Washington: The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) reported September 30 that vandals attacked a mosque in Idaho following a series of threatening phone calls to that religious institution.
A representative of the Islamic Center of Boise told the Islamic civil rights and advocacy group that vandals used a rock and a cinder block to break four windows in the center and to damage a computer printer. The attack apparently occurred sometime between midnight and 6 a.m. on Monday and was noticed when worshipers came to the mosque.
Both the Boise Police Department and the FBI have been notified, and both CAIR and mosque officials are asking that the incident be investigated as a hate crime. The mosque had reportedly been receiving harassing and threatening phone calls since the terrorist attacks of 9/11/01. The frequency of the calls increased around the one-year anniversary of the attacks.
Callers allegedly made comments such as, “Get the hell out of this country,” and, “Your religion is all about hate.” A threat was also made to burn down the mosque.
Ironically, a meeting with local police to discuss safety issues was already scheduled for Tuesday at the center. There are an estimated 5,000 Muslims in the Boise area.
CAIR reports that this incident is just one of several recent actual or planned mosque attacks in the United States. Just since August, mosques in Virginia, Ohio and Florida have been vandalized. Florida law enforcement authorities also uncovered a detailed plan to blow up some 50 Islamic institutions in that state. The alleged perpetrator had already assembled a number of explosive devices.
“As with past incidents of this type, we firmly believe they are triggered by the rising tide of anti-Muslim rhetoric coming from right wing, pro-Israel and evangelical commentators. We once again call on mainstream religious and political leaders to challenge Islamophobic hate speech. Bigots see silence as a tacit endorsement of their views,” said CAIR Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper.