cair-net Digest of: get.901_1000
Topics (messages 901 through 1000):
CAIR-NET: FL Muslim Students Kicked Off Bus 5 Miles From Home
901 by: cair.cair-net.org
CAIR-NET: Muslims Turn to Home Schooling/Boot Boykin Now
902 by: cair.cair-net.org
CAIR-NET: Patriot Act Fears Are Stifling Free Speech
903 by: cair.cair-net.org
CAIR-NET: Help CAIR Raise $1 Million During Ramadan - URGENT
904 by: cair.cair-net.org
CAIR-NET: FL Muslims to Distribute Thanksgiving Food Baskets
905 by: cair.cair-net.org
CAIR-NET: 'Extraordinary Rendition' Leads to Torture
906 by: cair.cair-net.org
CAIR-NET: DC-Area Muslims Urged to Attend TSA Forum
907 by: cair.cair-net.org
CAIR-NET: Boykin Must be Removed/NJ Mosque Plan Opposed
908 by: cair.cair-net.org
CAIR-NET: More U.S. Muslims Run for Office
909 by: cair.cair-net.org
CAIR-NET: FL Bus Driver Has History of Bias Say Students
910 by: cair.cair-net.org
CAIR-NET: NY Muslims Organize Ramadan Food Drive
911 by: cair.cair-net.org
CAIR-NET: Congress to Hold Ramadan Iftar Nov. 12
912 by: cair.cair-net.org
CAIR-NET: Vandals Target Virginia Islamic Center
913 by: cair.cair-net.org
CAIR-NET: Ex-Detainee Details Fearful Path to Syria
914 by: cair.cair-net.org
CAIR-NET: Rep. Conyers Hosts Iftar on Capitol Hill
915 by: cair.cair-net.org
CAIR-NET: Muslim Groups Urge Substantive Talks With Bush
916 by: cair.cair-net.org
CAIR-NET: U.S. Mosques Urged to Raise $1000 for Islam Campaign
917 by: cair.cair-net.org
CAIR-NET: Important Notice - Special Call-In Re-Registration
918 by: cair.cair-net.org
CAIR-NET: Vandals Target Canadian Mosque
919 by: cair.cair-net.org
CAIR-NET: IKEA Launches Ramadan PR Campaign
920 by: cair.cair-net.org
CAIR-NET: Only 6 Days Left to Register for CAIR's DC Dinner
921 by: cair.cair-net.org
CAIR-NET: Sample Eid News Release for Local Communities
922 by: cair.cair-net.org
CAIR-NET: Ask Dr. Laura to Apologize for 'Anti-Muslim Tirade'
923 by: cair.cair-net.org
CAIR-NET: Seattle Muslims Hold Iftar for Capt. Yee
924 by: cair.cair-net.org
CAIR-NET: CAIR Condemns Istanbul Bombings
925 by: cair.cair-net.org
CAIR-NET: Muslims Welcome Possible End of 'Special Registration'
926 by: cair.cair-net.org
CAIR-NET: Bush's Remark About God Assailed
927 by: cair.cair-net.org
CAIR-NET: Stereotyping Hurts the War/Eid Mubarak
928 by: cair.cair-net.org
CAIR-NET: Motive for New Charges Against Capt. Yee Questioned
929 by: cair.cair-net.org
CAIR-NET: Extra Credit for Ramadan Fast Draws Protest in Calif.
930 by: cair.cair-net.org
CAIR-NET: CAIR's DC Dinner Sold Out
931 by: cair.cair-net.org
CAIR-NET: Canada Moves Toward Enforcing Islamic Law
932 by: cair.cair-net.org
CAIR-NET: CAIR Ramadan Campaign Tops $1 Million
933 by: cair.cair-net.org
CAIR-NET: Author Says Prophet Muhammad Broke Treaty
934 by: cair.cair-net.org
CAIR-NET: U.S. Muslims Applaud End of Registration Program
935 by: cair.cair-net.org
CAIR-NET: Patriot Act Author Has Concerns
936 by: cair.cair-net.org
CAIR-NET: Debate Rages Over 'Lackawanna Six' Sentencing
937 by: cair.cair-net.org
CAIR-NET: CAIR Sues Congressman for Defamation
938 by: cair.cair-net.org
CAIR-NET: New Leader Steps Forward to Revive Islamic Group
939 by: cair.cair-net.org
CAIR-NET: Court Strikes Down Part of Anti-Terror Law
940 by: cair.cair-net.org
CAIR-NET: Paul Harvey Says Islam "Encourages Killing'
941 by: cair.cair-net.org
CAIR-NET: Islam No Bar to Economic Growth - U.S. Study
942 by: cair.cair-net.org
CAIR-NET: Contact ADM About Paul Harvey's Offensive Remark
943 by: cair.cair-net.org
CAIR-NET: Bombings 'Inhuman,' Muslim Group Says
944 by: cair.cair-net.org
945 by: cair.cair-net.org
CAIR-NET: MD Muslims Say Bank Must Address Discrimination
946 by: cair.cair-net.org
CAIR-NET: Israel Trains U.S. Assassination Squads in Iraq
947 by: cair.cair-net.org
CAIR-NET: Michigan Arab Newspaper Office Firebombed
948 by: cair.cair-net.org
CAIR-NET: Six More Afghan Children Killed in U.S. Attack
949 by: cair.cair-net.org
CAIR-NET: Secret Service Takes Blame for Waiter's Exit
950 by: cair.cair-net.org
CAIR-NET: Judge OKs Islam in Class/Hijab Wins EEOC Support
951 by: cair.cair-net.org
CAIR-NET: CAIR Welcomes Capture of Saddam Hussein
952 by: cair.cair-net.org
CAIR-NET: Muslim Food Pantry Feeds Body and Soul
953 by: cair.cair-net.org
CAIR-NET: Arrest of MD Muslim Student Stirs Protest
954 by: cair.cair-net.org
CAIR-NET: CAIR Opposes French Move to Ban Religious Symbols
955 by: cair.cair-net.org
CAIR-NET: Officer Removed After Arrest of MD Muslim Student
956 by: cair.cair-net.org
CAIR-NET: CAIR Launches Weekly Election Update
957 by: cair.cair-net.org
CAIR-NET: Detainee Abuse Probe Sought/Yee Returns Home
958 by: cair.cair-net.org
CAIR-NET: 3 Charges Against Translator Dropped/Islam Promotes Growth
959 by: cair.cair-net.org
CAIR ELECTION UPDATE: Pres. Candidates on the PATRIOT Act
960 by: cair.cair-net.org
CAIR-NET: GE Pulls Ads From Paul Harvey's Program
961 by: cair.cair-net.org
CAIR-NET: Blanket Fingerprints for U.S. Tourists
962 by: cair.cair-net.org
CAIR-NET: U.S. Muslims Defend Freedom/Dems Court Muslims
963 by: cair.cair-net.org
CAIR-NET: U.S. Muslims Pray for Iranian Earthquake Victims
964 by: cair.cair-net.org
CAIR-NET:Difference in Justice for Muslims, Non-Muslims
965 by: cair.cair-net.org
CAIR-NET: Kucinich to Address Florida Muslims
966 by: cair.cair-net.org
CAIR ELECTION UPDATE: Pres. Candidates on Affirmative Action
967 by: cair.cair-net.org
CAIR-NET: Iran Earthquake: How to Help
968 by: cair.cair-net.org
CAIR-NET: Muslims Round Up Support for Food Bank
969 by: cair.cair-net.org
CAIR-NET: Kucinich Says Muslims Unfairly Targeted by U.S.
970 by: cair.cair-net.org
CAIR-NET: Kucinich Seeks Halt to Deportation of Ohio Muslim Family
971 by: cair.cair-net.org
CAIR-NET: Deportation of Ohio Muslim Family Halted
972 by: cair.cair-net.org
CAIR ELECTION UPDATE: Presidential Candidates on Profiling
973 by: cair.cair-net.org
CAIR-NET: N.J. Muslims Stressing Political Participation
974 by: cair.cair-net.org
CAIR-NET: Diallo Death Suit Settled/Torture and the Courts
975 by: cair.cair-net.org
CAIR-NET: Hajj 2004 Publicity Resource Kit
976 by: cair.cair-net.org
CAIR-NET: U.S. Muslims Meet French Ambassador on Hijab Ban
977 by: cair.cair-net.org
CAIR-NET: Con Artist Targets Florida Muslims
978 by: cair.cair-net.org
CAIR-NET: Florida Court Has 'Secret Docket' of Hidden Cases
979 by: cair.cair-net.org
CAIR-NET: U.S. Muslims Mobilize Politically
980 by: cair.cair-net.org
CAIR-NET: CAIR Launches Eid ul-Adha Voter Registration Drive
981 by: cair.cair-net.org
CAIR-NET: Court Nixes Appeal Over 9-11 Detentions
982 by: cair.cair-net.org
CAIR-NET: U.S. Muslims to Protest French Hijab Ban on 1/17
983 by: cair.cair-net.org
CAIR-NET: Senate Engaged in 'McCarthyite Witch Hunt' Say Muslims
984 by: cair.cair-net.org
CAIR-NET: Fake Arabic Accent Used in Bomb Threat
985 by: cair.cair-net.org
CAIR-NET: Action Alert - Alabama Muslims Denied Right to Hijab
986 by: cair.cair-net.org
CAIR-NET: Muslim Players Set Interfaith Football Tournament
987 by: cair.cair-net.org
CAIR-NET: Maryland Company Agrees to Allow Hijab
988 by: cair.cair-net.org
CAIR-NET: Muslims Nationwide Urged to Protest Hijab Ban 1/17
989 by: cair.cair-net.org
CAIR-NET: Remembering MLK/Prayer Amid the Office Machines
990 by: cair.cair-net.org
CAIR-NET: Bigotry's Sting Links Blacks, Immigrants
991 by: cair.cair-net.org
CAIR ELECTION UPDATE: Presidential Candidates on the War in Iraq
992 by: cair.cair-net.org
CAIR-NET: Muslim Leader Opens Ohio Senate with Prayer
993 by: cair.cair-net.org
CAIR-NET: Canadian Muslim Sues U.S. Over Torture/CAIR on BBC
994 by: cair.cair-net.org
CAIR-NET: The Man Who Speaks For Muslims
995 by: cair.cair-net.org
CAIR-NET: Two-State Solution Sells Palestinians Short
996 by: cair.cair-net.org
CAIR-NET: Muslim Voters Acquiring Political Clout
997 by: cair.cair-net.org
CAIR-NET: Prayers, Voter Drives Mark End of Hajj in U.S.
998 by: cair.cair-net.org
CAIR-NET: Judge Rules Out Part of Patriot Act
999 by: cair.cair-net.org
CAIR-NET: Muslim FBI Agent Sues ABC/My God is Your God
1000 by: cair.cair-net.org
---------------------------------
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--0-1853972835-1170932477=:37663
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----------------------------------------------------------------------
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
FL MUSLIM STUDENTS KICKED OFF BUS 5 MILES FROM HOME
Islamic civil rights group demands full investigation
(DAVIE, FL, 10/31/2003) - The Florida office of the Council on
American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-FL) is calling for an investigation of
two
incidents in which some 20 Muslim middle school students were either
removed from or kept from boarding school buses in Jacksonville, Fla.
[MEDIA ADVISORY: CAIR-FL will hold a news conference on Saturday to
address
this issue. WHEN: 1 p.m., Saturday, November 1, WHERE: Fort Caroline
Middle
School, 3787 University Club Blvd., Jacksonville, Fla. Joining CAIR-FL
at
the press conference will be a representative of the NCCJ. CONTACT:
Altaf
Ali, 954-298-8214, Ahmed Bedier, 813-731-9506, Parvez Ahmed,
904-710-6514]
On Wednesday, a driver taking the Muslim children home from school
claimed
they were “talking loudly” and ordered them, but not other non-Muslim
students, to get off the bus. Some of the children, who are recent
immigrants from the Middle East and Central Asia, were forced off the
bus
at school while others were allegedly removed five miles from their
regular
stop. Those children had to walk home. "Our legs were hurting…When we
came
home we were crying," said one of the students.
SEE: “MIDDLE EASTERN CHILDREN ALLEGEDLY KICKED OFF BUS”
http://www.news4jax.com/news/2597802/detail.html
This morning, another driver allegedly refused to let these same
children
board the bus going to school. Other non-Muslim children who were
waiting
for the bus at the same stop were reportedly allowed to board.
CAIR-FL is demanding that the Duval County School District and the bus
company initiate a full investigation of these incidents. The group
said
both drivers should be immediately suspended pending the results of the
investigation.
“The school district needs to send a clear message that anti-Muslim
bigotry
will not be tolerated,” said Jacksonville resident and CAIR-FL chairman
Parvez Ahmed.
CAIR, America’s largest Islamic civil liberties group, is headquartered
in
Washington, D.C., and has 25 offices and chapters nationwide and in
Canada.
– END –
CONTACT: Altaf Ali, 954-298-8214, E-Mail: altaf@cair-florida.org;
Ahmed
Bedier, 813-731-9506, E-Mail: abedier@cair-florida.org, Parvez Ahmed,
904-710-6514
NOTE: CAIR offers an e-mail list designed to be a window to the
American
Muslim community. Subscribers to the list, called CAIR-NET, receive
news
releases and other materials dealing with American Muslim positions on
issues of importance to our society.
To SUBSCRIBE to or UNSUBSCRIBE from this list, go to:
http://cair.biglist.com/cair-net/
To reach the list moderator, send a message to: cair@cair-net.org
-----
CAIR
Council on American-Islamic Relations
453 New Jersey Avenue, S.E.
Washington, D.C. 20003
Tel: 202-488-8787, 202-744-7726
Fax: 202-488-0833
E-mail: cair@cair-net.org
URL: http://www.cair-net.org
-----
--------------------------------------------------------------------
mail2web - Check your email from the web at
http://mail2web.com/ .
Forwarded Message
Date:
Sun, 02 Nov 2003 16:50:55 -0500
To:
cair-net@cair.biglist.com
From:
"CAIR" <cair@cair-net.org>
Subject:
CAIR-NET: Muslims Turn to Home Schooling/Boot Boykin Now
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
AMERICAN MUSLIM NEWS BRIEFS - 11/2/03
* HADITH OF THE DAY: BENEFITS OF FASTING
- Boosting Awareness Through Fasting (Newsday)
* REGISTER ONLINE FOR CAIR'S DC DINNER
- Volunteers Needed For CAIR Dinner
* U.S. MUSLIMS TURN TO HOME SCHOOLING (Wash. Post)
- Muslim Home School Network & Resource
- Muslims Reach Out to Share Their Faith (LA Times)
* CAIR-LA: FOR MANY, RAIN SEEMS TO ANSWER PRAYERS (VC Star)
- Believers Seek Solace, Answers From Clerics (LA Times)
* CAIR-CAN: HEAD-SCRATCHING OF CIVILIZATIONS (Globe & Mail)
* PROBE DEMANDED AFTER MUSLIMS KICKED OFF BUS (Times Union)
- Muslim Students Allege Bus Problems (AP)
- Students Face Discrimination (First Coast)
* IDEA OF INFLUENCING SCHOOLS ECHOES '50S (Wash. Post)
* GIVE BOYKIN THE BOOT NOW (Denver Post)
- Inspecting the General (Wash. Post)
* ANTI-ISLAMIC GRAFFITI REMOVED (Rocky Mountain News)
* NCPA GIVES CONGRESSIONAL TESTIMONY ON PROFILING (AAP)
* AMERICAN MUSLIM VOICE LAUNCHED
* AL-ARIAN'S NEW ATTORNEY PROTESTS CONDITIONS (AP)
* IMMIGRANTS DECRY ORDER TO REGISTER AGAIN (Sacramento Bee)
- Detained, Without Details (LA Times)
* INVESTIGATION OF ISRAELIS AND 9/11 ATTACKS (Sunday Herald)
- 'I Saw Fit to Remove Her From the World' (Haaretz)
* BANGLADESH BORDER SECURED AS MYANMAR MUSLIMS FLEE (AP)
-----
HADITH OF THE DAY: BENEFITS OF FASTING
The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: "Praising God is better
than
giving charity, giving charity is better than fasting, and fasting is a
protection from Hell."
Al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 671
The Prophet also said: "If anyone fasts for a day out of a desire to
please
God, God will remove him from (Hell) as far as a crow flies from the
time
it is a young bird until it dies of old age."
Al-Trimidhi, Hadith 637
SEE ALSO:
BOOSTING AWARENESS THROUGH FASTING
Martin C. Evans, Newsday, 11/2/03
http://www.newsday.com/news/local/longisland/ny-lirama023522669nov02,0,6934245.story
Khaled Saeed, who was born in Afghanistan, raised as a Muslim in
Plainview
and whose middle name is Hussein, spent much of his childhood feeling
misunderstood.
"Just growing up on Long Island, you're not the blond, blue-eyed kid on
the
block," said Saeed, whose straight black hair, swarthy skin and facial
features reflect his Afghan and Uzbek roots. "When you lay low, no one
will
bother you."
But during this Ramadan season the 22-year-old Stony Brook University
student is hoping to use this holiest time of the Islamic calendar to
help
his non-Muslim peers understand his faith.
Saeed is among dozens of students at the school who are asking their
non-Muslim peers to share a day of fasting with them, as part of the
Ramadan tradition.
Organizers hope the event will help put a human face on a religion they
say
is unfairly associated with Middle East terrorism and which among some
non-Muslims remains shrouded by old fears and prejudices.
The students are also signing up sponsors to donate money for each
non-Muslim student who agrees to abstain from food and drink for the
day,
scheduled for Nov. 13. The money will be donated to feed the hungry.
So far, about 100 non-Muslim Stony Brook students have agreed to
support
the fund-raising effort, which the Muslim students are calling a
Fast-A-Thon. And seven local businesses have agreed to sponsor the
fasters.
Organizers are hopeful that more will sign on.
-----
REGISTER ONLINE FOR CAIR'S DC DINNER
Registration is now available online for CAIR's Ninth Annual
Fundraising
Dinner on November 29th (the weekend after Eid ul-Fitr) in Washington,
D.C.
The dinner, with the theme "Muslims in America: A Defining Moment,"
featuring presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich as one of its main
speakers.
WHERE: Sheraton Premiere at Tysons Corner, 8661 Leesburg Pike, Tysons
Corner/Vienna, VA
COST: CAIR dinners always quick to sell out so get you tickets now!
Tickets: $55/$85 per couple R.S.V.P. by Nov. 24, 2003. No children
please.
(Limited babysitting with prior notice only - $10 per child.)
FOR MORE INFORMATION, call 202-488-8787 or e-mail:
register@cair-net.org
ACTION REQUESTED:
REGISTER FOR CAIR'S DINNER BY GOING TO:
https://www.cair-net.org/2003dinner-register.asp
---
VOLUNTEERS ARE NEEDED FOR CAIR DINNER
CAIR is seeking volunteers to help with its upcoming dinner in
Washington,
D.C. Those interested in helping with the dinner should email
fkhan@cair-net.org or call Farida Khan at 202-488-8787.
-----
MUSLIMS REACH BEYOND RELIGION WITH A BELIEF IN HOME SCHOOLING
Phuong Ly, Washington Post, 11/2/03
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A50600-2003Nov1.html
As a Muslim, Priscilla Martinez wanted her children to learn as much
about
their faith as they did about reading and math. For help, she turned to
Christian resources.
Martinez, of Sterling, joined the Christian-based Homeschool Legal
Defense
Association, which helped her with the paperwork for a religious
exemption
allowing her to teach her youngsters, ages 4 and 5, at home rather than
sending them to public school. She talked to Christian families for
advice
on home-schooling methods and lesson ideas…
For the past two decades, home schooling has largely been a trend among
evangelical Christians who have felt marginalized by the public schools
and
wanted to have a more active role in their children's education. But
increasingly, the option has become attractive to Muslims, particularly
with the scrutiny they have experienced since the Sept. 11, 2001,
terrorist
attacks.
Many Muslim families say they worry that their children, especially
girls
wearing hijabs, may be subjected to harassment or bad influences.
Although
Islamic schools offer an alternative, some parents find that the
schools
are too far away, have too few classes or emphasize a branch of Islam
that
the family doesn't subscribe to…
ALSO SEE:
RESOURCES: MUSLIM HOME SCHOOL RESOURCE & NETWORK
http://www.muslimhomeschool.com/
---
MUSLIMS REACH OUT TO SHARE THEIR FAITH
Teresa Watanabe, Los Angeles Times, 11/1/03
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-ramadan1nov01235430,1,3004283.story
This week, Muslim American poet Najeeba Syeed-Miller took the holy
month of
Ramadan to a new and unfamiliar audience: low-income and mostly Latino
children who live in the Maravilla Housing Development in East Los
Angeles.
Syeed-Miller said she asked the students to draw pictures of their own
conflicts, and to share the stories about their fights. Then, she
explained
how Muslims tried to fast from both food and anger during Ramadan…
The foray into East Los Angeles represents one of many new ways that
Muslims are sharing Ramadan with the broader non-Muslim community. Such
efforts multiplied after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks sparked
widespread
public curiosity - and some hostility - toward Islam, and seem to be
reaching new levels today.
Around the world this week, more than 1 billion Muslims began observing
Ramadan, a season of spiritual rejuvenation marked by fasting from dawn
to
dusk, charitable acts and special prayers. The fasting by healthy
adults is
aimed at developing self-control, better health, greater consciousness
of
God and compassion for the poor and hungry. The month of Ramadan also
marks
the time that the Koran was first revealed by God through the Angel
Gabriel
to the Prophet Muhammad.
But in the United States, where ethnic and religious traditions are so
often shared and intermingled, Ramadan is becoming a season of
spiritual
reflection for many non-Muslims as well…
-----
FOR MANY, RAIN SEEMS TO ANSWER PRAYERS
Tom Kisken, Venture County Star, 11/1/03
http://www.staronline.com/vcs/co_valley/article/0,1375,VCS_166_2394371,00.html
About 150 Muslims knelt in diagonal lines Friday afternoon and aimed a
spiritual torrent at Southern California's fires.
They prayed for God not to test people so harshly. They prayed for
victims.
They prayed for relief.
And outside, a mist was about to turn to rain.
Call it coincidence. Call it a low-pressure system that had been
forecast
for several days. The people praying in a Ramadan service at the
Islamic
Center of Conejo Valley in Newbury Park weren't taking credit. They
were
just requesting help.
"People's only control is in asking," said Salar Rizvi, a
Pakistani-American from Alhambra.
Muslims throughout the state were asked Friday to pray for rain and for
victims of the fires. The Southern California office of the Council on
American-Islamic Relations asked people of other faiths to join in and
direct their collective spiritual energy at the fires and charred
remains…
ALSO SEE:
BELIEVERS WILL SEEK SOLACE, THEN ANSWERS FROM CLERICS
William Lobdell, Los Angeles Times, 11/1/03
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-prayer1nov01,1,5715468.story?coll=la-home-headlines
Soul-seeking prompted by the fearsome Southern California firestorms
will
be on display this weekend at mosques, synagogues and churches. The
faithful will turn to God for solace and divine intervention and to
their
clerics for answers to troubling questions like "Where was God when our
homes burned?"
Muslims throughout Southern California began the weekend services
Friday
reciting a special Islamic prayer by the Prophet Muhammad to bring
rain,
hoping it will extinguish those wildfires still burning…
Jewish congregants in Santa Clarita will say prayers of thanksgiving on
the
Sabbath today for deliverance from the towering blaze that roared
through
the hills but stopped just short of their homes…
The pastor of a Baptist church at the base of the San Bernardino
Mountains
will give a sermon Sunday on why prayer is a more productive endeavor
than
worry, a bold message to a congregation that has at least 16 families
who
have lost homes to fire…
-----
THE HEAD-SCRATCHING OF CIVILIZATIONS
Sheema Khan, Globe and Mail, 11/1/03
http://www.globeandmail.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20031101/COSHEEMA01/
While attending a wedding in Lahore, Pakistan, a while back, I got into
a
heated discussion with a cousin about the dysfunction of so many Muslim
countries. I pointed to Lahore's Gadhafi Stadium as an example of our
skewed moral compass. "How can Pakistan name a stadium after someone
who
has wreaked so much havoc on so many?" My cousin replied with emotion,
"Moammar Gadhafi came for an official visit. We honoured him. He's done
a
lot for his people. Besides, he is the only Muslim leader who stands up
to
the United States! In our eyes, he is a hero."
My cousin was a medical student, not particularly religious. I couldn't
reconcile his anger towards America on one hand, with his effusive
appreciation for the Harvard medical school polo shirt I had brought
him as
a gift -- he hated America, yet loved her schools.
This love-hate relationship is finally being taken seriously by the
American government. On Oct. 1, Congress unveiled an 85-page report,
"Changing Minds, Winning Peace" -- the culmination of a five-month
study of
opinions in the Muslim world. An earlier poll by the Pew Center for
Research had shown that "the bottom has fallen out of Arab and Muslim
support for the United States." The inquiry aimed to find out why, what
to
do about it, and how to marginalize the appeal of extremists.
Muslims in the Middle East, North Africa, Europe, Pakistan and
Indonesia
expressed a desire for social justice, a fair judiciary, honest
multiparty
elections, and freedom of the press, of religion and of expression.
They
admired American entrepreneurship, its democratic and educational
institutions and its adherence to the rule of law. If these results
seem
surprising, that's only because of our media's focus on extremist
rhetoric
and actions of autocratic governments -- neither of which represents
the
wider aspirations of Muslims…
-----
GROUPS CALL FOR PROBE AFTER MUSLIM KIDS KICKED OFF BUS
Cynthia L. Garza, Times Union, 11/2/03
http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/110203/met_13937527.shtml
The American Civil Liberties Union on Saturday joined an Islamic civil
rights group in calling for an investigation into two incidents in
which
about 20 Muslim students were removed from a Duval County school bus or
were not allowed to board.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations in Florida first called for a
probe Friday, saying two different First Student bus drivers singled
out
Muslim students Wednesday and again Friday.
The children, who are from 10 to 14 years old, are recent immigrants
from
the Middle East and Central Asia, including some from Iraq and
Afghanistan.
Many of the students were wearing religious attire.
The version of events differs between the students and school
officials.
"We'd like to resolve the issue but obviously, we can't shut the door
to
legal action," said Ahmed Bedier, a spokesman for the Council on
American-Islamic Relations in Florida…
ALSO SEE:
JACKSONVILLE MUSLIM STUDENTS ALLEGE BUS PROBLEMS
Associated Press, 10/31/03
http://www.heraldtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20031031/APN/310311058
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - Duval County school officials said Friday they are
investigating allegations that Muslim students were removed from one
school
bus and kept from boarding another.
"We are working cooperatively with (bus contractor) First Student to
determine what happened on Wednesday," Superintendent John Fryer said
in a
statement. "We are committed to employing contractors who share our
mission
of providing safe and reliable services to students."
Ali Alhamad said his children, along with as man as 20 other Fort
Caroline
Middle School Students, were kicked off their bus because they were
Muslim.
He said many were wearing Muslim religious attire.
Some of the children, who are recent immigrants from the Middle East
and
Central Asia, were kept off the bus at school while others were
allegedly
removed five miles from their regular stop, he said.
According to First Student, a small group of students was removed from
the
bus prior to its departure due to disciplinary problems.
While taking other students home, the bus driver said other students
began
acting up, so he returned them to school so they could contact their
parents.
Several refused to call their parents and began walking home.
Administrators and a school police officer followed them and attempted
to
get them to return to school…
---
MUSLIM STUDENTS SAY THEY ARE BEING DISCRIMINATED AGAINST
Jennifer Brice, First Coast News, 11/1/03
http://www.firstcoastnews.com/news/news-article.aspx?storyid=10128
JACKSONVILLE, FL -- A substitute bus driver accused of leaving behind
only
Muslim students has been removed from the route.
The First Student bus company claims the driver left the students
because
they were acting up. Now, there are new allegations that another driver
refused to let these students board the bus Friday morning.
Parents like Ali Alhamad are outraged.
"It's my blood, my kids," he says. "It's not a piece of candy."
A total of 27 children have filed complaints over two bus incidents
from
Wednesday afternoon and Friday morning…
The Council on American Islamic Relations say more children have been
denied a ride to school by a second bus driver. Parvez Ahmed says
Friday
morning route picked up all the non-Muslim students only…
FOR MORE ON THE WEB:
http://www.firstcoastnews.com/video/player.asp?storyid=10128&bw=hi
-----
IDEA OF INFLUENCING SCHOOLS ECHOES '50S
Walter Pincus, Washington Post, 11/1/03
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A49009-2003Oct31.html
Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and his top deputy, Paul D.
Wolfowitz,
have begun raising the sensitive issue of whether the United States,
either
openly or covertly, should combat the anti-American influence of
radical
Islamic schools in Muslim countries.
Some of the schools, called madrassas, have been seen as a breeding
ground
for anti-American terrorists, and Rumsfeld raised the issue in his
private
Oct. 16 memo to top aides about the current war on terrorism.
"Does the U.S. need to fashion a broad, integrated plan to stop the
next
generation of terrorists?" he wrote. He then suggested that the CIA
might
need a "finding" -- a presidential authorization to undertake a covert
action -- and asked, "Should we create a private foundation to entice
radical madrassas to a more moderate course?"
Wolfowitz picked up the same theme on Thursday in a speech at
Georgetown
University, where he described madrassas as "schools that teach hatred,
schools that teach terrorism" while providing free, "theologically
extremist" teachings to "millions" of Muslim children…
-----
GIVE BOYKIN THE BOOT NOW
Denver Post, 11/1/03
http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1413,36~417~1736734,00.html
There should be no question: Army Lt. Gen. William Boykin must be
reassigned.
A man who spouts off inappropriately about Islam and Allah and believes
the
United States is under attack because it is a "Christian nation" has no
business performing the duties of deputy undersecretary of defense for
intelligence.
He should be shown the door - or, at the very least, pulled out of his
current position and placed where his personal views are not in
conflict
with the country's struggles with terrorism.
As a top general in the Department of Defense, his religious spin on
the
war on terrorism is unbecoming at best and downright ignorant at worst.
How
can he continue in his present position and be effective? Has this man
never stopped to think that some of the people fighting the war on
terrorism are Muslim? Boasting that the United States is a "Christian
nation" is inaccurate, and his declarations that Christianity is the
best
of all possible beliefs is confrontational and inappropriate, given his
government assignment…
ALSO SEE:
INSPECTING THE GENERAL
Washington Post, 10/31/03
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A44845-2003Oct30.html
DEFENSE SECRETARY Donald H. Rumsfeld has punted the inconvenient matter
of
Lt. Gen. William G. Boykin and his intolerant public comments about
religion to the Pentagon's inspector general. It's fine to have such a
review, but it shouldn't be limited to the narrow question of whether
Gen.
Boykin ran afoul of any particular regulation. And though Mr. Rumsfeld
is
evidently not inclined to do so, he should rethink his inclination to
leave
Gen. Boykin in his sensitive position as deputy undersecretary for
intelligence while his inflammatory statements are being reviewed.
Senate
Armed Services Committee Chairman John W. Warner (R-Va.), no foe of the
administration, wisely suggested this course in a speech on the Senate
floor last week in which he identified the central issue raised by the
general's comments: that "implicit" in the award of three-star rank and
a
high-level post is confidence that the individual "has good, sound
judgment
-- I repeat that: good, sound judgment -- in the exercise of his
freedom to
speak."
Gen. Boykin has every right to his deeply held religious views. His
service
to his country -- and it's been extensive -- doesn't require him to
relinquish his faith or to refrain from expressing it, in appropriate
ways
and in appropriate settings. But when Gen. Boykin tells a church group
that
other countries "have lost their morals, lost their values, but America
is
still a Christian nation," he goes too far in mixing church and state…
-----
ANTI-ISLAMIC GRAFFITI REMOVED
Sarah Huntley, Rocky Mountain News, 11/1/03
http://rockymountainnews.com/drmn/state/article/0,1299,DRMN_21_2393264,00.html
Messages of hatred jumped out at two Arapahoe County sheriff's deputies
while they were on routine patrol Tuesday near the Colorado Muslim
Society
Islamic Center.
Scrawled with a black marker on a green telephone box just outside the
center's fence were the words "KKK" and "All Muslims will die,"
accompanied
by two swastikas.
The graffiti have been removed from 2071 S. Parker Road, but Muslim
Society
spokesman Mohamed Jodeh said they were hurtful nonetheless.
"I would like to invite whoever did that to sit down and engage in a
dialogue instead of sneaking around in the dark" condemning the Muslim
community, he said Wednesday.
Anti-Islamic crimes spiked across the country and in Colorado in 2001,
mostly in the months after the Sept. 11 attacks.
-----
NCPA TO GIVE CONGRESSIONAL TESTIMONY ON RACIAL PROFILING
Khalilur Rehman Bughio, AAP, 11/1/03
WASHINGTON- NCPA President Faiz Rehman will give a testimony on racial
profiling at a congressional hearing on November 4.
The hearing, arranged by the Congressional Asian Pacific American
Caucus,
will have a panel discussion on Civil Rights and Civil Liberties at the
Longworth House Office Building, in Washington DC.
Stating this, Michael M. Honda, Member of Congress, and Vice Chairman
of
CAPAC, in an announcement Saturday said the panel discussion will be
titled: 'Civil Rights and Civil Liberties: Challenges facing Asian
Pacific
Americans Post 9/11.'
"It would, in fact, also be the CAPAC's sixth and final community
briefing
of 2003," Rep. Honda said, adding, the community briefings have sought
to
explore the most serious issues confronting the Asian Pacific American
(APA) community…"
ALSO SEE:
AMERICAN MUSLIM VOICE LAUNCHED AS A SOLUTION TO COMMUNITY ISOLATION
Reshma Yunus
http://www.amuslimvoice.org/
The American Muslims Voice (AMV), a Muslim civic organization dedicated
to
bridging diverse communities and preserving civil liberties, was
officially
launched on October 24, 2003 at Mehran restaurant in Newark,
California.
The program began with a prayer by Sheikh Ahmed Abdullah, Imam of
Livermore
Mosque, who spoke about unity of mankind and universal brotherhood. He
said
"we are all children of Adam who was in paradise and we all deserve to
be
in paradise." Ms. Elizabeth Zimmerman, a Quaker, also offered prayer on
behalf of the non-Muslim guests who made 60% of the gathering. The
prayers
were in the spirit of the AMV's ambitious mission to bridge the gap
between
all communities.
The Executive Director of AMV, Samina Faheem Sundas, had been actively
working to preserve and protect civil liberties and constitutional
rights
for all, months before the formal launch. Ms. Samina Faheem Sundas, the
former national coordinator of American Muslim Alliance, had worked for
two
and half years on similar projects prior to launching the AMV. She
initiated the AMV when she saw the need to bridge the gap between
various
ethnic, religious, social and political communities and felt that no
other
Muslim organization had this particular focus.
Ms. Samina Sundas told the audience that "AMV is committed to bridging
the
gap between all communities and to form a unified coalition dedicated
to
support each other…"
-----
AL-ARIAN'S NEW ATTORNEY PROTESTING CONDITIONS OF CONFINEMENT
Vickie Chachere, Associated Press, 10/31/03
http://www.theledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20031031/APN/310310617
TAMPA, Fla. - A prominent Washington attorney taking on the defense of
a
former professor indicted on charges he raised money for Islamic
terrorists
said Friday his first challenge to the government is to justify the
conditions under which his client is being held.
William B. Moffitt said the U.S. Justice Department's insistence that
Sami
Al-Arian be held under strict confinement at a federal prison northeast
of
Tampa is violating Al-Arian's right to assist in his own defense. A
hearing
will be held Nov. 7 in U.S. District Court in Tampa on the matter.
Moffitt said Al-Arian, who faces a 50-count indictment that he used an
academic think tank and a charity at the University of South Florida as
fronts for financing the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, is being treated as
if
he has already been convicted of a crime. Al-Arian is housed in the
same
unit as inmates who have assaulted corrections officers or other
prisoners
and are considered too dangerous to be held elsewhere.
Al-Arian should not be held in any different manner than any other
person
accused of a crime, Moffitt said he intends to argue. Al-Arian is being
held without bail while he awaits a January 2005 trial…
-----
IMMIGRANTS DECRY U.S. ORDER TO REGISTER AGAIN
Emily Bazar, Sacramento Bee, 10/31/03
http://www.sacbee.com/content/politics/story/7700692p-8640374c.html
Earlier this year, the federal government declared an end to a
controversial program that required men mostly from Middle Eastern and
Muslim countries to register with local immigration officials.
In what's being described as a case of mixed messages, immigration
officials now are telling the 83,519 men who were fingerprinted,
photographed and interrogated in the past year that they must
re-register
within 10 days of their anniversary date.
The registration process initially was billed as an anti-terrorism
tracking
tool, intended to help federal officials keep tabs on certain
noncitizens
living in the country.
Those who complied with the order were told that they would have to
check
in with officials annually, officials say, to update their information
and
prove they're still in the country legally.
But many of the affected men say they were never told when they first
appeared that they would have to re-register a year later. As the first
anniversary dates approach in November, the re-registration requirement
is
causing widespread dismay among the men and their advocates, who argue
the
requirement is overkill…
ALSO SEE:
DETAINED, WITHOUT DETAILS
Richard A. Serrano, Los Angeles Times, 11/1/03
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/front/la-na-ignatz1nov01,1,6373436.story
BUFFALO, N.Y. - In the second year of his confinement, Ignatz Mezei
typed a
short letter to a federal judge in New York.
"Let me go free," he wrote. "I did not kill anybody, I did not steal
anybody, I did not make any crime."
Indeed, Mezei was not even accused of a crime. It was 1951, and the
longtime U.S. resident was being held without charge in an Ellis Island
prison because he was suspected of being a communist sympathizer.
It is a case that reverberates today as the legal fallout from the
terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, makes its way through the courts.
Among the links across half a century: William H. Rehnquist, then a
young
law clerk at the U.S. Supreme Court and now its 79-year-old chief
justice.
The Mezei case is being cited by both sides as Rehnquist's high court
prepares to decide, as soon as Monday, whether to take up the cases of
two
groups of detainees at the special prison for suspected terrorists at
Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
Like Mezei, they are non-U.S. citizens who are being held indefinitely,
without charge, at water's edge. They, too, are seeking the right to
confront their accusers in U.S. courts…
-----
ISRAELIS WERE SEEN FILMING AS JET LINERS PLOUGHED INTO THE TWIN TOWERS
Sunday Herald, 11/2/03
http://ww1.sundayherald.com/37707
THERE was ruin and terror in Manhattan, but, over the Hudson River in
New
Jersey, a handful of men were dancing. As the World Trade Centre burned
and
crumpled, the five men celebrated and filmed the worst atrocity ever
committed on American soil as it played out before their eyes.
Who do you think they were? Palestinians? Saudis? Iraqis, even?
Al-Qaeda,
surely? Wrong on all counts. They were Israelis - and at least two of
them
were Israeli intelligence agents, working for Mossad, the equivalent of
MI6
or the CIA.
Their discovery and arrest that morning is a matter of indisputable
fact.
To those who have investigated just what the Israelis were up to that
day,
the case raises one dreadful possibility: that Israeli intelligence had
been shadowing the al-Qaeda hijackers as they moved from the Middle
East
through Europe and into America where they trained as pilots and
prepared
to suicide-bomb the symbolic heart of the United States. And the
motive? To
bind America in blood and mutual suffering to the Israeli cause.
After the attacks on New York and Washington, the former Israeli Prime
Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, was asked what the terrorist strikes
would
mean for US-Israeli relations. He said: "It's very good." Then he
corrected
himself, adding: "Well, it's not good, but it will generate immediate
sympathy [for Israel from Americans]…"
ALSO SEE:
'I SAW FIT TO REMOVE HER FROM THE WORLD'
Aviv Lavie and Moshe Gorali, Haaretz,
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/355227.html
There was a particularly festive atmosphere at the Nirim outpost on
August
12, 1949, the eve of Shabbat. A week of dusty patrols and pursuits of
infiltrators in the sands of the western Negev desert was at an end,
and
the commander of the hilltop site, Second Lieutenant Moshe, gave the
order
to make the preparations for a party. The tables in the large tent that
was
used as a mess hall were arranged in rows, sweets of various kinds were
laid out on them and even a bit of wine was poured, though not enough
to
get drunk on. At exactly 8 P.M. the soldiers took their places and
platoon
commander Moshe recited the blessing over the wine. He then gave a
Zionist
pep talk, reiterating the importance of the unit's mission and the
troops'
contribution to the infant state.
At the order of his deputy, Sergeant Michael, Private Yehuda read from
the
Bible. When he finished the soldiers burst into song, told jokes, ate
and
drank. A merry time was had by all.
Shortly before the end of the party, at about 9:30, the platoon
commander
asked for quiet. He got up and, with a smile on his face, reminded the
soldiers about the Bedouin girl they had caught earlier that day during
a
patrol in their sector. They had brought her to the outpost and she was
now
locked up in one of the huts. Platoon commander Moshe said he was
putting
forward two options for a vote. The first was that the Bedouin girl
would
become the outpost's kitchen worker; the second was for the soldiers to
have their way with her…
-----
BANGLADESH BORDER SECURED AS MYANMAR MUSLIMS FLEE
Associated Press, 11/1/03
DHAKA, Bangladesh - Border troops were on alert against a possible
influx
of Muslim refugees from Myanmar, officials said Saturday.
Local media reports said minority Muslims in Buddhist-majority Myanmar
have
recently been attacked by that country's military. The reports could
not be
verified independently.
Several thousand Muslims have gathered along the border in Myanmar's
western Arakan province, and they may try to cross into Bangladesh,
officials said quoting intelligence reports…
Bangladesh, a predominantly Muslim nation, is separated from Myanmar by
the
River Naaf.
Nearly 250,000 Muslims from Arakan fled to Bangladesh's southern Teknaf
coast in 1990-91, accusing Myanmar's military of torture and forced
labor…
-----
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-----
CAIR
Council on American-Islamic Relations
453 New Jersey Avenue, S.E.
Washington, D.C. 20003
Tel: 202-488-8787, 202-744-7726
Fax: 202-488-0833
E-mail: cair@cair-net.org
URL: http://www.cair-net.org
Forwarded Message
From:
"cair@cair-net.org" <cair@cair-net.org>
To:
cair-net@cair.biglist.com
Subject:
CAIR-NET: Patriot Act Fears Are Stifling Free Speech
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
AMERICAN MUSLIM NEWS BRIEFS – 11/3/03
* HADITH OF THE DAY: A SINCERE FAST
* MUSLIM COMEDIAN TO APPEAR AT CAIR DINNER
- Volunteers Needed For CAIR Dinner
* CAIR OFFICIALS ATTEND STATE DEPARTMENT RECEPTION
- CAIR-NJ Offers Grant Writing Training
- 450 Turn Out For CAIR-OH Ramadan Iftar Dinner
- CAIR-FL: Muslims Demand Probe (CNS News)
* PATRIOT ACT FEARS ARE STIFLING FREE SPEECH (ACLU)
* POST-9/11 DETAINEE CASES ON SUPREME COURT DOCKET (NY Times)
- Activists See Loss of Civil Liberties (LA Times)
* DETROIT-AREA TERRORISM CLAIMS OFTEN UNPROVEN (AP)
- No Terror Suspects Nabbed On Border (AP)
* SUIT ACCUSES SOUTHWEST OF POST-9/11 PROFILING (Tennessean)
* FLORIDA SCHOOL BUS RACISM SCANDAL (Al-Jazeerah)
* COLLEGES SEE FEWER STUDENTS FROM ISLAMIC COUNTRIES (KC Star)
- Foreign Visitors Will Face New Rules (USA Today)
* SUPPORTING THE HUNGER FOR FAITH (Wash. Post)
- Schools Accommodate Students During Ramadan (NBC)
- Device Points the Way to Mecca (NY Times)
* EU CITIZENS SEE ISRAEL AS WORLD PEACE THREAT (Reuters)
* AFGHANISTAN UNVEILS DRAFT CONSTITUTION (AP)
* FEELING UNDER ATTACK, ARABS TURN TO ISLAM (CSM)
-----
HADITH OF THE DAY: A SINCERE FAST
The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: "Whoever does not give
up
false statements, evil deeds and speaking (harshly) to others, God is
not
in need of his giving up food and drink."
Sahih Al-Bukhari, Volume 8, Hadith 83
-----
COMEDIAN AZHAR USMAN TO APPEAR AT CAIR DINNER
Registration is now available online for CAIR’s Ninth Annual
Fundraising
Dinner on November 29th (the weekend after Eid ul-Fitr) in Washington,
D.C.
The dinner, with the theme “Muslims in America: A Defining Moment,”
will
feature presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich as one of its main
speakers.
Featured speakers include comedian Azhar Usman. Usman is a standup
comedian, lecturer, and community activist. He has been performing
standup
comedy since 2001. Since mid-2002, he has performed in major cities
around
the country, as well as in the United Kingdom. SEE:
http://www.azhar.com/
WHERE: Sheraton Premiere at Tysons Corner, 8661 Leesburg Pike, Tysons
Corner/Vienna, VA
COST: CAIR dinners always quick to sell out so get you tickets now!
Tickets: $55/$85 per couple R.S.V.P. by Nov. 24, 2003. No children
please.
(Limited babysitting with prior notice only - $10 per child.)
FOR MORE INFORMATION, call 202-488-8787 or e-mail:
register@cair-net.org
ACTION REQUESTED:
REGISTER FOR CAIR’S DINNER BY GOING TO:
https://www.cair-net.org/2003dinner-register.asp
---
VOLUNTEERS ARE NEEDED FOR CAIR DINNER
CAIR is seeking volunteers to help with its upcoming dinner in
Washington,
D.C. Those interested in helping with the dinner should email
fkhan@cair-net.org or call Farida Khan at 202-488-8787.
-----
CAIR OFFICIALS ATTEND STATE DEPARTMENT RECEPTION
CAIR Executive Director Nihad Awad and Communications Director Ibrahim
Hooper attended a recent State Department reception honoring Tom Farr,
outgoing director of the Office of International Religious Freedom.
At that event, Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom
John
V. Hanford III introduced David Young, the office’s new director.
SEE ALSO:
CAIR-NJ OFFERS GRANT WRITING TRAINING
WHAT: On December 13, the New Jersey chapter of the Council on
American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-NJ) will host a two-day grant writing
and
program development workshop for Muslim leaders.
WHEN: Saturday, December 13 Sunday, December 14, 2003
WHERE: Islamic Educational Center of North Hudson, Union City
Under the Faith and Community Based Initiative, the U.S. government
allocates millions of dollars through agencies at the federal, state,
and
local levels to fund faith and community-based organizations programs
and
projects. This form of funding has remained unexplored by the Muslim
community, which is often at the forefront of making healthy changes in
local neighborhoods.
“American Muslim organizations coordinate a wide-range of social
services,
from after-school programs to domestic violence shelters. For the past
several decades these services have been funded primarily by the
American
Muslim community because leaders were unaware or intimidated by the
grant
writing process,” said Faiza Ali, Executive Director of CAIR-NJ.
- END -
CONTACT: Faiza Ali, (w) 973-785-3050 (c) 908-868-4885 or EMAIL:
fali@cair-nj.org
------
450 TURN OUT FOR CAIR-OHIO RAMADAN IFTAR DINNER
(WASHINGTON, D.C., 11/3/2003) - The Council on American-Islamic
Relations
(CAIR-Ohio) today said some 450 people, including more than 40
officials
and community leaders, turned out for the annual Ramadan Iftar banquet
of
its Ohio office (CAIR-Ohio) on Saturday.
Attendees at the event included presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich,
members of the Ohio House of Representatives, a mayor, representatives
of
different state and local governments, and a number of interfaith
leaders.
Rep. Kucinich spoke about the deterioration of civil liberties in
America
and the war ongoing war in Iraq. He also congratulated CAIR-Ohio on
receiving the ACLU's Liberty's Flame award.
The highlight of the event was CAIR-Ohio’s award presentations that
included a Community Activism award to Amal Jamal, a Regina High School
(Cleveland, Ohio) senior who was expelled because she refused to take
off
her religiously mandated headscarf.
- END -
CONTACT: CAIR-Ohio, Jad Humeidan, 614-451-3232; CAIR-National, Ibrahim
Hooper, 202-488-8787 or 202-744-7726, E-Mail: cair@cair-net.org; Rabiah
Ahmed, 202-488-8787 or 202-439-1441, E-Mail: rahmed@cair-net.org
---
MUSLIMS DEMAND PROBE OF JEWISH ORGANIZATIONS
Jon E. Dougherty, CNSNews.com, 11/3/03
http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewNation.asp?Page=\Nation\archive\200311\NAT2003110
3a.html
The Florida chapter of the nation's leading Islamic rights organization
says law enforcement officials so far have not responded to the group's
request to investigate a resident with suspected ties to Jewish
extremist
groups.
Officials with the Florida chapter of the Council on American-Islamic
Relations say neither federal nor state authorities have so far looked
into
allegations Joe Kaufman, who heads Florida-based Citizens Against Hate,
has
promoted such Jewish terrorist organizations on his Web sites.
CAIR-FL Director Altaf Ali told CNSNews.com his group contacted the
Miami
office of the FBI and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement with a
request to look into Kaufman's alleged ties. But so far, Ali said, his
group has not received a response from either agency.
The complaint stems from allegations by CAIR-FL that Kaufman "has in
the
past promoted the terrorist organizations Kach and Kahane Chai,"
according
to a statement issued last week by the Islamic chapter.
A U.S. State Department report listing Foreign Terrorist Organizations,
or
FTOs, says the "stated goal" of Kach and Kahane Chai "is to restore the
biblical state of Israel." The Israeli Cabinet, under terms of Israel's
1948 Terrorism Law, declared both groups terrorist organizations in
March
1994...
-----
PATRIOT ACT FEARS ARE STIFLING FREE SPEECH, ACLU SAYS IN CHALLENGE TO
LAW
http://www.aclu.org/SafeandFree/SafeandFree.cfm?ID=13255&c=207
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, November 3, 2003
CONTACT: Emily Whitfield, ACLU, (212) 549-2566 or 2666
Wendy Wagenheim, ACLU of MI, (313) 578-6816
NEW YORK – Fear of the PATRIOT Act has caused a dramatic decline in
memberships and donations at mosques and forced a church-sponsored
group
that aids refugees to change its record-keeping practices, the American
Civil Liberties Union said in legal papers filed today in Detroit.
This First Amendment “chill” is reminiscent of an earlier era when the
government attempted to shut down dissent by investigating groups like
the
NAACP and the Japanese American Citizens League, the ACLU said.
Notably,
those groups and other civil rights, immigrant and free speech
advocates
today filed briefs supporting the ACLU’s challenge to the law.
“Sadly, our government has an ugly history of using its investigative
powers to squelch dissent,” said ACLU Associate Legal Director Ann
Beeson.
“We saw it during the Japanese internments of World War II, the Red
Scare
of the 1950’s and the civil rights movement of the 1960’s, and now we
see
it in the post-9/11 investigations and detention of Arabs and Muslims.”
“Our clients have every reason to believe that in 21st Century America
they
will be subjected to new abuses of power under the PATRIOT Act -- and
what’s worse, under this radical law they may never learn that the
government has violated their rights,” she added.
In a brief filed before a federal court in Detroit, the ACLU opposed
the
government’s motion to dismiss its challenge to Section 215 of the
PATRIOT
Act, a law that vastly expands the power of FBI agents to secretly
obtain
records and personal belongings of innocent people in the United
States,
including citizens and permanent residents.
The case was filed in Detroit on July 30 on behalf of six nonprofit
organizations that provide a wide range of religious, medical, social
and
educational services to communities around the country. The lawsuit
names
Attorney General John Ashcroft and FBI Director Robert Mueller as
defendants. A hearing in the case is scheduled for December 3 before
Judge
Denise Page Hood of the U.S. District Court in Detroit…
-----
POST-9/11 DETAINEE CASES ON SUPREME COURT DOCKET
Linda Greenhouse, New York Times, 11/3/03
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/03/national/03SCOT.html
WASHINGTON - With cases generated by the Bush administration's response
to
the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, now reaching the Supreme Court
in
substantial numbers, the court faces a basic decision apart from the
merits
of any individual case: whether to become a player in the debate over
where
to set the balance between individual liberty and national security.
As early as this week, there may be an indication of whether the court
intends to remain on the sidelines, leaving the last word to lower
courts
that have so far deferred to the White House, or to weigh in with the
same
assertiveness it has displayed so often in recent years on some of the
most
bitterly disputed issues in American life.
The first cases in the queue on the court's docket are appeals filed on
behalf of two groups of detainees at the United States naval base at
Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. These appeals frame an issue that at some level
all
the cases, despite their considerable differences, have in common: the
degree of deference owed by the judicial branch to the executive for
actions taken in the name of national security in a crisis...
Later this year, probably before its winter recess, the court will
decide
whether to hear a United States citizen's challenge to his open-ended
detention as an "enemy combatant." The man, Yasser Esam Hamdi, an
American-born Saudi who was apparently captured on the battlefield in
Afghanistan, has been held without access to a lawyer in military
brigs,
first in Virginia and now in South Carolina, since April 2002. The
federal
appeals court in Richmond, Va., ruled in January that he was not
entitled
to a lawyer and had no right to challenge the basis for his continued
detention...
ALSO SEE:
ACTIVISTS SEE LOSS OF CIVIL LIBERTIES
Meg James, Los Angeles Times, 11/2/03
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-amnesty2nov02,1,325468.story
Activists gathered in Redondo Beach on Saturday for an Amnesty
International conference concluded that they don't have to venture
overseas
to find human rights abuses.
Instead, they said, there are plenty here at home.
The group's annual western regional conference, which began Friday and
ends
today at the Crowne Plaza Redondo Beach hotel, discussed different
faces of
discrimination around the globe — everything from violence against
women
and gays to the ravages of AIDS in Africa to U.S. immigration policies
and,
in some instances, the corporate pursuit of profits.
But one issue in particular captured the attention of many of the more
than
400 Amnesty International USA members at the conference: President
Bush's
war on terrorism.
The administration's actions, leaders of the group contend, have done
little to make the world safer from terrorists.
Instead, they said, the government's detention of Muslims after the
Sept.
11 attacks, passage of the U.S.A. Patriot Act and the war in Iraq have
damaged the country's credibility...
-----
DETROIT-AREA TERRORISM CLAIMS OFTEN UNPROVEN, UNPROSECUTED
Associated Press, 11/2/03
DETROIT -- Of at least 155 terrorism suspects considered for
prosecution
over the past two years in the Detroit area, federal prosecutors have
proven terrorism connections against just three of them, according to a
published report.
An analysis of Justice Department data by The Detroit News found that
of
the suspects investigated between September 11, 2001 and Aug. 31, 2003,
prosecutors decided against charging one-fifth, have filed charges
against
about one-third and still are weighing about half of the prosecution
requests.
Thirty-four area residents who are of Arab descent or Muslim who are
under
investigation for terrorism-related activities have instead been
charged
with lesser crimes, though their cases carry labels such as
"terrorism-international," "terrorism-domestic" and "terrorism-related
financing."
Convictions on primarily fraud, immigration or drug-related charges
have
been gained in half of those cases...
SEE ALSO:
NO TERROR SUSPECTS NABBED ON BORDER
Associated Press, 11/3/03
http://www.msnbc.com/news/988396.asp
A crackdown along the U.S.-Mexico border designed to prevent terrorists
from entering the United States hasn't stopped even one known militant
from
slipping into America since Sept. 11, an Associated Press investigation
has
found.
INSTEAD, THE TIGHTENING net of Border Patrol and Immigration agents has
slowed trade, snarled traffic and cost American taxpayers millions,
perhaps
billions, of dollars, while hundreds of migrants have died trying to
evade
the growing army of border authorities.
"If there are concerns about the border in national security terms,
they
are misplaced," said Claudia Smith, a migration activist who directs
the
California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation.
Sept. 11, 2001, was a defining moment in the politics of illegal
immigration. The terrorist attacks abruptly halted major reforms
designed
to legalize much of the flow of workers heading north from Mexico. The
reforms had won support from President Bush -- a former Texas governor
--
and members of the U.S. Congress.
After more than 3,000 people died in the al-Qaida strikes on the World
Trade Center and the Pentagon, the Bush administration told Mexican
officials they were concerned that easing migration restrictions could
lead
to another terrorist attack...
-----
LAWSUIT ACCUSES SOUTHWEST OF POST-9/11 RACIAL PROFILING
Rob Johnson, Tennessean, 11/2/03
http://www.tennessean.com/local/archives/03/10/41767255.shtml
It was time to board the plane, but Abdalla G. Mohammed and Southwest
Airlines were at a standoff at a Nashville gate.
The airline employees and security officials were demanding that the
ticketed passenger with the Islamic name submit to further screening,
but
having already passed through the normal checkpoints, the university
faculty member was stunned.
The airline employees, he contends, had already announced over the
intercom
the names that were flagged by computers for last-minute screening, and
Mohammed's name was not on that list.
Yet as the line of boarding passengers crept closer to the plane, he
found
himself face to face with a security guard demanding that he be
searched
again.
The aftermath became the fodder for a federal civil lawsuit in which
Mohammed, a dark-skinned native of Sudan, contends that he was subject
to
nothing but post-Sept. 11 racial profiling by airline employees...
-----
FLORIDA SCHOOL BUS RACISM SCANDAL
Lawrence Smallma, Al Jazeerah, 11/3/03
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/0A3D3E55-E513-4BE1-B8E0-729B44723787.
htm
A school bus service in Florida has refused to carry Iraqi and Afghani
refugee students for a second time in a week.
Some 27 students aged between 10 and 14 were abandoned outside
Jacksonville
last Wednesday, over eight miles away from home.
A substitute Duval County school bus driver – “Mrs Boston” – singled
out
hijab-wearing girls and “foreign-looking” boys, ordering them to get
out.
Ali al-Hamad said his children, along with as many others from Fort
Caroline Middle School, were kicked off their bus because they were
Muslim.
"We feel so sorry" that the situation happened, said Zahra Diya al-Din,
a
14-year-old student who was on the school bus...
A spokesman for the Council of American Islamic Relations told
Aljazeera.net on Monday that although such behaviour is shocking, it is
unsurprising.
But Ahmad Bedier said a lot of misinformation and bigotry were rife in
Jacksonville...
-----
U.S. COLLEGES SEE FEWER STUDENTS FROM ISLAMIC COUNTRIES
Diane Carroll, Kansas City Star, 11/3/03
http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/7171947.htm
The war on terrorism appears to be deterring young people from Islamic
countries from studying in the United States, according to national
figures
to be released today.
The number of Middle East students attending colleges and universities
fell
10 percent last fall, the Institute of International Education
reported.
In addition, more than one-fourth of 276 educational institutions
surveyed
last month reported significant declines this fall in new students from
Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates.
The findings are predictable, educators say, given the crackdown at
U.S.
borders since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. But they also are a concern,
the
educators say, because the United States should be building bridges
with
those countries instead of pushing them away.
Overall, the Institute of International Education's annual Open Doors
survey showed that the number of international students studying in the
United States slowed to a 0.6 percent increase last fall, compared with
fall 2001. It was the smallest increase since 1995-96...
ALSO SEE:
FOREIGN VISITORS WILL FACE NEW RULES
Mimi Hall, USA Today, 11/2/03
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2003-11-02-visitor-rules_x.htm
WASHINGTON — Millions of foreign visitors to the USA, already under
strict
scrutiny since the terrorist attacks in 2001, soon will have to be
fingerprinted and photographed to get through the nation's airports and
seaports.
Tuesday, the Department of Homeland Security announced plans for a
high-tech system that will help track the 24 million foreigners who
enter
the country with work, student or travel visas each year.
Congress ordered the system after the Sept. 11 attacks, when officials
learned that two of the 19 hijackers had violated the terms of their
visas.
The program's goal is to prevent potential terrorists from entering the
country and to register foreigners who are allowed in. It also requires
foreigners to check out when they leave, so officials can look for
people
who stay after their visas expire.
The program replaces a controversial measure that required people in
the
USA from 25 mostly Muslim countries to register with the government...
-----
SUPPORTING THE HUNGER FOR FAITH
S. Mitra Kalita, Washington Post, 11/3/03
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A54820-2003Nov2.html
This month, as most of her classmates file into Glen Forest Elementary
School's cafeteria to lunch on rectangular pizza slices and peanut
butter
and jelly sandwiches, Mona Ali heads for a room filled with toys and
coloring books and other young people who aspire to be faithful.
At an early age – 7 3/4, to be exact -- Mona has decided it's time to
join
some fellow Muslim students at the Falls Church school in their
commemoration of Ramadan, a month of fasting that began last week. More
than one-quarter of the school's students come from predominantly
Islamic
countries, but most of the students have not reached adolescence, and
Islamic law exempts them, along with the sick and elderly, from
fasting.
Still, children as young as Mona are choosing to partake. From sunrise
to
sunset, they are to refrain from eating, drinking or telling even the
smallest untruth, the better to turn away from personal desires and
renew
their commitment to God.
As an influx of immigrants redefines the Washington suburbs, educators
say
Muslim children feel freer to embrace their religion publicly, unlike
previous generations who might have been tempted to avoid or conceal
the
fast in an effort to fit in. Schools with large Muslim populations are
taking steps to accommodate and encourage the students during
Ramadan...
ALSO SEE:
SCHOOLS ACCOMMODATE MUSLIM STUDENTS DURING RAMADAN
NBC, 11/3/03
http://www.nbc4.com/news/2604265/detail.html
School districts across the Washington region are accommodating Muslim
students who wish to fast during the holy month of Ramadan.
In some cases, students as young as elementary school are opting out of
meals, even though Islamic law says they don't have to fast until
they're
teenagers.
At many schools, the library or another room set aside by the school
has
become an alternative to the cafeteria during lunch period.
Recently, the principal of a school in Montgomery County, Md., roused
Muslim students who were attending an outdoor education trip before
sunrise
each morning so they could eat before beginning their fast.
And several schools have postponed special events until after the fast
ends
in early December.
School leaders say it's a message of sharing and support that's
important
for both Muslim and non-Muslim students to see.
---
A DEVICE POINTS THE WAY TO MECCA AND PLAYS CALLS TO PRAYERS
Teresa Riordan, New York Times, 11/3/03
http://www.nytimes.com
THE Koran requires Muslims to pray five times a day while facing Mecca,
the
birthplace of the prophet Muhammad. Traditionally muezzins climb the
minarets of mosques to call out prayer time, but in the modern world
the
devout are not always within earshot.
Frank Deworetzki, an inventor for Mannesmann, in Frankfurt, offers a
solution. Two weeks ago Mr. Deworetzki patented a navigational system
for
automobiles that not only shows the driver where he or she is headed
but
also shows the direction of Mecca at all times.
Moreover, the system can be programmed to play prayer calls at the
appropriate times. During Ramadan, the month of daytime religious
fasting,
which begins today in the United States, the system alerts drivers to
the
time of sunrise and sunset, wherever they may be. Mr. Deworetzki could
not
be reached for comment, and the system does not seem to be available
yet.
It is patent No.6,633,813.
David M. Thimmig, the patent lawyer who shepherded the application
through
the patent office for Siemens, which owns Mannesmann, said the patent
was
much broader than simply a way to know the location of Mecca...
-----
POLL: EU CITIZENS SEE ISRAEL AS WORLD PEACE THREAT
Reuters, 11/3/03
http://canadaeast.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20031103/CPW/14519020&cache
time=15
BRUSSELS, Belgium - A majority of European Union citizens see Israel as
a
threat to world peace, and more than two-thirds believe the U.S.-led
invasion of Iraq was unjustified, an opinion poll showed Monday.
The EU executive Commission's survey of attitudes on Iraq and world
peace
showed that 59 percent of those polled saw Israel as a threat, putting
it
above Iran, North Korea and the United States, each of which polled 53
percent.
The poll also found that 68 percent of EU citizens believed the
U.S.-led
invasion of Iraq was not justified...
-----
AFGHANISTAN UNVEILS DRAFT CONSTITUTION
Burt Herman, Associated Press, 11/3/03
http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/world/sns-ap-afghan-constitution,0,6
021871.story
KABUL, Afghanistan - Afghanistan unveiled a post-Taliban draft
constitution
Monday, a historic milestone on what has been a bloody, bumpy and often
tragic path to recovery after decades of war.
The draft starts by declaring that "Afghanistan is an Islamic
Republic,"
then later creates the posts of president and vice president, as well
as
envisioning two houses of congress.
The draft reflects the government's desire to bring the country
together
under the banner of Islam, which is practiced by the vast majority of
Afghans. However, the hardline Islamic law enforced by the former
Taliban
regime is not expected to be a part of Afghanistan's future.
Under the Taliban, men were forced to grow beards and pray, women were
banned from schools and almost all public life, and music was
forbidden.
Executions were carried out before large crowds at Kabul's sports
stadium...
-----
FEELING UNDER ATTACK, ARABS TURN TO ISLAM FOR ANSWERS
Howard LaFranchi, Christian Science Monitor, 11/3/03
http://www.csmonitor.com/2003/1103/p05s01-wome.html
AMMAN, JORDAN – At the Al Kaluti Mosque in a middle-class neighborhood
of
the Jordanian capital, hundreds more worshipers than the building can
hold
spill into the streets, a testament to the rallying capacity of Islam
in
troubled times.
The crush of mostly young men at Friday's prayers could be explained by
the
fact that this is Muslim holy month of Ramadan. But in Jordan, as
across
the region, the Iraq war is the latest of many factors that have
Muslims
turning to their faith for solace and answers.
"The occupation of Iraq, Palestine, American rhetoric about Islam, and
the
so-called war on terrorism - the feeling it is a fabrication to
facilitate
the taking of resources by American companies - all of these things
help
explain a higher interest in Islam," says Abdullateef Arabiyat, former
secretary general of Jordan's Islamic Action Front.
"People feel their identity is under attack and are afraid," says Mr.
Arabiyat, now the party's minority parliamentary leader. "That is
unfortunate, as Muslims need to open up and close the gap between Islam
and
the modern world, but right now the effect is people turning inward..."
-----
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-----
CAIR
Council on American-Islamic Relations
453 New Jersey Avenue, S.E.
Washington, D.C. 20003
Tel: 202-488-8787, 202-744-7726
Fax: 202-488-0833
E-mail: cair@cair-net.org
URL: http://www.cair-net.org
(More)
--------------------------------------------------------------------
mail2web - Check your email from the web at
http://mail2web.com/ .
Forwarded Message
Date:
Tue, 04 Nov 2003 12:23:57 -0500
To:
cair-net@cair.biglist.com
From:
"CAIR" <cair@cair-net.org>
Subject:
CAIR-NET: Help CAIR Raise $1 Million During Ramadan - URGENT
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
URGENT CAIR ACTION ALERT #400
IMMEDIATE ACTION REQUESTED:
1. Donate generously to the campaign. To donate online, go to:
http://www.cair-net.org/asp/millionforislam.asp
(NOTE: Scholars says CAIR is able to receive ZAKAT donations.)
2. Ask all your friends, relatives and colleagues to donate and become
members of CAIR.
3. Raise funds for CAIR at your local mosque or Islamic center. We
encourage each center to raise $1,000.
4. Attend CAIR's fundraising dinner in Washington, D.C., on November
29th
and help us reach our goal of $1 million. TO REGISTER, GO TO:
http://www.cair-net.org/asp/2003dinner.asp
Make checks payable to "CAIR."
MAIL TO: CAIR, 453 New Jersey Ave. SE, Washington, D.C., 20003
Remember, every dollar counts. As the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon
him)
said when asked what actions God loves most: "One that is performed
constantly, even if it is small."
-----
HELP CAIR RAISE $1 MILLION DURING RAMADAN
Funds will be used to promote Islam and defend American Muslims
(WASHINGTON, D.C., 11/4/2003) - Alhamdulillah (praise be to God), CAIR
today announced a fundraising campaign intended (inshallah) to raise $1
million during the month of Ramadan, the month of giving, and
culminating
with the national fundraising dinner on November 29 in Washington, D.C.
NOW is the time to show your support for CAIR, an organization that has
been defending Muslims and Islam in America for almost 10 years. Your
generous donation is more important than ever and will be greatly
appreciated.
HELP MAKE THIS CAMPAIGN A SUCCESS BY THE END OF RAMADAN!
Funds raised during the campaign, themed "$1 MILLION FOR ISLAM IN
RAMADAN,"
will be used to defend the civil and religious rights of American
Muslims,
defend against defamatory attacks on Muslims and Islam and promote
greater
understanding of Islamic beliefs and practices.
"You all know the work CAIR has been doing for the past decade on
behalf of
the American Muslim community," said CAIR Board Chairman Omar Ahmad.
"To
take our work to the next level, we need your support, both moral and
financial." He quoted Ibn Abbas who said: "The Prophet was the most
generous of all the people, and he used to become (even) more generous
in
Ramadan." (Sahih Al-Bukhari, 4:754)
Ahmad also outlined some of the important work CAIR has done in the
recent
past:
* CAIR'S LIBRARY PROJECT - CAIR's ambitious library project is designed
to
place accurate and objective information about Islam in more than
16,000
public libraries nationwide. Already, some 7,000 libraries have
received or
are scheduled to receive the Islamic books, videos, DVDs, and audio
cassettes.
SEE: http://www.libraryproject.org/
* CAIR'S "ISLAM IN AMERICA" AD CAMPAIGN - CAIR launched this campaign
to
counter attacks on the American Muslim community and Islam following
the
9/11 terror attacks. Several of these professionally-produced ads ran
on
the editorial page of the New York Times.
SEE: http://www.americanmuslims.info/
* CHALLENGING MUSLIM-BASHERS AND ISLAMOPHOBES - CAIR consistently takes
the
lead in challenging the smears, lies and distortions of Islam-bashers
and
anti-Muslim bigots. We lead the successful campaign to expose the
extremist
anti-Muslim views of Daniel Pipes, who was blocked from a full term on
the
board of the United States Institute of Peace in large measure due to
CAIR's efforts. We also took the lead on challenging the bigoted views
of
Islamophobes such as Franklin Graham, Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, and
most recently, Gen. Boykin in the Pentagon.
* DEFENDING YOUR RELIGIOUS AND CIVIL RIGHTS - Whether its fighting
for religious accommodation in the workplace or schools, challenging
unconstitutional provisions of the USA Patriot Act, working with local
and
national authorities, or exposing anti-Muslim hate crimes, CAIR is in
the
forefront of the struggle to maintain your rights and promote Islam. To
help defend your rights, CAIR has developed a series of guides designed
to
educate employers, educators, health care workers, prison officials,
law
enforcement personnel about Islamic religious practices.
- PLEASE ANNOUNCE, POST AND DISTRIBUTE -
-----
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http://cair.biglist.com/cair-net/
To reach the list moderator, send a message to: cair@cair-net.org
-----
CAIR
Council on American-Islamic Relations
453 New Jersey Avenue, S.E.
Washington, D.C. 20003
Tel: 202-488-8787, 202-744-7726
Fax: 202-488-0833
E-mail: cair@cair-net.org
URL: http://www.cair-net.org
-----
Forwarded Message
Date:
Tue, 04 Nov 2003 14:21:46 -0500
To:
cair-net@cair.biglist.com
From:
"CAIR" <cair@cair-net.org>
Subject:
CAIR-NET: FL Muslims to Distribute Thanksgiving Food Baskets
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
AMERICAN MUSLIM NEWS BRIEFS - 11/4/03
* HADITH OF THE DAY: FORGETFULNESS IN FASTING
* IMAM SIRAJ WAHHAJ TO SPEAK AT CAIR DINNER
- Volunteers Needed For CAIR Dinner
* CAIR-CAN TESTIFIES ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS
- CAIR-CAN: Is Canada 'Subcontracting' Torture?
- Canadian Deported by U.S. was Tortured (Reuters)
* CAIR-FL: MUSLIMS TO DISTRIBUTE THANKSGIVING BASKETS
* ACTION ALERT: POSITIVE 7TH HEAVEN TV PROGRAM
* LORD...JUST HELP US KILL 'EM' (Newsweek)
- Torture Claim By Iranians Arrested In Iraq (FT)
* PALESTINIAN DETAINEE RETURNED TO NJ (AP)
- Palestinian Activist is Released (Wash. Post)
* SCHOOL BOARD AND BUS COMPANY CONTINUE INVESTIGATION (AP)
- Sikh Cabbies Blame Racism for Crimes (Athens News)
* IMMIGRATION CRACKDOWN SNARES ARABS (Detroit News)
- Immigrant Facing Court Find Little Solace (MPR)
* GEORGIA HABITAT HOUSE IS A LESSON IN DIVERSITY (AJC)
* JUSTICES FACE DECISION ON ACCEPTING 9/11 CASES (NY Times)
- Civil Liberties on Endangered List (WH Weekly)
- Bill Of Rights Has To Apply To All (Oracle)
* U.S. SEEKS $2.22 BLN MILITARY AID FOR ISRAEL (Reuters)
* REPORTED U.S. STRIKE DISCONCERTS KARZAI (LA Times)
* LA. PRISONS OBSERVE RAMADAN (Sunday Advocate)
- Young Muslims Eager To Fast (RNS)
- Soldiers Should Be Aware Of Ramadan (Army News)
* MPAC HOSTS RAMADAN LECTURE EVENT
* MAS/ICNA CONVENTION IN CHICAGO
-----
HADITH OF THE DAY: FORGETFULNESS IN FASTING
The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: "Whoever forgets he is
fasting and eats or drinks is to complete his fast, as it was God who
fed
him and gave him something to drink."
The Prophet also said: "God will not hold anyone...responsible for what
is
done in error, forgetfulness or under coercion."
Fiqh-us-Sunnah, Volume 3, Number 138A
-----
IMAM SIRAJ WAHHAJ TO SPEAK AT CAIR DINNER
Registration is now available online for CAIR's Ninth Annual
Fundraising
Dinner on November 29th (the weekend after Eid ul-Fitr) in Washington,
D.C.
The dinner, with the theme "Muslims in America: A Defining Moment,"
will
feature presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich as one of its main
speakers.
Featured speakers include Imam Siraj Wahhaj. Wahhaj is well-known as a
dynamic motivational speaker and tireless supporter of Islamic causes.
A
leader and community activist, Wahhaj is one of the most respected
Muslim
leaders in America.
WHERE: Sheraton Premiere at Tysons Corner, 8661 Leesburg Pike, Tysons
Corner/Vienna, VA
COST: CAIR dinners always quick to sell out so get you tickets now!
Tickets: $55/$85 per couple R.S.V.P. by Nov. 24, 2003. No children
please.
(Limited babysitting with prior notice only - $10 per child.)
FOR MORE INFORMATION, call 202-488-8787 or e-mail:
register@cair-net.org
ACTION REQUESTED:
REGISTER FOR CAIR'S DINNER BY GOING TO:
https://www.cair-net.org/2003dinner-register.asp
---
VOLUNTEERS ARE NEEDED FOR CAIR DINNER
CAIR is seeking volunteers to help with its upcoming dinner in
Washington,
D.C. Those interested in helping with the dinner should email
fkhan@cair-net.org or call Farida Khan at 202-488-8787.
-----
CAIR-CAN TESTIFIES ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS
(OTTAWA, CANADA) - CAIR-CAN recently testified before the House of
Commons
Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade regarding
Canada's relations with the Muslim world.
The Foreign Affairs Committee has embarked on a long-term study of
Canada's
relations with countries of the Muslim world, with a mandate to make
recommendations for Canadian foreign policy. The Committee has heard
testimony from witnesses in Canada and the U.S., and is now en route to
the
Middle-East, South and South-East Asia and Europe to hear more.
CAIR-CAN's testimony to the committee was authored by Chair Sheema Khan
and
board member Wael Haddara. The full text of the submission may be
viewed
at: http://www.caircan.ca/downloads/scofa-112003.pdf
ALSO SEE:
CAIR-CAN: IS CANADA 'SUBCONTRACTING' TORTURE?
Islamic civil rights group repeats call for public inquiry
(OTTAWA, CANADA - 11/4/2003) Following today's testimony by Maher Arar
regarding what happened to him during the last year, the Canadian
office of
the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-CAN) questioned whether
Canadian security agencies may be "subcontracting" torture against
Canadian
citizens. CAIR-CAN also reaffirmed the pressing need for an
independent
public inquiry into Maher Arar's case.
In a statement released today, CAIR-CAN said: "We have grave concerns
given
Arar's testimony that our security agencies may be subcontracting
torture
against Canadian citizens.
"We are beyond the question whether the RCMP passed information to the
Americans. Based on Arar's testimony, it would appear that the
information
that the RCMP provided to the Americans was substantial.
"We also have fresh information about the involvement of CSIS.
According to
Arar's testimony, there was an ongoing communication channel between
CSIS
and the Syrians while Arar was in Syria. CSIS made two visits to Syria
while Arar was there and the Syrians gave CSIS a copy of the
interrogation
transcripts.
"All this leads to the fear that security agencies may be using
evidence
acquired by torture and mistreatment against Canadian citizens and
non-citizens. Is any of this evidence being used against people held
under
security certificates?
"And now we have the case of another Canadian, Abdullah alMalki, who
has
reportedly been severely tortured, denied his basic rights, not
charged,
detained for a year and a half and denied consular access. The role of
the
RCMP and CSIS in his case also needs to be seriously examined.
