The Antelope Valley Times

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L.A. County Supervisors aim to combat hate crimes, Islamophobia

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No hateLOS ANGELES –The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to do more public outreach to combat hate crimes against any group and Islamophobia in particular.

Supervisor Hilda Solis, who championed the plan, urged residents to resist calls to scapegoat American-Muslims and individuals of Middle Eastern descent.

“This motion is about preventing more tragedy,” Solis said. “Anger and fear are understandable reactions to what happened in San Bernardino, but we cannot permit these feelings to grow into hate or bigotry against individuals who had nothing to do with this senseless violence.”

In voting for the motion, the board condemned the terrorist attack by a radicalized husband and wife who took the lives of 14 and injured 22 people in San Bernardino, while recognizing that “no religion or race or ethnicity is responsible for these acts.”

County staffers will reach out to residents via social media, asking them to reject stereotypes.

The board also asked District Attorney Jackie Lacey, Sheriff Jim McDonnell and the county’s Human Relations Commission to reach out more actively to Muslim, Sikh, South Asian and other groups that are the targets of hate crime and to swiftly respond to any threats of hate violence.

The property of a Sikh temple, or gurdwara, in Buena Park was vandalized earlier this month. The spray-painted graffiti included a profane reference to the terrorist group ISIS that was scrawled on a truck in the temple’s parking lot.

A spokesman for the Sikh community said Islamophobia hurts non-Muslims.

“Islamophobia does not only affect Muslims, it affects Sikhs, Christians, basically anyone of South Asian or Middle Eastern descent and even, after 9/11, Latinos were attacked because of their appearance, people were so rabid with hatred and fear,” said Nirinjan Singh Khalsa of the California Sikh Council.

Supervisor Sheila Kuehl urged residents to hold themselves to a high standard.

“This is a time that asks all Americans to strive to be our best and bravest and wisest selves,” Kuehl said.

Focus on Islam, Focus on Peace

The Antelope Valley Chapter of the NAACP will “Focus on Islam, Focus on Peace” at a meeting this Thursday.

[L to R] Kamal Al-Khatib and Ansar "Stan" Muhammad.
[L to R] Kamal Al-Khatib and Ansar “Stan” Muhammad.
Guest speakers Kamal Al-Khatib, president and co-founder of the American Islamic Institute of Antelope Valley, and Ansar “Stan” Muhammad of the the Antelope Valley Chapter of the Nation of Islam will give presentations and answer questions.

“For those person[s] who are interested in what the Islamic religion is all about, this would be a great opportunity to learn,” stated AV NAACP President Shunnon Thomas.

The membership meeting will take place from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 17, at the Growing Valley Baptist Church, located at 44818 20th Street West in Lancaster.

NAACP General Membership Meetings are always open to the public.

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Previous related stories:

L.A. County supervisors vote to welcome refugees

Antonovich draws criticism over “Muhammad” comment

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Filed Under: Lancaster

37 comments for "L.A. County Supervisors aim to combat hate crimes, Islamophobia"

  1. I just want to know why someone who wants to bolster community ties between Muslims and non-Muslims would allow the San Bernardino Terrorist to be buried in the AV under his authority as funeral director at the Antelope Valley Islamic institute.

    • I just want to know what you think would be an appropriate desecration for a dead body that would satisfy your strange lusts for blood vengeance.

  3. Ok, first Supervisor Antonovich makes a turd remark in regards to Islam. Now they want to put frosting on the cake to cover the hole in the middle? Give me a break, your first words are your true words- racism and hatred is everywhere we look!!!

    • First off, the BOS have no business siding with anyone. Keep your personal beliefs to yourselves and stop trying to legislate every facet of our lives. Do not make light of the fact that radical Islamists attacked our citizens. Everything is always about ‘race’ with those people. Enough already. The NAACP is a completely racist organization.

  5. I’ve spoken with Sunni Muslims before who would say that the N.O.I. is not Islam. No matter how many rallies and patti-cake parades are done in the name of this “peaceful” religion….bombs will still go off, people will still be innocently murdered. Instead of these rallies, why aren’t these moderate/liberal muslims largely speaking against radicalism?? You don’t hear about it or else its really small scale.

  6. Just a simple word of advice……when you are trying to make a point about bigotry and hatred, do not trot out a known anti-Semite and homophobe like Stan Muhammad. He totally negates any reasonable point that is being made.

    It’s like having a presentation on honesty and inviting R. Rex Parris to speak. Not a good move.

    • Well…At least Stan is honest about what that religion truly stands for! No window dressing it now, is there?

      • rex doesn’t seem to mind having a commissioner on his team that makes homophobic and anti semitic remarks.

