On July 23, 2010, vulgar graffiti with derogatory messages were found spray-painted on the parking lot, and on July 25, 2010, there was a suspected arson attack on a children’s playground in the mosque area. When firefighters arrived to the scene, the fire had burned out, but there was extensive damage to the playground equipment.
Anyone with information is asked to call Arlington, Texas police. They ask anyone with information to call them at (817) 459-6640. The FBI is also working the case.
The Dallas Morning News reported that “Jamal Qaddura, president of the DFW Islamic Educational Center, said the spray-painted obscenities were about 15 feet high. Damage to the playground equipment, he said, was estimated at $20,000.” The Dallas Morning News also reported that Muslims going to Dallas area worship services were harassed, stating ” Qaddura said worshippers at the mosque were subjected to racial slurs yelled by a carload of people after services Sunday evening. ‘I don’t want to repeat them,’ he said. ‘You don’t want to hear them. About our religion, and about us.'” WFAA reported that “Qaddura believes the damage is related to resentment over a planned Islamic community center near ground zero in Manhattan.”
In Arizona, the trial of Faleh Almaleki for the “honor killing” of his 20 year old daughter in November 2009 has been scheduled to being on November 29, 2010.
Arizona Republic states: “A Glendale man accused of slaying his daughter in an ‘honor killing’ is scheduled to stand trial later this year. Faleh Almaleki, an Iraqi immigrant, is suspected of running down his daughter, 20-year-old Noor Almaleki, for being ‘too Westernized.’ He was reportedly furious with Noor for leaving her Iraqi husband, a cousin in an arranged marriage, and returning to the United States. Police say Almaleki, 49, used his Jeep Cherokee to run over his daughter and another woman in a Peoria parking lot Oct. 20, 2009. Noor died of her injuries. The other victim, Noor’s boyfriend’s mother, survived.”
Faleh Hassan Almaleki (Left) and Murdered Noor Faleh Almaleki (Right)
Also see R.E.A.L. public awareness campaign on extremist basis for “honor killings” against Muslim women and girls.
CNN reports: “An Arizona judge sentenced an Iraqi immigrant on Friday to more than 34 years in prison, about two months after his conviction for running over his 20-year-old daughter because he claimed she’d become ‘too Westernized.’ A Maricopa County, Arizona, jury in February convicted Faleh Hassan Almaleki, 50, of one count of second-degree murder in the death of Noor Faleh Almaleki. He was also found guilty of aggravated assault for causing serious injuries to Amal Edan Khalaf, the mother of Noor’s fiance, as well as two counts of leaving the scene. On Friday, Judge Roland Steinle sentenced Almaleki to a total of 34½ years in the Arizona Department of Corrections for his crimes. That includes 16 years — less than the maximum possible sentence of 22 years — on the murder charge, which will be served concurrently with a 15-year aggravated assault sentence. In addition, Almaleki will get consecutive 3½-year terms for leaving the scene.”
R.E.A.L. supports the freedom of religion, freedom of conscience, and freedom of worship for all, as guaranteed by the nations of the world in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), Article 18. Article 18 states: “Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.” We view Article 18 as a fundamental necessity to ensuring religious pluralism. We support such freedoms for all. We also recognize that exclusivity in views on religion will exist, whether such exclusivity is based a personal belief in the validity of only one religion, or it is based on the belief in the equal validity of multiple religions. Our support for religious freedom and pluralism is not a challenge to any religion, but a promotion of religious freedom.
R.E.A.L.’s support for our universal human rights and pluralism, with an emphasis on Article 18 of the UDHR, calls for such promotion of religious pluralism, but recognizes the reality of those who seek to defy our universal human rights with religious arguments. We reject religious extremist views that promote hate and intolerance. We reject religious extremist ideological arguments that seek to prevent the universal human rights of all people, based on such arguments. We reject religious extremist views that seek to even prevent religious freedom, freedom of worship, and freedom of conscience for other human beings, a painful reality that we see too often in the United States and around the world.
