“Muslims for Peace” campaign launches at http://www.muslimsforpeace.org/
— “Muslims for Peace” – Naseem Mahdi, National VP, Ahmadiyya Muslim Community
“Muslims for Peace” Campaign Launches
Category: #Islamic Freedom
Brooklyn Tea Party Opposes Mosques
In Brooklyn, New York, R.E.A.L. has also learned that the Brooklyn Tea Party has also gotten involved in protests against mosques there as well as in Manhattan. On June 1, 2010, “culturist” Brooklyn Tea Party’s Dr. John Press announced plans to protest the 45 Park Place mosque in Manhattan, and Madeline Brooks reported on continuing Brooklyn Tea Party protests in Brooklyn regarding the Manhattan mosque. Madeline Brooks viewed these Tea Party protests against mosques as “a natural and logical extension of patriotism to move from outrage about high taxes and socialized health care.”
Brooklyn Tea Party leader Dr. John Press has also been part of the Brooklyn protests against a planned mosque in Brooklyn on Voorhies Avenue, which R.E.A.L. has previously reported about. At a recent protest against a planned Brooklyn mosque, Dr. Press defends 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 defends such views in a July 5, 2010 article that he wrote for the “American Thinker,” entitled “Culturists oppose another mosque in Brooklyn.”
Brooklyn Tea Party leader Dr. Press also has told the NY Daily News about his focus on “culturism,” specifically in only defending “a European Judeo-Christian culture.”
Brooklyn Tea Party leader Dr. Press has urged readers of the white nationalist American Renaissance group to use the term “culturist,” in his comments to an American Renaissance posted article “Is Black Culture the Problem with Education?.” In his comments, Brooklyn Tea Party leader Dr. Press tells the white nationalists at American Renaissance “We need to employ the word culturist to save our school system. Currently, our school system sees differences in achievement and searches for answers and skips the cultural explanation you highlight.” In another article, Dr. Press complains that “Whiteness studies treats all discrimination against groups as completely arbitrary, irrational and insane,” and states that discrimination against early immigrants of Italians, Catholics, and Jews, had a rational basis for such discriminatory views, which is why Dr. Press argues for “culturism,” which focuses on using our cultural differences to support only some cultures. This same argument for “culturism” by Brooklyn Tea Party Leader Dr. Press is how he justifies protests against mosques.
R.E.A.L. rejects the views of Brooklyn Tea Party leader Dr. John Press in his goal to defend only “a European Judeo-Christian culture,” just like we defy the views of the American Renaissance group that seeks to promote white nationalism. While the Brooklyn Tea Party leader supports “culturism,” we are Responsible for Equality AND Liberty – for all Americans, and for all people – in defense of America’s Constitution and in defense of our universal human rights.
America is a nation for and composed of people of all races, all ethnic backgrounds, all religions, and all identity groups. We remember that United We Stand – in every race, every ethnic background, every religion, and every identity group. R.E.A.L. takes exception to those who would deny freedom of religion and freedom of worship, whether it is in the United States or anywhere else in the world.
Georgia: Investigation into Arson, Hate Crime against Marietta Mosque
On July 6, 2010, Marietta, Georgia local news media outlets are reporting on what is being described as a “suspicious fire” at the Marietta mosque, stating that the fire is being investigated to determine if it was arson. Late Tuesday morning, Marietta Fire Marshal Scott Tucker told the Atlanta Journal Constitution that “It appears to be a crime, it appears to be an arson… There was forcible entry.” An updated report from Marietta television station WSBTV also states that “Fire officials said authorities believe a fire at a Marietta mosque was arson and they are investigating it as a possible hate crime.” The police are also investigating vandalism inside the mosque, but have not yet released information about the type of vandalism.
The Marietta mosque that was damaged by fire is on Powder Springs Street in Marietta, Georgia. The Masjid Al-Hedaya describes its location as on Powder Springs Street in Marietta, Georgia. WSB radio reported the fire as “The fire was reported shortly after 11 p.m. Monday at Masjid Al-hedaya on Powder Springs Street in Marietta. The building is also known as the Islamic Center of Marietta.”
WSBTV also reported on this fire. The fire started after the last prayer session. Reports state that damage to the mosque is “extensive.” According to reports, the fire destroyed the front entrance and did significant damage to the main prayer hall. The local imam Hafiz Inayatullah told WSBTV that “We locked the door and everything and we left and suddenly he called me and said, ‘There’s fire’.”
- Marietta, Georgia – Area Near the Masjid Al-Hedaya Mosque
On June 15, 2010, the Marietta Daily Journal published a column by a writer warning about the construction of mosques in the United States.
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Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.) urges all to assist law enforcement agencies in their investigation. If this fire was the result of arson, we urge that all Americans help law enforcement agencies to aid in identifying those responsible. Our universal human rights include our freedom of religion, freedom of conscience, and freedom of worship for all people. We urge all to Choose Love, Not Hate – Love Wins.
Georgia: Mosque Fire Investigated to Determine if Arson
On July 6, 2010, Marietta, Georgia local news media outlets are reporting on what is being described as a “suspicious fire” at the Marietta mosque, stating that the fire is being investigated to determine if it was arson.
The Marietta mosque that was damaged by fire is on Powder Springs Street in Marietta, Georgia. The Masjid Al-Hedaya describes its location as on Powder Springs Street in Marietta, Georgia. WSB radio reported the fire as “The fire was reported shortly after 11 p.m. Monday at Masjid Al-hedaya on Powder Springs Street in Marietta. The building is also known as the Islamic Center of Marietta.” WSBTV has described this as the “Masjid Al Head mosque.” Local Marietta media are reporting that Muslim attendees at the Masjid Al-Hedaya mosque are uncertain if someone deliberately set the fire. The fire started after the last prayer session. Reports state that damage to the mosque is “extensive.” According to reports, the fire destroyed the front entrance and did significant damage to the main prayer hall. The local imam Hafiz Inayatullah told WSBTV that “We locked the door and everything and we left and suddenly he called me and said, ‘There’s fire’.”
On June 15, 2010, the Marietta Daily Journal published a column by a writer warning about the construction of mosques in the United States.
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Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.) urges all to assist law enforcement agencies in their investigation. If this fire was the result of arson, we urge that all Americans help law enforcement agencies to aid in identifying those responsible. Our universal human rights include our freedom of religion, freedom of conscience, and freedom of worship for all people. We urge all to Choose Love, Not Hate – Love Wins.
Dove World Group Has Anti-Mosque Protest in Florida
Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.) condemns the ongoing religious intolerance in Florida, and we promote freedom of religion, freedom of worship, and freedom of conscience for all of our fellow human beings. We reject protests against houses of worship. A Christian group known for its religious intolerance protested an Islamic Center in Gainesville on July 5. The protesting group, Dove World Outreach Center, has allied in the past with the Westboro Baptist Church (WBC); Dove’s ally WBC praises terrorism against Christians and attacks on police officers. The WBC also protests Jewish synagogues.
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News Jacksonville 4 — Gainesville Church Protests Islamic Center
News 4 Jacksonville reports on Dove World Outreach Center protest of a Gainesville, Florida mosque: “A Gainesville church known for wearing its opinion on its shirts protested an Islamic Center on Monday. The Dove World Outreach Center, which touts the saying “Islam is of the devil,” portrayed that message outside the Islamic Center of Gainesville at its protest, which lasted about two hours. Protesters said what they were doing is the role of Christians to bring their message to the public.”
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In May, a Jacksonville, Florida mosque was attacked with a pipe bomb and gasoline.
R.E.A.L. rejects protests against houses of worship and we defend freedom of religion and worship for all.
