Islamophobia in the US Now Has a Face Called Donald Trump, May 5-9, 2016, a CAIR Report

May 10, 2016

CAIR-LA: Muslim Student Smeared as ‘Isis’ in Yearbook to Speak to Media

Last Updated: May 09, 2016 | | Hits: 25

(ANAHEIM, CA, 5/9/16) –

Later today, Bayan Zehlif, the Muslim high school student who was pictured wearing her Islamic head scarf (hijab) with the false name “Isis Phillips” in the Los Osos High School yearbook will speak during a media availability in Anaheim at the office of the Greater Los Angeles chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-LA).

WHAT: Media Availability with H.S. Student Bayan Zehlif

WHEN: Monday May 9, 1:30-4 PM PST

WHERE: CAIR-LA Anaheim Office, Add2180 W. Crescent Ave. Anaheim CA 92801

CONTACT: CAIR-LA Communications Coordinator Ojaala Ahmad, 714.776.1847, oahmad@cair.com

Yesterday, CAIR-LA expressed concern about the safety of the Muslim student and called for a thorough investigation of the incident and appropriate measures to prevent its reoccurrence and to address the emotional and psychological suffering of the student and her family.

SEE: CAIR-LA Concerned About Safety of Muslim Student Smeared as ‘Isis’ in H.S. Yearbook

CAIR is America's largest Muslim civil liberties and advocacy organization. Its mission is to enhance the understanding of Islam, encourage dialogue, protect civil liberties, empower American Muslims, and build coalitions that promote justice and mutual understanding.

CONTACT: CAIR-LA Communications Coordinator Ojaala Ahmad, 714.776.1847 or oahmad@cair.com

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CAIR-LA Concerned About Safety of Muslim Student Smeared as ‘Isis’ in H.S. Yearbook

Last Updated: May 09, 2016 | | Hits: 39

Muslim civil rights group is calling for a thorough investigation, ‘appropriate measures’ to address suffering of the student and her family

(ANAHEIM, CA, 5/8/16) – The Greater Los Angeles office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-LA) today expressed concern about the safety of a Muslim student at Los Osos High School in Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., who was pictured wearing her Islamic head scarf (hijab) with the false name “Isis Phillips” in the school’s yearbook.

Attorneys with CAIR-LA’s Civil Rights Department are currently investigating the incident. To date, some 200 yearbooks have been distributed to students at Los Osos High School. CAIR has learned that this may not be the first Islamophobic event to have occurred recently at the school.

CAIR: Yearbook Photo Misnames Student in Hijab as 'Isis,' Sparking Outrage

The student and her family were deeply embarrassed after seeing the picture in the yearbook and have suffered a great deal of emotional and psychological distress. It is unlikely that the student will return to school until the issue is resolved appropriately.

"We join with the family in their concern about a possible bias motive for this incident and in the deep concern for their daughter’s safety as a result of being falsely labeled as a member of a terrorist group,” said CAIR-LA Executive Director Hussam Ayloush. "No student should have to face the humiliation of being associated with a group as reprehensible as ISIS."

CAIR-LA is calling for a thorough investigation of this incident and appropriate measures to prevent its reoccurrence and to address the emotional and psychological suffering of the student and her family.

The family is requesting that their daughter’s privacy be respected and are asking that all media inquiries be directed to CAIR-LA.

Last year, CAIR-CA published a report that highlighted incidents of bullying state-wide and indicated that 55 percent of California Muslim students have been subject to at least one form of religion-based bullying. That is twice as high as the national average of students reporting being bullied at school.

Mislabeled: The Impact of School Bullying and Discrimination on California Muslim Students

Hundreds of California Muslims recently met with elected officials in support of anti-bullying legislation.

CAIR: 600+ to Take Part in April 25 California ‘Muslim Day at the Capitol’

Action Alert: CAIR-CA Urges Support for Anti-Bullying Legislation

CAIR offers a booklet, called "An Educator's Guide to Islamic Religious Practices," designed to help school officials provide a positive learning environment for Muslim students.

SEE: An Educator's Guide to Islamic Religious Practices

CONTACT: CAIR-LA Communications Coordinator Ojaala Ahmad, (714) 776-1847, oahmad@cair.com ; CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-744-7726, ihooper@cair.com

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Suspect

CAIR-Houston Calls on FBI to Probe Bomb Threat Targeting Islamic Center

Last Updated: May 09, 2016 | | Hits: 65

(HOUSTON, TEXAS, 5/9/16) – The Houston chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-Houston) today called on the FBI and state law enforcement authorities to investigate an apparently bias-motived threat to bomb a local Islamic center.

CAIR says the apparent threat to the Islamic Da'wah Center in Houston was posted May 6 on the Facebook page of a “Stop Islamization of Texas” hate rally hosted by “Heart of Texas.” The message stated: “Need to Blow this place up. We don’t need this sh*t in Texas.” Another person posted: “i [sic] agree.” Another person wrote: “Let’s make them change there [sic] minds. Hunting season is coming.” The “Heart of Texas” group is planning the armed hate rally outside the center on May 21.

