brian Kilmeade showed what he said was alarming video footage. The clip showed an explosion in a Syrian city with a presumed rebel fighter heard chanting, “Allahu Akbar! Allahu Akbar!” Then Kilmeade said: “I have a problem helping those people screaming that after a hit.”

A clearly annoyed McCain quickly hit back: “You have a problem with that? Would you have a problem with an American Christian saying ‘thank God, thank God’? ...That’s what they’re saying. Come on. Of course they’re Muslims, but they’re moderates and I guarantee you that they are moderates. I know them and I’ve been with them. For someone to say ‘Allahu Akbar’ is about as offensive as someone saying ‘thank God.’” Kilmeade quickly changed the subject after McCain’s retort. In: http://www.islamophobiatoday.com/2013/09/03/mccain-slams-fox-news-muslims-thank-allah-like-christians-thank-god-video/, retrieved on 04.09.2013

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2. Sunnyvale Presbyterian invites pastor to separate Islamic fact and fiction – Through research, traveling and writing, a local Christian pastor was hoping to debunk stereotypes about Islam. Sunnyvale Presbyterian Church invited Pastor Ben Daniel of San Jose’s Foothill Presbyterian Church to speak to the community in August 2013 after the release of his book earlier in 20130. His book, The Search for Truth about Islam: A Christian Pastor Separates Fact from Fiction, discussed Islamophobia in American society. Two years in the making, the book explored the core beliefs and practices of Islam, as well as the history behind the growing fear and confusion around the religion in public discourse.

Daniel said: “Islamophobia is out there and it comes as a result of our fear, the fear of Muslims and Islam, which has been with us a long time…In North America, it dates back to the 18th century, but I don’t think fear has ever been productive. It doesn’t make us safer; it doesn’t improve us as people. What we really need is hope and common sense and we need to get to know each other. If we do that, we will all be OK.” In: http://www.mercurynews.com/my-town/ci_24018306/sunnyvale-presbyterian-invites-pastor-separate-islamic-fact-and, retrieved on 05.09.2013

3. Controversial pastor Terry Jones arrested before carrying out Quran book-burning in Mulberry – 10 News learned that controversial Gainesville pastor Terry Jones was arrested before he could carry out his plan to burn nearly 3,000 copies of the Islam holy book the Quran in Polk County on Wednesday (11 September) afternoon. Jones planned to burn the books at the county-owned Loyce E. Harpe Park in Mulberry, but was denied a permit, with officials saying he filed his request too late and that he did not have permission for an event of that magnitude.

Jones earlier told 10 News the lack of a permit would not stop him from sending his message about the religion of Islam to the world from Polk County. He wanted to set fire to exactly 2,998 copies of the Quran -- one for every victim who died in the 9/11 attacks 12 years ago. But shortly before he planned to set the books on fire at the Mulberry park, Jones and associate pastor Marvin Wayne Sapp Jr. were stopped. Their truck was towing a large barbecue smoker, which reportedly had copies of the Quran inside, already doused in kerosene.

Polk Co. Sheriff Grady Judd, in a press conference, said: “We couldn’t allow that container to continue down the road, with the flammable liquid in that container. It was flammable and it was dangerous.” Sheriff Judd said several law enforcement officers also saw Jones openly carrying a firearm on his hip. 14

Polk deputies took Jones and Sapp into custody at the Mulberry Pharmacy on N. Church Avenue on felony charges. They were both charged with unlawful conveyance of fuel. Jones was additionally charged for unlawful open carry of a firearm, while Sapp Jr. was additionally charged with not having a valid registration for the smoker trailer. He would also receive multiple traffic citations for not having proper lighting on the trailer.

Sheriff Judd said Jones was told he was welcome to come to Polk County and express his First Amendment rights as long as he didn’t break the law, adding: “We said to [Jones] ‘If you come to Polk County and violate the law, you will go to jail.’ And that's the way that is.” In: http://www.wtsp.com/news/topstories/article/334764/250/Quran-burning-pastor-Terry-Jones-arrested, retrieved on 12.09.2013

4. Skokie Approves Village’s First Mosque – After remarks as inspiring as a Holocaust survivor urging tolerance to all religions and as prosaic as the results of a parking study, the Skokie village (Cook County, Illinois) board at its Monday (16 September) meeting gave the go-ahead for a small mosque at 4255 W. Main Street.