"If Canada wants to retain its stature as a country that respects human
rights and fundamental freedoms, then our government must come clean
about
the involvement of the RCMP and CSIS in the year-long suffering of
Maher
Arar. Our government has a moral duty to Maher Arar to provide him
with
answers and a duty to all Canadians to ensure that this nightmare never
reoccurs. The best avenue continues to be an independent public
inquiry."
CONTACT: Riad Saloojee at 613-254-9704; E-MAIL: Canada@cair-net.org
SEE ALSO:
CANADIAN DEPORTED BY US TO SYRIA SAYS WAS TORTURED
Reuters, 11/4/03
OTTAWA - A Canadian man who was deported to Syria by U.S. agents in
2002
said on Tuesday he had been tortured during the year he spent in a
Damascus
jail.
Maher Arar -- who was unexpectedly freed last month -- said in a
statement
that in the first two weeks in prison he was beaten with shredded
cables.
He was also forced to sign false confessions.
"Between beatings they would put me in a waiting room next to all the
interrogation rooms. I could hear the prisoners being tortured and
screaming like crazy. This was the worst," he said.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police are already under formal
investigation
for possible wrongdoing over their involvement in the controversial
case.
U.S. officials, who alleged Arar belonged to al Qaeda, say privately
they
acted on data supplied by Canadian police. Arar -- who also holds a
Syrian
passport -- was arrested while changing planes in New York on a return
flight to Canada.
Ottawa has consistently declined to answer questions about what
information
the police might have handed over about Arar.
-----
FL MUSLIMS TO DISTRIBUTE THANKSGIVING BASKETS
Hernando County enacts resolution praising CAIR
(BROOKSVILLE, FL, 11/4/2003) The Florida office of the Council on
American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-FL) today announced plans to
distribute
Thanksgiving food baskets to needy families and veterans living in that
state's Hernando County. The announcement was made as representatives
of
CAIR-FL accepted a county resolution recognizing the local Muslim
community
and CAIR-FL for their charitable efforts.
After accepting the resolution, CAIR-FL Communications Director Ahmed
Bedier addressed the Board of County Commissioners and explained that
the
Islamic faith obligates its followers to give to the poor and the
hungry.
Bedier also mentioned the importance of neighborly relations in Islam
and
quoted the Prophet Muhammad's saying: "He is not a true believer, the
one
who sleeps on a full stomach, while his neighbor is hungry." Bedier
concluded by praising the county commissioners and leaders of Hernando
County for their efforts to reach out and embrace all members of the
community, including minorities and new comers.
"What we witnessed today is a great example of a community working
together
to combat hunger and poverty by promoting diversity, unity and
charity,"
SAID Bedier. He added that his group plans to duplicate the food basket
program across the state of Florida.
CAIR-FL also revealed plans to distribute the Library Project packages
(www.libraryproject.org) to all public libraries in the county and
announced an Islamic Arts Exhibit free to the public on November 15th
of
this year.
CONTACT: Ahmed Bedier, 813-731-9506 abedier@cair-florida.org
-----
ACTION ALERT: POSITIVE 7TH HEAVEN TV PROGRAM
Send a note of appreciation to the producers of 7th Heaven for their
show
on a Muslim family dealing with prejudice and tensions in their new
neighborhood. The episode aired Monday, November, 3, 2003.
7th heaven: Getting to Know You
Eric (Stephen Collins) and Annie (Catherine Hicks) throw a "Welcome to
the
Neighborhood" party for Ruthie's (Mackenzie Rosman) Muslim friend Jill
Dupree (guest-star Randa Sabbah) and her parents (guest-stars Kamal
Marayati and Yareli Arizmendi), but the Duprees are hesitant to attend.
Eric is shocked and disappointed when he learns that his neighborhood
is
not a friendly place for Muslims.
To send feedback or for more about the show, visit:
http://www.thewb.com/Shows/Episode/0,8201,135876,00.html
-----
LORD...JUST HELP US KILL 'EM'
Joshua Hammer, Newsweek, 11/10/03
http://www.msnbc.com/news/988070.asp
Just after midnight on Oct. 31, the men of Bravo Company are huddling
for a
final pep talk. Tips of cigarettes, stoked by an unusually chill wind,
glow
in near pitch darkness as two dozen jeep engines roar nearby. Soon the
troops will swoop down on a house in Fallujah's northern outskirts,
where a
Baathist named Taha and 30 comrades are holding a meeting, allegedly to
plan roadside bombings. "Go out and grab Taha," says the company
commander,
Capt. Matthew Mobley. "He's gonna have a helluva treat for Halloween."
Then
the battalion's chaplain asks the men to join him in a short prayer.
"Lord,
there are bad guys out there," he says, bowing his head. "Just help us
kill
'em."
"Don't get yourself killed" is the basic principle of action these days
in
Fallujah. Six months after President George W. Bush declared an end to
major combat operations, 119 U.S. troops have been shot dead or blown
up in
a grinding guerrilla war. And the shadowy insurgency seems to be
centered
on this Baathist stronghold 40 miles west of Baghdad. Yet gathering
hard
intelligence about the resistance is a huge challenge for U.S. troops
in a
town where anti-American sentiment remains intense, and where those who
cooperate become targets themselves. Last week a car bomb exploded a
few
yards from Fallujah's main police station, killing six people. Then
Fallujah's mayor, who has good relations with U.S. occupiers, survived
the
latest of several attempts on his life when his office was bombed...
ALSO SEE:
TORTURE CLAIM BY IRANIANS ARRESTED IN IRAQ
Kim Ghattas, Financial Times, 11/3/03
http://news.ft.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=FT.com/StoryFT/FullStory&c=StoryFT&cid=1066565583966&p=1012571727172
Two Iranian filmmakers freed after four months in US custody in Iraq on
Monday claimed they had been tortured while in detention.
Saeed Abu Taleb and Sohail Karimi, who work for IRIB, Iran's state-run
television, were arrested on July 1 in the town of Kut while filming a
US
military base. Coalition authorities said the two Iranians were filming
in
a restricted area and suggested they were spying.
"The detention was unimaginable. The first 10 days was like a
nightmare. We
were subjected to severe torture. . . It was very bad," Mr Abou Taleb
was
reported as saying. "I will give full details later."
There was no immediate US response, but an unnamed American military
spokesman told the French Press Agency: "The coalition does not
mistreat
anyone in its custody - full stop."
According to IRIB, the two journalists had been working on a
documentary on
the life of Iraqi people...
-----
PALESTINIAN AT CENTER OF DETENTION FLAP RETURNED TO NJ
Wayne Parry, Associated Press, 11/3/03
http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/ny-bc-nj--palestiniandetain1103nov03,0,1244320.story
NEWARK, N.J.- A Palestinian detainee challenging the United States
government over the length of time it can hold people on immigration
charges has been moved back to New Jersey from central Pennsylvania.
Supporters of Farouk Abdel-Muhti claim his transfer there in February
was
retaliation for his lawsuit, which also claims that as a stateless
Palestinian, there is no nation to which he can legally be deported.
Abdel-Muhti's suit claims the federal government has held him longer
than
its own standards permit, which is generally six months, his lawyers
say.
He has been in custody for more than 550 days.
"The government cannot hold him indefinitely," said his lawyer, Jeffrey
Fogel. "If they can't repatriate him, they have to release him."
He was transferred Thursday night from the York County Jail, about two
hours west of Philadelphia, to the Bergen County Jail. No reason was
given
for the transfer, according to Fogel.
Federal immigration officials did not immediately return a call seeking
comment on Monday...
ALSO SEE:
PALESTINIAN ACTIVIST IS RELEASED
Robert E. Pierre, Washington Post, 11/4/03
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A61015-2003Nov4.html
CHICAGO - A former Howard University professor and Palestinian activist
with alleged ties to the Islamic Resistance Movement, or Hamas, was
released on $1 million bail Monday after two months in jail for
refusing to
testify before a grand jury investigating the terrorist group's
finances
and activities.
Abdelhaleem Ashqar, who taught at Howard for three years, had been
jailed
since early September, when he refused to testify after being granted
immunity.
During his two months in custody, Ashqar said, he refused to eat or
drink
anything except water. Authorities held him in a Chicago hospital to
feed
him intravenously, Ashqar said in a telephone interview Monday night.
He
plans to return to his home in Alexandria to await trial on criminal
contempt charges.
Ashqar gained national attention for a six-month hunger strike in 1998
while he was jailed for not cooperating with a New York grand jury. In
a
separate case in August in Chicago, Charles P. Kocoras, chief judge of
the
U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, again held
Ashqar in civil contempt for refusing to talk to a grand jury after he
was
granted immunity. He was later charged with criminal contempt but still
refused to participate in what he called a witch hunt against
Palestinians
fighting Israeli oppression.
-----
SCHOOL BOARD AND BUS COMPANY CONTINUE INVESTIGATION INTO ALLEGATIONS
Kyle Meenan, Associated Press, 11/3/03
http://www.firstcoastnews.com/printfullstory.aspx?storyid=10168
JACKSONVILLE, FL -- John Ziegler runs the First Student Bus Company,
with a
contract to transport tens of thousands of Duval County School Children
over millions of miles of roads each year. He is personally
investigating
claims by students at Fort Caroline Middle School that two drivers
discriminated against them because they are Muslim.
"Our first priority is getting these kids to and from school safely
--and
on time," said Ziegler, following a lengthy meeting with Fort Caroline
Middle School's Principal and David Solomon, General Transportation
Chief
for the Duval County School District. "We will continue to investigate
these charges of discrimination very thoroughly, and completely before
we
announce what steps will be taken."
On Saturday a representative for the American Civil Liberties Union
(ACLU)
said they were backing the Council on American-Islamic Relations'
request
for an investigation and apology. They allege that two different First
Student bus drivers singled out Muslim students Wednesday and again
Friday.
The children, who are from 10 to 14 years old, are immigrants from the
Middle East and Central Asia, including some from Iraq and Afghanistan.
Most of them arrived in this country as infants after the first Gulf
War.
Many of the students were wearing religious attire. The version of
events
differs between the students and school officials.
"We'd like to resolve the issue but obviously, we can't shut the door
to
legal action," said Ahmed Bedier, a spokesman for the Council on
American-Islamic Relations in Florida.
Council officials said the Muslim students were ordered off the bus
Wednesday for talking loudly but no non-Muslim students were singled
out.
School officials said the students were returned to school because of
disciplinary problems...
ALSO SEE:
SIKH CAB DRIVERS SAY RACISM AND RECESSION PUT THEM IN PEOPLE'S
CROSSHAIRS
Raj Jayadev, Athens News, 11/3/03
http://www.athensnews.com/issue/article.php3?story_id=14563
SAN JOSE, Calif. - In the back of the San Jose airport, 30-year-old
Farhan
Kahn is handing out samosas to the other cab drivers sitting in lawn
chairs
waiting for their dispatcher to call. Kahn, cabby by day, world-music
satarist by night, is giving his explanation for the never-ending Bin
Laden
references drivers hear. "Even in the Bay Area people are ignorant," he
says. "They need to watch less movies and more PBS."
He's joking, but the group of South Asian and Ethiopian men don't
laugh.
Before, racial slurs, and questions like, "What do you think about
Saddam?"
from passengers were only words, part of the job. Now, after the recent
shootings of three Bay Area Sikh cab drivers, many fear those words may
portend something much worse.
Three shootings in two months. Davinder Singh, 21, was shot to death by
two
passengers early Sept. 13 in Redwood City. Gurpreet Singh, 23, was
killed
on July 2 in Richmond. Another cab driver, Inderjit Singh, 29, was shot
in
the jaw on July 5 when he responded to a call from his dispatcher.
Most Sikhs share the last name of Singh.
Police in both Richmond and Redwood City determined robbery to be the
primary cause of the shootings. But many Sikh cab drivers say the
crimes
were about racial hatred...
-----
IMMIGRATION CRACKDOWN SNARES ARABS
Gregg Krupa and John Bebow, Detroit News, 11/3/03
http://www.detnews.com/2003/specialreport/0311/03/a01-314467.htm
DEARBORN -- Since September 11, federal officials have wielded
immigration
law as a major weapon in the war against terrorism, intensely
scrutinizing
local Arabs, jailing them without bail and ratcheting up deportations
in a
controversial effort to prevent further terrorist attacks.
Deportation orders against people from 24 Arab and Muslim nations
increased
20 percent in Michigan in the two years since the terrorist attacks,
compared to the previous two years, government documents show.
Total deportation orders against all illegal immigrants, however, have
remained flat in Michigan since Sept. 11, 2001. And enforcement against
Mexicans -- who are ordered deported more often than any other
immigrant
group -- has dropped by 20 percent.
Violations of immigration law and visa status, once considered
technical
and easily remedied, now often result in immediate incarceration and
eventual deportation. Deportation orders, which may be appealed before
the
deportation occurs, now frequently result in immediate imprisonment or
electronic tethering, pending appeal...
ALSO SEE:
IMMIGRANTS FACING IMMIGRATION COURT FIND LITTLE SOLACE IN CONSTITUTION
Mary Losure, Minnesota Public Radio, 11/9/02
http://news.mpr.org/features/2003/11/09_losurem_democracy/
The U.S. Constitution guarantees certain rights to all Americans. It
says
you can't be be deprived of your liberty without due process of law,
for
example. But under a legal doctrine that goes back more than 100 years,
the
U.S. Supreme Court has consistantly ruled that constitutional rights
don't
necessarily apply to non-citizens. Millions of non-citizens who live in
this country face a little-known entity: immigration courts.
Bloomington, Minn. - The chambers of the Executive Office for
Immigration
Review in Bloomington, Minn., look like any ordinary courtroom. A
black-robed judge sits on a low platform. Below him are tables for the
lawyers, separated from the rest of the courtroom by a wooden railing,
just
the way they are on TV.
But in this courtroom, at the table for the defense, there are often no
lawyers...
-----
GEORGIA HABITAT HOUSE IS A LESSON IN DIVERSITY
Stacy Shelton, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 11/2/03
http://www.ajc.com
A diverse community of the faithful picked up hammers, nails and paint
brushes in Smyrna, Ga., on a recent Saturday to build a home for an
Iranian
immigrant family.
Most of the more than 50 volunteers from Cobb County churches, a
synagogue
and a mosque worked on the Habitat for Humanity project. Habitat,
headquartered in Americus, Ga., is a Christian organization that helps
build simple homes for people who otherwise couldn't afford it.
"We have a Jewish temple, a Catholic church and an Islamic mosque
(taking
part). I said to my husband, 'This is just a Godsend,' " said Paula
Todd,
head of the coalition that put together the Habitat project. "There's
not
another (Habitat house) like it."
Some who took part in the project said their volunteer sweat was also a
statement of unity, a common bond in the midst of the discord laid bare
by
terrorism in America. Imam Amjad Taufique, who leads a Marietta mosque,
said he received hate-filled voice messages after the attacks in New
York
and Washington. He said he also got calls from two women, one Jewish,
the
other Christian, who offered their homes as safe places and volunteered
to
accompany Muslim women on errands.
Taufique began talking to Christian church groups to spread
understanding
of his religion...
-----
JUSTICES FACE DECISION ON ACCEPTING 9/11 CASES
Linda Greenhouse, New York Times, 11/3/03
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/03/national/03SCOT.html
WASHINGTON, Nov. 2 - With cases generated by the Bush administration's
response to the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, now reaching the
Supreme Court in substantial numbers, the court faces a basic decision
apart from the merits of any individual case: whether to become a
player in
the debate over where to set the balance between individual liberty and
national security.
As early as this week, there may be an indication of whether the court
intends to remain on the sidelines, leaving the last word to lower
courts
that have so far deferred to the White House, or to weigh in with the
same
assertiveness it has displayed so often in recent years on some of the
most
bitterly disputed issues in American life.
The first cases in the queue on the court's docket are appeals filed on
behalf of two groups of detainees at the United States naval base at
Guant�namo Bay, Cuba. These appeals frame an issue that at some level
all
the cases, despite their considerable differences, have in common: the
degree of deference owed by the judicial branch to the executive for
actions taken in the name of national security in a crisis...
ALSO SEE:
STUDY: CIVIL LIBERTIES ON ENDANGERED LIST
Paul Bedard, White House Weekly, 11/4/03
President Bush's post-9/11 hunt for terrorists at home and abroad has
resulted in civil liberty abuses not seen since the Watergate days,
according to the first report from the new progressive Center for
American
Progress. SEE: http://www.centerforamericanprogress.org
"The administration has presented the American people with a false
choice,"
said center president John Podesta, former Clinton White House chief of
staff. "It is not necessary to forfeit civil liberties in order to
enhance
security."
In issuing its first report as a critique of the USA Patriot Act and
the
Bush administration's investigation of alleged U.S. terrorists and the
capture of suspects overseas, the Center is laying down its marker
against
what it sees as Nixonian abuses of constitutional liberties by
freedom-fearing conservatives...
The report is broken down into three parts: the treatment of
immigrants,
the Patriot Act, and the handling of enemy combatants. Each chapter
ends
with numerous recommendations...
---
BILL OF RIGHTS HAS TO APPLY TO ALL TRIALS, INCLUDING AL-ARIAN'S
Sebastian Meyer, Oracle, 11/4/03
http://www.usforacle.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2003/11/03/3fa65f3de1952
For most students at USF, the Sami Al-Arian saga came to an end when
the
engineering professor with alleged ties to terrorism was arrested in
February. What most do not know is that the trial he is facing may very
well touch on and re-evaluate the most basic rights American citizens
have.
At a news conference in Ybor City Friday, Al-Arian's new lawyer William
B.
Moffitt addressed the media in a small, crammed law firm office. He
described the case of Al-Arian as one of the first "civil rights cases
of
the 21st century" while reporters crouched around him.
Moffitt spoke of the conditions Al-Arian is currently being held in as
well
as how Al-Arian was moved to the Coleman Federal Correctional Complex
in
Sumter County where he is now housed in what is called a Special
Housing
Unit (SHU). These units were designed to "punish people that have
committed
offenses while in prison" and are meant to house "the worst of the
worst."
He went on to say that Al-Arian had to change plans to defend himself
mainly because he could not get access to sources such as law books or
even
talk with his attorney Robert McKee. Even now, Al-Arian has to have
every
phone call approved by the Bureau of Prisons in Atlanta, something no
other
detainee awaiting trial has to do, Moffitt claimed.
This is troubling news. According to the Bill of Rights, every person
standing trial in the United States must have the chance for a fair
trial.
How can Al-Arian have a fair trial if he cannot even call his lawyer,
let
alone see him?...
-----
U.S. WILL SEEK $2.22 BLN MILITARY AID FOR ISRAEL
Reuters, 11/3/03
WASHINGTON - The United States will ask Congress to give Israel $2.22
billion in military assistance in the fiscal year 2005, $60 million
more
than in 2004, the U.S. State Department said in a statement on Monday.
The increase is in line with a 1990s agreement which reduces economic
assistance to Israel by $120 million a year while adding $60 million a
year
to the military component of the package, the largest Washington gives
to
any country.
The statement, issued after talks in Israel last Wednesday and Thursday
between senior U.S. and Israeli officials, said the Bush administration
was
committed to enhancing Israel's security and "maintaining Israel's
qualitative edge over any combination of adversaries."
It said the United States would continue to seek funding for future
U.S.
participation in selected joint research and development projects with
Israel.
U.S. economic support to Israel stood at $600 million in 2002 but under
the
agreement, which dates back to the Clinton administration, it will
disappear by 2008...
-----
REPORTED U.S. STRIKE DISCONCERTS KARZAI
Paul Watson, Los Angeles Times, 11/4/03
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-afghan4nov04,1,6604572.story
KABUL, Afghanistan - The deaths of six villagers in what Afghan
officials
said was a U.S. airstrike embarrassed President Hamid Karzai's
government
Monday as it tried to rally support for a draft constitution that is
key to
reuniting this war-ravaged country.
The attack Friday night destroyed two houses in the village of Warez in
the
eastern province of Nuristan, killing four children, a woman and a
young
man, Deputy Governor Abdul Haleem Nooristani said in a telephone
interview.
Word of the attack reached Kabul, the capital, on Monday, as Karzai
accepted the draft of a new constitution that, if approved by a
traditional
grand council next month, would concentrate significant powers in the
presidency. An aide to Karzai confirmed that the airstrike had taken
place...
-----
LA. PRISONS SUPPORT OBSERVANCE OF RAMADAN
Emily Kern, Sunday Advocate, 11/3/03
http://www.2theadvocate.com/stories/110203/new_islam001.shtml
ST. GABRIEL - For Nathaniel Green, his first day of fasting during the
Islamic holy month of Ramadan was easier than he expected.
About 75 inmates at Elayn Hunt Correctional Center in St. Gabriel,
along
with millions around the world, began the fast the evening of Oct. 26.
During the ninth month of the lunar calendar, followers of the Islamic
religion abstain from food and drink, including water, from sunrise to
sunset. They also monitor their thoughts and words and abstain from
sexual
contact during the daylight hours.
"The food part was easy," Green said. "It was the part of becoming one
with
myself, trying not to indulge in certain conversations and looking at
females a certain way that proved challenging."
Green, 18, an inmate at Hunt, said he was introduced to Islam on the
streets by a friend. He became more involved in the religion once
incarcerated, he said...
ALSO SEE:
YOUNG MUSLIMS EAGER TO FAST
Bill Lubinger; Religion News Service, 11/2/03
http://www.religionnews.com
CLEVELAND - For the 1 billion Muslims worldwide, the monthlong
observance
of Ramadan, which began Monday, is a time of introspection, to feel
closer
to God, to appreciate life's gifts by going without.
Eight-year-old Yasmine Hassan is thrilled about the start of Ramadan
for
another reason. "Less eating!" she said gleefully, slowly clapping her
hands with arms outstretched, her dimples as deep as craters.
Aside from a hankering for cheeseburgers and fries, Yasmine is in the
picky
eaters hall of fame. During Islam's holy month, she'll catch a break
from
her mother, Soha's, constant pleas to eat, eat, eat.
Fasting during Ramadan is one of the five pillars of Islam.
By puberty, Muslims are expected to fast from sunrise to sunset during
Ramadan. But children in many Muslim families want to start sooner than
that. Some young children ease into the observance by fasting for
half-days
or on weekends.
And many children try to fast the 12 hours or so each day by age 7 or 8
--
some even younger. For Muslim children in the United States, their
willpower is tested through school lunch period, class snack time, even
after-school activities...
---
SOLDIERS SHOULD BE AWARE OF RAMADAN
Pfc. Kelly Hunt, Army News Service, 11/3/03
http://www4.army.mil/ocpa/read.php?story_id_key=5371
BAGRAM, Afghanistan - To understand a religion other than your own
takes an
open mind, a curious heart and an opportunity to witness the inner
circle
of the practice.
For troops who go to Afghanistan or the Persian Gulf, the Muslim faith
is
placed at their doorstep, especially during the Muslim holy month of
Ramadan.
>From Oct. 27 until Nov. 24, more than one billion believers in the
Muslim
faith around the world devote their time and energy to inner
reflection,
self-control and devotion to Allah through prayer and sacrifice.
For many troops who have been exposed to the Muslim faith, Ramadan
offers a
close encounter with the religion through the many local nationals
working
on base...
-----
MPAC HOSTS RAMADAN LECTURE EVENT
WHAT: Constitutional law professor and acclaimed author, David Cole,
will
discuss his new book, Enemy Aliens and American Freedoms: The War on
Terrorism's Slippery Slope.
Book signing will follow presentation.
Dr. Maher Hathout will lead in Taraweeh Prayers and Quranic reflections
on
"Spirituality of Justice". The focus of Dr. Hathout's talk will
revolve
around how a Muslim can ground his or her spirituality by working
toward
justice here on earth. Spirituality is not just an abstract,
metaphysical
concept, it should be enacted here on earth.
WHEN: Saturday, November 8th, 2003 at 5:00 PM
WHERE: Walter D. Ehlers Community Center
8150 Knott Ave
Buena Park, CA 90620
Space is limited, so please remember to RSVP. For more information and
to
RSVP, please call MPAC at (213)383-3443 by Wednesday, November 5th,
2003. Childcare will be provided.
-----
MAS/ICNA CONVENTION IN CHICAGO
WHAT: The Muslim American Society (MAS) and the Islamic Circle of North
America (ICNA) will be holding their second 2003 joint convention in
Chicago, IL.
The convention, titled "Muslims, Citizens of the West, Rights Duties
and
prospects", will feature renowned national and international speakers,
hold
several conferences and workshops, and feature a special youth
conference.
WHEN: Wednesday December 24th - Sunday December 28th, 2003
WHERE: Chicago, IL
-----
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-----
CAIR
Council on American-Islamic Relations
453 New Jersey Avenue, S.E.
Washington, D.C. 20003
Tel: 202-488-8787, 202-744-7726
Fax: 202-488-0833
E-mail: cair@cair-net.org
URL: http://www.cair-net.org
Forwarded Message
Date:
Wed, 05 Nov 2003 13:51:31 -0500
To:
cair-net@cair.biglist.com
From:
"CAIR" <cair@cair-net.org>
Subject:
CAIR-NET: 'Extraordinary Rendition' Leads to Torture
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
AMERICAN MUSLIM NEWS BRIEFS - 11/5/03
* HADITH OF THE DAY: HELP OTHERS
* IMAM SIRAJ WAHHAJ TO SPEAK AT CAIR DINNER
- Volunteers Needed For CAIR Dinner
* "EXTRAORDINARY RENDITION" LEADS TO TORTURE (Wash. Post)
- Arar: 'I Lived In A Grave' (Toronto Star)
- Canadian Leaders Nix Deportation Inquiry (AP)
* MI MUSLIMS SUFFER HARASSMENT, HATRED (Detroit News)
- Discrimination Tough to Prove (Detroit News)
* GUANTANAMO INMATE SUES US (BBC)
* PIPES' ACCUSATIONS 'MCCARTHY-ESQUE' (Jupiter Courier)
- Where's Evidence to Support Charge? (JC)
- Professor Heartened By Support (Sun-Sentinel)
- Pipes Speaks At Yale (AP)
* GEN. BOYKIN: NO AMERICAN JIHAD (Bangor News)
* ISSUE FOR BUSH: HOW TO SPEAK OF CASUALTIES? (NY Times)
- How Many Body Bags? (LA Times)
- Death by Optimism (NY Times)
- Iraqis' Hatred Grows (Independent)
- Goodwill Is Fragile In New Iraq (CSM)
* THE SUPREME COURT AND SEPT. 11 (NY Times)
- White House Told To Justify Secrecy (Wash. Post)
* DRAFT VOLUNTEERS REVIVES MEMORIES OF VIETNAM (Guardian)
* A MOTHER WAITS OUT HER DETENTION (Chicago Tribune)
* CANDIDATE SAYS 'HATE GROUP' TARGETED HIM (LA Times)
* NY MUSLIM NEWSPAPER WINS AWARDS (Newsday)
- PA Board Could OK Mosque Tomorrow (Phil. Inquirer)
* ISRAEL DESTROYS US-BUILT WELLS (Independent)
* WHEN DID "ARAB" BECOME A DIRTY WORD? (Counterpunch)
* PUBLIC FORUM ON UNDERSTANDING IRAQ
-----
HADITH OF THE DAY: HELP OTHERS
The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: "The person who looks
after
a widow or the poor is like…someone who prayers all night and fasts all
day."
Sahih Al-Bukhari, Volume 7, Hadith 265
-----
IMAM SIRAJ WAHHAJ TO SPEAK AT CAIR DINNER
Registration is now available online for CAIR's Ninth Annual
Fundraising
Dinner on November 29th (the weekend after Eid ul-Fitr) in Washington,
D.C.
The dinner, with the theme "Muslims in America: A Defining Moment,"
will
feature presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich as one of its main
speakers.
Featured speakers include Imam Siraj Wahhaj. Wahhaj is well-known as a
dynamic motivational speaker and tireless supporter of Islamic causes.
A
leader and community activist, Wahhaj is one of the most respected
Muslim
leaders in America.
WHERE: Sheraton Premiere at Tysons Corner, 8661 Leesburg Pike, Tysons
Corner/Vienna, VA
COST: CAIR dinners always quick to sell out so get you tickets now!
Tickets: $55/$85 per couple R.S.V.P. by Nov. 24, 2003. No children
please.
(Limited babysitting with prior notice only - $10 per child.)
FOR MORE INFORMATION, call 202-488-8787 or e-mail:
register@cair-net.org
ACTION REQUESTED:
REGISTER FOR CAIR'S DINNER BY GOING TO:
https://www.cair-net.org/2003dinner-register.asp
---
VOLUNTEERS ARE NEEDED FOR CAIR DINNER
CAIR is seeking volunteers to help with its upcoming dinner in
Washington,
D.C. Those interested in helping with the dinner should email
fkhan@cair-net.org or call Farida Khan at 202-488-8787.
-----
DEPORTED TERROR SUSPECT DETAILS TORTURE IN SYRIA
DeNeen L. Brown and Dana Priest, Washington Post, 11/5/03
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A522-2003Nov4.html
TORONTO - A Canadian citizen who was detained last year at John F.
Kennedy
International Airport in New York as a suspected terrorist said Tuesday
he
was secretly deported to Syria and endured 10 months of torture in a
Syrian
prison.
Maher Arar, 33, who was released last month, said at a news conference
in
Ottawa that he pleaded with U.S. authorities to let him continue on to
Canada, where he has lived for 15 years and has a family. But instead,
he
was flown under U.S. guard to Jordan and handed over to Syria, where he
was
born. Arar denied any connection to terrorism and said he would fight
to
clear his name.
U.S. officials said Tuesday that Arar was deported because he had been
put
on a terrorist watch list after information from "multiple
international
intelligence agencies" linked him to terrorist groups.
Officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that the Arar case
fits
the profile of a covert CIA "extraordinary rendition" -- the practice
of
turning over low-level, suspected terrorists to foreign intelligence
services, some of which are known to torture prisoners...
ALSO SEE:
ARAR'S SYRIAN HELL: 'I LIVED IN A GRAVE'
Graham Fraser, Toronto Star, 11/5/03
http://www.torontostar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1067987409905&call_pageid=968332188774&col=968350116467
'What I went through is just beyond human imagination'
Maher Arar has returned from "the grave" - a dark, filthy cell six feet
by
three feet by seven feet - to tell his story.
Arar, freed by Syria in October after almost a year in jail, told a
news
conference yesterday of the physical and psychological torture he
endured
at the hands of his interrogators and the horrific conditions he lived
in.
"For 10 months and 10 days I lived in a grave," said the Syrian-born
Canadian...
He said he was beaten with shredded electrical cables during the first
two
weeks of his detention - one of the beatings lasting 18 hours - and was
forced to sign false confessions.
One of the hardest parts of his imprisonment to endure, he said, was
listening to other prisoners being tortured...
---
CANADIAN LEADERS NIX DEPORTATION INQUIRY
Tom Cohen, Associated Press, 11/5/03
http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-3352381,00.html
Canada's prime minister and foreign affairs minister rejected calls for
a
public inquiry into why a Canadian citizen was deported to Syria last
year
by the United States.
Maher Arar of Ottawa, who spent a year in Syrian custody after being
detained while traveling through New York's John F. Kennedy
International
Airport in September 2002, told of torture and solitary confinement in
his
first public comments about the ordeal Tuesday.
Arar, 33, choked up several times while describing the beatings and the
tiny, dark cell where he was kept.
He believes an overzealous pursuit of terrorists in the aftermath of
the
Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in the United States is partly to blame, but
said
only a full public inquiry in Canada can reveal what happened.
Arar's family and Canadian lawyers accuse Canadian security agencies,
particularly the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, of providing
information to
American authorities, who eventually deported Arar.
-----
METRO ARABS, MUSLIMS SUFFER HARASSMENT, HATRED
Francis X. Donnelly, Detroit News, 11/4/03
http://www.detnews.com/2003/specialreport/0311/04/a01-316063.htm
WATERFORD -- Early on a summer night, a white ice cream truck rolled
down a
tree-lined street, luring children with its tinny rendition of "The
Entertainer."
A moment later, an undercover officer wearing a red-white-and-blue
bandana
was kneeling over the prone body of an Arab-American who had just been
driving the truck. The cop was pointing his gun at the man's head,
according to a subsequent lawsuit.
How did this suburban scene last year jump so quickly from Americana to
American gothic?
According to Arabs and Muslims, it has to do with another day, one that
featured lightning-quick assaults on the American psyche: hijackings,
jetliner crashes, falling skyscrapers.
The terrorist attacks of September 11 unleashed a torrent of hatred and
ugliness against Arabs and Muslims. Some say they have suffered small
indignities, while others talk of blatant discrimination that violates
their civil rights.
"I didn't expect even in my dreams that this could happen in America,"
said
Basim Alkhateeb, the Jordanian who was accosted by the Waterford
policeman.
Tipped off by neighbors, the police said they thought Alkhateeb and his
brother, Abedulah, who regularly switched vehicles in the neighborhood,
were dealing drugs. But Basim was just dropping off the ice cream truck
for
his brother.
The number of discrimination and harassment complaints received by the
Washington-based Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) tripled
last
year to 1,516. The complaints, from Arabs and Muslims in the United
States,
ranged from job discrimination to name-calling to violence. The
organization's survey of 945 Muslims last year found that 48 percent
believed the quality of their lives had declined since September 11…
SEE ALSO:
DISCRIMINATION TOUGH TO PROVE
Francis X. Donnelly, Detroit News, 11/4/03
http://www.detnews.com/2003/specialreport/0311/04/a06-316048.htm
INKSTER -- Muzaffar Lakhani's mail sometimes was opened before it
reached
his desk. One morning, he spotted scratches and dents on the door knob
of
his locked office door, leading him to believe that someone had tried
to
force it open.
Another time, after discovering a leak in the roof of the city's Public
Services building, he learned that someone, apparently using a hammer,
had
made the holes directly above his desk.
Lakhani, who is director of the Inkster Department of Public Services,
believes that the mischief is the work of underlings who are prejudiced
against him because he is Pakistani. They deny any involvement.
"Where's the professionalism?" Lakhani asked. "Where do you draw the
line?"
City documents support Lakhani's contention that he has a troubled
relationship with the workers. But is it discrimination?
The case illustrates how difficult it is for the Michigan Department of
Civil Rights and other agencies to prove that someone has been
discriminated against.
-----
GUANTANAMO INMATE SUES US
Zaffar Abbas, BBC, 11/4/03
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/3241265.stm
A man who was imprisoned by the US military at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, is
suing the Pakistani and US governments for damages worth over $10m.
Pakistani cleric Mohammed Sagheer was seized by US troops fighting in
Afghanistan in 2001.
He spent roughly a year with other suspected al-Qaeda and Taleban
operatives in the US military prison.
His lawyers say he is suing for the mental and physical torture he
endured
at Camp X-Ray in Guantanamo Bay.
Mr Sagheer filed his suit in an Islamabad court on Tuesday.
Lawyers acting for him said the case could be heard in a Pakistani
court
because Pakistan's interior ministry is one of the defendants
In the first case of its kind, Mr Sagheer described his arrest by
American
authorities as illegal and his treatment at the prison camp in
Guantanamo
Bay as extremely inhuman...
-----
ACCUSATIONS AGAINST FAU PROF 'MCCARTHY-ESQUE'
Scott C. Alexander, Jupiter Courier, 11/2/03
http://www.tcpalm.com/tcp/jc_letters/article/0,1651,TCP_1119_2385996,00.html
To the Editor:
I wish to commend Randall Murray for noting in his Oct. 25 article that
no
evidence has been produced to substantiate the slanderous accusations
made
by Daniel Pipes and Asaf Romirowsky against visiting FAU professor
Mustafa
Abu Sway. Those of us who know Professor Abu Sway know him to be a man
of
deep faith, enormous integrity and uncommon moral rectitude. We also
know
him to be someone who, having been educated and having raised children
in
the United States, respects so many of our country's ideals and values.
The
reason why he has been targeted by Pipes -- the self-appointed grand
inquisitor of the war on terrorism -- is because Abu Sway is a very
bright
and very articulate Palestinian Muslim intellectual whose principled
and
deeply philosophical analysis of the current state of affairs in
Israel-Palestine challenges many academic and popular audiences to
think
outside the box of a two-state solution.
While I may not accept the plausibility of every aspect of Abu Sway's
idealistic vision for a lasting peace and justice in the Middle East, I
am
absolutely confident that he is a man of peace who would never dream of
engaging in, or supporting acts of terror of any kind. Shame on Mr.
Pipes
for subjecting to his tactics of McCarthy-esque defamation yet another
outspoken Palestinian Muslim friend of the United States.
And shame on President Bush for pushing through Pipes' nomination to
the
U.S. Institute for Peace, despite the well-documented widespread
outrage
over this prospect both within and outside the American Muslim
community.
ALSO SEE:
WHERE'S EVIDENCE TO SUPPORT 'TERRORIST' CHARGE?
Randall Murray, Jupiter Courier, 11/2/03
http://www1.tcpalm.com/tcp/jc_edt_columnists/article/0,1651,TCP_1120_2388545,00.html
Remember the old Eagles tune, "Peaceful Easy Feeling"? I'm turning that
upside down. I have a disturbing, uneasy feeling about events swirling
around a Florida Atlantic University professor being tagged a
terrorist.
The winds picked up around Professor Mustafa Abu Sway early in October
when
columnists for the New York Post, Daniel Pipes and Asaf Romirowsky,
stated
the professor is linked to the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas. Abu
Sway
is a respected teacher of Islamic theology and philosophy. He's a
visiting
Fulbright scholar at FAU's Honors College on the Jupiter campus. His
background was vetted by the U.S. State Department and the Fulbright
organization and he came up clean. Because of the column, however, he's
being checked again.
But based on a watery reference from an Israeli diplomat in Miami,
Pipes
and Romirowsky plowed ahead with their column, alleging in vague terms
why
the university should turn on Abu Sway.
Do I know Mustafa Abu Sway is not linked with Hamas? No, I don't. I
know he
has denied, vehemently and with angry frustration, any such
connections. I
know that Abu Sway has been strongly defended in a letter to the editor
appearing in today's Jupiter Courier by a colleague in the field of
Catholic-Islamic studies. I know that many of Abu Sway's students have
rallied around the beleaguered academic, calling the charges nonsense.
And as a journalist, I also know that the Pipes and Romirowsky column
in
the Post is built on a suspect foundation...
---
PROFESSOR HEARTENED BY SUPPORT
Tal Abbady, Sun-Sentinel, 11/5/03
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/palmbeach/sfl-psway05nov05,0,5282311.story
He has lectured on interfaith dialogue in Jerusalem, Bosnia, Northern
Ireland and other hot spots of ethnic conflict. In Jerusalem, he
maneuvered
his way around a razor-coil barricade that separates the largely
Palestinian eastern and the western parts of the city in order to get
to
his job as professor of Islamic studies at Al-Quds University. As a
Fulbright scholar at Florida Atlantic University's Jupiter campus,
Mustafa
Abu Sway hoped to forge more ties across cultural boundaries.
Instead, he's fighting his way past a barrage of accusations and
suspicion
following a New York Post column accusing him of having ties to
terrorism.
In the Oct. 20 column, Daniel Pipes, head of the pro-Israeli group
Middle
East Forum, said he had evidence "from the Israeli government" that
Sway
has ties to Hamas, which Washington has labeled a terrorist group. The
column called Sway's August arrival as a visiting Fulbright scholar at
FAU
a sign of "the casual tolerance of terrorist ties in the field of
Middle
East studies..."
---
PIPES SPEAKS AT YALE
Associated Press Newswires, 11/6/03
WHAT: PIPES TALK--Political commentator Daniel Pipes to speak about the
current situation in the Middle East
WHEN: Nov. 6. 3:30 p.m. - 5 p.m.
WHERE: NEW HAVEN: Yale University, Linsly-Chittenden Hall, Room 102, 63
High St.
-----
NO AMERICAN JIHAD
Bangor News, 11/4/03
http://www.bangornews.com/editorialnews/articles/411147_110403noamericanjihad_.cfm
The protest against comments by Lt. Gen. William Boykin, a senior
Pentagon
official, could have calmed by now had Secretary Donald Rumsfeld not
waffled on the inappropriateness - in fact, the harmfulness - of the
remarks. It was not until President Bush made a clear statement that
turning the war against terrorism into a religious war was unacceptable
that the defense secretary somewhat clarified himself. But by then the
issue had grown beyond a single poorly made statement into a pattern of
comments that incite U.S. opponents to act against this nation.
As a factual matter, it has been only an extremist minority of Muslims
that
has tried to hijack one of the world's great religions to organize a
jihad
or holy war against the United States. To accept the conflict in those
terms is to play right into the hands of Osama bin Laden and his
radical
Islamic conspiracy.
That is one of the problems with the remarks by Gen. Boykin, first as
commander of the Fort Bragg, N.C., training center and more recently as
the
deputy undersecretary of defense for intelligence. Addressing
evangelical
Christian audiences, he has denounced Muslims as worshiping an "idol"
and
not "a real god." He said to a church audience in Oregon: "Why do they
hate
us? The answer to that is because we are a Christian nation..."
-----
ISSUE FOR BUSH: HOW TO SPEAK OF CASUALTIES?
Elisabeth Bumiller, New York Times, 11/5/03
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/05/politics/campaigns/05STRA.html
WASHINGTON - When the Chinook helicopter was shot down on Sunday in
Iraq,
killing 15 Americans, President Bush let his defense secretary do the
talking and stayed out of sight at his ranch. The president has not
attended the funeral of any American soldiers killed in action, White
House
officials say. And with violence in Baghdad dominating the headlines
this
week, he has used his public appearances to focus on the health of the
economy and the wildfires in California.
But after some of the deadliest attacks yet on American forces, the
White
House is struggling with the political consequences for a president who
has
said little publicly about the mounting casualties of the occupation.
The quandary for Mr. Bush, administration officials say, is in finding
a
balance: expressing sympathy for fallen soldiers without drawing more
attention to the casualties by commenting daily on every new death.
White House officials say their strategy, for now, is to avoid having
the
president mention some deaths but not others, and so avoid inequity.
(Mr.
Bush does send a personal letter to the family of every soldier killed
in
action and has met privately with relatives at military bases...)
ALSO SEE:
HOW MANY BODY BAGS?
Robert Scheer, Los Angeles Times, 11/4/03
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-scheer4nov04,1,5000406.column
On Sunday, 19 more young Americans died in Iraq serving the vanity of
an
American president who woefully betrayed them and who has no idea where
his
policies are taking the country.
This is a president who, as is now amply clear, has systematically lied
to
the troops and the nation about the reasons for going to war,
distorting
evidence to claim that the United States was threatened by Saddam
Hussein's
weapons of mass destruction and linking Iraq to the Sept. 11 terrorist
attacks.
Having led the country by the nose into a clumsy, ill-advised Middle
East
power grab, President Bush is faced with a terrible quandary: What do
we do
now?
The first thing is to resist the logic of the self-fulfilling prophecy:
Bush claimed Iraq was a center of international terrorism -- it wasn't
--
and now says that because terrorists are coming over Iraqi borders to
take
potshots at Americans, we need to stay and fight them...
---
DEATH BY OPTIMISM
Nicholas D. Kristof, New York Times, 11/5/03
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/05/opinion/05KRIS.html
In a visit to Saddam's Iraq a year ago, I wrote a column that outraged
his
government. It described officials burning a Muslim leader's beard and
then
driving nails through his head.
The next day I was summoned to a government ministry and menacingly
denounced by two of Saddam's henchmen. But neither man could speak
English,
and they hadn't actually read the offending column. (Imagine officials
who
don't read papers but rely on underlings for briefings!)
At that point, my government minder took my column and translated it
for
them. I saw my life flash before my eyes. But my minder's job was to
spy on
me, and he worried that my tough column would reflect badly on his
spying.
Plus, he was charging me $100 a day, and he would lose a fortune if I
was
expelled, or worse.
So he translated my column very selectively. There was no mention of
burning beards or nails in heads. He left out whole paragraphs. When he
finished, the two senior officials shrugged and let me off scot-free.
That episode underscored to me how difficult it was for Saddam's
government
to get accurate information. Ultimately, Saddam's rule collapsed in
part
because he couldn't read Iraq and made decisions based on hubris and
bad
information.
These days, President Bush and his aides are having the same problem.
Critics complain that they lied to the American public about how
difficult
the war would be, but I fear the critics are wrong: they didn't just
fool
us - they also fooled themselves...
---
JUDGE IS SHOT DEAD AS IRAQIS' HATRED OF OCCUPIERS GROWS
Patrick Cockburn, Independent, 11/5/03
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/story.jsp?story=460552
In the little farming village of al-Qadasiya yesterday, buried deep in
the
Iraqi countryside south of Balad and only accessible by dusty tracks,
relatives were mourning six men who died in a pick-up truck when they
were
ambushed by American troops after returning from Ramadan prayers on
Sunday
night.
Sitting in a tent, surrounded by neighbours who had come to comfort
him,
Abed Obaid Yass said his 61-year-old brother, Salman, his two sons,
Arkan
and Daoud, and two cousins had gone to a small cement mosque for
prayers.
They left the mosque at 8pm thinking they were safe because "the
Americans
announced over a loudspeaker that curfew was lifted". They drove home
in
three trucks, the last of which suddenly came under fire. Five people
were
hit, including the driver, but they kept going.
When they got back to the village, the driver died but two men offered
to
take the wounded to hospital in another pick-up. But they were attacked
again and five more people were killed. One old man who was wounded
escaped
into the bushes beside the road and watched an American ambush party
surround the pick-up, which they presumably thought was being used by
guerrillas. The villagers deny that anybody in the truck was involved
in
the resistance. They said there had been no attacks on American troops
in
the district that night...
The US army does not keep a count of Iraqi civilians killed in such
incidents, but the hostility they create towards the occupation goes a
long
way to explain why guerrilla war is becoming endemic in this part of
the
Iraqi countryside.
---
GOODWILL IS FRAGILE IN NEW IRAQ
Howard LaFranchi, Christian Science Monitor, 11/5/03
http://www.csmonitor.com/2003/1105/p01s02-woiq.html
ABU GHRAIB, IRAQ - As the cinderblock rubble of what was to be Abu
Ghraib's
new marketplace is carted off by scavengers, a piece of the goodwill
that
had slowly been built between Iraqis and Americans stationed here is
also
disappearing.
Just this month the new market had opened, a symbol of reconstruction
progress in this poor agricultural town just west of Baghdad - and on
the
fringes of the violent Sunni Triangle. But by Sunday, what was intended
as
a community-improvement project, planned and executed by the US
military in
cooperation with the local town council, lay in ruins. It was crushed
by
American tanks and a combination of fear, misunderstandings, and
outside
insurgent interference.
The two days of riots and destruction of Abu Ghraib's market - which
left
at least seven Iraqis dead - symbolize the fragile state of relations
between Iraqis and the American authorities, and the susceptibility of
those relations to cultural differences and faltering security...
-----
THE SUPREME COURT AND SEPT. 11
New York Times, 11/5/03
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/05/opinion/05WED1.html
In the two years since Sept. 11, the Bush administration and the
federal
courts have rewritten important areas of the law, scaling back the
right to
counsel, the ability of prisoners to challenge their confinement and
other
civil liberties. Through it all, the Supreme Court has been silent,
largely
because of the time it takes for cases to work their way up. The court
will
soon have a chance, however, to consider several cases posing the
question
of how much, if any, our constitutional rights have changed as a result
of
Sept. 11. It has a duty to step in and stand up for civil liberties.
The administration has taken some fairly radical steps in its war on
terrorism. It insists that anyone it labels an "enemy combatant,"
including
American citizens, can be held indefinitely and denied access to
lawyers
and family members. And it maintains that the hundreds of detainees in
Guant�namo can be held indefinitely, with no chance to contest their
captivity. On these two points, and on equally troubling ones raised in
other cases, federal appeals courts have sided with the administration.
The Supreme Court is still assembling its docket for this term and will
have an opportunity to consider the administration's enemy-combatant
doctrine in the case of Yasser Esam Hamdi, an American citizen of Saudi
descent apparently captured on the battlefield in the Afghan war. Mr.
Hamdi
has been held in a military brig since April of last year, without
access
to a lawyer. An appeals court held that he had no right to challenge
his
incarceration. It is a disturbing ruling, with sweeping implications
for
the power of the government to detain citizens. The Supreme Court
should
review it...
ALSO SEE:
WHITE HOUSE TOLD TO JUSTIFY SECRECY
Charles Lane, Washington Post, 11/5/03
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A494-2003Nov4.html
The Supreme Court announced yesterday that it wants the Bush
administration
to defend the secrecy that enveloped lower federal courts' proceedings
involving one of the 1,200 Arab and Muslim men detained by federal
authorities after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
In a brief order, the court called on Solicitor General Theodore B.
Olson
to respond to a Florida resident's claim that lower courts violated the
Constitution when they agreed to keep even the existence of his case a
matter of strict confidentiality. The court's action comes a month
after
Olson informed the justices that he did not plan to respond.
The court's order suggests that the justices are keeping a watchful eye
on
the government's legal approach to the war on terrorism, including its
assertion that much of that war must be conducted in secret, even
though
the court has yet to accept a case for full argument and decision.
Earlier this year, the court turned down a request from media
organizations
to rule on the constitutionality of the administration's policy of
secret
immigration-court proceedings in terrorism-related cases, despite
conflicting rulings by lower courts. Olson told the justices then that
the
policy was justified by the government's need to keep information
useful to
terrorists from leaking, and that Supreme Court intervention was
unnecessary since such hearings were largely completed...
-----
APPEAL FOR DRAFT BOARD VOLUNTEERS REVIVES MEMORIES OF VIETNAM ERA
Suzanne Goldenberg, Guardian, 11/5/03
http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,12271,1077906,00.html
The Pentagon has begun recruiting for local draft boards, dredging up
painful memories of Vietnam era conscription at a time of deepening
misgiving about America's occupation of Iraq.
In a notice posted on the defence department's Defend America website,
Americans over the age of 18 and with no criminal record are invited to
"serve your community and the nation" by volunteering for the boards,
which
decide which recruits should be sent to war.
Thirty years have passed since the draft boards last exerted their hold
on
America, deciding which soldiers would be sent to Vietnam. After
Congress
ended the draft in 1973, they have become largely dormant.
However, recruitment for the boards suggests that in some parts of the
Pentagon all options are being explored in response to concerns that
the US
military has been stretched too thin in its occupations of Afghanistan
and
Iraq.
Although Pentagon officials denied any move to reinstitute the draft,
the
defence department website does not shirk at outlining the potential
duties
for a new crop of volunteers to the draft boards...
-----
A MOTHER WAITS OUT HER DETENTION
Chicago Tribune, Shia Kapos, 11/5/03
http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/women/chi-0311050040nov05,1,7274376.story
"Momma, momma, momma!"
The small arms of two young children reached for Lina Daqa's embrace
only
to be stopped by the pane of glass. "She was right there and they
wanted to
hug and kiss her. But they couldn't and they didn't understand why,"
said
Abdel Raouf, Daqa's husband and father of 3-year-old Majd and
5-year-old
Jinan.
Instead, wails and heartache filled the weekly half-hour visits with
Daqa,
a Palestinian mother who has been held at the Kenosha County Jail since
May
27 when she requested political asylum in the United States. The jail
is
one of about 10 area facilities used by the Chicago immigration offices
to
detain immigrants...
The family--all with valid visitors' visas, according to their
attorneys--has been living in Palos Hills for more than three years.
Raouf
said they moved to the United States hoping to wait out the turmoil
that
has rocked their hometown of Ateel, where Israel is building a dividing
wall between it and the Palestinian territories...
-----
CANDIDATE SAYS 'HATE GROUP' TARGETED HIM
Richard Fausset, Los Angeles Times, 11/5/03
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-muslim5nov05,1,3286047.story
A candidate for an Antelope Valley school board Tuesday accused a local
Republican political action committee of being a "hate group" after the
organization placed a newspaper advertisement accusing him of operating
a
public charter school that teaches "Islamic principles."
The candidate, Kamal al-Khatib, 41, is the volunteer executive director
of
the K-8 Guidance Charter School, which shared its campus with a
Palmdale
mosque until this fall, when it began renting space on a public school
campus.
Al-Khatib -- one of 11 candidates for two open seats on the Antelope
Valley
Union High School District board -- said the charter school follows a
secular curriculum.
The half-page ad, which appeared in Sunday's Antelope Valley Press, was
paid for by the Lancaster-based Antelope Valley Republican Assembly
Committee.
"It is our belief that Kamal Al-Khatib is Owner/Operator of a Charter
School teaching Islamic principles," the ad stated. "This elementary
school
is in Palmdale. It is funded with our tax dollars. Kamal Al-Khatib now
wants to use our tax dollars to create a similar charter high school.
And
that is wrong!..."
-----
PERUSING THE FINE PRINT
Samantha Henry, Newsday, 11/5/03
http://www.nynewsday.com/news/local/queens/nyc-nynabe053526062nov05,0,5902961.story
A Queens-based weekly publication, Muslims, won six Ippies this year,
including one for an editorial on post-war Iraq and another for a
first-person account of Muslim neighbors pitching in during the
blackout in
August.
Jawed Anwar, the founder and publisher of Muslims, said he tries to
foster
dialogue within the Muslim community and across ethnic lines to
non-Muslims. Like many newspapers aimed at new immigrants, the
publication
tries to be a guide to life in America.
"Before 9/11, Muslims were generally thinking about their own
situations;
Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Arabs all had their own communities and were
less
concerned about what is happening around them," he said. "After 9/11,
there
was a need of the Muslims to know America, to be more aware about the
news
happening around their communities nationwide..."
SEE ALSO:
BOARD COULD OK MOSQUE TOMORROW
Edward Colimore, Philadelphia Inquirer, 11/5/03
http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/7184052.htm
VOORHEES - Zia Rahman said he wasn't sure if he and fellow Muslim
worshipers had a prayer when they began their zoning application
process
for a new mosque months ago.
Rahman, managing trustee of the American Muslim Community, said the
group
had been encouraged when the Voorhees zoning board unanimously voted in
May
to allow use of a commercially zoned building as a house of worship.
But public opposition and anonymous letters denouncing the mosque made
the
group wonder whether the site plan would receive final approval.
Tomorrow night, Rahman and 15 Muslim families are likely to find out
after
the zoning board hears public comment and votes on the plan. Approval
would
pave the way for construction in the spring - if no appeals are
filed...
"I saw, from the beginning, that there would be some level of
resistance,"
said Rahman, a Voorhees resident who moved from Pakistan in 1973.
"The only thing that was puzzling were the people trying to inflame. My
feeling is that it is a lack of knowledge, the unknown. 9/11 has
something
to do with it."
Anonymous flyers in the spring and summer warned that the mosque could
draw
"extremists," "radicals" and "individuals with connections to
terrorists."
-----
ISRAEL DESTROYS US-BUILT WELLS
Justin Huggler, Independent, 11/5/03
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/story.jsp?story=460551
The US has reportedly complained after the Israeli army destroyed wells
built for civilians in Gaza by an American government aid agency.
Huge areas have been demolished by the Israelis in the Gaza Strip in
recent
weeks, including more than 150 homes.
The wells had just been dug by the United States Agency for
International
Development (USAid). A few months ago the agency announced a $20m
(�12m)
project to rebuild infrastructure including roads, electricity supply
lines
and sewers in the occupied territories.
The agency was reporting good progress. But its workers were dismayed
when
they turned up to finish the wells and found that their work had been
destroyed. A source at the American embassy said that when USAid
complained, the Israelis told them that they demolished the wells
because
Palestinian militants had been hiding in them.
That has been a regular claim from the Israeli military to justify
demolishing houses in Gaza - but in recent weeks whole streets have
been
knocked down. Israel has also been accused of trying to move refugee
camps
away from the border with Egypt...
-----
WHEN DID "ARAB" BECOME A DIRTY WORD?
Robert Fisk, Counterpunch, 11/4/03
http://counterpunch.org/fisk11042003.html
Is "Palestinian" now just a dirty word? Or is "Arab" the dirty word?
Let's
start with the late Edward Said, the brilliant and passionate
Palestinian-American academic who wrote--among many other
books--Orientalism, the ground-breaking work which first explored our
imperial Western fantasies about the Middle East. After he died of
leukaemia last month, Zev Chafets sneered at him in the New York Daily
News
in the following words: "As an Episcopalian, he's ineligible for the
customary 72 virgins, but I wouldn't be surprised if he's honoured with
a
couple of female doctoral graduates."
According to Chafets, who (says the Post) spent 33 years "in politics,
government and journalism" in Jerusalem, Orientalism "rests on a simple
thesis: Westerners are inherently unable to fairly judge, or even
grasp,
the Arab world." Said "didn't blow up the Marines in Lebanon in 1983
... he
certainly didn't fly a plane into the World Trade Centre. What he did
was
to jam America's intellectual radar."
When I read this vicious obituary, I recalled hearing Chafets' name
before.
So I turned to my files and up he popped in 1982, as former director of
the
Israeli government press office in Jerusalem. He had just published a
book
falsely claiming that Western journalists in Beirut--myself among
them--had
been "terrorised" by bands of Palestinians. He even claimed my old
friend
Sean Toolan, who was murdered by a jealous husband with whose wife he
was
having an affair, was killed by Palestinians because they disapproved
of a
US television programme about the PLO.
So I got the point. You can kick a scholar when he's dead if he's a
Palestinian, and kick a journalist when he's dead if you want to claim
he
was murdered by Palestinians. But now the same sick fantasies are
taking
hold in Australia, where a determined effort is being made by Israel's
supposed friends there to prevent the Palestinian scholar Hanan
Ashrawi--of
all people--from receiving the 2003 Sydney Peace Prize this week...
-----
PUBLIC FORUM ON UNDERSTANDING IRAQ
WHAT: Congressman Charles B. Rangel and West Siders for Peace will be
co-hosting a public forum, "Understanding Iraq." Public forum on
provide
first-hand accounts of life in Baghdad Muslim and Christian speakers to
shed new light on dire situation in Iraq.
Guest speakers HRH Princess Dr. Nisreen El-Hashemite and Mr. Mel Lehman
will give first-hand accounts of their efforts to deliver medical
relief to
Baghdad during the current crisis, and offer proposals for how we can
best
respond to the situation. Audience members will be invited to ask
questions.
WHEN: Wednesday, November 12, 2003, at 7:00 PM
WHERE: Holy Name Church, West 96th St. and Amsterdam Avenue.
For more information: Mel Lehman (212) 865-6115;
mel@childrenofiraq.org
-----
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-----
CAIR
Council on American-Islamic Relations
453 New Jersey Avenue, S.E.
Washington, D.C. 20003
Tel: 202-488-8787, 202-744-7726
Fax: 202-488-0833
E-mail: cair@cair-net.org
URL: http://www.cair-net.org
Forwarded Message
Date:
Wed, 05 Nov 2003 14:48:46 -0500
To:
cair-net@cair.biglist.com
From:
"CAIR" <cair@cair-net.org>
Subject:
CAIR-NET: DC-Area Muslims Urged to Attend TSA Forum
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
SUPPORT CAIR'S $1 MILLION DURING RAMADAN CAMPAIGN
Donate generously to the campaign. To donate online, go to:
http://www.cair-net.org/asp/millionforislam.asp (NOTE: Scholars says
CAIR
is able to receive ZAKAT donations.)
-----
CAIR ACTION ALERT #401
DC-AREA MUSLIMS URGED TO ATTEND TSA FORUM
Dialogue features Sikh, Muslim, Arab, and South Asian leaders
(WASHINGTON, D.C., 11/5/2003) - CAIR is urging members of the DC-Area
Muslim community to attend a November 14th Transportation Security
Administration (TSA) "Partnership Initiative" with representatives of
several religious and ethnic minorities.
The day-long dialogue will feature presentations by TSA and Department
of
Homeland Security (DHS) officials, as well as a morning "Building
Partnerships" panel discussion involving Sikh, Muslim, Arab, and South
Asian community leaders.
"We appreciate the TSA's willingness to reach out to those religious
and
ethnic communities that are most affected by national security
policies,"
said CAIR Executive Director Nihad Awad.
Issues examined during the event will include the Computer Assisted
Passenger Prescreening System (CAPPSII) and an overview of civil rights
resources at both the TSA and DHS.
WHEN: November 14, 7:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
WHERE: The Sphinx Club at Almas Shriner Temple, 1315 K Street, NW,
Washington, DC (McPherson Square Metro Station)
The event is co-sponsored by CAIR, the Arab American Institute, the
Indian
American Center for Political Awareness, the National Asian Pacific
American Legal Consortium, the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination
Committee,
the Sikh Council on Religious Education, and the Sikh Media Watch and
Resource Task Force.
IMMEDIATE ACTION REQUESTED:
To RSVP for the dialogue, contact Joshua Brockwell at 202-488-8787,
ext.
3221 (jbrockwell@cair-net.org) by November 10. A prayer room and a
Ramadan
fast-breaking meal will be provided.
- PLEASE POST, COPY AND DISTRIBUTE -
-----
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http://cair.biglist.com/cair-net/
To reach the list moderator, send a message to: cair@cair-net.org
-----
CAIR
Council on American-Islamic Relations
453 New Jersey Avenue, S.E.
Washington, D.C. 20003
Tel: 202-488-8787, 202-744-7726
Fax: 202-488-0833
E-mail: cair@cair-net.org
URL: http://www.cair-net.org
-----
Forwarded Message
Date:
Thu, 06 Nov 2003 17:07:23 -0500
To:
cair-net@cair.biglist.com
From:
"CAIR" <cair@cair-net.org>
Subject:
CAIR-NET: Boykin Must be Removed/NJ Mosque Plan Opposed
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
AMERICAN MUSLIM NEWS BRIEFS - 11/6/03
* HADITH OF THE DAY: FAST FOR GOD
* HAVE YOU DONE YOUR PART? EACH DONATION COUNTS!
* SUPPORT CAIR'S $1 MILLION DURING RAMADAN CAMPAIGN
- Rep. Nick J. Rahall to Speak at CAIR Dinner
- Volunteers Needed For CAIR Dinner
- CAIR-DFW "Eternal Gratitude" Iftar Banquet
* BOYKIN MUST BE REMOVED FROM POST (Battalion)
- Christian Soldier (Washington Post)
* ARAB LAWYER IS HERO IN 'JESSICA LYNCH' (AP)
* CHRETIEN PROTESTS DEPORTATION OF CANADIAN (Wash. Post)
- What Does Arar Case Say About Canada? (Toronto Star)
* NEW NJ MOSQUE PLAN ROUSES OPPOSITION (AP)
- Chapel's Stab at Tolerance Backfires (ABJ)
* PATRIOT ACT VIOLATES BASIC CIVIL LIBERTIES (Daily Campus)
* TURKISH MILITARY LAUNCHES HEADSCARF INVESTIGATION (TDN)
* POSSIBLE DEAL ABORTED? (ABC)
- Death Be Not Loud (NY Times)
- U.S. Detains Relatives of Iraq Suspects (Wash. Post)
* LOSS OF FEITH IN DOUGLAS (Asia Times)
* PALESTINIAN TEEN TREATED IN NJ BACK IN MIDEAST (AP)
- Palestinians Forced to Apply for Permits (AP)
* PIPES DOESN'T SPEAK FOR ALL JEWS (Hartford Courant)
- Pipes Should Respect Dissent (Yale Daily)
- Neocons Threaten Funding for ME Studies (Salon)
* INMATE CLAIMS JD HEAD HAD A CHANGE OF HEART (Forward)
- Israel's Democracy Dilemma (American Conservative)
* IN UZBEKISTAN, RELIGION IS VICTIM OF WAR ON TERROR (CSM)
-----
HADITH OF THE DAY: FAST FOR GOD
The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) used to say when he broke his
fast: "O God, for Thee I have fasted and with Thy provision I have
broken
my fast."
Sunan of Abu-Dawood, Hadith 978
The Prophet also said: "There are three people whose supplications (to
God)
will not be rejected: a fasting person until he breaks his fast, a just
ruler and a person who is oppressed."
Fiqh-us-Sunnah, Volume 3, Number 132
-----
HAVE YOU DONE YOUR PART? EACH DONATION COUNTS!
SUPPORT CAIR'S $1 MILLION DURING RAMADAN CAMPAIGN
Donate generously to the campaign. To donate online, go to:
http://www.cair-net.org/asp/millionforislam.asp
(NOTE: Scholars says CAIR is able to receive ZAKAT donations.)
---
REP. NICK J. RAHALL TO SPEAK AT CAIR DINNER
Registration is now available online for CAIR's Ninth Annual
Fundraising
Dinner on November 29th (the weekend after Eid ul-Fitr) in Washington,
D.C.
The dinner, with the theme "Muslims in America: A Defining Moment,"
will
feature presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich as one of its main
speakers.
Featured speakers include Rep. Rahall (D-WV). Rahall has co-sponsored
various resolutions recognizing the commencement of Ramadan and
commending
Muslims in the United States and throughout the world for their faith.
He
has also condemned bigotry and violence against Arab-Americans,
American
Muslims, and Americans from South Asia in the wake of terrorist attacks
in
New York City, New York, and Washington, D.C., on September 11, 2001.
WHERE: Sheraton Premiere at Tysons Corner, 8661 Leesburg Pike, Tysons
Corner/Vienna, VA
COST: CAIR dinners always quick to sell out so get you tickets now!
Tickets: $55/$85 per couple R.S.V.P. by Nov. 24, 2003. No children
please.
(Limited babysitting with prior notice only - $10 per child.)
FOR MORE INFORMATION, call 202-488-8787 or e-mail:
register@cair-net.org
ACTION REQUESTED:
REGISTER FOR CAIR'S DINNER BY GOING TO:
https://www.cair-net.org/2003dinner-register.asp
---
VOLUNTEERS ARE NEEDED FOR CAIR DINNER
CAIR is seeking volunteers to help with its upcoming dinner in
Washington,
D.C. Those interested in helping with the dinner should email
fkhan@cair-net.org or call Farida Khan at 202-488-8787.
---
CAIR-DFW "ETERNAL GRATITUDE" IFTAR BANQUET
WHAT: The Council on American-Islamic Relations Dallas/Fort Worth
chapter
(CAIR-DFW) will host a formal Ramadan Iftar/dinner banquet in honor of
those individuals and organizations that participated in the Egyptian
Twins' separation process.
WHERE: Fairmont Hotel in Downtown Dallas in the International Ballroom
WHEN: Wednesday, November 12th at 5:30 p.m. Sharp
Invitations for adults only are available at CAIR-DFW office for a
$100.00
per person. No one under 18 will be allowed in the Ballroom.
For more information, please contact CAIR-DFW at:
3010 LBJ Freeway
Dallas, TX 75234
Tel: (972)231-7233
Fax: (972)231-7466
Email: Info@cairdfw.org
-----
BOYKIN MUST BE REMOVED FROM POST
Hayden Migl, The Battalion, 11/5/03
http://www.thebatt.com/news/550625.html
Relations between the United States and Islamic countries throughout
the
world are at a crossroads. President George W. Bush and his advisers
have
spent a long time trying to mend relations with the international
community
after the Iraq war, but a U.S. general has taken a step in the opposite
direction by making contentious remarks about Muslims and their
religion.
Lt. Gen. William Boykin should step down or be removed from his current
position in the defense department in response to his divisive
religious
comments. The remarks, which he has made in multiple churches during
the
last two years, do not reflect the attitude the nation or any of its
leaders should have at this time.
The controversy began in the middle of October when some of the
comments
Boykin has made in different churches around the country were revealed.
Boykin was recently appointed to his current position as Deputy
Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence. His comments alluded to the
fact that the war on terror is occurring "because we're a Christian
nation,
because our foundation and our roots are Judeo-Christian ... and the
enemy
is a guy named Satan." Since then, various civil groups, including the
Council on American-Islamic Relations and the Interfaith Alliance, have
called for Boykin's resignation...
ALSO SEE:
CHRISTIAN SOLDIER
Richard Leiby, Washington Post, 11/6/03
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A6529-2003Nov5.html
Standing before a packed church sanctuary in Daytona Beach, Fla., last
January, a battle-scarred Army general named William G. "Jerry" Boykin
talked about one of the most harrowing days of his life. It wasn't a
story
of military combat, though he had seen its horrors several times over a
32-year career.
It was a testimonial about his personal war with the Devil.
"I rarely tell this story," he told his audience at the First Baptist
Church, according to a transcript of the speech, which was recorded by
church officials, "but I feel very strongly that I should share it with
you..."
But now Boykin is the subject of an investigation by the Pentagon's
inspector general over comments he made at several church
presentations, in
which he referred to the United States as a "Christian nation" joined
in
"spiritual battle" against Satan. On at least two occasions, he talked
of
seeing demonic forces in black marks on a photograph he took from a
helicopter over Mogadishu, Somalia, in 1993. And, in discussing a
Somali
Muslim militia leader, Boykin said, "I knew that my God was bigger than
his."
Muslim groups are furious, Christian groups say the remarks were taken
out
of context, Democrats have urged Boykin's removal, and President Bush
has
distanced himself from the general's remarks. Boykin declined to be
interviewed for this article, but he issued a statement last month
saying
he is not "anti-Islam or any other religion" while apologizing to
"those
who may have been offended by my statements..."
-----
IN 'SAVING JESSICA LYNCH,' HEROICS BELONG TO ARAB LAWYER
Lynn Elber, Associated Press, 11/6/03
http://www3.cjad.com/content/cjad_news/article.asp?id=e110635A
LOS ANGELES - A pretty U.S. soldier captured while serving her country
in
the Iraq war. A daring rescue. One happy ending in a conflict that is
far
from resolved.
The decision to make a TV movie about Army Pfc. Jessica Lynch seems
like a
slam dunk, part of Hollywood's long-standing fascination with
ripped-from-the-war stories and warriors.
But NBC's "Saving Jessica Lynch" turns out to be distinctive because
it's
less about the Palestine, W.Va., native than about the Iraqi man
credited
with helping the U.S. military find and retrieve her...
The film's willingness to show Arabs in a positive light was lauded by
Hussam Ayloush, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic
Relations in Southern California.
"I think any programs that humanizes Iraqis and Muslims in general is
welcomed by our community," Ayloush said. "This is the reality: Iraqi
people are human beings who care about others."
A kind depiction of Iraqis also might help bolster American willingness
to
stay the postwar course, suggested Ayloush (whose group, he says,
opposed
unilateral action against Iraq).
"It's much more appealing to sell that we're helping people who deserve
our
help ... We've taken over their country and there is a (tendency) to
humanize the people of that country to justify the human and material
cost
of being there," he said...
-----
CHRETIEN PROTESTS DEPORTATION OF CANADIAN
DeNeen L. Brown and Dana Priest, Washington Post, 11/6/03
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A6147-2003Nov5.html
TORONTO - Prime Minister Jean Chretien on Wednesday protested the U.S.
treatment of a Canadian citizen who was detained in New York and
deported
to Syria last year on suspicion of having links to terrorists.
Chretien told Parliament that Foreign Minister Bill Graham had spoken
with
Secretary of State Colin L. Powell and asked why the United States sent
Maher Arar to Syria.
"It is completely unacceptable and deplorable what happened to this
gentleman, who is a Canadian and who was sent to Syria rather than to
his
country of Canada," Chretien said. "We have protested."
Arar, 33, said at a news conference on Tuesday that he spent 10 months
in a
Syrian jail, where he was beaten, held in a small cell and forced to
sign
false confessions that he had been to Afghanistan.
Arar was born in Syria and holds dual Syrian-Canadian citizenship. He
was
traveling on Sept. 26, 2002, under his Canadian passport when he was
detained while making a connection at John F. Kennedy International
Airport. U.S. officials said Arar was detained and deported to Syria
after
his name appeared on an immigration watch list...
---
WHAT DOES ARAR CASE SAY ABOUT CANADA?
Haroon Siddiqui, Toronto Star, 11/6/03
http://www.torontostar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&call_pageid=971358637177&c=Article&cid=1068073811429
Five points and a recommendation re the case of Maher Arar, a Canadian
brutally tortured in Syria before being released in October after
almost a
year in jail. 1. It is hypocritical of Ottawa to ask Syria to probe his
arrest and torture but refuse one into its own role in ruining his
life. 2.
We've known since Sept. 11 that America contracts out torture work
abroad.
Now we have strong circumstantial evidence that Canada does as well.
Not
just in Syria, but perhaps Egypt as well, as we shall see. 3. Has there
been a difference in the way our politicians, media and indeed all of
us
have reacted to Arar's case and that of William Sampson who was
tortured in
Saudi Arabia?
Also, what does it tell us that Sampson's cause was championed
primarily by
the Canadian Alliance and the National Post, whereas Arar's has been by
the
New Democrats, immigrant groups, civil libertarians and a handful of
courageous dissident Liberals?
And why is it that the Alliance's Stockwell Day, who skewered the
government over the Sampson case, seemed initially and instinctively
inclined to support it in rejecting an inquiry? 4. Arar's case
highlights,
unfortunately at his expense, how Arab and Muslim Canadians feel let
down
by Ottawa:
That it is not doing enough for Canadians held abroad for unproven
terrorism links (six people, including two more in Syria, and one in
Egypt,
both states notorious for using torture).
That it is ignoring due process and the presumption of innocence in
dealing
in Canada with those facing such allegations (28 people)...
-----
PLAN TO MAKE OLD BUILDING INTO NEW MOSQUE ROUSES OPPOSITION
Geoff Mulvihill, Associated Press, 11/5/03
http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/ny-bc-nj--suburbanmosque1105nov05,0,5801947.story
VOORHEES, N.J. -- Around the corner from a still-expanding development
of
big houses, and across the street from a bustling private school and a
printing shop, an abandoned office building sticks out. Weeds are
growing
through cracks in the driveway and more than a few old tires have been
deposited on the property.
But some of the neighbors would prefer to keep the old Lafayette Office
Center the way it is rather than allow it to be converted to a mosque,
as a
group of area Muslims is seeking to do in a proposal before the
township
zoning board.
The saga has mixed the not-in-my-backyard sentiments that are the
hallmark
of zoning board meetings with tinges of religious intolerance, some
say.
In months of public debate, there have been anonymous anti-Muslim
mailings
and a new multi-faith group created to promote tolerance...
Ibrahim Hooper, a spokesman for the Washington-based Council on
American-Islamic Relations said that as mosques open in the suburbs
across
the country, they have run into similar criticism _ a mix of what
sounds
like valid land-use concerns and what sounds like anti-Muslim
attitudes.
Opponents of one Islamic school in the Washington area fretted, he
said,
over the possibility of students using missiles to shoot down
low-flying
planes.
Some Islamic groups have taken to using non-Muslim buyers to buy land
for
them.
"It's symptomatic of the general prejudice out there," Hooper said.
"It's
something that's encountered by many Muslim communities where they're
growing..."
ALSO SEE:
CHAPEL'S STAB AT TOLERANCE BACKFIRES WITH AREA MUSLIMS
Diane Evans, Akron Beacon Journal, 11/6/02
http://www.ohio.com/mld/beaconjournal/7195534.htm
Religious tolerance is a lot like love. Easy to profess. Far more
difficult
to practice.
Take what happened in Akron last week, when The Chapel, a highly
regarded
nondenominational church, found itself at the center of controversy.
The whole thing started out simply enough: The Chapel offered a class
to
its members on the teachings of Islam. But then The Chapel distributed
fliers, advertising that the class would instruct ``how to be more
effective in our spiritual battle for the hearts and souls of our
Muslim
neighbors.''
Practically speaking, nothing ever suggested The Chapel had missionary
work
in the Muslim community in mind. But that is what the wording implied.
And
that is how the Akron Area Interfaith Council interpreted it after
hearing
objections from the Muslim community.
The Rev. Knute Larson, pastor of The Chapel, later apologized, saying
what
was meant was that we're all in a battle for truth...
-----
PATRIOT ACT VIOLATES BASIC CIVIL LIBERTIES
Darlene Mariani, Daily Campus, 11/5/03
http://www.dailycampus.com/main.cfm?include=detail&storyid=548630
Storrs, Conn. - What books have you checked out lately? What websites
have
you visited? What have you ordered online? Who have you spoken to on
the
phone? Do you think this doesn't matter to anyone? It matters to the
government, and as a result of the U.S. Patriot Act, they could be
monitoring your every move.
The Patriot Act gives law enforcement agencies and the government the
authority to access personal, medical, financial, library and
educational
records once private without judicial oversight. It also allows the
government to detain non-citizens suspected of being terrorists.
The Patriot Act also gives the government power to monitor religious or
political institutions without probable cause. The government has
closed
once-public immigration hearings, has secretly detained hundreds of
people
without charges and encourages bureaucracies to resist public records
requests. It allows prosecution of librarians or record keepers if they
reveal the government has subpoenaed information. It gives permission
to
deny legal representation to Americans accused of crimes.
In simpler terms, this means the government can search your home with
no
probable cause without telling you. They can then take away your
property
without a reason or a hearing. They can monitor your e-mails and Web
site
visits, track what books you take out at the library and use that as
evidence to detain you in prison. Americans can be jailed without
charges,
indefinitely, without a trial through this act...
-----
MILITARY LAUNCHES HEADSCARF INVESTIGATION
Turkish Daily News, 11/6/03
ANKARA - The military has launched legal investigation against
executives
of a military guesthouse for letting headscarved wives in.
