Idaho joins ‘bandwagon’ of states targeting Islamic groups, Sharia law
When it comes to Islam, Idaho lawmakers are taking cues from other conservative states.
And in one case, they’re trying to designate two Islamic groups as terrorist organizations.
Rep. Ted Hill, R-Eagle, has presented a resolution to designate the Muslim Brotherhood and the Council on American-Islamic Relations as terrorist organizations, following similar moves by the governors of Texas and Florida. Some branches of the Muslim Brotherhood have already been designated as terrorists by the federal government.
On Monday, the Idaho Legislature’s Senate State Affairs committee voted to advance the resolution to the full Senate.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations is a civil rights group, and it sued over the actions of Florida and Texas. In Florida, a judge recently blocked the governor’s order to designate the group as a terrorist organization. Conservatives for years have complained that the group is an extremism apologist, according to The New York Times.
Hill’s resolution “risks inflaming anti-Muslim sentiment,” in Idaho, said Robert McCaw, the council’s government affairs director. But it has no legal effect, McCaw said in an email to the Idaho Statesman on Monday.
“CAIR does not even have an active chapter in Idaho, but if we did, our work would be the same as it is across the country, defending civil rights, promoting religious freedom, and encouraging civic participation,” McCaw said.
These groups are not a problem in Idaho, Hill told the Statesman in a February interview, but the resolution is an “awareness,” move.
“I’m following the leadership from Texas and Florida,” Hill said Monday during the Senate State Affairs meeting.
Hill denied that there was Islamophobia at play.
“Islamophobic is always the response,” Hill told the Statesman.
But Sen. Ben Adams, R-Nampa, questioned the inclusion of the Council on American-Islamic Relations as a terrorist group.
“Often, we’ll jump on the bandwagon of some other conservative states, and that’s great, sometimes,” Adams said. “I’ll be doing my own research.”
Legislators also have introduced two bills to address religious, cultural or foreign laws in Idaho courts.
Sen. Dan Foreman, R-Moscow, introduced the first, despite acknowledging this wasn’t a problem in Idaho. Foreman denied that the bill targeted Islamic law. However, another lawmaker told the Statesman he believed targeting Sharia was the intent of the bill. The bill just restates what the Constitution already says.
Foreman spoke of “secret, underground courts” in Texas, though he cautioned he didn’t know if such courts existed.
In November, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott called for an investigation into “Sharia courts,” a reference to Islamic mediation groups that, for example, deal with divorces from the religious side, according to Texas news reports. Texas politicians have been battling over Sharia law, with some expressing Islamophobic sentiments, according to Politico. Sharia law is Islamic law based on the Quran.
Foreman’s bill failed 19-15 in the Senate.
A second, competing, foreign law bill passed the House and awaits a hearing in a Senate committee.