SCREEN SHOT: threat to Bomb Texas Islamic Center

“This clear threat to bomb a religious institution must be investigated and the perpetrators brought to justice,” said CAIR-Houston Staff Attorney Arsalan Safiullah. “No Americans should be targeted by threats of violence because of their faith.”

Last week, CAIR offered a $1,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the perpetrator of a hate attack on a Muslim woman in Washington, D.C., during which the attacker allegedly shouted religious slurs and statements of support for GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump.

VIDEO: CAIR Offers Reward for Info About DC Hate Attack on Muslim Woman

Also last week, CAIR’s Oklahoma chapter welcomed state and federal hate crime investigations of the stabbing of a Savanna, Okla., gas station clerk who was reportedly called a “terrorist” by the alleged attacker.

SEE: CAIR-OK Welcomes Hate Crime Probes of Attack on Gas Station Clerk Called ‘Terrorist’

These threats and attacks come at a time of rising Islamophobia nationwide, prompted at least in part by anti-Muslim rhetoric employed by public figures like Donald Trump.

CAIR: ‘It could get a lot worse for Muslims in America’ (Washington Post)

If you believe your rights have been violated, you may call CAIR's Civil Rights Department at 202-742-6420 or email civilrights@cair.com .

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CONTACT: CAIR-Houston Executive Director Mustafaa Carroll, 713-838-2247 (office), 832-549-1042 (cell), mcarroll@cair.com ; CAIR-Houston Staff Attorney Arsalan Safiullah, 713-838-2247, aSafiullah@cair.com ; CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-744-7726, ihooper@cair.com

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CAIR-MN Welcomes DHS Investigation Into TSA Profiling of Somali-Americans

Last Updated: May 05, 2016 | | Hits: 67

(MINNEAPOLIS, MN, 5/5/2016) - The Minnesota chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-MN) today welcomed a decision by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG) to open an investigation into an allegation of profiling by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA).

SEE: Homeland Security Investigating after Reports of Racial Profiling at MSP

A TSA manager in Minnesota revealed that he was instructed by his supervisor to provide the names of Somali-American leaders visiting the agency's office so they could be screened against national security databases for terrorist ties.

SEE: Inspector General Opens Investigation of Alleged Profiling by the Transportation Security Administration

"We welcome this investigation and hope it results in the accountability and transparency needed to rebuild trust in the Minnesota TSA," said CAIR-MN Executive Director Jaylani Hussein. "Racial and religious profiling is unconstitutional, immoral, ineffective, and undermines the core principals of our democracy."

CAIR-MN and Muslim community leaders had called for just such an investigation.

SEE: Minneapolis Somali-American and Muslim Leaders Speak Out Against Racial Profiling

CONTACT: CAIR-MN Executive Director Jaylani Hussein, 612-406-0070, jhussein@cair.com ; and CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-744-7726, ihooper@cair.com

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CAIR Rep. Named 2016 Maryland Public Policy Conflict Resolution Fellow

Last Updated: May 05, 2016 | | Hits: 70

(WASHINGTON, D.C., 4/30/16) -

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation's largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, announced today that its Maryland Outreach Manager Dr. Zainab Chaudry successfully graduated from the Maryland Public Policy Conflict Resolution Fellows Program.

The fellows program, coordinated by the Center for Dispute Resolution at the University of Maryland Carey School of Law (C-DRUM) and the Maryland Judiciary's Mediation and Conflict Resolution Office (MACRO), consists of intensive, comprehensive, and broad-based mediation training for scholars, elected officials, and community and faith leaders.

The 27-member Class of 2016 includes state senators and delegates, members of the Maryland Judiciary, state secretaries, and other distinguished fellows.

CONTACT: CAIR Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, ihooper@cair.com

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CAIR-LA Welcomes Resignation of Los Angeles Sheriff’s Top Deputy Over Islamophobic, Racist Emails

Last Updated: May 02, 2016 | | Hits: 93

(ANAHEIM, CA, 5/2/16) – The Greater Los Angeles Area office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-LA) today welcomed the resignation of the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Chief of Staff Tom Angel after CAIR-LA and other civil rights organizations demanded his resignation for sending numerous Islamophobic and racist emails.

SEE: CAIR-LA Calls for Resignation of Los Angeles Sheriff’s Top Deputy Over Islamophobic and Racist Emails

“The Sheriff’s decision to accept his chief of staff’s resignation sent an important and clear message going forward that the LASD has zero tolerance for misconduct that could undermine the trust between the Department and the diverse L.A. communities that it serves,” said CAIR-LA Public Affairs Manager Haroon Manjlai. “We support Sheriff McDonald's commitment to take actions to rebuild the trust and undo the damage by reviewing existing policies to ensure accountability and enhance cultural and ethnic sensitivity and professionalism among LASD personnel."

VIDEO: CAIR-LA Welcomes Resignation of Top Sheriff's Dept. Official Over Anti-Muslim, Racist Emails

Top L.A. County sheriff's Official Resigns Over Emails Mocking Muslims and Others (LA Times)

Tom Angel, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s chief of staff, reportedly sent offensive and derogatory emails as recently as 2013 from his Burbank Police Department work account when he was employed by that law enforcement agency. The Los Angeles Times reports that Angel appears to have circulated numerous emails that demeaned Muslims, African-Americans, Latinos, and women.

