Islam in Japan - Road to Hajj from Japan

Islam in the Land of the Rising Sun  

Al Jazeera reports on Islam and Hajj efforts from Japan Part 1: Part 2:

Back from Manzanar. More great memories. Toyo Miyatake's grandson.

Like every year, for the last 5 years, CAIR joined the Manzanar Committee and many other groups on this year's annual Manzanar Pilgrimage.

Over 100 Southern California Muslims joined the CAIR bus and participated in this inspirational event. I will write more about it.

My highlight this year was meeting the grandson of Toyo Miyatake.
Miyatake was the award-winning Japanese American photographer who was interned at Manzanar. Miyatake's struggle and inspirational story were the subject of a recent documentary film entitled: Toyo's Camera. I am very honored to be in that documentary.

Below, is my picture with Gary Miyatake, the grandson of the legendary Toyo.

CAIR and Muslims Honor the Legacy of Judge Robert M. Takasugi

(LOS ANGELES, CA, 9/15/09) - The Greater Los Angeles Area office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations today issued a statement on the passing of Judge Robert M. Takasugi, who was appointed in 1976 to the Central District of California and was the first Japanese American to become a federal judge.

Prior to becoming a District Court judge, he served as a judge in the municipal and superior courts in Los Angeles. He passed away on August 4, 2009.

Hussam Ayloush, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, Greater Los Angeles Area (CAIR-LA) said:

"Judge Takasugi was a great force in challenging the undemocratic policies of our time, and was a courageous hero and leader of the civil rights movement. His death is a great loss to our country, especially to those who struggle for equal civil rights for all Americans."

Judge Takasugi made difficult decisions from the bench that ensured protection of civil liberties and constitutional freedoms. He drew on his own experiences of being a Japanese American and being rounded up and detained in an internment camp during WWII.

Judge Takasugi was one of the first judges to issue an opinion overhauling a portion of the Patriot Act in 2002. He said the law classifying terrorist groups deprived the defendants of due process rights because they were not given a chance to rebut the terrorist allegations before their group was placed on the list.

His most enduring legacy has been the mentorship and support of countless law students and young lawyers, including through pro-bono bar preparation and through the creation of the Robert Takasugi Public Interest Fellowship.

The fellowship has worked to carry on Judge Takasugi's influence, independence, courage, and vision of equal justice.

You can donate to and apply for the fellowship here: http://takasugifellowship.org/?page_id=2

CONTACT: Affad Shaikh, CAIR-LA Civil Rights Manager, 714-776-1847, info@losangeles.cair.com

Day of Remembrance 2009 at Japanese American National Museum

The Day of Remembrance is held each year to commemorate President Franklin Roosevelt's signing of Executive Order 9066 on February 19, 1942, which authorized the unconstitutional forced removal of over 120,000 Japanese Americans from the west coast and Hawaii during World War II.

"Forging Alliances: Connecting Nikkei to Current Immigration" was the theme for the 2009 Day of Remembrance held at the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles. The event was organized by NCRR (Nikkei for Civil RIghts & Redress), JACL Pacific Southwest District, and JANM.

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Below is a summary prepared by NCRR:

An Emotional Day of Remembrance

On February 19, 1942, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 which authorized the incarceration of Japanese Americans during WWII. On Saturday, February 21st, the 21 annual Day of Remembrance was held at the Japanese American National Museum. This year was focused on the topic of immigration with the theme, Forging Alliances: Connecting Nikkei to Current Immigration.

Introduction to the museum and the event was given by JANM President and CEO, Akemi Kikumura Yano, co- MC along with Kene Kubo. Yano said “this event is about learning from the past to inform the future. This could happen to anyone.” Richard Katsuda, co-chair of Nikkei for Civil Rights & Redress presented the organization’s Fighting Spirit award to Lillian Nakano, a founding member of the organization. Unfortunately, she was unable to attend the event due to health issues, but was accepted by her son, Erich Nakano who appeared on stage with his two children.

