Muslim American YouTubers kicked off of flight for speaking Arabic

ASAM NEWS

TWO MUSLIM/AMERICAN YouTube stars claimed that the captain of a Delta Airlines flight at Heathrow Airport had asked them to leave due to their use of Arabic, reports The New York Times.

Delta said they were frightening some of the British passengers on the plane.

Adam Saleh said he spoke to his mother in Arabic on the phone on the plane and then briefly spoke to fellow star Slim Albaher in Arabic afterwards, but their conversation was interrupted by a woman nearby who asked them to speak in English.

Saleh claimed they responded unaggressively, but other passengers soon joined in and asked that the two Muslim/Americans be removed. Not everyone agreed with the woman, however; passenger Chris Ashford said, “She heard somebody speaking in Arabic and assumed the worst.”

The captain eventually came to ask the two men to leave, during which Saleh began to video record, on his phone, him and Albaher being escorted from the plane by Delta Airlines staff.

The video recorded on the plane, along with Saleh’s and Albaher’s commentary on the situation after the matter, can be viewed on YouTube.

In the video, some passengers can be seen waving and saying goodbye to Saleh and Albaher. Saleh called out some of the passengers.

“Six white people against us bearded men.” Another man can be seen and heard trying to defend Saleh and Albaher. Saleh has shared the video on Twitter, and it has also already been uploaded to his Facebook page and YouTube channel as well, where he has over 2 million subscribers. Many have responded to the video with criticisms of Delta, some even claiming that they will refuse to patronize Delta Airlines any further.

PressTV reports that Saleh has stated that he plans on filing charges against Delta Airlines. It is likely that further investigations will be made into Saleh’s claims and the incident as a whole. Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) spokeswoman Zainab Chaudry said, “More and more reports have been made by Muslims or Arabs, or people who were perceived to be Muslim or Arabs, who were removed from planes by airline personnel.” In April of this year, a UC Berkeley student attempting to fly out of Los Angeles International Airport was removed from his flight after he was reported by another passenger for speaking Arabic.

Delta said it takes charges of discrimination seriously, but also defended its action.

“What is paramount to Delta is the safety and comfort of our passengers and employees,” the airline said. “It is clear these individuals sought to violate that priority.”

###

DOJ sues Virginia county for blocking mosque construction

One day, Muslims hope a mosque will take the place of this building in Culpeper County, Virginia.

FINALLY, Muslim/Americans in Culpepper County took a major step towards having a mosque of their own but it took the federal government's assistance.

The Justice Department filed a lawsuit Monday (Dec. 12) against Culpeper County, Virginia, alleging that the county violated the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000 (RLUIPA) when it denied a sewage permit application to the Islamic Center of Culpeper (ICC), effectively preventing the ICC from building a small mosque on land that it had purchased in the county. 

“The Constitution and federal law specifically protect the freedom of religious communities to establish houses of worship,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Vanita Gupta, head of the Civil Rights Division.

The parcel's zoning permits religious land use.

The lawsuit comes as Muslim and immigrant rights advocates voice concerns over religious discrimination in the United States after inflammatory statements by President-elect Donald Trump about immigration and Islam. Trump has called for a temporary ban on Muslims entering the country.

Representatives for Culpeper County did not respond to requests for comment.

The complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia, alleges that the county imposed a substantial burden on the Muslim congregation’s exercise of religion and discriminated against the ICC based on religion when it refused to grant a “pump and haul” permit to allow the ICC to transport sewage from the ICC’s property to a disposal site. The county had told the ICC that such a permit was necessary because its soil, like much soil in the area, could not support a septic system. 

The complaint alleges that since 1992, the county has considered 26 applications and never denied a pump and haul permit to a commercial or religious use prior to the ICC. 

There is no mosque in the county, which is about 70 miles southwest of Washington. About 12 to 20 Muslims have been praying at a temporary site, and wished to build a permanent mosque on the site.

Last month, the DOJ used RLUIPA to file suit against Bernards Township, New Jersey for their attempts to block the construction of a mosque by repeatedly adding new requirements. 

