January, 04 2016, 03:30pm EDT
For Immediate Release
Contact:
CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper,Phone: 202-744-7726,E-Mail:,ihooper@cair.com
CAIR Seeks Hate Crime Probe of Vandalism, Bacon Left at Florida Mosque
WASHINGTON
The Florida office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-Florida) today called for a local, state and federal hate crime investigation of the vandalism and attempted desecration of a mosque in that state, the latest such incident in a recent spike in attacks on Muslim houses of worship nationwide.
According to police in Titusville, Fla., a man entered the carport of the Islamic Society of Central Florida Al-Mumin Mosque on Friday and broke several cameras, lights and windows. The alleged vandal also left bacon by the front door of the mosque.
SEE: Titusville Mosque Vandalized; Pork Products Left at Front Door
A police statement said in part: "Surveillance footage shows an unidentified male entered into the mosque carport at approximately 11:00 PM Friday January 1st 2015. The suspect pulled a machete from a bag and used the machete to cause the damage to the mosque."
"The use of pork in an incident of this type is one clear indicator of a possible bias motive for the vandalism," said CAIR-Florida Regional Operations Director Nezar Hamze.
He said CAIR recently called for a similar hate crime investigation after raw bacon was wrapped on door handles of a mosque in Las Vegas, Nev., and welcomed a hate crime probe of a pig's head thrown at a Philadelphia mosque.
SEE: CAIR-Philadelphia Welcomes Investigation of Pig's Head Thrown at Mosque
CAIR Seeks Hate Crime Probe of Nevada Mosque Desecration
CAIR also recently called on law enforcement authorities to investigate an apparent firebombing of mosque in Tracy Calif.
Video: CAIR-Sacramento Calls for Hate Crime Probe of Mosque Firebombing
Last month, CAIR released a preliminary report on more than 70 incidents targeting American mosques and religious institutions in 2015 that shows a greater frequency of damage, destruction, vandalism, and intimidation than in any other year since CAIR started tracking such cases in 2009.
CAIR Report: Number of Incidents Targeting U.S. Mosque in 2015 Highest Ever Recorded
CAIR is providing Muslim community leaders free copies of its booklet, "Best Practices for Mosque and Community Safety." The booklet may be requested through CAIR's website: https://www.cair.com/mosque-safety-guide.html
The Washington-based Muslim civil rights group is also asking Muslim community members to report any bias incidents to police and to CAIR's Civil Rights Department at 202-742-6420 or by filing a report at: https://www.cair.com/civil-rights/report-an-incident/view/form.html
CAIR is America's largest Muslim civil liberties and advocacy organization. Its mission is to enhance the understanding of Islam, encourage dialogue, protect civil liberties, empower American Muslims, and build coalitions that promote justice and mutual understanding.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) is a grassroots civil rights and advocacy group. CAIR is America's largest Muslim civil liberties and advocacy organization. Its mission is to enhance understanding of Islam, protect civil rights, promote justice, and empower American Muslims.
(202) 488-8787LATEST NEWS
Trump 'Choosing From the War Crimes Menu' With 'Quarantine' on Venezuela Oil Exports
"Economic strangulation is warfare and civilians always pay the price," lamented CodePink.
Dec 25, 2025
President Donald Trump has ordered US military forces to further escalate their aggression against Venezuela by enforcing a "quarantine" on the South American nation's oil—by far its main export—in what one peace group called an attempted act of "economic strangulation."
"While military options still exist, the focus is to first use economic pressure by enforcing sanctions to reach the outcome the White House is looking [for]," a US official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told Reuters.
The move follows the deployment of an armada of US warships and thousands of troops to the region, threats to invade Venezuela, oil tanker seizures off the Venezuelan coast, Trump's authorization of covert CIA action against the socialist government of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, and airstrikes against boats allegedly running drugs in the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean that have killed more than 100 people in what critics say are murders and likely war crimes.
This, atop existing economic sanctions that experts say have killed tens of thousands of Venezuelans since they were first imposed during the first Trump administration in 2017.
"The efforts so far have put tremendous pressure on Maduro, and the belief is that by late January, Venezuela will be facing an economic calamity unless it agrees to make significant concessions to the US," the official told Reuters.
The official's use of the word "quarantine" evoked the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, an existential standoff that occurred after the John F. Kennedy administration imposed a naval blockade around Cuba to prevent Soviet nuclear missiles from being deployed on the island, even as the US was surrounding the Soviet Union with nuclear weapons.
"This is an illegal blockade," the women-led peace group CodePink said in response to the Reuters report. "Calling it a 'quarantine' doesn’t change the reality. The US regime is using hunger as a weapon of war to force regime change in Venezuela. Economic strangulation is warfare and civilians always pay the price. The US is a regime of terror."