Professor Roger Daniels, the Charles Phelps Taft Professor Emeritus of History at the University of Cincinnati, was the keynote speaker. He offered an in depth history of the Japanese American internment, including the Issei and Nisei experience, the aftermath following their release, and the efforts of subsequent generations in the campaign for redress. He also addressed the parallel events that followed the internment that affected other ethnic groups in times of “internal security emergencies.”

The program also featured the personal stories of several Issei that reflected the hardships and discrimination they faced. Students from UCLA (CAPSA) shared their personal experiences as recent immigrants and the obstacles they face in seeking higher education. A special performance by hip-hop artist Prophet was electrifying.

Several organizations from the Southern California area were present; the Campaign for Justice, representing the Japanese Latin Americans for redress equity ; UCLA CAPSA and UCLA IDEAS for the DREAM Act campaign; the Council on American-Islamic Relations for the Muslim American community. The Southern California Executive Director of CAIR, Hussam Ayloush, delivered a moving thanks for the support of the Japanese American community in the aftermath of 9/11.

The ceremony closed with an energetic performance by Progressive Taiko.

Manzanar Pilgrimage Turns 39

By Alex Isao Herbach
Rafu Staff Writer
Saturday, May 3, 2008
The Rafu Shimpo is the nation's leading bilingual Japanese American daily newspaper.


Hundreds of participants make this year’s pilgrimage one of the most attended in its history.

The 39th Annual Manzanar Pilgrim­age was one of the most successful trips in its history, according to organizers, as upwards of 300 participants made the journey to the former Japanese Ameri­can internment campsite Saturday.

It was a day best defined by its diversity, as pilgrims of varying ages, ethnicities and backgrounds visited the Manzanar National Historic Site, many of whom were participating for the first time. Former internees were joined by their children and grandchildren, curi­ous high school students arrived in their friends’ cars and buses teemed with various secular, academic and religious groups, making this year’s pilgrimage one of its most diverse.

“I think we’re all here for a good reason,” said Hussam Ayloush, execu­tive director of the Southern California branch of the Council on American Islamic Relations, speaking on behalf of the gathered crowd, which included over 100 Muslim Americans. “To pay tribute to the courage and the sacrifices of the Japanese American community. In the Forties, they had to pay a price to ensure that the Civil Liberties of all Americans were protected. We owe them so much, we owe them a great debt and we’re all here to pay that tribute to them.”

The Muslim-American contingent, which has been growing steadily within the last few years, was the largest in the pilgrimage’s history. Their community has joined the pilgrimage in solidarity after the Japanese American community reached out to them following the Sept. 11 attacks...

Read more:
http://www.rafu.com/manzanar2.html

Manzanar pilgrimage was ‘amazing experience’

Manzanar pilgrimage was ‘amazing experience’
By By ASMA MEN

Source: InFocus Newspaper

April 26, 6:30 a.m.


"Beep beep beep beep beep…"

I struggled to turn off my alarm clock as I was still in a deep sleep. I almost forgot that I had to get up this early on a Saturday morning for a reason. Then the anticipation suddenly kicked in. I was going to Manzanar.

I rushed to get ready and arrived within an hour at the Anaheim office of the Greater Los Angeles-area chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, the organization that initiated the Muslim community’s visit to Manzanar. CAIR arranged the bus ride for 58 people to make the trek. Leading up to the event, five community forums were held at different mosques in southern California to educate and inspire the Muslim community to go on this overnight pilgrimage.

I did not know whether to feel anticipation of excitement or sadness. I was going to a previous "War Relocation Center" as the 1940s U.S. government referred to the Japanese-American internment camp.

Initially surrounded by buildings, street lights, and cars on both sides of the bus, we left civilization for expansive sandy brown, brick-colored mountains, desert sand, and widely disbursed Joshua trees in the Mojave desert of California. It turned from beauty to isolation.


12:30 p.m.

We drove deep within Manzanar for at least another mile to get to the site where the monument actually stands. Only one of eight remaining watchtowers was to our far right. This is where guards would stand, with guns pointing in.

In February 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066, setting into motion a mass displacement and detainment of American men, women and children of Japanese ancestry – less than two months after Japan attacked Pearl Harbor. Overall, about 120,000 Japanese-Americans had been held in internment camps, some 11,000 of them at Manzanar. Not a single person was ever charged with espionage.