“Religious liberty is a fundamental right in our country and this case seeks to uphold that right,” said U.S. Attorney John P. Fishwick Jr. of the Western District of Virginia. 

Muslim Americans ask to meet with Trump

NYPD photo

NYPD Officer Aml Elsokary, who was wearing a hijab and was off-duty with her 16-year-old son, was harassed and threatened in Brooklyn.on

ASAM NEWS
A MUSLIM POLICE HERO with the New York Police Department who saved a baby from a burning building two years ago is asking for a meeting with President-elect Trump.

Yahoo reports the request was inspired after that officer, Aml Elsokary, witnessed her son being shoved by a man who later threatened to cut off her throat, told her to go back to her country, and called her a terrorist.

Elsokary was off duty at the time.

There are about 1,000 Muslims in the NYPD. The incident prompted a meeting with the NYPD Muslim Officers Society which wrote a letter to Trump requesting a meeting.

The NYPD says there has been a 115 percent spike in hate crimes since the election. Many have pointed to the incendiary rhetoric of Trump during the campaign and white supremacist groups have openly stated their alt-right movement has gained legitimacy due to Trump’s victory. 

The President-elect, when asked by the media, has told his supporters to stop, but he has been more outspoken about the way he is portrayed in comedy sketches on Saturday Night Live than he has about hate crimes.

“President-elect Trump needs to hear from and respond to the concerns of Officer Elsokary and other Muslim members of our law enforcement community,” said Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams. 

“They are not only the first line of defense on our streets; they are ambassadors of the American diversity that they represent, and millions of their brother and sister citizens are as concerned about their welfare as they are their own. Whether or not we have an invitation to Trump Tower, I promise that their message will be directly delivered.

Last week, almost 300 Muslim leaders released an open letter to Trump expressing their "serious concerns" about his policy proposals and calling on him to protect their communities.

The letter includes American Muslims at the forefront of community service, education and empowerment in diverse settings such as the academy, mosques, advocacy, and civic and interfaith engagement.

Prominent signatories include Nihad Awad of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, Khizr Khan (the Gold Star father who spoke passionately in defense of the Constitution at the Democratic National Convention), Dalia Mogahed (Author of "Who Speaks for Islam?"), Imam Suhaib Webb (CenterDC) and Husain Abdullah, a former NFL player for the Minnesota Vikings and Kansas City Chiefs.

The letter states in part:

“Like other Americans, we love our country and are committed to preserving religious freedom, equal opportunity and equal protection under the law for all. As our President-Elect, one of your duties is to ensure our collective safety and security. This includes protecting the First Amendment rights of all Americans to freely practice their faith, without fear, intimidation or reprisal. . .

“Your recent denunciation of such behavior on 60 Minutes was a positive first step, and we urge you to clearly and strongly condemn bigotry, hate crimes and bias-based school bullying directed at any American, including American Muslims. We call on you to make mutual respect and acceptance a hallmark of your presidency."

The Department of Justice revealed that Attorney General Loretta Lynch will be visiting the All Dulles Area Muslim Society Center in Sterling on (Dec. 12) Monday morning.

In a video statement issued last month, Lynch said the spike in hate crimes and the new numbers should be "deeply sobering for all Americans." She said some of the acts have happened in schools and others have targeted houses of worship.

"We will continue to enforce our nation's hate crimes laws to the fullest extent possible," Lynch said. "We will continue to uphold our conviction that all men and women deserve to lead lives of safety and dignity. And we will continue to champion the values of diversity and inclusion that have always been the bedrock of our nation's progress, and that point the way to a brighter future.

Since the Nov. 8 elections, there has been a spike in anti-Muslim attacks, reports the Southern Poverty Law Center, which keeps track of hate crimes.

Most recently, the Oklahoma chapter of the CAIR-OK on Dec. 9 called on the FBI to join a hate crime investigation of a dead pig being dumped at an Islamic center in that state. (NOTE: Muslims are prohibited from consuming pork products and bigots often use pigs or pork to offend Muslim sensibilities.)

Police say the pig was dumped at the Islamic Center of Lawton in Lawton, Okla., Dec. 7. Surveillance video shows a pick-up truck pulling into the parking lot of the center and turning around. The truck backs up and the pig’s carcass falls off the tailgate. The vehicle then drives away.

