More Muslim "Hate Crime" Myths

I published an article today, "'Islamophobic Prejudice' and CAIR," that documents how one Mirza Akram of Everett, Washington, plastered vile anti-Arab graffiti on the store he was managing and planning to buy before allegedly setting fire to it.

Well, the ever-vigilant Michelle Malkin, in a May 29, 2003 article titled "Myth of the Muslim hate crime epidemic" and a May 30, 2003 article titled "More Muslim hate crime myths" provides specifics of four other instances in which American Muslims – Ahmad Saad Nasim, Mazhar Tabesh, Nezar "Mike" Maad, and Aqil Yassom Al-Timimi – won themselves vast sympathy as victims of "hate crimes," only to have it turn out that they were actually the perps. She notes that what she calls "hoax crimes" have a real price: they "waste precious investigative resources, exacerbate racial tension, create terror and corrode goodwill."

In all, then, there are at least five cases proven or alleged hoax crimes since 9/11; how many more might there be that no one has counted? Malkin wonders about this too, noting that

when it comes to cracking down on hate crime hoaxes by Arabs and Muslims, the feds—too busy conducting politically correct "outreach" with Muslim leaders who pooh-pooh hate crime fraud—have been appallingly negligent. There is no way of knowing whether fake hate crimes outnumber real anti-Muslim crimes because no law enforcement agency keeps track. (Note to frustrated cops: Send me your suspected hoax cases and let's get started.)

She also blames journalists for ignoring this phenomenon: "It's a shame so many in the media are more concerned with protecting the twisted cult of victimhood than with exposing hard truths." (August 25, 2004)

Sep. 30, 2004 update: Add a sixth apparent fraudster, Amjad Abunar, to the five above. Here is the text of an article titled "Hate-Crime Accuser Charged With Arson":

McALLEN, Tex., Sept. 29 - The owner of a Middle Eastern meat market who had said he was the victim of a hate crime in this border town was arrested and arraigned Tuesday [Sept. 28] on a felony arson charge that he set fire to his own business. The man, Amjad Abunar, had complained that "Go Home" was twice spray-painted on a door of his Al Madinah Market before a fire on Aug. 6 that gutted the small delicatessen. Only last week, the graffiti and fire were cited as evidence by a Washington advocacy group that hate crimes against Muslims were on the rise in Texas. Bond for Mr. Abunar was set at $150,000, and he remained in jail on Wednesday. [DP: hyperlink added]

And which "Washington advocacy group" might that be? Why, CAIR of course. The article goes on:

Representatives of the advocacy group, the Council on American-Islamic Relations, which had complained that McAllen officials were not investigating the fire as a possible hate crime, said they were stunned Wednesday to learn of Mr. Abunar's arrest. Ibrahim Hooper, a council official in Washington, said Mr. Abunar had assured him he had nothing to do with setting the fire.

One wonders if, after they get over being "stunned," whether CAIR will retract the strong statements it made about Amjad Abunar or whether – as it did in the case of Mirza Akram – just go mute.

Feb. 6, 2005 update: Belatedly, here is the scoop on a seventh "hate crime" hoax, this one perpetrated by Saleh Nawash, 54. A naturalized U.S. citizen who emigrated from Lebanon, Nawash is a leader at the Islamic Mosque of Cleveland. He owned a meat store called Halal Products (halal is the Islamic equivalent of kosher) and in July 2002 he pleaded guilty to conspiracy, attempted aggravated arson, and attempted insurance fraud. When Halal Products failed, reports the Cleveland Plain Dealer (not online), Nawash coveted the $100,000 insurance policy on the business and hired an arsonist to do the dirty deed. The prosecutor provided details on how he left kerosene in the building and how, to win sympathy, he plotted to make the fire look like a hate crime. Nawash received a jail sentence of nine years; his side-kick Ahmed Jaffal, 49, got eight years.

Nov. 13, 2005 update: Here is hoax number eight: Shehab Ahmed and his father Shahriar fulminated on March 23, 2005, David Reinhard recounts in the Oregonian, because the former had been kicked off an airplane.

the father-son duo were the top story on KGW (8)'s 11 p.m. news. "The son of a prominent Muslim is told he can't fly home to Portland and tonight, his family is looking for answers," anchor Russ Lewis announced. Shehab, we were told, was coming home from UCLA for spring break when he found out he was on the FBI terror watch list. He was eventually allowed on a flight, but, said Shehab, "To know that the government puts me on the list as bin Laden and whatnot . . . that's scary."