Our definition of such views as religious extremism is not about denying the personal exclusivity of any religious path to our fellow human beings, or the exercise or promotion of their religion as part of their freedoms.
R.E.A.L. promotes religious pluralism, but in doing so, also challenges those ideologies, groups, and activists who seek to promote a religious extremist view that seeks to consciously deny others basic human rights, including the freedom of religion, freedom of worship, and freedom of conscience necessary for religious pluralism.
In defense of such religious pluralism, we challenge extreme groups that seek to use arguments that they call “Christian,” “Islamic,” or another religious identification to deny others freedom of religion, worship, and conscience, to call for hate, to call for violence, to oppress women and minorities, to seek the destruction of our universal human rights of equality and liberty. We reject anti-human rights views as “Christian extremism” or “extremism,” but we do not attack or reject Christianity or Islam as a religion. Many of our supporters are devout members of religious faiths and we respect those faiths. Our human rights goals are the consistent defense of our universal human rights. We recognize that religious extremist views are difficult and complex discussions. But we also know from history that “white supremacist” views were once something Americans were unwilling to define, discuss, or challenge. We believe that to be honest in our commitment to pluralism, it is necessary to recognize the existence of religious extremist views that not only seek to undermine pluralism, but also seek to undermine religious freedom and freedom of conscience itself.
Our goal is to protect such religious freedoms for all faiths, based on pluralist tolerance for our differences, and based on an uncompromising defense of our Universal Human Rights.
On July 26, 2010, the B’nai Shalom Synagogue of Olney, Maryland, a suburb of Washington DC was vandalized by persons unknown spray painting swastikas and anti-Semitic slogans on the outside walls, parking lot and light posts. NBC Washington reported that the attack on the Olney, Maryland synagogue happened the night before parents were to drop off their children for a summer camp.
Attack on DC Area Olney, Maryland Synagogue with Nazi, White Supremacist Vandalism (Photo: NBC Washington)
The Olney, Maryland synagogue was covered with swastikas on the outside and on the sidewalk, as well as spray painting of slurs against Jews. The anti-Semitic phrases, scrawled using black spray paint, included “work will set u free,” a reference to a sign that hung over the Auschwitz concentration camp, and “Death 2 Zionists.” The vandals also used German, writing phrases including “Juden raus,” which means “Jews out” and was used by Nazis.
The spray-painted comments also included the phrase “Death 2 Zionists” and “14/88.” 14/88 is a reference used by white supremacists. The “14” refers to the “14 words” promoted by white supremacists “We must secure the existence of our people and a future for white children,” which was promoted by David Lane, a criminal leader of the white nationalist group The Order. The “88” refers to eighth letter of the alphabet, “H,” and stands for “HH” or “Heil Hitler.”
Olney, MD Synagogue: Death Threats, Promotion of Nazi and White Supremacists 14/88 Message (Photo: NBC Washington)
Debbie Kovalsky, synagogue president, said the damage is “heart wrenching to see.”
The Jerusalem Post stated that “In addition to the synagogue vandalism, two homes in the area were also spray-painted with swastikas and other symbols.” WJZ reports that “Police say two homes on Rolling Acres Way in Olney were vandalized, with swastikas and the symbols ‘SS’ spray-painted on the yards and trees.”
The Maryland Gazette reported that “B’nai Shalom First Vice President Jeff Orenstein said he was expecting to find a couple of swastikas when officials received the call from police Monday morning about the graffiti. But the vandalism went well beyond that, he said. ‘We were very shocked at how much more there was,’ he said. ‘It appears to us that this was more than a couple of kids that came by with a can of spray paint to play a prank. I think there is a lot more to this.’ ”
On July 28, 2010, the Maryland Gazette reported that “Faint outlines of hateful words and symbols still lingered outside of B’nai Shalom of Olney on Tuesday, despite the efforts of more than 200 people to clean up the graffiti that was found spray painted in black on the walls, parking lot and light poles Monday morning. The rest, synagogue President Debbie Kovalsky said, will have to be removed with a sand blaster. More than 500 people, including County Executive Isiah Leggett (D), attended a prayer service later that evening in a show of support for the synagogue. Clergy and parishioners from local churches and rabbis from synagogues in Rockville, Columbia and Baltimore also joined B’nai Shalom members.”
