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CULTURAL & SOCIAL AFFAIRS DEPARTMENT

OIC ISLAMOPHOBIA OBSERVATORY

MONTHLY BULLETIN – JULY 2013

I. Manifestations of Islamophobia: 1. UK: Man held over mosque bomb blast – A 75-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of causing an explosion likely to endanger life or damage property after a home-made bomb exploded near a mosque. West Midlands Police said the man was arrested at his home in Walsall by detectives from the counter-terrorism unit. He had been taken to a police station in the West Midlands for questioning. Officers were searching his home address as part of the investigation into the home-made explosive, the remains of which were found in an alleyway adjoining the Aisha Mosque and Islamic Centre in Rutter Street, in the Caldmore area of Walsall, last Saturday (29 June). The arrest came as part of a major investigation by specialist detectives and experts from the West Midlands Counter-Terrorism Unit. Around 150 people were evacuated from their homes in the Caldmore area of Walsall on that day night while bomb disposal experts made the remains of the device safe. West Midlands Police said a loud bang heard by residents late on Friday (28 June) “appeared to be consistent” with the device exploding but no-one was injured and it caused minimal damage. In: http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/National-News/Man-held-over-mosque-bomb-blast-2-7551378.xnf, retrieved on 02.07.2013 2. Australia: Ed Husic attacked on Facebook over Koran – On 1st July 2013, Labor MP Ed Husic was sworn in as Australia’s first Muslim frontbencher. In the following day, he brushed off the racial abuse saying it was a “natural part of democracy” that people would not always agree, adding: “There are people that are definitely extreme inside my faith and outside it and they will always seek ways to try and divide people.” Mr Husic said he was asked by Kevin Rudd on Sunday night (1st July) if he would serve in his ministry as a Parliamentary Secretary. He said he spoke to his dad, a Bosnian migrant, straight after and was so pleased that he was able to give back to the Australian community in public life. Mr Husic said: “It’s incredible in one generation to be in a position to contribute in this way to public life. I think children of migrant parents always want to pay back and give back to Australia.” Mr Husic said it was a “straight forward decision” to decide to be sworn in on the Koran because “Obviously I couldn’t take my oath on a Bible - I am who I am.” Mr Husic, 43, was the first Muslim to be sworn into an Australian ministry and was appointed the roles of Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister and Parliamentary Secretary for Broadband. Mr Husic had copped a spate of online abuse over his decision to be sworn in on the Koran at a ceremony at Canberra’s Government House. Opposition Leader Tony Abbott comments on the abuse

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hurled at Labor MP Ed Husic for swearing on the Koran. On his official Facebook page, Mr Husic on 1st July night posted he was proud to have taken on the new roles. Hundreds of users posted negative comments. one person posted: “Labor you are disgusting, undermining our culture and country and constitution in this way.” Another posted: “I am totally disgusted!! Sharia Law next on your agenda is it?”. On social networking site Twitter, many users had leveled vile abuse at the Western Sydney MP: One user said “OK that’s wrong right there” when a reporter posted that Mr Husic would be sworn in on the Koran. Another said: “Rudd, the Muslim Brotherhoods Man in Canberra … Rudd is about to ---- Aust!”. In a statement to News Limited a few hours later the Opposition Leader said: “Any abuse of Ed Husic is completely unacceptable”. Victorian Rob Mitchell posted: “Appalling behaviour against @edhusicMP shouldn’t be tolerated at all. It’s an embarrassment to decency, fairness and all we stand for.” Labor MP for Bendigo Steve Gibbons said: “Those criticizing @edhusicMP for using the Koran at yesterday’s swearing in ceremony run a strong risk of drowning in their own mind”. Greens Senator Sarah Hanson Young urged Mr Husic to “just ignore the bigots”. In: http://www.news.com.au/national-news/ed-husic-attacked-on-facebook-over-koran/story-fncynjr2-1226673070543, retrieved on 03.07.2013 3. UK: Police seek racists who left pig heads in Bradford Muslim family garden – Members of the Ditta family were sickened to discover the pig heads on their front and back doorstop at their home in the Bolton area of the city. They later found another two in a bag, placed in bushes. The Muslim family had been living in the city for decades but had never been the target of racism in all those years. A spokesman for West Yorkshire Police confirmed that officers were investigating and that it was being treated as a racially-motivated hate crime. In: http://www.islamophobiatoday.com/2013/07/01/police-seek-racists-who-left-pig-heads-in-bradford-muslim-family-garden/, retrieved on 03.07.2013 4. UK: Toxteth mosque ‘suspect’ suitcase: Danish man cautioned – A Danish man had been cautioned after bomb disposal experts carried out controlled explosions on a suitcase found inside a mosque in Liverpool. Bomb disposal experts exploded the “suspect” suitcase near the Al Rahma Mosque, on Mulgrave Street, in Toxteth, at about 23:30 BST on Sunday (30 June). A police spokesman said no explosive materials were found at the scene. The 22-year-old was cautioned after being arrested for causing a public nuisance. Homes around the mosque were evacuated while two explosions were carried out. The police spokesman added that the suitcase had been left inside the mosque, but was carried outside by someone before police were called. In: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-merseyside-23142432, retrieved on 03.07.2013 5. US: Swastika sprayed on Islamic center – Police were still investigating the vandalism as what appeared to be a swastika was spray painted on the Islamic Center of Morris Count, and whether it was a