Paul Luke, chair of the village’s Plan Commission, said plans call for a mosque used primarily for prayer about an hour per day, and one to two hours a day around the noon hour on Fridays. The capacity would be 60 worshippers. It would have an office, a conference room and a snack room where employees would eat their lunches. Luke said there were no plans to host banquets or weddings. In: http://skokie.patch.com/groups/politics-and-elections/p/skokie-approves-villages-first-mosque, retrieved on 18.09.2013

5. Muslims Sue Illinois City over Mosque Permit – The American Islamic Center filed a federal lawsuit Monday (16 September) against the city of Des Plaines and five of its aldermen for violating its religious freedom when they denied it permission to convert a vacant office building into a mosque. Imam Senad Agic said: “We are not happy that we have to file this lawsuit…We are hoping the city council of Des Plaines would understand our religious needs.”

But the aldermen are saying they oppose building any house of worship in that industrial park. Alderman Mark Walsten, who voted against an amendment to allow the mosque, because it would expose the congregation families to hazards, said: “I don’t care if they’re Catholic, Jewish, Muslim, whatever. It’s not zoned for that particular area…Whenever there are children involved in an industrial area, I will not have that on my conscience.” In: http://illinoisreview.typepad.com/illinoisreview/2013/09/muslims-sue-illinois-city-over-mosque-permit.html, retrieved on 19.09.2013

6. Virginia Beach council approves plan for mosque – On 24 September night, the Virginia Beach City Council voted 9-1 to approve the building of mosque. The vote came after council heard from residents who were passionate about the issue. The Council had to decide whether to allow the mosque to be built at the intersection of Salem and Landstown Roads. Some residents against the project argued there would be more traffic in the area, which would create a headache.

The mosque would be a first for Virginia Beach. Local Muslim nonprofit Crescent Community Center said the site containing a prayer hall would hold up to 225 people. Many residents told council they believed the mosque could be dangerous to the area. One speaker said: “In real life, there are organizations out to harm us…The Muslim Brotherhood is one of those and has been recognized as such by our government. My organization is highly concerned that the new mosque may have ties to the brotherhood.” Some even brought up the events of 9-11.

But in the end, council decided by law the mosque had the right to be there. Council members pointed the fact that there were two churches just down the street that were built in the last couple years. Councilwoman Barbara Henley said: “We have to be consistent…We have to treat everybody the same.” In: http://www.wavy.com/news/local/va-beach/vb-council-approves-plan-for-mosque, retrieved on 26.09.2013 15

IV. On Muslims in Europe:

1. Denmark’s first minaret installed – Copenhagen’s skyline received a new addition on the morning of 3rd September when a 20-metre minaret was put in place at the upcoming mosque in Copenhagen’s Nordvest district. It was the first minaret in Denmark, but its purpose would be primarily symbolic as Danish law forbad using minarets to broadcast a call to prayer. The minaret belonged to the 6,800 sqm Sunni mosque on Rovsingsgade, which was being viewed as the first ‘real’ mosque in Denmark and which would be the largest in Scandinavia upon its completion. The mosque had received 150 million kroner in funding from the former ruling emir of Qatar, Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani. In: http://cphpost.dk/local/denmarks-first-minaret-installed, retrieved on 04.09.2013

2. Islamophobia is as dangerous as racism: Turkish PM – Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Thursday (12 September) that Islamophobia was a kind of racism such as the other forms of discrimination by describing the term as a crime against humanity. Releasing a message on International Conference on Islamophobia: Law and Media which was being held in Istanbul, Erdogan stated that the Islamic concepts were used as a negative way bringing defamatory, dismissive and alienating connotations in the western world.

Erdogan said: “It must be known that Islamophobia is dangerous as much as racism, discrimination or anti-semitism. Because Islamophobia is a kind of racism such as the other forms of discrimination. It is a crime against humanity.” Stating that Islamophobia was embittered via movies, soap operas, music, media, photographs even with unofficial articles and essays, he added that 9/11 caused an enemy perception against “Islam” in the western world, asserting: “No monotheistic religion adopts, supports, permits or leads terror.”

Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc said: “Islamophobia as a hate ideology is also a tool of oppression.” Speaking at the aforementioned event, which was organized by the Directorate General of Press and Information (BYEGM) and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), Arinc said: “The attitudes that cause cultures and civilizations confront each other build psychological barriers between people.” He also said that the main aim of the pressure on Muslims was fed by “Islam and democracy are not compatible with each other theory…I clearly express here in this meeting which Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) co-organizes, Muslims are democrats in essence.” He showed ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party as the most important example. Arinc also said: “If Christianity and Judaism cannot be mentioned with terrorism, then our noble religion Islam cannot be defamed this way either. Islamophobia is also a version of racism and a crime against humanity like other kinds of discrimination,” adding that anyone with intelligence and conscience had to oppose this crime as a humanly duty. Arinc called on the Islamic world to put effort for clearing the prejudices about Muslims, as well as adivising the west, especially the US and the EU to take measures against the fast and insidious spread of Islamophobia in their lands and “Turkish government is ready to undertake its responsibility.” In: http://www.worldbulletin.net/?aType=haber&ArticleID=117741, retrieved on 13.09.2013

3. Slovenia: First mosque to be built – Mufti of Ljubljana Nedzad Grabus told AA that the Islamic Cultural Centre and mosque in the Slovenian capital would be the center of interfaith dialogue and respect for the diversity of Slovenian society. Mufti Grabus spoke to AA ahead of Saturday (14 September)’s ceremony in the capital Ljubljana marking the laying of the foundation of what would be the closest mosque in the Balkans to western Europe, prompting Grabus to say: “This fulfills the decade-long dream of Bosniaks in Slovenia to have a mosque.” He added it would be a center for “mutually strengthening relationships within the community…We plan, if everything goes well, to finish the construction in three years by 2016,” adding that close to seven million Euros had been invested in the project so far. “The biggest donation we received was from Qatar, with the consent of Emir Al-Walid Sheikh Hamed bin Khalifa Al Thani. They will significantly finance the construction,” concluded Grabus. In: http://www.worldbulletin.net/?aType=haber&ArticleID=117851, retrieved on 14.09.2013 16

4. Iceland: Mosque Building Site Approved – On 19 September, the Reykjavík City Council formally approved the building site for a new mosque in Iceland’s capital. The Association of Muslims in Iceland was allocated a plot of land in Sogamýri in January 2013. Head of the association, Sverrir Agnarsson, said it was good news for Muslims in Iceland.

Sverrir said that the construction of the mosque was expected to commence in the spring 2014, depending on when the building plans would be ready. When asked how the mosque would be funded, Sverrir said that the association would mostly be relying on private donors as they “…have had a lot of pledges…We seek most funds from individuals from abroad and then we are also entitled to get something from the collective Muslim fund. We do this in cooperation with the Ministry of Justice to ensure that all funds are legal and are not connected to any terrorist group.” The application for the building of a mosque in Reykjavík was first filed in 2000. In: http://www.icelandreview.com/icelandreview/daily_news/Mosque_Building_Plans_in_Iceland_Approved_0_403013.news.aspx, retrieved on 20.09.2013

5. Norway: PM demands Progress apology for ‘sneak-Islam’ – Outgoing Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg had challenged Siv Jensen, leader of the anti-immigration Progress Party, to publicly apologise for using the term “sneak-islamization”. Stoltenberg said on 17 September after the Progress Party briefed international press on its policies: “If the deputy chairperson is able to regret it in English, I assume that the party leader Siv Jensen can regret it in Norwegian.” Ketil Solvik-Olsen, the party’s deputy leader, on the same day told a meeting with foreign journalists that Jensen’s claim that Norway faced the threat of “sneak-islamization” had been unfortunate.

