If “hate crimes” targeting Muslims do not exist, they must be invented. They’re simply too politically useful to do without. And so it is that the Hamas-linked Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) is aiding a Muslim woman, Diamond Powell of Baltimore, in her discrimination lawsuit against Susdewitt Management LLC of Lanham, Maryland, which runs two McDonald’s locations at Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport. Ms. Powell has the flimsiest of cases, but this kind of suit doesn’t depend on the strength of the evidence.
Why is Diamond Powell suing? Well, you see, she came into work wearing a hijab and “a manager told her to ‘take that hoodie off’ her head while another manager told her, ‘You don’t have to wait for God to wake up for you to pray.’”
In other contexts that might be taken as mild banter or good-natured ribbing. Or maybe you think it is impossibly rude. Even if it was, people say rude things to each other all the time, and in most cases they’re not considered grounds for a federal lawsuit. But when “Islamophobia” and CAIR lawyers, ever vigilant in their pursuit of justice, are in play, it’s an entirely different ballgame.
Powell also charges that McDonald’s refused to allow her to pray at the required times. Yet using this as the basis for a federal lawsuit is entirely spurious. Even at a 2017 conference whining about alleged “Islamophobia” and smearing those who call attention to jihad terror, one Muslim spokesman acknowledged that missed prayers can be made up: “One man asked how an employer is to deal with Muslim employees, given their need for prayer, (Dr. Tabasum Hussein, a panelist who joined the Q and A, answered that ‘We don’t stop fire fighting or surgery to pray. We can make it up later.’)”
Also, Powell’s lawsuit claims that “her prayer breaks lasted no longer than a typical bathroom break,” yet “the general manager prohibited Powell from praying in a quiet spot at the airport and instead told her to pray in a dirty stock room.”
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Those assertions don’t quite add up, and the discrepancy may offer a clue as to what really happened. Yes, maybe the general manager was motivated solely by “Islamophobia.” But where exactly was this “quiet spot at the airport” in relation to the McDonald’s where Powell worked? How long did it take her to get to the quiet spot and then back to work? Could it be that the general manager asked her to pray in the stock room so as to minimize the time she was away from work? Journalist Michael Kunzelman, author of the Associated Press account of Powell’s suit, doesn’t have the wit, interest, or courage to ask such questions.
Meanwhile, following the usual establishment media pattern, Kunzelman doesn’t bother to inform you that CAIR is an unindicted co-conspirator in a Hamas terror-funding case — so named by the Justice Department. CAIR officials have repeatedly refused to denounce Hamas and Hizballah as terrorist groups. Several former CAIR officials have been convicted of various crimes related to jihad terror. CAIR’s cofounder and longtime Board chairman (Omar Ahmad), as well as its chief spokesman (Ibrahim “Honest Ibe” Hooper), have made Islamic supremacist statements about how Islamic law should be imposed in the U.S. (Ahmad denies this, but the original reporter stands by her story.) CAIR chapters frequently distribute pamphlets telling Muslims not to cooperate with law enforcement. CAIR has opposed virtually every anti-terror measure that has been proposed or implemented and has been declared a terror organization by the United Arab Emirates. CAIR’s Hussam Ayloush in 2017 called for the overthrow of the U.S. government. CAIR’s national outreach manager is an open supporter of Hamas.
Why no mention of any of that, Mr. Kunzelman?
What this is likely about is that many other companies, wanting to avoid the hassle and negative publicity of a court battle, have settled for large sums just to make the thing go away. Many of these “Islamophobia” suits have proven to be a reliable cash cow for Hamas-linked CAIR and its clients. Will this McDonald’s franchisee provide the latest scalp on CAIR’s belt? In today’s society, the odds are in favor of those who can claim to be aggrieved and victimized members of persecuted minorities.
Robert Spencer is the director of Jihad Watch and a Shillman Fellow at the David Horowitz Freedom Center. He is author of 21 books, including the New York Times bestsellers The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam (and the Crusades) and The Truth About Muhammad. His latest book is Rating America’s Presidents: An America-First Look at Who Is Best, Who Is Overrated, and Who Was An Absolute Disaster. Follow him on Twitter here. Like him on Facebook here.
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