Related Reports:
— Florida: Dove World Outreach Center Touts Shirts, Banners Claiming “Islam is of the devil”
— Florida: Dove World Outreach Center Views Westboro Baptist Church (WBC) as Ally
Pakistan: Sufi Muslim Shrine Attacked – Many Killed
In Lahore, Pakistan, two suicide bombers blew themselves up among crowds of worshipers at the shrine to Sufi saint Data Ganj Bakhsh in Lahore, capital of Punjab province. 43 have been reported killed in this terrorist attack and atrocity against human rights. Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.) condemns this attack on those seeking to exercise their freedom of religion and freedom of worship, and we support such religious freedoms as defined by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 18.
R.E.A.L. urges all people to Choose Love, Not Hate – Love Wins.
Media Reports:
AP / GEO TV VIDEO: CCTV shows Lahore Suicide Bomber at Data Darbar Sufi Shrine
CNN: Pakistan: Muslim Shrine Attacked by Twin Bomb Blasts
— Police say twin bomb blasts at a Sufi shrine in the Pakistani city of Lahore
AFP: Protest strike in Pakistan over shrine bombing
Dawn: Terrorists tear into heart of Lahore
— Media Gallery
Pakistan Daily Times: World shocked by horrific attack – on Sufi Muslim shrine
Times of India: Bloodbath at sufi shrine in Lahore
Times of India: Mosque attacks becoming a trend in ‘divided’ Pak
Daily Telegraph: Pakistan braced for wave of terror after shrine attack
Pakistan Daily Times: Security beefed up at shrines, worship places
Pakistan Daily Times: Shrines in Sindh easy prey for terrorists?
CBS: Taliban Militants Prime Suspects in Triple Pakistan Suicide Bombings
— Pakistan Daily Times: Taliban denies role in Lahore blasts
NYC: Brooklyn Mosque Protests and Bomb Threat
Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.) supports our universal human rights of freedom of religion, freedom of conscience, and freedom of worship for ALL people – without exception. We reject protests against houses of worship. (See also report: “Why Freedom of Religion Matters for MAS Mosques”).
In the Sheepshead Bay area of Brooklyn, New York, it was reported that on June 27, 2010, between 200 and 300 people sought to protest a planned mosque 2812 Voorhies Avenue in Brooklyn. A group called Bay People, Inc. is leading the mosque protests.
The sponsor of the project, the Muslim American Society (MAS), is also the same sponsor of a mosque project in Midland Beach on Greeley Avenue that is also being protested. The MAS group’s leader, Mahdi Bray, has been investigated for support for Hamas by the Investigative Project on Terrorism (IPT) for comments made at a rally in 2000. IPT states that MAS was founded by the Muslim Brotherhood; the IPT states “MAS denies it is a part of the organization, [although] it acknowledges that its foundations are with the Muslim Brotherhood.”
Reports have indicated that the protesters are divided between those who view that the Voorhies Avenue cannot accommodate the traffic for a new mosque, and those that reject the planned mosque due to Islamophobic views. The local blog/newspaper Sheepshead Bites addresses this split between the protesters in its article “Rally Reveals Conflict Within Anti-Mosque Movement.”
A protest notice by Bay People, Inc. alleged called for protesters “Please be polite and tolerant.”
But The Brooklyn Paper has reported that one local counter-protester Guseyn Ibragimov who called for freedom of religion, was booed down and “ordered him to get off their street.” The Brooklyn Paper reporter Thomas Tracy also indicated that the divisiveness has spilled over into calls for violence and bombing against the proposed mosque, not unlike those seen in recent reader comments on the New York Post web site and those made on AM radio stations.
The Brooklyn Paper also quoted an anonymous local man, who reportedly lives across the street from the planned mosque, and who threatened to bomb the planned Voorhies Avenue mosque, telling the reporter: “If they build a mosque there, I’m going to bomb the mosque.. I will give them a lot of trouble… They’re not going to stay here alive.”