CAIR has recently expressed concerns about anti-Muslim material posted on social media by a number of public officials nationwide.

CONTACT: CAIR-LA Communications Coordinator Ojaala Ahmad at 714 776 1847 or email: oahmad@cair.com ; CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-744-7726, ihooper@cair.com

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Islamophobia in the US Now has a Face, Called Donald Trump:

‘It could get a lot worse for Muslims in America’ - The Washington Post

By Dana Milbank

The Washington Post, May 3, 2016

My neighborhood of Chevy Chase is a leafy and peaceful slice of Northwest Washington. But this week, the news here is of a woman assaulted outside the local Starbucks by a Donald Trump supporter, she says — for the sin of being Muslim.

Police on Monday released surveillance video showing a heavyset white woman shouting at, and then pouring a bottle of liquid onto, a woman in a Muslim headscarf seated outside a Starbucks on a recent weeknight. Police are investigating a possible hate crime.

The victim said the attacker called her a “worthless piece of Muslim trash” and a “terrorist.” And the attacker said she was supporting Trump because he would send the Muslims “back to where you came from.”

“She mentioned this man’s name to me as a way of saying he’s going to put all of you out of this country,” the woman, who asked not to be identified, told me Tuesday.

But this is her country. She’s African American, born in Minneapolis, reared in Chicago and now living in the District — where, until now, she never thought she’d have a foul-smelling liquid poured on her for wearing a headscarf.

Muslim woman says she was harassed, assaulted because of her faith

Embed Copy Share Play Video1:54 A Muslim woman says she suffered harassment and an assault because of her faith outside of a Starbucks in NW D.C. The incident occurred on April 21 and the victim caught some of the harassment on video. (WUSA)

Trump won the Indiana primary easily Tuesday night, giving him an almost certain grip on the Republican presidential nomination. Now Republicans across the country will be forced to make a moral choice: Do they associate themselves with the grotesque things that Trump and his supporters have said and done? Or do they refuse to allow such things to be said and done in their names?

At the core of Trump’s candidacy so far has been his disparagement of women, immigrants, Latinos and African Americans, his mockery of the disabled, his play with Jewish stereotypes and his demonizing of Muslims. They all should be taken into account, but for now let’s focus on the last.

Asked about a system to register and track Muslims in the United States, Trump said, “I would certainly implement that — absolutely.” He said he would “certainly look at” closing mosques.

He falsely said there were “thousands” cheering the collapse of the World Trade Center from New Jersey, with its “heavy Arab population.”

Trump called for “a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States.”

Trump continues at rallies to repeat an apocryphal story about U.S. Gen. John Pershing executing Muslim prisoners in the Philippines decades ago using bullets dipped in pig’s blood.

At a rally, a Trump supporter called President Obama a Muslim and said Muslims are “a problem in this country.” Trump allowed both of those statements to stand.

Police looking for assault suspect in possible hate crime outside D.C. coffee shop

Embed Copy Share Play Video1:23 D.C. police released surveillance footage of an assault that occurred in the 5500 block of Connecticut Avenue, NW, on April 21, at approximately 10:39 p.m. Police are asking for help identifying the person of interest captured on camera. (D.C. Metropolitan Police Department)

Trump previously led the “birther” challenge to Obama’s birth certificate and speculated, “Maybe it says he is a Muslim.”

Trump said in a TV interview that “Islam hates us,” and, later asked if that meant all 1.6 billion of the world’s Muslims, Trump said, “I mean a lot of ’em.”

Muslims have been taunted outside Trump events, and at one event in South Carolina, a woman in a hijab who stood in silent protest was escorted out by police as Trump supporters booed her, chanted Trump’s name and suggested she was a terrorist.

Trump can’t be blamed for everything his followers do. But his ascent has coincided with a rise in the number of anti-Muslim incidents to the highest level the Council on American-Islamic Relations has ever found. A sampling from the past two months:

●A self-proclaimed Trump supporter was sentenced in California for making death threats outside a Muslim center and for building pipe bombs.

●Demonstrators claiming to be Trump supporters staged public desecrations of the Koran in Atlanta and Phoenix.

●A man chanting Trump slogans at a gas station shouted “brown trash” and other epithets at a Muslim who is student-body vice president at Wichita State University in Kansas. (The Trump backer and a friend of the Muslim student were charged for fighting.)

●A man in downtown Grand Rapids, Mich., was captured on cellphone video chanting “Trump!” and yelling “Kill the Muslims.”

●And here in Washington, my Chevy Chase neighbor was attacked on her way home from her county-government job when she stopped outside Starbucks to use the WiFi. She says she told the responding officers that her attacker had invoked Trump, but that detail apparently didn’t make the police report.

The victim said the liquid poured on her didn’t harm her. But the talk of Trump’s coming vengeance on Muslims scared her. “It could get a lot worse for Muslims in America,” she said. “For people here on the fence about who to vote for, maybe this will help them make that decision.”