hate crime, said Kyle Schwarzmann, Rockaway Borough detective sergeant. The New Jersey chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations said police should investigate the incident as a possible hate crime because of the nature of this incident and because of other recent incidents targeting American mosques. Security footage showed a woman driving her car into the parking lot at 1 Mannino Drive, getting out and then spray painting the symbol on a glass door around 7 p.m. on 21 June 2013. She then got back into her car and drove away. The woman looked to be in either her late teens or 20s with dark hair.

In: http://www.nj.com/morris/index.ssf/2013/07/swastika_spray_painted_on_islamic_center_disgraceful_leader_says.html, retrieved on 10.07.2013

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6. Scotland: Vandals target mosque – Witnesses were being sought after a Scottish mosque was vandalized with offensive graffiti at the start of Ramadan. Police were appealing for information after “Muslims will perish by JC” was daubed at the Fife Islamic Centre in Kirkcaldy. Several cars were also damaged by red paint. In: http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/home-news/vandals-target-scottish-mosque.21574160, retrieved on 12.07.2013 7. US: Fox News host Says Ban new mosques until we find out ‘who is not a terrorist’ – Fox News host Bob Beckel was calling for a ban on all new Islamic mosques “until we got it worked out who is not a terrorist.” On Tuesday (09 July)’s The Five, host Greg Gutfeld pointed out to Beckel that a “Muslim gang” had killed at least 28 students at a boarding school in Nigeria over the weekend. Beckel, who was considered to be the liberal co-host of the show but had previously called to block all

Muslims students from traveling to the United States, suggested that the slaughter was a reason to stop building mosques in the U.S. Beckel explained: “They are a bunch of thugs, murderers and they go after schools, Christian schools…They’ve done this, they’ve burned them down. We don’t do that here. If we burned down your mosque here, you’d be really upset…Now, I’ve already got enough mail from you all, that you don’t like what I say about not letting your students come here…If it were up to me, I would not have another mosque built in this country until

we got it worked out who was not a terrorist…And by the way, is any Muslim out there, any Muslim cleric, any Muslim leader said anything about this? No! You’re cowardly! Because you’re afraid they’re going to put a — what do they call it? — a fatwa on you. Well, fatwa this!” That comment earned Beckel a high five from co-host Andrea Tantaros. “Somehow, I knew that would rile you up,” Gutfeld laughed. In: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/07/10/fox-news-host-ban-new-mosques-until-we-find-out-who-is-not-a-terrorist/, retrieved on 12.07.2012 8. UK: Kirkcaldy muslim centre targeted in hate crime – Just hours before the start of Ramadan, anti-

Islamic grafitti was spray painted on walls around the Kirkcaldy Islamic Centre in the town’s St Mary’s Road, and five vehicles belonging to members of the centre, where hundreds of Muslims go to pray as well as take part in many other community activities, were also targeted on the night of 09 July. Crosses were painted on number plates, windows and on a bonnet. Police in Kirkcaldy put on extra patrols in the area and spoke to the centre management about improving their security, as well as they appealed to members of the public to report any information or suspicious behaviour in the

area. In: http://www.fifetoday.co.uk/news/local-headlines/kirkcaldy-muslim-centre-targeted-in-hate-crime-1-2996242, retrieved on 17.07.2013 9. Iceland: A Mosque in Reykjavík Threatens Icelandic Culture – Former mayor of Reykjavík claimed that a mosque would threaten Iceland’s culture and safety. Eyjan reported that Ólafur F.