But Jensen on the evening of the same day stood by her provocative past statements as she wrote in an email toVG newspaper: “I’m not going to apologize for that and I and the Progress Party will continue to fight the emergence of such radical forces and the ideas they advocate.” In February 2009, Jensen said: “The truth is that we are beginning to allow a form of sneak-Islamization to take place in this country.” In the aforementioned email, she said that she remained concerned by radial Islamic groups because she was “…concerned that we have radical groups in Norway who want Shariah law and an entirely different way of organizing society in Norway. No one should be in any doubt that this is an important issue for us.” In: http://www.islamophobiatoday.com/2013/09/20/norway-pm-demands-progress-apology-for-sneak-islam/, retrieved on 20.09.2013

IV.I. On Muslims in the United Kingdom, Including Australia & New Zealand:

1. Al Maktoum mosque opens in Dundee – A new £1.35 million Al Maktoum Mosque near the Al Maktoum College of Higher Education (AMCHE) campus in Dundee was opened by Abdul Rahman Ganem Al Mutaiwe’e, UAE Ambassador to the UK.

The mosque was built under the patronage and contribution of Shaikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai and Minister of Finance. The built area of the three-storey mosque was 650-square metre of the total area of 1,650 metres. The mosque was designed to accommodate 160 male and 100 female worshippers. In addition to the prayers halls, it also had a hall for meetings and events. Present at the opening ceremony were Mirza Al Sayegh, Chairman of the AMCHE’s Board of Trustees, Dr Ahmad Bin Hazeem, Director of Dubai Courts, Lord Elder, Chancellor of AMCHE, and Hussain Halawa, imam of the Islamic Cultural Centre in Dublin. In: http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/uae/government/al-maktoum-mosque-opens-in-dundee-1.1228368, retrieved on 09.09.2013 17

2. Christianity dying among young people, but Islam soars – A large scale poll of 20,062 people, carried out for Lord Ashchroft, showed a dramatic decline in Christianity among young people and an equally striking rise in the numbers adhering to Islam in the same age group. The poll was mainly about attitudes to immigration, but a question was included asking: “To which of the following religious groups do you consider yourself to be a member of?”. In the 18-24 age group, 46% said they had no religion while 33% said they were Christian. The response across all categories was 55% saying they were Christian with 36% saying they had no religion. The general response among those who identified as Muslim was 3%, but this rose to 11% among the 18-24 age group. Hindus came to 1%, rising to 3% in the 25-34 age group. Other religions were much less statistically significant. In: http://www.secularism.org.uk/news/2013/09/christianity-dying-among-young-people-but-islam-soars, retrieved on 12.09.2013

3. Scotland: man jailed for bacon attack on mosque – Wayne Stilwel, 25, a man who stuck bacon to the handles of an Edinburgh mosque had been jailed for ten months. He also threw rashers of bacon into the place of worship but was later caught when he was identified on CCTV. His actions, at the Central Mosque in Potterrow, were described as “grossly offensive” by a sheriff.

Stilwel admitted breach of the peace and was jailed for the 31 January 2013 offence when he appeared at Edinburgh Sheriff Court on 16 September. Following the attack, Stilwel admitted to police officers that he was aware his behaviour could cause offence. Sentence on Stilwel, an inmate at the city’s Saughton jail, had been deferred by Sheriff Gordon Liddle to obtain reports about the offender’s character. In: http://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/news/relief-as-man-jailed-for-bacon-attack-on-mosque-1-3097343, retrieved on 18.09.2013

4. Muslim prisoners sue over contaminated halal pies – Nearly 200 Muslim prisoners were suing the Government after being served halal food contaminated with pork, claiming their human rights were breached. The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) had confirmed that 186 inmates had launched legal cases in an attempt to win compensation over the error. Tests on halal sausage rolls, shepherd’s pies, steak and kidney pies and pasties served in three separate prisons were found to have contained pork. It was feared that if the legal cases were successful, they could leave the way open for a flood of similar claims from other prisoners. As of September 2013, there were 11,248 Muslims in prisons in England and Wales, accounting for 13.1 per cent of the jail population. Ministers were expected to oppose the legal cases amid growing concerns over the compensation culture in jails. In: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/10341373/Muslim-prisoners-sue-over-contaminated-halal-pies.html, retrieved on 30.09.2013

V. On Burqah and Veil Related Issues:

1. UK: burqa ban bill to be debated in parliament – The Face Covering (Prohibition) Bill got its second reading in Parliament on 06 September, and if passed into law the bill would make wearing burqas in public illegal. The bill was proposed by Conservative MPs Philip Hollobone, Peter Bone and Christopher Chope as one of 40 proposals in their “alternative Queen’s speech” in June 2013. The proposals, which included leaving the EU and tougher regulations for asylum seekers, have earned the trio the epithet “Tory Taliban” from Labour MP Angela Eagle.

