From the rubble of a firebombed mosque, relationships have emerged.

After local men burned the Islamic Center of Columbia, Tenn., to the ground in February, Muslim families had no place to worship. Donations came in to help establish a new center, and the First Presbyterian Church in town allowed them to worship at its church.

"It's just a great example of how we can believe different things and respect, celebrate each other," said Daoud Abudiab, president of the Islamic Center of Columbia. "And that's regardless of those who carry out acts of hate toward other groups."

Two of the three men charged with destroying and vandalizing the mosque pleaded guilty on Monday in federal court in Nashville, as the Islamic Center works to open its doors at 500 Carter St. in Columbia. [Link]

A place of worship for Muslims in Omaha was the target of vandals.

It happened at a mosque near 133rd Street and Q Street.

Somebody threw a rock through the front door and shattered the glass sometime between Monday and Tuesday night.

A worshipper at the mosque, Bilal Khaleeq, believes the attack was a hate crime. “This is where we offer our prayers. We build our community, bring our children to educate so it does have a lot of emotional attachment,” Khaleeq said. [Link]

A 10-year-old girl sprayed in the face with a chemical Friday, Sept. 26, while at a local Islamic mosque was not the victim of a hate crime, police Chief Richard Biehl said.

The girl was watching children whose parents and relatives had gathered at the Islamic Society of Greater Dayton, 26 Josie St., to celebrate Ramadan when she noticed two men standing outside a basement window about 9:40 p.m., according to police.

One of the men then sprayed something through the open window and into the girl's face from a white can with a red top, according to a police report. The girl said she immediately felt burning on her face and felt "sick to her stomach," the report stated.

Other children and a woman in the room felt affects from the chemical and the mosque was evacuated.

"The men didn't say anything to her (before she was sprayed)," Biehl said. "There was nothing left at the scene or anything that makes us believe this is a biased crime."

HAZMAT crews called to the scene started testing for chemicals less than 20 minutes after a member of the mosque called 911, team coordinator Denny Bristow said.

"Whatever chemical was released it dissipated too quickly for us to determine what it was," Bristow said. "We can test for about 130 to 140 chemicals, including pepper spray, and all our tests came back negative."

Bristow said there were no chemicals found on the 10-year-old girl.

A few of the 300 people celebrating the last 10 days of Ramadan with dinner and a prayer session were treated for eye irritation at the scene. [Link]

Officials from the Dayton fire department and HAZMAT have not determined what type of chemical was released during a Friday night service at the Islamic Society of Greater Dayton center, 26 Josie St., according to Dayton Fire Lt. John Strukamp.

The Society held the service to recognize and celebrate Ramadan, but the service was disrupted by a suspected chemical irritant that forced members out of the church and into the streets. [Link]

The FBI is investigating the burning of a mosque's sign in Joplin as a potential hate crime.

The sign for the Islamic Society of Joplin was set aflame early Thursday morning. Fire investigators say there's no doubt the fire was deliberately set.

The Jasper County Sheriff's Department initially investigated the arson but the FBI has taken over.

Navid Zaidi, the society's treasurer, says the mosque hasn't had much trouble since in opened in February 2007 other than the occasional shouted comments from passing drivers.

But he says he believes the burning was a hate crime.

Zaidi says the mosque put up the sign two months ago to better fit in the community. It reads "Islamic Society of Joplin" in both English and Arabic. [Link]

A fire which destroyed a church building earmarked for a new mosque may be a racially-motivated arson attack.

The former St Matthew's Church, in Boultham Park Road, Lincoln, was severely damaged when the blaze broke out in the early hours of Saturday morning.

Muslim leaders were hoping to turn the grade II-listed premises - vacant since 2000 - into a mosque after being granted planning consent in July.

But it is now feared their plans may have been destroyed by a hate-fuelled attack by arsonists. [Link]

The idea of an annual Sunday get-together at a North Seattle mosque stemmed from an incident two days after the Sept. 11 attacks.