Two AK Party deputies with headscarved wives had attended the reception
on
Sept. 29 Republic Day at the military guesthouse in Kayseri.
In a written press statement issued yesterday by the General staff it
was
stated the Military launched legal investigation due to "some illegal
practices" at the reception in Kayseri. It said the practice violated
the
regulations on military guesthouses.
According to the present dress code in Turkey, women wearing
headscarves
are not allowed in either state or military offices.
-----
POSSIBLE DEAL ABORTED?
Brian Ross and Chris Vlasto, ABC News, 11/5/03
http://abcnews.go.com/sections/WNT/World/hage031105-1.html
A possible negotiated peace deal was laid out in a heavily guarded
compound
in Baghdad in the days before the war, ABCNEWS has been told, but a top
former Pentagon adviser says he was ordered not to pursue the deal,
ABCNEWS
has learned.
A prominent Lebanese-American businessman said he secretly met with
Iraqi
intelligence officials just days after Secretary of State Colin Powell
laid
out the U.S. case for war at the United Nations in February.
Imad Hage, the president of the American Underwriters Group insurance
company and known in the region as having contacts at the Pentagon,
told
ABCNEWS he was first approached by an Iraqi intelligence official who
arrived unannounced at his office in Beirut.
A week later, according to Hage, he and an associate were asked to come
to
Baghdad, when Hage says he met with Saddam Hussein's chief of
intelligence,
Gen. Tahir Habbush, later labeled the Jack of Diamonds in the deck of
cards
depicting the most-wanted members of Saddam Hussein's regime. Habbush
is
still at large...
ALSO SEE:
DEATH BE NOT LOUD
Maureen Dowd, New York Times, 11/6/03
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/06/opinion/06DOWD.html
WASHINGTON - Who can blame poor President Bush? Look at his terrible
dilemma.
There are those who say the chief executive should have come out of his
Texas ranch house and articulated and assuaged the sorrow and outrage
and
anxiety the nation was feeling on Sunday after the deadliest day in
Iraq in
seven months. An attack on a Chinook helicopter had killed 15 American
soldiers, 13 men and 2 women, and wounded 21.
There are those who say Mr. Bush should have emulated Rudy Giuliani's
empathetic leadership after 9/11, or Dad's in the first gulf war, and
attended some of the funerals of the 379 Americans killed in Iraq. Or
one.
Maybe the one for Specialist Darryl Dent, the 21-year-old National
Guard
officer from Washington who died outside Baghdad in late August when a
bomb
struck his truck while he was delivering mail to troops. His funeral
was
held at a Baptist church three miles from the White House.
But let's look at it from the president's point of view: if he grieves
more
publicly or concretely, if he addresses every instance of bad news,
like
the hideous specter of Iraqis' celebrating the downing of the Chinook,
he
will simply remind people of what's going on in Iraq.
So it's understandable why, going into his re-election campaign, Mr.
Bush
wouldn't want to underscore that young Americans keep getting whacked
over
there, and we don't know who is doing it or how to stop it.
The White House is cleverly trying to distance Mr. Bush from the messy
problem of flesh-and-blood soldiers with real names dying nearly
everyday,
while linking him to the heroic task of fighting global terror...
---
U.S. DETAINS RELATIVES OF SUSPECTS IN IRAQ ATTACKS
Anthony Shadid, Washington Post, 11/6/03
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A6116-2003Nov5.html
KHALDIYA, Iraq - Her eyes still heavy with sleep, 60-year-old Aufa
Towqan
awoke at 3 a.m. on a cool Saturday. Her husband was away, working as a
night watchman. Her daughter-in-law and mother-in-law were still in
bed.
The house cloaked in darkness, she bowed her head in prayer, as was her
custom on a restless night. And moments after she whispered the first
ritual words of faith, she said, U.S. soldiers charged through her
battered
front door.
"They were pointing their guns and yelling at us in English," she said,
"and I didn't understand them."
The soldiers were seeking her fugitive son, Thamer, 31, whom she said
she
has not seen in four months. They detained her, another son and the
other
women instead -- one of them, by villagers' accounts, well over 100
years
old. She said brown burlap bags were placed over their heads. Terrified
and
crying, they were driven in Humvees to the nearby U.S. base at
Habbaniya.
Standing outside her home Wednesday, her hair covered by a black veil
and
her weathered face adorned with the green tattoos of rural Iraq, Towqan
groped for the right words to denounce the five-day detentions, which
ignited protests last month in Khaldiya. She found them in the religion
that infuses this Sunni Muslim region west of Baghdad.
"God does not accept this," she said simply.
As the U.S. military searches for tactics to break an escalating
guerrilla
war in a region where grievances tend to accumulate but rarely fade,
few
occurrences have unleashed more anger and etched deeper the cultural
divide
than several recent arrests of wanted men's relatives -- particularly
women
-- in Khaldiya and nearby hamlets in the Euphrates River valley. Some
villagers insist the relatives have been taken as hostages to force
fugitives to turn themselves in, a charge the military has denied...
ALSO SEE:
LOSS OF FEITH IN DOUGLAS
Jim Lobe, Asia Times, 11/6/03
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/EK07Ak03.html
WASHINGTON - "What's gonna happen with Feith?"
That, in a nutshell, is the question of the month for the Washington
cognoscenti trying to figure out whether a major shift in the Bush
administration's unilateralist and ultra-hawkish foreign policy is or
is
not under way.
The reference is to Douglas Feith, the administration's rather obscure
but
nonetheless strategically placed under secretary of defense for policy,
who
reports directly to Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz and
Pentagon
chief Donald Rumsfeld.
If the administration is looking for a scapegoat for the situation it
faces
in Iraq, Feith is the most likely candidate, both because of his
relative
obscurity compared to other administration hawks and the fact that, of
virtually all of them, his ideas - particularly on the Middle East -
might
be the most radical.
A protege of Richard Perle, the former chairman of Rumsfeld's Defense
Policy Board (DPB) who stands at the center of the neo-conservative
foreign
policy network in Washington, Feith has long opposed territorial
compromise
by Israel...
-----
WOUNDED PALESTINIAN TEEN TREATED IN NJ NOW BACK IN MIDDLE EAST
Wayne Parry, Associated Press, 11/5/03
http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/ny-bc-nj--palestiniantreate1105nov05,0,3070146.story
NEWARK, N.J. - An Israeli settler's bullet shattered his intestines,
but
not his dreams. Now, nearly two years after the shooting, a Palestinian
teenager who was treated for his wounds in New Jersey has returned to
the
Middle East, hoping to help other victims of the violence there.
Deya Ali, 16, underwent surgery at Jersey Shore Medical Center in
Neptune
and rehabilitation at Children's Specialized Hospital in Mountainside
to
repair the damage from a fragmentation bullet that tore through his
intestinal tract and exploded against his spinal cord, leaving him near
death.
A Palestinian doctor at Jersey Shore operated for free to correct a
potentially life-threatening complication of the shooting. Now, Ali is
in
Jordan, awaiting a transfer to a rehabilitation hospital in Saudi
Arabia
this weekend. He left the United States, where he had been staying with
sponsors and friends in Morris County, on Oct. 26.
Ali was brought to New Jersey in January by The Palestine Children's
Relief
Fund, a nonprofit organization based in Kent, Ohio, that arranges for
sick
or injured Palestinian children to receive medical treatment, usually
in
the U.S...
ALSO SEE:
PALESTINIANS FORCED TO APPLY FOR PERMITS
Ravi Nessman, Associated Press, 11/6/03
http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/world/wire/sns-ap-mideast-trapped-village,0,7738301.story
JUBARA, West Bank - The Palestinians of Jubara were alarmed when
Israeli
soldiers began posting notices on telephone poles and at checkpoints
around
their small West Bank village.
The military had already trapped them in a tiny pocket of land between
Israel and its West Bank security barrier, giving them only sporadic
access
to their schools, clinics and fields across the fence.
The notices told of an unprecedented new order: everyone must apply for
a
special permit to remain in Jubara - the village has about 300
residents.
The notices did not specifically mention expulsion, but Palestinian
officials and villagers said they understand this to be the implied
threat.
The new restrictions affect nearly 7,500 Palestinians living in what
Israel
calls the ``seam zone...''
-----
PIPES DOESN'T SPEAK FOR ALL JEWS
Liz Aaronsohn, and Fatma Antar, Hartford Courant, 11/5/03
http://www.ctnow.com/news/opinion/op_ed/hc-pipes1105.artnov05,1,6376731.story
As members of We Refuse To Be Enemies, an interfaith coalition of Jews,
Muslims and Christians, we wish to voice our profound concern over the
inclusion of Daniel Pipes in the two-week Jewish Book Festival
sponsored by
the Greater Hartford Jewish Community Center.
Pipes, who is scheduled to speak at the festival Thursday, is
celebrated by
the event's organizers as a "visionary expert on Islam and terrorism."
Just
that linkage is problematic for us. Pipes is known to progressives for
his
anti-Arab, anti-Muslim views. (He's the author of "Militant Islam
Reaches
America," published last year.) His writings reflect a lack of
tolerance
for the very ethnic and religious diversity that has so enriched our
nation.
In fact, it was exactly because of his narrow, overgeneralizing views
that
the Senate's Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, in its
first
round of hearings, energetically opposed his nomination by President
Bush
to the board of directors of the U.S. Institute of Peace, which
Congress
created to promote peaceful solutions to world conflicts. He obtained
the
position only as the result of President Bush's congressional recess
appointment because it was apparent that the full Congress would reject
his
nomination.
Further, Pipes' establishment of Campus Watch, a group dedicated to
combating what it says is anti-Israeli bias on university campuses, is
one
example of his rejection of the American ideals of academic freedom and
freedom of speech. Campus Watch has harassed academics who dare
question or
criticize Israeli government policies in regard to the Palestinian
people.
Daniel Pipes' track record of inciting hatred against American Muslims
and
American Arabs has been the hallmark of his life's work...
ALSO SEE:
PIPES SHOULD KNOW DISSENT IS AS AMERICAN AS APPLE PIE
Natasha Rivera-Silber, Yale Daily News, 11/6/03
http://www.yaledailynews.com/article.asp?AID=23956
Writing in the Jerusalem Post, [Pipes] argued that "Muslim visitors and
immigrants must undergo additional background checks. Mosques require a
scrutiny beyond that applied to churches, synagogues and temples.
Muslim
schools require increased oversight to ascertain what is being taught
to
children..."
Pipes has capitalized on American fear to perpetuate his anti-Muslim
rhetoric, prevent diplomatic efforts in the Middle East, and eliminate
dissent in American universities.
---
NEOCONSERVATIVE CRITICS HAVE LONG CHARGED MIDDLE EASTERN STUDIES
DEPARTMENTS WITH ANTI-AMERICAN BIAS
Michelle Goldberg, Salon.com, 11/6/03
http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2003/11/06/middle_east/index.html
On Oct. 21, the House of Representatives unanimously passed a bill that
could require university international studies departments to show more
support for American foreign policy or risk their federal funding. Its
approval followed hearings this summer in which members of Congress
listened to testimony about the pernicious influence of the late Edward
Said in Middle Eastern studies departments, described as enclaves of
debased anti-Americanism. Stanley Kurtz, a research fellow at the
Hoover
Institution, a right-wing think tank, testified, "Title VI-funded
programs
in Middle Eastern Studies (and other area studies) tend to purvey
extreme
and one-sided criticisms of American foreign policy." Evidently, the
House
agreed and decided to intervene.
Emboldened by its dominance of Washington, the right is trying to
enlist
government on its side in the campus culture wars. "Since they are the
mainstream in Washington think tanks and the right-wing corridors of
Congress, they figure, 'Let's translate that political capital to
education,'" says Rashid Khalidi, who was recently appointed to the
Edward
Said Chair of Arab studies at Columbia University...
At the same time, Martin Kramer, editor of the right-wing Middle East
Quarterly, published a book called "Ivory Towers on Sand: The Failure
of
Middle Eastern Studies in America," in which he argues that academia,
in
thrall to romantic third-worldism, has turned a blind eye to the
region's
dangerous pathologies. Last year Daniel Pipes, a colleague of Kramer's
who
has since been appointed by President Bush to sit on the U.S. Institute
of
Peace, launched Campus Watch, a Web site devoted to monitoring Middle
Eastern studies departments for signs of anti-American bias. He
published
dossiers cataloguing the political sins of some of the most respected
professors in the field, and invited students to submit reports on
their
instructors.
-----
INMATE CLAIMS JDL HEAD HAD A CHANGE OF HEART
Howard Blume, Forward, 11/7/03
http://www.forward.com/issues/2003/03.11.07/news16.rubin.html
In the days before his death, Jewish Defense League head Irv Rubin had
second thoughts about his radical philosophy, according to one of his
fellow prison inmates.
In a letter obtained by the Forward, the inmate claims that through
conversations with Muslim and Palestinian prisoners, Rubin had grown
almost
repentant for his Israel-for-Jews-only stance.
"I introduced him to a number of the Palestinians with us on the floor,
and
he spoke to them a lot about the Middle East conflict," read the
letter.
"It appeared to me that this was the first and only time that he had
ever
sat to hear quietly the Palestinians and to hear the other side, the
travail that they are undergoing.... He would strike his right hand
with
his fist in the area of his heart as if he were reciting the
confessional
prayer: 'I have sinned, I've gone astray...'"
ALSO SEE:
ISRAEL'S DEMOCRACY DILEMMA
Doug Bandow, American Conservative, 11/3/03
http://amconmag.com/11_3_03/feature.html
Despite its continued backing of Israel, the Bush administration's
patience
is apparently not endless. Should Ariel Sharon's government continue to
construct a security fence effectively annexing Palestinian areas to
Israel, Washington has threatened to withhold some of the $9 billion in
planned loan guarantees.
Israelis are not pleased. "It's none of their business," complained
Zitrin
Eliezer, an Israeli settler in the West Bank. "Let them give California
and
Texas back to the Mexicans and then they can come and tell us what to
do."
In fact, Eliezer is correct: Israel's policies aren't America's
business.
At least they wouldn't be if Washington were not backing Israel against
all
comers, providing billions in aid annually, arming its distant ally,
and
offering diplomatic cover for Israel. The price of dependence on
America is
meddling by Washington.
The U.S. has no choice but to demand, pressure, and whine. As Sept. 11
dramatically demonstrated, America pays a price for being identified
with
Israel's policies in the Gaza Strip and West Bank. Obviously, terrorism
against the U.S. reflects complex causes and circumstances, and the
slaughter of innocents, whether Americans or Israelis, can never be
justified...
-----
IN UZBEKISTAN, RELIGION IS VICTIM OF WAR ON TERROR
Lawrence A. Uzzell, Christian Science Monitor, 11/6/03
http://www.csmonitor.com/2003/1106/p09s02-coop.html?entryBottomStory
STUARTS DRAFT, VA. - Imagine the police forcing a gas mask onto your
head
and shutting off the air supply - because you are "guilty" of hosting
Bible
studies in your own home. Imagine having to organize worship services
in
deep secrecy, meeting outdoors far from any inhabited spot. Imagine
being
fired from your job as a schoolteacher because you refuse to renounce
your
religious beliefs.
This is not a good time to be a Protestant Christian or a devout Muslim
in
Uzbekistan. The country's neo-Soviet regime is apparently counting on
its
newly strategic location - just north of Afghanistan - to win the Bush
administration's tacit consent to its gross violations of the rights of
both Christian and Muslim believers. But those violations risk
producing
just the result that both governments want to avoid: another bloody,
fanatical Islamic revolt.
Traditionally Muslim Uzbekistan, like other former Soviet republics,
has
constitutional provisions and treaty commitments that ostensibly
guarantee
freedom of conscience. But it regularly violates that freedom in
practice...
-----
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-----
CAIR
Council on American-Islamic Relations
453 New Jersey Avenue, S.E.
Washington, D.C. 20003
Tel: 202-488-8787, 202-744-7726
Fax: 202-488-0833
E-mail: cair@cair-net.org
URL: http://www.cair-net.org
-----
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
AMERICAN MUSLIM NEWS BRIEFS - 11/7/03
* HADITH OF THE DAY: FASTING BRINGS FORGIVENESS
* SUPPORT CAIR'S $1 MILLION DURING RAMADAN CAMPAIGN
- Register online for CAIR's DC Dinner 11/29
- Dinner Volunteer Meetings this Weekend
* MORE U.S. MUSLIMS RUN FOR OFFICE (CS Monitor)
- Pak-Americans Oppose Jindal (Times of India)
* EX-CIA AGENT ON 'EXTRAORDINARY RENDITIONS' (CBC)
- Maher Arar: This is What They Did to Me
- Muslim Brotherhood Says Member Tortured (UPI)
* JAILED TX IMMIGRANT TELLING HIS STORY (KXAN)
* LIMITS PUT ON NEW MUSLIM CHAPLAIN (Boston Globe)
- Lawyer Says Guantanamo Detainees Tortured (AP)
* KORAN CONTROVERSY AT ONE POLICE PLAZA (NY Newsday)
- Sikhs Want Classroom Mention (Mercury News)
* MOSQUE PLANS WINS APPROVAL IN NJ (Phil. Inquirer)
* EL ISLAM: NURTURING LATINO MUSLIMS
* JOB OPENING: PRISON IMAM
* PIPES MEETS WITH PROTEST (Yale Daily News)
- Ads Spark Controversy (Stanford Daily)
-----
HADITH OF THE DAY: FASTING BRINGS FORGIVENESS
The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: "Whoever fasts in the
month
of Ramadan out of sincere faith, and hoping for a reward from God, all
his
previous sins will be forgiven."
Sahih Al-Bukhari, Volume 3, Hadith 125
-----
SUPPORT CAIR'S $1 MILLION DURING RAMADAN CAMPAIGN
Donate generously to the campaign. To donate online, go to:
http://www.cair-net.org/asp/millionforislam.asp (NOTE: Scholars says
CAIR
is able to receive ZAKAT donations.)
---
REGISTER ONLINE FOR CAIR'S DC DINNER 11/29
Registration is now available online for CAIR's Ninth Annual
Fundraising
Dinner on November 29th (the weekend after Eid ul-Fitr) in Washington,
D.C.
The dinner, with the theme "Muslims in America: A Defining Moment,"
will
feature presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich as one of its main
speakers.
WHERE: Sheraton Premiere at Tysons Corner, 8661 Leesburg Pike, Tysons
Corner/Vienna, VA
COST: CAIR dinners always quick to sell out so get you tickets now!
Tickets: $55/$85 per couple R.S.V.P. by Nov. 24, 2003. No children
please.
(Limited babysitting with prior notice only - $10 per child.)
FOR MORE INFORMATION, call 202-488-8787 or e-mail:
register@cair-net.org
ACTION REQUESTED:
REGISTER FOR CAIR'S DINNER BY GOING TO:
https://www.cair-net.org/2003dinner-register.asp
---
CAIR DINNER VOLUNTEER MEETINGS
CAIR HQ - 11 a.m. - 2 p.m., 11/8 and 11/9
453 New Jersey Avenue S.E.
ADAMS (VA) - 2:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m., 11/8
Dar-us-Salaam (MD) - Between Maghrib and Isha', 11/9
Those interested in helping with the dinner should email
fkhan@cair-net.org
or call Farida Khan at 202-488-8787. On the weekend, call 202-439-5432
or
571-214-2518
-----
MORE US MUSLIMS RUN FOR OFFICE
Danna Harman, Christian Science Monitor, 11/7/03
http://www.csmonitor.com/2003/1107/p13s03-uspo.html
STERLING, VA. - They have precious little IN common, if truth be told.
She:
a petite private-school principal and mother of three. He: a suave
immigration lawyer with a faint streak of peroxide in his hair. She's a
Democrat; he's a Republican. She was born in the US, the daughter of an
educated immigrant from Kashmir. He, a Palestinian, was born in
Bethlehem
and came to the United States as a refugee, without knowing a word of
English.
And yet, Afeefa Syeed and Kamal Nawash, who each ran in local elections
in
Virginia Tuesday (she was running for the Potomac seat on the Loudoun
County Board of Supervisors; he wanted to be a state senator from the
31st
District) have more in common than both having lost their races.
As two of only a handful of Muslims running for elected office in the
US
this year, Ms. Syeed and Mr. Nawash's singular bids underscore the
general
lack of Muslim participation in political life in America.
But because there were two more Muslim candidates running for office in
Virginia this year than five years before - and two more than 10 years
ago
- Syeed's and Nawash's bids also point to a new trend.
"More and more of us are realizing that it is time for Muslims to stop
shying away from the political process," says Mukit Hossain, a
Bangladeshi-American businessman and director of the Platform for
Active
Civil Empowerment (PACE), a new Muslim political action committee. "The
way
to advance our agenda is in the traditional American way: by gaining
more
political power."
Muslim Americans first began running for office in sizable numbers only
in
the 1990s, says Agha Saeed, national chairman of the American-Muslim
Alliance, a civic education organization. But by the time elections
rolled
around in 2000, close to 700 Muslim Americans were candidates for a
variety
of offices.
That year, 153 Muslims - split almost equally between African-Americans
and
immigrants - were elected, including four to state senates and
assemblies.
And Muslims were coming out in increasingly large numbers to vote and
support "their" candidates…
"The question is, what are Muslim issues?" asks Syeed, a religious
woman
who wears a traditional head covering and who helped found one of the
only
Muslim elementary schools in the state, Al Fatih Academy.
She ran on a purely local platform, rarely making reference to her
religion. "I don't need to," she says. "I am clearly a Muslim and that
speaks for itself. I need to explain what I want to do for the
community."
"Muslim issues" can certainly include hate crimes and racial profiling,
but
they go much beyond that, she argues.
"Muslims are mainly coming to a crossroads where we realize that
community
issues are our issues. The Middle East is important, but not as
important
to us here as urban sprawl. This is my home. The place where I am
raising
my children," she says. "I want to make that clear, and I think it's
important for non-Muslims to see me making that clear..."
SEE ALSO:
PAK-AMERICANS OPPOSE JINDAL
Chidanand Rajghatta, Times of India, 11/6/03
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/cms.dll/xml/uncomp/articleshow?msid=269207
WASHINGTON: Carrying domestic and regional vitriol overseas,
Pakistani-Americans have jumped into the US gubernatorial fray with
gusto
by opposing Indian-American Republican candidate Bobby Jindal because
"he
could be a future threat for Pakistani interests in the US."
Instead, the Pakistani American Congress (PAC) and an organisation
calling
itself "Patriot Muslim Americans (PMA)" have asked its supporters to
back
Jindal's Democratic opponent Kathleen Blanco, "a friend of our cause,"
in
the November 15 election for the governorship of Louisiana.
"Blanco is a close friend of Pakistani community. She understands our
issues and supports our cause. She is in favour of immigrants, opposes
discrimination in any form or fashion, is against profiling on the
basis of
religion, looks or ethnicity," PAC president, M Ashraf Abbasi, said in
an
appeal to supporters.
Abbasi described Jindal, an American of Indian origin who is himself
son of
first generation immigrants, as "an Indian... a highly prejudiced
person."
Abbasi claimed that the Pakistani-American Congress had raised $50,000
for
Blanco's campaign in Lake Charles "in just one hour," according to an
account on a Pakistani website.
Pakistani-Americans had put up 15,000 highway signs in the south and
set up
calling booths in four major cities, he added.
"It is hard doing all this in the state of fasting but we are doing it
as a
religious duty as well," Abbasi was quoted as saying…
Latest polls from Louisiana show Jindal and Blanco locked in a
statistical
tie with around 42 per cent votes each.
-----
LIMITS PUT ON NEW MUSLIM CHAPLAIN
Charlie Savage, Boston Globe, 11/7/2003
http://www.boston.com/news/world/articles/2003/11/07/limits_put_on_new_muslim_chaplain/
GUANTANAMO BAY, Cuba -- The US military has made plans to bring a new
Muslim chaplain to the base where it is holding some 660 accused terror
suspects, but he will not be allowed to come into contact with the
"enemy
combatants" being detained here without trial.
In September, the former Muslim chaplain, Captain James "Yousef" Yee,
was
arrested. He has been charged with disobeying an order -- reportedly
for
smuggling classified information off the base.
Major General Mitchell LeClaire, second in command of the interrogation
operation, said yesterday that the military has arranged for a
replacement
to be in Guantanamo Bay by early December.
However, while the new chaplain will continue Yee's role of advising
command staff on Islamic practices, he will minister only to Muslim
soldiers and will not meet with detainees, as Yee did.
LeClaire added that it "was not [Yee's] job" to counsel detainees. "It
was
never his job officially," he said. "I can't say it was with the
approval
of his commander."
The news that the detainees will not have access to a replacement
Muslim
counselor comes amid growing international concern over their
psychological
condition…
SEE ALSO:
LAWYER SAYS GUANTANAMO DETAINEES TORTURED
Associated Press, 11/8/03
http://abcnews.go.com/wire/World/ap20031008_216.html
CANBERRA, Australia Oct. 8 - The U.S. military has tortured terrorist
suspects held without charge at the Guantanamo Bay military prison, an
Australian lawyer representing some of the suspects claimed Wednesday.
U.S.-based Richard Bourke, who has been working for almost two years on
behalf of dozens of detainees at Guantanamo Bay, said American military
officials were using old-fashioned torture techniques to force
confessions
out of prisoners.
The methods "clearly" fell under the definition of torture under
international conventions, he told Australian Broadcasting Corp. radio
in
an interview from the United States.
"They are engaging in good old-fashioned torture, as people would have
understood it in the Dark Ages," he said…
"One of the detainees had described being taken out and tied to a post
and
having rubber bullets fired at them. They were being made to kneel
cruciform in the sun until they collapsed," he said…
-----
EX-CIA AGENT TALKS ABOUT 'EXTRAORDINARY RENDITIONS'
CBC, 11/6/03
http://media.cbc.ca:8080/ramgen/cbc.ca/thecurrent/media/200311/20031106thecurrent_sec2.rm
GO TO MINUTE 13
CIA RENDITIONS
http://www.cbc.ca/thecurrent/2003/200311/20031106.html
The case of Maher Arar has shocked many people in Canada and the U.S.
especially the suggestion that authorities may have sent him to Syria
knowing full well he would be tortured. But it turns out this may not
be an
isolated case. There's even a name for what happened to Arar.
"Extraordinary rendition", "illegal rendition", or just plain
"rendition" -
The practice of shipping suspects off to countries that have no
restraints
on applying torture to get information. It's a nasty business. But now
some
are saying it may be common practice within the ranks of U.S.
intelligence
agencies.
Robert Baer was a CIA operative from 1976-1997. He's also the author of
"See No Evil: The True Story of a Ground Soldier in the CIA's War on
Terrorism". Robert Baer joined us from Washington, D.C.
SEE ALSO:
THIS IS WHAT THEY DID TO ME
MAHER ARAR, Counterpunch, 11/6/03
http://counterpunch.org/arar11062003.html
I am here today to tell the people of Canada what has happened to me.
There have been many allegations made about me in the media, all of
them by
people who refuse to be named or come forward. So before I tell you who
I
am and what happened to me, I will tell you who I am not.
I am not a terrorist. I am not a member of al-Qaida and I do not know
any
one who belongs to this group. All I know about al-Qaida is what I have
seen in the media.
I have never been to Afghanistan. I have never been anywhere near
Afghanistan and I do not have any desire to ever go to Afghanistan.
Now,
let me tell you who I am…
There was a small opening in the ceiling, about one foot by two feet
with
iron bars. Over that was another ceiling, so only a little light came
through this.
There were cats and rats up there, and from time to time the cats peed
through the opening into the cell. There were two blankets, two dishes
and
two bottles. One bottle was for water and the other one was used for
urinating during the night. Nothing else. No light.
I spent 10 months, and 10 days inside that grave.
The next day I was taken upstairs again. The beating started that day
and
was very intense for a week, and then less intense for another week.
That
second and the third days were the worst.
I could hear other prisoners being tortured, and screaming and
screaming.
Interrogations are carried out in different rooms.
One tactic they use is to question prisoners for two hours, and then
put
them in a waiting room, so they can hear the others screaming, and then
bring them back to continue the interrogation.
The cable is a black electrical cable, about two inches thick. They hit
me
with it everywhere on my body.
They mostly aimed for my palms, but sometimes missed and hit my wrists
--
they were sore and red for three weeks. They also struck me on my hips,
and
lower back. Interrogators constantly threatened me with the metal
chair,
tire and electric shocks.
The tire is used to restrain prisoners while they torture them with
beating
on the sole of their feet. I guess I was lucky, because they put me in
the
tire, but only as a threat…
---
MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD SAYS MEMBER TORTURED
United Press International, 11/7/03
http://washingtontimes.com/upi-breaking/20031106-113823-4594r.htm
CAIRO, Nov. 6 (UPI) -- The outlawed Muslim Brotherhood Organization
said
Thursday Egyptian police tortured to death one of its members three
days
after he was arrested.
The group said in a statement Masaad Mohammed Katab, 43, died at the
hands
of torturers in a detention center in Cairo.
Lawyer Abdel Monem Maksoud said police handed over Katab's body to his
family Thursday and asked them to bury him discreetly without seeking
to
identify the cause of death.
Maksoud told UPI Katab worked as an accountant at the syndicate of
engineers and was in good health when he was arrested last Sunday at
his
home in Cairo's Giza neighborhood…
-----
JAILED IMMIGRANT TELLING HIS STORY
http://www.kxan.com/Global/story.asp?S=1514709
Imagine walking into a government office to attend to some business and
being deported or thrown in jail.
KXAN News 36 was the first to tell you that was happening to some
Central
Texans under the patriot act. Now one former prisoner is free to come
home
and speak out about his experience.
"The ankle ones come here, then the handcuffs, then they put a chain
around
your waist to put the handcuffs so you can't put your hands properly,"
jailed Central Texan Sarmad Ansari said, "I never dreamed of anyone
being
legal status and going through this."
Then this long time Central Texas hi-tech worker and dad went to INS to
correct a lapsed visa.
"The new act tells me if I go outside the U.S., I have to go over and I
did
that," Ansari said.
"He comes into your office, an honest person to tell you, 'This is an
honest mistake and I'm here to correct it,' and they just throw him in
jail
for three weeks," Mohsin Lari with the Muslim Community Support Service
said…
"I never expected this and never heard of anything like this in the
U.S.
period," Ansari said…
-----
KORAN CONTROVERSY AT ONE POLICE PLAZA
Daryl Khan, Newsday, 11/7/03
http://www.nynewsday.com/news/local/newyork/politics/nyc-reli1107,0,4012989.story
A Koran installed in the lobby of police headquarters has raised
concerns
about a breach in the constitutional wall separating church and state,
and
underscores the influential role religion plays in the culture of the
department.
The department's installation of a religious text in a public space
comes
on the heels of a chief justice in Alabama who over the summer refused
to
comply with a court order to remove a monument to the Ten Commandments
in a
state building in Montgomery.
Although that controversy was blanketed with coverage, there are
hundreds
of less publicized incidents, like this one, that blur the division of
church and state.
The Koran is displayed atop a brass pedestal and ensconced in a glass
cube
in front of the official police seal near the Hall of Heroes. Its
installation coincides with the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
Traditionally, the department, staffed by a majority of Irish and
Italian
police officers, was considered a de facto Catholic organization. But
the
installation of the Koran, the holy book of Islam, speaks to a more
recent
development and equally powerful force - the push for diversity at the
Police Department and an attempt to be sensitive at a time when global
events have caused Muslims and Arabs to be cast under suspicion.
As the city changed in recent years, the department was pressured to
change. The commitment to religion spread from Catholic or Protestant
sects
to other religions like Islam and Judaism…
One police chaplain, Imam Izak-El Mu'eed Pasha from Masijd Malcolm
Shabazz
in Harlem, spearheaded the installation. He said police work makes
religion
a central part of police life.
"By the nature of the job they have to have some faith," he said.
"There's
no way to do it without having faith."
Pasha said it would be "wrong" for the department to more rigidly
enforce
the separation between church and state.
"Without them having faith I think you would have a different Police
Department that probably would not be able to serve all its people in
the
best way," he said…
SEE ALSO:
SIKHS WANT CLASSROOM MENTION OF FAITH'S FOUNDER
Lisa Fernandez, San Jose Mercury News, 11/7/03
http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/news/local/7205246.htm
An influential Sikh organization is calling on Sikh children to ask
their
teachers today if they can read a short explanation about the birthday
of
their religion's founder, Guru Nanak.
As immigrant groups continue to assimilate, there is an understandable
desire for them to want others to know about their customs, culture and
religion.
But while Bay Area school officials say they support teaching students
the
region's multiculturalism, they are also concerned the request could
cross
the boundaries between church and state. They fear it could serve as a
precedent for inviting other religious groups to use the classroom as a
pulpit...
The classroom talks are intended to come one day before the 25 million
Sikhs around the world will celebrate the birth of Guru Nanak, whose
teachings started the monotheistic religion in India 534 years ago...
The three paragraphs written by Singh's organization appear more
historical
than religious. The letter doesn't proselytize or call for anyone to
convert to Sikhism. But it criticizes Hinduism's caste system, and
lauds
Sikhs for promoting a religion of equality…
A better solution, Haynes suggested, would be for schools to invite
academics to teach about religion, or have world culture teachers
instruct
the class during appropriate times. Haynes pointed out various Muslim
organizations that have developed successful school-appropriate
curriculum.
One such organization is Islamic Networks Group in San Jose, which for
nearly 10 years has sent certified and rigorously tested volunteers
into
Bay Area middle and high schools to supplement textbook lessons on
Islam…
-----
MOSQUE PLANS WINS APPROVAL IN VOORHEES
Edward Colimore, Philadelphia Inquirer, 11/7/03
http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/7203808.htm
A mosque construction proposal that sparked months of controversy was
unanimously approved by the Voorhees Zoning Board last night after
hours of
debate.
The approval of the mosque site plan clears the way for construction by
spring if no appeals are filed.
Zia Rahman, managing director of the group that plans to build the
mosque,
said: "I think it's excellent. I think the board was very
compassionate. I
think the community as a whole will be very much together."
Nearly 150 people filled the hearing room of the municipal building,
some
welcoming the mosque and urging approval, others expressing concern
about
parking and traffic problems and the loss of tax revenue.
"I have the feeling there is an element out there that doesn't want it
built for the wrong reason," said Mike Santosusso, 34, of Voorhees,
before
the meeting. "I've used the intersection, so this could affect me
traffic-wise, but that's not important enough to turn it down."
But Ed Holland, 60, who lives two blocks from the site, said mosque
proponents had chosen "the wrong time and wrong place. It's not the
right
place because there's already too much traffic there, and it's a safety
hazard. It's also not a tax ratable. I would be opposed to a Baptist or
a
Catholic church there" for that reason.
Holland said in an interview before the meeting that the timing was
wrong,
too, because of unrest in the world.
"As long as I see terrorist warnings and terrorist bombers, this is not
the
right time. It's an insult to every soldier" who has died in Iraq, he
said.
"Why do we have Homeland Security? How do 15 families disrupt a whole
community of people? I think a lot of people want to be politically
correct…"
-----
EL ISLAM: NURTURING LATINO MUSLIMS
FUNDRAISER AND DINNER
Latino Muslims Call the Ummah for Support in Dawah Activities and
Interfaith Events
WHEN: SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 4:30 p.m.
WHERE: Omar Ibn Al- Khattab Foundation Abu Dawood Hall, 1025 W.
Exposition
Blvd. Los Angeles, CA
KEYNOTE SPEAKERS
DR HASSAN HATHOUT
RAFAEL NARBAEZ
SADIQ SAAFIR
COST: $25/Person, $15/Student, $200/Table of 10
Please make your check payable to: Luz Del Islam Publishers/LALMA (Non
Profit Organization) 10736 Jefferson Blvd. PMB 516 Culver City, CA
90232
For more Information, contact: Sister Marta Khadija: 323-692-6928
e-mail
luzdelislampub@aol.com
Endorsed by Omar Ibn Al-Khatab Foundation, IslamiCity, CA Muslim
Prisoners
Foundation, SHURA Council of Southern California
www.islamicity.com/latinomuslims
-----
JOB OPENING: PRISON IMAM
AGENCY: Department of Justice
LOCATION: Department of Justice, Bureau of Prisons, USP Lee County
CLASSIFICATION CODE: R - Professional, administrative, and management
support services
SUBJECT: Muslim Imam
SOLICITATION NUMBER: 719-0001-4
CONTACT: Kadra Oelrich, Contract Specialist, Phone (276) 546-0150, ext.
1008, Fax (276) 546-9181, Email LEE7571@bop.gov - Carl Williams,
Supervisory Contract Specialist, Phone (276) 546-0150, Ext. 1012, Fax
(276)
546-9181, Email lee0657@bop.gov
SEE:
http://www2.eps.gov/spg/DOJ/BPR/11704/719%2D0001%2D4/Attachments.htmlhttp://www.eps.gov/spg/DOJ/BPR/11704/719-0001-4/listing.htmlhttp://www.eps.gov/spg/DOJ/BPR/50211/RFQ-050211-002-4/listing.html
-----
PIPES MEETS WITH PROTEST AT TALK
BESS HINSON, Yale Daily News, 11/7/03
http://www.yaledailynews.com/article.asp?AID=24009
Amid campus-wide controversy, Middle East Forum Director Daniel Pipes
spoke
yesterday on the Middle Eastern conflict. Nearly 200 members of the
Yale
community, including a large number of protestors, attended the talk.
At least a third of those in attendance protested Pipes by wearing
black
clothing and black gags across their mouths…
Yale Coalition for Peace and Muslim Students' Association member Saqib
Bhatti '04 said the protest was organized earlier this week because
Pipes
has publicly made derogatory comments about "brown-skinned peoples" and
Muslims, and is a founder of CampusWatch.org, which he said has been
used
as a tool to silence dissent on campuses.
"Our intent was to be respectful of his presence but to still voice
opposition," Bhatti, who is also a member of Students for Justice in
Palestine, said. "We thought the gag was a powerful visual image that
can't
be ignored…"
Diplomat in Residence Charles Hill, who was scheduled to answer
questions
along with Pipes, said after the presentation that he disagreed with
Pipes'
stance.
"Pipes' view is that diplomacy has failed and is hopeless," Hill said.
"I'm
much more positive. I think diplomacy has brought tremendous successes.
The
key to this is the suppression of terrorism. When you get close to
peace,
terrorists will literally blow up any chance of peace."
In a November 2002 issue of the New York Post, Pipes wrote a column
titled
"Profs Who Hate America." The article named Director of Cytogenetics
Services at the Yale School of Medicine Mazin Qumsiyeh and Yale
Professor
Glenda Gilmore as two professors who fit this description.
Qumsiyeh said during the talk that both he and Gilmore received hate
mail
as a result of the column.
"We don't hate America, we just don't like American policy in the
Middle
East," Qumsiyeh said…
SEE ALSO:
ADS SPARK CONTROVERSY THROUGHOUT CAMPUS
Vauhini Vara, Stanford Daily, 11/6/02
http://daily.stanford.edu/daily/servlet/tempo?page=content&id=12253&repository=0001_article
A group of students began circulating an e-mail petition yesterday
asking
for the recall of Daily Editor in Chief Ramin Setoodeh, after The Daily
decided to continue running a series of controversial advertisements
from a
pro-Israeli group.
The ads, which have run in many college newspapers nationwide, have
attracted campus attention over the past two weeks for claims some
students
say are anti-Palestinian. One ad depicts Israelis lighting candles in
remembrance of Sept. 11 victims, under the words, "On September 11,
2001,
Israelis mourned in Tel-Aviv." Next to it is a photo showing
Palestinian
men and children cheering, beneath the text, "On September 11, 2001,
Palestinians celebrated in Lebanon."
Each of the ads claim, "There are two sides to every story, but only
one
truth."
"The advertisement suggests that all Palestinians are inhumane and they
revel in the shedding of innocent blood," wrote the group, called the
Coalition for Justice, in a letter that members of the Stanford
community
signed.
The coalition contends that the ad violates The Daily's advertising
policy,
which states that the newspaper will refrain from printing any ad that
"casts aspersions on individuals or groups on the basis of race,
religion,
sexual preference, national origin, age, physical disability, or other
invidious grounds…"
-----
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To reach the list moderator, send a message to: cair@cair-net.org
-----
CAIR
Council on American-Islamic Relations
453 New Jersey Avenue, S.E.
Washington, D.C. 20003
Tel: 202-488-8787, 202-744-7726
Fax: 202-488-0833
E-mail: cair@cair-net.org
URL: http://www.cair-net.org
-----
Forwarded Message
Date:
Mon, 10 Nov 2003 13:14:28 -0500
To:
cair-net@cair.biglist.com
From:
"CAIR" <cair@cair-net.org>
Subject:
CAIR-NET: FL Bus Driver Has History of Bias Say Students
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
SUPPORT CAIR'S $1 MILLION DURING RAMADAN CAMPAIGN
http://www.cair-net.org/asp/millionforislam.asp
(NOTE: Scholars says CAIR is able to receive ZAKAT donations.)
REGISTER ONLINE FOR CAIR'S DC DINNER 11/29
http://www.cair-net.org/asp/2003dinner.asp
-----
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
FL BUS DRIVER HAS HISTORY OF BIAS SAY STUDENTS
School and bus company allegedly ignored previous incidents
(JACKSONVILLE, FL, 11/10/2003) - The Florida office of the Council on
American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-FL) today revealed that the driver who
recently prevented Muslim children from boarding a school bus in
Jacksonville had allegedly engaged in similar discriminatory behavior
several times in the past. The Islamic civil rights group made that
claim
after completing a preliminary investigation into the incidents.
CAIR-FL has also been notified that the office of the Florida Attorney
General is initiating an investigation into these complaints.
On Friday, October 31, CAIR-FL called for an investigation of two
incidents
in which some 20 Muslim middle school students were either removed from
or
kept from boarding school buses in Jacksonville, Fla.
SEE: GROUPS CALL FOR PROBE AFTER MUSLIM KIDS KICKED OFF BUS
http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/110203/met_13937527.shtml
Some of those involved in the incidents now tell CAIR-FL that the
driver
kept Muslim students from boarding the bus on several previous
occasions.
On each of those occasions, after reluctantly picking up the Muslim
students, the driver allegedly turned the bus around mid-route and
brought
the children back to the school before ordering them off the bus.
Only after intervention from school staff were the children allowed to
remain on the bus and be driven home. The Muslim students also allege
that
the bus driver frequently directed profanity at them.
"It is unconscionable that those in positions of authority took no
action
to prevent this harassment and intimidation," said Altaf Ali, executive
director of CAIR-FL. "The behavior of this bus driver should be
repudiated
in the strongest possible terms, followed by disciplinary actions."
The students also vehemently denied the bus company's claim that they
were
being "riotous" on the bus. In fact, two of the 20 students on the bus
had
reportedly raised their hands and asked the driver why she did not pick
up
siblings who were left behind at the school.
CAIR-FL is demanding that the Duval County School District investigate
this
new information thoroughly and hold the bus company accountable for the
improper acts of its drivers. The group is also calling on relevant
local,
state and federal agencies to join the investigation of the complaints.
To date, the Duval County School board and the bus company have not
offered
an explanation as to why another bus driver refused to pick the same
group
of Muslim students from their bus stop on Friday, October 31.
CAIR, America's largest Islamic civil liberties group, is headquartered
in
Washington, D.C., and has 25 offices and chapters nationwide and in
Canada.
� END �
CONTACT: Ahmed Bedier, 813-731-9506, E-Mail: abedier@cair-florida.org;
Altaf Ali, 954-298-8214
NOTE: CAIR offers an e-mail list designed to be a window to the
American
Muslim community. Subscribers to the list, called CAIR-NET, receive
news
releases and other materials dealing with American Muslim positions on
issues of importance to our society.
To SUBSCRIBE to CAIR-NET, go to: http://cair.biglist.com/cair-net/
-----
CAIR
Council on American-Islamic Relations
453 New Jersey Avenue, S.E.
Washington, D.C. 20003
Tel: 202-488-8787, 202-744-7726
Fax: 202-488-0833
E-mail: cair@cair-net.org
URL: http://www.cair-net.org
-----
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
AMERICAN MUSLIM NEWS BRIEFS - 11/10/03
* HADITH OF THE DAY: THE ESSENCE OF FASTING
* SUPPORT CAIR'S $1 MILLION DURING RAMADAN CAMPAIGN
- Register online for CAIR's DC Dinner 11/29
* CAIR-NY: MUSLIMS ORGANIZE RAMADAN FOOD DRIVE
* SUPREME COURT TO HEAR GUANTANAMO APPEALS (AP)
- Supreme Court Rejects Appeal from Charity (AP)
- Prison Religious Rights Law Ruled Illegal (AP)
* INTEGRATE RELIGIOUS, MORAL TRADITIONS (Denver Post)
- First Non-White Elected To Hamtramck City Council (AP)
- Muslim Holy Day Could Become a Holiday (Free Press)
* SHOCKING IMAGES SHAME US FORCES (Al Jazeerah)
* DISTORTIONS BEING USED TO ATTACK ISLAM (Star Tribune)
- Pipes Defends Website Amidst Protests (Yale Herald)
- Evangelicals Who Giftwrap Islamophobia (Guardian)
* GERKEN, SZOLLOSI SHOWN THE DOOR FOR CRITICIZING PATRIOT ACT
- Patriot Act Gets Criticism (Balt. Sun)
- Gore Criticizes Bush Approach to Security (Wash. Post)
* RESTAURANT'S OWNER ALLEGES BIAS IN COMPLAINTS (NYT)
* EX-PROFESSOR BEWAILS CONDITIONS (AP)
- Demand Humane Treatment of Canadians Abroad
* ISLAM FINDS NEW CONVERTS IN RWANDA (AFP)
* RE-REGISTRATION REMINDER FOR IMMIGRANTS
* TURNING THE PAGE ON IRAQ'S HISTORY (CSM)
- Americans Sow Seeds of Hatred (Guardian)
- Mossad: Invasion Has Created A Holy War (Indep.)
- U.S. Woos Iranian Group in Iraq (Wash. Post)
- Another American Casualty: Credibility (Wash. Post)
* TALK TO U.S. MUSLIM SOLDIERS IN IRAQ
-----
HADITH OF THE DAY: THE ESSENCE OF FASTING
The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: "Fasting is not [just
abstaining] from eating and drinking, but also from vain speech and
foul
language. If one of you is being cursed or annoyed, he should say: 'I
am
fasting, I am fasting.'"
Fiqh-us-Sunnah, Volume 3, Number 132A
-----
SUPPORT CAIR'S $1 MILLION DURING RAMADAN CAMPAIGN
Donate generously to the campaign. To donate online, go to:
http://www.cair-net.org/asp/millionforislam.asp (NOTE: Scholars says
CAIR
is able to receive ZAKAT donations.)
---
REGISTER ONLINE FOR CAIR'S DC DINNER 11/29
Rep. from D.C.'s Mayor's office to attend dinner
Registration is now available online for CAIR's Ninth Annual
Fundraising
Dinner on November 29th (the weekend after Eid ul-Fitr) in Washington,
D.C.
The dinner, with the theme "Muslims in America: A Defining Moment,"
will
feature presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich as one of its main
speakers.
Ken Saunders, director of the mayor's office of human rights for the
District of Columbia, will be attending the dinner on behalf of the
executive office of the Mayor.
WHERE: Sheraton Premiere at Tysons Corner, 8661 Leesburg Pike, Tysons
Corner/Vienna, VA
COST: CAIR dinners always quick to sell out so get you tickets now!
Tickets: $55/$85 per couple R.S.V.P. by Nov. 24, 2003. No children
please.
(Limited babysitting with prior notice only - $10 per child.)
FOR MORE INFORMATION, call 202-488-8787 or e-mail:
register@cair-net.org
ACTION REQUESTED:
REGISTER FOR CAIR'S DINNER BY GOING TO:
https://www.cair-net.org/2003dinner-register.asp
-----
NY MUSLIMS ORGANIZE RAMADAN FOOD DRIVE
http://www.cair-ny.com/fd2003.shtml
WHAT: CAIR-NY, in partnership with ICNA Relief, is beginning its first
annual Ramadan Food Drive. What better time to reach out to others with
love and assistance than in the month of Ramadan. PLEASE GIVE
GENEROUSLY!
Each family should donate at least three non-perishable food items.
Participating mosques and organizations in all five boroughs of New
York
City will collect and distribute food to needy New Yorkers. Sponsoring
organizations include the Arab American Family Support Center, the
Council
of Pakistan Organizations, Muslim American Society/MAS, the New York
Area
Muslim Bar Association, Muslim Consultative Network, and Women In Islam
Inc.
CAIR�NY is also urging mosques and other Muslim organizations around
America to sponsor their own local Ramadan Food Drives as part of the
Islamic obligation to help all who are in need.
For information on collection or distribution sites, please contact
CAIR-NY at
212-870-2002.
-----
SUPREME COURT TO HEAR GUANTANAMO APPEALS
Anne Gearan, Associated Press, 11/10/03
http://breakingnews.iol.ie/news/story.asp?j=85342692&p=85343398
WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court will hear its first case arising from
the
government's anti-terrorism campaign following the Sept. 11 attacks,
agreeing Monday to consider whether foreigners held at a U.S. Navy base
in
Cuba should have access to American courts.
The appeals came from British, Australian and Kuwaiti citizens held
with
more than 600 others suspected of being Taliban or al-Qaida foot
soldiers.
Most were picked up in U.S. anti-terrorism sweeps in Afghanistan
following
the attacks of two years ago.
The court combined the men's appeals and will hear the consolidated
case
sometime next year.
Lower courts had found that the American civilian court system did not
have
authority to hear the men's complaints about their treatment...
ALSO SEE:
SUPREME COURT REJECTS APPEAL FROM CHARITY
Gina Holland, Associated Press, 11/10/03
http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/politics/7227391.htm
WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court rejected an appeal Monday from an
Islamic
charity whose assets were impounded three months after the terrorist
attacks.
The Global Relief Foundation argued that the government put it out of
business without proof the Illinois-based charity was funneling money
to
terrorists.
Justices refused to consider whether it was unconstitutional or illegal
for
the government to freeze the foundation's bank accounts. Since the
attacks
on Sept. 11, 2001, the United States and other governments have frozen
the
assets of several groups they claim assist groups like al-Qaida.
Global Relief has not been charged with a terror-related crime. It has
said
it provides humanitarian relief in about 20 different nations, mainly
those
with large Muslim populations.
Foundation attorney Roger C. Simmons of Frederick, Md., told the court
in a
filing that the government has ``instilled a fear in the Muslim
community
that they are being persecuted for their religious beliefs.''
Simmons said a lower court ruling against it would allow the government
to
shut down charities like the Red Cross or United Way for giving aid in
terrorist hot spots, or freeze the assets of an American who buys
illegal
drugs, because terrorism is funded by illegal drug sales...
---
PRISON RELIGIOUS RIGHTS LAW RULED ILLEGAL
John Nolan, Associated Press, 11/7/03
http://www.ajc.com/news/content/news/ap/ap_story.html/National/AP.V2873.AP-Prison-Religion.html
CINCINNATI - A federal appeals court Friday declared unconstitutional a
3-year-old law that gives inmates the right to gather for worship and
follow religious dietary practices.
The federal law, the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons
Act,
prohibits governments from limiting the religious freedom of people in
prisons and other federally funded institutions unless there is a
compelling reason.
The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the law violates the
separation
of church and state because it has ``the primary effect of advancing
religion.''
The ruling by a three-judge panel applies only to Ohio, Michigan,
Kentucky
and Tennessee. Several other federal courts around the country have
found
the law to be constitutional.
In seeking to have the law thrown out, Ohio prison officials said they
were
worried that inmates were using the law as a guise for gang meetings...
-----
INTEGRATE RELIGIOUS, MORAL TRADITIONS
Frederick M. Denny, Denver Post, 11/9/03
http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1413,36~75~1749620,00.html
The recent Japha Ethics Symposium at the University of Colorado at
Boulder
was appropriately concerned more with habits and actions in the "real
world" than with ethical theory as such.
It was refreshing for a theoretically oriented academician like me to
hear
successful, professional business folk as well as scholars with applied
interests in other fields addressing ethics in relation to real worlds:
business, medicine, information technology, advertising, the
environment,
religion and spirituality, animal rights and animal welfare, journalism
and
educational curricula.
The academic study of religion can be a rather theoretically
preoccupied
field, even though its subject matter is human beings. Still, I felt
slightly out of place addressing a largely business-oriented audience
on
integrating religious and moral traditions into work. And although I
care
deeply about religious and moral authenticity in my fellow humans, I
struggle neither to be a preacher nor a trespasser into fields for
which I
am not qualified - in this case, business. But religious studies
provide an
insight nonetheless.
Since its origins in Arabia, Islam has been an extremely business-
friendly
religion. The Koran contains many references to commerce, trade,
benevolent
uses of assets, investments and returns. Muhammad was a long-distance
trader on the ancient caravan routes. So successful and honorable was
he
that his employer, Khadija - a Meccan businesswoman some 15 years older
-
proposed marriage. The two wed and enjoyed a long, happy life
together...
---
FIRST NON-WHITE ELECTED TO HAMTRAMCK CITY COUNCIL
Associated Press, 11/8/03
http://www.mlive.com/newsflash/michigan/index.ssf?/newsflash/get_story.ssf?/cgi-free/getstory_ssf.cgi?g6970_BC_MI--IntegratingHamtra&&news&newsflash-michigan
HAMTRAMCK, Mich. (AP) - For years, it seemed to many ethnic minorities
that
they were unwelcome in this heavily Polish enclave.
But last week, Bangladeshi-American Shahab Ahmed broke through the
divide.
He became the first non-white to be elected to the Hamtramck City
Council,
the Detroit Free Press reported.
"It's not a victory only for me. It's victory for those who were
stopped in
1999," Ahmed told the newspaper. "In the end, we won -- they lost."
Following complaints of discrimination in the 1999 election, the
Justice
Department sent monitors during 2001 elections for mayor and city
council.
Observers also were sent to monitor the treatment of Arab-American
voters
this year.
State law allows residents who register as challengers to challenge
anyone
they believe isn't a registered voter based on citizenship, age or
residency, but officials said the only people to be questioned about
their
citizenship in 1999 were Arab-Americans and Asian-Americans.
When Ahmed and his family moved to Michigan from Sylhet in Bangladesh,
he
spoke no English. Although he had studied business administration in
Bangladesh, his first job in Detroit was busing tables. Eventually, he
and
his brothers opened a restaurant...
---
MUSLIM HOLY DAY COULD BECOME A SCHOOL HOLIDAY
Niraj Warikoo, Detroit Free Press, 11/10/03
http://www.freep.com/news/religion/holid10_20031110.htm
The room was divided.
On the left side of the Crestwood High School library sat mostly Arab
Americans. On the right sat mostly parents of European descent.
For hours last week, they tussled at a public meeting over whether to
make
Eid -- the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan -- a school holiday.
Tonight, the school board of the Crestwood School District in Dearborn
Heights could vote on whether to give students the day off.
If it does, Crestwood would become part of a growing number of school
districts nationwide that accommodate religious needs of Muslim
populations. At the same time, some parents in Dearborn Heights say
their
district calendar shouldn't make exceptions for Muslim holidays.
In recent years, Arab Americans, mostly Muslim, have moved into
Dearborn
Heights from neighboring Dearborn. About a third of the district's
3,300
students are of Arab descent...
-----
SHOCKING IMAGES SHAME US FORCES
Yvonne Ridley and Lawrence Smallman, Al Jazeerah, 11/10/03
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/6B135A01-B99C-41C1-B36A-53197281D21E.htm
Fearful women and children are bound by US soldiers
A series of shocking pictures revealing US soldiers tying up Iraqi
women
and children in their own home has provoked international outrage.
The occupying forces have now come under renewed fire for their
treatment
of ordinary Iraqis as shown in the pictures published today by
Aljazeera.net.
CAIR, the Council on American-Islamic Relations, is conducting an
investigation and seeking advice before taking further action.
"This kind of image increases resentment of American troops in Iraq and
can
also play a major part in demoralising troops who are having to tie up
small children.
"We are seeking to raise this issue further in the appropriate arena,"
said
Washington CAIR spokesman Ibrahim Hooper...
-----
DISTORTIONS BEING USED TO ATTACK ISLAM
Fedwa Wazwaz, Star Tribune, 11/9/03
http://www.startribune.com/stories/1519/4197103.html
Since the tragic event of 9/11, Islam has been attacked as a religion
that
promotes hatred and violence.
Under the banner of fighting Wahabbism, a distortion campaign was
launched
maligning Muslim individuals, organizations, beliefs and political
positions.
According to these critics, Wahabbism is a violent, extremist sect of
Islam
practiced in Saudi Arabia. There are Sunni Muslims and Shia Muslims,
but
there is no school of jurisprudence called Wahhabi Muslims even in
Saudi
Arabia.
Taking advantage of the fact that most Americans know little about
Islam
and have no interaction with Muslims, these self-styled experts or
preachers became kings in the land of the blind distorting and
manipulating
verses from the Qur'an and quotes from Muslims to prove their hatred is
based on "evidence."
>From the Christian right, this distortion campaign was led by such
personalities as Franklin Graham, Jerry Falwell, Jerry Vines and Pat
Robertson. This camp doesn't trust God to fulfill his Biblical
prophecies,
so they are supporting the brutal expansionist policy of Israel at the
expense of the Palestinian people, hoping to speed along and fulfill
Jesus'
second coming. Their argument that Islam promotes violence and hatred
is
backed by cut-and-paste quotes from the Qur'an devoid of historical,
linguistic or any broader context...
Another camp that attacks Islam and Muslims are the neoconservatives
and
the pro-Israeli zealots. After making sweeping generalizations
associating
many Muslims and Muslim organizations with Wahibbism, they argue that
they
are being politically correct since it's Muslim extremists that they
are
against, not Muslims or Islam in general...
Daniel Pipes, most notable of these critics, figures a marginalization
of
Muslims in America is a win for Israel...
ALSO SEE:
PIPES DEFENDS WEBSITE AMIDST PROTESTS
Steven Engler, Yale Herald, 11/7/03
http://www.yaleherald.com/article.php?Article=2621
Yale is considered by many to be one of the most politically active
colleges in the country. Thursday's speech by Daniel Pipes, the
director of
the Middle East Forum (MEF) and newest member of the United States
Institute for Peace, proved no exception to evoking displays of
activism as
he addressed a crammed Linsly-Chittenden Hall on the current situation
in
the Middle East at the inaugural event of the Middle East Forum at Yale
College.
The event did not go unprotested, however, as over 30 students wearing
black gags challenged Pipes's controversial views on the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict and freedom of speech on his website,
campuswatch.org. Until recently the site listed college professors who
spoke out against the war in Iraq, including several Yale professors.
A decade since the Oslo and Camp David Accords of 1993, Pipes
maintained
that two problems have caused the situation in the Middle East to
disintegrate: First, that the Palestinians never accepted Israel's
statehood through diplomacy; and second, that populations don't
subscribe
to agreements their country's leaders make.
Pipes asserted that the Camp David Accords, reached in 1993 between
Palestinian President Yasser Arafat and former Israeli Prime Minister
Yitzhak Rabin, were premature. "Diplomacy was not only ineffective," he
said, "but counterproductive." Pipes argued that the Palestinian people
never truly recognized Israel's statehood. "Only when the Palestinians
accept that destroying Israel is not an option will diplomacy be
effective..."
---
THE EVANGELICALS WHO LIKE TO GIFTWRAP ISLAMOPHOBIA
Giles Fraser, Guardian, 11/10/03
http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,3604,1081349,00.html
It all sounds innocent enough. Operation Christmas Child "is a unique
ministry that brings Christmas joy, packed in gift-filled shoeboxes, to
children around the world". Over the past 10 years, 24 million
shoeboxes
have been delivered, making it the world's largest children's Christmas
project. Every US president since Ronald Reagan has packed a shoebox
for
Operation Christmas Child. In the UK, thousands of schools, churches
and
youth clubs are doing the same. Some will fill their boxes with
dried-out
felt tip pens and discarded Barbie amputees. Others spend serious money
on
the latest GameBoy or Sony Walkman.
But what many parents and teachers don't know is that behind Operation
Christmas Child is the evangelical charity Samaritan's Purse. Their aim
is
"the advancement of the Christian faith through educational projects
and
the relief of poverty". And a particularly toxic version of
Christianity it
is. This is the same outfit that targeted eastern Europe after the fall
of
the Berlin Wall and was widely condemned for following US troops into
Iraq
to claim Muslims for Christ.
It's run by the Rev Franklin Graham - chosen by George Bush to deliver
the
prayers at his presidential inauguration - who has called Islam "a very
wicked and evil religion". Graham, the son of the evangelist Billy
Graham,
is from the same school of thought as General William Boykin, US deputy
undersecretary of defence for intelligence, who described America as
waging
a holy war against "the idol" of Islam's false god and "a guy called
Satan"
who "wants to destroy us as a Christian army..."
-----
GERKEN, SZOLLOSI SHOWN THE DOOR AS GOVERNMENT CENTER SECURITY SAYS NO
TO
CRITICS OF PATRIOT ACT
Tom Troy, Toledo Blade, 11/9/03
http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2003111070143
Two Toledo councilmen and a small group of citizens holding a banner
were
kicked out of Government Center yesterday while holding a news
conference
raising questions about the USA Patriot Act.
An Ohio Highway Patrol trooper held Councilman Pete Gerken's elbow as
he
escorted him to the front exit of the building.
Also ordered to leave was Councilman Frank Szollosi and the group
called
Citizens for Individual Rights and Freedoms, whose members unfurled a
banner criticizing the USA Patriot Act as "unpatriotic."
Mr. Gerken, who pulled his arm away from the trooper, said afterward
that
many news events have taken place in the lobby of Government Center,
including one only 24 hours earlier on the subject of electric rates,
in
which he participated.
"This is an elected official in the building talking about an issue
pending
before council," Mr. Gerken said about himself. "This was not an
overtly
political press conference." He said he would protest to the Ohio
Building
Authority, which owns Government Center...
ALSO SEE:
PATRIOT ACT GETS CRITICISM FROM ALL SIDES
Michael Hill, Baltimore Sun, 11/9/03
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/opinion/7209252.htm
It seems impossible that something called the Patriot Act could manage
to
get a bad name for itself. But that's exactly what has happened to this
legislation hastily passed in the weeks after Sept. 11, 2001.
The act has had no more effective critics than America's librarians
who,
under its provisions, can be required to tell federal officials what
books
people are checking out.
Their rising ire tripped up the recent pro-Patriot Act speaking tour by
Attorney General John Ashcroft, forcing him to go public with
information
he had classified saying federal law enforcement had not used these
powers
to go snooping in any libraries.
But the damage was done. Criticism of the Patriot Act has come from all
parts of the political spectrum. Some 200 local governments have
adopted
resolutions opposing it. The attacks essentially sank a proposed
Patriot
Act II when its details were leaked earlier this year -- though
individual
provisions have been proposed by the Bush administration...
---
GORE CRITICIZES BUSH APPROACH TO SECURITY
Rick Weiss, Washington Post, 11/10/03
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A20026-2003Nov9.html
In his second major policy speech in three months, former vice
president Al
Gore took aim yesterday at what he said was the Bush administration's
exploitation of the terrorist attacks of 2001 to justify an
undemocratic
suspension of domestic freedoms and to create a government built on
"secrecy and deception."
Looking energized and fit, Gore told 3,000 cheering supporters in
Washington's DAR Constitution Hall -- and innumerable others who
watched on
C-Span and on a live Internet webcast -- that President Bush was taking
the
wrong approach to protecting the nation from terrorist threats...
Gore, who described himself as "a recovering politician," urged
Congress to
repeal the Patriot Act, with its broad enhancements of government
powers
that allow federal agents to "sneak and peek" at citizens' private
records;
enter citizens' homes in secret; and hold citizens indefinitely without
access to legal counsel or a hearing before a judge...
-----
EX-PROFESSOR BEWAILS CONDITIONS
Vickie Chachere, Associated Press, 11/8/03
http://www.tallahassee.com/mld/democrat/news/local/7211980.htm
TAMPA - The attorney for former professor Sami Al-Arian said Friday he
is
hiring a psychiatrist to evaluate whether Al-Arian's confinement at a
federal prison is inflicting mental harm.
Attorney William Moffitt's move comes even as a federal judge said
Friday
no laws have been broken and Al-Arian's rights have not been violated
by
his confinement in a high-security unit.
Moffitt is seeking to have Al-Arian moved from the confinement unit at
Coleman federal prison, about 80 miles north of Tampa. Moffitt and
Al-Arian
argue that the conditions there are so oppressive it is interfering
with
Al-Arian's right to help defend himself on charges he helped finance
terrorist attacks in Israel.
Al-Arian has complained of not having adequate access to his attorneys,
not
being allowed visits with his family and not having the proper tools to
review documents in his case.
Recently, he also has complained that prison officials have made it
difficult for him to observe the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. He also
complained that he's not allowed to wear a watch, so he does not know
when
it is the proper time to pray...
ALSO SEE:
DEMAND HUMANE TREATMENT AND RELEASE OF CANADIANS ABROAD
(Ottawa, Canada) � The Canadian Council on American-Islamic Relations
(CAIR-CAN) is calling on all Canadians to demand that their government
secure the safety and release of Canadian citizens detained abroad.
Abdallah alMalki and Arwad Al-Bouchi are being held in Syria and Ahmad
Abou
El Maati is being held in Egypt.
The situation of Abdallah alMalki is particularly troubling. Recent
reports indicate that he has been subjected to severe torture and
ill-treatment. He is said to be in poor health and has lost a lot of
weight.
CAIR-CAN is gravely concerned that all three individuals have been
denied
their fundamental rights. All the individuals have been detained
without
charge, without access to legal representation and, in many cases,
disallowed any consular access.
IMMEDIATE ACTION REQUESTED
1. CONTACT Prime Minister Jean Chr�tien and Foreign Affairs Minister
Bill Graham and demand that they:
* make representations to the Syrian and Egyptian government to ensure
that
the detained Canadians are treated humanely and not subjected to any
torture or ill-treatment and that they are given immediate access to
Canadian consular officials, lawyers, relatives and adequate medical
treatment
* insist that the Canadians are released unless they are charged with a
recognizable criminal offence and given a prompt and fair trial
Prime Minister Jean Chr�tien
Tel: 613-992-4211
Fax: 613-941-6900
E-mail: pmo@pm.gc.ca
Minister of Foreign Affairs Bill Graham
Tel: 613-992 5234
Fax: 613-996-960
E-mail: Graham.B@parl.gc.ca
2. CONTACT your local MP and demand that they take up this issue
urgently
in the House of Commons. Obtain the name and full contact information
of
your Member of Parliament by calling
(613) 992-4793, or by typing your postal code at:
www.parl.gc.ca/information/about/people/house/PostalCode.asp?Source=SM
3. WRITE a letter to the editor of your local newspaper to express your
concern over the detention of Canadian citizens.
4. COPY Canada@cair-net.org on all correspondence.
-----
RESTAURANT'S OWNER ALLEGES BIAS IN COMPLAINTS ON MUSIC
Debra West, New York Times, 11/10/03
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/10/nyregion/10JOUR.html
BRIARCLIFF MANOR, N.Y. - The trouble began after Sept. 11, 2001, said
Dr.
Syed A. Nayeem, the owner of Maison Lafitte, a restaurant in a
Georgian-style mansion here with sweeping views of the Hudson River.
Dr. Nayeem, an Indian-born Muslim, said that shortly after a family of
Indian immigrants held a wedding celebration at the restaurant, he
received
an anonymous letter complaining about the noise and saying that the
authorities in Ossining, the town that includes Briarcliff Manor, had
been
notified. Then came repeated visits from the town building inspector
and
the police, he said.
Now Dr. Nayeem is suing Ossining in Federal District Court in White
Plains.
He claims that he is being discriminated against by the town, which is
enforcing a little-used cabaret law that prohibits restaurants and bars
from playing music without a license...
-----
ISLAM FINDS NEW CONVERTS IN RWANDA IN WAKE OF GENOCIDE
Helen Vesperini, Agence France Presse, 11/9/03
Long a marginalised tiny minority, Rwanda's Muslims have grown
considerably
in number and stature in the 10 years since the genocide of 1994.
Like many of his compatriots, Isaac, a lanky young stonemason,
converted
after the bloody events of that year, when he was a soldier in the
Rwandan
Patriotic Front, a Tutsi-led rebellion that is now the dominant force
in
government.
"I converted after my unit came into Kigali and I saw how many of my
fellow
Tutsis has been hidden, and therefore saved, by Muslims," he told AFP
between sips of a soft drink in the populous Nyamirambo district of the
capital.
According to the current government, up to a million people were killed
over 100 days in 1994 during an orchestrated campaign by the Hutu
government to rid the country of its Tutsi minority.
At the time, about 1.2 percent of the population were of the Islamic
faith,
which was introduced to Rwanda in around 1900 by Arab traders and
translators working with the German military.
One of those to swell this proportion to the current estimate of 10
percent
is former Roman Catholic Jean-Pierre Sagahutu, who now works as a taxi
driver...
-----
RE-REGISTRATION REMINDER FOR IMMIGRANTS
Re-registration Reminder: As part of ongoing requirements associated
with
the special registration program (National Security Entry-Exit
Registration
System or "NSEERS"), individuals are required to re-register annually
with
a local immigration office within 10 days of the one year anniversary
date
of their initial registration. Individuals who fail to comply with
re-registration or any of the special registration requirements may be
subject to civil and/or criminal penalties.
American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) Special Registration Update -
Approaching Annual Deadlines & Other Registration Requirements:
http://www.aclu.org/Files/OpenFile.cfm?id=14196
South Asian Network (SAN)-"SPECIAL REGISTRATION" (NSEERS) REMINDER:
ANNUAL
RE-REGISTRATION DEADLINES APPROACHING
http://www.southasiannetwork.org/Alerts.htm
-----
TURNING THE PAGE ON IRAQ'S HISTORY
Christina Asquith, Christian Science Monitor, 11/4/03
http://www.csmonitor.com/2003/1104/p11s01-legn.html
BAGHDAD - For 15 years, high school history teacher Abtsam Jassom has
dutifully taught 20th-century history according to the Baath Party. In
it,
America was the greedy invader, every Iraqi war was justified and
victorious, and Zionists were the cause of world suffering.
Now, however, with the ouster of former President Saddam Hussein, US
officials say teachers will finally be free to teach a more factual
account
of historical events. But the question is: Whose account will that be?
The first indicator of what a Saddam-free education will look like is
arriving this month, as millions of newly revised textbooks roll off
the
printing presses to be distributed to Iraq's 5.5 million schoolchildren
in
16,000 schools. All 563 texts were heavily edited and revised over the
summer by a team of US-appointed Iraqi educators. Every image of Saddam
and
the Baath Party has been removed.
But so has much more - including most of modern history. Pressured for
time, and hoping to avoid political controversy, the Ministry of
Education
under the US-led coalition government removed any content considered
"controversial," including the 1991 Gulf War; the Iran-Iraq war; and
all
references to Israelis, Americans, or Kurds...
ALSO SEE:
AMERICANS SOW SEEDS OF HATRED
Patrick Graham, Guardian, 11/9/03
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,6903,1080989,00.html
Sarab rolls up her sleeve and looks at the thick scar across her upper
arm.
The eight-year-old says she was playing in the bathroom of her house
when
the shots were fired but cannot remember anything else.
'It is their routine,' said her grandfather, Turk Jassim. 'After the
Americans are attacked, they shoot everywhere. This is inhuman - a
stupid
act by a country always talking about human rights.'
Last September, US forces shot dead Sarab's two-year old sister, Dunya,
and
wounded two other girls in her family, 13-year-old Menal and 16-year
old
Bassad. The family belongs to the Albueisi tribe who farm the rich land
along the Euphrates river south of Falluja. The Albueisi fought against
the
British and even Saddam Hussein found them difficult to control. Since
April, at least 10 members of the tribe have been killed by US forces,
including five policemen.
While the US authorities maintain that resistance attacks are carried
out
by former Baathists and supporters of Saddam, they continue to ignore
the
tribal nature of the insurgency which has grown steadily over recent
months. Deeply conservative clans like the 50,000-strong Albueisi have
codes of honour which they complain the American army ignores at
checkpoints and during raids on houses...
---
MOSSAD CHIEF: INVASION HAS CREATED A HOLY WAR
Kim Sengupta and Kendah El-Ali, Independent, 11/9/03
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/politics/story.jsp?story=461945
A former chief of Mossad, the Israeli intelligence service, has accused
the
United States and Britain of lack of foresight over the Iraq invasion
and
warned of even greater violence unless the civic infrastructure is
established quickly.
Major General Danny Yatom said the presence of Western forces in Iraq
has
presented the opportunity for a holy war, or jihad, by Islamists in a
country surrounded by Muslim neighbours.
Speaking during a visit to London, Gen Yatom said: "Colin Powell has
always
said that if the coalition went into Iraq, they had to get out. But it
seems America did not have such a plan in place. They are lacking such
a
plan, and that is what is urgently needed now."
The failure to restore basic amenities such as water and power has been
one
of the biggest obstacles to winning over the Iraqi people to "show that
the
democratic system works," said Gen Yatom, whose visit was organised by
the
group Friends of Hebrew University...
---
IN A DELICATE BALANCING ACT, U.S. WOOS IRANIAN GROUP IN IRAQ
Karl Vick, Washington Post, 11/9/03
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A17287-2003Nov8.html
KHALIS, Iraq - Listed as a terrorist organization by the United States
and
bombed by U.S. warplanes during Operation Iraqi Freedom, the armed
Iranian
opposition group known as People's Mujaheddin remains in its customary
quarters about 50 miles north of Baghdad. The sprawling, dun-colored
compound is named Camp Ashraf, and the 3,800 men and women inside are
technically prisoners of the United States.
But it's not entirely clear who's in charge there, as quickly became
evident one recent day when a car rolled to a stop at the main gate.
The driver was approached by a slender, bespectacled man in green
fatigues
who identified himself as Mohammad Hassan, an officer of the
mujaheddin.
After asking whom the driver came to see, Hassan phoned to confirm the
appointment with another mujaheddin official inside the compound. The
barrier was then lifted by a mujaheddin sentry who emerged from one of
three tidy guard trailers.
In the shade under camouflage netting, three U.S. soldiers watched the
encounter. "They challenge, we don't," explained one...
---
ANOTHER AMERICAN CASUALTY: CREDIBILITY
Zbigniew Brzezinski, Washington Post, 11/9/03
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A14360-2003Nov7.html
Forty years ago, an important emissary was sent to France by a
beleaguered
president of the United States. It was during the Cuban missile crisis
and
the emissary was a tough-minded former secretary of state, Dean
Acheson.
His mission was to brief French President Charles de Gaulle and solicit
his
support in what could become a nuclear war involving not just the
United
States and the Soviet Union but the entire NATO alliance and the Warsaw
Pact.
At the end of the briefing, Acheson said to de Gaulle, "I would now
like to
show you the evidence, the photographs that we have of Soviet missiles
armed with nuclear weapons." The French president responded, "I do not
wish
to see the photographs. The word of the president of the United States
is
good enough for me. Please tell him that France stands with America."
Would any foreign leader today react the same way to an American
emissary
sent abroad to say that country X is armed with weapons of mass
destruction
that threaten the United States? It is unlikely. The recent conduct of
U.S.
foreign policy, by distorting the threats facing America, has isolated
the
United States and undermined its credibility. It has damaged our
ability to
deal with issues in North Korea, Iran, Russia and the West Bank. If a
case
ever needs to be made for action against a truly imminent threat, will
any
nation take us seriously?...
-----
TALK TO U.S. MUSLIM SOLDIERS IN IRAQ
Islamonline, 11/9/03
http://www.islamonline.net/english/In_Depth/Iraq_Aftermath/2003/11/article_03.shtml
WHAT: IslamOnline will host a live dialogue with a Muslim US soldier in
Iraq. Join us live on Tuesday, November 11, 2003 at 17:30 GMT, or
submit
your questions ahead of time at spotlightoniraq@islam-online.net.
Sergeant Mohammed Omar Masry (a.k.a. Omar Amin) is a 24-year-old US
Army
Civil Affairs Sergeant in Baghdad. He is assigned to the 354th Civil
Affairs Brigade, a Civil Affairs Unit that belongs to the Special
Operation
Command field, out of Maryland.
His unit was activated in March for Operation Iraqi Freedom and he
expects
to stay in Iraq for a year.
-----
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-----
CAIR
Council on American-Islamic Relations
453 New Jersey Avenue, S.E.
Washington, D.C. 20003
Tel: 202-488-8787, 202-744-7726
Fax: 202-488-0833
E-mail: cair@cair-net.org
URL: http://www.cair-net.org
-----
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - 11/11/03
-- MEDIA ADVISORY --
CONGRESS TO HOLD RAMADAN IFTAR NOV. 12
Fast breaking hosted by Conyers, Meeks, Kucinich, Sanchez, Lee
WHAT: On Wednesday, November 12, the House of Representatives and
leaders
of the American Muslim community will hold a Ramadan iftar, or fast
breaking, on Capitol Hill.
The iftar is being co-hosted by Rep. John Conyers Jr. (D-MI), Rep.
Gregory
Meeks (D-NY), Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH), Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D-CA),
and
Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA).
