US Muslim Leaders Brace for Protests with Potentially Armed Demonstrators

THE GUARDIAN: Communities across the US worry over a gathering storm this weekend dubbed the Global Rally for Humanity: ‘There is so much misunderstanding’

Muslim leaders of mosques in some 20 cities in the US, including Phoenix and Oklahoma City, are preparing for anti-Islam demonstrations scheduled for Friday and Saturday by a loose group of potentially armed rightwing protesters.

Various Facebook pages are promoting the protests and calling on followers to go to any mosque, Muslim establishment or Islamic organization and voice their opinion on Saturday, 10 October.

“We are not canceling our prayer services for Friday and Saturday but we will have Phoenix police officers here in case the protestors get violent, especially because we have been hearing that some of the protestors will be armed,” said Usama Shami, the president of the Islamic Community Center of Phoenix (ICCP), the largest mosque in Phoenix that hosts more than 800 people for Friday prayers.

Phoenix police confirmed that they would have a presence at the event, with the caveat that it is legal in Arizona to openly carry guns.

Among the groups organizing the events, dubbed the Global Rally for Humanity, are the Oath Keepers, a group that advocates for open carry of guns and has been described as a “fiercely anti-government, militaristic group” by the Southern Poverty Law Center.

Zainab Chaudry, outreach manager of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (Cair) in Maryland and a key organizer of the community alert to the mosques all over the US, said “this is one of the most massive anti-Islam protests in recent history ... even in post-9/11 we didn’t see the kind of Islamophobia that we see now”. » | Halima Kazem in San Francisco and Tom Dart in Houston | Friday, October 9, 2015

CAIR-NY President Zead Ramadan: Anti-Muslim Rhetoric in the US Echoes Nazi Rhetoric against the Jews | Press TV (Iran) - May 13, 2012

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Far-Right Provocation: Berlin Worried About 'Muhammad Cartoon Contest'

SPIEGEL ONLINE INTERNATIONAL: A far-right group in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia is running a 'Muslim cartoon contest' and plans to display the works outside mosques. The move has alarmed authorities which fear it could incite violence and hurt German interests abroad, similar to the backlash that followed the 2005 publication of cartoons in Danish newspapers.

The German government has voiced concern that far-right activists in the western state of North Rhine-Westphalia may incite violence with plans to hold a so-called "Muhammad cartoon contest" and to stage demonstrations outside mosques in the run-up to a regional election there on May 13.

SPIEGEL has learned that Interior Minister Hans-Peter Friedrich warned of a confrontation between Salafists and right-wing extremists which he said could have unforeseeable consequences for public safety.

Pro-NRW, which has been categorized as an extremist right-wing group by the domestic intelligence agency, has said it plans to display the cartoons outside 25 mosques in the state. » | SPIEGEL/cro | Monday, April 30, 2012

Inside Story - Europe's Rising Anti-Islam Trend
Geert Wilders stands trial on charges of inciting hatred and discrimination against Muslims. Just who is fuelling the rising anti-Islam trend across Europe? And should the continent be alarmed? (October 2010)

GATES OF VIENNA: Time to Unmask Muhammad » | Geert Wilders | Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Is America Anti-Islamic? 'Hostile Atmosphere' Goes Beyond Ground Zero Mosque, Claim 50 Muslim Groups
MAIL ONLINE: More than 50 leading Muslim groups have decried the hostile 'anti-Islamic' atmosphere they say is gripping America today.

Tension in New York over plans to build a mosque near Ground Zero are rising, especially as the ninth anniversary of 9/11 approaches.

But leaders of the Majlis Ash-Shura of Metropolitan New York, an Islamic leadership council that represents a broad spectrum of Muslims in the city, said the sentiment is growing beyond the mosque plans.

'The bigger issue and the broader issue is the issue of ethnic and religious hatred being spread by groups trying to stop the building of mosques and Islamic institutions across the country,' said Imam Al Amin Abdul Latif, president of the Majlis Ash-Shura.

He spoke at a demonstration on the steps of City Hall in New York today.

The group cited a suspicious fire that damaged construction equipment at the site of a future mosque in Tennessee that is being investigated by the FBI.