A man splashed gasoline on cars in the Idriss Mosque parking lot and started to flee. When congregants followed him, he turned and fired shots into the ground. It was the first local hate crime after the attacks.

Neighbors stood watch at the mosque 24 hours a day. Thousands of people came by, flooding the congregation with flowers and cards to show them not everyone was filled with hate.

As part of an ongoing "thank you," mosque director Hisham Farajallah and others organized a neighborhood barbecue, inviting everyone with hopes they'd break down stereotypes. The first year, about 100 people showed.

On Sunday, the Muslim community welcomed more than 800 throughout the afternoon, including hundreds from outside their congregation.

"This is our goal," said Farajallah, a Boeing engineer by day. "To get people to know and understand each other." [Link]

For weeks the Islamic Center in West Springfield has been cleaning up broken glass and listening to threatening phone calls. On Thursday night, the interfaith community came together to show their solidarity.

Mohammad Saleem Bajwa, President of Islamic Society, says "{The Islamic community} has a strong fear that something is going to happen. We don't feel safe when we're in our congregational prayer."

That's because someone broke windows, smashed doors and left threatening phone calls. Calls like this one: "You must denounce the violence that your people are perpetrating against citizens of the free world or there will be hell to pay, my friends. It's time to make peace."

The vandalism started March 21st and every few days something new has happened.

Bajwa says, "If adverse things happen oversees or any bad news automatically there are some people who are uneducated and ignorant. They connect us with that." [Link]

Neighbors in the tidy, middle-class Southampton neighborhood in south St. Louis said yesterday they barely noticed the comings and goings of one of their enclave’s newest arrivals.

Nothing out of the ordinary anyway, aside from a steady stream of Iraqi cab drivers and other workers, and women and children, arriving for evening prayer services at the Islamic mosque.

The Islamic religious and community center, housed in a nondescript storefront building, was vandalized over the weekend. It was the second such incident since the Imam Hussin Foundation building opened last April.

"If someone is trying to send us a message" with this act, "we receive it," said Salah Ajmi, the mosque’s imam and a businessman. "But we do everything right and legal. This is wrong."

Vandals damaged seven large glass windows with a blunt object sometime between midnight and 10:30 a.m. Sunday, police said. Vandals struck the first time last summer, and Ajmi said he suspected teenagers. This time the damage was more extensive.

Police took fingerprints and are investigating. They wouldn’t say whether they consider it a hate crime. The FBI declined comment. [Link]

Three Columbia men could face federal hate crime charges after police say they painted swastikas and phrases such as "white power" on a mosque then set it on fire.

Investigators believe the fire at the Islamic Center of Columbia started around 5 a.m. Saturday.

Later that night authorities arrested Jonathan Stone, 19, Michael Golden, 23. and Eric Baker, 32, according to Jim Cavanaugh, special agent in charge of the Nashville office of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Authorities did not say how they tracked down the suspects.

"It affects every American and every Muslim when they see a swastika painted on the side of a mosque destroyed by arson," Cavanaugh said Sunday.

The men are being held in the Maury County Jail and face possible federal charges for attacking a house of worship and other federal crimes, he said. [Link]

The burned-out home, blanketed with ash and lacking a roof, was intended for the new leader, or imam, of the Dalton Islamic Center. Nearby on the same property, workers have been laying the foundation for a new mosque.

On Christmas, a fire at 1:15 a.m. destroyed the unoccupied home. The fire department is investigating the "suspicious" blaze that gutted a home not even hooked up to electricity.

At the same time, the Whitfield County Sheriff's Department is investigating graffiti in the same house they believe was painted on the walls during the summer, officials said.

The graffiti was obscene and included the phrase "don't come in here," but it didn't refer to Muslims specifically.

"At this time, it's not being considered a hate crime," said sheriff's Maj. John Gibson. He added, "I'm sure that the ... victims of this crime feel that it is (a hate crime)."