"This important event will provide an excellent opportunity for elected
officials and congressional staffers to learn more about the American
Muslim community and the significance of Ramadan," said Hasan Mansori,
governmental relations coordinator for the Council on American-Islamic
Relations (CAIR). "It will also send a message of tolerance and respect
for
religious diversity."
The Capitol Hill iftar will include breaking of the fast with water and
dates, the call to prayer (adhan), the Islamic sunset prayer (maghrib),
an
ecumenical prayer by a Muslim religious leader, and remarks by the
congressional hosts.
CAIR, America's largest Muslim civil liberties group, is headquartered
in
Washington, D.C., and has 25 offices and chapters nationwide and in
Canada.
WHEN: Wednesday, November 12, 4:45 - 6:30 p.m.
WHERE: House Judiciary Committee Hearing Room, 2141 Rayburn House
Office
Building, Washington, D.C.
- END -
CONTACT: Ibrahim Hooper, 202-488-8787 or 202-744-7726, E-Mail:
cair@cair-net.org; Rabiah Ahmed, 202-488-8787 or 202-439-1441, E-Mail:
rahmed@cair-net.org
NOTE: CAIR offers an e-mail list designed to be a window to the
American
Muslim community. Subscribers to the list, called CAIR-NET, receive
news
releases and other materials dealing with American Muslim positions on
issues of importance to our society.
To SUBSCRIBE to CAIR-NET, go to: http://cair.biglist.com/cair-net/
-----
CAIR
Council on American-Islamic Relations
453 New Jersey Avenue, S.E.
Washington, D.C. 20003
Tel: 202-488-8787, 202-744-7726
Fax: 202-488-0833
E-mail: cair@cair-net.org
URL: http://www.cair-net.org
-----
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
AMERICAN MUSLIM NEWS BRIEFS - 11/11/03
* HADITH OF THE DAY: MODERATION IN ALL THINGS
* SUPPORT CAIR'S $1 MILLION DURING RAMADAN CAMPAIGN
- Register online for CAIR's DC Dinner 11/29
* MUSLIM FAMILY NEEDED TO ADOPT SPECIAL NEEDS CHILD
* VANDALS TARGET VIRGINIA ISLAMIC CENTER
* INCITEMENT WATCH: "WE ARE AT WAR WITH ISLAM" (T & D)
* FL BUS DRIVER HAS HISTORY OF BIAS (News 4)
* MI MUSLIMS KILLED IN ACCIDENT AFTER IFTAR (Mich. Daily)
* DETROIT SCHOOLS CLOSE FOR RAMADAN-END FEAST (AP)
- A Time of Fasts and Feasting (Chicago Tribune)
- Room for Prayer in NJ School (Bergen Record)
* MUSLIMS CHANGE HOW THEY GIVE (Daily Herald)
* HALF OF AMERICANS SAY WAR NOT WORTHWHILE (AP)
* JUSTICES AT GUANTANAMO (Wash. Post)
* UNFAIR TILT TOWARD ISRAEL (Wash. Post)
* MUSLIM DEFENDS U.S., LAND HE LOVES (Newsday)
* VISA RULES KEEP THOUSANDS FROM U.S. (Wash. Post)
- Scholar Confronts 'Ugly Face Of America' (WP)
* POINTING THE CAR TOWARD MECCA (NY Times)
-----
HADITH OF THE DAY: MODERATION IN ALL THINGS
The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) once asked a companion: "(Is
it
true) that you fast all day and stand in prayer all night?" The
companion
replied that the report was indeed true. The Prophet then said: "Do not
do
that! Observe the fast sometimes and also leave (it) at other times;
stand
up for prayer at night and also sleep at night. Your body has a right
over
you, your eyes have a right over you and your wife has a right over
you."
Sahih Al-Bukhari, Volume 7, Hadith 127
-----
SUPPORT CAIR'S $1 MILLION DURING RAMADAN CAMPAIGN
Donate generously to the campaign. To donate online, go to:
http://www.cair-net.org/asp/millionforislam.asp (NOTE: Scholars says
CAIR
is able to receive ZAKAT donations.)
---
REGISTER ONLINE FOR CAIR'S DC DINNER 11/29
Rep. from D.C.'s Mayor's office to attend dinner
Registration is now available online for CAIR's Ninth Annual
Fundraising
Dinner on November 29th (the weekend after Eid ul-Fitr) in Washington,
D.C.
The dinner, with the theme "Muslims in America: A Defining Moment,"
will
feature presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich as one of its main
speakers.
Ken Saunders, director of the Mayor's office of human rights for the
District of Columbia, will be attending the dinner on behalf of the
executive office of the Mayor.
WHERE: Sheraton Premiere at Tysons Corner, 8661 Leesburg Pike, Tysons
Corner/Vienna, VA
COST: CAIR dinners always quick to sell out so get you tickets now!
Tickets: $55/$85 per couple R.S.V.P. by Nov. 24, 2003. No children
please.
(Limited babysitting with prior notice only - $10 per child.)
FOR MORE INFORMATION, call 202-488-8787 or e-mail:
register@cair-net.org
ACTION REQUESTED:
REGISTER FOR CAIR'S DINNER BY GOING TO:
https://www.cair-net.org/2003dinner-register.asp
------
MUSLIM FAMILY NEEDED TO ADOPT SPECIAL NEEDS CHILD
Adoption STAR - a NYS Authorized non-profit child placing agency is
seeking
a Muslim family for a baby (sex unknown) that will be born at the end
of
November with spina bifida (http://www.sbaa.org/). CONTACT: (716)
691-3300
-- ask for Sara in the Special Needs department.
-----
VANDALS TARGET VIRGINIA ISLAMIC CENTER
Muslim civil rights group asks FBI to investigate incident
(WASHINGTON, D.C., 11/11/03) - The Council on American-Islamic
Relations
(CAIR) today called on the FBI to investigate vandalism at a Virginia
Islamic center as an anti-Muslim hate crime.
Officials of the All Dulles Area Muslim Society (ADAMS) in Sterling,
Va.,
say vandals painted an obscene anti-Islamic statement in large letters
on
the back of the center's 15-passenger van. The vandalism, currently
under
investigation by the Loudoun County Sheriffs Department, was discovered
Monday morning.
ADAMS has been targeted by vandals in the past. Immediately following
the
9/11 attacks, violent messages were spray-painted on the walls, carpets
and
doors of another facility used by ADAMS in Sterling. Last year, two
teenagers were charged for spray-painting a wall of the nearly
completed
mosque with Nazi swastikas and racial obscenities. Arsonists also
attempted
to burn the center's sign.
"Anti-Muslim hate crimes must be treated with the seriousness they
deserve
at both the local and national levels," said CAIR Communications
Director
Ibrahim Hooper. "American Muslim communities should be able to worship
in
peace, without the threat of attack by those whose minds have been
filled
with hatred and bigotry."
CAIR has received reports of similar attacks on American Muslims (or
those
perceived to be Muslim) and Islamic institutions. Those incidents
included
a stabbing attack on a Muslim woman in Virginia who was called a
"terrorist
pig," an arson attack on a Georgia mosque, a cross burning at a
Maryland
Islamic school, the kidnapping and beating of a Massachusetts pizza
delivery man whose attackers thought he was Muslim, and the shooting of
a
Sikh man in Arizona who may have been mistaken for an Arab. Similar
incidents have been reported in a number of other states.
Some of those charged and convicted of anti-Muslim hate crimes have
received relatively light sentences. An Illinois man got off with just
two
years probation and "anger management" classes after he bombed a Muslim
family's van. In Florida, a man was sentenced to just 12 years in
prison
for plotting to attack some 50 Islamic institutions in that state.
CONTACT: Ibrahim Hooper, 202-744-7726
-----
INCITEMENT WATCH: "WE ARE AT WAR WITH ISLAM"
A fairy tale: Peace in the Middle East
Rush Button, Times and Democrat, 11/11/03
http://www.thetandd.com/articles/2003/11/11/news/news5.txt
The editorial page cartoon in the Sunday T&D was a caricature of
President
George W. Bush sitting, reading a bedtime story to a child. The caption
is,
"And the Baghdadians lived happily ever after."
On the cover of the book, Fairy Tales is printed in large letters. I
guess
this brought many ironic and, perhaps bitter smiles, because, as many
know
full-well, this satirical cartoon with its rather blatant sarcasm is no
joke.
Neither the people of Baghdad nor any of the people of the Middle East,
including Israel, will truly live happily ever after because of the
character of the Muslim cultures which dominate that area. These
cultures
war among themselves, but they hate the "infidels" of Israel and
America
far more. They unite under the Islamic banner.
One needs only to take even a casual look at the history, or read the
Bible, to gain some understanding of the nature of those who inhabit
the
Middle East. These people are descendants of men who have fought each
other
and everyone else for thousands of years.
"Muslim allegiance is to Islam, never a country -- not even a Muslim
country! He will take advantage of all his host country's culture
offers,
but will at the same time, despise it and work towards its ultimate
downfall." Though many Americans fail to recognize it, we are at war
with
Islam…
ACTION REQUESTED: (As always, be firm, but POLITE. Hostile letters may
be
used to further defame Islam and Muslims.)
Send a letter to the editor to: (Include your phone number for
verification.)
Letters Editor
The Times and Democrat
P.O. Drawer 1766
Orangeburg, SC 29116
FAX: (803) 533-5595
E-MAIL: newsinfo@timesanddemocrat.com
COPY TO: cair@cair-net.org, buttonrl@aol.com
-----
ISLAMIC GROUP: BUS DRIVER HAS HISTORY OF BIAS
News 4 Jax, 11/10/03
http://www.news4jax.com/education/2626332/detail.html
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- The Florida office of the Council on
American-Islamic
Relations said Monday its investigation of two incidents where Muslim
middle-school students were denied rides on school buses found the
driver
had been involved in previous discrimination.
Florida Attorney General Charlie Crist said that his office has begun
an
investigation into the claims by the students at Fort Caroline Middle
School that a driver made them leave the bus last month for
discriminatory
reasons.
About 20 Muslim students claim they were kicked off a bus on Oct. 29,
then
prevented from boarding the same bus two days later.
The bus company -- First Student -- claimed that those students weren't
following directions and were being verbally abusive to the bus driver.
The students "vehemently" denied that they were being unruly, according
to
the American-Islamic Council. It said that two of the 20 students on
the
bus had reportedly raised their hands and asked the driver why she did
not
pick up siblings who were left behind at the school…
-----
ACCIDENT PROMPTS PETITION FOR TRAFFIC LIGHT ON PLYMOUTH ROAD
Victoria Edwards, Michigan Daily, 11/11/03
http://www.michigandaily.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2003/11/11/3fb07a9f58220
As a result of the tragedy involving Norhananim Zainol and Teh Nanni
Roshema, two University students killed Sunday night, there has been
discussion about petitioning for a streetlight on Plymouth Road, in
front
of the Islamic Center of Ann Arbor, said Ann Arbor Police Lt. Gregory
O'Dell.
"There were discussions today with several groups of people about the
intersection. It is certainly something being looked at, at this
point,"
O'Dell added.
Muslim Students Association President Omar Khalil said members of the
Muslim community have already begun to meet with city officials about
measures that must be taken to ensure that accidents like this are not
repeated…
-----
SUBURBAN DETROIT SCHOOLS CLOSE FOR RAMADAN-END FEAST
Associated Press, 11/11/03
http://www.mlive.com/newsflash/michigan/index.ssf?/newsflash/get_story.ssf?/cgi-free/getstory_ssf.cgi?g7345_BC_MI--Ramadan-Schools_1068551822&&news&newsflash-michigan
DEARBORN HEIGHTS, Mich. - The Crestwood School District is canceling
classes on the Muslim feast day of Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of
the
monthlong Ramadan fast.
Superintendent Oscar Brown on Monday scheduled a staff development day
on
Nov. 25. He said he was "responding to a few issues," including the
risk
that not enough students would attend classes to officially qualify as
an
instruction day under state attendance laws.
"We do provide for staff development throughout the course of the year,
and
there are provisions in the collective bargaining agreement for that,"
Brown told The Detroit News. "And, if it is timely, it makes sense for
any
school district to schedule those days when you might have a low
attendance
day."
Schools around the country close for Christmas, and many schedule
breaks
for the week after Easter. Some also cancel class on Jewish or Muslim
holidays if they expect high absence rates.
Schools in nearby Dearborn, which has the state's largest concentration
of
Arab Americans, began closing on Eid al-Fitr in 2001….
ALSO SEE:
A TIME OF FASTS AND FEASTING
Emilie Le Beau, Chicago Tribune, 11/11/03
http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/chi-0311110044nov11,1,1260964.story
Basketball practice for Ibrahim B. is more than layups and jump shots.
During the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, Ibrahim is at basketball
practice
when it's time to break his fast. Like many Muslims, Ibrahim doesn't
eat or
drink from sunrise to sunset during Ramadan, which this year began Oct.
27.
"When it comes time to break the fast, my coach lets me go and get a
drink
and eat a little snack," says Ibrahim, 12, of Naperville.
Ibrahim says fasting during basketball season can be tough. "I get
really
thirsty," he says. "But my coach knows that and he lets me go easy."
And
after Ibrahim comes home from practice, he can enjoy iftar, the evening
meal eaten after sunset.
Evening meals during Ramadan often are a time of celebration among
families. Ibrahim says his older brother and sister return home from
college on the weekends during the Muslim holy month. "We all eat
together
and talk and have fun," he says.
Ibrahim is the only student at his school observing Ramadan. He says
his
teachers are supportive. During lunch break, they let him stay inside
and
study instead of going to the lunchroom and watching the other kids
eat.
"They try not to tempt me with food or talk about food during that
time,"
he says…
---
SCHOOLS CONFRONT A NEW FORM OF AN OLD DILEMMA
John Chadwick, Bergen Record, 11/11/03
http://www.bergenrecord.com/page.php?qstr=eXJpcnk3ZjcxN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXkzJmZnYmVsN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXk2NDUwNDM0
Yasmeen Elsamra looks like a typical 12-year-old girl: Nike sneakers
and a
denim dress.
But on her head is a Muslim scarf, and in her backpack is a
multicolored
prayer rug showing the Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem.
Last month, the seventh-grader made a request that stunned school
officials
in her town of Cliffside Park.
She wanted to pray in school
"I asked if I could have a place to pray during lunch period," said
Yasmeen, who attends School 6. "And they told me that church is
separate
from state."
But within a few days, schools Superintendent Robert Paladino concluded
that the school must go along with the request. So he told the
principal to
find a room where Yasmeen could pray…
A spokesman for CAIR, the Muslim advocacy group, said many public
schools
are accommodating Muslims and experiencing few problems.
"You have to achieve a balance," Ibrahim Hooper said. "As long as
students
have the opportunity to pray, we think the details can be reasonably
worked
out between the individual schools and the families…"
-----
FEARS ABOUT CHARITIES FORCE MUSLIMS TO CHANGE HOW THEY GIVE
Madhu Krishnamurthy, Daily Herald, 11/11/03
http://www.dailyherald.com/mchenry/main_story.asp?intID=37936130
It's the time of year when Bina Raheem of Lindenhurst is inundated with
mail from Muslim charity groups seeking donations.
Ramadan is the holiest month in the Islamic calendar, and it's a
holiday
ritual for her and her husband, Kareem, to sift through the hopefuls
and
single out the most deserving to receive the couple's required
contribution.
Their money was likely destined for widows, orphans and the destitute
in
troubled regions of the "Muslim world." But no more says Raheem, a
Pakistani-American who has lived here for 27 years.
"During Ramadan, we used to allot money to different funds every year,"
Raheem said. "Post 9/11, my husband doesn't give to any of the
(international) charities because he is really afraid of being (put) on
a
list that goes directly to the government."
Instead, Raheem is giving to Averroes Academy, an Islamic school in
Northbrook where she is the business manager…
-----
HALF OF AMERICANS SAY WAR NOT WORTHWHILE
Associated Press, 11/11/03
http://www.ajc.com/news/content/news/ap/ap_story.html/Intl/AP.V8559.AP-War-Opinion.html
WASHINGTON - Amid increasing attacks against U.S. forces in Iraq, a
growing
number of Americans, including men and independent voters, say the war
in
Iraq was not worthwhile, according to a survey released Monday.
Half of Americans, 49 percent, say the war was not worth it, compared
to 48
percent who say it was, according to a survey conducted this month by
the
Annenberg Public Policy Center.
That's a change from results in October, when 52 percent of Americans
polled nationwide said the situation in Iraq was worth going to war
over,
while 43 percent said it was not.
The latest survey was conducted Nov. 1 through Nov. 9, a period when
news
of U.S. helicopters being shot down in Iraq gained wide attention.
Shifts in opinion were seen in most demographic groups, but were
strongest
among men, independents and political moderates and people with incomes
of
less than $35,000 per year, the survey found. The poll of 738 adults
had a
margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points…
-----
JUSTICES AT GUANTANAMO
Washington Post, 11/11/03
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A24514-2003Nov10.html
THE SUPREME COURT agreed yesterday to consider whether federal courts
have
any power over the military's war-on-terrorism detainees at Guantanamo
Bay,
Cuba. The decision was something of a surprise. The court's prior
precedents make it clear that U.S. courts have no jurisdiction over
non-Americans detained abroad, and lower court judges unanimously have
deemed this case law as precluding their review of the Guantanamo
detentions. Any assertion of jurisdiction by the courts would open a
huge
can of worms about where exactly to draw the jurisdictional lines.
Federal
judges shouldn't be overseeing foreign and military affairs. But the
court's announcement yesterday ought to be a wake-up call to the
military.
It is often a mistake to read much into a decision merely to hear a
case;
the justices could simply have taken the matter because the case is of
sufficient importance that they felt obliged to resolve it from the
top.
But it's also possible that some of the justices, like many other
Americans, are alarmed by the administration's obstinate refusal to be
governed by reasonable rules at Guantanamo, where it is holding about
660
people. Indeed, the Bush administration has all but taunted the courts
to
step in. From the beginning, it has refused to comply with the strict
terms
of the Geneva Convention, which requires that detainees be given
hearings
before they are designated "unlawful combatants." It has refused to
disclose who is being held or under what standards. There is no
remotely
neutral forum in which inmates can argue any claim they might have that
they are being held in error. None of the detainees has a lawyer. And
the
much-ballyhooed system of military tribunals that the administration
announced two years ago has, so far, resulted in zero trials, with only
a
handful ostensibly scheduled. The administration effectively asks
Americans
to tolerate the indefinite detention of large numbers of people with no
charge, no accountability and no seeming urgency about making the rule
of
law into a reality…
-----
UNFAIR TILT TOWARD ISRAEL
Michael Lerner and Cornel West, Washington Post, 11/11/03
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A24513-2003Nov10.html
In mid-September, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) joined
Democratic Rep. Howard Berman of Los Angeles and several dozen other
congressional Democrats in an extraordinary attempt to stop debate in
the
presidential primaries about America's approach to Middle East
conflict. In
a letter to candidate Howard Dean, the liberal Democrats criticized
Dean's
statement that if the United States wanted to play a positive role in
bringing Israel and Palestine to peace, it would have to take a more
neutral stance.
Pelosi and others insisted that these words were a violation of
America's
traditional tilt toward Israel, and that they could be interpreted as
abandoning the U.S. commitment to Israel's survival. Of course Dean had
neither intended nor implied any such thing. In fact, Dean has not been
particularly courageous on Middle East peace issues, so the public
hand-slap sent a powerful message: Democrats can be against the war in
Iraq, but they dare not question America's almost blind support for
Ariel
Sharon's government.
Privately, some Democrats say they are doing this to ensure that their
party does not lose the support of Jewish campaign contributors, who
play a
disproportionate role in the finances of the party…
-----
MUSLIM DEFENDS U.S., LAND HE LOVES
Dennis Duggan, Newsday, 11/11/03
http://www.nynewsday.com/news/local/newyork/columnists/ny-nyduggvr3536784nov11,0,7013808.column
It took 14 surgeries, one of them lasting 11 hours, to repair the
damage
done to Sgt. Wasim Khan's right leg when a rocket-propelled grenade
tore
into his ammunition truck during a June battle in Iraq.
Then there were two more surgeries to repair an eye. Khan, 27, still
has
marks on his arms and other parts of his body hit by shrapnel.
But the worst damage was to his leg, where, Khan says, "It looked as
though
someone had spooned out a big chunk of it."
That was repaired by doctors who took a muscle from his thigh,
implanted it
in the open wound and then covered it with a skin graft. Two skin
grafts
failed to work, but a third was successful…
Khan has been in the Army for more than five years and still has two
more
years to go. He talks about signing on for another stint because he
loves
being in the Army and especially with the First Armored Division
soldiers
who were his tent mates. And he is proud now to be an American citizen,
taking the oath at a ceremony in the hospital. "If you choose to live
in a
country, then you are obligated to defend it," he said…
-----
POST-9/11 VISA RULES KEEP THOUSANDS FROM COMING TO U.S.
Lee Hockstader, Washington Post, 11/11/03
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A24116-2003Nov10.html
AUSTIN - More than two years after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11,
2001,
a thicket of new rules governing the granting of visas to foreigners is
dissuading thousands of people from coming to the United States and
generating protests from research universities, medical institutions,
multinational corporations and the travel industry.
Because of the new regulations, American universities have lost
students
and scholars; corporations have suffered production delays, friction
with
customers and personnel problems; and foreign tourists and
conventioneers
have decided by the thousands to take their business elsewhere.
Increasingly, U.S. leaders in education, business and science are
warning
that the procedural obstacles thrown up to screen security threats have
fostered a bureaucratic "culture of no" that discounts the benefits
that
foreigners bring to the United States.
Bush administration officials defend the new rules, saying they are
keeping
terrorists from entering the country…
The most significant include a requirement for face-to-face interviews
for
hundreds of thousands of visa-seekers who previously were excused from
such
interviews, and the withholding of visas for certain categories of
people
until the FBI runs name checks to determine that they do not appear to
be a
threat. That process can take months…
ALSO SEE:
A SCHOLAR CONFRONTS 'UGLY FACE OF AMERICA'
Washington Post, 11/11/03
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A23944-2003Nov10.html
TORONTO - Muzaffar Iqbal, a Canadian professor, recalls his stomach
tightening as a U.S. immigration officer took his passport, bearing
stamps
from Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Kazakhstan, and ran it through a
scanner
last December. Then the man said: "Come with me, sir."
Iqbal, who was born in Pakistan in 1954 and moved to Canada in 1979,
had
been invited to Washington by Georgetown University's Center for
Christian-Muslim Understanding, to take part in planning a conference.
But now he was being diverted. At a facility at Toronto's Pearson
Airport
where travelers go through U.S. immigration checks, he was led down a
corridor of temporary offices. He came to a room where 10 other people
were
waiting in various states of agitation.
Iqbal knew that a few months earlier, officials in Ottawa had issued a
travel advisory that U.S. immigration officials were paying special
attention to Canadians born in Iran, Iraq, Libya, Sudan and Syria.
(Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Yemen were later added to the list.)
Canadians
protested. The minister of natural resources, Herb Dhaliwal, who was
born
in India, called the policy "the ugly face of America…"
-----
POINTING THE CAR TOWARD MECCA
Teresa Riordan, New York Times, 11/10/03
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/10/technology/10patent.html
The Koran requires Muslims to pray five times a day while facing Mecca,
the
birthplace of the prophet Muhammad. Traditionally muezzins climb the
minarets of mosques to call out prayer time, but in the modern world
the
devout are not always within earshot.
Frank Deworetzki, an inventor for Mannesmann, in Frankfurt, offers a
solution. Two weeks ago Mr. Deworetzki patented a navigational system
for
automobiles that not only shows the driver where he or she is headed
but
also shows the direction of Mecca at all times.
Moreover, the system can be programmed to play prayer calls at the
appropriate times. During Ramadan, the month of daytime religious
fasting,
which begins today in the United States, the system alerts drivers to
the
time of sunrise and sunset, wherever they may be. Mr. Deworetzki could
not
be reached for comment, and the system does not seem to be available
yet.
It is patent No.6,633,813.
David M. Thimmig, the patent lawyer who shepherded the application
through
the patent office for Siemens, which owns Mannesmann, said the patent
was
much broader than simply a way to know the location of Mecca…
-----
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-----
CAIR
Council on American-Islamic Relations
453 New Jersey Avenue, S.E.
Washington, D.C. 20003
Tel: 202-488-8787, 202-744-7726
Fax: 202-488-0833
E-mail: cair@cair-net.org
URL: http://www.cair-net.org
-----
Forwarded Message
Date:
Wed, 12 Nov 2003 14:51:56 -0500
To:
cair-net@cair.biglist.com
From:
"CAIR" <cair@cair-net.org>
Subject:
CAIR-NET: Ex-Detainee Details Fearful Path to Syria
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
AMERICAN MUSLIM NEWS BRIEFS - 11/12/03
* HADITH OF THE DAY: A SUPERIOR PROVISION
* SUPPORT CAIR'S $1 MILLION DURING RAMADAN CAMPAIGN
- Register online for CAIR's DC Dinner 11/29
* SPECIAL REGISTRATION (NSEERS) DEADLINES
* CAIR-NJ HOSTS GRANT-WRITING WORKSHOP
* ANTI-ISLAMIC MESSAGE PAINTED ON VA VAN (Leesburg Today)
- VA Muslim Girl Scout Troop Ramadan Service Project
* EX-DETAINEE DETAILS FEARFUL PATH TO SYRIA (Wash. Post)
- Detainee Yearns to Stay in U.S. (Bergen Herald)
* ELIMINATING MISCONCEPTIONS OF ISLAM (Iowa State Daily)
- CAIR-Ohio: Islam-Bashing Cartoon (ABJ)
- Extremists the Problem (Wichita Eagle)
* U.N. SAYS BARRIER WILL DISRUPT 600,000 LIVES (NY Times)
- Israel May Soon Take Path U.S. Can't Follow (AJC)
- Trip to Israel: Facts, Friction (St. Pete Times)
* U.S. TROOPS ARREST IRAQI FOR CRITICIZING THEM (Reuters)
- War Killed 55,000 Iraqi Civilians (Al-Jazeerah)
- U.S. Troops Kill Five Civilians in Iraq (AP)
- Skepticism About U.S. Deep - Poll (Wash. Post)
- CIA Report Warns Iraqis Supporting Resistance (AP)
- Forces Fire At Iraqi Official's Car (Reuters)
* CARTER CHIDES U.S. ON RIGHTS (AJC)
* SPEECH RESONATES WITH SPIRIT RAMADAN (Free Press)
- Ramadan Boosts Ties Among Muslim Students (VOA)
-----
HADITH OF THE DAY: A SUPERIOR PROVISION
The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) once asked Bilal to join him
in
his morning meal. Bilal declined the invitation because he was fasting.
The
Prophet then replied: "We are eating our provision and Bilal's superior
provision is in Paradise. Did you know, Bilal, that…the angels ask
forgiveness for (someone who is fasting) as long as people eat beside
him?"
Al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 640
-----
SUPPORT CAIR'S $1 MILLION DURING RAMADAN CAMPAIGN
Donate generously to the campaign. To donate online, go to:
http://www.cair-net.org/asp/millionforislam.asp (NOTE: Scholars says
CAIR
is able to receive ZAKAT donations.)
---
REGISTER ONLINE FOR CAIR'S DC DINNER 11/29
Registration is now available online for CAIR's Ninth Annual
Fundraising
Dinner on November 29th (the weekend after Eid ul-Fitr) in Washington,
D.C.
The dinner, with the theme "Muslims in America: A Defining Moment,"
will
feature presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich as one of its main
speakers.
WHERE: Sheraton Premiere at Tysons Corner, 8661 Leesburg Pike, Tysons
Corner/Vienna, VA
COST: CAIR dinners always quick to sell out so get you tickets now!
Tickets: $55/$85 per couple R.S.V.P. by Nov. 24, 2003. No children
please.
(Limited babysitting with prior notice only - $10 per child.)
FOR MORE INFORMATION, call 202-488-8787 or e-mail:
register@cair-net.org
ACTION REQUESTED:
REGISTER FOR CAIR'S DINNER BY GOING TO:
https://www.cair-net.org/2003dinner-register.asp
-----
REMINDER: SPECIAL REGISTRATION (NSEERS) DEADLINES
http://www.aclu.org/ImmigrantsRights/ImmigrantsRights.cfm?ID=14185&c=22
Special Registration Update - Approaching Annual Deadlines & Other
Registration Requirements
-----
CAIR-NJ HOSTS TWO-DAY GRANT-WRITING WORKSHOP
WHAT: Each year, our federal government allocates millions of dollars
to
various agencies, at the federal, state, and local level in the form of
grants to a broad-range of groups. Currently, under the Federal Faith
and
Community Based Initiative, our government is interested in funding
faith
and community-based organizations' programs and projects. Come to our
two-day workshop to not only learn about the grant-writing process, but
to
actually write your own grants.
WHEN: December 12-13, 2003
WHERE: Islamic Educational Center of North Hudson (Internet connections
and
printing available)
To register, visit: https://www.123signup.com/event?id=dvrd
For more information, contact CAIR-NJ at cair@cair-nj.org. (Limited
seating)
-----
VAN SPRAY PAINTED WITH ANTI-ISLAMIC MESSAGE IN STERLING
Leesburg Today, 11/12/03
http://www.leesburg2day.com/current.cfm?catid=6&newsid=8006
Nov 12, 2003 -- A Muslim society van was vandalized earlier this week
and
the Loudoun County Sheriff's Office is investigating the matter as a
hate
crime. It is the third time the All Dulles Area Muslim Society Mosque
has
been targeted by vandals.
Sheriff's office spokesman Kraig Troxell said the van was parked at the
All
Dulles Area Muslim Society Mosque on Sugarland Road in Sterling and was
spray painted with an "obscene anti-Islamic" message between 5 p.m. on
Sunday and 8 a.m. Monday.
"We are committed to finding perpetrators of crimes of this nature,"
said
Loudoun Sheriff Stephen O. Simpson. "The sheriff's office has not and
will
not tolerate acts of hatred in Loudoun County."
Troxell said that last November two Sterling juveniles faced multiple
charges after their arrest in connection with hate-based graffiti that
was
discovered on the center in September.
"Another incident occurred after 9-11 when their location in the
Community
Plaza was vandalized. No arrests have been made in that incident,"
Troxell
said.
Yasir Syeed, who serves on the organization's community relations
committee, said the recent vandalism was disheartening. He said ADAMS
is a
transparent organization that works for peace and bettering
communities.
ADAMS has existed in the area for more than 20 years.
"We know this isn't what the community is about," Syeed said. "It's a
good
community we live in and this area is great. We look forward to finding
out
who did it..."
SEE ALSO
VA MUSLIM GIRL SCOUT TROOP RAMADAN SERVICE PROJECT
ADAMS Girl Scouts Brownie Troop #5186 would like to announce our annual
Ramadan Service Project:
Baby Bundle Gifts!!
Last year, during the month of Ramadan, the ADAMS community generously
donated diapers, baby wipes, medicine, clothing, gift certificates,
books,
and toys for needy families in our community. With your support, our
troop
was able to give gift-filled bundles to TEN families.
Please donate NEW items only, as these are GIFTS for babies two years
and
under.
Until Saturday, November 29, our Baby Bundle Gifts donation box will be
stationed near the ADAMS Administration Office.
This is truly a wonderful opportunity for our young Muslim girls to
witness
sadaqah (giving) and shukr (thankfulness to Allah). Please give
generously,
as this project helps local families!
May Allah (SWT) accept our deeds during this blesed month!
-----
EX-DETAINEE DETAILS FEARFUL PATH TO SYRIA
DeNeen L. Brown, Washington Post, 11/12/03
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A28261-2003Nov11.html
OTTAWA - On the luxury jet that flew Maher Arar from the United States
to
the Middle East, where he was certain he would be tortured, members of
a
U.S. "special removal team" put him in shackles, served him dinner and
asked whether he minded if they watched a movie.
"They put me in the back and made me watch a CIA movie," Arar said
Tuesday
in an interview here. But Arar, a dual citizen of Canada and Syria, who
was
arrested in New York last year and deported on accusations he was a
terrorist, remembered that he was not interested in the movie.
"At that time," Arar recalled, "I was thinking of what would happen
once I
arrived in Syria and how am I to avoid torture."
Arar, 33, spent 10 months in a Syrian prison, where he said he was
beaten
with an electric cable, forced to sign confessions that he had been to
Afghanistan and kept in a cell he called a grave. U.S. officials have
said
that Arar, who was arrested on Sept. 26, 2002, was seized as part of a
secret procedure known as "rendition," in which terrorism suspects are
turned over to foreign countries known to torture people in their
custody.
Arar was released from the Syrian prison and flown back to Canada last
month. At a news conference last week, he described his torture and
maintained his innocence of any involvement in terrorist activity...
ALSO SEE:
YOUNG DETAINEE YEARNS TO STAY IN AMERICA
Suzanne Travers, Bergen Herald, 11/10/03
http://www.bergen.com/page.php?qstr=eXJpcnk3ZjcxN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXkyJmZnYmVsN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXk2NDUwMzc4
Elias Attie was a junior at Manchester Regional High School last
February,
taking U.S. history, geometry, French. His father and uncle owned a
coffee
shop on Belmont Avenue in Haledon; his aunt was a former councilwoman
in
Prospect Park, where Attie, a Lebanese national, has lived since 1998.
He
thought it would take only a couple of hours to go with his father to
the
immigration offices in Newark, to be fingerprinted and photographed for
the
special registration program required for men from 25 mostly Muslim and
Middle Eastern nations.
Instead, "they took my father away," Elias said in a phone interview
Sunday.
Told his asylum appeal had been denied, Elias' father, Ricardos Attie,
was
detained at the Elizabeth Detention Center. Because he was under 18,
Elias
could not be housed at the center.
He spent the night in a Newark hotel with two immigration officers, and
was
flown the next day to Georgia to a juvenile detention facility. He has
been
there ever since...
Elias turns 18 today, and, no longer a minor, leaves the Georgia
facility
to join Ricardos at the Elizabeth Detention Center, a prison-like
warehouse
where immigrants await deportation, or rulings on their cases.
Immigration
officials in Newark would not confirm Elias Attie's transfer, saying
that
for security reasons, they do not discuss detainee travel until it is
completed...
-----
TWIN'S CONDITION UPGRADED TO GOOD
Beatriz Terrazas, Dallas Morning News, 11/11/0303
http://www.dallasnews.com/localnews/stories/111203dnmettwins.61bf4.html
A month after surgery separated him from his twin brother, Ahmed
Ibrahim
was upgraded from guarded to good condition Tuesday.
His condition had been downgraded last week after doctors at Children's
Medical Center placed a shunt in his lower back to drain fluid.
His brother, Mohamed, remains in good condition, according to the
hospital's Web site.
On Monday, both boys were fitted with protective headbands.
The boys are in good spirits, said Jeanne Pomatto, chief executive
officer
of Arizona-based Cranial Technologies, who did the fitting...
The event is sponsored by the Council on American-Islamic Relations and
the
Islamic Association of North Texas.
-----
ELIMINATING MISCONCEPTIONS OF ISLAM
Dana Schmidt, Iowa State Daily, 11/10/03
http://www.iowastatedaily.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2003/11/10/3faef85a9a420
The Muslim Student Association hopes to shatter misconceptions about
Islam
this week when it hosts Islam Awareness Week.
"[Islam] is the second largest religion, and it is also a misunderstood
religion," said Saddam Khattak, president of the Muslim Student
Association. "We want to give the message that Islam is not the enemy."
Adeel Ahmed, media secretary of the Muslim Student Association, said
the
purpose of the awareness week is to promote Islam and interaction
between
Muslims and non-Muslims.
The Muslim Student Association will hold an event each day this week to
promote awareness and to educate the community about Islam. All events
are
open to everyone in the Ames and ISU communities...
ALSO SEE:
ISLAM-BASHING CARTOON BASED ON STEREOTYPES
Julia A. Shearson, Akron Beacon Journal, 11/12/03
http://www.ohio.com/mld/ohio/news/editorial/letters/7241353.htm
Chip Bok's Oct. 24 editorial cartoon on Islam was inflammatory. It
implied
that there are only two kinds of Muslims in the world: bad Muslims and
worse Muslims.
One frame, which Bok labeled ''Radical Islam,'' showed a burning World
Trade Center with the second plane about to strike. The cartoon's other
frame, which Bok labeled ''Moderate Islam,'' showed the Malaysian prime
minister's repugnant remark that ''Jews rule the world.'' Bok's cartoon
is
dangerous propaganda and should be debunked for the false dilemma it
portrays. Why is it, when it comes to Islam, even intelligent people
feel
the need to perpetuate stereotypes?
I presume the cartoon's underlying, albeit largely lost, message is
that
moderate Muslims need to do more to counter the voices of extremism and
hatred. Yet isn't this a task for us all? Why do we keep bashing Islam
and
all Muslims for the sins of some Muslims? In a world with little peace,
hate has many origins. Honest self-reflection would show that some
Christians also espouse the theory that Jews rule the world. In fact,
these
ideas originated not in the Islamic world, but in Europe, where they
were
carried to their diabolic extreme.
Clearly, there is enough blame to go around. Let's encourage and
embolden
moderate Muslims instead of bashing them. Muslims everywhere are doing
their part to foster the compassion and mercy taught by their faith.
They
do not expect to be singled out for praise, but neither do they expect
to
be constantly depicted as terrorists and anti-Semites. How would
Americans
like it if we were judged solely by the remarks and behavior of a few
of
our own misguided politicians? Can you imagine if we blamed all
Louisianians -- or for that matter, all Christians -- for the
anti-Semitism
of David Duke? We have enough problems as it is; let's stop the
scapegoating.
This is a time of national crisis. Our troops are in harm's way, and
billions of our tax dollars are being spent, purportedly, to bring
peace
and stability to Afghanistan and Iraq, two Muslim countries. Shouldn't
we
at least show a modicum of respect for the inhabitants of those
nations?
Our soldiers are; they are fighting and dying for them.
Julia A. Shearson is the Director of the Council on American-Islamic
Relations in Cleveland, Ohio.
---
EXTREMISTS THE PROBLEM
Sharfuddin Shah, Wichita Eagle, 11/12/03
http://www.kansas.com/mld/kansas/news/editorial/7237817.htm
I was disheartened to read Cal Thomas' column "Religion at heart of
hatred
of America" (Oct. 22 opinion pages). Islam is a religion of peace.
Muslims
are peaceful people, like Christians and Jews.
We read comments by extremists and see actions by extremists in every
religion. Mr. Mahathir made anti-Semitic remarks while Lt. Gen. William
Boykin made anti-Islam remarks. They both need to be condemned by
peace-loving people. People like Thomas and Rep. Todd Tiahrt,
R-Goddard,
make it worse by taking sides. Tiahrt has disappointed many of his
constituents in the 4th Congressional District by defending Gen.
Boykin.
We continue to hear from President Bush, national security adviser
Condoleezza Rice and Secretary of State Colin Powell that we are
fighting a
war against terrorism, not against Islam and Muslims. Ninety percent of
the
Muslim population of 1.2 billion around the world believes the Bush
administration in this regard. Gen. Boykin should be removed from his
government position, as he has spoken against the official policy of
the
Bush administration...
Sharfuddin Shah, a retired physician, is president of the board of
trustees
of the Islamic Society of Wichita.
-----
BBC APPOINTS MAN TO MONITOR 'PRO-ARAB BIAS'
Tom Leonard, Telegraph, 11/11/03
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2003/11/11/nbbc11.xml
The BBC has appointed a "Middle East policeman" to oversee its coverage
of
the region amid mounting allegations of anti-Israeli bias.
Malcolm Balen, a former editor of the Nine O'Clock News, has been
recruited
in an attempt to improve the corporation's reporting of the Middle East
and
its relationship with the main political players.
Mr Balen, who left the BBC three years ago, will work full-time with
the
official title of "senior editorial adviser".
It is the first time the corporation has made such an appointment.
Insiders
say it is a signal that senior executives feel that the Middle East is
an
area over which the BBC needs to take particular care.
Relations between the corporation and the Israeli government hit a low
point this summer when the latter "withdrew co-operation" in protest at
a
BBC documentary about the country's weapons of mass destruction...
-----
U.N. ESTIMATES ISRAELI BARRIER WILL DISRUPT LIVES OF 600,000
Greg Myre, New York Times, 11/12/03
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/12/international/middleeast/12MIDE.html
JERUSALEM, Nov. 11 - The route for Israel's planned boundary barrier
would
put nearly 15 percent of West Bank land on the Israeli side and disrupt
the
lives of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians, according to a United
Nations report released Tuesday.
The report is based on calculations made after Israel presented its
first
detailed map of the barrier last month. Israeli officials questioned
the
accuracy of the report, by the United Nations Office for the
Coordination
of Humanitarian Affairs, and said the government was still assessing
how
many Palestinians would be affected...
The barrier, which includes an electronic fence, concrete walls,
trenches
and other obstacles, is intended to block Palestinian attackers and is
not
a political border, Israel insists. It veers into the West Bank to
protect
Jewish settlements, Israel says.
But Palestinians say the path amounts to confiscation of land and sets
a
boundary as a matter of fact that would make it difficult to establish
a
viable Palestinian state...
ALSO SEE:
ISRAEL MAY SOON TAKE PATH U.S. CAN'T FOLLOW
Jay Bookman, Atlanta Journal Constitution, 11/10/03
http://www.ajc.com/opinion/content/opinion/bookman/index.html
Israel stands today at an important crossroads, trying to decide which
of
three roads it will travel.
If it chooses one road, the United States will be able to walk proudly
alongside Israel as its friend, ally and, if necessary, its protector
against any that threaten its security.
But if Israel chooses either of the remaining two routes, it will
repudiate
the shared values and strategic interests that have united Israelis and
Americans for decades. Those Americans who count themselves as friends
of
Israel have an obligation to make that danger clear.
The issue, of course, is the fate of 3.5 million Palestinians on the
West
Bank and the Gaza Strip. Ever since the Camp David accords of 1978,
official U.S. and Israeli policy has been based on the expectation that
land could be exchanged for peace. Under that formula, Palestinians
would
recognize Israel's right to exist and live in peace; in return, Israel
would abandon settlements in the occupied territories and allow
creation of
a Palestinian state...
---
TRIP TO ISRAEL: FACTS, FRICTION
Susan Taylor Martin, St. Pete Times, 11/11/03
http://www.sptimes.com/2003/11/11/Worldandnation/Trip_to_Israel__facts.shtml
Last month, nine members of Congress stood on the House floor and
expressed
strong support for Israel, including its recent bombing of Syria and
the
construction of a controversial security fence.
The lawmakers had something in common besides their pro-Israel remarks:
All
had traveled to the Jewish state this summer as guests of the American
Israel Education Foundation. They were among an unusually large number
of
House members - 49, or 11 percent of the total - who visited Israel on
trips paid for by the foundation, an arm of the powerful American
Israel
Public Affairs Committee.
The weeklong trips, which included at least 26 spouses and other
guests,
cost more than $363,000. The purpose was to give lawmakers "first-hand
experience in the complex issues" of the Middle East, said Rebecca
Dinar,
spokeswoman for AIPAC, the leading pro-Israel lobbying organization.
Critics, though, say such visits give a less than balanced view of the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Instead, they say, the trips increase the
already massive congressional support for Israel and make it even
harder to
hold constructive dialogue on U.S.-Israeli relations or the Mideast
conflict.
-----
U.S. TROOPS ARREST IRAQI FOR CRITICISING THEM
Reuters, 11/11/03
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/24by7panews/page.cfm?objectid=13613560&method=full&siteid=50143
Baghdad - American soldiers handcuffed and firmly wrapped masking tape
around an Iraqi man's mouth as they arrested him for speaking out
against
occupation troops.
Asked why the man had been arrested on Tuesday and put into the back of
a
Humvee vehicle on Tahrir Square, the commanding officer told Reuters at
the
scene: "This man has been detained for making anti-coalition
statements."
He refused to say what the man said.
A U.S. military spokesman said he had no immediate information on the
incident.
U.S. politicians and military commanders often say they toppled Iraqi
leader Saddam Hussein so that Iraqis can enjoy free speech and
democracy
after years of iron-fisted rule.
Another U.S. soldier swore at Iraqis as he ordered them to move back.
School teachers and young students looked on...
ALSO SEE:
WAR KILLED 55,000 IRAQI CIVILIANS
Shaista Aziz, Al-Jazeerah, 11/11/03
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/3FF27CFC-764F-441B-A0D6-FB5B3BAF0704.htm
The invasion, war and occupation of Iraq has cost up to 55,000 civilian
lives, according to a shocking new report published by a UK-based
charity.
Now the medical charity is lobbying the American and British
governments to
focus urgently on the healthcare needs of the Iraqi population,
following
the invasion of the country.
Medact's report, highlighting the devastating impact of war on the
Iraqi
population, reveals that between 22,000 and 55,000 Iraqi civilians died
during the bombing of the country.
The report titled, Continuing Collateral Damage: the Health and
Environmental costs of War on Iraq, says the American and British
occupiers
are obliged under international law to ensure the healthcare needs of
the
population are met.
One of the co-authors of the report, Dr Sabya Faruq, told Aljazeera.net
that the situation across Iraq was desperate...
---
U.S. TROOPS KILL FIVE CIVILIANS IN IRAQ
Associated Press, 11/12/03
http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/breaking_news/7243037.htm
FALLUJAH, Iraq - U.S. troops opened fire on a truck carrying live
chickens
near the tense town of Fallujah, killing five civilians aboard the
vehicle,
including a father and his two sons, relatives said Wednesday.
The shooting took place at a roadblock Tuesday night, they said.
Fallujah
is the site of numerous anti-American attacks and U.S. soldiers in the
area
have been on a high state of alert...
On Wednesday, reporters saw U.S. troops delivering one body from an
Army
ambulance to waiting families. In the morgue, reporters saw several
bodies
with what appeared to be gunshot wounds.
A spokesman for the U.S. military in Baghdad had no immediate
information
on the attack...
---
SKEPTICISM ABOUT U.S. DEEP, IRAQ POLL SHOWS
Walter Pincus, Washington Post, 11/12/03
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A27979-2003Nov11.html
More than half of Baghdad's residents said they did not believe the
United
States would allow the Iraqi people to fashion their political future
without the direct influence of Washington, according to a Gallup poll.
With the Bush administration holding consultations on the future of the
U.S.-appointed Iraqi Governing Council, recent analyses of the poll
data,
which were gathered three months ago, highlight the roots within that
city's populace of many of the concerns the U.S.-led coalition now
faces
there.
Only 5 percent of those polled said they believed the United States
invaded
Iraq "to assist the Iraqi people," and only 1 percent believed it was
to
establish democracy there.
Three-quarters of those polled said they believed the policies and
decisions of the Iraqi Governing Council -- whose members were
appointed in
July by Coalition Provisional Authority Administrator L. Paul Bremer --
were "mostly determined by the coalition's own authorities," and only
16
percent thought the council members were "fairly independent..."
---
REPORT WARNS IRAQIS SUPPORTING RESISTANCE
Pauline Jelinek, Associated Press, 11/11/03
http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/news/special_packages/iraq/7243429.htm
WASHINGTON - A new top-secret intelligence report warns that Iraqis are
losing faith in U.S.-led occupation forces, a development that is
increasing support for the resistance, officials said Wednesday.
CIA and White House officials refused to confirm the existence of the
report, which comes to light amid high-level meetings here on the
situation
in Iraq. Two other senior U.S. officials said the report paints a
worrisome
picture of the political and security situation there.
It suggests spiraling violence and a lack of confidence in the
U.S.-appointed Iraqi Governing Council may be bringing efforts to a
turning
point, sending more Iraqis over to the side of insurgents fighting
occupation troops, said two officials speaking on condition of
anonymity...
---
U.S. FORCES FIRE AT IRAQI OFFICIAL'S CAR, HIT DRIVER
Reuters, 11/12/03
http://famulus.msnbc.com/FamulusIntl/reuters11-12-065403.asp
BAGHDAD - U.S. troops fired at the car of an Iraqi Governing Council
member
Wednesday, wounding his driver in the foot, a council statement said.
The statement said Mohammad Bahr al-Uloum, an independent Shi'ite
Muslim
cleric, was not hurt when U.S. forces mistook his car for a stolen
vehicle
while he was being driven across a Tigris river bridge in Baghdad.
"A U.S. forces spokesman apologized to Mr Bahr al-Uloum and to the
Governing Council, and said that an investigation was ongoing," the
statement said.
Bahr al-Uloum, an elderly scholar who returned from exile in London and
assumed a seat on the U.S.-appointed council, has been a critic of
American
policy in Iraq, saying Iraqis should assume a larger security role.
Earlier this week, U.S. forces shot and killed the mayor of Sadr City,
a
poor Shi'ite suburb of Baghdad, saying he had refused to stop for a
security check and tried to wrestle a gun away from a soldier...
-----
CARTER CHIDES U.S. ON RIGHTS
Mark Bixler, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 11/12/03
http://www.ajc.com/news/content/news/1103/12carter.html
Former President Jimmy Carter said Tuesday civil liberties have eroded
in
the United States since Sept. 11, 2001, and that, in turn, has
emboldened
governments worldwide to abuse human rights under the guise of fighting
terrorism.
The Bush administration set a bad precedent by indefinitely detaining
680
foreign nationals captured in Afghanistan at a U.S. naval base in Cuba,
Carter said. The Supreme Court agreed this week to review the legality
of
the detentions.
Carter also said the United States sent a worrisome signal by rounding
up
hundreds of Arabs and Muslims in this country for breaking immigration
law
in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks. Many were held for months with no
formal charges...
The Bush administration contends the measures help it fight the war on
terrorism, but some critics worry the United States is losing its moral
authority to criticize human rights violations...
-----
SPEECH RESONATES WITH SPIRIT AND OPPORTUNITY OF RAMADAN
David Crumm, Detroit Free Press, 11/12/03
http://www.freep.com/news/religion/crumm12_20031112.htm
To this non-Muslim, Ramadan always sounded austere: absolutely no food
or
water during daylight hours for a whole month as one solemnly reflects
on
the value of one's life and the plight of the world's poor.
But the month is so much more for Muslims, and Zayd Allebban, 25, a
Wayne
State University law student from Dearborn, set out to change my
understanding of Ramadan in a night. The real focus of Ramadan isn't on
physical endurance and goes beyond somber meditation, he told me as he
welcomed me just after nightfall last week.
"We see this really as a month of opportunity," he said. "This is a
perfect
month to turn your life around, if you need to do that. Families are
together. At night, people usually go home to break the fast with their
families and then many of them gather at masjids, mosques, to listen
and
talk and learn. Some nights, my friends and I will move from a lecture
to a
pastry shop or cafe along Warren Avenue and we'll go on until 2 a.m.
with
coffee and pastries, talking about our lives."
We soon were talking over grilled lamb, rice, bread and vegetables at a
Dearborn restaurant...
SEE ALSO:
Ramadan Observance Strengthens Ties Among America's Muslim Students
Written by Faiza Elmasry
Voiced by Faith Laipidus
http://www.voanews.com/article.cfm?objectID=A2C89CA5-A1A2-4211-A46806AAA05C93D1
On October 27, Muslims around the world started observing Ramadan, the
ninth month of the Muslim calendar, during which Muslims refrain from
eating, drinking and personal desires throughout the daylight hours.
University Muslim Student Associations across the United States host
all
kinds of religious, cultural and social activities during Ramadan.
These
activities are meant to strengthen the ties among the Muslim student
community and some of them are open to non-Muslims as well.
Muslim students at George Mason University (GMU) in Virginia get
together
for the fast-breaking meal of the day, the Iftar. Junior Farah Abdi,
public
relation officer of the Muslim Student Association, says the group
organizes Ramadan's Iftar five evenings a week, Monday through Friday.
"Iftar is actually very popular," she said. "We have 150-200 a day,
because
there are a lot of students on campus around that time and they look
forward to breaking their fasting together."
-----
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-----
CAIR
Council on American-Islamic Relations
453 New Jersey Avenue, S.E.
Washington, D.C. 20003
Tel: 202-488-8787, 202-744-7726
Fax: 202-488-0833
E-mail: cair@cair-net.org
URL: http://www.cair-net.org
-----
Forwarded Message
Date:
Thu, 13 Nov 2003 14:11:18 -0500
To:
cair-net@cair.biglist.com
From:
"CAIR" <cair@cair-net.org>
Subject:
CAIR-NET: Rep. Conyers Hosts Iftar on Capitol Hill
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
SUPPORT CAIR'S $1 MILLION DURING RAMADAN CAMPAIGN
http://www.cair-net.org/asp/millionforislam.asp
Scholars says CAIR is able to receive ZAKAT donations.
REGISTER ONLINE FOR CAIR'S DC DINNER 11/29
http://www.cair-net.org/asp/2003dinner.asp
-----
* REP. CONYERS HOSTS RAMADAN IFTAR ON CAPITOL HILL
* CONYERS, LOCAL MUSLIMS CELEBRATE RAMADAN ON CAPITOL HILL (AP)
* CONYERS HOSTS FIRST CONGRESSIONAL RAMADAN IFTAR (Rep. Conyers)
* ECUMENICAL PRAYER AT THE BREAKING OF FAST
-----
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
REP. CONYERS HOSTS RAMADAN IFTAR ON CAPITOL HILL
Islamic fast-breaking dinner to become annual event
(WASHINGTON, D.C., 11/13/2003) - Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) last night
hosted
a Ramadan iftar, or fast breaking, on Capitol Hill attended by more
than
130 elected officials, congressional staffers, American Muslim leaders,
and
ambassadors from Islamic-majority nations.
The iftar, held in the House Judiciary Committee Hearing Room, was
co-sponsored by Reps. Gregory Meeks (D-NY), Dennis Kucinich (D-OH),
Loretta
Sanchez (D-CA), and Barbara Lee (D-CA). It featured the breaking of the
fast, the Islamic sunset prayer (maghrib), an ecumenical prayer, and
remarks by Rep. Conyers.
In his remarks, Rep. Conyers said: "Welcome, everyone, to our first
ever
Ramadan Iftar, where we join our Muslim brothers and sisters in
breaking
the fast. I am also pleased to announce that we plan to hold this
important
event every year, and look forward to doing so with CAIR (the Council
on
American-Islamic Relations)…By partaking in this religious tradition,
we
hope to promote the toleration, understanding, and acceptance of all
religions and religious cultures and to celebrate religious diversity,
one
of the many great principles that our country was founded upon." (See
full
text below.)
In her prayer prior to the iftar meal, Afeefa Syeed, the head of
Al-Fatih
Academy in Herndon, Va., said: "Guide us, Oh Lord, to know that unity
is
not a luxury or a choice. Help us learn that we must raise our children
in
a land that embraces all who seek righteousness, decency, and
steadfastness. Freedom is our most precious heritage - help us to be
passionate in its perseverance and practice." (See full text below.)
"We thank Representative Conyers for his leadership in building a
positive
relationship between elected officials and the American Muslims
community,"
said Nihad Awad, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic
Relations (CAIR). CAIR helped facilitate the event and provided the
iftar meal.
CAIR, America's largest Muslim civil liberties group, is headquartered
in
Washington, D.C., and has 25 offices and chapters nationwide and in
Canada.
- END -
CONTACT: Ibrahim Hooper, 202-488-8787 or 202-744-7726, E-Mail:
cair@cair-net.org; Rabiah Ahmed, 202-488-8787 or 202-439-1441, E-Mail:
rahmed@cair-net.org
-----
CONYERS, LOCAL MUSLIMS CELEBRATE RAMADAN ON CAPITOL HILL
DEE-ANN DURBIN, Associated Press, 11/12/03
A room normally reserved for congressional hearings echoed with Arabic
calls to prayer Wednesday as House lawmakers joined about 75 local
Muslims
for a Ramadan feast.
Guests prayed at sundown before breaking their daylong fast at an
elaborate
spread that included stuffed grape leaves, dates and a foot-high
replica of
the Capitol carved in white chocolate. Muslims fast from sunrise to
sunset
during the holy month of Ramadan, which ends Nov. 25.
Rep. John Conyers, D-Detroit, was among the organizers of the event,
which
was held in the House Judiciary Committee hearing room. Conyers is the
top
Democrat on the Judiciary Committee.
"We're working on behalf of religious tolerance," Conyers said. "It is
critical that that be done, because America is still a melting pot. We
are
a nation of immigrants."
Conyers said he was saddened a recent report from the State
Department's
advisory group on Arab and Muslim affairs that said few people in Arab
and
Muslim nations believe Americans share their values.
Conyers said U.S. policy after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks hasn't
helped
the United States' image, and he drew hearty applause when he
criticized
"the despicable Patriot Act." Conyers said the act has allowed the
Department of Justice to arrest Muslims, keep them separated from their
families and hold them without charges, and that many in Congress are
now
pressing for changes.
"You cannot fight terrorism by employing unconstitutional tactics,"
Conyers
said. "We have to observe the constitution, in war and in peace alike."
Conyers added that he is trying to strengthen hate crimes legislation
to
make it easier for prosecutors to target those who deface mosques,
synagogues and churches.
Conyers said Democratic presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich was
among
those who helped sponsor the event, but Kucinich didn't attend
Wednesday
evening. Rep. Darrell Issa, a California Republican who is the grandson
of
Lebanese immigrants, did attend, along with the ambassadors of Kuwait,
Malaysia, Yemen, Pakistan and Senegal.
Amina Makhdoom, 27, a consultant who lives in Falls Church, Va., said
it's
meaningful to have members of Congress recognize her religion "in such
a
positive and warm way."
"At a time like this, it goes a longer way than it might have two years
ago," Makhdoom said.
Assil Ahmad, 25, who lives in Fairfax, Va., and is the son of Pakistani
immigrants, said it's good for people outside his faith to watch him
pray
and understand what Ramadan is all about.
"The more that Muslims insert themselves into mainstream life in
America,
the better it is for everyone," he said.
-----
PRESS RELEASE
Congressman John Conyers, Jr.
Fourteenth District, Michigan
Ranking Member, Committee on the Judiciary
Dean, Congressional Black Caucus
IMMEDIATE
RELEASE:
CONTACT: Dena Graziano, 202-226-6888
November 13,
2003
CONYERS HOSTS FIRST CONGRESSIONAL RAMADAN IFTAR
Congressman John Conyers, Jr., Ranking Member of the House Judiciary
Committee, issued the following statement at the first Congressionally
hosted Ramadan Iftar last night:
"Welcome, everyone, to our first ever Ramadan Iftar, where we join our
Muslim brothers and sisters in breaking the fast. I am also pleased to
announce that we plan to hold this important event every year, and look
forward to doing so with CAIR (the Council on American-Islamic
Relations).
Events like this evenings are important because they help us learn more
about the American Muslim community and the significance of Ramadan to
the
Muslim people by engaging in this traditional religious custom during
the
Holy Month. By partaking in this religious tradition, we hope to
promote
the toleration, understanding, and acceptance of all religions and
religious cultures and to celebrate religious diversity, one of the
many
great principles that our country was founded upon.
I was saddened to learn today that President Bush's commission on
public
diplomacy recently noted that in nine Muslim and Arab nations only 12
percent of the people surveyed believed that "Americans respect
Arab/Islamic values." This is an unfortunate finding and we are here
tonight to promote change. We are here tonight to show the world that
we
believe that the way to bring about a change in the way the Muslim,
Arab,
and all other nations view Americans is to show the world that we
absolutely do not tolerate religious intolerance and ignorance in any
form.
I find it necessary to remind many of my Christian and Jewish friends
that
the Islamic religion is one of the three great Abrahamic faiths; that
it is
a religion that promotes peace and unity. In fact, a recent study has
shown
that the Islamic faith is the fastest growing religion in the United
States
today.
The truth is that Christianity and Islam share so much in common. The
story
of the earth's creation in the Book of Genesis is much like the story
of
creation in the Qur'an. The Qur'an contains similar verses as the Ten
Commandments. There is the shared belief in one god, who is omnipotent
and
omniscient and in the existence of the human soul.
There is no question that Arabs and Muslims are facing an unprecedented
level of discrimination in America. It is our common purpose to fight
this
discrimination wherever it rears its ugly head."
-----
ECUMENICAL PRAYER AT THE BREAKING OF FAST
November 12, 2003 Halls of Congress, Washington DC
Written and presented by Afeefa Syeed
I begin with the name of God; the God of Abraham, Moses, Jesus and
Muhammad. The God who is the source of Peace, of Kindness, of
Sustenance
and is the One we turn to in times of anxiety and despair.
Oh Lord, we have come together to break our fast today. We have been
without food or drink. We ask you now to help us during this blessed
month
to see beyond ourselves.
Let us know peace, salaam, and guide us to now know how to act with
peace.
We remember that your Prophet told us "Making peace between two people
is
an act of remembering God." "The stronger one is not the one who can
wrestle better, but the one who can control his anger."
Your words, Dear Lord, are "Let there be neither harming nor
reciprocating
harm." Help us remember to work for peace - to not let our busy
schedules
give us reason to be non active
Show us how we can practice patient perseverance, sabr. Teach us not
just
how to wait, but to persevere proactively through whatever may come.
Let us
know that it is an act of worship to patiently persevere.
Lead us to be thankful, to show shukur in large and small ways. Remind
us
that by thanking one another, we remember You.
During this month, Dear Lord, guide us to practice sadaqa - helping
others
in whatever manner we are able. Your Prophet taught us that each
person's
every joint must perform an act of kindness every day the sun comes up.
To
act justly between people is a kindness, to help a man with his mount,
lifting him onto it or hoisting his belongings is a kindness, a good
word
is charity, and removing a harmful thing from the road is charity.
We beseech you, Oh Lord, to help us remember those actions that are
most
loved by You: to gladden the hearts of fellow human beings, to feed the
hungry, the help the afflicted, to lighten the sorrow of the sorrowful
and
to remove the sufferings of the injured.
Help our leaders, Dear God, to be tolerant, kind, understanding,
truthful,
and reverent so we may as a nation be tolerant, kind, understanding,
truthful, and reverent.
Guide our leaders to remember the words of your prophet: "Whosoever
sees an
unjust action, let him change it with his hand, and if he is not able
to do
so, then with his tongue, and if he is not able to do so, then within
his
heart let him protest."
Our nation is great. Our nation is vast. Guide us, Oh Lord, to know
that
unity is not a luxury or a choice. Help us learn that we must raise our
children in a land that embraces all who seek righteousness, decency,
and
steadfastness. Freedom is our most precious heritage - help us to be
passionate in its perseverance and practice.
Guide us, Lord, to put our faith into action.
Amen.
-----
CAIR
Council on American-Islamic Relations
453 New Jersey Avenue, S.E.
Washington, D.C. 20003
Tel: 202-488-8787, 202-744-7726
Fax: 202-488-0833
E-mail: cair@cair-net.org
URL: http://www.cair-net.org
-----
Forwarded Message
Date:
Thu, 13 Nov 2003 14:55:12 -0500
To:
cair-net@cair.biglist.com
From:
"CAIR" <cair@cair-net.org>
Subject:
CAIR-NET: Muslim Groups Urge Substantive Talks With Bush
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
AMERICAN MUSLIM NEWS BRIEFS - 11/13/03
* HADITH OF THE DAY: TARAWEEH PRAYERS
* SUPPORT CAIR'S $1 MILLION DURING RAMADAN CAMPAIGN
- Register online for CAIR's DC Dinner 11/29
* MUSLIM GROUPS URGE SUBSTANTIVE TALKS WITH BUSH (Fox News)
* CAIR-CAN PETITIONS FOR PUBLIC INQUIRY INTO ARAR CASE
* ATTORNEY GENERAL INVESTIGATING FL BUS INVESTIGATION (AP)
- Group Calls Mosque Vandalism Hate Crime (Wash. Post)
* FBI REPORTS HATE CRIMES DOWN IN 2002 (AP)
- FBI's Reach Into Records Is Set to Grow (NY Times)
* FIRED MUSLIM TOUR GUIDE FILES LAWSUIT (Roll Call)
* CALIF. HACKER SENTENCED IN AL JAZEERA SITE ATTACK (Reuters)
* DETAINEES GET TOLL-FREE HOTLINE FOR LEGAL, OTHER HELP (AP)
- Detained Mom to Be Deported (Chicago Tribune)
- From Baghdad to Brooklyn and Back (Salon.Com)
* GROUPS DECRY IMMIGRATION RULE (Wash. Post)
- Immigrant Registration Decried (Newsday)
* THE RESPONSIBILITY OF RAMADAN (Detroit Free Press)
* SOMEONE'S PUTTING HER FOOT DOWN ABOUT A STAMP (LA Times)
* MUSLIM BABY IN NEED OF FAMILY
-----
HADITH OF THE DAY: TARAWEEH PRAYERS
The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) once offered prayer in the
mosque
(during Ramadan) and many people prayed with him. The next day, he did
the
same thing and more people prayed with him. When the people gathered on
the
third night, the Prophet did not come out to pray with them. In the
morning, he said: "Nothing prevented me from coming out to (pray with)
you,
save that I feared that (the taraweeh prayer) would be made obligatory
for
you."
Fiqh-us-Sunnah, Volume 2, Number 27
Note: Mosques hold special prayers during Ramadan, called taraweeh,
which
are performed after the daily nighttime prayer. The Prophet would
encourage
people to perform taraweeh prayers during Ramadan, but he did not make
them
obligatory.
-----
SUPPORT CAIR'S $1 MILLION DURING RAMADAN CAMPAIGN
Donate generously to the campaign. To donate online, go to:
http://www.cair-net.org/asp/millionforislam.asp (NOTE: Scholars says
CAIR
is able to receive ZAKAT donations.)
---
REGISTER ONLINE FOR CAIR'S DC DINNER 11/29
Registration is now available online for CAIR's Ninth Annual
Fundraising
Dinner on November 29th (the weekend after Eid ul-Fitr) in Washington,
D.C.
The dinner, with the theme "Muslims in America: A Defining Moment,"
will
feature presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich as one of its main
speakers.
WHERE: Sheraton Premiere at Tysons Corner, 8661 Leesburg Pike, Tysons
Corner/Vienna, VA
COST: CAIR dinners always quick to sell out so get you tickets now!
Tickets: $55/$85 per couple R.S.V.P. by Nov. 24, 2003. No children
please.
(Limited babysitting with prior notice only - $10 per child.)
FOR MORE INFORMATION, call 202-488-8787 or e-mail:
register@cair-net.org
ACTION REQUESTED:
REGISTER FOR CAIR'S DINNER BY GOING TO:
https://www.cair-net.org/2003dinner-register.asp
-----
MUSLIM GROUPS URGE SUBSTANTIVE TALKS WITH BUSH
Peter Brownfeld, Fox News, 11/13/03
http://foxnews.com/story/0,2933,102949,00.html
WASHINGTON - President Bush is willing to pose for pictures with
American
Muslims and publicly praise Islam, but developing a substantive
relationship with the Bush administration will take much more work, say
some Muslim-American groups.
"We need to see regular, productive, policy-based meetings," Ibrahim
Hooper, communications director of the Council on American-Islamic
Relations (search), told Foxnews.com.
Last month, Bush hosted an Iftaar dinner (search) at the White House to
honor the start of the holy month of Ramadan.
The event was attended by much of the Muslim diplomatic community and
some
Muslim-American leaders, but some critics say notably absent were many
of
the nation's top Muslim leaders. They say Bush excluded those
representatives from the dinner to avoid being broached about
lamb-and-potato policies ranging from the Patriot Act to aid for
Israel...
"We need to see real policy meetings in order to see the Iftaar meeting
as
credible," added Hooper.
The White House denies the accusations, and Muslim-Americans that did
attend the dinner say the president's relationship with their
organizations
is warm and productive...
Among the priorities to discuss with the administration, Turaani and
Hooper
say civil liberties top their lists...
Muslim-Americans say they also worry about U.S. foreign policy in
several
regions. Hooper said Muslim-Americans are concerned about the
continuing
bloody conflict in Chechnya and the ongoing dispute between India and
Pakistan over Kashmir.
Bush has been careful not to characterize the war on terror as one
against
Muslims, and has regularly praised Islam and explained some of its
central
tenets to the American people. Neither Hooper nor Turaani expressed
concern
over events in the war on terror...
-----
PETITION PARLIAMENT FOR PUBLIC INQUIRY INTO ARAR CASE
(OTTAWA, CANADA, 11/13/03) - The Canadian Council on American-Islamic
Relations (CAIR-CAN) is calling on all Canadians to petition parliament
to
hold a public inquiry into the Maher Arar case. Canadian Muslims should
distribute and sign the petition at Taraweeh, Jumu'ah and Eid prayers.
Recent reports indicate that Canadian security agencies - the RCMP and
CSIS
- were complicit in Maher Arar's detention, deportation and year-long
imprisonment.
Being protected from torture is a basic human right. It is critical to
know exactly what role our security agencies played in the Arar case.
Moreover, Canadians must feel secure knowing that this tragedy will
never
happen again.
ACTION REQUESTED
1. DOWNLOAD a copy of the petition that is ready for immediate use at
http://www.caircan.ca/downloads/Arar_Petition.pdf. To be accepted,
Parliamentary petitions must meet strict requirements and follow a
standardized format.
2. PHOTOCOPY the second page as many times as required. Obtain at
least
25 signatures for the Petition. Names must be signed, not printed, and
the
petitioner may give his/her full address or simply the city and
province.
3. Mail the petition to CAIR-CAN who will present it with Maher Arar
and Monia Mazigh to the Prime Minister.
Mail to: CAIR-CAN, P.O. Box 13219, Ottawa, ONT, K2K 1X4
CAIR-CAN
Council on American-Islamic Relations CANADA
P.O. Box 13219, Ottawa, ONT, K2K 1X4
Tel: 1-866-524-0004
Fax: 613-254-9810
URL: www.caircan.ca
-----
ATTORNEY GENERAL INVESTIGATING JACKSONVILLE BUS INVESTIGATION
Associated Press, 11/13/03
http://www.bradenton.com/mld/bradenton/7251934.htm
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - The Florida Attorney General's Office said it is
investigating allegations that Muslim students were removed from one
Duval
County school bus and kept from boarding another.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations and the American Civil
Liberties
Union requested the investigation into allegations that that two
different
First Student bus drivers singled out Muslim students on Oct. 29 and
Oct.
31...
The children, who are from 10 to 14 years old, are recent immigrants
from
the Middle East and Central Asia, including some from Iraq and
Afghanistan.
Duval County school officials are also investigating the allegations.
First Student regional operating Manager John Ziegler said in a
statement
that students were abusive toward a driver...
ALSO SEE:
GROUP CALLS MOSQUE VANDALISM A HATE CRIME
Maria Glod, Washington Post, 11/13/03
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A28531-2003Nov11.html
Vandals painted a crude anti-Islamic slur on a van owned by the All
Dulles
Area Muslim Society in Sterling over the weekend, and the
District-based
Council on American-Islamic Relations called on authorities to
investigate
the incident as a hate crime.
The graffiti was discovered Monday morning on the center's 15-passenger
van, according to council spokesman Ibrahim Hooper.
Vandals have targeted the center's mosque, on Sugarland Road in
Sterling,
on at least two other occasions.
In September 2002, swastikas and ethnic slurs were spray-painted on the
outside of the mosque. On another occasion, vandals tried to burn down
the
mosque's sign.
Hooper said the incident was among several recent assaults on American
Muslims or Muslim institutions. Earlier this year, a Muslim woman was
stabbed in the back outside a Fairfax County shopping center and said
her
attacker called her a terrorist.
"It's the result of a barrage of anti-Islamic rhetoric," Hooper said,
adding that the All Dulles Area Muslim Society center is a "symbol of
the
Islamic presence in the community..."
Hooper said the council has asked the FBI to investigate the vandalism.
An
FBI spokesman did not immediately return a call for comment.
-----
FBI REPORTS HATE CRIMES DOWN IN 2002
Associated Press, 11/12/03
http://abcnews.go.com/wire/Politics/ap20031112_1414.html
WASHINGTON - Hate crimes were down sharply in 2002 following a spike
the
year before that was blamed in part on anti-Muslim and Middle Eastern
sentiment after the Sept. 11 attacks.
The 7,462 hate crime incidents reported to the FBI in 2002 represented
a
drop of nearly 25 percent from the 9,730 reported in 2001, the agency
said
Wednesday. The number also was below the 8,063 incidents recorded in
2000.
There were 155 hate crime incidents listed as anti-Islamic last year,
down
sharply from the 481 reported in 2001, when the nation suffered its
worst-ever terrorist attack at the hands of Muslim extremists.
In addition, there were 622 hate crime incidents listed in 2002 against
ethnic groups that include people of Middle Eastern descent, down from
1,500 in 2001. There were 931 anti-Jewish incidents in 2002, slightly
below
the number in 2001.
Arab-American and Muslim advocates agreed that hate crimes dropped from
2001 to 2002. But they said these people still suffer disproportionate
discrimination in the wake of the Sept 11 attacks and the Iraq war.
"There's an uneasy relationship between the Muslim community and law
enforcement," said Ibrahim Hooper, spokesman for the Council on
American-Islamic Relations...
Hooper said that even if anti-Islam hate crime has waned, people who
appear
Arab or Muslim still are confronted more often than in the past with
indignities such as lack of service or tougher scrutiny at airports.
"It's more your everyday, run-of-the-mill discrimination that Muslims
are
feeling," he said...
ALSO SEE:
F.B.I.'S REACH INTO RECORDS IS SET TO GROW
Eric Licthblau, New York Times, 11/12/03
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/12/politics/12RECO.html
WASHINGTON - A little-noticed measure approved by both the House and
Senate
would significantly expand the F.B.I.'s power to demand financial
records,
without a judge's approval, from car dealers, travel agents,
pawnbrokers
and many other businesses, officials said on Tuesday.
Traditional financial institutions like banks and credit unions are
frequently subject to administrative subpoenas from the Federal Bureau
of
Investigation to produce financial records in terrorism and espionage
investigations. Such subpoenas, which are known as national security
letters, do not require the bureau to seek a judge's approval before
issuing them.
The measure now awaiting final approval in Congress would significantly
broaden the law to include securities dealers, currency exchanges, car
dealers, travel agencies, post offices, casinos, pawnbrokers and any
other
institution doing cash transactions with "a high degree of usefulness
in
criminal, tax or regulatory matters."
Officials said the measure, which is tucked away in the intelligence
community's authorization bill for 2004, gives agents greater
flexibility
and speed in seeking to trace the financial assets of people suspected
of
terrorism and espionage. It mirrors a proposal that President Bush
outlined
in a speech two months ago to expand the use of administrative
subpoenas in
terrorism cases.
Critics said the measure would give the federal government greater
power to
pry into people's private lives...
-----
FIRED MUSLIM TOUR GUIDE FILES LAWSUIT
Suzanne Nelson, Roll Call, 11/13/03
http://www.rollcall.com/pub/49_53/news/3602-1.html
An Iranian-born American citizen who claims she was fired from the
Capitol
Guide Service last year because of her national origin and Muslim faith
has
taken her case to federal court. Afssar Pari Delfani worked for the
guide
service as a tour guide from March 1998 to September 2002, when she was
terminated because of her "race, national origin and religion, and also
by
reprisal," according to her complaint.
"During my tenure at the [guide service], I was subjected to
differential
treatment than my white, American-born, non-Muslim coworkers. Beginning
in
early 2002, I complained to managers and supervisors at [the guide
service]
about the differential treatment," Delfani stated in court documents.
"In
response [the guide service] retaliated against me by unfairly
criticizing
my performance and unjustifiably disciplining me."
She filed the case in U.S. District Court in late April, requesting a
jury
trial and reinstatement to her position with back pay, benefits and
unspecified compensatory damages.
Last week Judge Richard Roberts ordered sealed the Capitol Guide
Service
Board's motion to dismiss the complaint and subsequent documents. Those
filings would have revealed the government's position on a potentially
highly visible case.
Surprisingly, Delfani's lawyer didn't oppose the government's motion to
seal the pretrial documents, a judicial decision that is unusual if not
unprecedented for a case brought under the Congressional Accountability
Act. She is represented by Patricia Cresta-Savage, who declined to
comment
on the case or the recent order.
-----
CALIF. HACKER SENTENCED IN AL JAZEERA SITE ATTACK
Reuters, 11/13/03
LOS ANGELES - A Los Angeles-area man has been fined and sentenced to
community service for hacking into the Web site of satellite
TV network Al Jazeera during the U.S.-led war in Iraq and rerouting
visitors to a page featuring an American flag and the motto "Let
Freedom Ring."
At a sentencing hearing on Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Howard Matz
told
Web designer John William Racine II: "I don't think of you as an evil
person ... but this was a crime. It wasn't just a childish prank."
Matz sentenced Racine, 24, to 1,000 hours of community service and a
$2,000
fine. Racine, also known as John Buffo, vowed to the judge that he
would
never do such a thing again.
Prosecutors said the Qatar-based Arabic television broadcaster did not
respond to U.S. government inquiries about whether the hacking caused
it
any financial losses.
Racine posed as an Al Jazeera employee to get a password to the
network's
site, (http:/www.aljazeera.net), then redirected visitors to a page he
created that showed an American flag shaped like a U.S. map and the
patriotic motto, court documents said.
In June, Racine pleaded guilty to wire fraud and unlawful interception
of
an electronic communication.
