All posts tagged: mosque

Attorneys urge release of mosque leader, saying he’s been denied diabetes care in ICE custody

Attorneys urge release of mosque leader, saying he’s been denied diabetes care in ICE custody

Published by Sam Flores

Attorneys for the president of Wisconsin’s largest mosque say he is being denied basic medical care for diabetes and has lost 30 pounds (14 kilograms) in the two months since he was detained by immigration officers. Salah Sarsour, a Palestinian-born legal permanent resident of the United States, was taken into custody by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in April. His attorneys say he is being detained on baseless claims that he is a foreign policy threat, but they believe he was actually targeted for speaking out against Israel and for a conviction as a minor by Israeli military courts. He has no criminal record in the U.S., where he has lived for more than 30 years. Sarsour has Type 2 diabetes and his blood sugar levels aren’t being consistently checked, putting him at risk of organ failure or death if left untreated, his attorneys told a federal judge on Monday. Sarsour is being held in an Indiana county jail while his immigration case is pending. “We had the opportunity to make a direct, urgent …

The status quo at Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque is deteriorating

The status quo at Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque is deteriorating

Published by Sam Flores

(RNS) — At first, last week’s investigative report by Middle East Eye journalists, revealing a secret U.S.-Israel plan to end Jordanian custodianship of Jerusalem’s most contentious holy site, seemed far-fetched. The plan purports to replace Jordan’s administrative body with an Israeli-appointed one that would reframe the Muslim site, allowing public access to a “multifaith center.” When questioned, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio appeared surprised. “I’m not even aware of those reports. …  I’ve never heard that,” he said in a congressional hearing about the matter. Rubio then stressed the “great” partnership between the U.S. and Jordan.  But those on the ground were not surprised by the report. The long-standing status quo, dating back to 19th-century Ottoman rule and reinforced by international resolutions and the 2014 U.S.-Israel-Jordan agreement, has been to preserve the site for Muslim worship and allow visitors of other faiths. But in practice, that agreement has been eroding for decades, increasingly so since the war in Gaza in late 2023.  The 14-hectare compound, which includes Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock, holds deep …

Japan could force demolition of ‘illegal’ mosque inaugurated by Pakistan’s ambassador

Japan could force demolition of ‘illegal’ mosque inaugurated by Pakistan’s ambassador

Published by Sam Flores

A mosque that officials say was illegally constructed in the northwest of Tokyo and approved for demolition has sparked scrutiny after it became operational following its inauguration by Pakistan’s ambassador to Japan. The “Ramadan Grand Mosque” was built on a 4,500sqm-plot in a rural area of Kawagoe in Saitama Prefecture classified as mountain forest in an urbanisation control zone. Pictures of the mosque show a large white dome-shaped structure standing amidst a vast green field in a rural area. Kawagoe mayor Hatsue Morita said this week that the city “cannot tolerate the current situation” and is working to resolve the matter as quickly as possible. “It is an illegal building constructed without permission in an urban development control area, and we are working under the policy that we cannot tolerate the current situation,” she said, according to Sankei News. “We want this building to be demolished as soon as possible and we are considering how to guide them,” she said. The case has become one of the most contentious planning disputes involving a mosque in …

San Diego mosque shooting shows importance of teaching pluralism

San Diego mosque shooting shows importance of teaching pluralism

Published by Sam Flores

(RNS) — This week, Muslims around the world are celebrating Eid al-Adha, a sacred holiday rooted in sacrifice — the willingness to give what is most precious in service of faith and love. On May 18 at the Islamic Center of San Diego, three Muslim men embodied that devotion when they gave their lives to protect children and their community. A security guard and congregants of the mosque chose courage in the face of violence and saved many lives. But the community that calls this mosque home is grieving the loss of its members’ safety, their sanctuary and three beloved lives taken from them at the hands of two teenagers. This shooting was not just an attack on a sacred space — it was an attack on the very idea that all of us, across our differences, deserve to live in safety and dignity. As a Muslim, as a mother and as someone who has spent my life building bridges across lines of faith and identity, I felt the news like a blow to the …

San Diego mosque shooting reflects how online rhetoric, media depictions and political discourse contribute to increased Islamophobia

San Diego mosque shooting reflects how online rhetoric, media depictions and political discourse contribute to increased Islamophobia

Published by Sam Flores

(The Conversation) — Many Muslim Americans are fearful following a shooting at the Islamic Center of San Diego that left three worshipers dead. Investigators reportedly found hate speech and anti-Islamic writing inside the vehicle of the suspected shooters, who killed themselves soon after the attack. The director of the Islamic Center, Taha Hassane, condemned the attack while also encouraging individuals to respond with tolerance and love. “All of us are responsible for spreading the culture of tolerance, the culture of love,” he said, while lamenting the conditions that had led to such violence. The attack comes just one week before the celebration of Eid al-Adha, an annual festival celebrating the Prophet Abraham’s – Ibrahim in Arabic – willingness to sacrifice his son in obedience to God, and the conclusion of the annual Hajj – the pilgrimage to Mecca, one of the five pillars of Islam. It also comes on the heels of ongoing tensions in the Middle East and increasing political rhetoric in the United States. Republicans in Congress held hearings during the week of …

