Campus rallies behind persecuted imam |
| Old Gold and Black, Molly Dutmers. 1/22/15 |
| “Almost five years ago, Wake Forest hired Imam Khalid Griggs as the university’s first Associate Chaplain for Muslim Life.” “But just under a year into Grigg’s tenure as Associate Chaplain, a movement now formally known as Truth at Wake Forest, Inc. started a campaign portraying Griggs as a man with a “radical, jihadist, sharia supremacist background.”” “It’s been an overwhelmingly satisfying experience — the way the administration, the staff, the faculty and especially the students have been so supportive,” he said. “The larger community has shown the same degree of support. So I have no complaints in the situation because it’s good sometimes to recognize that your life’s work hasn’t been just a complete zero and that folks would believe anything that people say about you.” |
| Source: http://oldgoldandblack.com/?p=43438 |
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Anti-Muslim Sentiments in North Carolina |
| PBS, Lucky Severson. May 8, 2015 |
| “Franklin Graham’s post has contributed to the worries of Muslims in this country. Many think his sentiments are becoming more common and leading to increased discrimination and hostility against a people who themselves have been the primary victims of terrorism.” |
| Source: http://www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/2015/05/08/may-8-2015-anti-muslim-sentiments-north-carolina/26004/ |
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Sikh Citizen Attacked in Chicago (Islamophobia inspired attack, Sept 8, 2015)
Photo Source: Mukker family / The Sikh Coalition
Sikhs are one of the biggest victims of physical assaults related to Islamophobia since 9/11. The following are details about an attack against a Sikh resident of Chicago on September 8, 2015.
Mr. Mukker, a 53-year-old Sikh American and father of two, was viciously beaten in his car after being called racial slurs such as “Bin Laden,” while on his way to the grocery store in the Chicago suburb of Darien on Tuesday, September 8th. After initially not filing hate crime charges on Friday, the Sikh Coalition met and reviewed evidence with the DuPage County State’s Attorney’s Office on Monday. That meeting catalyzed the decision to file a hate crime charge in the case on Monday.
“The United States is my country. I am an American – and no American should be judged or attacked because of the color of their skin or their religion,” said Mr. Mukker at the press conference this morning.”
Source: http://www.sikhcoalition.org/mukker
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Feds Investigating Louisville Mosque Graffiti Vandalism as Hate Crime (Islamophobia in Kentucky)
Date of Incidence: Sept 16, 2015
Muslims and Jews in Louisville, Kentucky, plan to join together Friday after several anti-Islamic messages were spray-painted in red on a mosque this week.
The hate-filled graffiti was first spotted Wednesday at the Louisville Islamic Center, and includes the messages, “Nazis speak Arabic,” “Moslems — leave the Jews alone,” and “This is for France,” a possible reference to the Islamic terrorist attack on a Paris-bound train last month and the massacre at the offices of French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in January.
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Muslim Teen Arrested for Bringing a Hand-Made Clock
Date of incidence: September 16, 2015
When Ahmed Mohamed went to his high school in Irving, Texas, Monday, he was so excited. A teenager with dreams of becoming an engineer, he wanted to show his teacher the digital clock he’d made from a pencil case.
The 14-year-old’s day ended not with praise, but punishment, after the school called police and he was arrested.
“I built a clock to impress my teacher but when I showed it to her, she thought it was a threat to her,” Ahmed told reporters Wednesday. “It was really sad that she took the wrong impression of it.”
Ahmed talked to the media gathered on his front yard and appeared to wear the same NASA T-shirt he had on in a picture taken as he was being arrested. In the image, he looks confused and upset as he’s being led out of school in handcuffs.
Source: CNN.com
http://www.cnn.com/2015/09/16/us/texas-student-ahmed-muslim-clock-bomb/
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Man calls all Muslims terrorists during VA meting (Islamophobic attack in Virginia) |
WUSA, Peggy Fox. 11/19/15
“Fear and hatred of Muslims was on public display in Spotsylvania County at a meeting concerning the building of a new mosque.
At least two men went on racist rants, shouting down the speaker and calling all Muslims terrorists.
Some of the people in the meeting were concerned the Mosque would take in refugees from Syria. The main instigator at the meeting continued to shout at Shalaby.