Similar laws outlawing the public wearing of the burqa were enacted by France and Belgium in 2010. Since then the debate has raged in Britain about whether to follow suit. In 2011 a poll conducted by YouGov found that 66 per cent of Britons favoured a ban, the proportion rose to 79 per cent for respondents over 60. In: http://www.theinformationdaily.com/2013/09/06/tory-taliban-burqa-ban-bill-to-be-debated-in-parliament, retrieved on 07.09.2013

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Related: UK: Muslims outraged by possible hijab ban – British Home Office Minister Jeremy Browne told The Telegraph newspaper the government should consider the ban, as “We should be very cautious about imposing religious conformity on a society which has always valued freedom of expression.”

Mohammed Shafiq, the chief executive of the Ramadhan Foundation, a group that worked with young Muslims in the UK, said he was “disgusted” by Browne’s comments, asserting: “This is another example of the double standards that are applied to Muslims in our country by some politicians. Whatever one’s religion they should be free to practice it according to their own choices and any attempt by the government to ban Muslim women will be strongly resisted by the Muslim community.”

The debate came after Birmingham Metropolitan College changed its rules in the first week of September 2013 in an unprecedented move. It previously banned Muslim students from wearing niqabs – a veil that leaves only a slot for the eyes. An online petition against the ban was signed by 9,000 in 48 hours and forced the institution to drop the ban, which had been in place for eight years. An 17-year-old girl who started the protest told the Birmingham Mail the veil ban was embarrassing. Liberal Democratic leader Nick Clegg said he was also “uneasy” about the Birmingham ban.

The guidelines from the Department for Education stated that under the Equality Act 2010, schools must not discriminate against, harass or victimize pupils because of their: sex; race; disability; religion or belief. As of 2013, in the UK, schools and colleges were given carte-blanche to set their own uniform policies. Headteachers in the UK could order students to remove veils for security reasons, however. In: http://inserbia.info/news/2013/09/uk-muslims-outraged-by-possible-hijab-ban/, retrieved on 18.09.2013

2. Germany: Headscarf photo ‘ruins job interview chances’, study of German firms shows – In a study due to be released in full at the end of 2013, economists at the University of Linz in Austria examined whether wearing a headscarf affected women when applying for jobs at German companies. Initial results showed that German firms appeared less inclined to invite an applicant for an interview if they were wearing a headscarf in their photo. This also applied, to a lesser extent, for applicants with a non-German surname.

One woman who took part in the study was 23-year-old Sevda Yilmaz. A newly-qualified bookkeeper, she applied to 1,500 jobs with the same CV, using both her name and a German name – Tina Meyer. She alternated attaching a photo with or without a headscarf on applications she sent under her real name. Yilmaz was invited to interview for 18 percent of the applications she sent under the name Meyer. This dropped to 13 percent under her real name and plummeted to three percent when she used her real name and a photo of her in a headscarf.

Study head Doris Weichselbaumer told newspaper Tageszeitung: “From an economic point of view, discrimination tends to have two explanations. Either it lies in a basic aversion towards a certain group, or it is statistical discrimination.” She said this meant that employers either tended to dislike people who clearly identified as Muslims, or they were concerned that employees would have language problems and thus be less productive at work. Weichselbaumer argued that companies should not be allowed to ask for photos. In other countries, such as the UK or US, it was not common practice to include one. In: http://www.islamophobiatoday.com/2013/09/10/headscarf-photo-ruins-job-interview-chances-study-of-german-firms-shows/, retrieved on 12.09.2013

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3. US: Hani Khan, Ex-Abercrombie Employee, Scores Legal Win After Being Fired For Wearing Hijab – A judge ruled that Abercrombie & Fitch violated federal law when the company fired a Muslim worker at one of its Hollister stores for refusing to take off her hijab.