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Responsible for Equality And Liberty supports our universal human rights for all. We reject and oppose all calls for intolerance, hate, violence, and terrorism. We urge all those who promote hate and intolerance to unburden their hearts.
Choose Love, Not Hate – Love Wins.
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Media Reports:
The Brooklyn Paper: ‘What kind of America’? Hate-filled rally to stop mosque
Sheepshead Bites: Rally Reveals Conflict Within Anti-Mosque Movement
Photographs of June 27, 2010 protest against New York City mosque in Brooklyn
NYC – Staten Island: “Prayers Tuesday for peaceful resolution to mosque debate”
NYC – Continuing Reports on Staten Island Mosque Protests
Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.) supports our universal human rights of freedom of religion, freedom of conscience, and freedom of worship for ALL people – without exception. We reject protests against houses of worship. (See also report: “Why Freedom of Religion Matters for MAS Mosques”).
Below are news stories regarding ongoing protests about a planned Staten Island mosque on Greeley Avenue in the Midland Beach area.
— Staten Island Advance: “Prayers Tuesday for peaceful resolution to mosque debate”
— Staten Island Advance: Another Sunday, another protest against proposed Staten Island mosque
— Staten Island Advance: Backers of Staten Island mosque go on offensive
— Earlier Staten Island Mosque Protest news media reports
The sponsor of the project, the Muslim American Society (MAS), is also the same sponsor of a mosque project in Sheepshead Bay in Brooklyn that is also being protested. The MAS group’s leader, Mahdi Bray, has been investigated for support for Hamas by the Investigative Project on Terrorism (IPT) for comments made at a rally in 2000. IPT states that MAS was founded by the Muslim Brotherhood; the IPT states “MAS denies it is a part of the organization, [although] it acknowledges that its foundations are with the Muslim Brotherhood.”
Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.) supports our universal human rights of freedom of religion, freedom of conscience, and freedom of worship for ALL people – without exception. We reject protests against houses of worship.
Responsible for Equality And Liberty supports our universal human rights for all.
Choose Love, Not Hate – Love Wins.
Washington State: Muslim Van Vandalized Outside Mosque in Bellevue
Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.) condemns religious intolerance, and we promote freedom of religion, freedom of worship, and freedom of conscience for all of our fellow human beings. We are shocked and disturbed to hear of the report in Seattle, Washington suburb of a Muslim van being vandalized, outside of the Islamic Center of Eastside (Bellevue Masjid), in Bellevue Washington.
The Muslim van was vandalized with dog feces on the front and side windows. It was clearly labeled as a Muslim van. The vehicle was targeted, while other vehicles were ignored. The mosque sits next to a Mormon church which was not vandalized.
Local Bellevue Muslims have been calling for law enforcement authorities to investigate the vandalism as a “hate crime,” according a KIRO video interviewing local residents. In addition, most other local non-Muslim residents interviewed also stated that they viewed it as a “hate crime.”
The Bellevue police say that it “malicious mischief”, but say that since there were no threats, they are not investigating it as a “hate crime” at this time. The Bellevue police have stated that they are increasing police patrols near the mosque, but without any video or witnesses, they believe that they have limited evidence for an investigation.
The Bellevue Reporter quoted Police captain Patrick Spak as stating: “We have to keep this in perspective. The van is not damaged and the building is not damaged. From a police department perspective, we don’t want to over-react, but we don’t want to under-react.”
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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.”
We urge those who promote hate and intolerance to unburden the hate from their hearts.
We urge all to Choose Love, Not Hate. Love Wins.
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Other Media Reports:
— KIRO: Van Outside Mosque Apparently Smeared With Dog Feces
— Bellevue Reporter: Feces smeared on Muslim van near Bellevue mosque
— Seattle Post Intelligencer: Feces smeared on Muslim van near Bellevue mosque
— Seattle Post Intelligencer: Group says van parked near mosque vandalized