A Sheriffs deputy broke up the meeting, after it was clear, the insults were not going to stop.”
| Source: http://www.wusa9.com/story/news/local/virginia/2015/11/18/hate-speech-closes-spotsylvania-public-meeting/76027308/ |
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Mosques vandalized as US states reject Syrian refugees (Islamophobia attacks throughout the USA) |
AlJazeera. 11/17/15
| “The Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR), a civil rights organization, said on Monday that it has documented recent “vandalism, threats and hate [incidents]” in Massachusetts, Florida, Texas, Kentucky, Virginia, Nebraska, Tennessee, Ohio and New York, among other states. The wave of incidents follows declarations by at least 26 state governors – 25 from the right-wing Republican party and a Democrat – saying they will block Syrian refugees, citing last Friday’s deadly attacks in Paris, claimed by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group.” |
| Source: https://uk.news.yahoo.com/mosques-vandalised-us-governors-block-syria-refugees-191157300.html#gmLb3QA |
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A running list of shameful Islamophobic acts since the Paris attacks (Islamophobia attacks in the USA and Canada) |
Huffington Post, Christopher Mathias and Andy Campbell. 11/20/15
| There was a dramatic increase in Islamophobia attacks against Muslims or people who appear as “Muslim”, in the USA and Canada since Paris attacks. A pregnant Muslim woman was attacked in San Diego and another Muslim mom was kicked and punched when she went to pick her kids at a Toronto school. A mosque was burned in Ontario one day after Paris attack; feces and torn pages of Quran found outside a mosque in Austin; and another mosque was vandalized in Omaha, Nebraska. One man was arrested in Texas for threatening to “shoot up mosque” and another man was arrested for threatening to “firebomb” mosque and shoot children in Florida. “Middle Eastern-looking” passengers were not allowed to board flights in Chicago, Baltimore and Washington D.C. An Uber driver in Charlotte was assaulted and threatened to be killed since he appeared as a “Muslim”. An Egyptian student’s (UConn) dorm room door was vandalized when someone wrote “Killed Paris” under his name. Shots were fired at a Muslim home in Florida. “Every Muslim is a terrorist” was shouted at a town hall meeting in Virginia. |
| Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/all-the-islamophobic-acts-in-us-canada-since-paris_564cee09e4b031745cef9dda |
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Police respond to social media threats against planned mosque (Islamophobia in Burlington, NC) |
| Times-News. 11/23/15 |
| Islamophobia rears its head in Alamance County, NC “After threats appeared on social media, Burlington police are monitoring the grounds of the Christian church that will soon become a mosque. Chief Jeffrey Smythe confirmed Monday the department was aware of threats made on Facebook to vandalize, damage and desecrate Life’s Journey United Church of Christ’s building and grounds at 1908 S. Mebane St. The posts appeared over the weekend. Some were made on Alamance County Taking Back Alamance County’s Facebook page.” |
| Source: http://www.thetimesnews.com/article/20151123/NEWS/151129594 |
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CAIR reports unprecedented backlash against American Muslims after Paris attack |
CAIR.com. 11/24/15
| CAIR reported some of the highest Islamophobia related attacks post-Paris attacks since 9/11 “CAIR notes that it has received more reports about acts of Islamophobic discrimination, intimidation, threats, and violence targeting American Muslims (or those perceived to be Muslim) and Islamic institutions in the past week-and-a-half than during any other limited period of time since the 9/11 terror attacks.” CAIR attributes this spike in anti-Muslim incidents to the Paris attacks and to the mainstreaming of Islamophobia by political candidates and lawmakers in the run-up to the 2016 general election. Of particular concern is the extreme anti-Muslim rhetoric and falsehoods being espoused by leading Republican presidential candidates Donald Trump and Ben Carson.” |
| Source: http://www.cair.com/press-center/press-releases/13277-cair-reports-unprecedented-backlash-against-american-muslims-after-paris-attacks.html |
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Anti-Islam group posts Muslims’ personal info on Facebook (Islamophobia in Texas) |
| Huffington Post, Willa Frej. 11/26/15 |
| This could lead into Islamophobia attacks against Muslims in Dallas, TX, area “An anti-Islam group in the Dallas, Texas, suburb of Irving publicized the names and addresses of over 60 Muslims and Muslim “sympathizers” on its Facebook page.” “CAIR said in a statement that it has received more reports about acts of Islamophobic discrimination, intimidation, threats, and violence targeting American Muslims — or those perceived to be Muslim — and Islamic institutions in the week and a half since the Paris attacks “than during any other limited period of time since the 9/11 terror attacks.”” |
| Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/islamophobic-group-posts-names-addresses-of-texas-muslims-on-facebook_56572f10e4b079b2818a5187 |
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