Montgomery County police are investigating the incident as a possible hate crime. Montgomery County Police ask anyone with information on the case to call 240-773-5500 and ask for the Investigative Services Division.
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Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.)supports our universal human rights, including our universal human right of dignity, and our universal human rights of freedom of religion, freedom of worship, and freedom of conscience. Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states: “Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.”
We condemn such death threats, such vandalism and attacks against houses of worship as seeking to intimidate and spread fear among those seeking their universal human rights of freedom of worship. We reject the hate of Nazis and white supremacists, and we call up all those who hate to unburden the hate from their hearts.
National Tea Party Patriots Web Site Promotes Southwest Riverside County (SWRC) Tea Party Citizens in Action Group Mosque "Rally" (July 28, 2010 Screen Shot of Tea Party Patriots Web Site)
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Tea Party Patriot Web Site List Diana Serafin's Telephone Number - the Same One on the Tea Party Patriot Web Site for the Temecula Mosque Protest (Screen Shot: Tea Party Patriots)
Responsible for Equality and Liberty (R.E.A.L.) supports our universal human rights to freedom of religion, freedom of worship, and freedom of conscience for all people of all faiths. Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that “Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.”
The Brooklyn Tea Party leader John Press is now seeking government “eminent domain” to block the creation of a mosque in Brooklyn’s Sheepshead Bay area on Voorhies Avenue, according to the Sheepshead Bites newspaper blog.
Sheepshead Bites newspaper reports that Brooklyn Tea Party leader John Press wrote to Assemblywoman Helene Weinstein that: “We request that you also step into this process in any way you can in order to slow down the permit granting process. Perhaps you can publicize that you need to know about the foreign funding, so that we can make sure the developers are complying with the Foreign Agents Registration Act.[xi] Perhaps you can stall by looking into Republican gubernatorial candidate Carl Paladino’s suggestion to stop the Ground Zero mega-mosque via eminent domain.”
"Culturist" and Brooklyn Tea Party Leader Dr. John Press Calls for Protests against Mosques in Manhattan and Brooklyn (Photo: Craig Wirga / New York Daily News)
At a protest against the planned Brooklyn mosque, Dr. Press defended the comments by a white American woman protester was being interviewed by a black American reporter, with the protester stating “Those people don’t belong here! They ain’t gonna get along with our kids. Did you ever see a Muslim shake an American’s hand? None of them live here and we don’t want them in our community.” Brooklyn Tea Party leader Dr. John Press defended such views in a July 5, 2010 article that he wrote for the “American Thinker,” entitled “Culturists oppose another mosque in Brooklyn.”
… including the Muslim America Society (MAS) and the mosques that they seek to build, whether you like the MAS views and political stances or not.
Despite the anger of those in Brooklyn’s Sheepshead Bay, in America, we have freedom of religion and freedom of worship. To those who seek to harass those seeking to exercise their legitimate right to freedom of worship, and to those in Brooklyn with the despicable calls to seek to “bomb” their mosques, you need to read the Constitution of this country which defends our human rights, which since the beginning of America have been a “declaration,” not a question. Our inalienable human rights are the basis of America’s Declaration of Independence, which defines what it means to be an “American.”
National Tea Party Patriots July 29 Event Shows National Promotion of "Islamization of America" Tea Party Event (Screenshot: Tea Party Patriots Web Site)
Southlake, Texas: Highland Street Area Near HMMA (Google Maps)
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Responsible for Equality and Liberty (R.E.A.L.) will contact the National Tea Party leadership for comments on this report, and if we receive a statement from them, we will update this posting.