Critics have also compared Trump's aggression to the George W. Bush administration's buildup to the invasion and occupation of Iraq, initially referred to as Operation Iraqi Liberation (OIL). But unlike Bush, Trump—who derided Bush for not seizing Iraq's petroleum resources as spoils of war—has openly acknowledged his desire to take Venezuela's oil.
"Maybe we will sell it, maybe we will keep it,” he Trump said on Monday. “Maybe we’ll use it in the strategic reserves. We’re keeping the ships also.”
On Wednesday, a panel of United Nations experts said that the US blockade and boat strikes constitute "illegal armed aggression" against Venezuela.
Multiple efforts by US lawmakers—mostly Democrats, but also a handful of anti-war Republicans—to pass a war powers resolution blocking the Trump administration from bombing boats or attacking Venezuela have failed.
The blockade and vessel seizures have paralyzed Venezuela's oil exports. Ports are clogged with full tankers whose operators are fearful of entering international waters. Venezuela-bound tankers have also turned back for fear of seizure. Although Venezuelan military vessels are accompanying tankers, the escorts stop once the ships reach international waters.
According to the New York Times, Venezuela is considering putting armed troops aboard tankers bound for China, which, along with Russia, has pledged its support—but little more—for Caracas.
Keep ReadingShow Less
Latest GDP Figures Show Rich Reaping Rewards as Working Class Continues to Suffer Under Trump
"People at the top are doing fine, people in the middle and lower income brackets are struggling a bit, to say the least."
Dec 24, 2025
President Donald Trump's allies this week hyped up newly released data showing that the US economy grew by more than 4% in the third quarter of 2025, but economists and journalists who dove into the report's finer details found some troubling signs.
Ron Insana, a finance reporter and a former hedge fund manager, told MS Now's Stephanie Ruhle on Tuesday night that there is a "split economy" in which growth is being driven primarily by spending from the top 20% of income earners, whom he noted accounted for 63% of all spending in the economy.
On the other side, Insana pointed to retail sales data that painted a very different picture for those on the lower end of the income scale.
"When you look at lower income individuals, nearly half of them are using 'buy-now-pay-later' for their holiday shopping," he said. "So we have this real split... People at the top are doing fine, people in the middle and lower income brackets are struggling a bit, to say the least."
Dean Baker, co-founder and senior economist of the Center for Economic and Policy Research, also took note of this split in the US economy, and he cited the latest data showing that real gross domestic income, which more directly measures worker compensation over total economic output, grew at just 2.4% during the third quarter.
Baker also said that most of the gains in gross domestic income showed up at the top of the income ladder, while workers' income growth remained stagnant.
The theme of a split economy also showed up in an analysis from Politico financial services reporter Sam Sutton published on Wednesday, which cited recent data from Bank of America showing that the bank's "top account holders saw take-home pay climb 4% over the last year, while income growth for poorer households grew just 1.4%."
Sutton said that this divergence in fortunes between America's wealthy and everyone else was showing up in polling that shows US voters sour on the state of the economy.
"In survey after survey, a majority of Americans say they’re straining under the pressure of rising living expenses and a softening job market," Sutton said. "The Federal Reserve Bank of Boston says low-income consumers have 'substantially' higher levels of credit card debt than they did before the pandemic. Even as growth and asset prices soar, Trump’s approval ratings are sagging."
Economist Paul Krugman on Tuesday argued in his Substack newsletter that one reason for this large disparity in economic outcomes has to do with the US labor market, which has ground to a halt in recent months, lowering workers' options for employment and thus lowering their ability to push prospective employers for higher wages.
"Trump may claim that we are economically 'the hottest country in the world,' but the truth is that we last had a hot labor market back in 2023-4," Krugman explained. "At this point, by contrast, we have a 'frozen' job market in which workers who aren’t already employed are having a very hard time finding new jobs, a sharp contrast with the Biden years during which workers said it was very easy to find a new job."
None of these caveats about the latest gross domestic product (GDP) data stopped US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick from going on Fox News on Tuesday night and falsely claiming that a 4.3% rise in GDP meant that "Americans overall—all of us—are going to earn 4.3% more money."
Lutnick: The US economy grew 4.3%. What that means is that Americans overall—all of us—are going to earn 4.3% more money. pic.twitter.com/SIFi99NRBX
— Acyn (@Acyn) December 24, 2025
In reality, GDP is a sum of a nation's consumer spending, government spending, net exports, and total investments, and is not directly correlated with individuals' personal income.
Keep ReadingShow Less
While Bethlehem Holds First Full Christmas Since Genocide Began, Little to Celebrate in Gaza
"This year's celebrations carry a message of hope and resilience for our people and a message to the world that the Palestinian people love peace and life."