Hammad El-Ameen, president of the Islamic Center, said he feels that Muslims are being targeted.

"When somebody burned our house down ... they're sending a message that they don't want us in the community," he said Wednesday.

The Islamic Center sought permission from the county in May 2005 to build a new mosque. At the time, this newspaper reported some residents opposed to the site said during a public hearing that the center was building a "terrorist hideout." [Link]

Is it a random act of violence or is the Islamic community in Dalton the target of a hate crime?

That's what investigators are trying to figure out after a fire destroys part of what will become a new place of worship for Muslims.

Early Christmas morning fire tears through a three-bedroom house that's on the Dug Gap Road site where the new Dalton Islamic Center is being built.

Hammad El-Ameen, President of the Dalton Islamic Center, said "it's devastating because it's a security factor, we're concerned for our families, our children. So we want to set a precedent right now and find out and prosecute who did this."

Whitfield County Fire Chief Carl Collins says the fire damage is concentrated inside what was the attic and spread from a back bedroom to the rest of the $100,000 building.

Even though Chief Collins says he has his suspicions this fire was deliberately set he says his investigators still haven't found any evidence, right now at least, that an accelerant was used, like gasoline or kerosene.

"We're still looking into some different things. It is suspicious in the fact there was no power on it," Chief Collins said.

So, who would do this? There is graffiti inside - could this be the work of local gangs? Or could this be the dirty-work of someone who doesn't want Muslim worship in their neighborhood? [Link]

The last of four men prosecuted for burglarizing a Naperville Islamic center pleaded guilty Monday and was sentenced to 21 days in DuPage County Jail.

Mark Domingo, 19, also received 3 years of probation and was ordered to pay $2,000 in restitution for the July 21, 2006, burglary of the Islamic Center of Naperville.

Domingo, of Naperville, is the fourth and final co-defendant in the crime to plead guilty, said DuPage Assistant State's Atty. David Imielski. He said that after about 10 break-ins during the summer of 2006, police installed a camera in the center at 450 Olesen Drive.

The burglars were viewed by police on camera. Two were arrested at the scene and two after a short car chase.

Police said the motive was robbery, not a hate crime based on religion. The four defendants believed there was always a small amount of cash in the center, police said. [Link]

FBI agents announced Friday that they are increasing the reward money for information leading to the arrest of the shooter or shooters responsible for damaging a Brevard County mosque.

Police said in September of 2006, shots were fired into a Melbourne mosque. A member of the Islamic Society of Brevard County heard the shots and reported the incident to police.

Investigators now say the shooting was a hate crime. [Link]

A Shreveport man and two teens have been charged with spray-painting profanity and drug symbols on a local mosque in July.

Russell Price, 22, a 16-year-old girl and a 14-year-old boy were issued summonses for criminal mischief. Criminal mischief carries a penalty of not more than $500 and six months in jail.

The July 30 Islamic Association of Arabi Inc. case was solved through a Crime Stoppers tip, Shreveport police spokeswoman Kacee Hargrave said Thursday. Price and the teens told investigators they did not vandalize the building because it is an Islamic place of worship.

Some who pray at the Broadmoor neighborhood mosque, in the 3700 block of Youree Drive, said last summer they thought the spray-painting was a hate crime.

The mosque has been there since 1991. It was vandalized once and its American flag was stolen in the months after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. [Link]

A Shreveport man and two teens have been charged with spray-painting profanity and drug symbols on a local mosque in July.

Russell Price, 22, a 16-year-old girl and a 14-year-old boy were issued summonses for criminal mischief. Criminal mischief carries a penalty of not more than $500 and six months in jail.

The July 30 Islamic Association of Arabi Inc. case was solved through a Crime Stoppers tip, Shreveport police spokeswoman Kacee Hargrave said. Price and the teens told investigators they did not vandalize the building because it is an Islamic place of worship.

Some who pray at the Broadmoor neighborhood mosque, in the 3700 block of Youree Drive, said last summer they thought the spray-painting was a hate crime.

