July/August 1995, pgs. 70-71

American Muslim Activism

By Greg Noakes

Illinois Mosque Fire Ruled Arson

Officials in Springfield, IL say a June 6 fire at the Islamic Center of Greater Springfield was the result of arson, noting that traces of gasoline were found at the fire's source. Damage to the mosque was estimated at $30,000. Illinois Attorney General Jim Ryan pledged support for the state's Muslim community after a meeting with Muslim leaders including Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) Executive Director Nihad Awad. Ryan said creation of a state-wide hate crimes council was under consideration. Mosques in Yuba City, CA, Brooklyn, NY and High Point, NC also have been damaged by suspicious fires in the last six months.

To counter these and other anti-Muslim incidents, CAIR has created the "Baby Salaam Legal Defense Fund," named for the stillborn child delivered by an Oklahoma City Muslim woman who suffered a miscarriage after rocks were thrown through her windows following the April 19 bombing of the Murrah Federal Building. For more information or to contribute, contact CAIR, 1511 K St., NW, Suite 807, Washington, DC, 20005, tel. (202) 638-6340, fax (202) 638-6412, e-mail: cair1@ix.netcom.com

McCollum-Ackerman Letter Condemned

A coalition of some of the nation's largest American-Muslim and Arab-American groups condemned a June 19 "Dear Colleague" letter signed by Reps. Bill McCollum (R-FL) and Gary Ackerman (D-NY) which asked legislators to view an accompanying videotape of Steven Emerson's "Jihad in America" before voting on pending counter-terrorism legislation. The coalition, which includes the Chicago-based American Council on Public Affairs (ACPA), Los Angeles' Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC), and Washington, DC's American Muslim Council (AMC), the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the Arab American Insitute (AAI) and the National Association of Arab Americans (NAAA), called "Jihad in America" an "error-filled, highly inflammatory attack on Muslims in the U.S." Despite a disclaimer by its producer, the coalition said the impression that the film is designed to create is that "there is a widespread terrorist conspiracy deeply rooted in the American Muslim community." The coalition encourages concerned readers to call the offices of Reps. McCollum and Ackerman, as well as their own representatives, to protest the use of the anti-Muslim "Jihad in America" video to generate support for anti-terrorism legislation.