Dec 24, 2025
With Gaza's Christian population decimated by Israeli attacks and forced displacement over the past two years, those who remain are taking part in muted Christmas celebrations this week as the West Bank city of Bethlehem displays its tree and holds festivities for the first time since Israel began attacking both Palestinian territories in October 2023.
Middle East Eye reported that while Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, led a Christmas Mass at Holy Family Church in Gaza City on Sunday and baptized the newest young member of the exclave's Christian community, churches in Gaza have been forced this year to keep their celebrations indoors as the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have continued its attacks despite a "ceasefire" that Israel and Hamas agreed to in October.
"Churches have suspended all celebrations outside their walls because of the conditions Gaza is going through," Youssef Tarazi, a 31-year-old Palestinian Christian, told MEE. "We are marking the birth of Jesus Christ through prayer inside the church only, but our joy remains incomplete."
"This year, we cannot celebrate while we are still grieving for those killed, including during attacks on churches," Tarazi said. "Nothing feels the same anymore. Many members of our community will not be with us this Christmas."
The IDF, Israeli officials, and leaders in the US and other countries that have backed Israel's assault on Gaza have insisted the military has targeted Hamas and its infrastructure, but Christian churches are among the places—along with schools, refugee camps, hospitals, and other civilian buildings—that have been attacked since 2023.
At least 16 people were killed just days into the war when the IDF struck the Church of Saint Porphyrius, one of the oldest churches in the world. In July, Israel attacked the only Catholic church in Gaza, killing two women and injuring several other people.
Palestinian officials say at least 44 Christians are among more than 71,000 Palestinians who have been killed since Israel began its assault in retaliation for a Hamas-led attack. Some have been killed in airstrikes and sniper attacks while others are among those who have died of illnesses and malnutrition as Israel has enforced a blockade that continues to limit food and medical supplies that are allowed into Gaza.
United Nations experts, international and Israeli human rights groups, and Holocaust experts are among those who have called Israel's assault a genocide, and the International Criminal Court issued a warrant last year for the arrest of Israeli officials including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
George Anton, the director of operations for the Latin patriarchate in Gaza, estimated that the number of Christians killed so far is at least 53, with many dying "because we could not reach hospitals or provide medicine, especially elderly people with chronic illnesses."
In the past, Muslims in Gaza have joined Christian neighbors for the annual lighting of Gaza City's Christmas tree and other festivities, and churches have displayed elaborate lights and decorations in their courtyards for the Christmas season.
"We decorated our homes," Anton told MEE. "Now, many homes are gone. We decorated the streets. Even the streets are gone... There is nothing to celebrate."
"We cannot celebrate while Christians and Muslims alike are mourning devastating losses caused by the war," he added. "For us, the war has not ended."
Hilda Ayad, a volunteer who helped decorate Holy Family Church earlier this month, told Al Jazeera that "we don't have the opportunity to do all the things here in the church, but something better than last year because last year, we didn't celebrate."
“We are trying to be happy from inside.”
Palestinian children are decorating Gaza’s only Catholic church for Christmas celebrations for the first time after 2 years of genocide. Pope Francis used to call the Holy Family Church almost every day until his death. pic.twitter.com/dtCdFjcTyo
— AJ+ (@ajplus) December 24, 2025
About 1,000 Christians, who were mainly Greek Orthodox or Catholic, lived in Gaza before Israel's latest escalation in the exclave began in 2023.
Greek Orthodox Church member Elias al-Jilda and Archbishop Atallah Hanna, head of the church's Sebastia diocese in Jerusalem, told the Washington Post that the population has been reduced by almost half. More than 400 Christians have fled Gaza in the last two years. Those who remain have often sheltered in churches, including the ones that have sustained attacks.
Al-Jilda told the Post that this year's celebrations "will not be full of joy, but it is an attempt to renew life."
In Bethlehem in the West Bank, officials have sought to send a message to the world this Christmas that "peace is the only path in the land of Palestine," Mayor Hanna Hanania told Anadolu Agency.
"This year's celebrations carry a message of hope and resilience for our people and a message to the world that the Palestinian people love peace and life," he said.
At Al Jazeera, Palestinian pastor Rev. Dr. Munther Isaac wrote that "celebrating this season does not mean the war, the genocide, or the structures of apartheid have ended."
"People are still being killed. We are still besieged," he wrote. "Instead, our celebration is an act of resilience—a declaration that we are still here, that Bethlehem remains the capital of Christmas, and that the story this town tells must continue."
"This Christmas, our invitation to the global church—and to Western Christians in particular—is to remember where the story began. To remember that Bethlehem is not a myth but a place where people still live," Isaac continued. "If the Christian world is to honor the meaning of Christmas, it must turn its gaze to Bethlehem—not the imagined one, but the real one, a town whose people today still cry out for justice, dignity, and peace."
Keep ReadingShow Less
Most Popular