Magnússon, who was mayor for little less than 7 months in 2008, was highly pessimistic about plans of a mosque being built in the open space of in the eastern part of Reykjavík. City council approved of the plans in the first week of July 2013, after Muslims in Iceland having waited 13 years to get a property to raise the first mosque in

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Iceland. Ólafur wrote in Morgunblaðið on 14 July, expressing his concern about the matter: “It is worrying that Muslims here don’t seem to have any difficulties financing the project, receiving aid from Muslim organizations abroad. Those organizations might want to increase the influence of Islam in Iceland, as well as in other countries.” Instead of a mosque, Ólafur suggested a temple of the Nordic gods to be built in the plot, as “Such a cultural gem would bring joy to the majority of the city’s residents, as well as other Icelanders, and wouldn’t be as out of place as a mosque would.” In: http://www.islamophobiatoday.com/2013/07/14/a-mosque-in-reykjavik-threatens-icelandic-culture/, retrieved on 17.07.2013 10. France’s Marianne muse stirs pot with anti-Islam tweet – Inna Shevchenko, the leader of topless feminist group Femen and one of the inspirations for the new stamp depicting Marianne, the feminine symbol of France, created a mini-storm with a tweet slamming Ramadan and Islam in general. The “tweet” in question, published on 9 July reads: “What can be more stupid than Ramadan? What can be more uglier then this religion?” Shevchenko’s tweet had since been deleted – “by Mohamed or by mistake, that is the same”, the feminist posted to her Twitter account. In: http://www.france24.com/en/20130717-marianne-inna-shevchenko-femen-tunisia-topless-feminist-amina-ramadan, retrieved on 18.07.2013 11. Australia: Pig carcass dumped at Islamic burial site in Rockingham – Animal carcasses had been dumped at a burial site for Islamic families in Rockingham, south of Perth. The dumped animals were found at the Rockingham Regional Memorial Park by cemetery staff on the morning of 15 July.

A spokesman for the Metropolitan Cemeteries Board said the carcasses were removed as “a matter of urgency” and the local council and WA Police were notified. In: http://www.perthnow.com.au/news/western-australia/pig-carcass-dumped-at-islamic-burial-site-in-rockingham/story-fnhocxo3-1226680236633, retrieved on 18.07.2013 12. US: Man Yells “Terrorist Rats” in Mosque: Imam – San Diego police arrested a man after he entered a mosque during early-morning prayer, yelled “terrorist rats” and made death threats. A surveillance camera captured the moments the suspect entered the Islamic Center on Eckstrom Avenue around 4:30 a.m. on 15 July. Imam Taha Hassane said the man was noticed for wearing shoes on the carpet prayer. Mosque members asked if the man needed any help but the man told them to “get lost”. Hassane added: “Then he told him, ‘Excuse me this is a mosque. If you want to come inside to observe the prayer with us or if you have any questions…’ and then he walked back and told him ‘You terrorist rats’.” A surveillance camera inside the mosque caught the man’s action. He appeared to walk over to pamphlets on the wall and started to leave. That’s when the Imam said the man started yelling obscenities and threatening everyone. Witnesses told police the man yelled, “You terrorist rats, I’m going to kill you all.” 52-year old Larry Rodgers was later arrested by San Diego police. The center had reported previous phone calls threatening to blow up the center and its school. Investigators were looking into whether Rodgers was also responsible for those. In: http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/Mosque-San-Diego-Death-Threats-Clairemont-Islamic-Center-215988691.html, retrieved on 19.07.2013

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13. UK: Wolverhampton Mosque: Explosion debris found at site – Counter terrorism police searching Wolverhampton Central Mosque found traces of an explosion and debris. Army bomb disposal experts made the find on Thursday night (18 July) as they searched land on Waterloo Road. Two Ukrainian men had been arrested under the Terrorism Act in connection with explosions in Walsall and Tipton, also in the West Midlands. Cordons had been set up around Wolverhampton Central Mosque and an industrial unit in Small Heath, Birmingham, as investigations continued. Police believed the device may have been planted on the evening of 27 June 2013, before going off the next morning. Although people reported hearing a loud bang at the time, the location of the explosion was not discovered until specialist teams came to investigate on the night of 18 July. Wolverhampton Central Mosque and the surrounding area was evacuated at about 20:00 BST on 18 July and followed reports of “a possible device activation”. In: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-23372217, retrieved on 20.07.2013 Related: Ukrainian charged over UK mosque bombs – A court heard on Tuesday (23 July) that Pavlo Lapshyn, a 25-year-old postgraduate student from the Ukrainian city of Dnipropetrovsk, was charged with the “terrorist-related” murder of an elderly Muslim man, a 82-year-old grandfather Mohammed Saleem, who was stabbed in the back in Birmingham, central England, on 29 April 2013 as he walked home from prayers, and had also been charged over three mosque bombings in central England. Westminster Magistrates’ Court in London was told on the same day that Lapshyn was also charged with carrying out a series of acts with the intention to commit acts of terrorism. The offences related to three explosions in the central English towns of Walsall, Wolverhampton and Tipton in June 2013. The charges included purchasing batteries, a lunch bag, a clock and a container as part of the construction of an explosive device. He was also accused of purchasing chemicals to make explosive devices, modifying mobile phones to act as detonators, and carrying out internet research. In: http://www.news24.com/World/News/Ukrainian-charged-over-UK-mosque-bombs-20130723, retrieved on 25.07.2013 14. UK: EDL member sports tattoo of mosque being blown up – These images surfaced over the weekend of 20-21 July 2013 from the EDL demo in Birmingham. Imagine if that were a Muslim with a tattoo (though it could also be paint) that advocated blowing up churches. He’d be picked up by the police within minutes.