They also pointed to the successful opposition to the proposed conversion of a property owned by a Catholic Church into a mosque and community center on Staten Island, a New York City borough off the southern tip of Manhattan. Continue reading and comment >>> Mail Foreign Service | Thursday, September 02, 2010

Across Nation, Mosque Projects Meet Opposition
Residents in Temecula, Calif., protested against a mosque’s proposed worship center. Photograph: The New York Times
THE NEW YORK TIMES: While a high-profile battle rages over a mosque near ground zero in Manhattan, heated confrontations have also broken out in communities across the country where mosques are proposed for far less hallowed locations.

In Murfreesboro, Tenn., Republican candidates have denounced plans for a large Muslim center proposed near a subdivision, and hundreds of protesters have turned out for a march and a county meeting.

In late June, in Temecula, Calif., members of a local Tea Party group took dogs and picket signs to Friday prayers at a mosque that is seeking to build a new worship center on a vacant lot nearby.

In Sheboygan, Wis., a few Christian ministers led a noisy fight against a Muslim group that sought permission to open a mosque in a former health food store bought by a Muslim doctor.

At one time, neighbors who did not want mosques in their backyards said their concerns were over traffic, parking and noise — the same reasons they might object to a church or a synagogue. But now the gloves are off.

In all of the recent conflicts, opponents have said their problem is Islam itself. They quote passages from the Koran and argue that even the most Americanized Muslim secretly wants to replace the Constitution with Islamic Shariah law.

These local skirmishes make clear that there is now widespread debate about whether the best way to uphold America’s democratic values is to allow Muslims the same religious freedom enjoyed by other Americans, or to pull away the welcome mat from a faith seen as a singular threat.

“What’s different is the heat, the volume, the level of hostility,” said Ihsan Bagby, associate professor of Islamic studies at the University of Kentucky. “It’s one thing to oppose a mosque because traffic might increase, but it’s different when you say these mosques are going to be nurturing terrorist bombers, that Islam is invading, that civilization is being undermined by Muslims.”

Feeding the resistance is a growing cottage industry of authors and bloggers — some of them former Muslims — who are invited to speak at rallies, sell their books and testify in churches. Their message is that Islam is inherently violent and incompatible with America. >>> Laurie Goodstein | Saturday, August 07, 2010

Rabidly Anti-Gay Fla. Pastor’s Bright Idea: ’Burn a Koran Day’
EDGE: An anti-gay pastor in Gainesville, Florida has come up with a plan to stand firm for righteousness: he’s calling on his followers to burn copies of the Qu’ran, the holy book of the Muslim faith.



Pastor Terry Jones of the Dove World outreach Center has called for the burning of the Qu’ran--spelled with a common variant spelling, Koran, in the title of the church’s event, the "International Burn A Koran Day," which is scheduled to take place on September 11.



Text at the church’s website describes the Dove World Outreach Center as "a New Testament Church" that is "based on the Bible, the Word of God." The text indicates that the church subscribes to the notion that the end of the world is approaching: "We believe that God is calling a new generation in this end time--a generation of believers that is yielded to his Word and his will.



"Our Land needs strong churches that understand and fulfill God’s vision of restoration and reformation," the site’s text continues, "churches that are able to handle the revival we will see this century with the apostolic anointing, and bring Godly changes to our entire society." >>>

The Church Must Stand Up!


Islam Is of the Devil


Islam Is of the Devil, Part 2


Islam Is of the Devil, Part 3

Iran Summons French Envoy over Anti-Islam Feelings
INTERNATIONAL HERALD TRIBUNE: TEHRAN, Iran: Iran has summoned the French ambassador over what Tehran says is an increase of anti-Islam sentiment in Europe.

Sunday's report on state TV and the official news agency IRNA says an official in Iran's foreign ministry expressed deep concern over anti-Islamic sentiment during the meeting with the ambassador, Bernard Poletti.
France currently holds the presidency in the European Union.

The report did not elaborate. But an "anti-Islamification" conference was held over the weekend by a right-wing Germany nationalist group that opposes the building of a large new mosque in the city of Cologne. [Source: IHT] AP | September 21, 2008

LA PRESSE CANADIENNE:
Iran: l'ambassadeur de France à Téhéran convoqué au ministère des Affaires étrangères >>> | 21.09.2008

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