|
December 2015
Hate crimes in America - 2015
By Dr. Habib Siddiqui: The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) of the USA defines hate crimes as "criminal offenses motivated, in whole or in part, by the offender's bias against" a particular group such as a religion, race or sexual orientation. In the USA, 45 states and the federal government have some type of hate crime statute. Hate crimes are on the rise all across Europe, Canada and the USA. Last week, two mosques in Hawthorne, near Los Angeles, California were vandalized. Two days earlier, a mosque in Coachella Valley, California, was set on fire by a white American Christian. On Dec. 7 someone left a severed pig’s head outside the Al Aqsa Islamic Society in West Philadelphia. Read More
The U.S. and the rise of ISIS
By Stephen Zunes: The rise of ISIS (also known as Daesh, ISIL, or the "Islamic State") is a direct consequence of the U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq. While there are a number of other contributing factors as well, that fateful decision is paramount. Had Congress not authorized President George W. Bush the authority to illegally invade a country on the far side of the world that was no threat to us, and to fund the occupation and bloody counter-insurgency war that followed, the reign of terror ISIS has imposed upon large swathes of Syria and Iraq and the recent terrorist attacks in Paris, Beirut, the Sinai, San Bernardino and elsewhere would never have happened. Read More
A shame on America: Hate attacks on U.S. Muslims are spiking - and where’s the outrage?
By Ben Norton: There has been a relentless string of attacks on American Muslims in the past month — incidents that have been nothing short of extreme, and enormous in number. In just a few weeks, there have been dozens of attacks throughout the U.S., often several per day. Media and leaders stay silent as attacks on U.S. Muslims increase at alarming rate..... The target of the neo-fascist’s hatred are Muslims. 21st-century Islamophobia just recycles the same myths of 20th-century anti-Semitism. Islamophobia is just the 21st-century repackaging of 20th-century anti-Semitism. They are two sides of the same racist, fascist coin. How long is the American public going to remain quiet about the escalation of hatred? And how long is the media going to exacerbate it? Read More
Anti-Muslim fever goes viral after Paris and San Bernardino attacks
By Abdus Sattar Ghazali: Anti-Muslim fever goes viral after Paris and San Bernardino attacks. To borrow Andrew O'hehir of Salon, Muslim fever has spread through our national bloodstream and replaced all thought. Many U.S. leaders have unleashed discriminatory rhetoric in the name of counterterrorism. Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum said Friday that the U.S. Constitution does not protect Islam the way it does Christianity. Thirty-one governors said that Syrian refugees were not welcome in their states. Jeb Bush suggested that refugees should be allowed into the United States if “you can prove you’re a Christian.” Donald Trump said that he would “strongly consider” shutting down American mosques and that he wants “surveillance of certain mosques if that’s okay.” Read More
American Muslims fear demonization of Islam after San Bernardino mass shooting
By Abdus Sattar Ghazali: American Muslim community groups have expressed fear that San Bernardino mass shooting on Wednesday would add fuel to the rising anti-Islamic feeling. The FBI announced on Friday (Dec. 4) that the mass killing is probed as an act of terrorism. On Wednesday Syed Rizwan Farook and his wife Tashfeen Malik entered the Inland Regional Center for the developmentally disabled in San Bernardino and opened fire on attendees at a holiday party for county workers, killing 14 and injuring 21. The couple fled the scene after the massacre and reportedly left pipe bombs behind. Read More
|