In: http://liberalconspiracy.org/2013/07/23/edl-member-sports-tattoo-of-mosque-being-blown-up/, retrieved on 24.07.2013

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Related: South Shields Mosque Bomb ‘BOOM!’ Tattoo EDL Man Arrested – A man who revealed a tattoo of a mosque being blown up during an EDL rally had been arrested after he was exposed by Sky Tyne and Wear. Shaun Reah, 39, was arrested on suspicion of inciting racial hatred after he was pictured lifting up his T-shirt to reveal an image of a Muslim place of worship with “BOOM!” emblazoned across it. Reah’s solicitor Kevin Smallcombe, of Hannays Crime Solicitors, confirmed the arrest. A spokesman for Northumbria Police said: “A 39-year-old man has been arrested in South Tyneside on behalf of West Midlands Police on suspicion of using words or behavior, or displaying written material with intent to stir up racial hatred.” In: http://www.hopenothate.org.uk/news/article/2897/south-shields-mosque-bomb-boom-tattoo-edl-man-arrested, retrieved on 31.07.2013 15. Australia: Muslims Denounce Anti-Halal Stickers – A new sticker campaign linking halal food to terrorism had angered Australian Muslims, accusing rightist groups of spreading baseless misconceptions about a peaceful Muslim community. The Muslim uproar had been sparked by the discovery of a jar of coffee with its seal broken at a Woolworths supermarket at Underwood, south of Brisbane, earlier in the month of July 2013. The jar had a sticker saying ‘‘Beware! Halal food funds terrorists’’. After search, the stickers were found to be sold by Restore Australia, Restore Australia whose CEO, Mike Holt, had been the One Nation Party’s candidate for the federal seat of Fairfax. Holt, who co-founded the organization, said on the company website that Restore Australia was a non-political organization wanting to restore power to the people. He added that he stood by his website and that Muslims were “forcing a Halal tax on us” through certification which raised money for terrorism. According to the Restore Australia website: “The Australian people should be able to vote in a referendum on whether we want to pay a Halal tax or not…Plaster the anti-Halal stickers everywhere and help educate Aussies about the creeping attack on our food supply.” The police investigation ended up in the arrest of a 27-year-old Kingston woman who will front the Beenleigh Magistrates Court on Friday (19 July) charged with one count of product contamination. After her arrest, Restore Australia posted an appeal on Facebook asking for the name of lawyers who might help her for free. Restore Australia said: “Nestle has decided to fight back against our anti-halal sticker campaign by having a 19-year-old girl in Brisbane arrested for ‘product tampering’. Alleging that she put an anti-Halal sticker on one of their jars of coffee and then opened it…Nestle has just... shot themselves in the foot. Instead of doing the right thing and stop selling us out to Islam, they have decided to pick on a young woman and take her to court.” In: http://www.onislam.net/english/news/asia-pacific/463703-aussie-muslims-denounce-anti-halal-stickers.html, retrieved on 25.07.2013 16. Sri Lanka: Raw Pork Was Thrown into the Mahiyangana Mosque – Attacks against mosques around the Sri Lanka had become more obscene and portentously fatal. The latest attack occurred in Mahiyangana on 18 July, when a mob of masked individuals attacked the Mahiyangana Masjidul Araba mosque while a group of Muslims prayed in the house of worship. The main power source was switched

off, disrupting mosque activities as those within the building were plunged into darkness. Furious cries of threats were heard by those within the building, which minutes later were followed by a shower of stones hurled at the mosque. Many of the windows were broken, but the people within the mosque were able to avoid the stones and remain out of harm’s way. The onslaught lasted up to 20 minutes before the power was restored and the aggressors made scarce. The

police were called in; however the perpetrators were yet to be arrested.