According to court papers, Judge Yavonne Gonzalez Rogers ruled in favor of Hani Khan’s request for a summary judgment against Abercrombie, which owns Hollister, in the first week of September 2013. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission sued Abercrombie on behalf of Khan in 2011, after she claimed the company fired her in 2010 for her decision to wear the religiously-mandated headscarf.

The judgment read: “Reasonable jurors could determine that by offering Khan one option — to remove her hijab despite her religious beliefs — Abercrombie acted with malice, reckless indifference or in the face of a perceived risk that its actions violated federal law.” A trial would begin at the end of September to determine what Abercrombie owed Khan as a result of its illegal actions.

An Abercrombie spokesman wrote in an e-mail statement that it was company policy not to comment on pending litigation. The statement read: “Abercrombie & Fitch does not discriminate based on religion and we grant religious accommodations when reasonable.”

The judge also denied Abercrombie’s claim that allowing Khan to wear her hijab on the job would present “undue hardship” to the company’s brand and sales. Khan had been wearing her hijab for four months at work before a district manager visited the store and decided it was against the company’s controversial “Look Policy,” which some said went too far in micromanaging an employee’s dress.

The judgment read: “Abercrombie must provide more than generalized subjective beliefs or assumptions that deviations from the Look Policy negatively affect the sales or the brand. The evidence presented does not raise a triable issue that a hardship, much less an undue hardship, would have resulted from allowing Khan to wear her hijab.” In: http://www.islamophobiatoday.com/2013/09/09/hani-khan-ex-abercrombie-employee-scores-legal-win-after-being-fired-for-wearing-hijab/, retrieved on 12.09.2013

4. US: Jeans company Diesel’s burqa ad branded insulting to Muslims and ‘rife with Islamophobia’ – A row had erupted over a Diesel jeans ad featuring a heavily tattooed, topless white woman wearing a redesigned, denim burqa. The slogan next to her declares: I Am Not What I Appear To Be.

According to a report on Huffingtonpost, “racist and condescending” were among the criticisms that had been leveled at the ad, created by Nicola Formichetti, former stylist to Lady Gaga, who made waves in August 2013 with a song called “Burqa.” But others, including a female Muslim marketing consultant who advised Diesel, said the idea was to make people question assumptions and stereotypes. Said Ameena Meer, an observant Muslim and founder and principal of Take-Out Media, the consulting firm that advised Diesel: “This was to challenge that idea that when you see a woman in a burqa, or niqab or even hijab, that you assume certain things about her.”

Not everyone saw it that way. Sana Saeed, senior editor at the Islamic legal news website Islawmix, tweeted that she had dreaded the day when capitalism would consume the veil. And Shruti Parekh, a New York City videographer and member of the South Asian Women’s Creative Collective, wrote that the ad was:

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“Rife with Islamophobia and attacks on the Muslim world.” While Muslim women in the West who wore burqas must suffer through negative connotations and open hostility, Parekh wrote, the white model in Diesel’s ad did not, as “Brown, Muslim women in burqas are often looked at with distrust and fear or patronizing sympathy by Americans, while this white woman represents fashion. She is in fact bold, cutting edge, and rebellious.” In: http://freethinker.co.uk/2013/09/22/jeans-company-diesels-burqa-ad-branded-insulting-to-muslims-and-rife-with-islamophobia/, retrieved on 24.09.2013

5. Swiss region votes to ban full-face Muslim veils – Voters in southern Switzerland had backed a ban on full-face veils, following similar laws implemented in France and Belgium. Activists argued that the law discriminated against the fundamental rights of Muslims. The new would still need federal approval, after receiving two-thirds of public support in the Italian-speaking Swiss canton of Ticino. This was the first time that such a ban had been passed in a Swiss canton.

The creator of the proposal, Giorgio Ghiringhelli, argued that the ban was aimed at sending a message to “Islamist fundamentalists” in his district and all across the country because “Those who want to integrate are welcome irrespective of their religion…But those who rebuff our values and aim to build a parallel society based on religious laws, and want to place it over our society, are not welcome.”