The teens who attacked the Islamic Center of San Diego were latest to cite prior atrocities

The teens who attacked the Islamic Center of San Diego were latest to cite prior atrocities

Published by Sam Flores

___ EDITOR’S NOTE: This story includes discussion of suicide. If you or someone you know needs help, the national suicide and crisis lifeline in the U.S. is available by calling or texting 988. ___ In rambling writings full of vitriol against a wide range of people, the teenagers who attacked the Islamic Center of San Diego this week, killing three men and themselves, left little doubt about the models for their violence. Chief among them: the shooter who killed 51 people at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, in 2019. Researchers who study extremism have long noted the resonance of the Christchurch attack among far-right assailants, attributing it to the extent of the violence, the document the killer posted concerning his views and actions, and — especially — his decision to livestream the massacre. Among those who apparently modeled attacks after Christchurch was a shooter who months later killed 22 people in a Texas Walmart. “Part of what we’re seeing in violent extremist communities online is wanting to emulate the attacks that have had the …

After years fostering interfaith ties, San Diego mosque finds allies in grief

After years fostering interfaith ties, San Diego mosque finds allies in grief

Published by Sam Flores

(RNS) — For years before Monday’s deadly shooting, the Islamic Center of San Diego stood out as a place that welcomed anyone through its doors — Muslim or not. The mosque’s imam, Taha Hassane, spent decades cultivating relationships with clergy, neighbors and community activists from across the city.  Hassane told RNS in an interview he believes in showing up for others and “trying to make our society the best in terms of acceptance, tolerance.”  In the hours after the shooting that killed three members of the mosque, interfaith leaders and allies started crowding vigils to stand in solidarity with Hassane and his community. Their response to the tragedy, Muslim community members said, offered a strong rebuke to the anti-Muslim rhetoric that has escalated in recent months and has shadowed the mosque for decades.  The shooting, which is being investigated as a hate crime, shattered what had long felt like a safe haven for worshippers and neighbors alike. But mosque leaders insist it will remain a place for everyone. At the first press conference hours after …

Teacher’s assistant at San Diego mosque recalls students’ bravery as gunmen banged on doors

Teacher’s assistant at San Diego mosque recalls students’ bravery as gunmen banged on doors

Published by Sam Flores

SAN DIEGO — Like schools across the U.S., the Islamic Center of San Diego had sought to prepare its students for the possibility that a gunman could breach its walls. Subscribe to read this story ad-free Get unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content. When two armed teenagers stormed the mosque Monday — and those “active shooter” drills were put to the test — the young students in one classroom did exactly as they had practiced and “went straight to business,” their teacher’s assistant told NBC News. “If they didn’t, then this could have been a different outcome,” said the assistant, Imani, who teaches second and third graders and asked to go by her first name. Authorities have said the three people gunned down at the mosque, described on its website as San Diego County’s largest, were all outside. No one who was inside the center at the time — including dozens of students attending school — was injured, San Diego Police Chief Scott Wahl has said. One of the victims, security guard Amin …

San Diego Mosque Killings Were Mass Murder as Fandom

San Diego Mosque Killings Were Mass Murder as Fandom

Published by Sam Flores

The two teenagers who walked into a San Diego mosque with assault rifles on Monday evening wore patches displaying the Black Sun—a neo-Nazi iteration of the swastika—and had scribbled white-supremacist symbols in white correction fluid on their guns. They started shooting, killing three. Then they fled in a BMW one had stolen from his mother. In the car, 17-year-old Cain Clark apparently shot his accomplice, Caleb Vasquez, before shooting himself in the head. We know much of this, in graphic detail, because, within hours, Clark and Vasquez’s video-recorded rampage seems to have been posted on the messaging platform Discord, then on a website called Watch People Die. The tragedy at the Islamic Center of San Diego in many ways followed an all-too-common script. With horrifying regularity, a young man carries out a mass shooting with weapons bearing neo-Nazi or hateful references scrawled in white. The shooter typically wears paraphernalia designed to promote accelerationism: the concept that only the collapse of society can usher in an Aryan utopia. There may also be a manifesto pulling from …

Teacher’s assistant at San Diego mosque recalls students’ bravery as gunmen banged on doors

San Diego mosque suspects’ writings reveal influence of online extremism, experts say

Published by Sam Flores

The two teenage suspects in this week’s deadly attack on a San Diego mosque appear to have written a 75-page document replete with neo-Nazi ideology, incel rage and racist meme culture drawn from the darkest corners of the internet. Subscribe to read this story ad-free Get unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content. In an echo of the 2019 massacre at mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, the gunmen appeared to have worn body cameras that livestreamed their assault, video of which has circulated online. The gunmen — identified by authorities as Caleb Vazquez and Cain Clark, teenagers who are believed to have first met online — killed three people at the Islamic Center of San Diego before they took their own lives Monday. Authorities looking into the motivation behind the shooting are working to authenticate the lengthy typewritten document, which is filled with vitriol about Muslims, Jewish people, Black people, Latino people, the LGBTQ community, women and various other identity groups. The document features Nazi iconography and explicit references to accelerationism, a white supremacist …