Imagine being taken away from the comfort of your own home, torn from your family and neighborhood, leaving behind almost all of your belongings, and kept like criminals in the middle of nowhere, without having committed any crime and without prior knowledge of the destination. The internment of this ethnic group is one of the darkest moments in American history. It raised a national debate as well as frustration over suspension of civil liberties during war time.

We joined a diverse crowd of about 1,300 people under the hot scorching sun. There was no canopy set up to shield us from the sweltering heat. If there was, would we have felt the effect of how it must have been for those who were brought in and detained here for three years?

After the short introductions, everyone migrated to the white monument in front of the Sierra Nevada mountains, on the grounds of a former cemetery. Part of the ceremony was an interfaith service bringing together leaders of different religions. On behalf of the Muslim Community, Imam Ali Siddiqui, President of the California Muslim Institute in Corona Valley, was there to give a prayer.

An experienced interfaith community leader, this was Siddiqui’s first trip to Manzanar.

"It was an eye-opening experience," said Siddiqui. "I made a commitment to use this experience and relate it to my khutbas (sermons) for the Muslim community to learn from."

One of the most touching portions of the service was a Christian litany that all participants joined in reading aloud. One of the lines was "O God, stand by our Muslim brothers and sisters in their time of suffering." It was such a welcoming and supportive moment for the Muslims to appreciate and learn from. After the ceremony was over, each person was given a carnation or rose to place on the monument to remember those of the past.

Altaf Wahid, 16, believed it was his most memorable moment.

"It helped symbolize the important actions that took place," said the Buena Park resident.

Afterward, we visited the museum which displayed pictures, documentaries, and furniture from the internment camp during World War II. Pictures and a display of how the camp was actually set up were there for everyone to view.

"I thought the museum was amazing," said 14-year-old Dalia Albassam of Rancho Cucamonga. "They had two-to-three-minute movies playing that I watched."

The museum depicted the living conditions of internees. There was no separation of stalls. Bathroom toilets were right next to each other. Barbed wire fences surrounded the people who lived at the camp. It was an extremely dehumanizing condition they were put in, and how they were able to bounce back as a community provides a lesson for everyone.

The program included an evening group discussion and question and answer session with previous internees, who were informative and inspirational. They were able to succeed in life after coming out of the camps by "patiently waiting," they said.

"As we grow and educate ourselves, we have to let that anger go, "said Marjorie Matsushita, a past internee in Wyoming.

She emphasized that the new generation, no matter what ethnicity, must step up and not be silent. She said we should learn from history and not live in fear.


April 27, 2 p.m.

This experience shows that the Muslim community must form bridges with other communities and learn about the injustices suffered by not only Japanese-Americans, but other minorities as well. It is vital to the functionality in this nation.

As Hussam Ayloush, CAIR-Greater Los Angeles-area executive director, said on the ride back to Orange County, "This pilgrimage was a message of hope."

Upon returning, I can say the pilgrimage was an amazing experience. The Japanese-American community was supportive from the moment we stepped off the bus until the time of our departure and thanked us for coming. Our bus turned into the historic site.

S. Calif. Muslims Join Annual Manzanar Pilgrimage

Inland Muslims to visit WWII internment camp

By PAIGE AUSTIN
The Press-Enterprise

Friday, April 25, 2008

More than 100 local Muslims will take part in a pilgrimage north to the Manzanar World War II internment camp today to raise awareness about threats to civil rights during times of war.

For many, the trip is both a celebration of civil rights strides made in the last 60 years as well as a reminder of the dark pages in history written by prejudice and fear, said Hussam Ayloush, executive director of the Los Angeles chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

Ayloush is a U.S. citizen who was born in Lebanon and now lives in Corona. He journeyed to Manzanar, at the foot of the Sierras, last year with his children.

"I can honestly say it was one of the most shocking experiences of my life. It really awakened me," Ayloush said.

Staring down at the tiny graves of children who died at the internment camp, Ayloush said he was struck by the need to defend civil liberties during times of peril such as World War II or the current war on terror.

"You could almost hear the sounds of the people who were there," he said. "The freedoms we enjoy today came at a very heavy price by those who came before us."

