Here are some cautionary tales, as gathered by astute jihad-watcher Janet Levy. They illustrate the special treatment Muslims are increasingly demanding nationwide:
A Muslim woman in Michigan recently filed a complaint against Fitness USA for an alleged civil rights violation involving a fellow gym patron. According to a company spokesman, Wardeh Sultan was praying in front of another member’s locker when the member wanted access to her belongings inside the locker. The inconvenienced patron attempted to interrupt Ms. Sultan, but she remained prostrate in front of the locker and an argument ensued. A manager was summoned into the locker room to intervene. Ms. Sultan later complained that the gym’s employees were insensitive to the humiliation she suffered when her prayers were interrupted, rejected her complaints, and insufficiently intervened on her behalf. Ms. Sultan further reported that the manager told her, “You have to respect her (the other patron), but she does not have to respect your god.”
Last spring, at another Fitness USA outlet in Michigan, 200 Muslim women signed a petition demanding separate workout times for men and women, or, at minimum, installation of a divider between the men’s and women’s gym sections. A screen was eventually erected to obstruct the view of the women’s facilities.
Another Fitness USA facility recently revised a dress code to allow Muslim women to wear more modest dress while exercising.
Last month six imams recently demonstrated against U.S. Airways for alleged discrimination against Muslims and their religious practices after they were detained and questioned because they had been praying in the Minneapolis airport, loudly invoking Allah’s name and uttering anti-American statements.
Muslim cabdrivers recently declined to carry passengers possessing alcoholic beverages or accompanied by seeing-eye dogs.
Last year, city public swimming pools in Seattle, acting on pressure from Muslims, instituted regularly scheduled hours for exclusive use by Muslims, including a “Muslim Sister Swim.”
Last summer in a Chicago suburb, a Muslim girls basketball team, whose players compete wearing long, blue gowns and hijabs, requested that in competitions with non-Muslims schools, no men or boys be allowed to watch the games.
Levy questions the underlying purposes of this eruption of demands for special treatment and allegations of discrimination by Muslims:
Could this be part of an agenda contrived to intimidate non-Muslims into enacting special concessions and privileges for Muslims that subtlety alter American society step by step? Is this the beginning of a militant movement or a cultural jihad toward incremental demands with the ultimate goal of Islamicizing the U.S. and imposing Sharia law?
Instead of going on the defensive, the majority of Americans need to comprehend that legally there is no obligation to afford special religious privileges to Muslims and that they are perfectly free to organized their own private clubs to satisfy their religious needs. Moreover, in the post 9/11 era:
In a post 9-11 world, it is unrealistic to expect that loud proclamations of Islamic faithfulness mixed with condemnations of U.S. policy will not raise suspicion and cause alarm. The tragedy of 9-11 has forever changed the air travel experience and certain behaviors are already constrained in the interest of American security. Is vocal and extreme religious behavior exempt?
The growing chorus of Muslim accusations of discrimination and victimization must not be permitted to intimidate us into lowering our guard against terrorism and diluting measures designed to ensure the safety of us all, including Muslims. This resolve must be accompanied by a greater focus on the societal and behavioral standards that should unite us as Americans.