But these charges were bogus, Reinhard explains.

Here's what actually happened at LAX: Shehab Ahmed did miss one plane home to Portland, but only because he got to the airport late. When he tried to get on another flight, there was a problem—a momentary one. Shehab's name matched a name on the terror watch list. The ticket agent asked for ID, and Shehab was allowed on the flight to Portland.

And here's what did not happen: Ahmed wasn't on the watch list or put on it. He was not told he couldn't fly home; he was allowed on the flight he wanted to be on after providing ID. He wasn't yanked out line or taken to a special room for questioning by government agents. In fact, government agents—TSA personnel—were not involved in any of this. What happened to Shehab that March day isn't found in any TSA or FBI report; there was no incident to report.

But the incident was written up – by Shehab himself on his blog. The original posting is now gone, but google.com has helpfully cached it. Titled "Apparently I'm on the FBI Watchlist," Shehab recounts the inconvenience he encountered that day. On telling his father what happened, he recounts, the latter responded oddly: "Instead of getting the expected response of 'what? Seriously? Are you OK? What happened? Etc.' My dad was like 'great, I'll call my contacts at Channel 8 and 6 and see what we can get.'"

When confronted with this evidence of his falsehood, the elder Ahmed for months did nothing. Finally, when approached for this story by Reinhard, he did acknowledge that he quickly learned his son was not on the watch list and said "I apologize for escalating it beyond that." (Apparently, the television station contacted him on another matter and he took advantage of the opportunity to tell his son's tale of woe.)

Aug. 31, 2006 update: Patrick Poole tells the tale of Musa Shteiwi and his son Essa, our ninth hoaxers.

The story that developed in July [2006] was just too good to pass up: a Jordanian-born restaurant owner in Xenia, Ohio had been the apparent victim of repeated attempts to burn down his store. The day after the third attack, when a Molotov cocktail had been thrown through the front window of his business, yet another explosion rocked the store – the second attack in 24 hours – sending the owner and his son to the hospital with burns over 80-90 percent of their bodies. An employee in an adjoining store was also taken to the hospital for injuries.

Just hours before the blast, the store owner had been interviewed by a local TV station vowing that he would never give in to pressure to close the store (video of the interview can be seen here).

Problem was, this story of anti-Muslim hatred in small-town America wasn't true.

Arson investigators have determined that the final blast that severely injured the store owner, Musa Shteiwi, and his son, Essa, was set by the pair themselves. In a performance worthy of a Darwin Award, the Shteiwis were standing in a pool of gasoline that they intended to use as an accelerant in setting their store ablaze later that night when Musa Shteiwi took a break and lit up a cigarette, igniting the gasoline prematurely and causing the blast that inflicted their injuries.

But there's more: prosecutors claim that Shteiwi had hired a former employee, Joshua Hunter, to commit the previous attacks against his store that CAIR had insisted were hate crimes committed by non-Muslim members of the Xenia community. Hunter has been jailed and charged with arson, and similar charges against Musa and Essa Shteiwi are pending until after they have recovered from their injuries.

Mar. 19, 2009 update: The tenth hoaxer is the notorious ex-mufti of Australia, Taj ad-Din al-Hilali. One can hardly improve on the account by Natalie O'Brien and Angus Hohenboken, "Hilali kicks door, blames vandals," in the Australian:

The head imam at the Lakemba mosque, who caused outrage in 2006 by comparing scantily clad women to uncovered meat, was shown on a CCTV security tape kicking open the door just minutes before reporting the incident. The Nine Network's A Current Affair last night broadcast the videotape from March 9, showing the incident, which Sheik Hilali initially denied. "There is a trick in this camera. There is a trick in this film," he told ACA.

But in a letter sent by Sheik Hilali's lawyers to ACA yesterday, he admitted kicking the door, saying the damage had already been done to the door before he kicked it. "What he did do was to kick open a door to the mosque that had already been damaged by others in order to gain entry to it," the letter said. …

The footage shows four young men locking the door behind them at 10.28pm. Nine minutes later, Sheik Hilali checks the lock and pushes on the top of the door, bending it on its hinges. After checking the corridor, he disappears from view before rushing towards it and kicking it open at 10.46pm.