-----
DETAINEES GET TOLL-FREE HOTLINE FOR LEGAL, OTHER HELP
Wayne Parry, Associated Press, 11/12/03
http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/ny-bc-nj--detainees-hotline1112nov12,0,4239391.story
NEWARK, N.J. - Detainees being held on immigration charges in some
county
jails in New Jersey will soon be able to call a toll-free number to
reach
legal help on the outside.
The system is designed to reduce the isolation many detainees
experienced
after more than 1,200 were arrested in the investigation into the Sept.
11,
2001 terror attacks. Most were held in jails in New Jersey and New
York.
The toll-free number, 1-877-818-4845, will start working Thursday for
detainees being held in the Passaic County Jail in Paterson, one of two
facilities that have housed the largest numbers of detainees in New
Jersey
over the past two years. Sheriff Jerry Speziale agreed to change a
policy
that blocked inmates at the jail from dialing toll-free numbers.
Under the old system, the only way detainees could reach help on the
outside was to make collect calls that cost at least $1.35 for the
first
minute. A 10-minute call to a local exchange in the Paterson area
easily
cost more than $5.
"The whole point is to try to have some real contact with the detainees
while they're still inside the system," said Jeannette Gabriel, an
immigrant rights activist with the New Jersey Civil Rights Defense
Committee, which is implementing the hotline with the state chapter of
the
Council on American Islamic Relations...
A caller reaching the hotline while it is staffed during business hours
will speak with a volunteer who will take information, determine
whether
the caller needs a lawyer and help arrange for one, and contact family
members if necessary.
During off-hours, a caller will reach a voice-mail system, and a
volunteer
will try to contact the caller at the jail within 24 hours.
"They did suffer a lot in the past from the lack of legal
representation,"
said Magdy Mahmoud, president of the CAIR-NJ chapter. "A collect call
was
the only possible means of contact from the jail, and a high percentage
of
the calls were rejected" by recipients...
ALSO SEE:
DETAINED MOM TO BE DEPORTED
Shia Kapos, Chicago Tribune, 11/12/03
http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/women/chi-0311120025nov12,1,7012231.story
A Palestinian mother was ordered to return to her homeland Friday, more
than five months after she was jailed for requesting asylum in the
United
States.
Lina Daqa, 29, and her husband, Abdel Raouf, 34, sought asylum because
they
said their home in the war-torn West Bank was too dangerous for them
and
their two young children, ages 3 and 5.
The parents, who attorneys say have valid visitors' visas, and their
children have been living in Palos Hills the past three years.
Daqa was detained at O'Hare International Airport on May 27 upon her
return
from visiting her village.
Her attorney, Reem Odeh, expressed disappointment after last week's
decision by a Chicago immigration judge to deport her.
"It's devastating to this family," Odeh said, adding that Daqa will be
flown to the Middle East later this week. "She's being sent back but
she
has nowhere to go. Her town has been captured."
The Chicago Arab community had criticized Daqa's detention, saying it
was
arbitrary and unnecessary because Daqa did not pose a threat to the
community. Daqa's husband was not detained and awaits a hearing on his
asylum request.
Daqa has been held at the Kenosha County Jail and was allowed
once-a-week
visits--separated by a glass partition--with her husband and children.
---
FROM BAGHDAD TO BROOKLYN AND BACK
Jen Banbury, Salon.com, 11/13/03
http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2003/11/13/deportee/index_np.html
BAGHDAD, Iraq - Anas Hamadi is the only Iraqi I've met who wears shorts
around Baghdad. He dresses as though he's just returning from an
afternoon
at Coney Island with his wife and son, or heading out for a summer
stroll
around his Brooklyn neighborhood. But here we are in Baghdad, not
Brooklyn,
sitting at a kitchen table, drinking iced coffee and smoking
cigarettes.
Anas is telling me -- in English that contains at least as much New
York
accentuation as it does Iraqi -- why he's here and not in the home he
owns
in Bensonhurst. It's an ugly, sad story involving his mystifying
arrest,
lengthy, often abusive incarceration, and eventual deportation.
As Anas talks, the sound of explosions and gunfire occasionally rumbles
in
through the open kitchen door. Though it's not an unfamiliar background
noise these days, the loudest bombs make us both pause and exchange
raised-eyebrowed "what the fuck?" expressions. The sounds remind me
that
I'm not always sure what I'm doing here. But at least I'm here by
choice.
And at least I have the option to go home...
-----
GROUPS DECRY IMMIGRATION RULE
Michael Powell, Washington Post, 11/13/03
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A33650-2003Nov12.html
NEW YORK - A coalition of legal advocacy groups said Wednesday that a
federal program requiring males from 25 predominantly Muslim nations to
register with the Immigration and Naturalization Service has resulted
in
the arrest and deportation of thousands of laborers, students and
parents
for what are characterized as minor, often technical violations.
The group studied 219 men, of whom about 110 faced deportation, and
found
that not one has been charged with having a connection to al Qaeda or
other
terrorist organizations. About 80 percent of the deportees had
overstayed
their visas or had pending applications for green cards and other
papers.
About half left behind wives and children in this country.
Visitors from these 25 countries are required to re-register again this
year, a process that begins Thursday. "This program has resulted in the
expulsion of working-class Muslim immigrant communities," said Saurav
Sarkar, an organizer with Asian American Legal Defense and Education
Fund
here. "This program has set a very dangerous precedent for what happens
when government decides that Muslims are suspect..."
ALSO SEE:
IMMIGRANT REGISTRATION DECRIED
Mae M. Cheng, Newsday, 11/13/03
http://www.nynewsday.com/news/local/bronx/nyc-nyimmi133539466nov13,0,2931999.story
There were long lines and daylong waits at local immigration offices -
along with a flurry of detentions - after federal authorities last year
began requiring male immigrants from 25 countries to register their
presence in the United States.
Now these immigrants, mainly people from Arab and Muslim nations who
are
limited to temporary stays in this country, must soon re-register...
Under the program, begun last November, 83,519 immigrants had
registered
themselves as of Sept. 30.
Those remaining in the United States now are required to re-register
within
10 days of the anniversary of their initial registration or face
possible
arrest or deportation. They may face one-on-one questions, in addition
to
verifying information like their address and immigration status...
-----
THE RESPONSIBILITY OF RAMADAN
Jewel Gopwani, Detroit Free Press, 11/13/03
http://www.freep.com/news/cfp/4/trama13_20031113.htm
The days may feel shorter, but the afternoons drag on for Eram
Chaudhry.
When 1 p.m. rolls around for the Troy High School senior, she knows
that it
has been more than seven hours since she has eaten and it will be at
least
another four hours until she sits down for her next meal.
That's the sacrifice she and Muslims around the world make during the
Islamic holy month of Ramadan.
For Muslim students like Chaudhry, it's a month when they focus on
self-control by avoiding food between sunrise and sunset -- all while
handling the pressures of school.
So far, this Ramadan has helped Chaudhry break her habit of scarfing
down a
bagel in the six minutes between her mid-morning classes.
But when it started on Oct. 27, Chaudhry readied herself for a
grumbling
stomach...
To help, she avoids seeing food by doing homework in the library during
lunch or turning her head when she smells the aroma of pizza in the
hall --
which tips her off that she's about to walk by a classroom holding a
pizza
party.
But the hunger pangs aren't only a reminder that Chaudhry hasn't eaten
in
hours...
"It's a reminder of responsibility," she said...
-----
SOMEONE'S PUTTING HER FOOT DOWN ABOUT A STAMP
Lolita Harper, LA Times, 11/10/03
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/pilot/columnists/la-dpt-allowed10nov10,1,7025381.story
It is that time of year again. Time to give thanks for the good fortune
of
having clothes on your back, food in your cupboards and a healthy
spirit
running through your veins.
It is a time of thanksgiving, when people come together in joy and
festivity. A time to pray and be grateful and to distribute your wealth
to
those less fortunate.
So why is such a holiday striking a chord with people?
Because I am not talking about Thanksgiving or Christmas. The above
holiday
is the Eid - a festival celebrated during the new moon at the
conclusion of
Ramadan. And Ramadan is an Islamic holiday, or a Muslim holiday, as
many
refer to it.
The United States Postal Service has released a commemorative stamp to
honor this holiday. It can be found in your local post office, right
next
to stamps that honor Christmas, Hanukkah and Kwanza.
It is boiling the blood of some of our most respected local
residents...
-----
MUSLIM BABY IN NEED OF FAMILY
Adoption S.T.A.R. Inc. - a New York State Authorized Non-Profit Child
Placing agency in Buffalo, NY(www.adoptionstar.com) is seeking a Muslim
family in the USA (must be a home-study approved family) for the
following
case:
A newborn baby (sex unknown) due to be born the third week of November
with
Spina Bifida, Chiari II Malformation, and Meningomyelocele (Chiari II
and
Meningomyelocele are all related to the type of Spina Bifida present).
The family MUST be open to ALL of the spectrum of special needs that
this
baby will and/or may have. The baby's birth parents are a Muslim couple
from Northern Iraq (Kurds) and would like a Muslim family that will
have a
closed adoption. Adoption STAR requires all families to be open to at
least
meeting the birth couple and sending them updates about the child if
they
so chose (before they sign legal surrenders) - as of now they do not
want
these things.
If you, or someone you know, is interested in this case, please contact
me
at (716) 691-3300 (ask for Sara in Special Needs department) or via
email
sara@adoptionstar.com
-----
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To reach the list moderator, send a message to: cair@cair-net.org
-----
CAIR
Council on American-Islamic Relations
453 New Jersey Avenue, S.E.
Washington, D.C. 20003
Tel: 202-488-8787, 202-744-7726
Fax: 202-488-0833
E-mail: cair@cair-net.org
URL: http://www.cair-net.org
-----
Forwarded Message
Date:
Thu, 13 Nov 2003 20:52:55 -0500
To:
cair-net@cair.biglist.com
From:
"CAIR" <cair@cair-net.org>
Subject:
CAIR-NET: U.S. Mosques Urged to Raise $1000 for Islam Campaign
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
CAIR ACTION ALERT #402
IMMEDIATE ACTION REQUESTED:
1. Organize a fundraising effort after Friday prayers at your mosque or
center. Set a goal of at least $1,000. Explain why community support is
so
important to CAIR's work.
2. Donate generously to the campaign yourself. Go to:
http://www.cair-net.org/asp/millionforislam.asp
3. Ask all your friends, relatives and colleagues to donate and become
members of CAIR.
4. Attend CAIR's fundraising dinner in Washington, D.C. on November
29th.
To register online, go to: http://www.cair-net.org/asp/2003dinner.asp
--- CLIP AND FAX/MAIL/E-MAIL ---
___YES, my Islamic center/mosque will raise $__________ for CAIR.
Name of Center:
Contact Person:
Address:
City:
State:
ZIP:
Phone:
Fax:
E-Mail:
FAX FORM TO: 202-488-0833
E-MAIL: cair@cair-net.org
MAIL TO: CAIR Ramadan Campaign, 453 New Jersey Avenue S.E., Washington,
D.C., 20003
-----
EACH MOSQUE IN AMERICA URGED TO RAISE $1,000 FOR ISLAM CAMPAIGN
(WASHINGTON, D.C., 11/13/2003) - Alhamdulillah (praise be to God), an
Islamic center in Milwaukee, Wis., recently raised $25,000 for CAIR's
"$1
MILLION FOR ISLAM IN RAMADAN" fundraising campaign. Another center in
Maryland has agreed to donate one-half of the proceeds from their
annual
dinner to CAIR. All Islamic centers and mosques nationwide are being
asked
to do their part in supporting CAIR's work by raising at least $1,000
for
the campaign. SEE: http://www.cair-net.org/asp/millionforislam.asp
CAIR intends (inshallah) to raise $1 million during Ramadan, the month
of
giving, and culminating with the national fundraising dinner
(http://www.cair-net.org/asp/2003dinner.asp) on November 29 in
Washington,
D.C. (Scholars says CAIR is able to receive zakat donations.) NOW is
the
time to show your support for CAIR. Funds raised during the campaign
will
be used to defend the civil and religious rights of Muslims, defend
against
defamatory attacks on Muslims and Islam and promote greater
understanding
of Islamic beliefs and practices.
SOME OF THE IMPORTANT WORK CAIR HAS DONE IN THE RECENT PAST:
* CAIR'S PUBLIC LIBRARY PROJECT - CAIR's library project is designed to
place accurate and objective information about Islam in more than
16,000
public libraries nationwide. SEE: http://www.libraryproject.org/
* CAIR'S "ISLAM IN AMERICA" AD CAMPAIGN - CAIR's campaign to counter
attacks on Islam following the 9/11 terror attacks. These
professionally-produced ads ran on the editorial page of the New York
Times. SEE: http://www.americanmuslims.info/
* CHALLENGING MUSLIM-BASHERS AND ISLAMOPHOBES - CAIR took the lead on
challenging the bigoted views of Islamophobes such as Daniel Pipes,
Franklin Graham, Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, and most recently, Gen.
Boykin in the Pentagon.
* DEFENDING YOUR RELIGIOUS AND CIVIL RIGHTS - In addition to political
activism, CAIR has developed a series of guides designed to educate
employers, educators, health care workers, prison officials, law
enforcement personnel about Islamic religious practices.
REMEMBER:
* All CAIR services are FREE OF CHARGE to those in need.
* CAIR provides FREE publications such as the Ramadan Publicity Kit and
the
Community Safety Kits, to Islamic centers and Muslim activists.
* Tens of thousands of Muslims have received and use CAIR's "Know Your
Rights" pocket guide.
* CAIR has defended thousands of Muslims who were victims of
discrimination.
* CAIR provides information about Islam to hundreds of media outlets in
this country and worldwide.
- PLEASE ANNOUNCE, POST AND DISTRIBUTE -
-----
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http://cair.biglist.com/cair-net/
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-----
CAIR
Council on American-Islamic Relations
453 New Jersey Avenue, S.E.
Washington, D.C. 20003
Tel: 202-488-8787, 202-744-7726
Fax: 202-488-0833
E-mail: cair@cair-net.org
URL: http://www.cair-net.org
-----
Forwarded Message
From:
"cair@cair-net.org" <cair@cair-net.org>
To:
cair-net@cair.biglist.com
Subject:
CAIR-NET: Important Notice - Special Call-In Re-Registration
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
SUPPORT CAIR'S $1 MILLION DURING RAMADAN CAMPAIGN
http://www.cair-net.org/asp/millionforislam.asp
Scholars says CAIR is able to receive ZAKAT donations.
REGISTER ONLINE FOR CAIR'S DC DINNER 11/29
http://www.cair-net.org/asp/2003dinner.asp
-----
CAIR ACTION ALERT #403
ANNOUNCEMENT - SPECIAL CALL-IN RE-REGISTRATION
(WASHINGTON, D.C., 11/14/03) - (NOTE: The following information does
not
constitute legal advice.) - The Council on American-Islamic Relations
(CAIR) is calling on all local imams, khatibs and community leaders to
make
the announcement below about the special call-in registration. (Please
announce after Friday prayers.) The registration was initiated in 2002
by
what is now called U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).
This
announcement should also be posted in a prominent location in all
mosques,
Muslim schools and Islamic centers.
-- ANNOUNCEMENT --
REMINDER FOR IMMIGRANTS TO RE-REGISTER
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) would like to remind
all
non-citizen men who previously registered with U.S. immigration
authorities
to visit their nearest immigration office and re-register. This applies
to
individuals who have complied with the special call-in registration
program
(NSEERS) that was initiated in 2002. The re-registration period is
between
10 days before and 10 days after the date that you have initially
registered. This notice applies to all individuals who are currently
residing in the U.S. and have not left the United States for an entire
year.
Visit for detailed information about the registration program, go to:
http://uscis.gov/graphics/shared/lawenfor/specialreg/index.htmhttp://www.aclu.org/ImmigrantsRights/ImmigrantsRights.cfm?ID=14185&c=22
CAIR urges all those who are potentially affected by this special
call-in
registration requirement to consult an immigration lawyer as soon as
possible to determine both your current immigration status and what may
happen when you re-register. If you are not sure of your status, you
must
speak with a lawyer. Contact your local CAIR chapter if you need
assistance. SEE: http://www.cair-net.org/asp/chapters.asp
CAIR strongly disagrees with the nature and implementation of this
policy,
but it is absolutely essential that those who meet the registration
criteria visit the nearest immigration office for re-registration.
Failure
to re-register MAY MAKE YOU DEPORTABLE.
Although hundreds of people were detained during the last round of
registrations and many others reported mistreatment, hundreds more have
registered without serious incident and have thereby protected
themselves
from deportation proceedings.
CAIR has filed a lawsuit against the Attorney General and organized
demonstrations and other legal actions to protest the special
registration
method of implementation. CAIR continues to document cases of abuse and
harassment through an online form that is available at
www.cair-net.org.
- PLEASE ANNOUNCE, POST AND DISTRIBUTE -
-----
To SUBSCRIBE to or UNSUBSCRIBE from this list, go to:
http://cair.biglist.com/cair-net/
To reach the list moderator, send a message to: cair@cair-net.org
-----
CAIR
Council on American-Islamic Relations
453 New Jersey Avenue, S.E.
Washington, D.C. 20003
Tel: 202-488-8787, 202-744-7726
Fax: 202-488-0833
E-mail: cair@cair-net.org
URL: http://www.cair-net.org
-----
--------------------------------------------------------------------
mail2web - Check your email from the web at
http://mail2web.com/ .
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
AMERICAN MUSLIM NEWS BRIEFS - 11/14/03
* HADITH OF THE DAY: LAYLAT AL-QADR (NIGHT OF POWER)
* SUPPORT CAIR'S $1 MILLION RAMADAN CAMPAIGN
- Register online for CAIR's DC Dinner 11/29
* CAIR-CAN: VANDALS TARGET CANADIAN MOSQUE
* CAIR-DFW HOSTS RECOGNITION BANQUET
- National Racial Profiling Hearing in Texas
* IMMIGRANT FACES LONG COURT WAIT (Orlando Sentinel)
- CAIR-NJ: Legal Services for Detainees (NY Times)
- Efforts Working for Immigrant Rights (Tenn.)
* PROTEST BACKS JAILED NEW YORK DOCTOR (Post-Standard)
* SECURITY VERSUS LIBERTY (St. Pete Times)
* GENERAL ABUSED RIGHT TO FREE SPEECH (Indy Star)
* EX-ISRAEL SECURITY CHIEFS PUSH FOR TRUCE (AP)
- Israeli Memo Admits Flouting "Road Map" (Reuters)
* 3 U.S. GIS FACE CHARGES IN POW ABUSE CASE (AP)
- 30 Media Outlets Protest Treatment in Iraq (E&P)
- Pentagon Limits Funeral Coverage (Wash. Post)
* ICCI 6TH ANNUAL CONFERENCE IN CALIFORNIA
* VA COURSE IN ISLAMIC LAW
* PANEL ON ROLE OF GLOBAL MEDIA IN DIPLOMACY
-----
HADITH OF THE DAY: LAYLAT AL-QADR (NIGHT OF POWER)
The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: "Search for the Night of
Power in the odd-numbered nights of the last ten days of Ramadan."
Sahih Al-Bukhari, Volume 3, Hadith 234
“We have revealed this (Quran) in the Night of Power. And what will
make
you understand what the Night of Power is! The Night of Qadr is better
than
one thousand months. The angels and the Spirit (Gabriel) come down with
every decree, by the leave of their Lord. That night is the night of
Peace,
till the break of dawn.”
The Holy Quran, Chapter 97 (Al-Qadr)
“We revealed this Quran in a blessed night (Laylat al-Qadr); for We
wanted
to forewarn mankind. In that night every matter is decided wisely.”
The Holy Quran, 44:3-4
-----
SUPPORT CAIR'S $1 MILLION DURING RAMADAN CAMPAIGN
Donate generously to the campaign. To donate online, go to:
http://www.cair-net.org/asp/millionforislam.asp (NOTE: Scholars says
CAIR
is able to receive ZAKAT donations.)
---
REGISTER ONLINE FOR CAIR'S DC DINNER 11/29
Registration is now available online for CAIR's Ninth Annual
Fundraising
Dinner on November 29th (the weekend after Eid ul-Fitr) in Washington,
D.C.
The dinner, with the theme "Muslims in America: A Defining Moment,"
will
feature presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich as one of its main
speakers.
WHERE: Sheraton Premiere at Tysons Corner, 8661 Leesburg Pike, Tysons
Corner/Vienna, VA
COST: CAIR dinners always quick to sell out so get you tickets now!
Tickets: $55/$85 per couple R.S.V.P. by Nov. 24, 2003. No children
please.
(Limited babysitting with prior notice only - $10 per child.)
FOR MORE INFORMATION, call 202-488-8787 or e-mail:
register@cair-net.org
ACTION REQUESTED:
REGISTER FOR CAIR'S DINNER BY GOING TO:
https://www.cair-net.org/2003dinner-register.asp
-----
VANDALS ATTACK EDMONTON MOSQUE
Islamic center vandalized twice since September
(OTTAWA, CANADA - 14/11/2003) - On Saturday, November 15, the Canadian
Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-CAN), along with the Muslim
Community of Edmonton (MCE), will hold a press conference to urge law
enforcement authorities to treat an attack on a local mosque as a hate
crime. (A number of elected officials will also take part in the news
conference.)
WHERE: MCE Mosque, 10721 - 86 Avenue, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
WHEN: Saturday, November 15, 11 a.m.
According to local Islamic leaders, three young people drove up to the
Muslim Community of Edmonton mosque in a red car on Tuesday and threw a
large brick through the front glass door. The attackers then allegedly
drove around the block twice observing the damage and laughing.
This is the second act of vandalism targeting the mosque since
September.
In the earlier incident, the large anchored sign that identifies the
mosque
was torn out of the front lawn and dragged several blocks away before
being
dumped in someone’s yard.
In a joint statement released today, CAIR-CAN Executive Director Riad
Saloojee and MCE President Usama Al-Shiraida said:
“Such acts of bigotry and intolerance are never acceptable. This
senseless
attack is particularly hurtful coming as it does during the month of
Ramadan when Muslims are engaged in special acts of religious devotion.
"We call on local and national law enforcement authorities to
investigate
this disturbing incident as a hate crime. We also call on our city and
elected officials to issue a strong condemnation of the hatred and
bigotry
that can lead to such acts of intimidation.”
CAIR, North America’s largest Muslim civil liberties group, is
headquartered in Washington, D.C., and has 25 offices and chapters
nationwide and in Canada.
-END-
CONTACT: Usama Al-Shiraida (President, MCE) at 403-915-0817; Naeem
Saloojee
(CAIR-CAN) at 613-254-9704; E-mail: canada@cair-net.org; Riad Saloojee,
613-795-2012
-----
CAIR-DFW HOSTS RECOGNITION BANQUET
The Dallas/Fort Worth office Council on American Islamic Relations
(CAIR-DFW) recently organized a successful recognition banquet titled,
“Eternal Gratitude”, to honor those who contributed their time and
efforts
in the separation surgery of the Egyptian twins, Mohamed and Ahmed
Ibrahim.
More than 350 people attended the recognition banquet in the
International
Ballroom, at the Fairmont Hotel in down town Dallas. Honorable State
Representative Terry Hodge, attended the banquet and complimented the
Muslim community for organizing the event.
Four organizations were recognized for their efforts in assisting with
the
Egyptian twins’ separation surgery. They were: Medical City of Dallas,
Children’s Medical Center, Dallas Morning News and The World Cranofacia
Foundation.
Media outlets covered the event including Aljazeera Network, who will
in
turn rebroadcast the event through its satellite channel to its Arabic
speaking audience worldwide.
ALSO SEE:
NATIONAL RACIAL PROFILING HEARING
WHAT: CAIR�DFW is encouraging everyone to attend the National Racial
Profiling Hearing to defend our rights in America at local and federal
levels.
Experts as and people who were personally profiled will testify before
Presiding Judge Timothy K. Lewis (3d. Cir. ret.)
WHEN: Saturday November 15th, 2003 from 10am-7pm
WHERE: Brookhaven Community College
, 3939 Valley View Lane, Farmers Branch, TX 75244, Room B-304
Please note: IFTAR will be provided at 5:30 p.m. Food contributions are
welcomed. For more information and direction, click on
http://www.amnestyusa.org/events/fall2003hearings.html
-----
IMMIGRANT FROM IRAQ FACES LONG COURT WAIT
Pedro Ruz Gutierrez, Orlando Sentinel, 9/14/03
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/orange/orl-locroses14111403nov14,1
,971645.story
Iraqi-born computer engineer who was arrested six years ago after he
sent
roses to his estranged wife and now faces deportation must wait another
11
months to find out if the U.S. government will expel him.
Immigration Court Judge Rafael Ortiz-Segura on Thursday said he will
hear
arguments in the case against Kussay Al-Sabunchi, 39, next October. At
a
preliminary hearing Thursday in Orlando, Ortiz-Segura cited a backlog
of
6,000 cases involving foreigners as the reason for the delay in hearing
Al-Sabunchi's case. He is one of three judges who hear cases at the
immigration court off South Semoran Boulevard.
"Eleven more months of stress. Eleven months of fear," Al-Sabunchi said
after the hearing. "You don't know what to expect." Al-Sabunchi, a
naturalized Canadian citizen and IBM employee, remains free until his
Oct.
22, 2004, court date...
ALSO SEE:
LEGAL SERVICES FOR DETAINEES
Ian Urbina, New York Times, 11/14/03
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/14/nyregion/14MBRF3.html
Starting this week, prisoners in the Passaic County Jail who have been
accused of immigration violations will be able to dial a toll-free
number,
(877) 818-4845, to get help obtaining a lawyer. Since the Sept. 11
terror
attacks, thousands of people have been questioned about their
immigration
status and hundreds have been detained, sometimes for long periods. But
advocacy groups for the immigrants say that low-income detainees have
difficulty getting lawyers because phone calls from jail are costly and
toll-free numbers are generally unavailable. The New Jersey Civil
Rights
Defense Committee and the state chapter of the Council on American
Islamic
Relations helped start the toll-free service in Passaic and hope to get
Hudson, Bergen and Middlesex County jails to allow it. Along with
helping
callers to obtain a lawyer, volunteers for the service will also relay
direct information from the detainees to family members.
---
SOME LOBBYING EFFORTS ARE WORKING FOR IMMIGRANTS RIGHTS ORGANIZATION
Anita Wadhwani, Tennessean, 11/13/03
http://www.tennessean.com/local/archives/03/11/42414647.shtml
Immigrants like Nabil Bayakly say they are on the front lines of the
state's newest civil rights struggle: the defense of immigrants'
rights.
Bayakly, a former university professor and leader of a Memphis Muslim
organization, was shackled, fingerprinted and sent to jail in January
when
he tried to comply with a federal law to register with immigration
authorities.
Part of the federal Patriot Act required a visit to immigration offices
by
thousands of men from countries identified as having terrorist ties.
Bayakly had held valid visas since he immigrated to the United States
from
Lebanon 25 years ago. At the time he was required to register; however,
he
was late in filing updated paperwork, a problem that would have been
considered minor in pre-Sept. 11 days that has led to an increasing
number
of deportations, according to immigration attorneys and civil liberties
advocates.
Last month, after a flurry of e-mails, letters and phone calls
organized by
a new immigrants rights organization, a judge took the extraordinary
step
of canceling Bayakly's deportation under a little-used legal provision
that
clears the way for him to apply for citizenship because he has been in
the
United States for more than 10 years and has good moral character...
For more information about the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights
Coalition convention, call: 615-846-6672 or visit their Web site at:
www.tnimmigrant.org.
-----
PROTEST BACKS JAILED DOCTOR
John O'Brien, Post-Standard, 11/14/03
http://www.syracuse.com/news/poststandard/index.ssf?/base/news-13/1068803975
283560.xml
The supporters of a Manlius oncologist accused of illegally shipping
money
to Iraq will release a written statement from him today, calling on
"noble
people" to challenge corrupt government officials.
Dr. Rafil Dhafir wrote the statement from his jail cell for a news
conference in Syracuse - one of eight across the country in which peace
activists will protest what they say are people being wrongly targeted
by
federal prosecutors for trying to help poor people in Iraq. Dhafir's
supporters will hold their news conference at noon today at St. Lucy's
Gymnasium at 425 Gifford St.
Dhafir was charged in February with illegally sending money to Iraq
through
his DeWitt-based charity, Help the Needy. He's also accused of
defrauding
Medicare out of $274,000 through his former Rome oncology practice, and
evading $400,000 in federal income tax payments by falsely writing off
donations to the charity.
Dhafir, 55, of 5408 Springview Drive, wrote in the one-page statement
that
noble people should be grateful to their maker and for living in "this
great place on earth." But they have to try to improve their
surroundings,
he wrote.
"Are we grateful when we (acquiesce) to the bigots and racists
masquerading
as law enforcers and keep silent?" Dhafir wrote.
The statement makes no reference to himself or his charges, but the
message
was meant to include all people who are wrongly accused, according to
Madis
Senner, a leader of Dhafir's supporters.
Dhafir's supporters have set up a Web site, at
http://www.jubileeinitiative.org/FreeDhafir.htm
They want the Iraqi sanctions charges to be dropped because Dhafir was
only
trying to help oppressed people. The tax evasion and Medicare fraud
charges
are the result of the government targeting him and "shaking the tree"
for
any other charges it could find, Senner said.
-----
SECURITY VERSUS LIBERTY
St. Petersburg Times, 11/14/03
http://www.sptimes.com/2003/11/14/Opinion/Security_versus_liber.shtml
Holding terrorism suspects outside U.S. territory to keep them away
from
jurisdiction of the American legal system sets a risky precedent.
The war on terrorism has finally arrived at the doorstep of the U.S.
Supreme Court.
This term, the court has accepted the appeals of two groups of
prisoners
from the Afghanistan conflict and has other cases before it that stem
from
the Bush administration's treatment of terrorist suspects. Up to this
point, the federal appellate courts have largely allowed the
administration
to bend the rules of due process in the name of national security. Now
the
high court has the opportunity to set some limits.
Twelve Kuwaitis, two Britons and two Australians held at Guantanamo
Bay,
Cuba, are challenging their open-ended detention and the
administration's
refusal to provide them hearings before a tribunal. To date, they have
had
no way to challenge the legitimacy of their captivity. All have been
detained for at least 18 months without charge...
-----
GENERAL ABUSED RIGHT TO FREE SPEECH
Indianapolis Star, 11/13/03
http://www.indystar.com/articles/2/092256-5982-021.html
Indiana's very own Mike Pence has sent a letter to Defense Secretary
Donald
Rumsfeld, supporting Lt. Gen. William G. Boykin "in the wake of the
controversy that has developed around his expressions of his personal
Christian faith." Pence urged the Defense Department to ignore those
who
have called for an investigation of Boykin, saying criticism of his
remarks
was evidence of religious intolerance, and comparing him "to George
Washington, among others."
What were these "expressions of personal faith" that Congressman Pence
supports? According to numerous news reports, Boykin told one group
that
terrorists are "after us because we are a Christian nation." He told
another a story about a Somali Muslim who claimed that Allah would
protect
him from the Americans, saying, "Well, you know what I knew, that my
God
was bigger than his. I knew that my God was a real God, and his was an
idol..."
With all due respect to Congressman Pence, the criticisms leveled at
Boykin, as I understand them, concern the man's judgment and obvious
bigotry, not his religious beliefs. When a high-ranking military
officer
charged with conduct of important wartime duties expresses contempt for
the
religious beliefs of 1.2 billion inhabitants of the planet, there is
cause
for concern. When the remarks are made at a time when the United States
is
trying desperately to convince our allies in the Middle East that this
is
not a war against Islam, they undermine American foreign policy...
-----
EX-ISRAEL SECURITY CHIEFS PUSH FOR TRUCE
Jason Keyser, Associated Press, 11/14/03
http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-3387491,00.html
JERUSALEM - In unusually bold criticism, four former Israeli security
chiefs warned Friday that the country is headed for disaster unless
Prime
Minister Ariel Sharon reverses course and moves quickly to settle the
conflict with the Palestinians.
The warnings by former directors of the vaunted Shin Bet agency come a
time
when Sharon is weighing whether to accept a Palestinian offer of a
truce
that would not be accompanied by a Palestinian crackdown on militant
groups. In the past, Sharon has rejected such a plan.
Israel's security services are reportedly divided, with the military in
favor and the current Shin Bet chief opposed. The military believes a
cease-fire is a step in the right direction and is ready to minimize
operations, including halting targeted killings of Palestinian
militants,
the Maariv daily reported Friday. The Shin Bet fears armed groups will
use
the lull to reorganize for more attacks.
Sharon hasn't made a final decision, Maariv said, but the outcome could
well determine the direction of the conflict. Palestinian Prime
Minister
Ahmed Qureia wants to persuade the militants to halt attacks and then
get
Israel to agree to a truce. Qureia, and other leaders before him, have
said
they cannot order a crackdown for fear of setting off internal
fighting...
ALSO SEE:
ISRAEL GOVT MEMO ADMITS FLOUTING "ROAD MAP" - SOURCE
Dan Williams, Reuters, 11/12/03
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L12478833.htm
JERUSALEM - A secret Israeli memorandum says the country has failed to
honour commitments under a U.S. peace plan to evacuate illegal settler
outposts and has sought "in every way to whitewash their existence and
build more.”
Government sources on Wednesday quoted the memorandum as saying: "We
promised the United States that we would dismantle the outposts and
have
not done so. That is our Achilles' heel."
"International criticism is growing because of our lack of creative
ideas for getting out of the conflict," it said.
Israel lacked credibility when it claimed to be fulfilling its
obligations
under a U.S.-backed plan for ending three years of fighting with the
Palestinians, the memorandum said...
-----
3 U.S. GIS FACE CHARGES IN POW ABUSE CASE
Associated Press, 11/14/03
http://www.abcnews.go.com/wire/World/ap20031114_372.html
CAIRO, Egypt - U.S. military prosecutors have decided to prosecute
three
American soldiers from Pennsylvania on charges of abusing Iraqi
prisoners
of war, a U.S. Army spokesman said Friday.
Maj. Victor Harris, spokesman for the Kuwait-based U.S. Land Forces
Component Command, said the three will be formally charged on Saturday
in
an arraignment hearing at Camp Doha, Kuwait, which is under the command
of
the Third U.S. Army.
The charges grew out of an alleged incident May 12 at a U.S. detention
facility, Camp Bucca, in southern Iraq. The three soldiers, from the
320th
Military Police Battalion, based in Ashley, Pa., are accused of
punching
and kicking Iraqi POWs while escorting them to Camp Bucca.
Following an inquiry into the alleged incident, U.S. military
investigators
recommended bringing charges, which have since been filed by the Third
Army's commanding general, Lt. Gen. David D. McKiernan. Saturday will
be
the first time the charges are formally read out to the accused
soldiers.
The soldiers have said they acted in self-defense, that conditions were
chaotic at Camp Bucca, and that guards had been harassed and assaulted
daily by unruly prisoners...
ALSO SEE:
30 MEDIA OUTLETS PROTEST TREATMENT IN IRAQ
Editor & Publisher, 11/13/03
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/editorandpublisher/headlines/article_displ
ay.jsp?vnu_content_id=2027078
NEW YORK -- In two separate letters to the Pentagon, the press claims
that
U.S. troops are harassing journalists in Iraq and sometimes
confiscating
equipment, digital camera disks and videotapes.
The Associated Press Managing Editors (APME) wrote a letter of protest
to
Larry Di Rita, acting assistant secretary of defense for public
affairs.
Some soldiers' actions "appear intended to discourage journalists from
covering the continued military action in Iraq," wrote APME President
Stuart Wilk, also vice president/managing editor at The Dallas Morning
News...
APME asked the Pentagon to immediately take steps to end confrontations
between journalists and soldiers.
Separately, 30 media organizations, lead by The Associated Press, fired
off
their own letter to Di Rita, saying they have "documented numerous
examples
of U.S. troops physically harassing journalists," according to a report
in
Thursday's Boston Globe. The letter was signed by representatives from
CNN,
ABC, The Boston Globe, Newhouse News Service, and many others...
---
PENTAGON LIMITS FUNERAL COVERAGE
Steve Vogel, Washington Post, 9/14/03
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A38338-2003Nov13.html
The Army tightened rules yesterday on press coverage of funerals at
Arlington National Cemetery, directing that reporters be kept far
enough
away from the graveside that they would likely be unable to hear a
chaplain's eulogy.
Reporters will be restricted to a roped-in "bullpen" that is generally
far
enough away that words spoken at graveside cannot be heard, officials
said.
Jack Metzler Jr., the superintendent of Arlington National Cemetery,
said
the cemetery will be following rules that were already in the books but
had
not been strictly observed in recent years. "We're just enforcing what
was
already in place," he said.
The order to enforce the restriction came from Army officials at the
Pentagon, Metzler said. He said the order came in response to a
complaint,
but he declined to provide details...
-----
ICCI 6TH ANNUAL CONFERENCE
The ICCI, Islamic Chamber of Commerce and Industry, will host its 6th
annual conference on Saturday, December 13th, 2003 in Santa Clara, CA.
Please, click on the following link to view the event announcement:
http://www.islamic-commerce.org/info/6thann_conf_flyer.pdf
The event typically draws around hundreds of Professionals, Executives,
and
Investors from the Silicon Valley and the Globe.
-----
3RD ANNUAL WINTER PROGRAM-ISLAMIC LAW: A DISCIPLINED ART
WHAT: Is Islamic Law a scientific discipline or a nuanced art? What are
the
major complexities of Islamic Law and how did they originate? How has
it
developed over the centuries? What is its relevance in contemporary
Western
society?
This 4-day course set in the backdrop of the nation’s legal
fountainhead
aims to examine in-depth these important questions relevant to the
American
Muslim mind. By offering an approach that encourages literacy and
critical
thinking within this sophisticated discipline, the Winter Program will
introduce students to the ocean of Islamic Law through the cutting-edge
scholarship of its classically trained instructors.
***BONUS*** In addition to the standard classes, ALIM instructors are
preparing papers on contemporary Islamic Legal matters to be presented
and
discussed for the first time at this event. This is an unprecedented
opportunity for any individual interested in seeking knowledge and
contributing to the American Islamic discourse.
Instructors: Dr. Abdul-Hakim Jackson, Dr. Muneer Fareed, Dr. Ali
Sulaiman
Ali, Dr. Taha Jabir Al-Alwani (Tentative).
Program Topics: History of Islamic Law, Usul al-Fiqh, Issues in Islamic
Law, Applications of Islamic Law in America, Law and Morality, Madhabs
and
Authority.
Target Audience: Young professionals, undergraduate, and graduate
students
Tuition: $170/non-student, $300/couple, $125/student. Tuition includes
meals, snacks, and program materials. Early registration period ends
November 30, 2003. Starting December 1, an additional $25 will be added
to
the registration fee.
WHERE: The All Dulles Area Muslim Society (ADAMS) Center, Sterling, VA
(Suburb of Washington, DC), 46903 Sugarland Road, Sterling, VA 20164
WHEN: Saturday December 27, 2003 thru Tuesday December 30, 2003
Contact: Diba Rab (240) 994-0843 or Irfan Murtuza (301) 523-7314
-----
PANEL ON THE ROLE OF GLOBAL MEDIA IN PUBLIC DIPLOMACY
WHAT: A panel of distinguished media experts and Islamic scholars will
discuss the capacity of the US, Muslim and Arab world medias to inform
and
misinform audiences on the complex realities and centuries old
misconceptions, and explore means to leverage such capacity towards
cooperation rather than confrontation. The event is titled, “Distorted
Images: The Role of Global Media in Public Diplomacy. Misperceptions
Between America, and the Muslim & Arab Worlds”
Keynote Address: Amb. Edward Djerejian
Chairman, U.S. advisory Group on Public Diplomacy for the Arab and
Muslim
World. Former Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs,
and
former U.S. ambassador to Israel and Syria.
Panel Moderator: Harold Pachios
Former chairman and current member of the US Advisory Commission on
Public
Diplomacy.
Panel Members:
Dr. Hassan Ibrahim
National Director, Muslim Public Affairs Council
Ms. Joyce Davis
Deputy Foreign Editor, Knight-Ridder News Agency
Hafiz Al-Mirazi
Bureau Chief, Al-Jazeera Satellite Channel
Martin Walker
Chief International Correspondent, UPI. Washington, DC Bureau.
WHEN: November 20, 2003, 12:00 noon-1:30 p.m. panel program
WHERE: Loy Henderson Auditorium. U.S. Dept of State.
To Register by Phone call: 202-647-0488
Registration Form Please Visit www.state.gov/s/p/of/c9197.htm
-----
To SUBSCRIBE to or UNSUBSCRIBE from this list, go to:
http://cair.biglist.com/cair-net/
To reach the list moderator, send a message to: cair@cair-net.org
-----
CAIR
Council on American-Islamic Relations
453 New Jersey Avenue, S.E.
Washington, D.C. 20003
Tel: 202-488-8787, 202-744-7726
Fax: 202-488-0833
E-mail: cair@cair-net.org
URL: http://www.cair-net.org
-----
--------------------------------------------------------------------
mail2web - Check your email from the web at
http://mail2web.com/ .
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
AMERICAN MUSLIM NEWS BRIEFS - 11/17/03
* HADITH OF THE DAY: GOD LOVES FORGIVENESS
* SUPPORT CAIR'S $1 MILLION DURING RAMADAN CAMPAIGN
- Register online for CAIR's DC Dinner 11/29
* ACTION ALERT: THANK SPONSORS OF CONGRESSIONAL IFTAR
* CAIR-CHICAGO: TURKEYS DONATED TO LOW INCOME FAMILIES
- CAIR-FL: Balancing Freedom and Security
* IKEA LAUNCHES RAMADAN PR CAMPAIGN (Toronto Star)
- NJ: Schools Adding Eid to Day-off List (AP)
- Three Faiths Find Much to Share (KC Star)
* REACHING OUT AT RAMADAN (San Jose Mercury News)
* TV STATION PULLS U.S. SHOW ON ISLAM (Toronto Star)
* IMMIGRANT CRACKDOWN SHATTERS MUSLIMS' LIVES (Chicago Trib)
- Deportees Face Bleak Future (Chicago Tribune)
- Swept Up Despite Adherence to the Law (Chicago Trib)
- Politician at Center of Policy (Chicago Trib)
- Immigrants Reminded to Obtain Advanced Parole (USCIS)
* CANADA MOSQUE VANDALISM FEEDS FEARS (Edmonton Journal)
- Two Held in Bias Attack on Pakistani Teens (NY Newsday)
- Va. Group Is Battling 9/11 Backlash (Wash. Post)
- MN Man Pleads Guilty To Killing Cab Driver (KARE 11)
* BILL'S ACADEMIC INTERFERENCE ANTI-AMERICAN (Daily Bruin)
* A PREPPY WASP'S CONVERSION TO ISLAM (Boston Globe)
- Muslim Scholar Raises Hackles in France (NY Times)
* JUDGE REJECTS SAUDI TERRORIST LINK (Wash. Post)
* THE COURT AND GUANT�NAMO (New York Times)
- Court to Rule on 'Enemy Combatant' Label (AP)
* EX-SECURITY CHIEFS TURN ON SHARON (Wash. Post)
-----
HADITH OF THE DAY: GOD LOVES FORGIVENESS
A wife of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) asked him what
prayers
she should say on Laylat al-Qadr (Night of Power) if she knew which
night
it was. The Prophet told her to say: "O God, Thou art forgiving and
lovest
forgiveness, so forgive me."
Al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 641
We revealed this Quran in a blessed night (Laylat al-Qadr); for We
wanted
to forewarn mankind. In that night every matter is decided wisely."
The Holy Quran, 44:3
-----
SUPPORT CAIR'S $1 MILLION DURING RAMADAN CAMPAIGN
Donate generously to the campaign. To donate online, go to:
http://www.cair-net.org/asp/millionforislam.asp (NOTE: Scholars says
CAIR
is able to receive ZAKAT donations.)
---
REGISTER ONLINE FOR CAIR'S DC DINNER 11/29
Registration is now available online for CAIR's Ninth Annual
Fundraising
Dinner on November 29th (the weekend after Eid ul-Fitr) in Washington,
D.C.
The dinner, with the theme "Muslims in America: A Defining Moment,"
will
feature presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich as one of its main
speakers.
WHERE: Sheraton Premiere at Tysons Corner, 8661 Leesburg Pike, Tysons
Corner/Vienna, VA
COST: CAIR dinners always quick to sell out so get you tickets now!
Tickets: $55/$85 per couple R.S.V.P. by Nov. 24, 2003. No children
please.
(Limited babysitting with prior notice only - $10 per child.)
FOR MORE INFORMATION, call 202-488-8787 or e-mail:
register@cair-net.org
ACTION REQUESTED:
REGISTER FOR CAIR'S DINNER BY GOING TO:
https://www.cair-net.org/2003dinner-register.asp
-----
THANK SPONSORS OF CONGRESSIONAL IFTAR,
Elected officials reached out to American Muslim community
ACTION ALERT #404
(WASHINGTON, D.C., 11/17/2003) - CAIR is urging member of the
American's
Islamic community to contact the sponsors of last week's Ramadan iftar
on
Capitol Hill and thank them for their leadership in reaching out to
Muslims
and showing respect for Islam.
Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) hosted the iftar, which was attended by more
than
130 elected officials, congressional staffers, American Muslim leaders,
and
ambassadors from Islamic-majority nations. The iftar, held in the House
Judiciary Committee Hearing Room, was co-sponsored by Reps. Gregory
Meeks
(D-NY), Dennis Kucinich (D-OH), Loretta Sanchez (D-CA), and Barbara Lee
(D-CA).
In his remarks, Rep. Conyers said: "Welcome, everyone, to our first
ever
Ramadan Iftar, where we join our Muslim brothers and sisters in
breaking
the fast. I am also pleased to announce that we plan to hold this
important
event every year, and look forward to doing so with CAIR (the Council
on
American-Islamic Relations)…By partaking in this religious tradition,
we
hope to promote the toleration, understanding, and acceptance of all
religions and religious cultures and to celebrate religious diversity,
one
of the many great principles that our country was founded upon."
IMMEDIATE ACTION REQUESTED:
1) Take a minute to call or send a note of appreciation. CONTACT the
sponsors of the iftar to thank them for their leadership in reaching
out to
Muslims and showing respect for Islam. Calls are best, followed by
faxes
and then e-mails.
The Honorable John Conyers, Jr, 2426 Rayburn Building, Washington, DC
20515
TEL: 202-225-5126 FAX: 202-225-0072 E-MAIL:
John.Conyers@mail.house.gov
URL: http://www.house.gov/conyers/
The Honorable Gregory W. Meeks, 1710 Longworth House Office Building,
Washington, D.C. 20515
TEL: 202-225-3461 FAX: 202-226-4169 E-MAIL: congmeeks@mail.house.gov
URL: http://www.house.gov/meeks/
The Honorable Dennis J. Kucinich, 1730 Longworth HOB, Washington, DC
20515
TEL: 202-225-5871 FAX: 202-225-5745
The Honorable Loretta Sanchez, 1230 Longworth House Office Building,
Washington, D.C. 20515
TEL: 202-225-2965 FAX: 202-225-5859 E-MAIL: loretta@mail.house.gov
URL: http://www.house.gov/sanchez/home.html
The Honorable Barbara Lee, 1724 Longworth HOB, Washington, D.C. 20515
TEL: 202-225-2661 FAX: 202-225-9817 E-MAIL:
Barbara.Lee@mail.house.gov
URL: http://www.house.gov/lee/
2) CONTACT your elected representatives to ask that they take part in
next
year's iftar.
GO TO: http://capwiz.com/cair/dbq/officials/
3) COPY all correspondence to: cair@cair-net.org or fax 202-488-0833
-----
MUSLIMS DONATE TURKEY TO LOW INCOME FAMILIES
CAIR-Chicago is co-sponsoring the Third Annual Chicago Muslim Community
Turkey Drive. Turkeys will be donated on Nov. 26 to low income
children/families at McCosh Elementary School in Chicago. McCosh's
population of 1200 students is more than 90 percent low-income and
nearly
100% African-American.
Last year, the Chicago Muslim community donated 200 turkeys to McCosh;
this
year the school needs 600. The cost of each turkey is approximately
$15.
Please send your donation to:
CAIR-Chicago
7667 West 95th Street
Suite 304
Hickory Hills, IL 60457
Make a note on your donation that it is for the "Ramadan Turkey Drive."
Donations must be received by Monday, November 24. Donations are tax
deductible.
Anyone who wishes to participate in the actual distribution of turkeys
to
the families on Wednesday, November 26 is welcome at the school (6543
South
Champlain Avenue, Chicago, Illinois 60637); please contact CAIR-Chicago
at
312-922-4720 to make arrangements.
SEE ALSO:
TOWN MEETING: BALANCING FREEDOM AND SECURITY
ANTI-TERRORIST LEGISLATION AND THE BILL OF RIGHTS: FOCUS ON INDIVIDUAL
PRIVACY
WHEN: TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2003, 7 - 9 PM.
WHERE: New St. Augustine Beach City Hall
� mile south of Rt. 312 on Anastasia Blvd.
SPEAKERS:
HANK COXE, FLORIDA BAR ASSOCIATION
PAUL PEREZ, US ATTORNEY, FLORIDA MIDDLE DISTRICT
DAVID SHOAR, CHIEF, ST. AUGUSTINE POLICE
DR. PARVEZ AHMED, COUNCIL ON AMERICAN-ISLAMIC RELATIONS
Sponsored by the League of Women Voters
FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC
Parvez Ahmed
CAIR-Florida
www.cair-florida.org
pahmed@cair-florida.org
-----
NOD TO RAMADAN A TREND IN RETAILING
Leslie Scrivner, Toronto Star, 11/17/03
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1069026905254&call_pageid=968350130169&col=969483202845
When does a minority know it's become part of mainstream culture? When
temples and mosques are as much a part of the cityscape as churches?
When
Muslim women wear head coverings without attracting stares? When a home
furnishings company recognizes that shoppers spend not only at
Christmas,
but also at Diwali, Ramadan and Chanukkah?
In a new public relations campaign, IKEA has highlighted Ramadan, the
month-long Muslim fast that began Oct. 27. The campaign shows women
wearing
hijab and South Asian dress, photos of Mecca, sweet trays used for
end-of-fast celebrations, and a text explaining the religious meaning
of
the holiday.
The series of photographs showing IKEA carpets, candles, table settings
and
gifts for children - ways of decorating the home for the holiday - is
not a
nationwide mail-out campaign but will be on the IKEA Canada Web site
today
(http://www.ikea.ca).
It's a first for IKEA and part of a trend by retailers to acknowledge
minority celebrations.
Hudson's Bay Company, for the first time this fall, included Ramadan
greetings in flyers for The Bay, Zellers and Home Outfitters, plus
posters
and door signs. It will do the same for Chanukkah and other holidays...
While it's clear retailers are looking at Muslims as consumers, the
overall
message is welcome, said Riad Saloojee, executive-director of the
Council
on American-Islamic Relations Canada. "What I like is that Muslims are
humanized, as are our cultures and traditions, and we are portrayed
strictly as part of Canadian culture," he said. "It's not a foreign
celebration..."
SEE: http://www.ikea.ca/ms/en_CA/about_ikea/eid.pdf
ALSO SEE:
SCHOOLS SLOWLY ADDING MUSLIM HOLIDAY TO DAY-OFF LIST
Wayne Parry, Associated Press, 11/14/03
http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/ny-bc-nj--schools-islamicho1114nov14,0,5339719.story
IRVINGTON, N.J. -- Add Eid to the list of religious holidays that can
get
students a day off from school in some communities.
This Essex County district will become one of only a handful of
districts
in the nation to close schools on a major Islamic holiday, the
Eid-al-Fitr
on Nov. 26. Paterson and Trenton schools also close that day.
Public schools across the nation have traditionally closed for major
Christian holidays including Christmas and several days before or after
Easter, and many also close for Jewish holidays as well.
Now, with Islam emerging as one of the fastest-growing religions in the
United States, some school districts with significant Muslim
populations
are recognizing the Eid holidays.
"Up to now, the major holidays have either been Christian or Jewish,"
said
Frank Belluscio, a spokesman for the New Jersey School Boards
Association.
"But now we're diversifying, and I'm sure this is something we'll see
other
districts doing in the future."
Irvington, 2.9-square-mile community adjacent to Newark, is the latest
to
give students off for the Eid, which celebrates the end of Ramadan, the
holiest month of the year for Muslims...
---
THREE FAITHS FIND MUCH TO SHARE
Melodee Hall Blobaum, Kansas City Star, 11/17/03
http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/7279439.htm
Common ground has been more plentiful than faith differences in a
unique
partnership involving a Johnson County synagogue, a midtown mosque and
a
Roman Catholic church on the Paseo.
For three years, some members of Al-Inshirah Islamic Center, 3664
Troost
Ave.; Congregation Beth Torah, 6100 W. 127th St. in Overland Park; and
St.
Monica Catholic Church, 1600 the Paseo, have worshipped, talked and
learned
together, discovering that what they share far exceeds what separates
them...
A coordinator from St. Monica said she had found herself less tolerant
of
people who had negative attitudes toward other faiths. Darcus
Marzett-Hullaby said she felt protective toward the members of
Al-Inshirah
and Congregation Beth Torah...
The partnership dates to the fall of 2000 and is one of 17 coordinated
by
Kansas City Harmony's Congregational Partners, according to program
coordinator Janet Moss.
Such partnerships are designed to break down barriers between urban and
suburban congregations. Though the partner congregations generally
embark
on a shared service project, the primary goal is increasing
understanding
among the faith communities.
Most of the partnerships match congregations from the same faith but of
different socioeconomic or cultural backgrounds, Moss said. The
three-way
partnership is the only one that matches congregations from three
faiths:
Judaism, Islam and Christianity...
-----
REACHING OUT AT RAMADAN
Kim Vo, San Jose Mercury News, 11/12/03
http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/7264249.htm
As the sun sets Sunday, members of the South Bay Islamic Association
will
gather for their evening prayer and eat their first meal of the day.
Seated
among them will be Catholics and scientists, Buddhists and businessmen,
and
others who live in the same community but do not share the same faith.
After the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, as the nation grieved and hateful
calls filled the Islamic Association's answering machine, Muslim
leaders
realized they needed to educate people about their faith. Since then,
the
Islamic Association has held bazaars at the Santa Clara fairgrounds and
open houses at its downtown San Jose mosque.
In an attempt to foster a deeper understanding of Islam, this year the
mosque has invited people to iftaar, the act of breaking the daylight
fast.
Muslims refrain from food, drink and sensual pleasures from sunrise to
sunset during the holy month of Ramadan...
The Council on American-Islamic Relations, a civil rights group, is
encouraging the nation's 7 million Muslims to use Islam's holiest month
to
enlighten people about the religion. Muslims believe that it was during
Ramadan -- the ninth month of the Islamic lunar calendar -- that God
revealed the Koran to the Prophet Muhammad.
Muslims are reaching out in other ways, too. Some mosques are
delivering
Thanksgiving baskets to veterans and the poor. Others are collecting
cans
for food banks, said Ibrahim Hooper, who belongs to the council. Not
only
is this what Muslims should be doing -- charity is a pillar of Islam --
but
it's a smart move, he said.
It ''lets our neighbors meet actual Muslims, because it's our
experience
that prejudice rises from ignorance...''
-----
TV STATION PULLS U.S. SHOW ON ISLAM
Toronto Star, 11/15/03
http://www.torontostar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&call_pageid=971358637177&c=Article&cid=1068678614401
An American evangelist's television series on Islam in America was
cancelled by a Toronto television station CTS after the first program
because Muslims complained his tone and demeanour amounted to
incitement of
hatred.
San Antonio-based pastor John Hagee's "tone in his comparison of what
Christians believe according to the Bible and what Muslims believe
according to the Qur'an" violated the code of ethics of CTS (Crossroads
Television Systems), said program manager Rob Sheppard in a letter of
apology to a Muslim group.
Sheppard told WorldNetDaily he believes Hagee's primary intent was not
to
preach from his religious convictions but to incite hatred.
"It was a tonal thing," he said. "You could see what he was trying to
do by
his tone and body language.''
It wasn't so much his exact words, Sheppard said, but Hagee's inference
that Muslims cannot be loyal Americans.
CTS pulled the final two of three programs in the series, titled
``Islam in
America," according to Sheppard.
The program manager said his station's actions - a letter of apology to
Muslims and a warning to Hagee's group - was prompted by up to 100
letters
of complaint from viewers.
-----
IMMIGRATION CRACKDOWN SHATTERS MUSLIMS' LIVES
Cam Simpson, Flynn McRoberts and Liz Sly, Chicago Tribune, 11/16/03
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-0311160374nov16,1,7753684.story
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- The 75 passengers on the Icelandair jet sat
strapped
to their seats, cloth bands cinching their arms to their waists for all
but
the final descent of the three-leg, 20-hour flight.
Struggling to feed themselves, they spilled rice and meat onto the
floor of
the cabin. A trip to the bathroom required the escort of a federal
agent.
After the plane screeched to a halt in the sweltering July heat, U.S.
officials herded the men off the jet and onto the soil of their native
Pakistan. The purpose of the flight: deportation. Why them? Their
nationality.
Some of the men had been jailed for months before they were tossed out
of
America. Some had been convicted of crimes. All had been in the U.S.
illegally. But the chief reason many were singled out is they were from
one
of the Muslim countries targeted by American officials trying to foil
another Sept. 11...
Four planes filled with deported Pakistanis had preceded Akbar's
flight,
starting in June 2002, and one more has followed.
To assess the impact of the immigration crackdown, the Tribune tracked
passengers on the July flight to the dusty villages and teeming cities
of
Pakistan.
Their stories illustrate how the campaign has ruptured families,
separating
men from their U.S.-citizen wives and children. They show how the
government effectively put a premium on catching scofflaws from mostly
Muslim nations while allowing hundreds of thousands of violators from
other
countries, including convicted criminals, to wander free...
ALSO SEE:
TORN FROM FAMILIES AND JOBS, DEPORTEES FACE BLEAK FUTURE
Flynn McRoberts, Liz Sly and Cam Simpson, Chicago Tribune, 11/17/03
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-0311170077nov17,1,81373.story
NEW YORK -- Suleman Faqih was jolted awake just before dawn last
January,
when federal agents entered his bedroom and stuck a flashlight in his
face.
"Get up!" they told him as he lay in bed. "Let's go!"
Bleary-eyed, the 23-year-old complied, pulling on jeans and a sweater.
The
agents handcuffed him and led him into the hallway of his family's home
in
Queens, where his mother stood in her nightgown. She, too, was cuffed.
As he was taken away from the three-story brick town house he grew up
in
after coming to America at the age of 10, Faqih hoped it was all a
terrible
case of mistaken identity, that he'd soon be back home. Back to his
bedroom, with the Aerosmith sticker on the side of his Dell computer.
Back
to the cell phone store he and his cousin had just opened on the Upper
West
Side.
But Faqih did not go home. In July, after 185 days in jail, he was
shuffled
onto a plane filled with other deportees--75 men the Tribune tracked to
Pakistan to gauge the impact of the Bush administration's post-Sept. 11
crackdown against illegal immigrants from predominantly Muslim
nations...
The stories of Faqih and the other men on the July flight to Pakistan
reflect not only the selective nature of the government's new
immigration
initiatives, but the toll they have taken on individuals and
families...
---
SWEPT UP DESPITE HIS ADHERENCE TO THE LAW
Flynn McRoberts, Chicago Tribune, 11/17/03
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0311170076nov17,1,7753911.story
CHARLOTTE -- Few people appreciate the new realities of homeland
security
more than the employees of Worldwide Flight Services. Preparing cargo
loads
for airlines flying out of the international airport here, they are on
the
front line of the nation's efforts to prevent another terrorist attack.
But they never imagined that effort would sweep up their friend and
former
colleague, Raja Saleem.
Jane Hefner, a trainer at Worldwide, shook her head when told recently
that
Saleem had been deported to his homeland of Pakistan.
"I hate that," Hefner said in her soft Southern drawl. "I truly believe
that boy wouldn't have done anything."
To Hefner and Saleem's other co-workers at Worldwide, he was a
gentleman
and a hard worker, an employee so expert at their computer system that
he
taught his superiors a thing or two.
"I wish there was something we could do to help him," Hefner said. "It
makes me sick to even hear it. . . . I would hate to go to another
country
and be treated the way he was treated here..."
---
ASPIRING POLITICIAN AT CENTER OF POLICY
Cam Simpson, Chicago Tribune, 11/16/03
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0311160375nov16,1,212670.story
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- In less than a year, Kris Kobach went from serving
on a
city council in Kansas and teaching law to the inner circle of
policymaking
at the Justice Department, where he was a principal architect of one of
the
most far-reaching immigration measures since the Sept. 11 attacks.
Now the 37-year-old is back in his hometown of Overland Park, Kan., and
teaching again at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. He's also
running
for a Republican nomination to Congress, campaigning on the work he did
during his 22-month stint for Atty. Gen. John Ashcroft...
Kobach, a law school professor with degrees from Harvard, Yale and
Oxford,
won election in the upper-middle-class Kansas City suburb of about
160,000
people in April 1999. Within about a year, Kobach ran unsuccessfully in
the
GOP primary for the Kansas Senate.
A year after that, in 2001, he resigned his City Council seat to take a
White House fellowship, a highly competitive, yearlong program for
professionals with promise. The non-partisan program allows fellows to
see
the system from the inside. Alumni include Secretary of State Colin
Powell...
---
IMMIGRANTS REMINDED TO OBTAIN ADVANCED PAROLE BEFORE TRAVELING ABROAD
WASHINGTON, DC - U. S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS)
reminds
immigrants to obtain Advanced Parole before traveling abroad.
Advanced Parole (Form I-131-- Application for Travel Document) is
permission to re-enter the United States after traveling abroad, and
allows
for the continuation of processing for an adjustment of status to that
of
lawful permanent resident.
Travel outside of the United States without advance parole may have
severe
consequences for certain immigrants who are in the process of adjusting
their status. Such immigrants may be unable to return to the United
States
and their applications may be denied.
The Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996
stipulates that immigrants who depart the United States after being
unlawfully present in the United States for certain periods can be
barred
from admission to lawful permanent resident status, even if they have
obtained Advance Parole. Those immigrants who have been unlawfully
present
in the United States for more than 180 days, but less than one year are
inadmissible for three years; those who have been unlawfully present
for a
year or more are inadmissible for 10 years. Immigrants, who are
unlawfully
present, depart the U.S. and subsequently re-enter under a grant of
parole,
may nevertheless be ineligible to adjust their status.
USCIS urges all immigrants with pending applications for adjustment of
status to consult its National Customer Service Center at
1-800-375-5283,
www.uscis.gov, an immigration attorney, or an immigration assistance
organization accredited by the Board of Immigration Appeals before
making
any travel plans.
-----
VANDALISM FEEDS FEARS
Don Thomas, Edmonton Journal, 11/16/03
http://www.canada.com/edmonton/edmontonjournal/story.asp?id=D892033B-00EE-4C92-9298-77ED8739F4FE
EDMONTON - Police, city leaders and members of Edmonton's Islamic
communities Saturday condemned the repeated vandalism of a south-side
mosque and appealed for help in finding the culprits.
A brick was hurled through a window at the entrance of the Muslim
Community
of Edmonton mosque at 10721 86th Ave. at noon Wednesday. A lone
worshipper
saw two men and a woman laugh as they drove off in a small red car and
then
circle the block twice before leaving.
In mid-September, the sign in front of the mosque was torn down and
dumped
a few blocks away.
Mosque president Usama Al-Shiraida said Saturday the incidents have
raised
fear in the mosque, which is a community support centre as well as a
place
of worship for 300 to 500 Muslims.
"A lot of people are worried because they feel they are being targeted
for
their religious beliefs," he said.
"We have summer schools and Sunday schools in this mosque, and so a lot
of
them are afraid for their children as well.
"I can't say with 100-per-cent confidence that these pointless acts
were
motivated by hate. However, given the large number of violent acts
against
North American Muslim institutions over the last few years, it isn't
surprising that the majority of our community feels that way."
Edmonton police are investigating and are expected to assign their new
hate
crimes unit to the case later this week.
Coun. Michael Phair said it's crucial that Edmontonians do everything
to
prevent a repetition.
-----
TWO HELD IN BIAS ATTACK AGAINST PAKISTANI TEENS
Bryan Virasami, Newsday, 11/17/03
http://www.nynewsday.com/news/local/queens/nyc-nyhate173546039nov17.story
A group of Hispanic teenagers, two of them yelling "You're Taliban,"
beat
up a pair of Pakistani-born brothers after they left their mosque in
Corona, police said, in what community leaders called the worst
instance of
bias-related violence in that area since a flurry of such incidents
shortly
after Sept. 11, 2001.
"They said, 'You're Taliban'," said Javad, 17, who suffered a large
bruise
below his left eye, a bump on his head and a gash over one eye. His
brother, Junaid, 16, also required treatment for minor injuries. Both
were
treated at Elmhurst Hospital Medical Center and released. They asked
that
their last name not be released, saying they feared recrimination...
At first, they thought the slurs they heard were someone's idea of a
joke.
But a few minutes later the Hispanic boys who had yelled at them
returned
with five of their friends...
Early yesterday, detectives from the Hate Crime Task Force arrested
Alex
Batista, 16, of 41-16 12th St. in Long Island City and Ivan Pracido,
18, of
40-40 100th St., Corona. Both were charged with hate crime assault and
aggravated harassment, police said.
-----
N. VA. GROUP IS BATTLING THE 9/11 BACKLASH
C. Woodrow Irvin, Washington Post, 11/16/03
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A46626-2003Nov15.html
Early last month, a man stabbed a Muslim woman outside the Springfield
Plaza shopping center and called her a terrorist. Last weekend, vandals
painted an anti-Islamic slur on a van owned by one of Northern
Virginia's
largest Muslim community organizations.
Muslims are not the only ethnic group in the area experiencing a
backlash.
Latinos say they are worried about stricter immigration regulations,
such
as a new Virginia law requiring applicants for driver's licenses to
prove
that they are in the country legally.
Concerned about such tensions, civic and religious leaders in the
McLean
area are trying to start a series of community discussions that they
hope
will help ease the anxieties.
The next meeting, scheduled for Dec. 4, is sponsored by the Northern
Virginia Community Resilience Project, a federally funded program
started
after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks to help people in the
Washington area cope.
---
MAN PLEADS GUILTY TO KILLING CAB DRIVER
KARE 11, 11/15/03
http://www.kare11.com/news/news-article.asp?NEWS_ID=55114
A man who had been out of prison for less than two months when he shot
a
cab driver to death pleaded guilty to second-degree murder Friday.
The killing of 28-year-old Mohamed Ahmed Salah on August 8 prompted an
outcry from the Somali community and demands for more protections for
cabbies.
Twenty-five-year-old Salvador Anthony Pacheco of Anoka, expressed no
emotion during his plea hearing Friday but did say through his attorney
that his memories about the night of the shooting weren't clear because
he
had been drinking and using prescription drugs.
The victim's wife and relatives watched and listened through an
interpreter
to the proceedings.
Under a plea agreement, Pacheco will get 27 years and one month in
prison.
His formal sentencing before Hennepin County District Judge Tony Leung
is
set for December 12...
-----
BILL'S ACADEMIC INTERFERENCE ANTI-AMERICAN
Daily Bruin, 11/13/03
http://www.dailybruin.ucla.edu/news/articles.asp?id=26303
Academic freedom - the driving concept behind the mission of
universities -
is under attack in Congress.
Why? Because apparently universities are unfairly anti-American.
A bill that has garnered little public debate or press coverage would
call
for the government to more closely scrutinize international and foreign
language studies programs at American schools. Having already passed
unanimously in the House of Representatives, if the bill becomes law it
would establish a board to monitor these programs, which could be
threatened with reduced funding if they are determined to be too
anti-American.
In the post-Sept. 11, 2001 United States, millions of Americans are -
perhaps understandably - sensitive to criticism of their government and
its
policies, especially when such criticism seems unfair. But just because
government officials, and the powerful lobbyists and donors to whom
they
pander, don't like what some professors say about U.S. policy doesn't
mean
these officials can impose their will on academia.
The sponsors of the bill say they are defending the United States from
anti-American ideas. But the idea that the government should play any
type
of oversight role in regulating public discourse at universities is
more
typical of the Soviet Union than of the United States.
Language changes made to the bill prevent the oversight board from
"mandating, directing or controlling" the curriculum at universities.
This
means the infringement on academic freedom is now less extreme than it
had
been. But the bill is still unacceptable.
-----
A PREPPY WASP'S CONVERSION TO ISLAM
Beth Carney, Boston Globe, 11/16/2003
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/magazine/articles/2003/11/16/seeing_the_light/
Fourth-graders at Milton Academy have just completed a year studying
the
Middle East, and they are celebrating with a party. Tables at the
private
school are spread with plates of hummus, falafel, and dried fruit.
Children
are posing for photos in head scarves and robes. A bazaar has been set
up
in a classroom, where guests are encouraged to haggle over the price of
postcards and tiny souvenir cedar trees.
About a dozen students from the Islamic Academy of New England have
joined
the Milton class as part of an exchange. After lunch, a teacher from
the
small Muslim school in Sharon, known to his students as Mr. Mahboob,
leads
the noon prayer in the gym.
Wearing a long black tunic, a skullcap, and leather socks, the teacher
goes
through the ritual of bowing, standing, kneeling, and lowering his
forehead
to the floor while praising Allah in Arabic. Behind him, students from
both
schools arrange themselves in segregated rows, boys in front of girls,
and
try to follow along...
ALSO SEE:
A MUSLIM SCHOLAR RAISES HACKLES IN FRANCE
Elaine Sciolino, New York Times, 11/16/03
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/16/international/europe/16RAMA.html
AINT-DENIS, France, Nov. 13 - Of all the Muslim leaders in Europe,
perhaps
none has more visibility - and more faces - than Tariq Ramadan.
To many experts on Islam, Mr. Ramadan, a 41-year-old, Swiss-born
philosophy
professor, is a respectable scholar who promotes a moderate, tolerant
version of Islam from his headquarters in Geneva and in his lectures
around
the world.
To his Muslim followers in the rough suburbs of France, he is a
spiritual
guide whose passionate speeches and cassette tapes inspire them to
throw
themselves and their beliefs into Western society like a "bomb," as he
says
on one cassette tape, even as he tells them to become model,
law-abiding
citizens.
To a number of French intellectuals, he is a dangerous demagogue whose
words have multiple meanings and are laced with anger and
anti-Semitism.
"So Who Is Tariq Ramadan?" reads Friday's front-page headline in the
daily
tabloid Le Parisien. Below the headline, there is a color photo of a
pensive Mr. Ramadan, a hand on his bearded chin...
-----
JUDGE REJECTS SAUDI TERRORIST LINK
Carol D. Leonnig, Washington Post, 11/15/03
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A42764-2003Nov14.html
Plaintiffs in a massive lawsuit against Saudi leaders have not provided
compelling evidence that individual members of the Saudi royal family
knowingly funded al Qaeda's Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, a
federal
judge ruled yesterday as he dismissed the victims' claims against two
of
the desert kingdom's princes.
The $1 trillion lawsuit, filed by more than 900 victims' family members
and
some injured firefighters and rescue workers, argued that several Saudi
leaders and investment organizations helped fund the terrorist attacks
and
should be held responsible.
They charged that Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz, as Saudi defense
minister
and leader of Islamic affairs, funded charities that he knew subsidized
Osama bin Laden's terrorist organization. They claimed that Prince
Turki
al-Faisal, director of the Saudi Department of General Intelligence,
helped
the royal family strike a deal to pay bin Laden protection money so he
would not carry out terrorist strikes inside Saudi Arabia or work to
bring
down the Saudi government.
But U.S. District Judge James Robertson ruled that Sultan and Turki
were
immune from these specific claims in American courts. He said the
princes,
who asked earlier this year to be dismissed from the case, allegedly
gave
money to charities such as the International Islamic Relief
Organization,
the Muslim World League and the World Assembly of Muslim Youth, in
their
official capacity as high-ranking government officials...
-----
THE COURT AND GUANT�NAMO
New York Times, 11/17/03
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/17/opinion/17MON2.html
The Supreme Court took a welcome step when it agreed last week to
decide
whether the Guant�namo detainees could challenge their status in
civilian
courts. Over the objections of the Bush administration, the justices
will
review a lower court's refusal to hear their claims. The Supreme Court
should hold that the detainees have a right to a legal proceeding to
challenge their confinement.
Hundreds of detainees have been held at a naval base in Guant�namo Bay,
Cuba, since their capture in the Afghanistan war, with no idea of when
they
will be released. Those who may have been captured in error have had no
chance to make that case. After more than a year and a half, 16 of the
detainees are suing. They are not asking for full-blown civilian
trials,
but they argue that they should be given a chance to contest their
detainment before an impartial tribunal.
The administration had urged the Supreme Court not to hear the case,
arguing that the detainees' status is "constitutionally committed to
the
executive branch." The administration contends that the Guant�namo base
is
not part of the United States, and it invokes a 1950 Supreme Court
decision
holding that federal courts lack jurisdiction over the military
detention
of foreigners outside the United States.
When the Supreme Court rules next year, it should vindicate two
important
legal principles. First of all, it must send a forceful message that
the
detainees have a right to challenge their confinement before a
tribunal.
Given the absolute control the United States exerts over the Guant�namo
naval base, and the terms of the 1903 lease giving it that control, it
is
disingenuous for the government to argue that the detainees are outside
its
jurisdiction...
SEE ALSO:
COURT TO RULE ON 'ENEMY COMBATANT' LABEL
LARRY NEUMEISTER, Associated Press, 11/17/03
NEW YORK (AP) - A federal appeals judge said Monday it would be ``a sea
change'' in the Constitution to allow the Bush administration to
designate
a U.S. citizen suspected in an alleged dirty bomb plot as an enemy
combatant.
In a critical showdown between the government and civil rights lawyers,
two
members of a three-judge federal panel seemed hesitant to embrace the
government's reasoning for why Jose Padilla, 33, should be held
indefinitely without access to a lawyer and without being charged…
Judge Barrington D. Parker Jr. said he believed the power to designate
a
U.S. citizen as an enemy combatant rested with Congress, rather than
the
president.
Giving such power to the executive branch with only limited review by
the
courts, he said, would be ``a sea change in the constitutional life of
this
country and ... unprecedented in civilized society.''
Said Judge Rosemary S. Pooler, another member of the panel: ``If, in
fact,
the battlefield is the United States, I think Congress has to say that,
and
I don't think they have yet.'' Later, she added, ``As terrible as 9/11
was,
it didn't repeal the Constitution…''
The judges weren't expected to issue their ruling for weeks if not
longer.
While two of three judges expressed doubts about the government's
arguments, they could still opt to refer the case to another court, as
Wesley suggested.
-----
EX-SECURITY CHIEFS TURN ON SHARON
Molly Moore, Washington Post, 11/15/03
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A42821-2003Nov14.html
JERUSALEM -- Four former chiefs of Israel's powerful domestic security
service said in an interview published Friday that the government's
actions
and policies during the three-year-old Palestinian uprising have
gravely
damaged the country and its people.
The four, who variously headed the Shin Bet security agency from 1980
to
2000 under governments that spanned the political spectrum, said that
Israel must end its occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, that
the
government should recognize that no peace agreement can be reached
without
the involvement of the Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat, and that it
must
stop what one called the immoral treatment of Palestinians.
"We must once and for all admit that there is another side, that it has
feelings and that it is suffering, and that we are behaving
disgracefully,"
said Avraham Shalom, who headed the security service from 1980 until
1986.
"Yes, there is no other word for it: disgracefully. . . . We have
turned
into a people of petty fighters using the wrong tools."
The statements to Israel's largest-circulation Hebrew-language daily
newspaper, Yedioth Aharonoth, added to recent public criticism of Prime
Minister Ariel Sharon by Israeli political, military and civic leaders
for
his failure to stop terrorism or negotiate peace as the uprising enters
its
fourth year.
Members of the Sharon government said they would not comment directly
on
the statements...
-----
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CAIR
Council on American-Islamic Relations
453 New Jersey Avenue, S.E.
Washington, D.C. 20003
Tel: 202-488-8787, 202-744-7726
Fax: 202-488-0833
E-mail: cair@cair-net.org
URL: http://www.cair-net.org
-----
Forwarded Message
Date:
Tue, 18 Nov 2003 14:22:41 -0500
To:
cair-net@cair.biglist.com
From:
"CAIR" <cair@cair-net.org>
Subject:
CAIR-NET: Only 6 Days Left to Register for CAIR's DC Dinner
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
CAIR ACTION ALERT #405
ONLY 6 DAYS LEFT TO REGISTER FOR CAIR'S DC DINNER
Presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich to offer keynote speech
WHY ATTEND CAIR'S DINNER?
* Attacks on Muslims and Islam are multiplying daily
* Civil and religious rights are under attack as never before
* Muslims must support their institutions
* CAIR is one of the last lines of defense for your rights
* Your children and their children must be able to practice their faith
(WASHINGTON, D.C., 11/18/2003) - Registration for CAIR's Ninth Annual
Fundraising Dinner on November 29th in Washington, D.C., closes after
next
Monday. (CAIR's dinners have often been sold out in the past, so ACT
NOW to
reserve your place.) The dinner, with the theme "Muslims in America: A
Defining Moment," features presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich as
the
keynote speaker.