Human rights activists had heavily criticized the ban. Amnesty International called the vote a “black day for human rights in Ticino.” Switzerland’s Central Islamic Council condemned the vote, saying in a statement that it was “yet another loud expression of social Islamophobia…We in the Council see this as part of a string of attempts to make life increasingly difficult for Muslims in Switzerland and to ban symbols of Islam from the public arena.”

Meanwhile, the key platform of the country’s largest party - the Swiss People’s Party (SVP) – had been opposition to immigration. Christophe Darbellay, a member of the Democratic People’s Party, said on Swiss television, as quoted by Reuters: “I would also have voted ‘yes’ if I had been in Ticino. The burqa is a symbol of female oppression.”

The Ticino proposal was created under the country’s tradition of direct democracy, which allows new bans to be put up for a vote if there are enough signatories supporting it. A nationwide proposal to ban burqas was previously rejected by Swiss Parliament in 2012. In: http://rt.com/news/swiss-region-bans-veils-212/, retrieved on 24.09.2013

VI. On Dialogue among Civilizations:

1. US: Lakeland Church Begins Series on ‘Understanding Islam’ – The Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Lakeland was to hold the first lecture in a three-part series called “Understanding Islam” on Tuesday (10 September) at 7 p.m. The series was organized in response to the planned Quran burning in Mulberry. In: http://www.theledger.com/article/20130909/NEWS/130909272/1134?Title=Lakeland-Church-Begins-Series-on-Understanding-Islam- Today&tc=ar, retrieved on 11.09.2013

2. US: Minnesota Churches Open Doors to Muslims – A few hours after arson fire destroyed the Winona Islamic Center, Minnesota local churches had rushed to open their doors to host Muslim prayers, offering a unique image of interfaith ties in post 9/11 America.

Ahmed El-Afandi, a retired Winona State professor and co-founder of Winona Islamic Center, told Winona Daily News that a massive fire swept through the Winona Islamic Center destroying the building on Friday (13 September). The fire has also wrecked historical building and local stores. After the incident, which was being investigated by the police, Winona’s local churches welcomed Muslims worshippers, and 21 the Central Lutheran Church offered more than 15 members of the Islamic centre a space to perform Friday’s prayer. The doors had been propped open, a small sign of welcome. Amid ongoing investigations to get the clues of the Islamic Centre fire, leader of Winona Muslim community said they had no reason to suspect it was anything but an accident. In: http://www.onislam.net/english/news/americas/464506-minnesota-churches-open-doors-to-muslims.html, retrieved on 18.09.2013

3. US: Nashville rabbi offers Murfreesboro mosque trip invite on Yom Kippur – The rabbi of Nashville’s largest and longest-practicing synagogue used the most holy night of the Jewish year to invite his congregation on an unusual trip. Going to the beleaguered mosque in Murfreesboro, he told them Friday (13 September), was part of Yom Kippur’s call to introspection. Rabbi Mark Schiftan of The Temple-Congregation Ohabai Sholom said: “It’s the day that we look into our most honest selves and we have to wrestle with ourselves — not just to do what is the easy or comfortable thing — but that which is courageous and filled with strength of conscience.”

The congregation would load up on buses on 27 October and travel to the Islamic Center of Murfreesboro for food and conversation, Schiftan said Saturday (14 September). The meeting would give both congregations the opportunity to ask questions and affirm their appreciation of the First Amendment right to practice their religions.

While Muslims have been meeting in Murfreesboro for decades, their newly opened mosque faced a number of tribulations, from burning of equipment on the construction site to a legal effort to prevent the building’s use. A lunch and question-and-answer session at The Temple earlier in 2013 lead to the invitation, with Imam Ossama Bahloul traveling to the Belle Meade-area synagogue. Bahloul said it was not unusual for his mosque to host curious congregations from other religions. He kept the focus on common roots and themes in the Jewish, Christian and Muslim traditions, as “I understand the conflict in some places, but if we can give each other a chance to get rid of the stereotypes, we will come to realize we share so many things, and we are all brothers and sisters from Adam and Eve.” In: http://www.islamophobiatoday.com/2013/09/16/nashville-rabbi-offers-murfreesboro-mosque-trip-invite-on-yom-kippur/, retrieved on 18.09.2013

4. Pope Francis writes to Muslim leader, expresses respect for Islam and calls for mutual understanding – The Al-Azhar University in Cairo – considered one of the most important centres of Sunni Islamic learning – had announced that Pope Francis had sent a personal message to the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, Ahmed Al Tayyeb. In a communiqué issued by Al-Azhar, which mentioned that a meeting took place on 18 September between Al Tayyeb and the Apostolic Nuncio to Egypt, Mgr. Jean- Paul Gobel. During the face-to-face meeting the Nuncio delivered the message of wishes Pope Francis sent to the Muslim world for the end of the month of Ramadan, along with a personal message from to Pope to Al Tayyeb.