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Prior to the full-on attack, the mosque Trustee was assaulted. Chili powder was flung at him and his assailants had threatened him against continuing Friday payers in the mosque, warning that worse was yet to come. Disregarding the threats, the mosque conducted the Friday prayers undeterred. The following day raw pork was thrown into the mosque premises. In: http://www.islamophobiatoday.com/2013/07/29/raw-pork-was-thrown-into-the-mahiyangana-mosque/, retrieved on 30.07.2013 I.II. On Offences to Prophet Muhammad (PBUH): 1. French satire magazine Charlie Hebdo insults Muslims again in honor of Ramadan – In yet another anti-Islamic move, the French magazine Charlie Hebdo had chosen the first day of Ramadan to publish images on its front cover that desecrated the Quran, featuring the recent anti-Muslim Brotherhood protests in Egypt. In the cover, they printed: ‘The Quran is shit. It does not stop bullets.’ Islamic organizations in France called on Muslims to exercise restraint over the sacrilegious move and remain calm to defuse the magazine agenda. Charlie Hebdo had previously insulted Muslim sanctities several times publishing sacrilegious cartoons depicting Islam’s prophet Mohammed. In: http://boltonbnp.blogspot.ca/2013/07/woo-hoo-french-satire-magazine-charlie.html, retrieved on 17.07.2013 II. Positive Developments: 1. EU strips immunity from Marine Le Pen – The European Parliament voted to waive immunity from prosecution for far-right French MEP Marine Le Pen, paving the way for her to be prosecuted under French law for “inciting racial hatred” for remarks she made in a 2010 speech to which she would likely face charges of “inciting racial hatred” over comments she made comparing Islamic immigration in France to the Nazi occupation. At political rally in December 2010, the MEP and head of France’s anti-Europe and anti-immigration National Front (FN) condemned Muslims who were praying in the streets of Paris, stating: “For those who like to talk about World War II, to talk about occupation, we could talk about, for once, the occupation of our territory…There are no armoured vehicles, no soldiers, but it is an occupation all the same and it weighs on people.” Prosecutors in Lyon, south-eastern France, want Le Pen to answer the charge of inciting racial hatred, but had been unable to summon her because of the immunity from prosecution she enjoys as an MEP, a position she had held since 2004. Tuesday (02 July)’s vote followed a secret ballot by the European Parliament’s Judicial Affairs Committee on 19 June 2013 which backed the recommendation to remove her immunity. In: http://www.france24.com/en/20130702-european-parliament-vote-lift-immunity-french-far-right-fn-le-pen, retrieved on 03.07.2013 III. On Muslims in US and Americas: 1. Latina Converts to Islam Growing in Number – Imam Shamsi Ali, a Muslim scholar and imam of the 96th street mosque in Manhattan, on the border of the city's Upper East Side and Harlem, said that since the 9/11 tragedy, the Hispanic community in the United States had witnessed a significant rise in conversions to Islam, especially among “mostly educated, young and professional women.” He explained that although 9/11 incited bias and discrimination against Muslims, many non-Muslims, who some had never heard about Islam, also started to question the meaning of the religion. According to the 2011 U.S. Mosque Survey, which interviewed leaders at 524 mosques across the country, the percentage of new female converts to Islam in the U.S. has increased 9% since 2000, from 32% to

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41%. Latinos--men and women--accounted for 12% of all new converts in the United States in 2011. In 2006, the number of Hispanic Muslims was estimated at about 200,000 by the American Muslim Council, which had not provided any new figures since then. Ahmad Akhar, the Ibn Khaldun chair of Islamic studies at American University in Washington, D.C., gave several explanations for this increase in a 2011 story in Illume Mag on the rise of Hispanics converting to Islam in the United States. The most attractive part of Islam to Latinos seeking spirituality, he said, was its strict monotheistic orientation and structured belief system. Much more literature on Islam had been translated into Spanish in the United States, he added, which had made the religion more accessible to non-Arabic readers. By converting to Islam, some Latinos may also feel as if they were connecting to their Spanish roots, which were embedded for 800 years in Islamic history in Spain’s southeast population centers of Granada, Cordova, Seville and Andalusia. According to a study published by the Pew Research Center in 2011, over the next two decades the number of Muslims living in the United States would more than double, rising from 2.6 million in 2010 to 6.2 million in 2030. The study also found that about 20% of the estimated 1.8 million Muslims currently in America, 18 and older, were converts. In: http://womensenews.org/story/religion/130715/latina-converts-islam-growing-in-number#.UeZFv6xhDfI, retrieved on 17.07.2013 2. “WHY-ISLAM” launches outreach programs during the Muslim holy month, Ramadan – The ‘WHY-ISLAM’ project of the Islamic Circle of North America to address a growing need for accurate information on Islam and Muslims. During Ramadan there is an increased curiosity about Islam from the diverse American society. With the start of Ramadan in July 2013, “WHY ISLAM” launched several projects to promote increased understanding and dialogue between people of diverse backgrounds:

� Strategic Billboards have been placed in New Jersey and California. In New Jersey they are placed at south bound NJ Turnpike (between exits 9 and 8A) as well as in Hackensack and Elizabeth NJ. The billboards, in English and Spanish, highlight commonalities between Islam and other faiths. In California it's placed on busy expressway in Sunnyvale City.