Ayloush sees key similarities and differences between the experiences of Japanese-Americans during World War II and American Muslims during today's war on terror.

Just like innocent Japanese-Americans were the target of prejudice and suspicion after the Pearl Harbor attacks, Muslims in this country have been subject to widespread suspicions since the Sept. 11 attacks, he said.

Muslims experienced immigration delays, were profiled at airports, and were subject to electronic surveillance, and 83,000 Muslim men were required to report to federal agents, he said.

Ayloush said he has been the victim of harassment at airports as well as electronic spying. Last year, he made headlines when he and the American Civil Liberties Union sued the federal government to find out whether federal agents were monitoring him as a leader in the Muslim community.

"Muslims have to go to the airport two or three hours early," he said. "You're stopped. You're searched. They take your laptop. They copy your business cards."

Ayloush said these experiences along with the pilgrimage to Manzanar drive him to crusade for civil rights protections.

"Civil liberties are best tested during hard times," he said. "It's easy to say we are a nation of civil liberties when things are easy."

Near the town of Bishop, Manzanar remains today as an unassuming monument to tens of thousands of Japanese-Americans who were ripped from their lives during the war.

For Corona resident Zakia Kator, the camp is a reminder that civil rights abuses can happen at home. The Riverside attorney will also make the pilgrimage today with her daughter and about 25 of her siblings, nieces and nephews.

"This kind of backlash that happens during times of war is something that I know is on the minds of a lot of Muslims," she said. Kator's mother and sister wear a hajib, traditional Islamic head scarves. She worries that they could be the victims of anti-Muslim sentiments. But she also sees hope in the progress the nation has seen since the internment camps.

"The point of this trip is to get ourselves and everyone else educated so that people understand that what happened to the Japanese here during World War II can never be allowed to happen again to Muslims or anyone," said Kator.

Pilgrimage to MANZANAR

I spent my last weekend at Manzanar as part of the annual Pilgrimage to Manzanar program. It was a life-changing experience that helped renew my commitment to the work I do. Evreyone of us has to put their best efforts in promoting dialogue and understanding among all people. So often, we take our civil rights and freedoms for granted. The Japanese Americans took it for granted too and learned the hard way that it is not a guaranteee, not even in America.
















Our country acts at its best when the good people do not remain silent when the fear and hate mongers spread their bigotry and paranoia.

Here is a good summary from our trip (as published by the InFocus Newspaper). Read the whole article on their website. It is really powerful. I am also attaching a few photos from the trip.

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Pilgrimage to MANZANAR
By Munira Syeda, Contributing Writer


...On Saturday, April 28 around 1,000 Americans and members of the California Muslim community made a pilgrimage to Manzanar National Historic Site, in what was called the 38th Annual Manzanar Pilgrimage, to learn about the experiences of Japanese American detainees. Among the visitors was the Southern California Muslim family of Barbara Serhal, whose Japanese American parents were incarcerated at Manzanar...

In 1942, internees arrived at the camp with very little luggage. Most of their belongings, businesses and homes were destroyed, taken away or sold at a fraction of the original price. They came to a desolate desert area, where they learned to live in cramped corners, form lines, and exhibit new attitudes at gun-point...

The program also included an interfaith ceremony at the camp cemetery, featuring Shinto, Buddhist, Christian and Muslim prayers. CAIR-LA Area Executive Director Hussam Ayloush and Dr. E.M. Abdul Mumin, head of Riverside’s Du Bois Institute, led the Muslim prayer.

More than 135 internees died at the camp from 1942-45. Many were sent back home for burials but as many as 80 were buried at the camp cemetery. When the camp finally closed, family members of deceased internees took their remains to be buried somewhere else. However, according to historic accounts, at least six people, including three babies, were still buried at the cemetery in 1946...

After the pilgrimage, Ayloush said, "Americans in general, and American Muslims in particular, must visit Manzanar and other internment camps to witness first-hand the kind of dehumanization and injustices that can occur when a country and its people are driven by fear and paranoia during war. Sadly, we find ourselves, yet again, wrestling with the very ideals our nation was founded upon."