The mosque has been there since 1991. It was vandalized once and its American flag was stolen in the months after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. [Link]

Rocks Thrown, Windows Broken In Possible Hate Crime

The Kern County Sheriff’s Department is investigating a possible hate crime against the Islamic Center of San Joaquin Valley last Saturday morning during worship prayers.

Witnesses said two men entered the 701 Ming Ave. mosque at about 2 a.m. on Saturday and disrupted the all-night prayer service that was celebrating the month of Ramadan.

According to witnesses, two Hispanic males, who may have been intoxicated, entered the mosque, ate the mosque's food and argued with worshippers after being asked to leave.

Kern County Sheriff's Department said the two men eventually left the mosque. When Sheriff's deputies arrived after 5 a.m., they could not find the men, who had fled.

Shortly after the Sheriff's deputies left, a Sheriff's Department report said the two men returned with a group of possibly as many as fifteen men.

According to the report, men confronted members from the mosque outside and yelled ethnic slurs. Witnesses claimed the men yelled, “Go home terrorists!” and “Arab terrorists!”
According to the report, the men also broke windows and slashed tires on several cars, then threw rocks at worshippers.

Witnesses said three people were hurt. The Sheriff Department report said two mosque members suffered minor injuries.

Sheriff’s deputies said they saw people throwing rocks, but weren’t able to catch anyone.

The Sheriff's department is now investigating this as a hate crime and is searching for 10-15 Hispanic males between 16 and 20 years old. The case has also been reported to the FBI. [Link]

A fourth teen admitted Tuesday to a role in burglarizing the Islamic Center of Naperville.

Mark Domingo is expected to receive probation and a stint in jail, similar to his three co-defendants, when he's sentenced later this fall.

The 19-year-old Naperville man pleaded guilty to burglarizing a place of worship - a felony punishable by probation or up to 15 years in prison.

Police installed a surveillance camera in summer 2006 inside the mosque at 450 Olesen Drive after officials complained of as many as 10 break-ins in which money was stolen from a donation box.

One week later, on July 21, 2006, police spotted Domingo and his three friends leaving the building at 450 Olesen Drive. Domingo and a second teen, Andrew Talty, 19, of Plainfield, were arrested outside the mosque.

Two other teens led police on a car chase that ended in Hinsdale when they crashed. Three police officers received minor injuries during the fracas.

Domingo is the final teen to be sentenced. Talty and Charles Htun, 20, of Naperville, spent time in DuPage County jail and were placed on three years probation. Each also paid $2,000 restitution.

David Henderson, 20, of Naperville, was sentenced to a prison boot-camp program and is on parole. He and Htun, who drove, were involved in the car chase.

None of the young men were charged with a hate crime. Prosecutors characterized the burglary as a crime of opportunity, not one motivated by faith or religion. [Link]

Despite swastikas, incident not yet deemed hate crime

Federal agents are investigating whether vandalism at an Islamic high school in Sylvania early yesterday morning where swastikas and "white power" slogans were spray-painted on the property was racially motivated, authorities said.

The incident is not being considered a hate crime - a conclusion that cannot be made until later in the investigation, authorities said.

Six windows of the Toledo Islamic Academy High School, 5242 McGregor Lane, were painted with red swastikas, and two windows were shot with what authorities believe was a BB gun.

Swastikas also were spray-painted on the school's entrance doors and on eight trees on the northeast side of the school. The words "white power" were painted on the side of a truck in the school's parking lot along with several green swastikas.

"To see something like this was disappointing," said Principal Aalaa Eldeib, who reported the vandalism to Sylvania police when she arrived at the school about 8:15 a.m.

"I feel like it was done out of ignorance." [Link]

A top national security adviser to former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani said in an interview that there are "too many" mosques in the United States and urged a more aggressive law enforcement approach toward them.

Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.), who serves as the senior Republican on the House Homeland Security Committee, said Thursday that his comments to the Politico website were taken out of context. [Link]