Earlier this week, police reported that a uniformed MTA officer - who wears and Islamic head scarf (hijab) – was assaulted by a man who yelled “You’re a terrorist and you shouldn’t be working for the city.” The alleged attacker, reportedly shoved the MTA employee down a flight of stairs, injuring her knee and ankle. The NYPD and New York State Division of Human Rights are investigating the attack as a bias incident.

There has not been a response from Donald Trump or his anyone in his transition team to the requests for a meeting with Muslim/Americans.
(Views From the Edge contributed to this report)

###

'I am ... what America looks like,' says Indian/American Sikh who led police to bombing suspect

Captured off a CNN video

Harinder Bains: 'I am ... what America looks like"

A SIKH/AMERICAN business owner is being hailed as a hero for helping police find and arrest Ahmad Khan Rahami, suspected for planting and exploding bombs in New Jersey and New York last weekend.

Harinder Bains, the bar owner in Linden, N.J., found Rahami sleeping in the doorway of his bar on Monday (Sept. 19) after being notified by Bains, owner of Merdie's Tavern.

Bains said he was watching CNN on his laptop from another business across the street. At first, he thought he was some "drunk guy" resting in the vestibule. 

"When I heard about the attacks and realised the suspect was sleeping in a doorway across the street, I did what any American would do. I called the police. I'm not a hero. The police are heroes; the EMTs are heroes; everyone who is working to bring New York and New Jersey together today is a hero," Bains told reporters

"I'm just a regular citizen doing what every citizen should do. Cops are the real heroes, law enforcement are the real heroes," Bains told CNN's Anderson Cooper.

When officers responded, Rahami pulled out a handgun and opened fire, striking an officer in the chest. A foot chase followed, during which Rahami shot at a police car, causing a bullet to graze another office in the face. The chase ended when Rahami was shot multiple times.

He was taken to a hospital for surgery. Rahami was not initially cooperative with police who tried to interview him, a law enforcement official said.

Bomb suspect Ahmad Khan Rahami

Federal prosecutors charged Rahami on Sept. 20 with use of weapons of mass destruction, bombing a place of public use, destruction of property by means of explosives, and use of a destructive device during and in furtherance of a crime of violence, according to the complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York in Manhattan.

Rahami faces four counts in connection with the Sept. 17 bombing on West 23rd Street in the Chelsea section of Manhattan and the placement of a second explosive device a few blocks north on West 27th Street, according to the complaint.

A separate federal complaint, filed yesterday (Sept. 20) in New Jersey, charged Rahami with six counts — including two more for use of a weapon of mass destruction — related to the Sept. 17 morning bombing in Seaside Park, New Jersey, and the discovery of an explosive-laden package Sunday night near the Elizabeth, New Jersey, train station.

Authorities said the investigation surrounding Rahami continues saying they are seeking the whereabouts of his wife, who reportedly left the U.S. a few days before the bombings; and two men seen on video who removed the second bomb from the duffel bag it was in and left with the baggage. Authorities stress the two men are being sought as witnesses, not as bombing suspects.

Rahami first came to the United States in 1995 as a child, after his father arrived seeking asylum, and became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 2011, according to a law enforcement official who reviewed his travel and immigration record.Rahami traveled for extended periods to Afghanistan and Pakistan in the last five years, officials said. While in Pakistan in July 2011, he married a Pakistani woman. Two years later, in April 2013, he went to Pakistan and remained there until March 2014, visiting Afghanistan before returning to the United States.

Bains said as a Sikh/American, he understand that "I could have been mistaken for the perpetrator. My faith teaches me justice and tolerance for all and I know that I'm lucky to live in a community that shares this view."

Bains, who had immigrated from Chandigarh in 1996, stressed that after any attack, Americans should target people based on evidence of their role in the crime and not because of their faith or their country of origin or their accent.

"I came to this country from India 20 years ago to create a better life for my family. I am a father of four and a proud American citizen. I am also what America looks like," he said to Newsday.

Bains said America is strongest when all Americans stand together in the face of violence "intended to divide us."

###