� Increased staffing of the 877-WHY-ISLAM hotline to cater for the increased call volume anticipated during the month. Callers can access the bi-lingual (English and Spanish) toll free number, 877-WHY-ISLAM (949-47526), for any information or questions about Islam. They can also request a free copy of The Quran with translations in English or Spanish. The 877-WHY-ISLAM call center takes phone calls 24/7 to help the callers with accurate information about Islam.

� Free Ramadan Informational Brochure available to convey the key messages about the holy month and its similarities with other faiths.

� Ramadan focus on www.whyislam.org website. A variety of articles and multimedia productions are featured on the website to provide ready access to informational material on the holy month.

� Mosque visit and ‘iftar program’ – Ramadan provides the opportunity to participate in a community meal to mark the end of the fast - "iftar". Interested individuals can call the 877-WHY-ISLAM hotline and a visit to a local "iftar" will be scheduled.

In: http://www.sacbee.com/2013/07/15/5567303/why-islam-launches-outreach-programs.html, retrieved on 17.07.2013

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3. Obama celebrates Ramadan: ‘Islam has contributed to the character’ of US – President Obama late Thursday (25 July) celebrated Ramadan with a traditional dinner in the State Dining Room, saying that throughout the nation’s history, “Islam has contributed to the character of our country.” According to a White House pool report, in remarks before the Iftar dinner, Obama quoted from the Koran: “As the Koran teaches, whoever does an atom’s weight of good will see its results…Muslim-Americans and their good works have helped to build our nation, and we've seen the results.” Obama, who had hosted five Iftar dinners, focused on entrepreneurship during much of his speech: “Every day, Muslim-Americans are helping to shape the way that we think and the way that we work and the way that we do business…And that’s the spirit that we celebrate tonight — the dreamers, the creators whose ideas are pioneering new industries, creating new jobs and unleashing new opportunities for all of us.” Obama recognized three entrepreneurs, including Shazi Visram, the founder and chief executive of Happy Family Organic Superfoods; Aunim Hossain, chief executive of Tista Games; and Iya Khalil, who co-founded GNS Healthcare, a biotech research company. “So Shazi, Aunim, Iya and so many of you who have traveled here tonight — each of you have traveled your own path, but each of you have also lived out an American story. And of course, this isn’t just the American Dream; it’s the aspiration of people around the world. It’s the basic human desire for progress, to find dignity that comes from work, to give our children something better.” Members of Congress, local elected officials and dozens of ambassadors were on the White House guest list. In: http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/313665-obama-celebrates-ramadan-with-white-house-dinner, retrieved on 26 July 2013 IV. On Muslims in Europe: 1. Poland: Slaughter Ban Angers Polish Muslims, Jews – Being failed by the government twice, Polish Muslims and Jews expressed anger over a parliament vote rejecting to repeal an earlier ban on halal and kosher slaughter by the European country’s constitutional court. Poland’s parliament voted on 12 July to reject the ritual slaughter of livestock for food. Ritual slaughter had been banned in Poland since 1st January 2013 after a Constitutional Court deemed it incompatible with animal rights law. 12 July’s vote struck down a government bill suggested in December 2012 reinstating the practice to calm angry Muslim and Jewish minorities. Lawmakers rejected the bill with a vote of 222 against, 178 in favor and nine abstentions. The ban was imposed by the Constitutional Court that ruled against the practice in November 2012, after animal rights groups protested that the slaughter contradicted Polish laws on animal welfare. The Constitutional Tribunal said it was against Polish law to allow animals to have their throats cut and bleed to death without first being stunned. The vote had angered the Muslim and Jewish minorities as well as farmers and exporters of meat. In: http://www.onislam.net/english/news/europe/463571-slaughter-ban-angers-polish-muslims-jews.html, retrieved on 17.07.2013 IV.I. On Muslims in the United Kingdom, Including Australia & New Zealand: 1. Survey: UK Muslims give more to charity than Jews, Christians – A recent survey conducted by ICM, a London-based polling agency, survey showed that the U.K.’s estimated 280,000 Muslims reported giving more money annually to charity than Christians, Hindus, Sikhs and Jews. The survey, conducted on behalf of JustGiving, an online giving platform, also found a 70% rise in giving in 2011-12 from among Muslims to the charity-giving site. In 2012, British Muslims gave $307,046 in donations to a variety of causes through JustGiving, compared to $144,311 in 2010. The donations went to various Islamic-oriented charities, including Muslim Aid, Islamic Relief and the Zakat Trust. Muslims also donate to individual mosques and earmark sums of