  7. Nation_of_Islam will be there? No thank you!!! Not interested! keep your hatred and bigotry to yourselves!

  9. I don’t want to learn anything about Islam. There’s nothing either of these guys could tell me that I probably don’t already know… Moorish architecture, halal, the Quran, Suras, Mecca, Shiites, Sunnis, Sufis, dervishes, Ramadan, Al Andalus, Ottoman Empire, the slave trade, the pillars, Rumi, Ibn Arabi, etc…I know everything there is to know about Islam and I’m still not impressed with it.

    Every time a bomb goes off or people get slaughtered en mass, these types crawl out of the woodwork to try to reassure us that “Islam is peace” etc. Not buying it. Sorry. Religion is corrupt and retards critical thinking.

    ….I’m an agnostic and staying that way!

    • exactly! they want us to think there’s “something we don’t know” about it and we have to go to their little meeting so that we can try and understand it better, which is really a way for them to try to convert people, as if we couldn’t figure that out?? haha!

      any information anybody needs is either in a library or online. you can read pros and cons and get real insight without going to one of their propaganda meetings.

  10. I don’t hate Muslims, but I feel like Islamic/Muslim dogma is all about hate, killing infidels, damnation, wars, hatred of atheists, Jews, Christians, Buddhists, Hindus, Pagans, gays, feminists, etc.

    So, they can freely hate us and plan to kill us, and they get protection to do so.

    • Have you read their holy book? It is interesting to read, since it contains much of the same material as the Bible, and has been added to by The Prophet (think I got that capitalising correct).

      One of the tenets of going to war is to know your enemy, I figure since so many people want to ‘war’ against Muslims it is a good idea to at least spend a few hours and read about the faith from the source material.

      • I’ve read some of it, but it is actually poetry and doesn’t really translate well. Hearing it read aloud in Arabic, even though I couldn’t understand it, is something I would recommend.

          • Poetry is about how sounds go together, not just the meaning of the words. It’s not like I’ve listened to the whole thing, but I got a much different sense of it when I read it in English from having heard some of it read in the original.

          • So why did you ask what the point was? As a literature major I would have thought you would have understood the point right off…

        • Really? Would you spend 45 hours of your life listening to a translation of the Old Testament in Hebrew?

          It’s all a bunch of mythological hogwash meant to scare people into submission and generate money (the bible and the koran, both).

          We aren’t living in the Dark Ages, last time I checked. Free your mind from superstitious nonsense!

          • What makes you think my mind is a prisoner? I always find it funny that the anti-religious are so concerned with making sure that they don’t accidentally find out anything about religion…but then yammer about “open mindedness”.

          • Maybe the “anti-religious”, as you call us, come from religious backgrounds where we saw the poison of religion and what it inflicted on people? Ever think of that?

            And like most liberals, you’ll gleefully defend one mythological cult (Islam) while criticizing another (Christianity) when the truth is that they are all poisonous, anti-democratic and anti-freedom!

          • LOL…my goodness, you know me sooooooo well. I’ll be sure to let my pastor know that I “defend Islam” and “criticize Christianity” in order to fit your mold of “most liberals.” Wouldn’t want you to have to think of people as individuals or anything. I mean, how could you keep up your simplified world view?

          • You should talk about “yammering”…all I ever see on this site are multiple comments made by you, yammering on about one thing or another. And then, like clockwork, you appear in here to give another one your gaseous opinions….like we all need another lecture from Tim Scott’s super ego?!?!?

          • Your “pastor”…that figures! You probably are a “pastor” …another charlatan too lazy to get a real job but will prey on people’s ignorance and fear!

          • LOL…

            So I’ve gone from “Christianity criticizing liberal” to “probably a pastor.” Your wild conclusion hopping seems to be directed by something other than scientific method there…random emotional responses maybe? Or just inability to reason. Maybe you’re drunk?

          • Well, this thread went nuts fast.
            I am an atheist myself. I grew up in multiple religions and had talks with religious teachers/leaders in 8th grade. What we discussed was the similarities and differences in the religions and what they were meant to do. Was told I had an understanding many do not get until late adult life and was asked to not talk to the other kids about the subject as it might confuse them. They became confused themselves as life threw wrenches and death into the works.
            I do not mind if a person has religion, but I do not approve of all this baleyhoo of who is right, which god is correct, or forcing it down others throats through badgering or laws enacted on the populace. Religion is a personal thing to help a person understand life’s events that may overwhelm them. It is an explanation of where we came from and where we might go (poetically). It has history and science mixed in but not enough of either to be useful. It teaches basic life lessons through examples, both good and bad.
            Some people need it, some do not.

          • I would be OK with Islam if it were just a “religion”, but it is not. It is also a political system and a lifestyle by default. It seeks the subjugation of non-Muslims through Sharia Law as soon as Muslims get into power and amass enough of their own brethren together.

            These Nation of Islam people follow a cult that believes that white people were a creation made by a corrupt black scientist who made a pact with Lucifer. This is how nutty and racist Nation of Islam actually is!