Other featured speakers include Rep. Nick J. Rahall II (D-WV), Imam
Siraj
Wahhaj, CAIR Board Chairman Omar Ahmad, Rafael Narbaez, and comedian
Azhar
Usman. The dinner will also include presentations of the CAIR 2003
Islamic
Community Service Awards.
WHERE: Sheraton Premiere at Tysons Corner, 8661 Leesburg Pike, Tysons
Corner/Vienna, VA
COST: Tickets: $55/$85 per couple R.S.V.P. by Nov. 24, 2003
No children please. (Limited babysitting with prior notice only - $10
per
child.)
For more information, call 202-488-8787 or e-mail:
register@cair-net.org
ACTION REQUESTED:
REGISTER FOR CAIR'S DINNER BY GOING TO:
http://www.cair-net.org/asp/2003dinner.asp
Those who prefer mail-in registration may fill out the form below and
send
it to: FAX - 202-488-0833 E-MAIL - register@cair-net.org
--- CLIP AND MAIL, FAX OR E-MAIL ---
____ YES, I will attend. Enclosed is my check, payable to CAIR, in the
amount of $______ for _____ seats.
___ SORRY, I will not be able to attend. But I would like to support
CAIR's
important work defending the image of Islam and the rights of Muslims
by
sending a donation of $______. (Kindly reply by November 24, 2003.)
Name of Person Purchasing Tickets:
Address:
City:
State:
Zip:
Daytime Phone:
Names of Other Attendees:
Payment: ___Check ___VISA ___MasterCard ___Discover ___Money Order
Card Number:
Exp. Date:
Name as on Card:
Signature: ________________________________________________
- PLEASE ANNOUNCE, POST AND DISTRIBUTE -
-----
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CAIR
Council on American-Islamic Relations
453 New Jersey Avenue, S.E.
Washington, D.C. 20003
Tel: 202-488-8787, 202-744-7726
Fax: 202-488-0833
E-mail: cair@cair-net.org
URL: http://www.cair-net.org
-----
Forwarded Message
Date:
Tue, 18 Nov 2003 15:30:34 -0500
To:
cair-net@cair.biglist.com
From:
"CAIR" <cair@cair-net.org>
Subject:
CAIR-NET: Sample Eid News Release for Local Communities
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
AMERICAN MUSLIM NEWS BRIEFS - 11/18/03
* HADITH OF THE DAY: INTENTIONS
* SUPPORT CAIR'S $1 MILLION DURING RAMADAN CAMPAIGN
- Register online for CAIR's DC Dinner 11/29
* SAMPLE EID NEWS RELEASE FOR USE BY LOCAL COMMUNITIES
- CAIR-CAN Offers Islam Awareness Course
* MUSLIM EXODUS UNRAVELS TIGHTKNIT ENCLAVES (Chicago Trib)
* NEW ISLAMIC STUDIES PROGRAM INAUGURATED (Daily Stanford)
- Dept. Looks For Professor to Teach Islam (Nebraskan)
* MD MOSQUE TO WELCOME THE PUBLIC (Herald-Mail)
* 'RAMADAN HAS BRIMMED WITH BLOOD' (Washington Post)
* PATRIOT ACT USURPS AMERICANS' LIBERTIES (News Journal)
- U.S. PATRIOT Act Affects Library Policies (The Penn)
- Patriot Act Becomes Frighteningly Real (Tennessean)
- Blues, Aetna Help Hunt Terrorists (Detroit News)
* ISRAELI ARMY ENGAGED IN FIGHT OVER ITS SOUL (Wash. Post)
* AMERICANS TURN TIKRIT INTO IRAQ'S OWN WEST BANK (Indep.)
- US's 'Iron Hammer' Code Name Used By Nazis (Reuters)
* THREAT TO RESCIND MOSQUE PERMIT IN FRANCE (AFP)
* CHICAGO MUSLIMS HOST ANNUAL RAMADAN INTERFAITH IFTAR
* D.C. MUSLIMS SERVE HOMELESS (MSW)
-----
HADITH OF THE DAY: INTENTIONS
The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: "Every action is based
on
the intention (behind it), and everyone shall have what he intended."
Fiqh-us-Sunnah, 1.27A
-----
SUPPORT CAIR'S $1 MILLION DURING RAMADAN CAMPAIGN
Donate generously to the campaign. To donate online, go to:
http://www.cair-net.org/asp/millionforislam.asp (NOTE: Scholars says
CAIR
is able to receive ZAKAT donations.)
---
REGISTER ONLINE FOR CAIR'S DC DINNER 11/29
Registration is now available online for CAIR's Ninth Annual
Fundraising
Dinner on November 29th (the weekend after Eid ul-Fitr) in Washington,
D.C.
The dinner, with the theme "Muslims in America: A Defining Moment,"
will
feature presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich as one of its main
speakers.
REGISTER FOR CAIR'S DINNER BY GOING TO:
https://www.cair-net.org/2003dinner-register.asp
-----
SAMPLE EID NEWS RELEASE FOR USE BY LOCAL COMMUNITIES
ACTION REQUESTED: Modify the materials below for distribution to local
media outlets. Make sure to send a copy to the main daily newspaper
"city
desk," TV station "assignment desk," radio station "news director," and
Associated Press local bureau "daybook editor." Call each outlet to
obtain
contact information.
SEE ALSO: "CAIR RAMADAN 2003 PUBLICITY KIT"
http://www.cair-net.org/ramkit/
SEND COPIES of local media advisories to CAIR at: cair@cair-net.org
---
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
[Insert Your Local Organization Name and Address Here]
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
- MEDIA ADVISORY -
LOCAL MUSLIMS MARK END OF RAMADAN WITH PRAYERS, BAZAAR
WHAT: On November 25, 2003 (date may vary, see below), the Muslim
community
in [insert name of city or area] will celebrate the end of the
month-long
fast of Ramadan with communal prayers and a multicultural bazaar.
(Ramadan
is the month on the Islamic lunar calendar during which Muslims abstain
from food, drink and other sensual pleasures from break-of-dawn to
sunset.)
The prayers mark the beginning of the Eid ul-Fitr (EED-al-FITTER)
holiday,
in which Muslims exchange social visits and seek to strengthen bonds of
brotherhood. During this holiday, Muslims greet each other by saying
"Eid
mubarak" (EED-moo-BAR-ak), or "blessed Eid," and "taqabbalallah
ta'atakum,"
or "may God accept your deeds."
The multicultural bazaar will feature games for children, Islamic
books,
and food and clothing from around the Muslim world. The bazaar is free
and
open to the public. People of all faiths are encouraged to attend and
sample the diversity of Islamic culture. (NOTE - There are [insert
estimate
of local Muslim population] Muslims in [insert city or area].)
WHEN: November 25, 2003 (*Because Ramadan is a lunar month, the actual
date
is governed by sighting of the new moon. Eid could occur on December
5th if
the new moon is seen on the night of the 4th.) Prayers are held early
in
the morning. Ask local coordinators for exact dates and times.
Community gathers at ____ a.m.
Prayers begin at ____ a.m.
Bazaar opens at ____ a.m. and lasts until ____ p.m.
WHERE: Prayers - Address:
Bazaar - Address:
CONTACT: For more information, call _________________ at ______________
(not for publication), or call _____________________ at ______________
(for
publication).
PHOTO OPPORTUNITY: Each year, Muslims from America and many different
countries come to the prayers in the colorful dress. The prayers
themselves
are quite visual, with worshipers arranged in neat rows and bowing in
prayer in unison. Participants exchange embraces at the conclusion of
the
prayers.
NOTE: Because this is a religious service, reporters and photographers
of
both sexes should dress modestly. That means no shorts for men or short
skirts for women. Some communities may ask female reporters and
photographers to put a scarf over their hair while in the actual prayer
area. Photographers should arrive early to get into position for the
best
shots. Photographers are also advised not to step directly in front of
worshipers and to seek permission for close-up shots. Shots of shoes
removed for prayer, and rear-angle shots of prostrating worshipers, are
considered inappropriate.
- END -
-----
CAIR-CAN OFFERS ISLAM AWARENESS COURSE TO STAFF AT FRENCH SCHOOL
Teacher: Muslim women "can't go out, swim, talk on the phone, choose a
husband" and can be "burned" if she disobeys her family
(OTTAWA, CANADA - 18/11/2003) - Alhamdulillah (to God belongs all
praise),
CAIR-CAN has offered a sensitization course on Islam to all teachers at
an
Ottawa French elementary school after a teacher misinformed her class
about
women in Islam.
During a dictation in class entitled "Le Calife de Baghdad," the
teacher in
question spoke to the class about the mistreatment of Muslim Women in
the
Islamic faith. Specifically, she mentioned that women in Islam are not
allowed to go out, swim, talk on the phone, listen to the radio, watch
television or say no to their husbands or their husband's family.
Moreover,
she indicated that if a Muslim woman does anything bad or disobeys her
husband or family, she gets whipped or burned, that she does not have
the
right to divorce, and that if a man wishes to marry a Muslim girl, she
is
obligated to accept.
CAIR-CAN intervened, together with a parent of the Muslim child. The
school
offered the child an apology, invited CAIR-CAN Chair Sheema Khan to
deliver
a presentation on Islam and Muslim practices to all the staff at the
school
and permitted a Muslim teacher to speak to the class and remedy the
misconceptions presented regarding Muslim women.
In a special thank you to CAIR-CAN, the parent wrote: "Thanks to
CAIR-CAN's
professional advice, commitment and support, we were able to clarify
misconceptions and provide more accurate information of Islam and
Muslims.
The indispensable guidance CAIR-CAN provided clearly solidified our
position and developed a more fluid dialogue with the school
system....Once
again, thank you CAIR-CAN for your dedication and remarkable work!"
-----
MUSLIM EXODUS FROM U.S. UNRAVELS TIGHTKNIT ENCLAVES
Flynn McRoberts, Chicago Tribune, 11/18/03
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-0311180129nov18,1,7819222.story
On the first anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, Shakeel Ahmed loaded
his
wife and five children into the family's green 1994 Mercury mini-van,
their
years in America reduced to a pair of cardboard boxes stuffed with
children's clothes.
The rest they left behind: a television, furniture, pots and pans,
blankets
and pillows. Ahmed figured he had little time to waste because word had
spread through the sweet shops and mosques around Devon Avenue, the
heart
of Chicago's South Asian community, that the federal government was
deporting illegal immigrants from predominantly Muslim countries.
As he drove down Devon for the last time, Ahmed's thoughts turned to a
cabdriver friend who had left with his family just two days before.
Another
companion they'd played cricket with in Washington Park had left months
earlier.
Now it was his turn...
But the targeting of men from Muslim countries in the aftermath of the
Sept. 11 attacks affected more than just the men who were deported and
their families. It sent aftershocks rumbling through the American
neighborhoods where they lived and, in many cases, thrived...
-----
NEW ISLAMIC STUDIES PROGRAM INAUGURATED
Albert Chiou, Daily Stanford, 11/18/03
http://daily.stanford.edu/tempo?page=content&id=12444&repository=0001_article
Amidst growing violence, tension and intolerance on an international
level,
the Muslim world must choose between reformation, restoration or
reinterpretation, according to a lecture given yesterday by John
Esposito,
a professor of Religious and International Affairs at Georgetown
University
and the chair of Georgetown's Center for the Study of Islam and
Democracy.
The talk was the inaugural lecture for the new Abbasi Program in
Islamic
Studies.
The program, the result of a post-Sept. 11 surge of student demand for
courses about the Muslim world, seeks to expand Stanford's curriculum
in
Islamic Studies, though it will not grant degrees. It will also sponsor
research, academic conferences and public lectures, like the one given
by
Esposito.
Esposito also spoke about a change in attitude toward Islam and the
West's
growing fascination with the Muslim world.
"Thirty years ago when we talked about Islam, it was out there," he
said.
"There was the Western world and there was Islam. Look at the
difference
between then and now."
Esposito's lecture, entitled "The Future of Islam," was given in front
of a
full house in Tresidder Union's Oak Lounge...
ALSO SEE:
DEPARTMENT LOOKS FOR PROFESSOR TO BRING KNOWLEDGE OF ISLAM
Krystal Overmyer, Daily Nebraskan, 11/18/03
http://www.dailynebraskan.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2003/11/18/3fb9a9724aaf6
The University of Nebraska-Lincoln is on the lookout for a religions
professor with expertise in Islam, hoping to capture student and public
interest in Islamic studies and other religions since Sept. 11, 2001.
The professor, who hopefully would begin teaching in fall 2004, would
bring
more breadth to the Judeo-Christian coursework dominating the
Department of
Classics and Religious Studies, said Sidnie Crawford, professor and
chairwoman of the department...
A search committee will begin informally interviewing about 50
applicants
in late November and likely will bring two to five candidates for
on-campus
interviews in January, she said.
Crawford said the department had seen an influx of students in the past
three or four years. The history department's History of Islam course,
offered through the religious studies minor, is consistently full, she
said. And Crawford's own Judaism, Christianity and Islam course,
offered
for the first time this fall, filled immediately, she said...
-----
MOSQUE TO WELCOME THE PUBLIC
Marlo Barnhart, Herald-mail, 11/18/03
http://www.herald-mail.com/?module=displaystory&story_id=67371&format=html
The blessings of Ramadan will be shared with people of all faiths when
The
Islamic Society of Western Maryland opens its mosque to the general
public
Thursday from 5 to 7 p.m.
"It is a time of obedience and respect for Allah and also for personal
reflection," said Dr. Shahab Siddiqui, a Hagerstown physician and one
of
the organizers of the open house.
Food will be served, so those who plan to attend are encouraged to call
ahead so organizers can make sure there will be enough.
Ramadan is a month-long opportunity for spiritual enhancement and soul
redemption within the Islamic community. Part of the observance calls
for
fasting - no food or water - during daylight hours...
-----
RAMADAN: A TIME FOR REFLECTION OR FOR DESTRUCTION?
Richard Leiby, Washington Post, 11/18/03
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A54667-2003Nov17.html
"I saw heads flung far from motionless bodies, eyes plucked from their
sockets, corpses trampled in the dust. . . .What flames of vengeance
flickered over these corpses! How men's hearts rejoiced at this hideous
spectacle!"
So reported a Muslim scribe after a great military victory over the
Christian Crusaders near the end of the month of Ramadan. It was 1187
and
both sides were joined in a holy war that spanned centuries; this time
the
sultan Saladin wiped out the Frankish army and went on to reclaim
Jerusalem
for Islam.
That triumph over what Muslims considered an infidel occupation force
still
resonates among extremists like Osama bin Laden, whose communiques
suggest
that he's reliving the Crusades. And in light of recent bombings linked
to
al Qaeda and rising attacks against coalition troops in Iraq since
Ramadan
began there on Oct. 27, some scholars, military and terrorism experts
see
signs of what they call a Ramadan offensive -- an effort by radicals to
parlay a heightened atmosphere of religious zeal into violence.
The last 10 days of Ramadan -- the holiest period, a period of
seclusion
and reflection -- began Saturday. "Religious sentiments are most
intense
during that last 10 days, and when someone wants to exploit it, that is
the
best time to do it," says Seyyed Hossein Nasr, an Iranian-born
professor of
Islamic studies at George Washington University...
COMMENTS MAY BE SENT TO: letters@washpost.com
COPY TO: leibyr@washpost.com, cair@cair-net.org
-----
PATRIOT ACT: IT SOUNDS NICE, BUT IT USURPS AMERICANS' LIBERTIES
http://www.news-journal.com/news/newsfd/auto/feed/news/2003/11/16/1069041663.27404.1014.0746.html
You likely know it as the USA Patriot Act. Given the eloquence of the
full
name and the catchiness of the acronym, who could be against such a
law?
Well how about Robert K. Corbin, the former president of the National
Rifle
Association?
He's just one of many conservatives aligned with others ranging from
the
American Civil Liberties Union to lawmakers on both sides of the
political
fence who decry the impact of the Patriot Act on all Americans' civil
liberties.
Attorney General Robert Ashcroft has mounted an effort to bolster
support
for the law he sought in the weeks after Sept. 11. His pitch: "We have
used
these tools to provide the security that insures liberty."
But a growing chorus of voices from all sections of the political choir
have begun to question whether the Patriot Act diminishes our liberties
more than it secures them...
ALSO SEE:
U.S. PATRIOT ACT AFFECTS LIBRARY POLICIES
Ashley Gurbal, The Penn, 11/17/03
http://www.thepenn.org/vnews/display.v/ART/2003/11/17/3fb8eb25e78bd
The effects of the terrorist attacks Sept. 11, 2001, have prompted new
policies at Stapleton Library.
The legislation brought about by the attacks, The Uniting and
Strengthening
America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and
Obstruct
Terrorism (USA PATRIOT) Act, was signed into law Oct. 26, 2001. The
131-page document aims to make it easier for law enforcement officials
to
obtain any information necessary to prevent terrorism.
"If the FBI suspected a library user of being engaged in terrorist
activities, they can request the information of what they've borrowed,
but
we don't have that data here," said Liz Evans, associate dean of the
university library. "That data is housed at the electronic database
server
in Shippensburg."
Stapleton Library staff has a policy that they must adhere to, should
intelligence officials request information...
---
A KNOCK AT THE DOOR, AND PATRIOT ACT BECOMES FRIGHTENINGLY REAL
Dwight Lewis, Tennessean, 11/17/03
http://www.tennessean.com/opinion/columnists/lewis/archives/03/11/42564634.shtml?Element_ID=42564634
The feds came with a subpoena:
It told Mary Lieberman that she would appear in U.S. District Court in
Knoxville Nov. 17, 2002, with all of her files on her Iraqi-born
clients,
containing names, addresses, telephone numbers and all personal
information.
It was a year ago tomorrow, and it was a day Mary Lieberman, executive
director of Bridge Refugee & Sponsorship Services in Knoxville, will
never
forget.
''They wanted everything about everybody,'' Lieberman told me over the
telephone Thursday afternoon from her Knoxville office. ''I think
anybody
who received a subpoena like that would look at it twice and bonk
themselves on the head a few times and try to remember what country
they
lived in, and that's kind of what I did.''
The files the government wanted under the USA Patriot Act covered a
wide
range of personal things, Lieberman said. Her organization is an
ecumenical, nonprofit group that helps refugees and people who have
been
granted asylum become and stay self-sufficient...
---
BLUES, AETNA HELP HUNT TERRORISTS
Amy Lee, Detroit News, 11/16/03
http://www.detnews.com/2003/metro/0311/16/a01-326428.htm
Two giant health insurers -- Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan and
Aetna
-- have scoured the records of millions of patients, employees and
health
care providers in search of terrorists.
Company representatives said the Blues have checked 6 million Michigan
files and Aetna has checked 13 million nationwide, including 18,000 in
Michigan.
The insurers said they were required by the U.S. government to search
their
massive databases. "I wouldn't say we were asked. We are legally
obligated
to look to see whether we are somehow receiving any transaction of
goods
and services" with a suspected terrorist, said Blues spokeswoman Helen
Stojic.
The government, however, says that's not true: All the government
demands
is that companies don't do business with terrorists.
Since last spring, the Blues' computers have spit out the names of
about
6,000 Michigan residents who matched names, addresses or other keywords
on
the federal government's list of terror suspects...
-----
ISRAELI ARMY ENGAGED IN FIGHT OVER ITS SOUL
Molly Moore, Washington Post, 11/18/03
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A54448-2003Nov17.html
JERUSALEM -- The hunt for suspected militants sent Sgt. Lirom Hakkak
bashing his way through a wall into a Palestinian family's threadbare
living room, his slender frame sweating under nearly 35 pounds of body
armor and combat gear, his M-16 rifle ready.
He noticed the grandmother first, her creased face so blanched with
terror
that she appeared on the verge of collapse. A middle-aged couple
huddled
close by, trembling.
"They could be my parents," Hakkak, the 22-year-old son of an Israeli
poet,
recalled thinking. In that split second of recognition, he said, "you
really feel disgusting. You see these people and you know the majority
of
them are innocent and you're taking away their rights. You also know
you
must do it."
With the Israel Defense Forces in the fourth year of battle with the
Palestinians, the most dominant institution in Israeli society is also
embroiled in a struggle over its own character, according to dozens of
interviews with soldiers, officers, reservists and some of the nation's
preeminent military analysts.
Officers and soldiers have begun publicly criticizing specific tactics
that
they consider dehumanizing to both their own troops and Palestinians.
And
while they do not question the need to prevent terrorist acts against
Israelis, military officials and soldiers are speaking out with
increasing
frequency against a strategy that they say has forsaken negotiation and
relied almost exclusively on military force to address the conflict...
-----
AMERICANS TURN TIKRIT INTO IRAQ'S OWN WEST BANK
Phil Reeves, Independent, 11/18/03
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/story.jsp?story=464771
It is the West Bank and Gaza Strip, but transported to Iraq. A town is
imprisoned by razor wire. The entrance is guarded by soldiers,
protected by
sand bags, concrete barricades and a machine-gun nest.
Only those people with an identification card issued by the occupation
authorities are allowed in or, more importantly, out.
"Hey, this is just like Gaza, isn't it?" a fiery-eyed young Iraqi
policeman
shouted at us from behind the chest-high, three-layer wire coils which
separate his home from the rest of the surrounding dead-flat Iraqi
landscape, Sunni Triangle heartland. "We're not happy. Not happy!"
This is Awja, the wealthy enclave outside Tikrit where Saddam Hussein
grew
up. It has long been a centre of pro-Saddam, anti-American sentiments,
home
to the ousted dictator's closest tribesmen, his cronies and his
relatives.
The United States military says it is also the source of persistent
violent
insurgency.
The Americans, accompanied by selected journalists and cameramen, have
been
conducting dozens of operations in the past few days, mounting
house-to-house raids, and firing off several 500lb satellite-guided
missiles in an effort to show the world and the guerrillas that they
are
now getting tough...
ALSO SEE:
US'S 'IRON HAMMER' CODE NAME 1ST USED BY NAZIS
Reuters, 11/18/03
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/military/20031118-0917-iraq-hammer.html
WASHINGTON - The U.S. military's code name for a crackdown on
resistance in
Iraq was also used by the Nazis for an aborted operation to damage the
Soviet power grid during World War Two.
"Operation Iron Hammer" this week launched the 1st Armored Division's
3rd
Brigade into the roughest parts of Baghdad to ferret out the attackers
who
have killed scores of U.S. troops since Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein was
ousted in April.
A Pentagon official said the name was chosen because of the "Old
Ironsides"
nickname of the 1st Armored Division. He was unaware of any connection
to
any Nazi operation.
"Eisenhammer," the German for "iron hammer," was a Luftwaffe code name
for
a plan to destroy Soviet generating plants in the Moscow and Gorky
areas in
1943, according to Universal Lexikon on the www.infobitte.de Web site.
A researcher at Britain's Imperial War Museum confirmed the existence
of
Eisenhammer...
-----
THREAT TO RESCIND MOSQUE PERMIT IN STRASBOURG
Agence France Presse, 11/18/03
The authorities in Strasbourg, eastern France, have threatened to
rescind a
building permit for a new city mosque if Muslim leaders there fail to
fulfil a number of "republican" principles.
In a letter sent last week authorising the mosque's construction, the
city
hall said these principles include the use of the French language for
preaching, a tough stand against delinquency among Arab immigrants and
a
liberal position on the Islamic headscarf.
"We don't want to block things, but we want our principles to be
respected," Robert Grossman, deputy mayor of Strasbourg from the
centre-right UMP party of President Jacques Chirac told AFP Tuesday.
-----
CHICAGO MUSLIMS HOST ANNUAL RAMADAN INTER-FAITH IFTAR
The Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago (CIO), an
umbrella
organization representing over 400,000 Muslims throughout Chicagoland,
will
host its annual inter-faith Iftar (breaking of fast) on Wednesday,
November
19, 2003 at 4:00 PM at the Islamic Cultural Center in Northbrook,
Illinois.
Attendees will include leaders and representatives of Chicago's diverse
religions including the Muslim, Catholic, Protestant and Jewish
communities. The Iftar and associated Muslim Maghrib (sunset) prayer
will
be followed by dinner and the main program, including featured
speeches.
A featured event will be the presentation of the CIO's Excellence in
Citizenry award to Mohammed Hussain. Mr. Hussain is a Chicago Muslim
who
received great acclaim in the national media for returning over
$230,000.00
in designer jewelry accidentally left in his taxicab to its rightful
owner.
Contact: Farhan Younus, Esq., Chair, Media Relations Committee,
fyounus@ciogc.org, Ph. 630-926-5566
NOTE: ATTENDANCE IS BY INVITATION ONLY
PLEASE CONTACT: Farhan Younus, fyounus@ciogc.org, Ph. 630-926-5566
-----
D.C. MUSLIMS CALL ON MUSLIMS TO SERVE DURING THE MONTH OF RAMADAN
WHAT: The Muslim Society of Washington, DC is encouraging Muslims to
join
us in an effort to provide dinner for homeless women in the Washington,
DC
metropolitan area. Last year Rev. Graylan Hagler, Pastor of The
Plymouth
Congregational Church and Imam Johari Abdul Malik, Muslim Chaplain of
Howard University and Director of Outreach for Dar Al Hijrah Islamic
Center
joined together, in an interfaith service to the needy, Muslims and
Christians during the month of Ramadan and leading up to Thanksgiving.
This
year the partnership will continue at the First Congregational Church
in
downtown Washington, DC.
We are strongly encouraging Muslims to volunteer in this program. This
is
an opportunity for Muslims to meet the objective of Ramadan by serving
the
community in need. Muslims are invited to break fast and have Iftar at
the
center.
WHERE: 10 & G St, NW (Next to the MLK library) in the basement of the
church. Convenient to the Gallery Place Metro Station (Red, Green and
Yellow line)
Volunteers should enter facilities through rear parking lot.
For more information please contact:
First Congregational Church dinner hotline at 202- 737- 9311
or visit www.mswdc.org
CONTACT PERSON:
Imam Johari email Imamjohari@mswdc.org or telephone 202-345-5233
*The Dinner Program occurs Sunday through Thursday every week.
Those who wish to prepare food please arrive at 3pm
Those who wish to serve please arrive at 5pm
** Children are welcome to attend.
-----
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-----
CAIR
Council on American-Islamic Relations
453 New Jersey Avenue, S.E.
Washington, D.C. 20003
Tel: 202-488-8787, 202-744-7726
Fax: 202-488-0833
E-mail: cair@cair-net.org
URL: http://www.cair-net.org
-----
Forwarded Message
Date:
Wed, 19 Nov 2003 14:43:15 -0500
To:
cair-net@cair.biglist.com
From:
"CAIR" <cair@cair-net.org>
Subject:
CAIR-NET: Ask Dr. Laura to Apologize for 'Anti-Muslim Tirade'
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
SUPPORT CAIR'S $1 MILLION DURING RAMADAN CAMPAIGN
http://www.cair-net.org/asp/millionforislam.asp
Scholars says CAIR is able to receive ZAKAT donations.
REGISTER ONLINE FOR CAIR'S DC DINNER 11/29
http://www.cair-net.org/asp/2003dinner.asp
-----
CAIR ACTION ALERT #406
ASK DR. LAURA TO APOLOGIZE FOR 'ANTI-MUSLIM TIRADE'
Dr. Laura: 'This is a class on morals…What is the point of going to a
mosque?'
(WASHINGTON, D.C., 11/19/2003) - CAIR today called on
nationally-syndicated
radio talk show host Dr. Laura Schlessinger to apologize for an
"anti-Muslim tirade" on her November 17th program. ("Dr. Laura's" radio
program is heard by 12 million listeners on some 270 stations
nationwide.)
Muslims who contacted CAIR said Schlessinger's remarks crossed the line
from legitimate commentary on terrorism to Islamophobic bigotry.
The offensive comments came in response to a mother who asked whether
her
16-year-old daughter should take part in a Catholic High School class
field
trip to a local mosque. The purpose of the field trip was to have the
students in a "moral themes" class learn how "Muslims are treated" in
America.
Schlessinger said in her response: "This is a class on morals. What is
the
point of going to a mosque?...You're joking of course…How many
Americans
have tortured and murdered Muslims…I think you ought to stand up
against
this class and this teacher. This is despicable. You tell him you are
willing to go to the mosque only if it is one that has done its best to
route out terrorists in its midst…instead of complaining…I am horrified
that you would let her go…I am so sick and tired of all the
Arab-American
groups whining and complaining about some kind of treatment…What
culture
and what religion were all the murderers of 9/11…they murdered
us….That's
the culture you want your daughter to learn about?"
(To listen to Schlessinger's response, go to:
http://www.drlaura.com/listen/ Click on November 17, and then on "Dr.
Laura
9." There is a charge for access.)
"Dr. Laura's anti-Muslim tirade demonstrates a level of hostility
toward
Islam that should be of concern to her program's audience and
sponsors,"
said CAIR Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper. "It has been our
experience that one-on-one interactions with ordinary American Muslims
are
the best way to dispel Islamophobic stereotypes and promote religious
tolerance. It is a pity that Dr. Laura would interfere with that
learning
process by dissuading a student from visiting a mosque."
Hooper noted that Schlessinger also confused Arab-Americans and Muslims
in
her comments. (Many Arab-Americans are Christian.)
In 2002, CAIR sent a letter to Schlessinger asking for a clarification
of
her on-air claim that there is a "Muslim plan" to take over the world.
When
Schlessinger's extremist views have been confronted in the past, she
has
often responded by attacking the source of the challenge, instead of
dealing with the substance of the complaints.
ACTION REQUESTED: (As always, be POLITE. Hostile comments WILL be used
to
further defame Islam and Muslims.)
Contact Dr. Laura to ask that she apologize for her remarks and engage
the
American Muslim community in a positive dialogue.
CONTACT:
Dr. Laura Schlessinger
15260 Ventura Blvd, Suite 500
Sherman Oaks, CA 91403-5307
TEL: 818-461-5403
FAX: 818-461-5440
E-MAIL: manton@premiereradio.com
COPY TO: pr@clearchannel.com, lisacdollinger@clearchannel.com,
bglicklich@premiereradio.com, cair@cair-net.org
- PLEASE ANNOUNCE, POST AND DISTRIBUTE -
-----
To SUBSCRIBE to or UNSUBSCRIBE from this list, go to:
http://cair.biglist.com/cair-net/
To reach the list moderator, send a message to: cair@cair-net.org
-----
CAIR
Council on American-Islamic Relations
453 New Jersey Avenue, S.E.
Washington, D.C. 20003
Tel: 202-488-8787, 202-744-7726
Fax: 202-488-0833
E-mail: cair@cair-net.org
URL: http://www.cair-net.org
-----
Forwarded Message
Date:
Wed, 19 Nov 2003 22:43:40 -0500
To:
cair-net@cair.biglist.com
From:
"CAIR" <cair@cair-net.org>
Subject:
CAIR-NET: Seattle Muslims Hold Iftar for Capt. Yee
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
AMERICAN MUSLIM NEWS BRIEFS - 11/19/03
* HADITH OF THE DAY: A WISE PROPHET
* SUPPORT CAIR'S $1 MILLION DURING RAMADAN CAMPAIGN
- Register online for CAIR's DC Dinner 11/29
* INCITEMENT WATCH: IS CARTOON VEILED ATTACK ON ISLAM?
* THANK CHICAGO TRIBUNE FOR SERIES ON MUSLIMS
- United Agrees to Civil Rights Training (Reuters)
* SEATTLE MUSLIMS HOLD IFTAR TO SUPPORT CAPT. YEE
- Capt. Yee: A Family's Ordeal (Olympian)
* NASHVILLE CHRISTIANS 'REVERT' TO ISLAM (Nashville Scene)
* U.S. MUSLIMS ARE BEING HEARD BY BUSINESSES (Orlando Sentinel)
- More Muslim Candidates May Run in U.S. (AP)
* 'ENEMY COMBATANT' SHAM (NY Times)
- Meanwhile 4,000 Miles Away In Guantanamo (Indep.)
* GROUPS AIR WORRIES ABOUT CIVIL LIBERTIES (Atlanta Journal)
* PROTEST OVER REGISTRATION (Newsday)
* 9/11 AND THE ISRAELI CONNECTION (iuniverse.com)
- School Expels Student for Embracing Islam (Islamonline)
* GIS RAZING HOMES OF SUSPECTED IRAQI INSURGENTS (KRT)
* NEWSDAY QUEENS PROFILE: JAWED ANWAR (NY Newsday)
* ISLAMIC SOCIETY OF BALTIMORE HOSTS FAMILY EID EVENT
* DC-AREA MUSLIMS TO MARK END OF RAMADAN WITH PRAYERS
-----
HADITH OF THE DAY: A WISE PROPHET
A man once came the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) distraught
because
he had intentionally broken his Ramadan fast. The Prophet asked him:
"Is it
possible for you to feed 60 poor people (to make up for breaking the
fast)?" The man said he was too poor. The Prophet then told him to sit,
and
a basket of dates was brought out. The Prophet said to the man: "Give
this
in charity." The man said: "To someone poorer than us? There is no
family
in this city poorer than mine!" The Prophet laughed until his molars
could
be seen and said: "Go and feed your family with it."
Fiqh-us-Sunnah, Volume 3, Number 139E
-----
SUPPORT CAIR'S $1 MILLION DURING RAMADAN CAMPAIGN
Donate generously to the campaign. To donate online, go to:
http://www.cair-net.org/asp/millionforislam.asp (NOTE: Scholars says
CAIR
is able to receive ZAKAT donations.)
---
REGISTER ONLINE FOR CAIR'S DC DINNER 11/29
Registration is now available online for CAIR's Ninth Annual
Fundraising
Dinner on November 29th (the weekend after Eid ul-Fitr) in Washington,
D.C.
The dinner, with the theme "Muslims in America: A Defining Moment,"
will
feature presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich as one of its main
speakers.
REGISTER FOR CAIR'S DINNER BY GOING TO:
https://www.cair-net.org/2003dinner-register.asp
-----
INCITEMENT WATCH: IS CARTOON VEILED ATTACK ON ISLAM?
http://www.creators.com/comics_show.cfm?next=8&ComicName=bc
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) is calling on
syndicated
cartoonist Johnny Hart to clarify the content of his November 10 "B.C."
comic strip. That strip shows a stone-age character making what appears
to
be veiled and overt negative references to the Muslim world or Islam.
("B.C." is carried by more than 1300 newspapers worldwide. The comic
strip
has more than 100 million readers.)
In the beginning of the strip, one character is seen walking toward an
outhouse with the crescent symbol on it. There is also a crescent in
the
sky. (The crescent moon has come to be a symbol for Islam.) Next, the
words
"SLAM" appear. In the following panel, the character is inside the
outhouse
and he says "Is it me, or does it stink in here?"
Hart is no stranger to controversy. The cartoonist, who describes
himself
as a "professing Christian," has been quoted as saying that America was
founded as a "Christian nation." (Editor & Publisher, 4/13/96) His
comic
strip frequently carries a proselytizing message. SEE:
http://www.wghsuccess.com/
In 1996, Los Angeles Times editors temporarily moved the strip to the
religion page because of its overtly religious content. A Times editor
wrote in explanation of the move: "While we respect affirmations of
personal religious faith, we are also aware that aggressively urging
such
affirmations on others who have not sought them may be considered
proselytizing and inappropriate for the comics page." (The Sacramento
Bee,
4/14/96)
SEND COMMENTS TO: info@creators.com
COPY TO: cair@cair-net.org
Creators Syndicate
5777 W. Century Blvd., Suite 700
Los Angeles, CA 90045
Phone # (310) 337-7003
Fax # (310) 337-7625
-----
THANK CHICAGO TRIBUNE FOR SERIES ON MUSLIMS
(WASHINGTON, D.C.) - CAIR is urging Muslims to contact the editors of
the
Chicago Tribune and thank them for their in-depth series on issues of
concern to the American Muslim community. The articles examine the
selective nature of the government's new immigration laws.
The three-part series was featured on the front page of the Chicago
Tribune. Sunday's article, "Targeted Deportation" looked at how
immigration
crackdowns focus on selected nationalities. The second article,
"Unfamiliar
Ground" tells the stories of the deportees who have returned to native
lands more foreign than America. The last article, "Exodus to Canada"
features Muslim enclaves in America who are now empty amid the fear of
government.
To read the full series and view additional photos online, visit:
www.chicagotribune.com/immigration
Write letters of support to: bdold@tribune.com, fmcroberts@tribune.com,
lsly@tribune.com, csimpson@tribune.com
COPY TO: cair@cair-net.org
SEE ALSO:
UNITED AIRLINES AGREES TO CIVIL RIGHTS TRAINING
Reuters, 11/19/03
WASHINGTON, Nov 19 (Reuters) - United Airlines agreed on Wednesday to
provide employee civil rights training in response to accusations that
it
discriminated against passengers who were, or were thought to be, of
Middle
Eastern or South Asian descent.
While the Transportation Department did not issue a formal finding of
discrimination it noted that United did violate federal bias laws in
some
cases and ordered the carrier to not do it again.
United admitted no wrongdoing but to resolve the allegations and avoid
litigation agreed to spend at least $1.5 million to provide three years
of
annual civil rights training for its employees who work with the
public.
It was the second case against a major U.S. airline to grow out of
similar
racial, ethnic and religious discrimination complaints lodged by
passengers
soon after the Sept. 11, 2001 hijack attacks on New York and
Washington…
In the United case, the department said it investigated the treatment
of
air travelers who "were or were perceived to be of Arab, Middle Eastern
or
Southeast Asian descent and/or Muslim."
The agency's aviation enforcement group said its investigation of
passenger
complaints found that "in a few instances" the airline had unlawfully
removed passengers from flights or denied boarding based on race,
nationality or religion…
-----
SEATTLE MUSLIMS HOLD IFTAR TO SUPPORT CAPT. YEE
WHAT: On Thursday, November 20, the Seattle chapter of the Council on
American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-Seattle) will hold an "iftar," or
breaking
of the Ramadan fast, to seek justice for Captain James Yee, of Olympia.
Yee was arrested by military authorities and held without charges for
over
a month. "We had no notification of his detainment and had no knowledge
of
his whereabouts for several days. It was only through our own
investigation
that we located him," said Joseph Yee, father of Captain Yee. "It was
several weeks before he was even permitted phone contact with his
family. I
definitely feel that his inequitable treatment is a result of his faith
and
ethnicity."
Huda Suboh, Yee's wife, who learned of her husband's arrest on the
television news, eight days after frantically searching for him, will
address the gathering, as will friends of Yee and leaders of the Muslim
community.
Now charged with "mishandling documents," Yee's detention security
status
was recently downgraded from maximum to low. "The notion that you would
keep an officer in maximum security based on these charges is
preposterous," said Yee's civilian defense attorney, Eugene R. Fidell,
a
nationally known expert in military justice. Washington Post,
10/25/2003
"The two minor charges, which remain to be proven, have not warranted
maximum security, solitary confinement or a court-martial," said
Cecilia
Chang, President of Justice for New Americans (www.j4na.org), the
organization that led the successful campaign resulting in the release
of
Dr. Wen Ho Lee, the Los Alamos scientist. "Captain Yee should be set
free
pending the resolution of the charges."
At the event, Muslims will be encouraged to support justice for Captain
Yee
by contributing towards his mounting legal costs. For Muslims, Ramadan,
especially the last ten days, is a time of intensified worship through
prayer, charity and good deeds. Imam Mohammad Joban, a spiritual leader
from Olympia and a friend of Yee's explained, "Ramadan is the month of
caring and mercy, and a person's reward for his or her good deeds is
multiplied. Muslims are encouraged to emulate God. God is Just;
Muslims
should strive to establish justice, aiding those who are oppressed."
Donations may be sent to Joseph Yee/Chaplain James Yee, c/o
CAIR-Seattle,
P.O. Box 7411, Bellevue, Washington 8008
A NEWS CONFERENCE addressing the unfair treatment of captain Yee will
be
held at 5:30 pm, following the iftar. CAIR-Seattle will be joined by
other
civil and human rights organizations including the American-Arab
Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) - Seattle Chapter, Arab American
Community Coalition, Eastside Asian Pacific Islanders, Hate Free Zone
Campaign of Washington, Japanese American Citizen League � Seattle
Chapter,
Justice for New Americans and the Organization of Chinese Americans �
Greater Seattle Chapter.
WHEN: Thursday, November 20, 2003. Iftar - 4:30 p.m.
News conference is at 5:30 pm
WHERE: Islamic School of Seattle, 720 25th Avenue,
Seattle, Washington 98122
SEE ALSO:
A FAMILY'S ORDEAL
Ron Soliman, The Olympian, 11/11/18
http://www.theolympian.com/home/news/20031118/frontpage/152111.shtml
On Sept. 11, Huda Yee waited at Sea-Tac International Airport for five
hours for a reunion that never happened.
Her husband, James, an Army chaplain, was to meet her and their
3-year-old
daughter, Sarah. Huda and Sarah had just gotten off a flight from
Syria,
where they had stayed with her family during James' military assignment
in
Cuba.
They hadn't seen each other since the previous November, and looked
forward
to time together at their apartment in Olympia.
James never arrived. A day earlier, he'd been arrested at Jacksonville
Naval Air Station, when he allegedly tried to fly home with classified
information. As a Muslim and an Army chaplain, his job was counseling
suspected al-Qaida and Taliban fighters who are detained at Camp X-Ray,
the
U.S. military-run prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
Voice mail greeted Huda's repeated, frantic calls to James' cell phone.
Tearful pleas to airport officials drew no explanation.
Yee learned the whereabouts of her husband from the national news
networks
on Sept. 20.
More than two months later, Yee has some information about her husband
and
the charges the military has leveled against him. But still missing is
the
answer to her most important question: When is her husband coming
home?...
-----
NASHVILLE CHRISTIANS 'REVERT' TO ISLAM
TRUE BELIEVERS
Islam is the second-largest religion in the world, and it's bringing
new
people to the faith--including some local Christians
Joseph Sweat, Nashville Scene, 11/20-26/03
http://www.nashvillescene.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?story=This_Week:News:Cover_Story
On a recent Friday afternoon at the Al-Mahdi Islamic Center on 12th
Avenue
South, a young Christian man stood before several hundred shoeless,
kneeling men and repeated these Arabic words: "Ashhadu an la ilaha illa
Llah, wa ashhadu anna Muhammad rasulu Llah." ("I testify that there is
no
God but God, and I testify that Muhammad is God's messenger.") With
those
words of the shahadah--the declaration of faith--this man turned from
Christianity and embraced Islam. It's a scene that few Nashvillians may
realize is happening in their midst, but Imam Abdul Hakim, the leader
at
the Islamic Center, estimates that it has taken place in Metro
Nashville
area mosques as many as 500 times in the past few years…
-----
AMERICAN MUSLIMS ARE BEING HEARD BY BUSINESSES THAT OFFER PRODUCTS
SHAPED
BY THEIR FAITH
Mark I. Pinsky, Orlando Sentinel, 11/18/03
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/features/lifestyle/orl-livmuslimculture18111803nov18,1,3490825.story
The trio of 8-year-old girls, all students at the Muslim Academy of
Central
Florida, display their favorite dolls -- Zainab, Shadie and Tracy.
Each doll is different, but none looks much like Barbie. These are
Islamic
dolls, dressed in modest but elegant, embroidered dresses, with the
traditional headscarves known as hijabs. The dolls are gifts from
relatives.
"I like that she has lots of hijabs, and that she's Muslim," says Ayea
Atiya of Orlando, who sat with friends Laya Alkahlil and Sarah Huq...
Like millions of evangelical Christians who adhere to strong
traditional
values, Muslims often feel turned off or shut out by America's flashy,
violent and sexualized mainstream popular culture.
Music, movies, television, stand-up comedy, fashion, fiction, toys, Web
sites and even greeting cards are not about them -- at least until
recently...
Now, like evangelical Christians before them, the much smaller American
Muslim community is creating cultural alternatives, or at least
convincing
mainstream companies that they are a fast-growing market that deserves
attention. The Muslim market has arrived, from Hallmark to hip-hop,
dolls
to dresses.
"These things are the Islamic expression of universal desires," says
Ibrahim Hooper, a spokesman for CAIR, the Council on American-Islamic
Relations. "They demonstrate that human beings are human beings.
Whatever
their faith, they have the same wants and desires."
Taken together, Hooper says, they are "a sign that the Muslim community
is
coming into its own in the United States and North America."
"Twenty or thirty years ago these kinds of things wouldn't have the
economic support they have now," he says. But at an estimated 5 million
to
6 million, Muslims in this country are reaching critical commercial and
cultural mass...
ALSO SEE:
MORE MUSLIM CANDIDATES MAY RUN IN U.S.
Deborah Kong, Associated Press, 11/19/03
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2003/11/19/national1420EST0650.DTL
BURLINGAME, Calif. - In his run for Congress, friends have advised Maad
Abu-Ghazalah to change his name. Get rid of "Abu" because it will
remind
people of Osama bin Laden, they've told him.
But Abu-Ghazalah can't imagine doing that, and his full name --
alongside a
picture of the Statue of Liberty -- remains on the red, white and blue
signs stacked in his campaign headquarters for this Bay Area
district...
Abu-Ghazalah's candidacy may be a hopeful sign for Muslim-American
groups,
which believe Islamic candidates are slowly returning to the political
scene after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks blunted their progress.
In the 2000 election, about 700 candidates ran and 153 were elected,
according to the American Muslim Alliance, a national civic group based
across the San Francisco Bay in Newark.
But by 2002, that number dropped to about 60 candidates. For this
month's
elections, the alliance doesn't yet have exact figures. National
chairman
Agha Saeed says it's likely that only a handful of Muslim candidates
were
on the ballot, but adds that's largely because it was an election
off-year...
The candidates span a range of ethnicities -- Asian, black, Arab -- and
are
both Republican and Democrat. In this year's races, Bangladeshi
immigrant
Shahab Ahmed became the second nonwhite person ever elected to a
council
seat in Hamtramck, Mich., a largely Polish city. In Houston, Pakistani
real
estate developer M.J. Khan is headed to a city council runoff next
month...
-----
'ENEMY COMBATANT' SHAM
New York Times, 11/19/03
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/19/opinion/19WED3.html
The Bush administration insists that it can hold American citizens in
secret as long as it wants, without access to lawyers, simply by
calling
them "enemy combatants." A New York federal appeals court heard a
challenge
to that policy this week by the so-called dirty bomber, Jose Padilla.
The
administration's position makes a mockery of the Constitution and puts
every American's liberty at risk. It is important that the court strike
it
down, and give Mr. Padilla the rights he has been denied.
Mr. Padilla is an American citizen who was taken into custody in
Chicago in
May 2002. The government suspects him of being part of a "dirty bomb"
plot
by Al Qaeda, but it has not charged him. Instead, it has labeled him an
enemy combatant and locked him up in a naval brig in South Carolina. He
has
been held there nearly 18 months, with no indication of when he will be
tried or released. He has not been allowed to meet with a lawyer,
despite a
lower court ruling that he should be.
Of all the post-Sept. 11 denials of civil liberties, the enemy
combatant
doctrine is among the worst. It gives the president untrammeled
authority
to lock up Americans merely by asserting that they are part of a
terrorist
plot. In its argument to the United States Court of Appeals for the
Second
Circuit this week, the government insisted that military-style rules
like
the enemy combatant doctrine now apply to American citizens, even on
American soil, because Al Qaeda has "made the battlefield the United
States..."
ALSO SEE:
MEANWHILE 4,000 MILES AWAY IN GUANTANAMO BAY
Andrew Buncombe, Independent, 11/19/03
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/story.jsp?story=465110
The Guantanamo Bay prison camp - established after the terror attacks
of 11
September and the war in Afghanistan - was meant to be a temporary
detention centre, somewhere to hold the "worst of the worst".
Almost two years later, the camp has been transformed into a de facto
permanent facility where 660 adults and three children are kept in a
legal
black hole, cut off from the outside world and with no idea whether
they
will ever be charged with a crime or released. Critics claim the
prison,
which operates with hardly any independent scrutiny, has become a live
experiment in long-term interrogation where experts constantly seek to
hone
and improve their techniques...
Guantanamo Bay and the nine Britons held there have become the focus of
increasing tension between Britain and the US and will be a subject of
talks between George Bush and Tony Blair this week.
It was announced in the summer that two of the Britons, Moazzam Begg,
35,
and Feroz Abbasi, 23, were among six prisoners selected to be tried by
military tribunals, a process outside the normal judicial process and
without the protection usually offered to defendants. In this process
Mr
Bush would act in effect as the ultimate arbiter on what would happen
to
the prisoners if convicted...
-----
GROUPS AIR WORRIES ABOUT CIVIL LIBERTIES
Rebecca Carr, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 11/19/03
http://www.ajc.com/news/content/news/1103/19civilliberties.html
Washington --- An array of civil liberties groups criticized the
Patriot
Act on Tuesday, saying the legislation violates constitutional
protections
and is cloaked in "an aura of secrecy."
But most of the groups testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee
also conceded that the government's most controversial actions in its
war
on terrorism do not actually stem from the Patriot Act.
"The phrase 'the Patriot Act' has become a symbol or a shorthand
reference
to the government's response to terrorism" since the Sept. 11, 2001,
terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, said James Dempsey,
executive
director of the Center for Democracy and Technology, a Washington-based
nonprofit dedicated to promoting civil liberties in digital
communications...
For example, it was President Bush's decision to hold Jose Padilla, a
U.S.
citizen accused of plotting with the al-Qaida terrorist network to
detonate
a radioactive bomb in the United States, as an enemy combatant in a
military jail without access to an attorney or his family. Yet the
Patriot
Act is often cited as the reason for Padilla's status, Dempsey said...
-----
PROTEST OVER REGISTRATION
Mae M. Cheng, Newsday, 11/19/03
http://www.nynewsday.com/news/local/bronx/nyc-nyprot183548256nov18,0,816475.story
Dozens of immigrants and civil rights advocates gathered outside
federal
immigration offices in downtown Manhattan yesterday to demand an
immediate
end to a year-old program that requires male visitors from 25 countries
to
register with authorities.
The protest brought out men who said they endured terrifying abuse at
the
hands of immigration officials when they complied with the registration
requirement earlier in the year. Put in place more than a year after
Sept.
11, 2001, the annual registration rule applies to temporary male
immigrants
from 24 predominantly Arab or Muslim countries, as well as North Korea.
Mian Ahmen, 45, who emigrated from Pakistan in 1998 and lives in the
Midwood section of Brooklyn, said his February visit to the Manhattan
immigration office landed him in wrist shackles as he was questioned
for
about two hours.
He was detained for 11 more hours, without food or water, until it was
ascertained he had no connections to terrorists, he said. Ahmen, who is
in
the county illegally, was also put in deportation proceedings even
though
he was trying to obtain legal permanent status as an immigrant and
still is...
-----
THE TERROR ENIGMA: 9/11 AND THE ISRAELI CONNECTION
Justin Raimondo, Iuniverse.com,
http://www.iuniverse.com/bookstore/book_detail.asp?&isbn=0-595-29682-3&siteID=qyyQ46zAw3o-DgZp17Aih6aZOdIl9R2qfA
Foreign spies of a friendly country were trailing the 9/11 hijackers.
Why
didn't they warn us? This book will change how you think about 9/11.
9/11 - what did the Israelis know, and when did they know it?
With information culled from mainstream sources, author Justin Raimondo
shows in this eye-opening book that Israel's spies in the United States
had
been watching the 9/11 terrorists. As the terrorists were planning the
biggest and deadliest terrorist attack in American history, Israeli
agents
in the U.S. were watching them 24/7 - living literally "next door to
Mohammed Atta," according to one account.
Did Israeli intelligence have foreknowledge of 9/11?
As one law enforcement source close to the investigation told Fox News,
the
real question is: how could they not have known?
But if they knew, then why didn't they tell us?
ALSO SEE:
ISRAELI SCHOOL EXPELS STUDENT FOR EMBRACING ISLAM
Samer Khuwayera, IslamOnline, 11/19/03
http://www.islam-online.net/English/News/2003-11/19/article04.shtml
NABLUS - An Israeli boarding school has kicked out a female student for
embracing Islam and wearing hijab.
The students and teachers of the 'Zionist Youths' boarding school came
to
their classes to find their 15-year-old Jewish colleague wearing the
Muslim
headscarf in a sign that she has converted to Islam, according to the
Israeli daily Maariv newspaper.
The school's headmaster tried in vain to dissuade the student from her
decision and get her taking off hijab and decided to expel her.
The student, who requested anonymity, told the daily that she was
offended
by the headmaster's conversation, adding that she was ready to leave
the
school which she liked most.
"Religion, as far as I am concerned, is more important than school,"
she said.
"I took offence at the headmaster's remarks, not only for myself but
for
all Muslims. If a Jewish student in France, for instance, was expelled
for
wearing his kippa (Jewish scull cap), the action would be right away
condemned as anti-Semitism," she added.
"I understand a student expelled for his/her misbehavior or being dull
and
inactive," she said, criticizing the school's decision as "racist that
stirs up feelings of hatred".
She said she was born and brought up in the former Soviet republic
Kazakhstan to a Jewish mother and a Christian father in an atmosphere
that
"respects Islam."
"As years went by, I have reached to the conclusion that Islamic values
suit me fine," she said.
-----
GIS RAZING HOMES OF SUSPECTED IRAQI INSURGENTS
Jeff Wilkinson, KRT News Service, 11/18/03
http://www.nj.com/news/ledger/index.ssf?/base/news-11/1069138364307900.xml
TIKRIT, Iraq -- In a tactic reminiscent of Israeli crackdowns in the
West
Bank and Gaza, the U.S. military has begun destroying the homes of
suspected guerrilla fighters in Iraq's Sunni Triangle, evacuating women
and
children, then leveling their houses with heavy weaponry.
At least 15 homes have been destroyed in Tikrit as part of what has
been
dubbed Operation Ivy Cyclone II, including four, leveled Sunday by
tanks
and Apache helicopters, that allegedly belonged to suspects in the Nov.
7
downing of a Black Hawk helicopter that killed six Americans.
Family members at one of the houses, in the village of al Haweda, said
they
were given five minutes to evacuate before soldiers opened fire.
The destruction of the homes is part of a sharp crackdown on insurgents
in
the so-called Sunni Triangle, where guerrillas have downed at least two
U.S. helicopters -- one a Chinook in Fallujah on Nov. 2, killing 16
U.S.
soldiers, and the other the Nov. 7 downing of the Black Hawk. On
Saturday,
two more helicopters crashed, after one of them may have been fired
upon,
killing 17.
U.S. forces struck dozens of targets yesterday, killing six guerrillas
and
arresting 21 others, the military said. The operation is expected to
continue through tomorrow, said Col. James Hickey, commander of the 1st
Brigade of the 4th Infantry Division...
-----
NEWSDAY QUEENS PROFILE: JAWED ANWAR
Sheila McKenna, Newsday, 11/19/03
http://www.newsday.com
ROLE
Founder, publisher and editor-in-chief of Muslims Weekly, a
Queens-based
newspaper published in English (www.muslimsweekly.com); on Oct. 23, won
six
Independent Press Association awards at the 2003 ethnic and community
press
awards ceremony.
BIOGRAPHY
42; native of Pakistan, where he earned a master's degree in journalism
from the University of Karachi; moved to New York City in 1998; worked
as
an editor for Pakistan News; founded Muslims Weekly in December 1999;
married, five children; lives in Jamaica.
FOCUS
"Ours is a multi-ethnic Muslim newspaper focusing mainly on the Muslim
community, but we also address non-Muslims. For its non-Muslim readers,
it
is one of the best newspapers for understanding Islam and Muslims in
America. For Muslims, it is a good source of information on what is
happening locally, nationally and internationally. We are also
educating
the Muslim community on how to live in a plural society like America
and
how to reach out to other communities and their neighbors to build a
better
understanding and relationship."
COMMITMENT
"Journalism and publishing is my hobby, profession, business and
mission. I
work 16 to 18 hours every day to excel in it. I want to be fruitful in
the
society and the country in which I am living. I want to contribute
something big, something special, and something that can make my inner
self
happy."
GOALS
"To be a publisher of a daily newspaper like Newsday. ... I'd love to
take
the idea of Muslims Weekly and turn it into a daily newspaper..."
-----
ISLAMIC SOCIETY OF BALTIMORE HOSTS FAMILY EID EVENT
WHAT: Eid skate and bowling event. Cost is $10 with a $5 rebate at the
skate rink. Cost includes skate rental, bowling shoes two hours of
skating
and two hours of unlimited bowling. Men will skate for two hours while
women bowl and then reverse. Music provided by Native Deen.
WHEN: Thursday, November 27, 2003
WHERE: Shake and Bake Family fun Center located at 1601 Pennsylvania
Ave
(410) 669-9100
TIME: 12:30 to 4:30 p.m.
-----
DC-AREA MUSLIMS TO MARK END OF RAMADAN WITH PRAYERS
Event includes multicultural bazaar, blood drive, and food drive for
the needy
INVITED: Democratic Presidential Candidates
WHAT: On Tuesday Nov 25, 2003 (most likely) or Wednesday Nov 26, 2003
(Based on moon sighting), the Muslim community in the Washington DC
Metro
area will celebrate the end of the month-long fast of Ramadan with
communal
prayers and a multicultural bazaar. Ramadan is the month on the Islamic
lunar calendar during which Muslims abstain from food, drink and other
sensual pleasures from break-of-dawn to sunset.
The prayers mark the day Eid ul-Fitr (eed-al-fitter) holiday, in which
Muslims exchange social visits and seek to strengthen the community
feeling. During this holiday, Muslims greet each other by saying "Eid
Mubarak" (eed-moo-bar-ak), or "blessed Eid."
The multicultural bazaar will feature rides and games for children,
Islamic
books and clothing, and foods from around the Muslim world. The bazaar
is
open to the public. People of all faiths are encouraged to attend and
sample the diversity of Islamic culture. There will be an exhibit and
Open
House for Churches, Synagogues, and other Religious groups 2-5 p.m.
(There
are approximately 7 million Muslims in America and some 1.3 billion
worldwide.)
WHEN: Tue Nov 25 (Most Likely) or Wed Nov 26, 2003 (Based on moon
sighting)
1st prayer: Community gathers at 7:45 a.m.; 1st Prayer begins at 8:00
a.m.
2nd prayer: Community gathers at 9:00 a.m.; 2nd Prayer begins at 9:15
a.m.
3rd prayer: Community gathers at 10:15 a.m.; 3rd Prayer begins at 10:30
a.m. Festival and Bazaar begins at 9:00 a.m. and ends at 5:00 p.m. Open
House for Churches, Synagogues, and other Religious groups 2-5pm
WHERE: Prayer and Bazaar: DC Armory, 2001 E. Capitol St. Washington DC
20003. Next to RFK Stadium, Please check in at Media Desk
CONTACT: Primary Contact Rizwan: 703-624-6352, Secondary Contact:
Shirin
Elkoshairi - 571-217-9286
MAIN SPONSORS: ADAMS, Dar Al-Hijrah, Masjid Muhammad, Manassas Mosque,
and
MAV Local Co-Sponsors: Masjidush-Shura, Howard University Muslim
Community,
Coordinating Council of Muslim Organizations of the Washington DC Metro
Area, DC Council of MSA's, Islamic Schools Council of Greater
Washington
Area National Co-Sponsors: CAIR, MPAC, MAS, MSA National
PHOTO OPPORTUNITY: Muslims from America and many different countries
come
to prayers in colorful and cultural clothing. The prayers themselves
are
quite visual, with worshippers arranged in neat rows and bowing in
prayer
in unison. Participants exchange embraces at the conclusion of the
prayers.
NOTE: Because this is a religious service, reporters and photographers,
male or female, should dress modestly. That means no shorts for men or
short skirts for women. Photographers should arrive by 8:45a.m. or
10:00
a.m. to get into position for best shots for either prayer.
Photographers
are advised not to step directly in front of worshippers and to ask
permission for close-up shots.
-----
To SUBSCRIBE to or UNSUBSCRIBE from this list, go to:
http://cair.biglist.com/cair-net/
To reach the list moderator, send a message to: cair@cair-net.org
-----
CAIR
Council on American-Islamic Relations
453 New Jersey Avenue, S.E.
Washington, D.C. 20003
Tel: 202-488-8787, 202-744-7726
Fax: 202-488-0833
E-mail: cair@cair-net.org
URL: http://www.cair-net.org
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
AMERICAN MUSLIM NEWS BRIEFS - 11/20/03
* HADITH OF THE DAY: GLORY BE TO GOD
* ONLY 4 DAYS LEFT TO REGISTER FOR CAIR'S DC DINNER
- Rep. Lee Sends Letter of Support to CAIR
- Ramadan Campaign Raises $180K Online
* CAIR CONDEMNS ISTANBUL BOMBINGS
* QUOTE OF THE DAY: PIPES SAYS FREE IRAQ NOT U.S. GOAL
* ANTI-MUSLIM ATTACK BY 'HORRIFIED' LAURA (New York Post)
- Dr. Laura Elicits Muslim Criticism (UPI)
* COMPANIES TRY MARKETING TO MUSLIMS AMID RAMADAN (PR Week)
- Postal Service Issues Eid Stamp as Framed Art
* DEARBORN CHARGES ARABS AT HIGHER RATE SINCE 9/11 (AP)
* IMMIGRATION GROUP BLASTS BUSH POLICIES (Newsday)
* ACROSS THE WORLD, YOUNGSTERS ON SAME PAGE (Wash. Post)
* OTTAWA HANDED ARAR FILE TO U.S. (Globe and Mail)
- Top Aide Approved Sending Suspect to Syria (Wash. Post)
* US HAWK ADMITS INVASION WAS ILLEGAL (Guardian)
- Proof of Iraq-Qaeda Link, or Not? (NY Times)
- Destruction of Iraqi Homes Within 'Rules of War'(KR)
* PRESENTERS SHED LIGHT ON FEMALE'S LIFE IN ISLAM (Collegian)
* SPEAKER MAKES CASE FOR ISLAM AND HIP-HOP (Daily Ilini)
* CSID BANQUET: "THE ROAD TO DEMOCRACY IN IRAQ
-----
HADITH OF THE DAY: GLORY BE TO GOD
The Prophet Muhammad's (peace be upon him) companions once said to him:
"The rich achieve the highest degrees of prestige and permanent
pleasures
(in this life and the life to come)." The Prophet asked: "How is that?"
His
companions replied: "The rich pray as we pray, and strive in God's
Cause as
we do, and spend from their surplus wealth in charity, while we have no
wealth (to spend)." The Prophet then said: "Shall I not tell you a
deed, by
doing which, you will catch up with those who are ahead of you and
supersede those who will come after you…That deed is to recite 'glory
be to
God' ten times, and 'praise be to God' ten times, and 'God is great'
ten
times after every prayer."
Sahih Al-Bukhari, Volume 8, Hadith 341
-----
ONLY 4 DAYS LEFT TO REGISTER FOR CAIR'S DC DINNER 11/29!
Congresswoman Barbara Lee Sends Letter of Support to CAIR
Registration for CAIR's Ninth Annual Fundraising Dinner on November
29th in
Washington, D.C., closes after next Monday. (CAIR's dinners have often
been
sold out in the past, so ACT NOW to reserve your place.) The dinner,
with
the theme "Muslims in America: A Defining Moment," features
presidential
candidate Dennis Kucinich as the keynote speaker.
In a letter to CAIR, CONGRESSWOMAN BARBARA LEE writes: "While I could
not
be there in person, I am happy to provide my support for your
organization's mission of enhancing communication among communities and
offering a voice for Muslims in the United States…
"As an African American, I am all to aware of the perils of racial
profiling and prejudice, forces that have been reawakened in recent
years
and directed against many Muslims in America, among others. Your focus
on
civil rights issue is very well timed; we must all speak out against
actions and statements that sacrifice those liberties. Your activism is
badly needed.
"In conclusion, let me wish you well in your annual meeting banquet and
in
your larger mission in support of political participation and the
preservation of civil liberties."
WHERE: Sheraton Premiere at Tysons Corner, 8661 Leesburg Pike, Tysons
Corner/Vienna, VA
COST: Tickets: $55/$85 per couple R.S.V.P. by Nov. 24, 2003
No children please. (Limited babysitting with prior notice only - $10
per
child.)
REGISTER FOR CAIR'S DINNER BY GOING TO:
https://www.cair-net.org/2003dinner-register.asp
---
RAMADAN CAMPAIGN RAISES $180K ONLINE
CAIR's Million in Ramadan Campaign has raised over $180,000 online!
You,
too, can support an organization that works to empower and protect the
American Muslim community.
Please, donate generously to the campaign. Every donation counts!
Support us by donating online at:
http://www.cair-net.org/asp/millionforislam.asp
To view a short video on CAIR, go to www.cair-net.org
(NOTE: Scholars says CAIR is able to receive ZAKAT donations.)
-----
CAIR CONDEMNS ISTANBUL BOMBINGS
(WASHINGTON, D.C., 11/20/03) - The Council on American-Islamic
Relations
(CAIR), a Washington-based Islamic civil rights and advocacy group,
today
condemned bomb attacks in Istanbul, Turkey, that killed at least 27
people
and wounded hundreds. The suicide truck bombs exploded outside a
London-based bank and at the British consulate.
In its statement, CAIR said:
"We condemn in the strongest possible terms these heinous acts of
terrorism. We also condemn similar bombings at two Turkish synagogues
on
Saturday that left 23 people dead. No cause can be served by acts of
terrorism and no faith can tolerate those who use such cruel and
inhumane
tactics."
CAIR, America's largest Islamic civil liberties group, is headquartered
in
Washington, D.C., and has 16 regional offices nationwide and in Canada.
- END -
CONTACT: Ibrahim Hooper, 202-488-8787 or 202-744-7726, E-Mail:
cair@cair-net.org; Rabiah Ahmed, 202-488-8787 or 202-439-1441, E-Mail:
rahmed@cair-net.org
-----
QUOTE OF THE DAY: PIPES SAYS FREE IRAQ NOT U.S. GOAL
http://www.salon.com/opinion/feature/2003/11/18/lion_s_den/index.html
"We have no, no moral responsibility to the Iraqi people…Our moral
responsibility is to ourselves. I very much disagree with the name
'Operation Iraqi Freedom.' It should have been 'Operation American
Security'…Our goal is not a free Iraq…Our goal is an Iraq that does not
endanger us."
-- Presidential Appointee Daniel Pipes
-----
ANTI-MUSLIM ATTACK BY 'HORRIFIED' LAURA
New York Post, 11/20/03
http://www.nypost.com/entertainment/11292.htm
An Islamic group is demanding that radio host Dr. Laura Schlessinger
apologize - for calling Muslims "murderers" on her nationally
syndicated show.
On Monday, a caller asked Schlessinger whether her teenage daughter
should
accompany her "moral themes" class on a field trip to a local mosque to
learn "how Muslims are treated" in America.
"This is a class on morals. What is the point of going to a mosque?"
Schlessinger asked. "You're joking of course . . . I think you ought to
stand up against this class and this teacher.
"This is despicable," Schlessinger continued. "You tell [the teacher]
you
are willing to go to the mosque only if it is one that has done its
best to
route out terrorists in its midst . . . "
Schlessinger then said she was "horrified" that the woman would allow
her
daughter, a Catholic High School student, to visit the mosque.
"I am so sick and tired of all the Arab-American groups whining and
complaining about some kind of treatment . . . What culture and what
religion were all the murderers of 9/11?
"They murdered us," Schlessinger said. "That's the culture you want
your
daughter to learn about?"
"It's very disturbing," Ibrahim Hooper of the Council on
American-Islamic
Relations (CAIR) told The Post...
ALSO SEE:
DR. LAURA ELICITS MUSLIM CRITICISM
United Press International, 11/19/03
WASHINGTON - Talk show host Laura Schlessinger, who has previously
drawn
fire from gay groups, now is being criticized for an allegedly
anti-Muslim
tirade.
The Council on American Islamic Relations in Washington is asking the
nationally syndicated personality, who calls herself "Dr. Laura," to
apologize for her Nov. 17 program.
The council said it received complaints from Muslims who said
Schlessinger's remarks crossed the line from legitimate commentary to
bigotry.
Her comments were in response to a mother who asked whether her
16-year-old
daughter should take part in a field trip to a local mosque...
-----
COMPANIES TRY MARKETING TO MUSLIMS AMID RAMADAN
Anita Chabria, PR Week, 11/20/03
http://www.prweek.com
LOS ANGELES: The Muslim holiday of Ramadan, which ends with Eid
ul-Fitr, or
the Feast of Fast-Breaking, is gaining ground as a target of PR
campaigns
and product launches aimed at reaching ethnic audiences.
Companies from Ikea to Hallmark are staging low-key efforts around the
holiday, which began this year on October 26 and will continue to
November 25.
Hallmark this year launched a series of Eid ul-Fitr greeting cards,
which
it says have garnered strong sales as well as coverage from newspapers
around the country, despite deliberate attempts at a low-profile
launch...
Ikea's Canadian outlets also crafted a campaign around entertaining
during
Ramadan, featuring items such as trays for serving sweets. That
campaign,
however, was not carried over to the US, where only a single
non-specific
holiday catalog is the focus of winter-season initiatives.
PR efforts around Ramadan also extend beyond corporations, as members
of
the House of Representatives hosted the first-ever 'iftar,' or
fast-breaking, on Capitol Hill last week. Some in the Muslim community
expressed concern that the holiday could be exploited, but the
attention
was generally viewed as a sign of positive outreach.
ALSO SEE:
U.S. POSTAL SERVICE ISSUES EID STAMP AS FRAMED ART
The U.S. Postal Service and ArtSelect are proud to issue the EID stamp
as
framed art because it serves to highlight to Americans and people
throughout the world the business, educational and social contributions
of
the 7 million Muslims in the United States whose cultural heritage has
become an integral part of the fabric of America. Part of the U.S.
Postal
Service s Holiday Celebrations series, the Eid stamp commemorates the
two
most important festivals on the Islamic calendar: Eid al-Fitr Feast of
the
Fast-Breaking, and Eid al-Adha, The Feast of the Sacrifice.
Eid al-Fitr will be celebrated on November 25th this year. Because
Ramadan
is a lunar month, the actual date is governed by sighting of the new
moon,
so the exact date for Eid may vary. Eid al-Adha will be observed
tentatively on February 1, 2004.
Coming immediately after Ramadan, a month of daily fasting from just
before
first light until sunset, Eid al-Fitr is especially festive. Cards are
exchanged, special prayers are offered, and Muslim families visit each
other s homes to feast and exchange gifts. To view and purchase our Eid
stamp as framed art for your home or as a gift go to:
www.postalartgallery.com
About the Artist: Calligrapher Mohamed Zakariya of Arlington, Va.,
employed
traditional methods and instruments to create the stamp design. This
handsome gold and blue stamp features the greeting many Muslims
exchange
during holiday time: Eid mubarak. Literally, the phrase means blessed
festival. It can be paraphrased as May your religious holiday be
blessed.
-----
DEARBORN CHARGES ARABS AT HIGHER RATE SINCE 9/11
Associated Press, 11/20/03
http://www.mlive.com/newsflash/michigan/index.ssf?/newsflash/get_story.ssf?/cgi-free/getstory_ssf.cgi?g8604_BC_MI--ArabsCharged&&news&newsflash-michigan
DEARBORN, Mich. - Since the Sept. 11 attacks, the number of Middle
Easterners charged with offenses in this heavily Arab community has
risen
9.3 percent, while charges against others have dropped 6.7 percent.
Even with the change, the rate at which Arabs are charged is close to
their
share of Dearborn's population of 67,000 - about a third.
Middle Easterners accounted for 36 percent of prosecutions from
September
2002 to September 2003, up from 32 percent in the year before the
attacks.
The Detroit News analyzed 100,000 district court records and compared
those
with Middle Eastern or Muslim names to those without.
City officials say any increase in charges against Middle Easterners is
the
byproduct of ramped-up ordinance enforcement that began long before
Sept.
11. They say police and housing inspectors go out of their way to
ensure
that race never plays a role in how local justice is meted out...
-----
IMMIGRATION GROUP BLASTS BUSH POLICIES
Bart Jones, Newsday, 11/20/03
http://www.newsday.com/news/local/longisland/ny-liimmi203551527nov20,0,43769.story
The head of the nation's largest immigration lawyers group blasted the
Bush
administration's policies, saying they've done little to make us more
secure after the September 2001 terrorism attacks and have trampled
over
the Constitution.
In a speech in Westbury on Tuesday night, Jeanne A. Butterfield,
executive
director of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, said the
federal
government has unfairly targeted immigrants from Arab and Muslim
nations by
locking them up without due process, denying them proper legal defense
and
threatening deportation for things as minor as failing to file a change
of
address within 10 days.
"Our government has cloaked all of these measures in unprecedented
secrecy
- closed hearings, secret detentions, secret evidence," Butterfield
said at
the 20th anniversary awards dinner of the Hempstead-based Central
American
Refugee Center, which honored her.
Garrison Courtney, a spokesman for the U.S. Immigration and Customs
Enforcement agency, said the government had carried out no secret
detentions and trials, or otherwise denied immigrants their rights. He
said
a controversial "special registration" program had required immigrants
from
148 countries to come into immigration offices for interviews.
Butterfield
contended that the program resulted in numerous deportations of Arabs
and
Muslims who had nothing to do with terrorism.
Courtney added that the government's immigration reforms were
working...
-----
FROM ACROSS THE WORLD, YOUNGSTERS ON SAME PAGE
Caryle Murphy, Washington Post, 11/20/03
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A61834-2003Nov19.html
"Hello friend. I am Naveed. I want to be your friend. . . . I love to
play
cricket. I like to watch cartoons like tweety and Mickey Mouse."
"Sweet Megan Fitzgerald, It's me, Maria. I am waiting for your
letter....say my love and regards to your Mama and Papa."
"I have some pets in my house, like buffalo and hens. Rukhsar."
The letters are written in pencil on white, lined paper. They are
adorned
with colorful, hand-drawn flowers and animals. And for students at
National
Presbyterian School, the notes from their Pakistani pen pals are an
intriguing window on a faraway world.
Last spring, students at the Northwest D.C. school began corresponding
with
their peers at two schools -- one for boys and one for girls -- in the
tiny
village of Martinpur, about 200 miles south of Lahore. It was the first
step in a fledgling "sister school" relationship between the
Presbyterian-run American and Pakistani schools...
-----
OTTAWA HANDED ARAR FILE TO U.S.
Paul Koring and Jeff Sallot, Globe and Mail, 11/20/03
http://www.globeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20031120.wxarar1120/BNStory/National/
Washington and Ottawa - Solicitor-General Wayne Easter admitted
Wednesday
that Canada provided U.S. intelligence agencies with a dossier of
information about Maher Arar, the Canadian who was subsequently
arrested
and deported to Syria where he was tortured for months.
After meeting yesterday in Washington with U.S. Attorney-General John
Ashcroft, Mr. Easter made the admission when he insisted that Canada
was
not alone in giving information to the Americans.
The dossier on Mr. Arar "didn't just come from Canada alone," Mr.
Easter
said, without indicating which other nations had provided the Americans
with information about Mr. Arar...
Although he refused to explain what threat - if any - Mr. Arar posed to
national security in either Canada or the United States, he emerged
from
the meeting with Mr. Ashcroft saying the United States remains certain
that
it did the right thing by deporting him to Syria.
Mr. Ashcroft chose not to join Mr. Easter at a postmeeting news
conference...
Supporters of Mr. Arar said they have always suspected the Canadian
government helped the Americans. "We have always believed this was the
case, but finally Mr. Easter has admitted some information was passed,"
said Riad Saloojee, the executive director of the Canadian section of
the
Council on American-Islamic Relations.
The questions now are: "What was that information? Was it determinative
in
the decision to deport him to Syria?" Mr. Saloojee said...
ALSO SEE:
TOP JUSTICE AIDE APPROVED SENDING SUSPECT TO SYRIA
Dana Priest, Washington Post, 11/19/03
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A59678-2003Nov18.html
A senior Justice Department official personally approved sending a
Syrian-born Canadian citizen suspected of terrorist links to Syria last
year after consulting with CIA officials, according to U.S. officials.
Then-Deputy Attorney General Larry D. Thompson, in his capacity as
acting
attorney general, signed the highly unusual order, citing national
security
and declaring that to send the man, Maher Arar, home to Canada would be
"prejudicial to the interests of the United States," according to the
officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
Arar, who holds dual Canadian and Syrian citizenship, was en route to
Canada, where he lives, from a trip to Tunisia when he was detained on
Sept. 26, 2002 by immigration officials at John F. Kennedy
International
Airport in New York. Arar, who was questioned at the airport because
his
name appeared on a government watch list, was kept in a New York jail
for
more than 10 days and then sent to Syria via Jordan...
-----
US HAWK ADMITS INVASION WAS ILLEGAL
Oliver Burkeman and Julian Borger, Guardian, 11/20/03
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1089158,00.html
International lawyers and anti-war campaigners reacted with
astonishment
yesterday after the influential Pentagon hawk Richard Perle conceded
that
the invasion of Iraq had been illegal.
In a startling break with the official White House and Downing Street
lines, Mr Perle told an audience in London: "I think in this case
international law stood in the way of doing the right thing."
