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Tampa Bay Tribune – November 12, 2007
School urged to address threat against Muslim girl
By Elaine Silvestrini of The Tampa Tribune and Mark Douglas of News Channel 8
ST. PETERSBURG - A Muslim civil rights organization is calling on Pinellas County school officials to investigate a threat it says was made against a sixth-grade Muslim girl at Azalea Middle School.
The 11-year-old girl, Hannah, told reporters she's afraid to go to back to school after a boy pulled off her head scarf and the next day threatened to shoot and kill her.
"I feel so afraid," she said. "I should just switch schools."
The Council on American-Islamic Relations held a news conference this afternoon outside the school at 22nd Avenue North and 79th Street North with the girl and her parents, all of whom would give only their first names, citing security concerns. Ahmed Bedier, executive director of CAIR's Tampa chapter, said the organization's primary concern is the safety of Hannah and all the other students at the school.
Bedier said school officials have not taken appropriate actions to ensure the safety of all students at the school and should be following their own policy by contacting police.
Andrea Zahn, spokeswoman for the Pinellas County School District, said school officials have not contacted police because "a threat assessment is still under way."
She said that the story Bedier is telling does not match what school officials have heard. She said that an administrator at Azalea Middle School met with the parents last week and resolved their concerns.
Bedier and the parents, however, said that's not the case.
According to CAIR, Hannah and her parents, this is what happened:
The boy had been harassing the girl for about a week. He had punched her and pushed her up against the wall, choking her. He had tugged at her head scarf, and last Wednesday, he pulled it off her head.
Hannah began crying and was told by the teacher to go to the bathroom to fix her scarf. She said she asked to have her seat moved to get away from the boy, but was told she would have to work for it.
The next day, the boy told the girl he was going to go home and get a gun to shoot and kill her.
Bedier said the boy didn't say anything against Muslims, so there's no way to know yet whether the harassment was directed at Hannah solely because of her religion. He said Hannah is the only girl in the school who wears a hijab.
"I wear the head scarf because I love my faith," Hannah told reporters. "It was my choice … My mom is my role model, and she teaches me to put the head scarf on. She teaches me to be a good Muslim."
Bedier also had no opinion as to what should happen to the boy. He said the blame for the escalation of the incident rests squarely with school officials, who failed to act early enough to stop the progression. "Inaction will empower [the boy] to do further violence in the future," Bedier said. He said it sends the message that his actions are not a problem…..
http://www2.tbo.com/content/2007/nov/12/muslim-student-threatened-st-pete-school-cair-says/?news-breaking
ADC Press Release - October 6, 2007
Former Exxon employees challenge
discrimination against Arabs and Muslims
Washington, DC - November 5, 2007 - Three Muslim former employees filed today a $12 million lawsuit against ExxonMobil Corporation in the United States District Court for the District of Delaware, complaining of discrimination, harassment, and retaliation based on race, religion, and national origin.
The suit alleged that three employees of an Exxon station on the Delaware Turnpike – Sofiene Romdhani, an Arab Muslim originally from Tunisia, and Michelle Maloney and Bobbi Joe Zeller, who had both converted to Islam – suffered persistent racial and religious harassment and discrimination at the hands of Exxon supervisors. The suit alleged that the plaintiffs and other Muslim and Arab employees at the station were subjected to racist graffiti and a steady barrage of anti-Muslim comments by management officials, who vowed to rid the station of all Muslims employees. The suit further alleged that Exxon’s headquarters ignored repeated complaints of discrimination from Muslim employees at the station and failed to perform a timely investigation. Ultimately, the suit alleged, two of the three plaintiffs were forced to resign because they could not tolerate the harassment and abuse, while the third was suddenly terminated on the same day she complained about managers viewing pornography in the workplace.
The Delaware Department of Labor, following a lengthy investigation, issued a decision in Mr.Romdhani’s favor, concluding that “witnesses corroborated [Mr. Romdhani’s] allegations that he was continually subjected to harassment by his supervisor in regards to his religious beliefs and national origin” and that Mr. Romdhani “has established that illegal national origin and religious discrimination occurred.” Ms. Maloney’s and Ms. Zeller’s charges are still being processed by the Department of Labor.
The plaintiffs are represented by the civil rights law firms of Katz, Marshall & Banks in Washington, D.C., and Martin & Wilson in Wilmington, Delaware. According to Avi Kumin, a partner at Katz, Marshall & Banks representing the former employees, “Mr. Romdhani, Ms. Maloney, and Ms. Zeller have filed suit to hold ExxonMobil accountable for the racial and religious discrimination to which they were subjected. Such racist and discriminatory actions should not be tolerated, and ExxonMobil cannot continue to ignore its legal obligations to ensure a workplace free of unlawful harassment.”
Kareem Shora, National Executive Director for the Arab-American Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) which was initially contacted with the allegations, commented: “In this day and age, it is unacceptable for employers to continue to discriminate against their employees in the fashion alleged with this case. We hope that Mr. Romdhani, Ms. Maloney, and Ms. Zeller are successful in vindicating their fundamental right to be free of harassment and discrimination in the workplace.” Shora added, “Discrimination should not be tolerated in any environment, and those who engage in such unlawful action, regardless of industry or work environment, must be held accountable in a court of law.”
To read the complaint, please visit:
http://www.adc.org/uploads/media/Exxon_Complaint_11-5-07_01.pdf
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