According to Al-Azhar, in his message the Pope stressed the Vatican’s respect for Islam and said he hoped every effort would be made towards achieving “mutual understanding between the world’s Christians and Muslims in order to build peace and justice.” Al Tayyeb apparently replied that the message Al-Azhar wished to get out was one of “respect for people of every religion and the safeguarding of human dignity and the highest values described in the Quran and the Sunnah.” He also said that Muslims were willing “to collaborate to help justice and progress grow among the people of the Earth.”

The communiqué issued by the University of Al-Azhar was important in light of the tensions between the Sunni centre of learning and the Vatican, which exploded in January 2011 after Benedict XVI’s strong condemnation of the Coptic Orthodox Cathedral of Alexandria. This led the university to announce it was suspending dialogue with the Holy See. Prior to this, a university delegation would hold meetings with the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue every two years. The aforementioned communiqué alluded

22 to this incident, saying that Al Tayyeb apparently told the Nuncio that casting Islam in a negative light was “a red line” that must not be crossed.

The communiqué did not make explicit reference to the resumption of dialogue. But it was important to bear in mind that in June 2013 Al-Azhar said it was waiting for a response to the message of congratulations which Al Tayyeb sent Pope Francis after his election. And it expressed the hope that there would be “a clear demonstration of respect for Islam and Muslims”. This was clearly demonstrated in delived message. The President of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue Cardinal Jean Louis Tauran responded by saying that it was Al-Azhar that had interrupted dialogue with the Holy See. The Holy See had kept the door of dialogue open. In: http://www.patheos.com/blogs/deaconsbench/2013/09/pope-francis-writes-to-muslim-leader-expresses-respect-for-islam-and-calls-for- mutual-understanding/, retrieved on 20.09.2013

VI. General Issues:

1. Pew: Most Muslims worried about extremism – A poll released on Tuesday (10 September) by the Pew Research Center indicated Two-in-three Muslims across the world said they were somewhat or very concerned about Islamic extremists, and a median of 67% of Muslims surveyed in the Middle East, south Asia and sub-Saharan Africa said they are worried about extremists. In five countries, Pakistan, Jordan, Tunisia, Turkey and Indonesia, more people said they were concerned than in 2012.

The poll indicated that despite popular assumptions in the West, a majority of the Muslim world did not support extremist and terrorist groups such as al-Qaida. 57% of respondents said they held an unfavorable opinion of al-Qaida. The Taliban were viewed negatively by 51% of Muslims. In the Middle East, support for Hamas and Hezbollah was particularly low, with Hezbollah support among Egyptian Muslims dropping 38 percentage points since 2007.

Even greater than the general distaste for extremist groups, overwhelming majorities in some Muslim countries said they never supported the use of violence in the name of Islam. More than three-quarters of respondents in Pakistan (89%), Indonesia (81%), Nigeria (78%) and Tunisia (77%), held that view. That was not the case in all Muslim countries, though, particularly Palestinians, 62% of whom said suicide bombing was at least sometimes necessary.

Pew’s poll was conducted from 3rd March to 7 April 2013. In-person interviews were conducted with 8,989 Muslims in 11 countries: Egypt, Indonesia, Jordan, Lebanon, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Palestinian territories, Senegal, Tunisia and Turkey. The poll's margin of error varies in each of the nations surveyed. In: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2013/09/10/Pew-Most-Muslims-worried-about-extremism/UPI-89651378846447/?spt=hs&or=tn, retrieved on 12.09.2013

Compiled by: Abdula Manafi Mutualo, Secretary of the Observatory Culture & Social Affairs Department Email: [email protected]

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