President George Bush has consistently argued that the war was legal
either
because of existing UN security council resolutions on Iraq - also the
British government's publicly stated view - or as an act of
self-defence
permitted by international law.
But Mr Perle, a key member of the defence policy board, which advises
the
US defence secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, said that "international law ...
would have required us to leave Saddam Hussein alone", and this would
have
been morally unacceptable.
French intransigence, he added, meant there had been "no practical
mechanism consistent with the rules of the UN for dealing with Saddam
Hussein..."
ALSO SEE:
MORE PROOF OF IRAQ-QAEDA LINK, OR NOT?
Douglas Jehl, New York Times, 11/20/03
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/20/politics/20MEMO.html
WASHINGTON - Late last month, a top Pentagon official fired off the
latest
salvo in the politically charged debate about whether there were links
between Saddam Hussein's government and the Qaeda terrorist network.
The Oct. 27 memorandum from Douglas J. Feith, under secretary of
defense
for policy and planning, to the Senate intelligence committee listed 50
points of raw intelligence that, he said, pointed to an operational
link
between Iraq and Al Qaeda.
The letter itself was highly classified, but its contents were reported
over the weekend by The Weekly Standard, a journal with close ties to
administration hawks. At a time when Democrats have been crowing about
the
administration's failure so far to find illicit weapons in Iraq,
conservatives have seized on the claim as evidence that, because of its
ties to Al Qaeda, Iraq did indeed pose a real danger to the United
States...
---
DESTRUCTION OF IRAQI HOMES WITHIN 'RULES OF WAR,' SPOKESMAN SAYS
Jeff Wilkinson, Knight Ridder, 11/18/03
http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/news/special_packages/iraq/7293440.htm
TIKRIT, Iraq - The decision to destroy at least a dozen homes belonging
to
family members of guerrilla suspects in and around Tikrit was "within
the
rules of war" and was approved by the commander of the 4th Infantry
Division and probably by the overall commander for U.S. forces in Iraq,
a
spokesman for the division said Tuesday.
But some military officers acknowledged that the tactic had caused
debate
over whether it would inflame opposition rather than tamp it down. One
officer referred to the demolitions as "unprecedented."
The destruction of the homes is a sensitive issue because the tactic
resembles a controversial Israeli practice of destroying the houses of
families of suicide bombers in the West Bank and Gaza. The U.S. State
Department previously has denounced the Israeli actions.
U.S. forces destroyed the homes on Sunday and Monday, after evacuating
women and children, as part of an aggressive crackdown on anti-U.S.
guerrilla forces. Those forces have shot down at least two helicopters
in
recent weeks and planted scores, if not hundreds, of roadside bombs in
the
area known as the Sunni Triangle.
Military officials on Tuesday lowered the number of houses destroyed to
12
from 15. There was no information on whether more houses had been
destroyed
Tuesday as U.S. forces pressed their offensive...
-----
PRESENTERS SHED LIGHT ON FEMALE'S LIFE IN ISLAM
Lindsay Robinson, Collegian, 11/20/03
http://www.collegian.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2003/11/20/3fbc507c82f76
Differently colored hijabs, the headscarves Muslim women are required
to
wear, shrouded the hair of four unique women Wednesday night on campus.
Even though these women all had different skin colors and
nationalities,
they were bonded by the shared religion of Islam. The four united to
present, "A Look Into the Lives of Muslim Women" in the Lory Student
Center.
The presentation's goal was to educate people about way of life for
females
in the Islam religion and dispel the common misconception that Islam
oppresses women.
Huma Babak, who graduated from CSU in 2003 with a degree in computer
science, said she was on the panel because she wanted to remove
misconceptions about Islam, and she expressed concern at the fact that
Islam is thought to oppress women...
-----
SPEAKER MAKES CASE FOR ISLAM AND HIP-HOP
Sandy Kofler, Daily Illini, 11/20/03
http://www.dailyillini.com/nov03/nov20/news/stories/news_story06.shtml
Hip-hop and Islam aren't usually thought to be associated with one
another,
but Hesham Samy Alim proved otherwise during his presentation Wednesday
night at the University.
Alim, a visiting scholar at Duke University, is devoted to studying
hip-hop
culture. Various Muslim, African-American and other registered
organizations invited him to the University to give his presentation,
"Bismillah al-Rahman al-Rahim: Uncovering the Hidden Histories of
African-American Muslim Movements in the Hip-Hop Nation." The lecture
focused on Islam's place in the medium of hip-hop - a relationship
between
religion and music that greatly lacks public acknowledgement, Alim
said.
"I remember mentioning this topic to one of my colleagues and having
them
laugh," Alim said. "They're like, 'What? Islam and hip-hop culture?
What's
going on, how are these two even compatible?' It shouldn't be as
surprising
as it is. It's only surprising because it's so misunderstood."
Alim said that many pioneers of hip-hop music were influenced by
Islamic
teachings and that the two share a bond in social protest...
-----
CSID BANQUET: "THE ROAD TO DEMOCRACY IN IRAQ
"The Road to Democracy in Iraq: The Role of Religion in Politics"
On November 22, CSID will hold a fundraising dinner on the subject of
democracy in Iraq featuring talks by prominent experts on Iraq and the
prospects for democracy in the region.
More information on the Iraq dinner, go to:
http://www.islam-democracy.org/Iraq_dinner_invitation.asp
-----
To SUBSCRIBE to or UNSUBSCRIBE from this list, go to:
http://cair.biglist.com/cair-net/
To reach the list moderator, send a message to: cair@cair-net.org
-----
CAIR
Council on American-Islamic Relations
453 New Jersey Avenue, S.E.
Washington, D.C. 20003
Tel: 202-488-8787, 202-744-7726
Fax: 202-488-0833
E-mail: cair@cair-net.org
URL: http://www.cair-net.org
Forwarded Message
Date:
Fri, 21 Nov 2003 15:09:02 -0500
To:
cair-net@cair.biglist.com
From:
"CAIR" <cair@cair-net.org>
Subject:
CAIR-NET: Muslims Welcome Possible End of 'Special
Registration'
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
AMERICAN MUSLIM NEWS BRIEFS - 11/21/03
* HADITH OF THE DAY: ONLY GOOD ASCENDS TO GOD
* ONLY 3 DAYS LEFT TO REGISTER FOR CAIR'S DC DINNER
- Rep. Honda Sends Letter of Support to CAIR
- Ramadan Campaign Raises $188K Online
* CAIR-AZ: GRAD SUES MESA AIR FOR DISCRIMINATION
* MUSLIMS WELCOME POSSIBLE END OF 'SPECIAL REGISTRATION'
* CAPT. YEE'S BACKERS PRESS FOR HIS RELEASE (Seattle Times)
* 'B.C.' CARTOON RAISES A STINK (Washington Post)
* ANTI-MUSLIM KILLER DUCKS DEATH IN PLEA DEAL (NY Post)
* MUSLIMS CLEAR UP MISPERCEPTIONS ABOUT ISLAM (DOS)
- CA Church Reaches Out To Unite Faiths (LA Times)
- Hindus in India Fast In Solidarity With Muslims (AP)
* ISLAMIC HOLIDAY CAN BUILD BRIDGES (Contra Costa Times)
- MS Islamic Center Offers Charity (Sun Herald)
* GEN. FRANKS CONSTITUTION MAY NOT SURVIVE ATTACK (Newsmax)
* 35 INJURED AS ATTACKERS BOMB MOSQUE IN INDIA (AFP)
- Karadzic Wanted Bosnian Muslims Killed (Reuters)
* CHICAGO MUSLIMS DONATE GENEROUSLY DURING RAMADAN
* CSID BANQUET DINNER IN VA
-----
HADITH OF THE DAY: ONLY GOOD ASCENDS TO GOD
The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: "If anyone gives in
charity
something equal to a date from his honestly earned money--for nothing
ascends to God except good--then God will take it in His Right (Hand)
and
bring it up for its owner as anyone of you brings up a baby horse,
until it
becomes like a mountain...Nothing ascends to God except good."
Sahih Al-Bukhari, Volume 9, Number 525B:
-----
ONLY 3 DAYS LEFT TO REGISTER FOR CAIR'S DC DINNER 11/29!
Congresswoman Michael M. Honda Sends Letter of Support to CAIR
Registration for CAIR's Ninth Annual Fundraising Dinner on November
29th in
Washington, D.C., closes after next Monday. (CAIR's dinners have often
been
sold out in the past, so ACT NOW to reserve your place.) The dinner,
with
the theme "Muslims in America: A Defining Moment," features
presidential
candidate Dennis Kucinich as the keynote speaker.
In a letter to CAIR, CONGRESSMAN MICHAEL HONDA writes: "This banquet
provides an important opportunity to recognize CAIR for its dedicated
efforts to promote better understanding and cooperation between Muslims
and
non-Muslims in America. CAIR's vigorous commitment to social justice
and
civil rights will help us to achieve respect and tolerance among all of
America's people.
"CAIR continues a tradition of excellence in condemning bigotry and
hatred.
Over sixty years ago Lieutenant General John DeWitt, as commander of
Western Defense Command questioned the patriotism of Japanese
Americans,
promulgating the false concept of a fifth column within our borders.
Unfortunately, President Roosevelt heeded the advice of General DeWitt.
The
hysteria propagated by General DeWitt and those of his ilk contributed
to
the unjust loss of civil liberties of 120,000 Japanese Americans.
"Today, another Lieutenant General, William Boykin promotes bias and
religious insensitivity. My colleague Congressman John Conyers
introduced
H. Res. 419, which I a proud to co-sponsor. This resolution condemns
Lt.
General William Boykin's remarks and asks the President to clearly
censure
and reassign them. Today more than ever, we must join together against
those who promote prejudiced views, whether here at home or abroad.
"CAIR has worked diligently with Members of Congress to educate and
advocate on behalf of American Muslims. I extend best wishes for a
successful and enjoyable evening."
WHERE: Sheraton Premiere at Tysons Corner, 8661 Leesburg Pike, Tysons
Corner/Vienna, VA.
COST: Tickets: $55/$85 per couple R.S.V.P. by Nov. 24, 2003
No children please. (Limited babysitting with prior notice only - $10
per
child.)
REGISTER FOR CAIR'S DINNER BY GOING TO:
https://www.cair-net.org/2003dinner-register.asp
---
RAMADAN CAMPAIGN RAISES $188K ONLINE
CAIR's Million in Ramadan Campaign has raised over $180,000 online!
You,
too, can support an organization that works to empower and protect the
American Muslim community.
Please, donate generously to the campaign. Every donation counts!
Support us by donating online at:
http://www.cair-net.org/asp/millionforislam.asp
To view a short video on CAIR, go to www.cair-net.org
(NOTE: Scholars says CAIR is able to receive ZAKAT donations.)
---
CAIR-AZ: GRAD SUES MESA AIR GROUP FOR DISCRIMINATION
PHOENIX, ARIZONA, 11/21/03 - An Iranian American graduate of Mesa Air
Group
partner San Juan College filed a suit with the U.S. District Court for
the
District of Arizona on Monday, November 17, 2003, alleging religious,
national origin, and ancestry discrimination.
Frank Nickman began First Officer training in Mesa Air Group's two-year
Aviation Degree Program at San Juan College/Mesa Airlines Professional
Pilot Development in January 2001. He was the only student of Iranian
national origin and the only Muslim at the school. Although Mr. Nickman
graduated at the top of his class and maintained constant honor roll
status, Mesa Air Group failed to hire him despite their own record of
hiring ninety-eight percent of graduates from this program.
In the suit, Mr. Nickman alleges he was subject to discrimination and
racial remarks by Mesa Air Group employees even prior to the events of
September 11th. Such remarks included: "Go back to wherever the heck
you
came from," "You should be glad we let you live in this country," and
"Financial aid is for Americans first and foreign nationals second."
His
complaints were met with tactics of intimidation and retaliation.
Following the attacks, the suit claims statements and actions of
discrimination intensified, despite complaints to upper management, to
include: "What cave have you been hiding in?" "If you don't get hired
by
Mesa, you can always train to be a terrorist," "The Osama Bin Laden
Scholarship Fund is paying for your training," and a nickname was given
to
Mr. Nickman of "terrorist in training." In addition, Mr. Nickman was
asked
by instructors in front of other student whether he had been
interviewed by
the FBI yet, what his "real" name was, where he was "really" from, and
whether he was a practicing Muslim.
-END-
Questions may be directed to Frank Nickman at 714-222-0909 or Deedra
Abboud
with CAIR-AZ at 602-262-CAIR (2247)
-----
NOTE: Those subject to the present special registration guidelines
should
still contact an immigration attorney to discuss their legal status.
SEE:
http://uscis.gov/graphics/shared/lawenfor/specialreg/
MUSLIMS WELCOME POSSIBLE END OF 'SPECIAL REGISTRATION'
(WASHINGTON, D.C., 11/19/2003) - A prominent national Islamic civil
rights
organization today welcomed an apparent decision of the Bush
administration
to eliminate a visitor registration program that primarily targeted
Muslim
men and drew complaints from civil liberties groups.
The Washington-based Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) was
reacting to media reports that the Department of Homeland Security
Government may announce an end to the special registration program
within
days. A new system, using photographs and fingerprints to log entries
and
exits at ports of entry will be introduced in January.
The special registration program, instituted last year, required
nonimmigrant males from 25 Muslim-majority nations to register with
immigration authorities or face detention and deportation. A little
known
provision of the program requires annual re-registration. Critics view
the
re-registration requirement, and the entire registration process, as
being
designed to create "deportation traps" targeting Muslims and of little
value in promoting national security
SEE: "U.S. Set to Revise How It Tracks Some Visitors"
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A1806-2003Nov20.html
"We would applaud the elimination of the special registration program
because it singled out visitors based on their religion and national
origin, alienated law-abiding visitors and did little or nothing to
improve
national security," said CAIR Executive Director Nihad Awad. "Like all
Americans, Muslims are concerned about national security and will
support
any measures that treat all visitors equally."
Awad added that any new screening procedures should not be based on
religion, ethnicity or national origin.
CAIR, America's largest Islamic civil liberties group, is headquartered
in
Washington, D.C., and has 25 regional offices and chapters nationwide
and
in Canada.
- END -
CONTACT: Ibrahim Hooper, 202-488-8787 or 202-744-7726, E-Mail:
cair@cair-net.org; Rabiah Ahmed, 202-488-8787 or 202-439-1441, E-Mail:
rahmed@cair-net.org
-----
MUSLIM CHAPLAIN'S BACKERS PRESS FOR HIS RELEASE
Janet I. Tu, Seattle Times, 11/21/03
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2001797413_yee21m.html
With impassioned pleas for civil justice, about 100 local Muslims and
civil-rights activists gathered last night in Seattle calling for the
pre-trial release of Capt. James Yee, a former Fort Lewis Army Muslim
chaplain accused of mishandling classified documents.
Yee was arrested Sept. 10 in Jacksonville, Fla., after federal agents
said
the chaplain was found with sketches of the Guant�namo Bay, Cuba,
military
prison to which he was assigned. They also said he had documents
concerning
captured Taliban and al-Qaida fighters, to whom he ministered, and
their
U.S. interrogators. Initial reports, many citing unidentified
government
sources, said Yee was being held on suspicion of sedition and
espionage.
But on Oct. 10, military authorities formally charged Yee with
considerably
less serious offenses: disobeying a general order by taking classified
material home and transporting classified material without proper
security
containers.
"Captain Yee has already been tried and convicted in the media before
there
were even charges brought against him," said Samia El-Moslimany, vice
chairwoman of the Seattle chapter of Council on American-Islamic
Relations,
which sponsored yesterday's event. "He was basically branded as a spy
and
traitor to his country. We think this is happening because he's Muslim
and
Chinese American..."
-----
CARTOON RAISES A STINK
Gene Weingarten, Washington Post, 11/21/03
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A2184-2003Nov20.html
Did Johnny Hart -- the beloved creator of "B.C." and one of the most
widely
read cartoonists on Earth -- sneak a vulgar defamation of Islam into
the
comics pages last week?
The question was raised yesterday by the Council on American-Islamic
Relations (CAIR), a Washington-based civil rights group, in an e-mail
to
its membership.
Hart and his syndicate say no -- that a simple, straightforward joke is
being misconstrued. That may well be true, but the 73-year-old
cartoonist's
history of evangelizing his Christian beliefs through his comic cavemen
have left many people doubtful.
The cartoon, which appeared Nov. 10 in more than 1,200 newspapers
worldwide
-- including The Washington Post -- shows a caveman entering an
outhouse at
night, and then saying, from inside, "Is it just me, or does it stink
in
here?"
The first public questioning of this cartoon arose in a
washingtonpost.com
chat Tuesday, when a reader noted that the cartoon seemed to make no
sense,
except metaphorically. The reader noted that the cartoon contained six
crescent moons -- three in the sky, and three on the outhouse door --
and
wondered if this might have been a veiled slur on the world's 1 billion
practicing Muslims...
Ibrahim Hooper, CAIR's spokesman, underscored the stealth: "I think the
reason there might not have been initial complaints is that it's so
cryptic. If you know who the cartoonist is, what he's done in the past,
then it becomes clear. Otherwise, it's just an unfunny joke."
-----
SICKO KILLER DUCKS DEATH IN PLEA DEAL
Denise Buffa, New York Post, 11/20/03
http://www.nypost.com/cgi-bin/printfriendly.pl
The sick suspect who shot four men dead in Brooklyn and Queens last
year to
avenge the terrorist attacks on the Twin Towers admitted yesterday he's
a
serial killer, and will go to jail for the rest of his life in order to
avoid the death penalty.
Larme Price, who told police he had killed to punish people who
appeared to
be of Middle Eastern descent, admitted in court yesterday he blew away
Guyana native John Freddy, 43, in an Ozone Park market on Feb. 8, 2003
-
launching his shooting spree with a .40-caliber handgun.
Price, an unemployed 31-year-old who has a history of mental illness
and
arrests, also admitted to blasting Indian immigrant Sukhjit "Sammy"
Khajala, 50, at a Mill Basin minimart two hours later.
He said he continued the bloodshed on March 10, when he killed
Urkraine-born Albert Kotlyar, 32, in a Bedford-Stuyvesant laundry. He
also
admitted killing Mohammed Abdo Nasser Ali, 54, 10 days later in a Crown
Heights store.
As part of the deal struck between the Brooklyn DA's Office and Capital
Defenders Office, and approved by Brooklyn Supreme Court Judge Neil
Firetog, Price will get life without parole for first-degree murder
when he
is sentenced in February...
-----
MUSLIMS SEEK TO CLEAR UP MISPERCEPTIONS ABOUT ISLAM
David Shelby, Washington File, 11/19/03
http://usinfo.state.gov/usinfo/products/washfile.html
Washington -- The holy month of Ramadan offers Muslim Americans a
unique
opportunity to share their religion with non-Muslim Americans,
according to
Nihad Awad, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic
Relations
(CAIR).
Speaking as a guest on the November 19 "Global Exchange" television
program, Awad said, "I believe that Ramadan is the best opportunity for
Muslims to teach others about Islam because everybody wants to know
what
this month is all about."
CAIR is a Washington based advocacy group that seeks to promote a
positive
image of Islam and Muslims in America and present an Islamic
perspective on
issues of importance to the American public.
The group carries its message through newsletters, on its Web site, and
in
books and media information materials that it distributes to thousands
of
libraries and press organizations through its network of 25 regional
offices, and through mosques and Islamic centers around the country...
ALSO SEE:
CHURCH REACHES OUT TO UNITE FAITHS
Joshua Pelzer, Los Angeles Times, 11/21/03
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/clv/la-clv-fastbreak21nov21,1,1101726.story
CLAREMONT - Omar Ahmed never knew fasting was something Muslims and
Christians had in common or that Christianity has so many
denominations.
But a recent ecumenical gathering of area Muslims and Christians set
him
straight...
Omar Hartzler - a retired missionary to Africa - had a good
understanding
of Islam, but not the specific forms of worship...
Hartzler and about 20 others from the Claremont United Methodist Church
joined area Muslims to celebrate the Islamic holy month of Ramadan,
which
celebrates God's revelation of the Koran - Islam's holy book - to the
prophet Muhammad.
Worshipers participated in the traditional fast-breaking meal at a
private
Muslim home in Claremont, which followed a potluck dinner held at the
church a week prior. The church hosted more than 60 Muslims and
Christians
who sat and ate together as part of a church outreach effort to other
faiths...
---
HINDUS IN NORTHERN INDIA FAST IN SOLIDARITY WITH MUSLIMS
Babu lal Sharma, Associated Press, 11/21/03
LUCKNOW, India - In a region of northern India plagued by bitter
Hindu-Muslim relations, some Hindus have observed the monthlong Ramadan
fast in solidarity with their Muslim neighbors.
Shruti Sharma, who stays at a women's hostel with four Muslim
residents, is
among 14 Hindus partaking in the dawn-to-dusk fasting.
"The fast has no religious overtone," she told The Associated Press on
Friday. "This is a mark of solidarity with our Muslim friends."
Muslims and Hindus in India's northern Uttar Pradesh state have been at
loggerheads over plans by Hindu fundamentalists to construct a temple
in
Ayodhya town on the site of a 16th-century mosque, destroyed by a Hindu
mob
in 1992.
The mosque's demolition triggered violence in which an estimated 2,000
people died across the country.
"It looks very nice that our Hindu friends also keep fast with us. This
has
built a special bond between us," said Nuzhat Khan, one of the Muslim
women
at the hostel in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh's capital.
This camaraderie is also reflected in social gatherings, as some
organizations in Lucknow have sponsored programs for both Hindus and
Muslims to sit together to break their fast in the evening...
-----
ISLAMIC HOLIDAY CAN BUILD BRIDGES
Contra Costa Times, 11/20/03
http://www.bayarea.com/mld/cctimes/living/people/teens/7307533.htm
Here I am, working an eight-hour weekend shift at Jamba Juice. Watching
all
these refreshing drinks being made, yet know that I cannot have a
single sip.
Why? I am fasting during the Islamic month of Ramadan.
Ramadan is honored during the ninth month in the Hijra (Islamic)
calendar.
More than 1 billion Muslims participate in this holy month, in which
parts
of the Qu'ran were revealed to the prophet Mohammed.
Fasting is a big part of it. One of the purposes of fasting is to learn
self-control. Fasting also helps a person become more spiritual.
Another
benefit is realizing or developing sympathy for the poor, who cannot
afford
to eat a great deal.
As you can imagine, it is different to fast in the United States than
in an
Islamic country. Here, you are one of the few people you are with on a
daily basis who are fasting.
And during lunch at your basic public high school, it's not easy to
watch
friends debate whether to go to Panda Express or to In-N-Out. It is
also
sometimes tough having to sit through a lesson on imaginary numbers
when
you have not eaten and did not drink anything all day...
ALSO SEE:
ISLAMIC CENTER OFFERS CHARITY
Kat Bergeron, Sun Herald, 11/21/03
http://www.sunherald.com/mld/sunherald/living/7314495.htm
One of the five tenets, or "pillars," of Islam is charity, and
following
that dictate, congregates of The Biloxi Islamic Center are bringing
food
and clothing to their mosque throughout Ramadan, the monthlong holy
observance that includes fasting, reflection and prayer.
On Saturday, they will set up tables at the center on Keller Avenue and
distribute the food and clothing to South Mississippi's less fortunate.
"Anyone who needs this is welcome," said Sabree Rashid, the center's
Sura
board chairman. "Because this is the first year we are doing this as a
community, we don't know who or how many will come. We hope to respond
to
needs and build on this program bigger and better each year.
"By fasting through Ramadan, we get a small sample of what it is like
to
want and to need, because we're fasting from sunrise to sunset with no
food
or water. We experience hypoglycemia, tiredness and weakness and hunger
pangs. We can relate to being poor and without food and we want to help
others overcome it, even if on a small scale like our care packages."
In the past, individual congregates have donated items to the needy
during
Ramadan, but the center has decided an organized effort would reach
more
people...
-----
GEN. FRANKS DOUBTS CONSTITUTION WILL SURVIVE WMD ATTACK
John O. Edwards, NewsMax.com, 11/21/03
http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2003/11/20/185048.shtml
Gen. Tommy Franks says that if the United States is hit with a weapon
of
mass destruction that inflicts large casualties, the Constitution will
likely be discarded in favor of a military form of government.
Franks, who successfully led the U.S. military operation to liberate
Iraq,
expressed his worries in an extensive interview he gave to the men's
lifestyle magazine Cigar Aficionado.
In the magazine's December edition, the former commander of the
military's
Central Command warned that if terrorists succeeded in using a weapon
of
mass destruction (WMD) against the U.S. or one of our allies, it would
likely have catastrophic consequences for our cherished republican form
of
government.
Discussing the hypothetical dangers posed to the U.S. in the wake of
Sept.
11, Franks said that "the worst thing that could happen" is if
terrorists
acquire and then use a biological, chemical or nuclear weapon that
inflicts
heavy casualties.
If that happens, Franks said, "... the Western world, the free world,
loses
what it cherishes most, and that is freedom and liberty we've seen for
a
couple of hundred years in this grand experiment that we call
democracy."
Franks then offered "in a practical sense" what he thinks would happen
in
the aftermath of such an attack...
-----
35 INJURED AS ATTACKERS BOMB PACKED MOSQUE IN WESTERN INDIA.
Agence France Presse, 11/21/03
Unidentified attackers on motorcycles hurled bombs at a mosque Friday
in
the western Indian state of Maharashtara, leaving about 35 people
injured,
police and officials said.
Earlier reports had put at 26 the number of people hit by the blasts in
the
state's Parbhani town but the United News of India (UNI) newsagency
quoting
senior officials said the number of reported injured was at least 35.
The police said at least three men on motorbikes hurled the explosives
at
the ancient mosque just as worshippers were dispersing from Friday
prayers
in Parbhani, some 400 kilometres (250 miles) east of Bombay.
Maharashtara state Deputy Chief Minister Chhagan Bhubjal, who is also
in
charge of domestic security, however, said only two men were involved
in
the attack, adding the injured were being treated for superficial
injuries...
So far, nobody has claimed responsibility for the attack, which came
five
days before the start of the annual Eid al-Fitr Muslim religious
festival,
which marks the end of the month of Ramadan...
-----
KARADZIC WANTED SREBRENICA MUSLIMS KILLED - WITNESS.
Reuters, 11/21/03
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L21415092.htm
THE HAGUE- Bosnian Serb wartime leader Radovan Karadzic told a local
politician "all the Muslims need to be killed" days before the 1995
Srebrenica massacre of up to 8,000 Muslim men and boys, the Hague
tribunal
heard on Friday.
Miroslav Deronjic, a former Bosnian Serb politician who has pleaded
guilty
to war crimes at the tribunal, said he met Karadzic - one of the
court's
most wanted men - in early July 1995, shortly before Serbs attacked the
U.N.-declared "safe area" of Srebrenica in eastern Bosnia.
Krstic was convicted of genocide in 2001 and jailed for 46 years for
the
Srebrenica massacre, Europe's worst atrocity since World War Two. His
appeal is due to begin next week.
The International Criminal Tribunal for former Yugoslavia has charged
Karadzic and his military commander Ratko Mladic - to whom Krstic
reported
- with genocide for the massacre in Srebrenica during the 1992-5
Bosnian war.
Along with Karadzic, Mladic is the Hague's top fugitive...
-----
CHICAGO MUSLIMS DONATE GENEROUSLY DURING HOLY MONTH OF RAMADAN
The Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago (CIO), an
umbrella
organization representing over 400,000 Muslims throughout Chicagoland,
proudly announces that Muslim-American organizations throughout
Chicagoland
are conducting food drives and fundraisers for Chicago's needy. The
food
drives are a part of the celebration of the Islamic holy month of
Ramadan.
Ramadan is the month on the Islamic lunar calendar during which Muslims
abstain from food, drink and other sensual pleasures from break of dawn
to
sunset. Ramadan began on October 27, 2003. Eid ul-Fitr
(EED-al-FITTER), or
"feast of fast breaking" is tentatively set for November 25, 2003.
Among other initiatives, Muslim-American mosques and community groups
are
collecting food for donation to local food banks and holding
fund-raisers
for local food pantries. This includes a fundraiser for distribution
of
Thanksgiving turkeys at a school on Chicago's South Side. Such
efforts,
which have taken place for several years, highlight the emphasis in
Islam
on giving to the less fortunate. The Noble Quran repeatedly exhorts
Muslims to charity with statements like: "The parable of those who
spend
their wealth for the sake of Allah is that of a grain of corn: it grows
seven ears, and each ear has a hundred grains. For Allah grants
manifold
increase to whom He wills. And Allah is All-Embracing, Infinite and
All-Knowing." [2:265]
Kareem Irfan, Chairman of the CIO stated, "Muslims throughout
Chicagoland
are opening their hearts and their pocketbooks during Ramadan, this
holiest
of months. Charity is a basic tenet of Islam and it is by giving
generously that we enrich our community and fulfill our social contract
with our neighbors."
The following is a list of some food drives and fund raisers taking
place
in Chicagoland:
Islamic Cultural Center (ICC -Northbrook) & Universal School ICC has
raised
funds to provide five meals for 200 people at the Christian Industrial
League (homeless shelter offering variety of services). Students from
Universal School (a private Muslim school located in Bridgeview, IL)
will
serve the food every Sunday at the Christian Industrial League.
Mosque Foundation, Bridgeview
Contact Oussama Jammal: (708) 636-2003 x201
The mosque has raised funds which it intends to donate to a food pantry
in
Worth, IL.
Muslim Education Center School
Contact Principal Habeeb Quadri: (847) 470-8801. Students from both the
Full -Time school and the MEC Sunday School will; Host an Interfaith
Iftaar
with Students from Loyola Academy and Jewish High School; Students
volunteer weekly at the Molloy School for children with disabilities
and
will celebrate the Eid Holiday with Molloy students; Student Council
members are volunteering at soup kitchens; and All students are
participating in a school-wide canned food drive. The food will be
delivered to the Chicago Food Depository and the Morton Grove Fire
Department.
Inner-City Muslim Action Network (IMAN) and Inner City Islamic Center
(ICIC) Contact Amina Peterson: (773) 434-4626. Have jointly established
food pantry serving Chicago land and surrounding areas which is open
for
food distribution Sundays from 11:00 a.m. until 1:00 p.m. Appointments
and
drop-off services are also available to those in need. Participants are
often referred to additional community resources to meet the variety of
needs they may have in addition to food. The Pantry offers nutrition
education to all participants through workshops and literature.
Muslim Society of Glendale Heights
Members of the congregation are collecting canned foods which will be
donated to the Food Pantry maintained by the Inner-City Muslim Action
Network. Nine hundred canned food items were donated last year.
Islamic Foundation -Villa Park
Contact Toni Khatib: (708) 609-0874. Ramadan Service Project for the
Islamic Foundation Muslim Cub Scouts: Collecting requested items for
the
seriously ill children at the Ronald McDonald House at Loyola
Hospital. The Cub Scouts will deliver the gifts Nov. 29-30.
Islamic Food and Nutrition Council of America
Contact Munir Chaudry: (773) 283-3708. Sabeel Food Pantry was
established
to reach out to those individuals and families who are in need of
assistance and to help supplement their necessities by providing
nutritious
food and other consumables.
Muslim Bar Association
Contact Kamran Memon: (312) 786.0200, ext'n 14 Muslim-American
community
Turkey Drive for the needy families of McCosh Elementary School in
Chicago. Two hundred turkeys were donated last year.
For further information, contact: Farhan Younus at fyounus@ciogc.org or
at
630-926-5566.
-----
CENTER OF THE STUDY OF ISLAM & DEMOCRACY BANQUET DINNER
WHAT: The Center for the Study of Islam & Democracy (CSID) is hosting
the
CSID banquet dinner, on Saturday, November, 22 in Alexandria, VA just
outside Washington DC. They have invited three prominent Muslim
scholars
and experts to address the question of:
The Road to Democracy in Iraq
The Role of Religion in Politics
Laith Kubba, National Endowment for Democracy
Abdelaziz Sachedina, University of Virginia
Merve Kavakci, Turkish Ex-Parliamentarian
Louay Safi (CSID, Moderator)
Enjoy the debate and wonderful Afghani food while helping to support
CSID,
and strengthen the voice of moderation, reason, and freedom in the
Muslim
world.
WHEN: Saturday, November 22, 2003 - 5:00 PM - 8:00 PM
WHERE: The Afghan Restaurant, 2700 Jefferson Davis Highway (route 1),
Alexandria, Virginia (1 mile South of Crystal City) in Alexandria,
Virginia
Tickets are $60/person and $100/couple (Students are $30/person and
$50/couple) For More Information, to reserve a seat, or to buy a table,
please call 202-276-7994, e-mail: masmoudi@islam-democracy.org, or Fax
to: 202-222-0295
You may join/donate online at:
http://www.islam-democracy.org/get_involved.asp
-----
To SUBSCRIBE to or UNSUBSCRIBE from this list, go to:
http://cair.biglist.com/cair-net/
To reach the list moderator, send a message to: cair@cair-net.org
-----
CAIR
Council on American-Islamic Relations
453 New Jersey Avenue, S.E.
Washington, D.C. 20003
Tel: 202-488-8787, 202-744-7726
Fax: 202-488-0833
E-mail: cair@cair-net.org
URL: http://www.cair-net.org
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
AMERICAN MUSLIM NEWS BRIEFS - 11/23/03
* HADITH OF THE DAY: RESPECT COVENANTS
* ONLY 1 DAY LEFT TO REGISTER FOR CAIR'S DC DINNER
- Rep. Tubbs Sends Letter of Support to CAIR
- Ramadan Campaign Raises $215K Online
* ACTION ALERT: COMMUNITY URGED TO PURCHASE EID STAMPS
* BUSH'S REMARK ABOUT GOD ASSAILED (Wash. Post)
- Inaction Over General's Remarks (LA Times)
- New Clergy Group Opposes Bush Re-Election (AP)
* INCITEMENT WATCH: MUSLIM CAMPS TRAIN CHILDREN TO KILL (BP)
* STUDENTS, OFFICIALS DEFEND ISLAMIC SCHOOL (Cox News)
- Muslim SUNY Student's Expulsion Protested (NYT)
* YOUNG MUSLIMS IN EUROPE: GENERATION M (Newsweek)
* MUSLIMS, CHINESE-AMERICANS RALLY FOR CAPT. YEE (AP)
- Mr. Padilla's Hearing (Wash. Post)
* MUSLIMS LOOK FORWARD TO EID AL-FITR (Kansas City Star)
- Clergy Hold Hope For World (Press Enterprise)
- Muslims Ready to Celebrate Eid (St. Pete Times)
- Mendhi: Designing Women (Chicago Tribune)
* SPECIAL REGISTRATION WILL REPORTEDLY STOP (NY Times)
* LOCAL MUSLIMS CONDEMN TERRORISM (NC Times)
* U.S. SEEKS ADVICE FROM ISRAEL ON IRAQ (LA Times)
* F.B.I. SCRUTINIZES ANTIWAR RALLIES (NY Times)
* AMJ HOSTS DISCUSSION ON ISRAELI WALL
------
HADITH OF THE DAY: RESPECT COVENANTS
Narrated Anas ibn Malik - "Seldom did the (Prophet Muhammad, peace be
upon
him) address us without saying: 'There is no faith in one who is not
trustworthy and there is no religion in someone who does not respect
his
covenant.'"
Al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 4
-----
ONLY 1 DAY LEFT TO REGISTER FOR CAIR'S DC DINNER 11/29!
Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs Jones Sends Letter of Support to CAIR
Registration for CAIR's Ninth Annual Fundraising Dinner on November
29th in
Washington, D.C., closes after next Monday. (CAIR's dinners have often
been
sold out in the past, so ACT NOW to reserve your place.) The dinner,
with
the theme "Muslims in America: A Defining Moment," features
presidential
candidate Dennis Kucinich as the keynote speaker.
In a letter to CAIR, CONGRESSWOMAN STEPHANIE TUBBS JONES writes: "I
would
like to extend congratulations to you on the occasion of your annual
fundraising dinner Muslims in America: A Defining Moment. The title of
your
banquet dinner reflects on the importance of your organization's work
at
this point in American history.
"The current climate for civil rights and freedom of speech is
reminiscent
of earlier eras in which our government, under the banner of national
security persecuted groups such as Japanese Americans, suspected
Communist
sympathizers, and African Americans.
"This history has taught that abuses of power are wrong and
antithetical to
American values. Yet, in the 21st Century, history has repeated.
Legitimate
concerns about national security have again been turned against
specific
groups in our society to abrogate the right we hold most dear.
"I commend CAIR for its work in educating the public about Muslim
communities and its defense of civil rights. CAIR's advocacy is fully
supportive of the Constitutional principles articulated by our
country's
founders, and which we must work together to strengthen and uphold. I
wish
you much success in your endeavors."
WHERE: Sheraton Premiere at Tysons Corner, 8661 Leesburg Pike, Tysons
Corner/Vienna, VA.
COST: Tickets: $55/$85 per couple R.S.V.P. by Nov. 24, 2003
No children please. (Limited babysitting with prior notice only - $10
per
child.)
REGISTER FOR CAIR'S DINNER BY GOING TO:
https://www.cair-net.org/2003dinner-register.asp
---
RAMADAN CAMPAIGN RAISES $215K ONLINE
CAIR's Million in Ramadan Campaign has raised over $215,000 online!
You,
too, can support an organization that works to empower and protect the
American Muslim community.
Please, donate generously to the campaign. Every donation counts!
Support us by donating online at:
http://www.cair-net.org/asp/millionforislam.asp
To view a short video on CAIR, go to www.cair-net.org
(NOTE: Scholars says CAIR is able to receive ZAKAT donations.)
----
CAIR ACTION ALERT! COMMUNITY URGED TO PURCHASE EID STAMPS
(WASHINGTON, D.C., 11/23/03) - The Council on American-Islamic
Relations
(CAIR) wishes to remind the Muslim community that Eid Stamps are
available
for purchase at local post offices or online.
CAIR has received a few complaints that post offices were stating that
they
were not carrying the stamp anymore. However, CAIR has looked into this
issue and found that some postal workers were not aware that the Eid
stamp
is a regular issue stamp.
ACTIONS REQUESTED:
1. Make sure the Eid stamp is available at your local post office. Ask
to
talk to a supervisor if an employee says it is not being issued.
2. Buy the Eid stamp and encourage others to buy it. The stamp is
available
at the Postal Store (www.usps.com), or by calling toll free
1-800-STAMP-24.
3. Use the Eid stamp on all correspondence.
-----
BUSH'S REMARK ABOUT GOD ASSAILED
Alan Cooperman, Washington Post, 11/22/03
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A4697-2003Nov21.html
Evangelical Christian leaders expressed dismay yesterday over President
Bush's statement that Christians and Muslims worship the same god,
saying
it had caused discomfort within his conservative religious base. But
most
predicted that the political impact would be short-lived.
At a news conference with Prime Minister Tony Blair in England on
Thursday,
a reporter noted that Bush has often said that freedom is a gift from
"the
Almighty" but questioned whether Bush believes that "Muslims worship
the
same Almighty" that he does.
"I do say that freedom is the Almighty's gift to every person," the
president replied. "I also condition it by saying freedom is not
America's
gift to the world. It's much greater than that, of course. And I
believe we
worship the same god."
Bush's remarks sent immediate shock waves through Christian Web sites
and
radio broadcasts. A Baptist Press report quoted Richard D. Land,
president
of the public policy arm of the Southern Baptist Convention, the
nation's
largest Protestant denomination, as saying that Bush "is simply
mistaken."
"We should always remember that he is commander in chief, not
theologian in
chief," Land said in a telephone interview yesterday. "The Bible is
clear
on this: The one and true god is Jehovah, and his only begotten son is
Jesus Christ..."
Sayyid M. Syeed, secretary general of the Islamic Society of North
America,
responded to Bush's statement with a single word: Alhamdullah, Thanks
be to
God.
"We read again and again in the Koran that our god is the god of
Abraham,
the god of Noah, the god of Jesus," he said. "It would not come to the
mind
of a Muslim that there is a different god that Abraham or Jesus or
Moses
was praying to."
ALSO SEE:
BUSH'S INACTION OVER GENERAL'S ISLAM REMARKS RILES TWO FAITHS
Johanna Neuman, LA Times, 11/23/03
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-boykin23nov23,1,1999740.story
WASHINGTON - More than a month has passed since the disclosure that a
fundamentalist Christian policymaker at the Pentagon had disparaged
Muslims
for worshipping idols.
Yet to U.S. diplomats charged with selling America to the Arab world,
the
remarks by Lt. Gen. William G. "Jerry" Boykin are an albatross they
cannot
seem to shake.
"I get calls from officials in Arab countries every day about Boykin,"
said
James Zogby, president of the Arab American Institute. "They are
stunned
nothing has happened."
While the Pentagon investigates Boykin's remarks, the passage of time
is
turning the episode into a no-win dilemma for the Bush administration,
pitting its need to reach out to the Arab world against the sentiments
of
fundamentalist Christians, who form a core constituency heading into an
election year.
Both camps are livid about the White House response to Boykin's remarks
-
President Bush has distanced himself but has not taken any steps to
remove
him - and profess amazement that the matter has not yet been resolved
in
their favor...
Some critics say they are not gunning for Boykin's dismissal, but
rather
his removal from a position of such sensitivity in the Arab world.
Among other things, he helps oversee the hunt for Al Qaeda's Bin Laden
and
Iraq's Saddam Hussein.
"You can even promote him to general in charge of counting shoes for
Third
Infantry Division if you want," said Ibrahim Hooper, spokesman for the
Council of American Islamic Relations...
---
NEW CLERGY GROUP OPPOSES BUSH RE-ELECTION
Sharon Theimer, Associated Press, 11/22/03
http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/nation/wire/sns-ap-preachers-politics,0,6743904.story
WASHINGTON - Aiming to become the Christian Coalition of the left,
liberal
and moderate religious leaders are founding a political group to oppose
President Bush's re-election and try to turn their congregations into
election-year activists.
The Clergy Leadership Network will help churches, temples and mosques
develop voter registration programs, run its own get-out-the-vote
drives
and, if it can generate enough money, air issue ads, the Rev. Albert
Pennybacker, the group's president and chief executive and former
president
of the Interfaith Alliance, said Friday.
The group, which comprises Jews, Muslims and Christians, will counter
the
conservative voice of Christian groups such as the Christian Coalition,
said Pennybacker, who belongs to the Disciples of Christ.
The network's leaders stop short of saying they want a Democrat in the
White House after next year's elections, but make it clear they want a
change in leadership, both the president and the Republican-controlled
Congress.
Among other issues, the network contends the Bush administration has
unacceptably interfered in the separation of church and state through
programs such as its ``faith-based initiatives.'' The program offers
federal money to religious organizations for work with the homeless and
drug addicts and alcoholics...
-----
INCITEMENT WATCH: MUSLIM CAMPS TRAIN CHILDREN TO KILL, DOCUMENTARY SAYS
David Roach, Baptist Press News, 11/21/03
http://www.sbcbaptistpress.org/bpnews.asp?ID=17150
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Extremist Islamic camps in the Middle East train
more
than 10,000 Arab children each year how to commit suicide bombings,
perpetuate other acts of violence and develop hatred toward Jews,
according
to "The New Barbarians," a documentary produced by filmmaker, Caryl
Matrisciana, who is a Southern Baptist.
Samuel Shahid, who teaches Islamic studies at Southwestern Baptist
Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas, warns though, that only a
small
percentage of Muslims engage in violence toward Jews. In fact, videos
like
The New Barbarians may cause viewers to inappropriately caricature all
Muslims as violent, Shahid said.
Any church or individual that chooses to show The New Barbarians, added
Shahid, must tell viewers that the majority of Muslims in the Middle
East
seek a peaceful resolution to conflict with the Jewish people.
The documentary, released earlier this year, also contends that a
significant number of the 1.6 million Muslims in the United States
financially support the Middle Eastern camps.
Matrisciana, who has more than 20 years experience as a filmmaker,
produced
The New Barbarians by compiling footage from Arab television, news
reports
and other documentaries. This footage shows the graphic aftermath of
terrorist bombings and details how Islamic camps are training Arab
children
as young as 5 years-old to use machine guns, slit human throats, hijack
cars and strap explosives to themselves, Matrisciana told Baptist
Press...
"This religion [Islam] of such cruelty and mayhem is motivating tiny
little
children to blow themselves up as human bombs to get a position in
Islamic
paradise. ... Ultimately, I compare the worldview of the Creator God
with
the worldview of Islam," she said…
-----
STUDENTS, OFFICIALS DEFEND ISLAMIC SCHOOL
Eunice Moscoso, Cox News Service, 11/21/03
http://www.rockymounttelegram.com/news/content/coxnet/headlines/1121_muslimschool.html
Leesburg, Va. -- A small Islamic graduate school, tucked in the corner
of a
suburban, red-brick industrial park, has come under fire on Capitol
Hill
for alleged ties to extremist groups and a terrorism-financing
operation.
But the school's president and students say the charges are unfounded
and
"downright un-American..."
The school's president, Taha Alalwani, has been named in a recently
released affidavit as one of the leaders of a group of companies and
charities that the government suspects is funneling money to support
Islamic terrorist groups. The document was written by David Kane, an
investigator with the Department of Homeland Security's Immigration and
Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency.
Alalwani denies the charges and his attorney Nancy Luque said the
investigation was "a lot like McCarthyism..."
ALSO SEE:
MUSLIM SUNY STUDENT'S EXPULSION IS PROTESTED
Sabrina Tavernise, New York Times, 11/22/03
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/22/nyregion/22STUD.html
Groups of legal advocates and students protested the arrest and
expulsion
of a State University of New York Maritime College student yesterday,
claiming the college singled out the student, a Muslim from Nigeria,
after
he argued with a college official to lower his tuition. The Bronx-based
college denied it had called the authorities, citing privacy laws that
prohibit academic institutions from disclosing information about their
students.
The case has become a rallying point for immigrant advocacy groups, who
say
it is an example of the heightened scrutiny immigrants have received
since
the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Under federal rules, in
particular
a regulation requiring immigrants from 25 countries to register in a
special process with federal authorities, thousands of immigrants could
face deportation.
"This case exemplifies conditions within schools where administrators
are
able to abuse their authority by threatening foreign students," said
Monami
Maulik, an immigrant advocate who has taken up the case and led a rally
yesterday outside 26 Federal Plaza in Lower Mahattan.
The student, Sulaiman Oladokun, 28, has been in a New Jersey jail since
March, when agents from the Joint Terrorism Task Force arrested him in
the
college library. About two weeks after his arrest, the college expelled
him. It was two months before he was scheduled to graduate. He is being
held by immigration authorities on charges that he falsified his
Nigerian
college records, a charge he denies. Mr. Oladokun's United States
student
visa was issued based on his Nigerian academic record, Ms. Maulik
said...
-----
GENERATION M
Europe: A young generation of homegrown Muslims is challenging the
region's
self-image
Carla Power and Christopher Dickey, Newsweek, 12/1/03
http://www.msnbc.com/news/997156.asp
Dec. 1 issue - The debate about where or whether Islam belongs in
Europe
has become a conversational genre. To ban or not to ban headscarves in
schools? Terrorism versus civil liberties? Whither multiculturalism?
All
worthy questions, you may say, but what do they have to do with
charcuterie?
-----
MUSLIMS, CHINESE-AMERICANS RALLY IN DEFENSE OF GUANTANAMO DETAINEE
Associated Press, 11/22/03
http://www.komotv.com/stories/28441.htm
SEATTLE - Muslim and Chinese-American advocates are calling for the
pretrial release of Army Capt. James Yee, a former Muslim chaplain at
the
Guantanamo Bay prison who is charged with mishandling classified
information.
A Chinese-American who converted to Islam after graduating from West
Point,
Yee was arrested Sept. 10 in Jacksonville, Fla., after federal agents
said
they found him carrying sketches of the military prison at Guantanamo
Bay,
Cuba, where he counseled al-Qaida and Taliban prisoners.
Agents also said Yee had documents concerning captured Taliban and
al-Quaida fighters to whom he had ministered, and their U.S.
interrogators.
Once a chaplain at Fort Lewis, Wash., Yee was charged Oct. 10 with
disobeying a general order by taking classified material home and
transporting classified information without proper security containers.
The penalty for each charge is two years in prison and military
dismissal.
Yee is being held at a naval brig in Charleston, S.C.
His wife, Huda Suboh, 29, lives in Olympia with the couple's two young
children, and said it has angered her to hear people refer to her
husband
as an alleged spy...
ALSO SEE:
MR. PADILLA'S HEARING
Washington Post, 11/23/03
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A7261-2003Nov22.html
AT LAST, a federal appeals court has treated the government's assertion
of
an unbridled power to detain U.S. citizens with the skepticism it
deserves.
Last week in New York, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit
heard
oral arguments in the case of Jose Padilla, an American citizen
arrested
domestically by civilian law enforcement who has been held
incommunicado
for the past year and a half as an "enemy combatant." The government
believes that Mr. Padilla was planning a "dirty bomb" attack on behalf
of
al Qaeda. Since being whisked into military custody in May 2002, he has
not
been allowed to speak even to his lawyers or to respond in any forum to
the
allegations against him. The claim of essentially unchecked executive
power
to lock up American nationals is perhaps the single most dangerous
position
the Bush administration has taken since the Sept. 11 attacks. So the
evident difficulty the three-judge panel had with the government's
position
is welcome.
Unfortunately, the judges focused on the wrong aspects of the
government's
assertion. They aggressively questioned whether the military has the
authority to hold a citizen as an enemy combatant at all. This is a
question the Supreme Court has long since answered. The laws of war and
the
American constitutional tradition alike recognize that part of fighting
wars is capturing soldiers on the other side…
The problem here is not that Mr. Padilla is being held as an enemy
combatant; it is that the government is denying him any meaningful
process
for examining the accuracy of its allegation...
-----
MUSLIMS LOOK FORWARD TO EID AL-FITR
Helen T. Gray, Kansas City Star, 11/22/03
http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascitystar/living/religion/7320544.htm
Thousands of Muslims from throughout the region will begin their
celebration of the end of Ramadan with communal prayer early next week
at
the Overland Park Convention Center, 6000 College Blvd., Overland Park.
The Eid al-Fitr celebration will take place Tuesday or Wednesday,
depending
on the ending of Ramadan, which will be determined by the sighting of
the
new moon. In Islam, Ramadan is the ninth month of the lunar calendar.
During the month, Muslims abstain from food, drink and sexual relations
from dawn to sunset. The fast is one of the Five Pillars, or
fundamental
obligations, of Islam, and Eid al-Fitr is one of the two major Islamic
holidays. The other, Eid al-Adha, is held in connection with hajj, the
pilgrimage to Mecca...
For information on the date of the celebration, call the Islamic
Society of
Greater Kansas City at (816) 763-2267.
ALSO SEE:
CLERGY ON RAMADAN HOLD HOPE FOR WORLD
Sharyn Obsatz, Press-Enterprise, 11/22/03
http://www.pe.com/localnews/inland/stories/PE_NEWS_ninter23.a1390.html
FONTANA - They stood in a circle, holding hands, heads bowed in prayer.
Muslim, Christian and Jew, men and women, united by fellowship and a
love
of good food.
Twenty people gathered for an interfaith Ramadan dinner Saturday
evening at
the Fontana home of Aslam Abdullah, editor of the Minaret and the
Muslim
Observer, and his wife, Amtul Aziz.
Before a meal of meat curry and beef kabobs, they sat in the living
room,
shaking their heads in frustration over the recent suicide bombings in
Turkey and Iraq.
"It makes me very sad to see what's happening," said Parveen Imdad
Ahmad, a
Pakistani Muslim immigrant who lives in Upland and works at Patton
State
Hospital near Highland. "So many people get up in the morning to fast
and
are killed by their own people."
Adherents of different religions follow different pathways to the same
God,
said the Rev. Gilford Bisjak of Highland Congregational Church.
"When we are destroying each other and using our religion as a
rationale,
then we're really betraying the essential principles of our faith," he
said...
---
MUSLIMS READY TO CELEBRATE RAMADAN EID
Waveney Ann Moore, St. Petersburg Times, 11/23/03
http://www.sptimes.com/2003/11/23/Neighborhoodtimes/Muslims_ready_to_cele.shtml
ST. PETERSBURG - In this country, the everyday world doesn't stop for
Muslims during Ramadan, when obligation requires that they abstain from
eating, drinking and other sensual pleasures from sunrise to sunset.
Monday or Tuesday, though, life should resume its normal rhythm for
Muslims
in the Tampa Bay area with the sighting of the new moon that signals
the
end of Islam's holiest month and the beginning of the three-day
festival,
Eid al-Fitr...
In some predominantly Muslim countries, schools and offices close
during
Ramadan. For American Muslims, there still is work to be done, business
luncheons to attend and decisions to be made. During the month of
fasting,
Dr. Mouhannad Budeir, a dentist in Northeast Shopping Center, works
through
his lunch hour...
The timing of Ramadan is dictated by the moon, so the days of fasting
are
shorter in winter and fall months. Conversely, they drag on in the
summer.
Aquil recalled the Ramadan he worked outdoors in 90-degree weather. A
longtime convert, these days there's no avoiding the business lunches
and
dinners that come with his executive responsibilities and community
commitments...
---
DESIGNING WOMEN
Kimberly Palmer, Chicago Tribune, 11/23/03
http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/lifestyle/q/chi-0311230485nov23,1,6137407.story
Afia Parveen, a beautician at the salon Great Cuts on Devon Avenue,
keeps
her dark hair partially covered with a white scarf as she shows a
customer
photos of the different designs she has drawn on people's bodies. Her
salon
is quiet, with just a few customers getting their eyebrows shaped and
hair cut.
But in a few days, the salon will be transformed into henna central.
"Just
for the end of Ramadan, there are more than 100 people here. We had to
hire
an extra girl just to do mendhi," says Parveen, who is 19 and who
recently
moved to Chicago from Pakistan. She plans to work until 1 a.m. and move
customers into the front and back rooms of the salon, which is
decorated
with photos of elaborate henna, also known as mendhi, on brides' hands
and
feet.
Henna is the practice of decorating the body with an herbal stain that
lasts for about two weeks. Although henna can be used on any festive
occasion, the celebration at the end of Ramadan, known as Eid
Al-Fitrah, is
one of the most popular times to apply the dye. It begins this week,
depending on when the moon is sighted. Henna is not often applied
during
Ramadan, a month of fasting, abstention and introspection...
-----
SPECIAL REGISTRATION FOR ARAB IMMIGRANTS WILL REPORTEDLY STOP
Rachel L. Swarns, New York Times, 11/2/03
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/22/politics/22REGI.html
WASHINGTON - The Homeland Security Department has decided to stop a
program
that required thousands of Arab and Muslim men to register with
immigration
authorities after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, officials said on
Friday.
Hoping to hunt down terrorists, immigration officials fingerprinted,
photographed and interviewed 85,000 Muslim and Arab noncitizens from
November 2002 to May 2003 under the program. The effort, the largest to
register immigrants in decades, required annual reporting. Men from
Iran,
Iraq, Libya, Sudan and Syria began going to immigration offices for a
second round of registrations this month.
Officials have acknowledged that most of the Arabs and Muslims who have
complied with the requirements had no ties to terrorist groups. Of the
85,000 men who went to immigration offices early this year, as well as
tens
of thousands screened at airports and border crossings, 11 had links to
terrorism, officials said.
The program was sharply criticized by civil liberties groups and
advocates
for immigrants. The critics said it did little to find terrorists and
alienated the very communities that could help uncover terrorists.
Advocates for immigrants have also complained that immigration
officials
have done little to publicize the second round, touching off waves of
confusion and anxiety.
Government officials said questions had arisen about the effectiveness
of
the program. They said an announcement about ending it might be made as
early as next week...
-----
LOCAL MUSLIMS CONDEMN TERRORISM
Sam Hamod, North County Times, 11/22/03
http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2003/11/22/opinion/commentary/11_21_0321_36_34.txt
"To kill one innocent person is to kill all of mankind; to save one
innocent person is to save all of mankind," according to the Koran. The
Muslim holy book also states, "You Muslims are brothers in faith with
the
Jews and Christians; they are also people of the book."
Two major synagogues and a mosque were destroyed by terrorists in
Turkey
last week. More than two dozen people were killed, more than 40 homes
destroyed and hundreds of Jews and Turks were wounded in the blasts.
The Turkish news service reports that two Anatolian Turks who had
trained
in Afghanistan with al-Qaida are the primary suspects. The Turkish
government and the Muslim religious leaders in Turkey were outraged by
this
cruel and criminal act and condemned the bombings.
Islam forbids the killing of innocent people. Muslims condemn the
bombings
of the synagogues. I have spoken with religious leaders from Turkey,
Egypt,
Syria, Lebanon and Saudi Arabia and they all agree with this
condemnation
of the evil men who perpetrated this unholy act of terrorism...
As everyone is aware today, many times the people who perpetrate these
acts
claim they are Muslims. Unfortunately, we cannot stop them from making
such
claims. But serious Muslims condemn them and their actions. They are
not
true Muslims if they do such evil deeds against innocent civilians. In
this
case it was a double sin because it was a day of Sabbath for the
Jews...
-----
U.S. SEEKS ADVICE FROM ISRAEL ON IRAQ
Esther Schrader and Josh Meyer, Los Angeles Times 11/22/03
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/iraq/la-fg-usisrael22nov22,1,7715171.story
WASHINGTON - Facing a bloody insurgency by guerrillas who label it an
"occupier," the U.S. military has quietly turned to an ally experienced
with occupation and uprisings: Israel.
In the last six months, U.S. Army commanders, Pentagon officials and
military trainers have sought advice from Israeli intelligence and
security
officials on everything from how to set up roadblocks to the best way
to
bomb suspected guerrilla hide-outs in an urban area...
The contacts between the two governments on military tactics and
strategies
in Iraq are mostly classified, and officials are reluctant to give the
impression that the U.S. is brainstorming with Israel on the best way
to
occupy Iraq. Cambone said there is no formal dialogue between the two
allies on Iraq, but they are working together.
Indeed, the U.S. is loath to draw any comparison between what it says
is
its liberation of Iraq and what the international community has
condemned
as Israel's illegal occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
But Israeli and American officials confirm that with extremists
carrying
out suicide bombings and firing rocket-propelled grenades and missiles
on
U.S. forces in Iraq, the Pentagon is increasingly seeking advice from
the
Israeli military on how to defeat the sort of insurgency that Israel
has
long experience confronting...
-----
F.B.I. SCRUTINIZES ANTIWAR RALLIES
Eric Lictblau, New York Times, 11/23/03
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/23/national/23FBI.html
WASHINGTON - The Federal Bureau of Investigation has collected
extensive
information on the tactics, training and organization of antiwar
demonstrators and has advised local law enforcement officials to report
any
suspicious activity at protests to its counterterrorism squads,
according
to interviews and a confidential bureau memorandum.
The memorandum, which the bureau sent to local law enforcement agencies
last month in advance of antiwar demonstrations in Washington and San
Francisco, detailed how protesters have sometimes used "training camps"
to
rehearse for demonstrations, the Internet to raise money and gas masks
to
defend against tear gas. The memorandum analyzed lawful activities like
recruiting demonstrators, as well as illegal activities like using fake
documentation to get into a secured site.
F.B.I. officials said in interviews that the intelligence-gathering
effort
was aimed at identifying anarchists and "extremist elements" plotting
violence, not at monitoring the political speech of law-abiding
protesters.
The initiative has won the support of some local police, who view it as
a
critical way to maintain order at large-scale demonstrations. Indeed,
some
law enforcement officials said they believed the F.B.I.'s approach had
helped to ensure that nationwide antiwar demonstrations in recent
months,
drawing hundreds of thousands of protesters, remained largely free of
violence and disruption...
-----
AMJ HOSTS DISCUSSION ON ISRAELI WALL
AMJ invites you to attend a presentation titled, "The Israeli Wall:
Security or Apartheid," an eyewitness testimony and analysis by
Catherine
Cook, Senior Analyst and Media Coordinator, Middle East Research and
Information Project.
WHEN: Monday, November 24th, 7:30 pm
WHERE: Marvin Center Amphitheater, 3rd Floor
George Washington University
800 21st St. NW
Washington, DC 20052
Sponsored by: Islamic Alliance for Justice
-----
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-----
CAIR
Council on American-Islamic Relations
453 New Jersey Avenue, S.E.
Washington, D.C. 20003
Tel: 202-488-8787, 202-744-7726
Fax: 202-488-0833
E-mail: cair@cair-net.org
URL: http://www.cair-net.org
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
AMERICAN MUSLIM NEWS BRIEFS - 11/24/03
* VERSE OF THE DAY: HONOR AND BLESSINGS
* LAST DAY TO REGISTER FOR CAIR'S DC DINNER
- Rep. Hinchey Sends Letter of Support to CAIR
- Ramadan Campaign Raises $223K Online
* STEREOTYPING HURTS THE WAR (Washington Times)
* EID MUBARAK FROM CAIR
* CAIR-OHIO: MUSLIMS SHARE FEAST WITH NEIGHBORHOOD
* IT'S BEGINNING TO LOOK A LOT LIKE EID (Star Tribune)
- MD: Behind Bars, a Recast Ramadan (Wash. Post)
- VA Muslims Reach Out in Ramadan (Virginian-Pilot)
- FL: Ramadan Ends on Somber Note (Sun-Sentinel)
- Muslim Holiday Testing Schools (Chicago Tribune)
* BUS DRIVERS SUSPENDED OVER HEADDRESSES (NY Newsday)
- Ban on Headscarfs in Singapore Remain (AFP)
* SOUTH AFRICAN MUSLIMS SCOFF AT US DINNER (IOL)
* CAUGHT IN THE IMMIGRATION WEB (Daily Herald)
* MD: ISLAMIC LIBRARY OPEN HOUSE
-----
VERSE OF THE DAY: HONOR AND BLESSINGS
As for man, when his Lord tries him through giving him honor and
blessings,
he says: "My Lord is bountiful to me." But when He tries him through
restricting his subsistence, he says: "My Lord has humiliated me."
Nay! But you did not show kindness to the orphan, nor did you encourage
each other in feeding the poor. Greedily you lay your hands on the
inheritance of the weak, and you love wealth with all your hearts.
Nay! You should know, when the earth will be pounded to powder, your
Lord
will come, with angels standing in ranks, hell shall be brought in
sight.
On that Day man will remember his deeds, but how is that remembrance
going
to profit him?
The Holy Quran, 89:15-23
-----
LAST DAY TO REGISTER FOR CAIR'S DC DINNER 11/29!
Congressman Maurice D. Hinchey Sends Letter of Support to CAIR
Registration for CAIR's Ninth Annual Fundraising Dinner on November
29th in
Washington, D.C., closes after next Monday. (CAIR's dinners have often
been
sold out in the past, so ACT NOW to reserve your place.) The dinner,
with
the theme "Muslims in America: A Defining Moment," features
presidential
candidate Dennis Kucinich as the keynote speaker.
In a letter to CAIR, CONGRESSMAN MAURICE D. HINCHEY: "CAIR has done an
outstanding job educating the American public about Islam and Islamic
perceptions. American Muslims are a rapidly growing community making
wonderful contributions to the United States. As CAIR recognizes,
however,
there are deep misunderstandings and misrepresentations of Islam that
exist
in the United States. This makes CAIR's mission one of the most
important
undertakings in our country today.
"We were deeply disturbed when reports surfaced of anti-remarks made by
Lieutenant General William G. Boykin, President Bush's Deputy
Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence and War-Fighting Support.
Lt.
Gen. Boykin characterized our current anti-terrorism efforts as a
religious
struggle and made disparaging and hostile remarks toward Islam and
Muslims
in public forums while in uniform. His remarks do not reflect most
Americans' views on Islam, yet they server as a dangerous reminder that
anti-Islam beliefs are prevalent, even at high levels of this
government...
"It is tragic that Muslims in America continue to be unfairly targeted
and
stereotyped. There are now an estimated 7 million Muslims residing in
the
U.S. The vast majority of these people have brought with them
traditions
and diverse ideas that have made a tremendously positive impact on our
community. We should embrace this community and learn from its
members..."
WHERE: Sheraton Premiere at Tysons Corner, 8661 Leesburg Pike, Tysons
Corner/Vienna, VA.
COST: Tickets: $55/$85 per couple R.S.V.P. by Nov. 24, 2003
No children please. (Limited babysitting with prior notice only - $10
per
child.)
REGISTER FOR CAIR'S DINNER BY GOING TO:
https://www.cair-net.org/2003dinner-register.asp
---
RAMADAN CAMPAIGN RAISES $223K ONLINE
CAIR's Million in Ramadan Campaign has raised over $223,000 online!
You,
too, can support an organization that works to empower and protect the
American Muslim community.
Please, donate generously to the campaign. Every donation counts!
Support us by donating online at:
http://www.cair-net.org/asp/millionforislam.asp
To view a short video on CAIR, go to www.cair-net.org
(NOTE: Scholars says CAIR is able to receive ZAKAT donations.)
-----
STEREOTYPING HURTS THE WAR
Lynne Bernabei and David Cole, Washington Times, 11/23/03
http://washingtontimes.com/op-ed/20031123-111636-6208r.htm
All nineteen of the hijackers on September 11 were Arab Muslim men from
foreign countries. That fact, together with intelligence that Al Qaeda
consists largely of Arab Muslim men, has sparked the most widespread
campaign of ethnic profiling that this country has seen since the
treatment
of Americans and immigrants of Japanese descent during World War II.
But
just as ethnic profiling did not work then to identify true threats to
the
nation's security, so the country's current round of profiling has not
worked to identify real terrorists, and has instead obstructed efforts
to
find those who truly threaten us.
By drawing a wide net of suspicion over virtually every Muslim and Arab
man
in this country, the government wastes its resources and misdirects its
attention. Instead of doing investigative work to come up with a set of
real suspects, the Government declares an entire community to be
suspicious, and then proceeds to search for the proverbial needle in a
haystack...
We have not interned Arabs and Muslims in the same numbers as the
Japanese
during World War II. But we have indulged the same kind of ethnic
stereotyping by treating large numbers of human beings as suspect not
for
their individual actions but for their ethnic or religious identity.
-----
EID MUBARAK
CAIR's staff and board wish everyone a blessed Eid ul-Fitr. May God
accept
your deeds.
-----
MUSLIMS SHARE FEAST WITH NEIGHBORHOOD
Kevin Eigelbach, Cincinnati Post, 11/24/03
http://www.cincypost.com/2003/11/24/rama112403.html
Members of the Cincinnati Muslim community took their faith to the
streets
Sunday night in Over-the-Rhine.
They invited local residents, Muslim and non-Muslim alike, to observe
the
end of Ramadan, a month long time of abstinence and spiritual
reflection.
They set up tents on 15th Street between Elm and Pleasant streets,
beside
the Malik Islamic Center, and served a meal of chicken, rice, green
beans
and pita bread...
During Ramadan, which doesn't officially end until Tuesday morning,
believers abstain from food, drink, sex, candy and other sensual
pleasures
during the daylight hours.
"It really tests your will, and makes you a stronger, better person,"
said
Tarif Hourani, a Syrian native who lives in Dayton.
Hourani serves on the board of directors for the new Cincinnati branch
of
the Council on American-Islamic Relations, which sponsored the feast
along
with the Malik mosque and the Muslim Student Association of the
University
of Cincinnati.
Joseph Strohmeier, who works for the council's national headquarters in
Washington, said mosques ought to do this every week, not just during
Ramadan.
It's all about loving your neighbor, he said, an idea that Islam and
Christianity hold in common.
-----
IT'S BEGINNING TO LOOK A LOT LIKE EID
Allie Shah, Star Tribune, 11/24/03
http://www.startribune.com/stories/1405/4229707.html
Add this to the list of Hallmark holidays: Eid al Fitr.
This year, the greeting card company introduced a small line of cards
to
mark the Muslim holiday celebrating the end of the monthlong fasting
season
of Ramadan. The appearance of Eid cards is yet another sign that the
holiday is gaining mainstream recognition in America.
The cards, featuring several colorful designs, appeared in 500 retail
stories nationwide, including those in the Twin Cities. The demand was
certainly there. As of this week, the cards are "pretty much sold out,"
said Deidre Parkes, publicist for Hallmark Cards, which is based in
Kansas
City. There are no plans to print more cards in time for Eid al Fitr
(pronounced EED ul FITHer) next week, but Hallmark will probably sell
them
again next year. Hallmark.com also offers a few e-cards.
It's good business, with Muslims now the fastest-growing religious
group in
the United States, including tens of thousands in Minnesota.
It's not hard anymore to scroll through Yahoo! Greetings and other
Internet
sites to find cards wishing "Ramadan Kareem" (Blessed Ramadan) and "Eid
Mubarak" (Happy holiday). IKEA, the trendy furniture store, created ads
for
its Canadian Web site this year that show Muslims gathering in their
well-decorated homes to celebrate Eid. Women with scarves covering
their
hair are shown entertaining with trays of dates and other sweets, and
children play with toys advertised as "Eid gifts..."
"Obviously, we see it as a positive sign that there is a recognition of
the
Muslim community and its buying power in the United States," said
Ibrahim
Hooper of the Council on American-Islamic Relations in Washington, D.C.
But
the downside, he said, is that the gain for big businesses such as
Hallmark
may mean a loss for Muslim-owned small businesses that have created a
niche
by selling Eid cards and other holiday-related items...
ALSO SEE:
BEHIND BARS, A RECAST RAMADAN
Robin Shulman, Washington Post, 11/24/03
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A8813-2003Nov23.html
A handful of inmates took mops to the day's grime on the floor of the
cafeteria of the Maryland Correctional Training Center in Hagerstown.
They
unfurled large fringed carpets and laid them out, overlapping at the
edges,
to make a rectangle of space for prayer.
Then about 150 men kicked off their Timberland boots and Converse
running
shoes and plastic slip-ons. Moving onto the carpet, some of them in
jeans,
some in sweats, some in tunics, the men formed perfect lines and began
nightly Ramadan prayer under the watch of two corrections officers.
"Allah
akbar" -- God is great -- they said in one voice.
For the past month, Muslims have been observing Ramadan among family
and
friends, altering their daytime routines to fast, pray and give alms to
the
poor and enjoying huge meals at night. But for Muslims in prison, a
place
where many convert and learn the requirements of a new faith, the
rituals
of Ramadan are squeezed among the rules and routines of institutional
life.
This is Jamaine Johnson's first Ramadan since becoming Muslim in
September.
Johnson, 22, who is from the Bronx, N.Y., was convicted of crack
cocaine
possession and auto theft last spring.
In many ways, his observance of Ramadan is not very different from that
of
other Muslims. He has been waking early in the morning for required
prayer.
He leaves his cell to perform ablutions over the bathroom sink down the
hall: water on his hands, mouth, nostrils. Back in his cell, he lays
out a
towel as a prayer rug. He kneels on it and thinks of God and speaks the
Arabic words he has learned.
But there are things he cannot do. The last 10 days of Ramadan are the
holiest period, a time of reflection surrounding the Night of Power,
when
the Koran was revealed to Muhammad. Outside, devout Muslims spend those
nights in the mosque. But inmates cannot leave their cell tiers except
at
certain times, and the chapel on the prison grounds is too small
anyway...
Several other issues involving food remain unsettled. At some prisons,
the
breakfast provided to inmates before dawn isn't large enough to sustain
them until dusk, said Khadija Athman, the civil rights adviser at the
Council on American-Islamic Relations, an advocacy group…
---
RAMADAN ALLOWS LOCAL MUSLIMS TO REACH OUT
Steven G. Vegh, Virginian-Pilot, 11/24/03
http://home.hamptonroads.com/stories/story.cfm?story=62705&ran=32643
NORFOLK - Rachel Clark, a junior at Old Dominion University, admits
that
before last week, she had only a vague idea of what happens during
Ramadan,
the annual religious holiday observed for hundreds of years by millions
of
Muslims around the world.
But like those millions, Clark found herself at sunset last Thursday at
"iftar," joining in Muslim classmates' breaking of the Ramadan fast.
Her hosts, the Muslim Student Association and the Muslim Community of
Tidewater, held the event specifically to give non-Muslims an
opportunity
to meet Muslims and participate in a basic aspect of Islam. The dinner
at
ODU's Webb Center drew about half a dozen non-Muslims.
For Clark, a Norfolk native, the evening offered insights that she said
many lack. "A lot of Americans hear the words 'Ramadan' and 'Muslim'
and
don't understand," she said.
While broad ignorance about Muslims doubtlessly existed in America for
years before Sept. 11, 2001, the deadly events on that day gave Muslims
in
the United States a sudden reason to be concerned about how they were
viewed by a non-Muslim public...
"These types of events humanize us," said Rabiah Ahmed of the Council
on
American-Islamic Relations. The national Muslim advocacy group
distributes
a "Ramadan publicity kit," listing different ways Muslim congregations
can
engage the public…
---
RAMADAN ENDS ON SOMBER NOTE FOR S. FLORIDA MUSLIMS
James D. Davis, Sun-Sentinel, 11/24/03
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/southflorida/sfl-eid24nov24,0,6175694.story
For many American Muslims, this has been a painful Ramadan.
On one hand, their fellow Americans have been fighting Muslims in Iraq.
On the other, their fellow Muslims in Iraq have been laying bombs and
serving as suicide bombers.
All of it during a month reserved for prayer, fasting and
self-restraint.
Ramadan ends this week with Eid ul-Fitr, a celebration for having
fulfilled
Ramadan duties. But for South Florida Muslims, the dilemmas will
remain.
Somber thoughts at the end of a month meant to make people grow
spiritually. During Ramadan, the prophet Muhammad is said to have
received
the Quran via dictation from Allah. In honor of the event, Muslims are
required to fast, pray and read the Quran...
---
MUSLIM HOLIDAY TESTING SCHOOLS
Oscar Avila, Chicago Tribune, 11/24/03
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-0311240226nov24,1,5132238.story
DEARBORN HEIGHTS, Mich. -- In this quiet Detroit suburb with a growing
Muslim population, shopkeepers lure Thanksgiving shoppers by offering
turkeys killed in accordance with the teachings of Islam. Students in
the
school cafeterias can choose pizza with halal pepperoni.
But when parents and officials in the Crestwood School District
suggested
giving students Tuesday off for the Muslim holiday of
Eid-al-Fitr--which
marks the end of Ramadan--a firestorm erupted.
School board members complained the superintendent had not consulted
them
on the matter, and a small but vocal group of parents argued that
Muslims
should follow the traditions of other immigrants and not expect special
treatment.
"There is already some animosity because the demographics of Dearborn
Heights are changing a lot faster than make people comfortable," said
Jumana Judeh, mother of two children in the district. "These kinds of
issues make those growing pains worse."
After emotional discussions, the district this month decided to join a
handful of others nationwide that have made Eid a day off for all
students,
regardless of their religion...
-----
WOMEN BUS DRIVERS SUSPENDED OVER HEADDRESSES
Herbert Lowe, NY Newsday, 11/24/03
http://www.nynewsday.com/nyc-busfinal1124,0,3056676.story
Four female MTA bus drivers have lost their routes because they refused
to
cover or stop wearing their traditional Muslim headdresses while on
duty,
attorneys and advocates said yesterday.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority's demands represent religious
and
gender discrimination and is an overreaction to fears stemming from the
terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, the attorneys said.
"The MTA's position that our clients wear baseball hats to cover their
khimars is not only an affront to Islam but has no legal or moral
basis,"
attorney Lonnie Hart Jr. said at a news conference. "The MTA has failed
to
cite any legitimate reason for their discriminatory practices."
The MTA first objected to the headdress when Malikah Alkebulan began
working for the authority in March 2002, Hart said. In May, Alkebulan
and
Deirdre Small filed a federal lawsuit in Brooklyn that seeks more than
$20
million in damages, Hart said. It also alleges that they were suspended
even as male Muslims operate MTA buses while wearing headdresses
without
reprisal.
"There is a feeling out there that women are easier to intimidate and
women
are easier to approach and made to relent and give up," said another
attorney, Armani Scott. "They picked the wrong women..."
ALSO SEE:
BAN ON MUSLIM HEADSCARFS IN SINGAPORE SCHOOLS TO REMAIN
Agence France Presse, 11/24/03
SINGAPORE- The controversial ban on girls wearing Islamic headscarfs in
Singapore schools will remain because it promotes racial harmony,
Deputy
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said in comments released on Monday.
In an interview with the Malay language Berita Harian newspaper, Lee
said
the "main unhappiness" among the city-state's minority Muslim-Malay
population was the school restriction on the headscarf, or tudung, but
defended the ban.
"We are especially concerned for the students because at a young age
any
marks or distinction on any group of students can make others look at
them
differently," Lee said, according to a transcript released by the
government.
"This can easily make them feel different and cause them to be
segregated
from the rest."
Lee said lifting the school tudung ban could weaken Singapore's
multi-racial society, which is predominantly ethnic Chinese with
significant Malay and Indian minority populations...
-----
SOUTH AFRICAN MUSLIMS SCOFF AT US DINNER
Farook Khan, Ndivhuwo Khangale and Peter Fabricius, IOL, 11/24/03
http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?click_id=6&art_id=vn20031124044413782C363531&set_id=1
American efforts to build bridges with the South African Muslim
community
by inviting representatives to dinner on Monday night have been met
with
outrage.