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money to non-Islamic causes. In 2010, Muslims in Manchester donated $79,831 to develop a United Reformed Church building in a rundown part of the city. The ICM survey showed that Muslims said they donated about $567 per person per year, with Jews (also numbering around 280,000 in the U.K.) in second place, with $412 per person annually. Christians gave considerably less — just over $300 per person, and atheists were at the bottom of the list, with $177 donated. These findings followed a recent Pew Research Center poll of more than 38,000 Muslims in 39 countries that found that 77% said they donated regularly to charities. In: http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/on-faith/survey-uk-muslims-give-more-to-charity-than-jews-christians/2013/07/24/a9acf49a-f49b-11e2-81fa-8e83b3864c36_story.html, retrieved on 25.07.2013

IV.I. On Woolwich Murder Attack:

1. Muslim graves at Christchurch Cemetery, Newport, desecrated by racist vandals – Muslim graves at a Newport cemetery had been desecrated with racist graffiti. The vandals used white paint to write “Lee Rigby murder”, “white power” and drew swastikas on four gravestones at Christchurch Cemetery. They also wrote the initials of the British National Party (BNP), the UK Independence Party (UKIP) and the National Front (NF). People visiting nearby graves spoke of their disgust and shock at seeing the painted messages, which were still wet the morning of 30 June. A police spokesman said: “We are working with the council to get the graffiti removed and contacting the relatives of the graves that have been affected.”

In: http://www.islamophobiatoday.com/2013/06/30/muslim-graves-at-christchurch-cemetery-newport-desecrated-by-racist-vandals/, retrieved on 03.07.2013

2. Police: Explosion at UK mosque is ‘terrorist incident’ – Police said Friday (12 July) that a suspected nail bomb explosion near a mosque in Britain was being treated as a “terrorist incident,” highlighting tensions in the wake of the slaying of a soldier. There were no reports of injuries following the blast in Tipton, near Birmingham. The explosion came on the same day as a high-profile funeral for British serviceman Lee Rigby, who was hacked to death on a street London in broad daylight. Rigby’s May 22 killing shocked the country, and had been followed by a series of apparent attacks on mosques or places of Islamic worship. The West Midlands Police said on its website: “An investigation is being led by the West Midlands Counter Terrorism Unit and it is being treated as a terrorist incident…Some residents have reported finding debris in the area and finding nails. This is being investigated by forensic officers at the scene.” Hours earlier, over a thousand well-wishers including Prime Minister David Cameron gathered at a military funeral on for Rigby, who was 25. In: http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/07/12/19438405-police-explosion-at-uk-mosque-is-terrorist-incident?lite, retrieved on 13.07.2013 V. On Burqah and Veil Related Issues: 1. Russia: Supreme Court upholds ban on Muslim headwear in schools – A branch of Russia’s Supreme Court rejected an appeal by a group of Muslims for the right of schoolgirls to wear traditional religious attire, specifically the hijab, in classrooms. The appeal was made by a group of citizens of Muslim faith from southern Russia’s Stavropol Region. They complained that a decree by the local administration ordering all schoolchildren to appear in classes only in regular secular clothes, which came into force in January 2013, infringed their freedom of faith as guaranteed by the constitution.

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The controversy erupted when a group of schoolgirls was barred from classes for two weeks when they insisted on wearing hijabs. The girls then began attending to a local religious school, the parents saying their daughters would receive the mandatory universal secondary education at home. However the administration ruled that a religious school cannot replace a secular one. The Muslims turned to the Supreme Court, but on 10 July their appeal was turned down. At the session, the representative of the Stavropol administration reiterated the position that the school regulations concerning dress did not prevent Muslims from believing in God and were therefore not infringing anyone’s rights. The defense team said they would then appeal the case in the Supreme Court Presidium, the final right of recourse within Russia. They also noted that it was unlikely that they would turn to the European Human Rights Court as they expected it to take the side of the regional authorities. In: http://rt.com/politics/hidjab-russian-court-ban-878/, retrieved on 11.07.2013 2. France: Three separate attacks on hijab-wearing Muslim women in Reims – AFP reported that the prosecutor in Reims said on 16 July that he was investigating three separate complaints of assaults and insults against Muslim women. The prosecutor told AFP that a preliminary investigation had been opened after a veiled young woman was assaulted on 12 July while crossing a park in the centre of Reims by a man who was “probably drunk”. The victim was hit in the face and wounded with a sharp object by her attacker, who had previously attempted to snatch her headscarf, according to her testimony. The prosecutor was investigating two further complaints filed at the Reims police headquarters on 14 July: one for physical assault – a blow with an elbow – and racist insults against a woman wearing a headscarf that took place a day earlier, and another for death threats and insults towards two other veiled women, dating back to 2nd July. In: http://www.islamophobiatoday.com/2013/07/16/three-separate-attacks-on-hijab-wearing-muslim-women-in-reims/, retrieved on 17.07.2013 3. Clashes Erupt In France Over Veil Ban: Is It Islamophobia Or Violation Of Law? – Fresh clashes in France erupted over the much-debated and already-enforced Veil Ban or the Burqa Ban. According to reports, about 20 cars were torched and at least four people detained in a second night of violence that started in the suburbs west of Paris following an incident in which a Muslim woman was asked to remove her veil in public. As of 11 April 2011, it was illegal to wear a face-covering veil or other mask in public places such as the street, shops, museums, public transportation, and parks. According to the proponents of the ban, the veil was a sign of Islamic oppression and was contradictory to France’s principles of secularism. On the recent protests in France, there were two sides of the story; the woman who was stopped and the police who asked the veil to be removed. So, was the incident a violation of French law by the Muslim woman or an act of Islamophobia committed by the police officers? The side of the story as told by the woman who was stopped, pointed towards French Islamophobia. According to her, the police officers tried to ‘provoke’ an attack. The woman, identified by the name Hajar, told Collective against Islamophobia in France (CCIF): “I am referring to you because I suffered from a police abuse. They wanted to control me because I wear the full-veil. As usual, I complied to this identity checking. I was about to lift my veil when I saw police agents violently pushing my mother.” The French police alleged that they ‘rightfully’ stopped the woman from wearing the illegal veil in public when her husband tried to strangle an officer who was doing the ticketing. The law enforcement officials also claimed that the Muslims initiated not only the attacks but also the violent rioting that has been going on for a couple of days now. Many people were accusing the Muslim women of not adhering to the laws of the country and creating a fuss out of something that had been legally settled. In: http://www.carbonated.tv/news/clashes-erupt-in-france-over-veil-ban-is-it-islamophobia-or-violation-of-law, retrieved on 23.07.2013

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VI. On Dialogue among Civilizations: 1. Bosnia-Herzegovina: Muslim Jewish Conference Meets In Sarajevo to Combat Islamophobia and Anti-Semitism – Students and young professionals from around the world gathered in Sarajevo, Bosnia to exchange experiences and fight prejudice and hatred. They represented different cultures and races and speak dozens of languages, but they shared either one of two identities: they were all Muslims or Jews. As religious tensions flared and Islamophobia and anti-Semitism plagued societies, these courageous young people were determined to forge a future of greater peace and understanding. The conference was the fourth organized by The Muslim Jewish Conference (MJC), a Vienna-based organization whose goal for the conference, according to their website, “is to provide the next generation with a learning experience for life and a positive outlook for establishing intercultural relations and sustaining Muslim-Jewish partnerships.” In three years, the MJC had attracted more than three hundred young leaders from fifty countries to lead and participate in conferences in Vienna; Kiev, Ukraine; Bratislava, Slovakia, and now Sarajevo. Jay Schultz, an American living in Israel, and Shanza Ali, from London, spoke to The Huffington Post from the conference. Both explained how they had taken advantage of this unique opportunity for an open and honest dialogue with the “other” that seemed impossible at home. Jay explained: “I came to the conference from Israel where I don’t get to interact with Muslims outside the Israel Arab debate. But for me, the theology is so interesting, what it means to both be the descendants of Abraham and work together to create ‘chased’ or kindness in the world. Being able to discuss how to work hand-in-hand is not something I get to do with Muslims in Israel because of the conflict.” For Shanza, the university life in the United Kingdsom was where she found the divide between Muslims and Jews, adding: “The conference gives me the opportunity to interact with Jews from so many backgrounds, but most of all I have made some incredible friends. I am in the gender and religion project at the conference and we are working together to find solutions to mutual problems we face on that topic. The conference has proven intellectually and spiritually beneficial.” Ilja Sichrovsky, founder and Secretary General of MJC, started the conference in 2009 with 15 volunteers from six countries. It had expanded to include 30 volunteers from 16 countries. Sichrovsky explained that each year they looked for outstanding applications from Muslims and Jews who had an important perspective to share, but who were also interested in listening to the perspectives of others. The conference also acknowledged that it was not only important to have a good balance between Jews and Muslims, but also a balance between the more secular and more religious participants. One of the surprise benefits of the conference had been the intrafaith conversations that took place alongside the interfaith ones, as well as the intrafaith conversations that happened when participants returned home to their family and friends in 39 countries. In: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/05/muslim-jewish-dialogue_n_3539708.html, retrieved on 07.07.2013

Compiled by: Abdula Manafi Mutualo, Secretary of the Observatory

Culture & Social Affairs Department Email: abdmanafi@oic-oci.org

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