The "Iftaar Dinner", as it is being called by the American government,
was
introduced at US missions worldwide last year. It is part of a new
White
House initiative to get Muslims to understand that the US is not
anti-Islam. Iftaar is at sunset, when Muslims break their daily fast
during
the holy month of Ramadan, which is expected to end with the sighting
of
the new moon on Tuesday.
But Muslims around South Africa are mortified at the suggestion of
breaking
bread with Americans, whose policies they find offensive, with some in
Durban remarking they would rather drink poison.
Muslim Youth Movement national president Naeem Jeenah has called on all
Muslims not to accept the Americans' invitation.
'We don't see how Muslims can break the fast with the same people who
oppressed them'
"This is simple a public relations job and photo opportunities for
Americans. We don't see how Muslims can break the fast with the same
people
who oppressed them for years...
-----
CAUGHT IN THE IMMIGRATION WEB
Burt Constable, Daily Herald, 11/23/03
http://www.dailyherald.com/search/main_story.asp?intid=37948280
Schaumburg cosmetologist Habeeba Zainab wants her husband back, even if
it
means pouring out her most private thoughts in a letter to immigration
officials.
"Our relatives and friends, they say he not a good-looking person --
'Why
you marry?' But I know …" Zainab writes in broken English. "He is good
to
me. He is gentle man. He is healthy, and hard worker. I don't care if
he is
not look so beautiful. I want a man who looks after me."
Native Pakistani Amir Hussain Shah promised, "I will take care of you."
And
he did take care of his often-sick wife -- right up until the U.S.
government stuck him in prison for five months and deported him.
Shah was one of thousands of Muslims deported in a sweeping immigration
crackdown targeting men from Islamic nations, the Chicago Tribune
reported
last week. The dragnet grew out of terrorist fears, but, according to
the
report, none of the thousands of men deported was charged with
terrorism...
-----
EID DINNER AND ISLAMIC LIBRARY OPEN HOUSE
WHAT: Eid celebration and dinner featuring the grand opening of the
CAPITAL-AREA ISLAMIC LIBRARY.
WHEN: Saturday, December 6. Library Open house from 3-7 p.m. and dinner
at
7:00 p.m.
WHERE: Open house is at MSA Musallah, 0204 Cole Field House. Dinner is
at
the University of Maryland, College Park Grand Ballroom
Tickets $10 individual, $5 student/child
See participating organizations to purchase a ticket. Seating is
limited.
For more information and directions, visit http://www.msa-umd.org or
call
(301) 389-0107
-----
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http://cair.biglist.com/cair-net/
To reach the list moderator, send a message to: cair@cair-net.org
-----
CAIR
Council on American-Islamic Relations
453 New Jersey Avenue, S.E.
Washington, D.C. 20003
Tel: 202-488-8787, 202-744-7726
Fax: 202-488-0833
E-mail: cair@cair-net.org
URL: http://www.cair-net.org
Forwarded Message
Date:
Wed, 26 Nov 2003 00:32:04 -0500
To:
cair-net@cair.biglist.com
From:
"CAIR" <cair@cair-net.org>
Subject:
CAIR-NET: Motive for New Charges Against Capt. Yee Questioned
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MOTIVE FOR NEW CHARGES AGAINST MUSLIM CHAPLAIN QUESTIONED
(SEATTLE, WA, 11/25/03) - The Seattle chapter of the Council on
American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-Seattle) tonight applauded the release
of
Capt. James Yee pending trial, but questioned the government's motives
in
bringing new charges that appear designed to harm his reputation among
supporters.
Yee, the former Muslim chaplain in Guant�namo Bay, Cuba, was charged
Tuesday with adultery and storing pornography on a government computer.
He
was detained in September and later charged with mishandling classified
documents in a case that initially portrayed him as engaging in
espionage.
Huda Sobuh, Captain Yee's wife, told CAIR-Seattle: "I believe
emphatically
that my husband is innocent of all these charges. I stand by him. It is
clear to me the U.S. government only wants to destroy his reputation
and
his family. They will not succeed."
"These new allegations, including as they do serious violations of
Islamic
moral principles, have the odor of a smear campaign about them," said
Ibrahim Mohamed, CAIR-Seattle chairman. "A cynical person might
question
the government's motivation for bringing these charges after having
failed
to back up earlier leaks pointing to espionage and support for
terrorism."
"To bring adultery into a case that began with public allegations of
aiding
the enemy is really outrageous, and the type of thing that can give
military justice a bad name," said Eugene Fidell, Yee's civilian
attorney.
Fidell had asked President Bush to release Yee for the Eid ul-Fitr
holiday,
which began Tuesday in most parts of the Muslim world, marking the end
of
Ramadan.
CAIR, America's largest Islamic civil liberties group, is headquartered
in
Washington, D.C., and has 25 regional offices and chapters nationwide
and
in Canada.
- END -
CONTACT: CAIR-Seattle, Samia El-Moslimany, 206-409-3407, E-MAIL:
samia@cair-seattle.org; CAIR-National, Ibrahim Hooper, 202-488-8787 or
202-744-7726, E-MAIL: cair@cair-net.org
NOTE: CAIR offers an e-mail list designed to be a window to the
American
Muslim community. Subscribers to the list, called CAIR-NET, receive
news
releases and other materials dealing with American Muslim positions on
issues of importance to our society.
To SUBSCRIBE to CAIR-NET, go to: http://cair.biglist.com/cair-net/
-----
CAIR
Council on American-Islamic Relations
453 New Jersey Avenue, S.E.
Washington, D.C. 20003
Tel: 202-488-8787, 202-744-7726
Fax: 202-488-0833
E-mail: cair@cair-net.org
URL: http://www.cair-net.org
-----
Forwarded Message
Date:
Thu, 27 Nov 2003 14:11:40 -0500
To:
cair-net@cair.biglist.com
From:
"CAIR" <cair@cair-net.org>
Subject:
CAIR-NET: Extra Credit for Ramadan Fast Draws Protest in Calif.
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
AMERICAN MUSLIM NEWS BRIEFS - 11/27/03
* HADITH OF THE DAY: THANKSGIVING
* STILL A FEW PLACES LEFT FOR CAIR'S DC DINNER
- Ramadan Campaign Raises $256K Online
* LIBRARY PROJECT: CANADIAN MUSLIMS DONATING BOOKS
- CAIR-NY: Empowerment Through Activism
- CAIR-MD: Cross-Burners Sentenced
- CAIR-CAN: The Muslim Experience in Canada
- CAIR-CAN: Deliver Us from Suspicion (Globe & Mail)
- CAIR-San Antonio: Holidays Point to Tolerance
- CAIR-Ohio: Many Hate Crimes Unreported
* EXTRA CREDIT FOR RAMADAN FAST DRAWS PROTEST (LA Times)
- School District Files Response to Hijab Lawsuit (AP)
- Teacher Fired For Anti-Arab Remarks (New York Sun)
* MUSLIMS VOTERS ARE ANGRY -- AND THEY MATTER (BusinessWeek)
* YEE'S SUPPORTERS RELIEVED, OUTRAGED (Pacific News Service)
- Muslim Chaplain Faces New Charges (Seattle Times)
* MAKING THE EID STAMP STICK (NY Newsday)
- Gov. Dean's Statement on Eid
- President Bush's Eid Greetings
* EID COVERAGE ROUNDUP
- Breaking Fast with Lesson in Giving (Chicago Trib)
- Feasts Cap Month of Fasting (Chicago Tribune)
- Muslims Rejoice in Their Blessings (LA Times)
- Prayers Mark the End of Ramadan (Miami Herald)
- Muslims End Ramadan with Ceremony (SF Chronicle)
* ACLU HELPS IMMIGRANTS RE-REGISTER (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)
* INTERFAITH GROUP TO ADMIT MUSLIMS (Milwaukee Journal)
- KY: U.S. Muslims Called Best Hope (Courier-Journal)
* DEFINING 'PRACTICING MUSLIM' IS DIFFICULT (Kansas City Star)
- Daniel Pipes: Offensive Questioning (National Post)
* FAITH AND FREEDOM WRAPPED UP IN A HEADSCARF (London Times)
- Europe's Muslims Treated as Outsiders (Wash. Post)
- Mosque Attacked in Northern France (AFP)
- French School Expels Girl for Wearing Head Scarf (AP)
* ISRAELI UNIVERSITIES CHANGE TO KEEP ARABS OUT (Haaretz)
* VERSES FROM QURAN REMOVED FROM IRAQ SCHOOL BOOKS (FT)
- Soldier Accused of Beating Iraqi: 'It is war' (AP)
* DC LECTURE: "PILGRIMAGES: THE HEART OF ISLAM"
------
HADITH OF THE DAY: THANKSGIVING
The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: "If anyone says in the
morning, 'O God! Whatever favor has come to me, it comes from Thee
alone…To
Thee praise and thanksgiving are due,' he will have expressed full
thanksgiving for the day. And if anyone says the same in the evening,
he
will have expressed full thanksgiving for the night."
Sunan of Abu-Dawood, Hadith 2395
-----
STILL A FEW PLACES LEFT FOR CAIR'S DC DINNER
There are still a few places left for CAIR's Ninth Annual Fundraising
Dinner on November 29th in Washington, D.C. (CAIR's dinners have often
been
sold out in the past, so ACT NOW to reserve your place.) The dinner,
with
the theme "Muslims in America: A Defining Moment," features
presidential
candidate Dennis Kucinich as the keynote speaker.
WHERE: Sheraton Premiere at Tysons Corner, 8661 Leesburg Pike, Tysons
Corner/Vienna, VA.
COST: Tickets: $55/$85 per couple R.S.V.P. by Nov. 24, 2003
No children please. (Limited babysitting with prior notice only - $10
per
child.)
TO REGISTER FOR CAIR'S DINNER, call 202-488-8787 or e-mail:
register@cair-net.org
---
RAMADAN CAMPAIGN RAISES $256K ONLINE
CAIR's Million in Ramadan Campaign has raised over $256,000 online!
You,
too, can support an organization that works to empower and protect the
American Muslim community.
Please, donate generously to the campaign. Every donation counts!
Support us by donating online at:
http://www.cair-net.org/asp/millionforislam.asp
To view a short video on CAIR, go to www.cair-net.org
(NOTE: Scholars says CAIR is able to receive ZAKAT donations.)
-----
CAIR LIBRARY PROJECT
http://www.cair-net.org/libraryproject/
MUSLIMS DONATING BOOKS, TAPES TO LIBRARIES
Vancouver Sun, 11/26/03
http://www.canada.com/vancouver/
At mosques throughout Greater Vancouver Tuesday, the B.C. Muslim
Association appealed for help in its effort to donate books and
cassettes
about Islam to all 260 public libraries in the province.
More than one-third of B.C.'s library districts, including those in
Surrey,
Richmond, Victoria, North Vancouver and Port Moody, have accepted the
educational package.
The association hopes the material will teach Muslims and non-Muslims
about
Islam.
The books and cassettes being distributed to B.C. libraries include:
- The Islamic Threat: Myth or Reality? by Prof. John Esposito (Oxford
University Press).
- The Complete Idiot's Guide to Understanding Islam by Yahiya Emerick.
(Alpha Books).
- Celebrating Ramadan by Diane Hoyt-Goldsmith (Holiday House).
- Gender Equity in Islam by Prof. Jamal Badawi (American Trust
Publications).
- Silent No More: Confronting America's False Images of Islam by U.S.
Congressman Paul Findley (Amana Publications).
- The Life of the Last Prophet (audio) by Yusuf Islam (formerly known
as
Cat Stevens). (Mountain of Light Productions).
- Reel Bad Arabs: How Hollywood Vilifies a People by Jack Shaheen
(Olive
Branch Press).
- Islam: Empire of Faith. Three-hour TV series by Robert Gardner. (PBS)
SEE ALSO:
CAIR-NY: EMPOWERMENT THROUGH ACTIVISM
Watch this energizing TV special on Pakistan Television's PTV PRIME
Sunday
November 30, 2003 at 9:30 p.m.
(New York City, New York) - On Sunday November 30, 2003 at 9:30 pm EST,
PTV
PRIME will air a portion of the Council on American-Islamic Relations:
Empowerment Through Activism.
This powerful event will present vital information to the public on
topics
such as civil rights in America, fighting back the Patriot Act,
political
activism, and the morality questions we as a nation face in the
aftermath
of the invasion of Iraq.
Speakers include Nihad Awad, Executive Director of the national office
for
the Council on American-Islamic Relations and Yvonne Ridley,
international
war correspondent and most recently Senior Correspondent for Al-Jazeera
TV.
DISHNETWORK: Channel 616
WHEN: Sunday November 30, 2003
TIME: 9:30 PM Eastern Standard Time
For more information on the Council on American-Islamic Relations New
York,
a part of the largest Islamic Civil Rights Advocacy organization in
America
please contact: Sister Firdos Abdul Munim, Civil Rights Coordinator or
Brother Ghazi Kankhan, Executive Director (212) 870-2002.
---
CAIR-MD: CROSS-BURNERS SENTENCED
Two Maryland juveniles who burned a cross at Dar-us-Salaam Mosque and
al-Huda School in College Park this past July were sentenced on Monday,
November 24th by Judge Wallace of the Prince George's County Juvenile
Courts. CAIR-Maryland Executive Director Seyed Rizwan Mowlana addressed
Judge Wallace describing the impact this incident had on the community.
At the request of Imam Safi Khan and the administration of the school,
CAIR-Maryland asked the judge to allocate most of the community service
hours mandated on the juveniles towards working with the Muslim
community.
The two juveniles showed remorse and apologized to the Muslim community
during their sentencing.
The juveniles were sentenced to probation, 100 hours of community
service
(the majority of which will be supervised by CAIR-Maryland), victims
awareness training, anger management training, and writing a letter of
apology to the Muslim community of College Park. The juvenile's parents
were ordered to meet with the Muslim community to learn more about
Islam.
Judge Wallace called this act an "embarrassment" to Americans and made
it
very clear to the perpetrators that any violation of their probation
will
result in jail time.
In a statement, CAIR-Maryland said: "We would like to take this
opportunity
to thank the FBI and the Prince George's County Police Department and
Fire
Department for their good work and cooperation in response to the
Muslim
community. We would also like to thank the members of our coalition,
ACLU
of Maryland, NAACP-Maryland, Progressive Maryland, CASA of Maryland,
SMART
(Sikh Mediawatch and Resource Taskforce), the Episcopalian Church of
College Park, and County Councilman Tom Hendershot for their support
and
show of solidarity."
CONTACT: CAIR-Maryland, Rizwan Mowlana, 301.672.9355 or 301.986.1900
---
THE MUSLIM EXPERIENCE IN CANADA, PART II
GoingGlobal.tv, 11/27/03
Dr. Sheema Khan (Chair of CAIR-CAN) will be appearing on TVO's Going
Global on the 27th of November, 2003.
Last month, the first of this season's Going Global specials featured a
debate between six diverse Muslim Canadians on how Muslims have been
treated in Canada since 9/11. The program generated so much feedback
that
we decided to continue the conversation. Part two of "The Muslim
Experience
in Canada" will reunite Zafar Bangash, Mazen Chouaib, Mohamed Elmasry,
Tarek Fatah, Sheema Khan and Irshad Manji to discuss whether Islam as
it is
practiced today is compatible with the key values of western liberal
democratic societies. Join us as we continue to debate the Muslim
Experience in Canada by logging on to our Chat and Message Board to
voice
your opinion.
---
DELIVER US FROM SUSPICION
Sheema Khan, Globe and Mail, 24/11/2003
http://www.caircan.ca/oped_more.php?id=665_0_10_0_M
Sheema Khan is the Chair of CAIR-CAN
For Muslims, the month of Ramadan is a special time to purify the
spirit
through fasting, charity and extra prayers. We reflect deeply upon the
Koran, expressing gratitude for the many blessings we often take for
granted. Whether the favours are tangible (e.g. health, food, shelter)
or
intangible (peace, personal security), the heartfelt sentiment is best
captured by the phrase: "There but for the grace of God go I."
Earlier this month, I was waiting in a doctor's office with two
flu-ridden
children. It was Nov. 11 and, at 11 a.m., the busy staff stopped all
work
and stood respectfully to a solemn rendition of O Canada broadcast on
CBC
Radio. One silver-haired patient sang with deep conviction. My
beautiful
country, I thought. A beacon of light in a world filled with so much
darkness. One of the few places where a worried mother can get prompt
medical attention for her sick children, despite our current
health-care
concerns.
As we observed two minutes of silence, my six-year-old son asked what
was
happening. I tried to explain the significance of remembering the
efforts
of those who had died in conflict.
But it's also important to remember that while Canadian soldiers were
fighting tyranny overseas, many were battling the tyranny of
discrimination
here in Canada.
---
HOLIDAYS POINT TO TOLERANCE
Sarwat Husain, Express News, 11/22/03
http://news.mysanantonio.com/story.cfm?xla=saen&xlb=370&xlc=1088263
Sarwat Husain, a board member of the Council on American-Islamic
Relations-San Antonio, can be reached at sanantonio@cair-net.org.
"In the name of God, the most gracious, most merciful God of the
prophets
Abraham, Moses, Jesus and Mohammed."
That would be an appropriate greeting for the end of this Ramadan,
because
the holiday that celebrates that end falls so close to Hanukkah and
Christmas this year.
While Eid al-Fitr literally means "breaking of the fast," it also means
a
day of joy, recurring happiness and festivities for Muslims.
The Eid is marked by the coming of the new moon, because Muslims follow
the
lunar calendar. The first day of the month of Shawwal, the 10th month
in
the calendar, is expected to take place Tuesday.
It is a good time to look at the three faiths behind the holidays and
make
a resolution that anti-Semitic, anti-Islamic and anti-Christian
activities
are equally bad…
---
MANY U.S. HATE CRIMES GO UNREPORTED, OFFICIALS SAY
Columbus Dispatch, 11/25/03
http://www.columbusdispatch.com
While FBI statistics indicate hate crimes have dropped since 2001, the
incidents often go unreported, various Ohio officials testified
yesterday.
During a fact-finding meeting of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights,
Jad
A. Humeidan, executive director of the Ohio chapter of the Council on
American-Islamic Relations, said crimes directed at Arabs and Muslims
increased 15 percent last year and more than 10 percent this year.
"The numbers are still going up," he said.
Franklin County Prosecutor Ron O'Brien suggested Ohio law be changed to
add
additional jail time if an assault or other crime is motivated by hate.
-----
EXTRA CREDIT FOR RAMADAN FAST DRAWS PROTEST
David Pierson, Los Angeles Times, 11/27/03
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-fast27nov27,1,4369010.story
A seventh-grade world history teacher in Covina outraged Christian
groups
when they learned that he offered extra credit to students who chose to
fast in the tradition of Ramadan to learn about Islam.
Len Cesene at Royal Oak Intermediate School told his students earlier
this
month that they could raise their grades if they fasted for one to
three
days during the daytime and wrote a half-page summary of their
experiences
to explore the theme of sacrifice.
A week later, some students' parents complained to evangelical radio
show
host Bob Morey of KPLS-AM (830), who helped organize a rally Monday
afternoon that drew several hundred people...
Officials with the Charter Oak Unified School District said the extra
credit assignment has been offered for 10 years without a complaint.
Students can participate only with parental approval, and an
alternative
assignment was offered to students who decided not to fast.
"We think the assignment was clear, was within the state educational
standards and supports what was in the textbook," said district Supt.
John
Roach.
Cesene "didn't say to do it while thinking about Allah, Jesus or
Buddha,"
Roach added.
Sabiha Khan, a spokeswoman for the Council on American-Islamic
Relations,
said of the protest: "It goes to show how irrational some peoples'
fears
are and how deep ignorance of Islam is."
Khan said she doesn't believe that Morey and his supporters represent
the
general attitude of Americans toward Islam. "He's part of the new 'bash
Islam' industry," she said.
Morey, who also runs a Christian ministry named Faith Defenders, said
immigration should be halted until stronger safeguards to prevent
terrorism
are introduced.
He also says the more than 6 million Muslims who live in the United
States
should be registered.
ACTION REQUESTED:
Send a letter of support for the school to: letters@latimes.com
COPY TO: jroach@cousd.k12.ca.us, dfrick@cousd.k12.ca.us,
cair@cair-net.org,
socal@cair.com
SEE ALSO:
SCHOOL DISTRICT FILES RESPONSE TO FEDERAL LAWSUIT
Associated Press, 11/26/03
Muskogee school officials defend their decision to suspend an
11-year-old
Muslim girl who wore her religious headscarf to school.
In a brief filed Monday in federal court, Muskogee school attorney D.D.
Hayes argued that the family of Nashala Hearn didn't give the school
system
time to resolve problems with their dress code policy before they filed
a
federal lawsuit Oct. 28.
"We haven't made a final decision, so we think this lawsuit is
premature,"
Hayes said. "I don't think there was a complete exhaustion of the
student's
due process. It stopped abruptly."
Nashala Hearn is Muslim and wears a hijab as part of her religion.
She was suspended for wearing the scarf because officials believe it
violates the districtwide dress code.
The district argues that Nashala Hearn never told officials at that
Benjamin Franklin Science Academy she was Muslim or that her religion
required her to wear her hijab.
The school dress code bars students from wearing any hats in the school
building.
There was a conference on Sept. 11 between Nashala Hearn and school
Principal Cheryl Hallum, the brief said, "but (the district) denies"
that
Nashala Hearn was told she would no longer be able to wear the hijab.
The school initially sought an in-school detention for the head-wear
violation, but the family refused and a three-day suspension was
implemented, the brief states.
On Oct. 15, the school signed an agreement with Nashala's father,
Eyvine,
allowing her to return to school wearing a certain head wear and not
get
any further suspensions…
---
TEACHER FIRED AFTER ALLEGED ANTI-ARAB REMARKS FOLLOWING 9/11 ATTACKS
KATHLEEN LUCADAMO New York Sun, 11/26/03
http://www.nysun.com/
The Education Department quietly fired a Jewish elementary teacher for
reportedly making anti-Arab remarks to her second-grade class after the
September 11 terror attacks, The New York Sun has learned.
Parents at P.S. 102 in Brooklyn accused teacher Deborah Schwartz of
telling
her class of 7-year-olds that Muslims were to blame for the attacks on
the
twin towers.
The school system launched an investigation into her actions a month
after
the attacks and she was placed on desk duty.
She remained on the payroll until this summer - nearly two years later
-
when they fired her without any fanfare, she said…
She is appealing the decision with a private lawyer and searching for a
job
at a yeshiva, she said. She is also part of a suit against a former
Brooklyn superintendent for allegedly favoring "young, slim,
attractive,
Italian women."
The executive director of the Association of Orthodox Jewish Teachers,
Max
Zakon, said he warns Orthodox Jewish teachers to "tread lightly" when
it
comes to discussing the Middle East in public schools.
"The teacher is wrong if she made anti-Arab remarks. I understand if
she
said something in the heat of the moment, but it wasn't wise to get
into
that topic," Mr. Zakon said. "We try to avoid conflict at all costs…"
"We are pleased with the final outcome," said a spokeswoman for the
Education Department, Margie Feinberg. "We only want the best teachers
for
our children."
-----
MUSLIMS ARE ANGRY -- AND THEY MATTER
Lorraine Woellert Edited by Richard S. Dunham, BusinessWeek, 12/1/03
http://www.businessweek.com/premium/content/03_48/c3860049_mz013.htm?se=1
The 2000 election cycle was a heady time for Muslim voters. Although
courted by both major parties, Muslim groups gave George W. Bush their
first-ever Presidential endorsement. The clincher: His pledge to repeal
a
Clinton-era law making it easier for prosecutors to use secret evidence
in
terrorism cases. Now, concerned that their civil rights are being
trampled
in the war on terrorism, Muslims plan to make their presence felt again
at
the polls next year -- but this time, many will vote against Bush. In a
Zogby poll last summer, 78% of Arab-American Muslims gave Bush poor
grades:
Only 10% favored his reelection. ``Muslims will trend more Democrat
than
Republican in the next election,'' predicts Omar Ahmad, chairman of the
Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR).
A shift could hurt Bush. America's estimated 5 million Muslim voters
are a
sliver of the electorate, but their impact is multiplied because they
are
concentrated in swing states such as Michigan, Ohio, New Jersey, and
Florida. Indeed, activists boast that some 65,000 Florida Muslim votes
put
Bush over the top in 2000...
Islamic leaders are deeply disappointed with the Administration's
performance. In the wake of September 11, Bush backed off his promise
to
repeal the Secret Evidence Act as the Administration detained hundreds
of
Arab Americans, shut down Muslim charities, and expanded surveillance
powers under the Patriot Act.
Bush took another hit in June. Lieutenant General William G. Boykin,
deputy
under secretary of defense for intelligence, speaking of his meeting
with a
Muslim Somali warlord, said: ``I knew that my God was a real God and
his
was an idol.'' Bush distanced himself from the remarks but has ignored
calls for Boykin's resignation. ``It's going to be very difficult for
the
Muslim community to vote for President Bush again,'' says Tahir Ali,
author
of an upcoming book on Muslims in American politics.
Republicans will try to stem defections by emphasizing the conservative
views they share with Muslims, including opposition to abortion and gay
marriage. GOP strategist Grover G. Norquist sees short-term damage but
says
Muslims and other "communities of faith" will trend Republican. "Some
votes
will move, but not as much as some may fear," he says.
Still, thousands or even hundreds of votes in a battleground state can
be
significant. So don't be surprised to see the White House try patching
things up before Ramadan '04.
-----
JAMES YEE'S SUPPORTERS: WE'RE RELIEVED, OUTRAGED
Pueng Vongs, Pacific News Service, 11/26/03
http://news.pacificnews.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=868db9fa70f7049008926a7bc03acc52
Editor's Note: Captain James Yee, the Army chaplain at Guantanamo Bay,
was
freed after spending almost 3 months in military prison on espionage
charges. But his release is bittersweet to his family and supporters.
Yee
is now charged with downloading pornography and adultery, charges many
say
are outrageous and false.
Joyful relatives and friends of Capt. James Yousef Yee, the former Army
chaplain at Guantanamo Bay who was accused of espionage, welcomed his
release after nearly three months in military prison, but they lashed
out
at authorities for bringing new charges of adultery and downloading
pornography on a government-issued computer.
Deeply suspicious, Yee's supporters describe the new charges as an
attempt
by the government to discredit the captain and cover up its failure to
produce a credible case against him. Yee was accused last October of
disobeying orders and stealing classified information on behalf of
suspected members of al Qaeda and Taliban he counseled in the
Guantanamo
base prison…
SEE ALSO:
MUSLIM CHAPLAIN LET OUT OF PRISON, FACES NEW CHARGES
Ray Rivera and Janet I. Tu, Seattle Times, 11/26/03
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2001801237_yee26m.html
An Army Muslim chaplain accused of mishandling classified documents
while
serving at the U.S. prison camp in Guant�namo Bay, Cuba, was charged
yesterday with making a false official statement, committing adultery
and
storing pornography on his government computer.
The additional charges came on the same day Capt. James Yee was
released
from a naval brig in South Carolina, where he had been held since his
arrest almost three months ago. An Army spokesman said the commander
determined there was "no reason to hold him."
Yee's defense team characterized the new charges as an attempt by the
military to salvage a deteriorating case against the chaplain, formerly
stationed at Fort Lewis.
"I don't know why the government would pursue these charges, except for
the
fact that it's embarrassed by the implosion of charges it originally
asserted against my client," said Eugene Fidell, his lead attorney…
"This is so ludicrous," said Ibrahim Mohamed, board chairman of the
Seattle
chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, which recently
launched a campaign on behalf of Yee. "This is totally out of character
for
a Muslim chaplain, a person who's dedicated his life to teaching others
about Islam. I hope this is not out of desperation, that they're hoping
to
have anything that will stick…"
-----
MAKING THE EID STAMP STICK
Martin C. Evans, Newsday, 11/27/03
http://www.newsday.com/mynews/ny-lieid273561337nov27,0,6392459.story
Habeeb Ahmed is so enthusiastic about a commemorative stamp - gold
calligraphic swooshes on a field of Prussian blue - that he buys them
by
the thousands, and even sells them from the back of his car.
The 37-cent stamp is a point of pride for many American Muslims because
its
Arabic inscription commemorates the two holiest times in the Islamic
calendar, including Eid ul-Fitr, which began Tuesday.
"I tell people, they made stamps for us, why don't we use them?" said
Ahmed, a medical technologist who lives in Searingtown.
But he worries that unless more people use the stamp, which was issued
only
10 days before the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center
and
Pentagon, opposition from groups such as The Free Congress Foundation,
a
conservative think tank in Washington, will persuade the postal service
to
discontinue it.
So he buys the stamps from the main post office in Hicksville and
encourages area Muslim professionals to dispense with their postage
meters
and use the stamp exclusively…
Interest in the stamp rises strongly during the month of Ramadan, said
Ahmed, who sold more than 1,000 of the stamps at a post-Ramadan prayer
gathering Tuesday at the Islamic Center. The stamps feature the phrase
"Eid
Mubarak," which means "happy holiday" in Arabic.
The end of Ramadan brings on Eid ul-Fitr - days of feasting and visits
to
the homes of relatives and friends, which marks the end of Ramadan's
monthlong daytime fasting.
But as is true in Christian and Jewish communities, wide differences in
tradition exist in the area's Muslim communities. For families with
roots
in countries with strong Islamic traditions, Eid ul-Fitr is a
particularly
religious time. But for immigrants from Turkey, which has been under a
consciously secular government since the 1920s, Eid ul-Fitr is more
likely
to be called "Seker Bayrami" - the "Candy Holiday."
So far, there is no indication that the United States Postal Service
has
any plans to stop printing the stamp anytime soon. As of early October,
119
million had been printed - about half as many as the Hanukkah and
Kwanzaa
stamps, said Rita Peer, a postal service spokeswoman.
"There is no plan to discontinue the Eid stamp at this time," Peer said
in
an e-mail message yesterday...
SEE ALSO:
GOVERNOR DEAN'S STATEMENT ON EID-AL-FITR
With the coming of the new moon, Muslims across America and around the
world mark the end of Ramadan. This celebration, known as Eid-Al-Fitr,
is
a day of joy, thanksgiving, and charity. Governor Howard Dean, M.D.
issued
the following statement today:
Eid Mubarak! As Muslims around the world celebrate the end of the holy
month of Ramadan, a month of fasting, charity, and reflection, I join
you
in praying for peace and understanding.
Freedom of religion is a founding principle of our nation. America has
prospered and flourished and is now the greatest democracy on earth, in
part, because we have welcomed people of all faith traditions. Muslims
are
as diverse as America, representing every race and ethnicity, and are
an
integral part of the fabric of our nation.
We are at a time in our nation's history when we need people of
goodwill,
people of conscience, to come together to promote peace - as Islam
teaches.
Real understanding - real progress - can only come about when we are
all
willing to look beyond our differences and embrace our common humanity.
During this joyous time of year, as families of many faiths and
traditions
gather together to celebrate and offer thanksgiving, I join all
Americans
in praying for peace and harmony in America and throughout the world.
Salaam Alaikum!
---
PRESIDENT BUSH'S EID GREETINGS
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/11/20031124-10.html
Greetings From the President to Muslims Celebrating Eid Al-Fitr
The Festival of Breaking the Fast
This festival marks the end of the month-long fast of Ramadan, the
holiest
period of the Islamic year. Eid al-Fitr is a time to give thanks to God
for
the blessings of renewed faith, to perform acts of charity, and to
share
traditional food and good wishes with family and friends.
Islam is a religion that inspires its followers to lead lives based on
justice, compassion, and personal responsibility.
During this joyful season, I encourage people of all faiths to reflect
on
our shared values: love of family, gratitude to God, a commitment to
religious freedom, and respect for the diversity that adds to our
Nation's
strength. By working together to advance peace and mutual
understanding, we
help build a future of promise and compassion for all.
Laura joins me in sending our best wishes for a joyous celebration.
Eid mubarek.
GEORGE W. BUSH
---
EID COVERAGE ROUNDUP
Breaking Fast with a Lesson in Giving (Chicago Tribune)
http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/women/chi-0311250381nov26,1,4844956.story
Feasts Cap Month of Fasting (Chicago Tribune)
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chicago/chi-0311260111nov26,1,1345150.story
Muslims Rejoice in Their Blessings (Los Angeles Times)
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-eid26nov26,1,4118299.story
Prayers Mark the End of Ramadan (Miami Herald)
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/local/states/florida/counties/broward_county/7351030.htm
Muslims End Ramadan with San Jose Ceremony (San Francisco Chronicle)
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2003/11/26/BAG7T3B1701.DTL
-----
ACLU TRYING TO HELP IMMIGRANTS RE-REGISTER
Michelle K. Massie, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 11/25/03
http://www.post-gazette.com/localnews/20031125aclu1125p4.asp
Prompted by phone calls from Arab and Muslim immigrants who were
confused
by information about registration deadlines, the American Civil
Liberties
Union of Pennsylvania has begun a campaign to inform male immigrants
that
they must re-register with the federal government.
As part of national security safeguards put in place after the Sept. 11
attacks, those who had to report for last year's special registration
are
required to re-register every year within 10 days of the anniversary of
their original signup.
Officials from the ACLU said yesterday that the federal government has
done
a poor job of notifying people about the requirement and that some of
those
affected may be missing deadlines…
-----
INTERFAITH GROUP TO ADMIT MUSLIMS
TOM HEINEN, Milwaukee Journal, 11/25/03
http://www.jsonline.com/lifestyle/religion/nov03/188031.asp
Representatives of 11 denominations and faith groups that oversee the
Interfaith Conference of Greater Milwaukee have voted to admit the
city's
Islamic Society to full membership, the first addition in three
decades,
conference officials said Tuesday.
Coming the same week as Thanksgiving and the Eid al-Fitr, or feast of
fast
breaking, the announcement was a symbol of how Muslim-Americans are
trying
to get more involved in and be better understood by society.
"The Muslim community used to be isolated," Mequon physician Waleed
Najeeb
said Tuesday as an estimated record crowd of 4,000 to 5,000 Muslims
flowed
in and out of the Milwaukee County Sports Complex in Franklin. "Now,
almost
every week we have interfaith functions. Either we go out, or they come
to
the Islamic Center, all faiths - Judaism, Christianity, Islam."
Muslims gathered Tuesday at the start of the Eid al-Fitr to give thanks
for
a successful Ramadan, a month of fasting, with two successive communal
prayer sessions and sermons by acting Imam Ziad Hamdan.
The Milwaukee decision reflects a trend since Sept. 11, 2001, in New
York,
Chicago and other cities to include Muslims and other faiths, said the
Rev.
Shanta Premawardhana, National Council of Churches associate general
secretary for interfaith relations…
SEE ALSO:
AMERICAN MUSLIMS CALLED BEST HOPE
PETER SMITH, The Courier-Journal, 11/26/03
http://www.courier-journal.com/localnews/2003/11/26ky/met-front-ramadan11270-6292.html
More than 1,000 Louisville-area Muslims celebrated the largest festival
of
their religious calendar yesterday, as a prayer leader said educated
American Muslims represent the best hope for those in impoverished,
embattled Islamic countries.
"Those who are coming of age in the West are perhaps the best
generation
that the Muslim Ummah (community) has yet produced," Ibrahim Syed told
the
crowd gathered for prayers at the Holiday Inn on Fern Valley Road. "You
are
highly educated, observant of an Islam largely unrestricted by the
cultural
baggage that suffocates so many Muslim countries."
Syed's talk came amid observances of Eid ul-Fitr (pronounced
Eed-al-Fitter), the "feast of fast-breaking." The festival marks the
end of
the holy month of Ramadan, in which observant Muslims abstain from
food,
water and sex during daylight hours.
The festival drew American-born Muslims as well as a rainbow of recent
immigrants. Some men wore jeans and leather jackets, while others
sported
business suits and still others wore robes from their native lands,
ranging
from white to black to a variety of pastels. Some wore fezzes or
turbans;
others baseball caps and ski hats.
Women wore long robes and head coverings ranging from white "hijabs" to
embroidered headscarves, with some also covering their faces with
scarves.
As is customary, men and women were separated by a curtain during the
prayer and sermon.
The large crowd reflects the growth of the Muslim community, estimated
at
5,000 to 10,000. There are at least five mosques in Louisville, but
Muslims
try to hold one large communal gathering for the Eid, said one of the
organizers, Asadullah Nawabi…
-----
DEFINING 'PRACTICING MUSLIM' IS DIFFICULT
FARRUKH HASAN, Kansas City Star, 11/26/03
http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/
I didn't realize that following a religion could be so complicated
until
someone called me during the month of Ramadan and asked whether I was a
"practicing Muslim."
I know I am a Muslim, but how practicing only the One above can judge.
Before I could answer, she added that a newly arrived international
student
wanted to know whether there was a mosque he could go to for Friday
prayers. The mosque? I certainly know that. When had I visited it last
though? Actually, it is not compulsory for women, but Muslim men must
attend Friday prayers. But I go there when there is a potluck. I hope
that
counts…
Someone also asked me once whether I was a Wahabi. I didn't know there
were
so many categories of being a Muslim. Not just Shia or Sunni, but
Wahabis
and non-Wahabis, fundamentalists and nonfundamentalists, terrorists and
nonterrorists. I felt quite alarmed not knowing whether I was a Wahabi.
I
could clearly see my grandmother smiling complacently and saying: "This
is
what you get for not paying attention when I used to talk to you. Now
you
will never know whether you are a Wahabi or not!"
It seems everything these days has to be neatly classified and
categorized.
But religion? I wanted to tell the caller, well, I do try to pray five
times every day, fast throughout the month of Ramadan, give 2.5 percent
to
charity every year, and certainly do not consume pork or alcohol.
I hope this is sufficient to classify me as a practicing Muslim.
But I didn't just in case she took me as a fundamentalist or something.
SEE ALSO:
OFFENSIVE QUESTIONING
Kevin Ranville, National Post (Canada), 11/26/03
http://www.nationalpost.com
Re: Identifying Muslim Moderates, Daniel Pipes, Nov. 25.
Though I am not a Muslim myself, I found some of Mr. Pipe's
recommendations
on what is acceptable Muslim doctrine and practice to be a little
offensive. I agree that some of his points are necessary for global
security; condoning violence, for example, should not be an acceptable
part
of any religion.
Other of Mr. Pipe's points however, such as not allowing Muslims to
define
who is and who is not a true Muslim, are simply infringing on their
basic
freedoms of religion, opinion and thought. Outsiders should not force
anyone to redefine sacred traditions for the sake of political
correctness,
or simple disagreement. Any attempt to do so would only produce more
militant zealots.
Every major religion, if it is true to its traditions, has teachings
that
others find offensive. Evangelical Christianity, for example, teaches
that
the only way to get to Heaven is to accept Jesus Christ as saviour, and
that those who don't are going to Hell -- a very offensive position to
outsiders.
I'm sure Christians would be in an uproar if they were asked to
redefine
this doctrine because some fanatical group, claiming to be Christian,
blew
up a building in the name of Jesus Christ. Shouldn't Muslims be
extended
the benefit of the doubt as well, when the purity of their faith is
tarnished by zealots?
Religion, by its very nature, is offensive. Even atheism as a religious
choice is offensive to some. This is why laws were created to protect
freedom of religion. If all religion was agreeable and inoffensive, no
protective laws would be required. If we, as a free society, expect our
freedoms to be respected and protected, we must extend the same respect
and
protection to everyone, even those we blatantly disagree with. As long
as
nobody is starting violent wars over their doctrinal differences, we
should
simply let people believe what they want to believe.
Kevin Ranville, Winnipeg.
-----
FAITH, RIGHTS AND FREEDOM WRAPPED UP IN A HEADSCARF
Charles Bremner, The Times (London), 11/27/03
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-909690,00.html
PASSIONS over assertive Islam were stirred again yesterday by two women
a
continent apart, who each decided to make a public statement by wearing
the
hijab, the Muslim head-covering.
In Qatar, the switchboard of al-Jazeera television was flooded with
calls
after Khadija Ben Ganna, the satellite channel's star presenter,
appeared
swathed in a bright salmon-coloured veil. Mrs Ben Ganna, an Algerian,
said
that she had decided to become the station's first broadcaster to adopt
Muslim garb after she had "defeated the Devil" in a struggle with her
faith.
Ibrahim Helal, Editor-in-Chief of al-Jazeera, said that Mrs Ben Ganna
was
free to do as she wanted. "We received positive calls praising this
decision and we had some negative opinions inside the channel," he
said. "I
heard one producer talking about how it might be misunderstood that we
were
transforming into an Islamic channel. This is not the case."
Opinion took the opposite side in France, where Dahria Bouhali was
expelled
from a murder jury in Bobigny, in the outskirts of Paris. Dominique
Perben,
the Justice Minister, ordered her removal after she had donned the
hijab in
mid-trial.
The veil has become an explosive subject in France, which is home to
Europe's biggest Muslim population, with more than 70 per cent of the
public in favour of Government moves to enforce a ban in schools and
perhaps in state buildings.
The publicity over the two women's dress decisions testified to the
emotions around the symbols of Islam as the more militant wing of the
religion is espoused by more of its moderate, "Westernised" members.
The
question goes far beyond women's dress to the roots of competing
historic
religions and the recent struggle between the Western and radical
Muslim
systems.
In Europe, the hijab question has become an outlet for a confused
debate
over immigration, intolerance and national identity. In Britain, more
women
than ever are donning the hijab, which is accepted as a routine part of
a
multicultural landscape. The same acceptance applies in Spain, the
Netherlands and Denmark.
The French media report with incredulity on the existence of British
police
officers in Muslim dress and the hijab is fuelling argument in Sweden,
Belgium and Germany.
Germany's 16 Lander are divided over whether the head cover should be
tolerated in public schools, after the constitutional court ruled in
September that individual states had the right to introduce laws to ban
it.
The Muslim practice of veiling the head, neck and throat is called
hijab.
The word comes from the Arabic hajaba, meaning to hide from view
Headscarves have several names, such as abaya in Arab countries, chador
in
Iran and ohrni in Trinidad and Tobago
The Koran states: "O Prophet! say to your wives and your daughters and
the
women of the believers that they let down upon them their
over-garments;
this will be more proper, that they may be known, and thus they will
not be
given trouble."
SEE ALSO:
EUROPE'S MUSLIMS TREATED AS OUTSIDERS
Keith B. Richburg, Washington Post, 11/27/03
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A16652-2003Nov26.html
Fatima Yaakoub, 24 years old, born in Morocco, living in the
Netherlands
since she was 12, says she wants nothing more than to fit in. She works
hard, cleaning offices in the early mornings, going to college during
the
day, taking English classes on weekends -- trying to get ahead, trying
to
do what is expected of a good citizen in her adopted homeland.
But three years ago, she began wearing a head scarf, the sign of a
devout
Muslim woman, and got a rapid education on how much of an outsider she
remains.
Whenever she left her largely Muslim immigrant neighborhood, she
discovered
that the scarf, known in Arabic as a hijab, marked her as a subjugated
Muslim woman, a foreigner, or buitenlander in Dutch. And since the
terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and the discovery of al Qaeda
cells
among Western Europe's 15 million Muslims, Yaakoub has found that the
scarf
raises suspicions among native Dutch that she is a terrorist, a threat.
"They treat me like trash," Yaakoub said…
Yaakoub's experience offers a glimpse into the conflict between
Europe's
historically Christian, increasingly secular societies and the large --
and
often alienated -- Muslim populations.
Many of the Muslims were invited here three decades ago as cheap
temporary
workers who would one day go home. But they stayed on and became an
integral part of European society, making Islam the continent's
second-largest religion. Today it is common to see a mosque near a
medieval
church; Arab restaurants and food stores abound on inner-city streets.
Muslims represent the fastest growing-group in Europe, a boom fueled by
high birth rates as much as immigration. But on average they remain far
behind the traditional populations economically and socially…
While Europe is slowly moving away from its Christian roots, with
church
attendance in decline, many of its Muslims cling strongly to their
faith
and are asserting their right to live openly according to their
religious
beliefs. For governments that hold that religion and government must be
separate, this can bring important policy challenges and accusations of
favoritism…
---
MUSLIM MOSQUE ATTACKED IN NORTHERN FRANCE
Agence France Presse, 11/26/03
Vandals tried to set alight to a mosque in northern France Tuesday
night
and scrawled two swastikas on its walls, police in the port of Dunkirk
said.
The attackers sprayed an inflammable liquid over the doors of the Omar
al-Farouk mosque in Dunkirk town centre and set it on fire, but the
blaze
was quickly put out. No-one was in the building at the time.
Police called to the scene found two upside-down swastikas on the
outside wall.
"This is the first time there has been an act of violence and an arson
attempt against a mosque in Dunkirk. Whoever did it chose the end of
Ramadan to make his point," said Bahssine Saaidi, president of the
regional
Islamic council.
"But the friendly relations which we enjoy with the Jewish and
Christian
communities must not be allowed to suffer," he said.
---
FRENCH SCHOOL EXPELS 12-YEAR-OLD FOR REFUSING TO REMOVE ISLAMIC HEAD
SCARF
Associated Press, 11/27/03
A French school on Thursday expelled a 12-year-old girl who refused to
remove her Islamic head scarf in class, a family acquaintance said.
The girl of Moroccan origin was the latest pupil caught in a
wide-ranging
debate in France over the nation's separation of state and church and
rules
that forbid "ostentatious" symbols of religion in public schools.
Thomas Milcent, a convert to Islam who has been advising the girl's
parents, said a disciplinary commission at the Charles-Walch school in
Thann, in eastern France's Upper Rhine region, expelled her for
"aggravated
proselytizing and disturbing public order."
School authorities refused to comment. The school's regulations forbid
pupils from wearing head gear, including berets and caps.
Several girls have been expelled from public schools this year for
wearing
the scarves.
Politicians are divided on whether France needs a law to enforce bans
on
wearing head scarves in schools and public offices.
Some proponents argue that Islamic fundamentalists are encouraging
women
and girls to wear head scarves, chipping away at France's secular
foundations.
But opponents fear a law would marginalize France's estimated 5 million
Muslims, the largest Muslim community in Western Europe.
-----
UNIVERSITIES RETURN TO APTITUDE EXAMS TO KEEP ARABS OUT
Relly Sa'ar, Haaretz, 11/27/03
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/365572.html
There's no politically correct spin to put on it, and the facts speak
for
themselves: As soon as Israel's top university administrators noticed
that
the big winners from admissions policy changes were not Jewish
youngsters
from low-income towns, but rather Arabs, they reverted back to the old
admissions system.
-----
EDUCATION MINISTER HITS AT USAID OVER TEXTBOOK POLICY
Charles Clover, Financial Times, 11/24/03
http://news.ft.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=FT.com/StoryFT/FullStory&c=StoryFT&cid=1069493436562
Ala'din Alwan, Iraq's minister of education, has criticised the US
Agency
for International Development (USAID) for attempting to limit or ban
Islamic religious references in experimental Iraqi school teaching
materials paid for by the agency.
"Decisions about education in Iraq must be Iraqi decisions," said Dr
Alwan,
who added he was not consulted about the move. He said he would be
reviewing the programme - a $4m (€3.3m, �2.4m) accelerated learning
project
for 500 students - in coming days.
The controversy started a few weeks ago when a western consultant
working
for USAID asked Iraqi ministry of education experts to remove verses
from
the Koran from experimental teaching materials for Arabic grammar, and
replace them with neutral content. One of the experts disclosed this to
the
FT on the condition he not be named…
SEE ALSO:
U.S. SOLDIER ACCUSED OF BEATING IRAQI PRISONERS SAYS, 'IT IS WAR'
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2003-11-25-iraq-soldier_x.htm
PHILADELPHIA (AP) - One of four American MPs charged with beating
prisoners
of war at a detention camp in Iraq said Tuesday: "We were doing our
jobs.
... It is war. It is not back home where everybody is safe."
Shawna Edmondson, a 24-year-old Army reservist, accepted a demotion and
a
discharge rather than face a court martial, and returned to her
hometown in
northeastern Pennsylvania last week.
Three other members of Edmondson's Military Police unit refused to
accept a
plea bargain and are on restricted duty in Kuwait. They could go to
jail if
convicted of abuse and misconduct.
Fellow soldiers testified that the four Pennsylvania reservists punched
and
kicked prisoners who were being brought to an American camp in southern
Iraq on May 12. One prisoner suffered a broken nose.
One soldier said that during the attack, a beaten prisoner was
"screaming
for his life." Another testified that Edmondson told her that the
attack
was to "teach the prisoner a lesson on how to treat women..."
-----
DC LECTURE: "PILGRIMAGES: THE HEART OF ISLAM"
SPONSOR: The Washington National Cathedral
PARTICIPANTS: Seyyed Hossein Nasr, Islamic scholar
DATE: 7:30 p.m., December 2, 2003
LOCATION: Washington National Cathedral, Wisconsin and Massachusetts
Avenues NW, Washington, D.C.
CONTACT: Steven Gotfried, 202-537-6248 or 703-475-2332
-----
To SUBSCRIBE to or UNSUBSCRIBE from this list, go to:
http://cair.biglist.com/cair-net/
To reach the list moderator, send a message to: cair@cair-net.org
-----
CAIR
Council on American-Islamic Relations
453 New Jersey Avenue, S.E.
Washington, D.C. 20003
Tel: 202-488-8787, 202-744-7726
Fax: 202-488-0833
E-mail: cair@cair-net.org
URL: http://www.cair-net.org
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
CAIR’S DC DINNER SOLD OUT
Alhamdulillah (praise be to God). For the fifth year in a row, CAIR's
Annual Fundraising Dinner in Washington, D.C., is sold out. The dinner,
with the theme "Muslims in America: A Defining Moment," features
presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich as the keynote speaker.
WHEN: Saturday, November 29th
WHERE: Sheraton Premiere at Tysons Corner, 8661 Leesburg Pike, Tysons
Corner/Vienna, VA.
FOR MORE INFORMATION, call 202-488-8787 or e-mail:
register@cair-net.org
-----
To SUBSCRIBE to or UNSUBSCRIBE from this list, go to:
http://cair.biglist.com/cair-net/
To reach the list moderator, send a message to: cair@cair-net.org
-----
CAIR
Council on American-Islamic Relations
453 New Jersey Avenue, S.E.
Washington, D.C. 20003
Tel: 202-488-8787, 202-744-7726
Fax: 202-488-0833
E-mail: cair@cair-net.org
URL: http://www.cair-net.org
--------------------------------------------------------------------
mail2web - Check your email from the web at
http://mail2web.com/ .
Forwarded Message
From:
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To:
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Subject:
CAIR-NET: Canada Moves Toward Enforcing Islamic Law
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
AMERICAN MUSLIM NEWS BRIEFS - 11/28/03
* HADITH OF THE DAY: THIS WORLD AND THE NEXT
* CAIR'S DC DINNER SOLD OUT
- Online Donations Still Needed - $270K Raised
* NC MUSLIM SHARES WEALTH EVERY THANKSGIVING (AP)
- Canadian Muslims, Jews Toast Eid at Dinner (Spectator)
* CANADA MOVES TOWARD ENFORCING ISLAMIC LAW (Ottawa Citizen)
* GUANTANAMO: A MONSTROUS FAILURE OF JUSTICE (IHT)
- Muslim Chaplain to Have Limited Role (Orlando Sentinel)
- Don’t Send Detainees Back to China (Human Rights Watch)
* NY MUSLIM CENTER LOOKS FORWARD AND REACHES OUT (NY Newsday)
* IL POLICE UNDERREPORTING HATE CRIMES (Daily Southtown)
* CHECHNYA DUTY HARDENS RUSSIAN POLICE (Washington Post)
* HEARTS AND MINDS - US STYLE (Aljazeera)
- Muslim Soldier Prays on Army Base in Iraq (AFP)
- Palestinians Stranded at Iraq Border (DPA)
------
HADITH OF THE DAY: THIS WORLD AND THE NEXT
The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: “(The comparison of)
this
world to the next is similar to when one of you dips his finger…in the
ocean and then looks at (the amount of water) stuck to it.”
Sahih Muslim, Hadith 1330
-----
CAIR’S DC DINNER SOLD OUT
Alhamdulillah (praise be to God). For the fifth year in a row, CAIR's
Annual Fundraising Dinner in Washington, D.C., is sold out. The dinner,
with the theme "Muslims in America: A Defining Moment," features
presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich as the keynote speaker.
WHEN: Saturday, November 29th
WHERE: Sheraton Premiere at Tysons Corner, 8661 Leesburg Pike, Tysons
Corner/Vienna, VA.
FOR MORE INFORMATION, call 202-488-8787 or e-mail:
register@cair-net.org
SEE ALSO:
ONLINE DONATIONS STILL NEEDED
CAIR's Million in Ramadan Campaign has raised more than $270,000
online!
You, too, can support an organization that works to empower and protect
the
American Muslim community.
Please, donate generously to the campaign. Every donation counts!
Support us by donating online at:
http://www.cair-net.org/asp/millionforislam.asp
To view a short video on CAIR, go to www.cair-net.org
(NOTE: Scholars says CAIR is able to receive ZAKAT donations.)
-----
STORE OWNER SHARES HARD-EARNED WEALTH EVERY THANKSGIVING
Associated Press, 11/28/03
MARION, N.C. (AP) - Anwer Gillani knows hunger and hard times.
As a child in Bangladesh, Gillani had nothing, and often, no food.
Both his parents had died by the time he was 24, so he decided to try a
new
life in America.
Gillani waited tables in Chicago, working his way up through
management. In
1982, he moved to McDowell County and made his fortune as an owner of
convenience stores.
Now 49, with a wife, Nasim, and a 19-year-old son, Samir, Gillani owns
eight stores in the county.
But he hasn't forgotten what it feels like to have an empty belly.
Eight years ago, Gillani, along with former Marion Police Chief Frankie
Poteat and husband-and-wife philanthropists Harold and Jo Shuman,
started
cooking Thanksgiving dinners for those who would otherwise go without.
The first year, they served 150 meals of turkey, stuffing, mashed
potatoes,
green beans, rolls and cranberry salad.
This year, they delivered 1,400…
He and his family also help each year with the cooking, packaging and
delivering, assisted by 60 volunteers, including teachers, firemen,
McDowell County sheriff's deputies, Marion police officers, the
district
attorney and the county magistrate.
This year, the group served dinner at a new senior center. But most
meals
are delivered for those who can't leave home…
Samir Gillani, a business major at Georgia State University, brought a
pack
of friends with him Thursday to help with the dinner. The family
members
had their Thanksgiving-type dinner on Tuesday, on a Muslim holiday
called
Eid, which marks the end of the monthlong Ramadan.
"Eid is our way of giving thanks to God for everything you have," Samir
said. "Thanksgiving is an American tradition. Cooking these meals (for
others) is our way of celebrating it."
SEE ALSO:
MUSLIMS AND JEWS TOAST END OF RAMADAN AT GALA DINNER
Sharon Boase, Hamilton Spectator, 11/27/03
http://www.hamiltonspectator.com
Hamilton's Muslim and Jewish communities took an unprecedented step
toward
friendship last night.
Among the 1,200 Eid-el-Fitr revellers at a gala dinner at Carmen's were
three representatives of the city's Jewish community, happily enjoying
their specially ordered kosher meals.
Hamilton Muslim Association president Javid Mirza invited Hamilton
Jewish
Federation (HJF) executive director Gerald Fisher to the annual dinner
that
marks the end of Ramadan, Islam's holiest month, with feasting and
merrymaking.
"I believe that human beings are human beings," Mirza said.
"Once we get to know each other, we'll prove that old theory that it
really
is just a fear of the unknown."
With Fisher were HJF president Dr. Bonnie Loewith and Dr. David Somer,
vice-president of community relations.
More than 50 nationalities representing different faiths were in the
crowd,
which included Federal Heritage Minister Sheila Copps.
Adults greeted each other with a handshake or an embrace. The children,
some in traditional outfits, scurried around with friends, fuelled by
the
positive energy that filled the room...
Another initiative brought Mirza and Fisher together. Both are members
of
an interfaith committee of the Strengthening Hamilton's Community
Initiative, launched in the wake of 9/11 and the shocking destruction
of
the Hindu Samaj Temple…
"Relationships have developed out of that committee," Fisher said.
"It's
been very positive…"
Mirza would like to arrange a dinner meeting between members of the
city's
Jewish community and members of the local Palestinian and Lebanese
communities. "When there's food involved, everything always works
great."
-----
CANADA MOVES TOWARD ENFORCING ISLAMIC LAW
Bob Harvey, Ottawa Citizen, 11/28/03
http://www.canada.com/ottawa/ottawacitizen/news/story.html?id=bc2d76f2-9de2-
45ec-969d-ad32faccf0c5
Canadian Muslims have taken a giant step toward persuading Canadian
courts
to ratify decisions made under Islam's sharia law.
Muslim leaders elected a 30-member council in October to establish a
judicial tribunal to be known as the Islamic Institute of Civil
Justice. It
will establish committees across the country to arbitrate in marital
breakups and other civil or business disputes, and then submit the
agreements under sharia law to secular courts for ratification...
What makes it possible for Muslim committees to get Canadian legal
recognition of settlements according to sharia law is the recent
changes in
provincial arbitration acts, which make it possible for Muslim
committees
to enforce settlements.
Syed Mumtaz Ali, a pioneering Canadian Muslim lawyer, told the Canadian
Law
Times that until now Canadian Muslims were excused from following
sharia
law because it was impractical.
"But the concession given by sharia is no longer available to us
because
the impracticality has been removed."
"Thirty years ago, Canadian courts said nobody could usurp their
jurisdiction, but now the trend is to go the other way, because the
litigation process is too expensive," said Don Short, a Toronto lawyer
who
specializes in arbitration and mediation.
Under the Ontario Arbitration Act, the courts intervene in arbitrated
settlements only to enforce awards, and in such cases as unfair
treatment
of partners in the settlement.
Jamal Badawi, the spiritual leader of the Islamic Association of the
Maritime provinces, said Muslims in the U.S. and Britain already have
similar juristic councils that render decisions which are routinely
upheld
by the courts…
-----
GUANTANAMO: A MONSTROUS FAILURE OF JUSTICE
Johan Steyn, International Herald Tribune, 11/28/03
http://www.iht.com/articles/119350.html
The following was adapted by the IHT from the 27th F.A. Mann Lecture,
delivered in London on Tuesday. Lord Steyn is a Lord of Appeal in
Ordinary,
one of 12 judges who sits on Britain's highest court.
The most powerful democracy is detaining hundreds of suspected foot
soldiers of the Taliban in a legal black hole at the U.S. naval base at
Guantanamo Bay, where they await trial on capital charges by military
tribunals.
Democracies must defend themselves. Democracies are entitled to try
officers and soldiers of enemy forces for war crimes. But in times of
war,
armed conflict or perceived national danger, even liberal democracies
adopt
measures infringing human rights in ways that are wholly
disproportionate
to the crisis. One tool at hand is detention without charge or trial.
Ill-conceived, rushed legislation is passed granting excessive powers
to
executive governments which compromise the rights and liberties of
individuals beyond the exigencies of the situation. Often the loss of
liberty is permanent. Even in modern times terrible injustices have
been
perpetrated in the name of security on thousands who had no effective
recourse to law. Too often courts of law have denied the writ of the
rule
of law with only the most perfunctory examination…
SEE ALSO:
NEW MUSLIM CHAPLAIN TO HAVE LIMITED ROLE AT GUANTANAMO
Matthew Hay Brown, Orlando Sentinel, 11/28/03
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-chaplain28nov28,1,59342
21.story
A new Muslim chaplain is expected here early next month but, unlike his
predecessor, he will not be allowed to meet with the 660 suspected
terrorists now held at Camp Delta, officials said.
The new chaplain will replace Army Capt. James Joseph Yee, who was
arrested
in September after he allegedly was found carrying a map of the
cellblocks
and a list of detainees.
Yee was released from a military brig Tuesday, but he faces new charges
of
adultery at the naval base and viewing pornography on his government
computer there.
Yee's release came one day after his lawyers sent a letter to President
Bush complaining about his confinement and urging that he be freed
until
his criminal case could be resolved.
Officials have not named Yee's replacement, but they have been clear
about
the new chaplain's role.
"His mission will be to be the advisor to the commander of the Joint
Task
Force and to provide for the needs of the Joint Task Force members, not
the
detainees," said Gen. Mitchell R. LeClaire, deputy commander of Joint
Task
Force-Guantanamo.
Yee had advised the task force and the detainees. In addition to
advising
Maj. Gen. Geoffrey D. Miller on religious and cultural sensitivity and
counseling service members as an Army chaplain during his 10 months
here,
Yee met with prisoners to offer what he called "a sympathetic ear…"
---
U.S.: DON’T SEND DETAINEES BACK TO CHINA
Human Rights Watch, 11/26/03
http://www.hrw.org/press/2003/11/us112603.htm
(New York, November 26, 2003) The United States should abandon reported
plans to send Uighur detainees currently held at Guant�namo Bay to
China,
where they are likely to face mistreatment and possibly torture, Human
Rights Watch said today.
More than a dozen ethnic Uighur separatists were apprehended in
Afghanistan
and transferred to the U.S. military detention facility at Guant�namo
Bay
in Cuba. They were reportedly training in Afghanistan with Uighur
groups
seeking independence or greater autonomy from China for the
northwestern
province of Xinjiang.
China has a long and well-documented history of repression of the
Uighurs,
a Muslim, Turkic-speaking community. The government has systematically
tortured and otherwise mistreated suspected separatists. The death
penalty
has been used against those found guilty of separatist activities after
trials that do not meet international fair trial standards…
-----
JAMAICA MUSLIM CENTER LOOKS FORWARD AND REACHES OUT
Grace Watkins, Newsday, 11/28/03
http://www.newsday.com/mynews/ny-nynabe283562088nov28,0,7396166.story
It started back in the late 1970s in a small Queens apartment - people
gathering to pray and share the word of Allah.
But soon the apartment on Highland Avenue in Jamaica was too small. So
in
1981 the group moved into the basement of member Tahoor Ahmed's home on
167th Street.
And still the people just kept coming and praying five times a day
until
finally, in 1983, the group became incorporated as the Jamaica Muslim
Center.
By 1985, Mohammad Billah, using membership donations, purchased a
nearby
house at 85-37 168th St. for $161,000 to accommodate the 150 regularly
attending Muslims. In 1991, the center bought the adjacent property,
85-31
168th St., for about $175,000 and knocked down the walls to expand
further.
Recently finishing even more renovations, which cost about $1 million,
the
Jamaica Muslim Center celebrated its new and improved facility. On hand
were Congressman Anthony Weiner (D-Brooklyn and Queens), Assemb.
William
Scarborough (D-St. Albans) and City Councilmen Leroy Comrie (D-St.
Albans),
James Gennaro (D-Fresh Meadows) and John Liu (D-Sunnyside).
Jamaica Muslim Center is now a 9,000-square-foot, two-story building
with
2,000 registered members and 13,000 to 18,000 non-members who come to
pray.
In fact, it is not unusual for police from the 107th Precinct to close
off
Gothic Drive and Highland Avenue on special days of worship because of
the
masses of Islamic worshipers…
Although its focus is to serve Muslims, the center strives to reach out
to
all people. "We want to share ourselves and have interfaith projects,"
Hassan said.
This became even more pressing after Sept. 11, 2001.
"When they hijacked those planes, they also hijacked our religion. They
did
us a disservice," Halim said. "People think that Islam is about
violence.
We have to change this. The Muslims here are peace-loving people. [The
al-Qaida] do not represent Islam. It is like [the Christian] Waco," he
added, referring to the 1993 shootout and fire at a Texas compound that
left 80 Branch Davidian cult members led by David Koresh dead...
-----
POLICE IN ILLINOIS UNDERREPORTING HATE CRIMES
Jonathan Lipman and Chris Hack, Daily Southtown, 11/24/03
http://www.dailysouthtown.com/southtown/dsnews/241nd4.htm
The annual report on hate crimes committed in Illinois may give a tally
that's far below the number of incidents that actually occur.
State law directs all local police to report hate crimes to the
Illinois
State Police, which forwards the data to the FBI.
No one is enforcing the requirement.
Only 59 of Illinois' 1,099 crime-fighting agencies filed hate crime
information in 2002, according to the FBI. The agency uses the numbers
in
the national hate crimes report, which was released earlier this month.
According to the state and FBI figures, 199 hate crimes were reported
in
Illinois in 2002. But at least 26 hate crimes went unreported from just
four law enforcement agencies in the Chicago suburbs alone…
In the news, not in the report…
This year, Palos Park police charged an Orland Park man with a hate
crime
in August after he allegedly shouted racial slurs while attacking a
black
man.
Eric Nix was sentenced to two years probation after Burbank police
arrested
him in March and charged him with a hate crime for bombing a Muslim
family's van.
-----
CHECHNYA DUTY HARDENS RUSSIAN POLICE
Susan B. Glasser, Washington Post, 11/28/03
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A17494-2003Nov27.html
Coming home from Chechnya to the placid streets of this provincial
capital,
Sergei Myasnikov and the other men in his elite Russian police unit
thought
only of losing themselves in alcohol. They were quick to anger, bitter
over
money they believed they were entitled to and never received, and
resentful
about having to fight a war that few of them supported.
"We were gorging ourselves on vodka like pigs when we came home,"
Myasnikov
recalled. He observes law enforcement from the sidelines now, because
his
skull was blown apart in a Chechen ambush and patched back together
with a
plastic plate. And what he notices is a police force far different from
the
one he joined a decade ago. "I see how they change in Chechnya," he
said.
"When they come back, they're like zombies."
Myasnikov was a cop, not a warrior, but in Russia today, after nearly a
decade of on-again, off-again combat in Chechnya, there is less and
less
difference between the two. Police units from every region of Russia
have
been dragged into the conflict, lured and often coerced into what the
officers call "business trips" with the promise of extra money. Using
police as well as army troops is part of a Russian government strategy
to
depict the war, to its public and the world, as a limited
anti-terrorist
operation.
Assigned to maintain law and order in Russia's fragile emerging
democracy,
the country's traffic cops and riot squads and foot patrolmen have
instead
spent years being schooled in the lawlessness and disorder of one of
the
world's most brutal civil wars. Like Myasnikov, they come back to
civilian
Russia changed, a new breed of angry, disillusioned police officers who
moonlight as mercenaries.
To human rights activists, this constitutes a menace that may become
one of
the lasting legacies of the Chechen war throughout the rest of Russia.
They
fear the consequence for creation of democratic institutions when the
guarantors of the law have themselves been accused of serious war-zone
abuses by human rights groups and, very occasionally, prosecutors.
"For eight years, almost the entire militia of Russia have been to
Chechnya. They are used to killing and to illegal violations, and they
bring that back with them," said Lev Ponomaryov, leader of the group
For
Human Rights.
In a gritty suburb of Moscow, Chechen drama students were attacked in
their
dorm, in 2001 and again in 2002, by a squad of organized-crime police
who
said they had returned a week earlier from Chechnya and "wanted revenge
for
their friend who died there," recounted Rustam Milkeyev, one of the
students.
In the Russian industrial city of Perm, 1,000 miles northeast of the
war,
ordinary traffic cops ask for bribes in halting Chechen when they stop
someone from Chechnya, said Chechen businessman Aslanbek Dinayev. "The
only
way out is just to pay," he said.
In Nizhny Novgorod, an officer, just back from Chechnya, recently
opened
fire on a crowd of civilians in the Volga River city; his bosses said
he
did it because he thought he heard a Muslim man speaking...
-----
HEARTS AND MINDS - US STYLE
Scott Taylor, Aljazeera, 11/27/03
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/84B9680B-55DF-4562-AFF3-093E94D3FBCB.
htm
As American troops exit the former Presidential Palace complex in
Tikrit,
the last thing they see emblazoned above the arched gateway is the 4th
Infantry Division motto: Strike First.
Since the last of the organised Iraqi military resistance was crushed
in
late April, these expansive palace grounds have been the headquarters
for
the US 4th Division.
As the birthplace of ousted president Saddam Hussein, Tikrit has proven
to
be a hotbed of Iraqi resistance throughout the US occupation.
I asked my escort Specialist Jack Craig, a military policeman from
Minnesota, how he correlated the "strike first" directive with the US
military's current policy of attempting to win the "hearts and minds"
of
the local population.
"Actually, I see 'hearts and minds' as a tactical doctrine. To me, it
means
that's where we should aim first," said Craig. " Shoot them in the body
or
in the head, but just make sure you shoot them first…"
From his humourless expression, I presumed that he wasn't joking.
"We have two major factors effecting the ability for some of our troops
to
understand restraint," said Eddie Calis, the civilian security adviser
at
the US airbase at Kirkuk, in northern Iraq.
"One problem is that a lot of our soldiers are shit-scared and want to
get
out of here alive, no matter what that entails.
"The second and much less widespread issue is that of misplaced
patriotism," said Calis, giving as an example one of the soldiers
stationed
at the Kirkuk airfield will soon be rotated back to America, and who
feels
that he has yet to fulfil his national duty.
"Every day he complains that he has not yet had the opportunity to kill
an
Iraqi, and do his bit for the war," explained Calis.
"On several recent occasions he has initiated provocation deliberately
with
local drivers at the gate, and I only hope that [this soldier] will be
sent
home before he fulfils his quest at the cost of an innocent life…"
SEE ALSO:
MUSLIM CALL TO PRAYER ECHOES ACROSS US ARMY BASE IN SADDAM'S HOMETOWN
Patrick Moser, Agence France Presse, 11/28/03
After the call to prayer echoed Friday across a US army base in the
heart
of Iraq's combat zone, US army Sergeant Mesahchai Whitaker took off her
combat boots and walked into a mosque.
Having swapped her kevlar helmet for a head scarf, she knelt on the
carpeted floor, facing Mecca. The only woman at the Al-Hara al-Gabir
mosque, she prayed at a distance from the other faithful.
Whitaker, 43, was also the only US soldier to attend Friday prayers at
the
small mosque within the palace compound that serves as the 4th Infantry
Division's Iraq headquarters in the hometown of ousted president Saddam
Hussein.
As she prayed, the sound of mortar echoed outside, a reminder that the
US
army base is located right by the center of Tikrit, a cauldron of
anti-American violence, 180 kilometers (110 miles) north of Baghdad.
The other worshippers all work at the base, some as members of the
US-trained Iraqi Civilian Defense Corps and others as civilian
contractors
catering for the troops.
"It's a wonderful experience, as a Muslim to be here," said Whitaker,
from
New Jersey, whose parents converted to the Islamic faith before she was
born.
But since she arrived in Iraq seven months ago, she has never been to a
mosque outside US military bases. Much as she'd like to, the risk is
too
high. "We're still at war," she said.
Other than verses from the Koran and a few phrases she has picked up in
Iraq, Whitaker speaks no Arabic and has little contact with other
worshippers.
She also said none of her fellow soldiers have given her a hard time
over
her religion, though some have expressed curiosity about it.
"I don't think most soldiers understand Islam," she said, as she put on
her
desert boots on her way out of the mosque, which overlooks the Tigris
river.
"They may have a hard time adjusting, sometimes ignorance is bliss,
sometimes it brings on fear," said Whitaker, the mother of a
22-year-old
daughter…
---
MORE THAN 400 PALESTINIANS STRANDED AT IRAQ BORDER WITH JORDAN
Deutsche Presse-Agentur, 11/28/03
Geneva-- The United Nations refugee organisation UNHCR expressed
concern in
Geneva on Friday about the fate of more than 400 Palestinians stranded
in
camps on the Iraqi and Jordanian border.
The 427 refugees, previously living in exile in Iraq, join an estimated
1,800 refugees - mostly ethnic Kurds who fled Iraq's Al Tash refugee
camp -
in eastern Jordan.
The UNHCR warned that Jordan's capacity to absorb more refugees is
reaching
its limit, while appealing to Egypt and Lebanon to grant permission for
re-entry to Palestinians holding travel documents.
"The situation at the border will be particularly acute for the
Palestinians, unaccustomed to the hardships of camp life, and facing
into a
cold winter," UNHCR spokesman Kris Janowski cautioned…
-----
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To reach the list moderator, send a message to: cair@cair-net.org
-----
CAIR
Council on American-Islamic Relations
453 New Jersey Avenue, S.E.
Washington, D.C. 20003
Tel: 202-488-8787, 202-744-7726
Fax: 202-488-0833
E-mail: cair@cair-net.org
URL: http://www.cair-net.org
--------------------------------------------------------------------
mail2web - Check your email from the web at
http://mail2web.com/ .
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CAIR RAMADAN CAMPAIGN TOPS $1 MILLION
More than 1,000 turn out for fundraiser in DC
(WASHINGTON, D.C., 11/30/2003) - The Council on American-Islamic
Relations
(CAIR) today announced that the group's Ramadan fundraising campaign
topped
its goal of $1 million dollars at a standing-room-only banquet last
night
attended by more than 1,000 people, including presidential candidate
Dennis
Kucinich and Rep. Nick Rahall (D-WV).
In their speeches, both Kucinich and Rahall encouraged American Muslims
to
participate in the political process. Kucinich said America and the
world
are currently at "a defining moment," the theme of CAIR's banquet. A
number
of other elected officials sent letters of support for the dinner.
"We would like to thank all those who helped us reach our fundraising
goal," said CAIR Board Chairman Omar Ahmad. "These added resources will
enable us to continue and expand our work defending civil rights and
promoting a positive image of Islam."
He said the dinner was so popular that some attendees were willing to
stand
in the back of the banquet hall throughout the program. "This
demonstrates
the commitment of those who support CAIR's important work," said Ahmad.
CAIR, America's largest Islamic civil liberties group, is headquartered
in
Washington, D.C., and has 25 regional offices and chapters nationwide
and
in Canada.
- END -
CONTACT: Ibrahim Hooper, 202-488-8787 or 202-744-7726, E-Mail:
cair@cair-net.org; Rabiah Ahmed, 202-488-8787 or 202-439-1441, E-Mail:
rahmed@cair-net.org
NOTE: CAIR offers an e-mail list designed to be a window to the
American
Muslim community. Subscribers to the list, called CAIR-NET, receive
news
releases and other materials dealing with American Muslim positions on
issues of importance to our society.
To SUBSCRIBE to CAIR-NET, go to: http://cair.biglist.com/cair-net/
To reach the list moderator, send a message to: cair@cair-net.org
-----
CAIR
Council on American-Islamic Relations
453 New Jersey Avenue, S.E.
Washington, D.C. 20003
Tel: 202-488-8787, 202-744-7726
Fax: 202-488-0833
E-mail: cair@cair-net.org
URL: http://www.cair-net.org
-----
Forwarded Message
Date:
Sun, 30 Nov 2003 20:58:58 -0500
To:
cair-net@cair.biglist.com
From:
"CAIR" <cair@cair-net.org>
Subject:
CAIR-NET: Author Says Prophet Muhammad Broke Treaty
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
AMERICAN MUSLIM NEWS BRIEFS - 11/30/03
* VERSES OF THE DAY: KIND WORDS AND FORGIVENESS
* VA MUSLIM REFUGEE FAMILY IN NEED
* INCITEMENT WATCH: AUTHOR SAYS PROPHET MUHAMMAD BROKE
* IMMIGRANT REGISTRATION QUESTIONED (Press Enterprise)
- Algerian-Born Detainee a Victim of Excess (Wash. Post)
- High-Profile Lawyer Pleads Al-Arian's Case (Tampa
Trib)
* ADL SUPPORTS CAIR ANALYSIS OF CARTOON (Wash. Post)
- Reviewer Slams Daniel Pipes' 'Militant Islam'
* AL: TELLING CHILDREN ABOUT DIFFERENT TRADITIONS (Times Daily)
- PA Scouts Take a Journey for Faith (Phil. Inquirer)
- Tariq Ramadan: The Reformer (Boston Globe)
* HELEN THOMAS: RAID ON ARAB TV HARDLY DEMOCRATIC (Hearst)
- U.S. Funds Iraqi TV (AP)
* ARMY RESERVIST ACCUSED OF INSUBORDINATION (AP)
* GUANTANAMO TEENS WAIT DECISION ON THEIR FATE (AP)
- At Guantanamo, an Espionage Case Fizzles (NY Times)
- Teen Captives of U.S. Share Special Jail (Mercury News)
* FRANCE TO PASS LAW BANNING HEAD SCAVES? (BBC)
-----
VERSES OF THE DAY: KIND WORDS AND FORGIVENESS
The parable of those who spend their wealth in the way of God is that
of a
grain that sprouts into seven ears, each bearing one hundred grains.
God
gives manifold increase to whom He wishes. God has boundless knowledge.
Those who spend their wealth in the cause of God, and do not follow
their
charity with reminders of their generosity or injure the feeling of the
recipient, shall get their reward from their Lord; they shall have
nothing
to fear or to regret.
Kind words and forgiveness are better than charity followed by injury.
The Holy Quran, 2:261-263
-----
VA MUSLIM REFUGEE FAMILY IN NEED
A family from Afghanistan has recently been brought to Fairfax County,
Va.,
as refugees. The father passed away, leaving the 33-year-old mother
with 7
children ages 5-13. The family is in need of food, clothing and
emotional
support. They speak Pashto and Urdu. The oldest girl speaks a little
English.
For information about how you can help this family, e-mail:
shoma@prodigy.net
-----
INCITEMENT WATCH: AUTHOR SAYS PROPHET MUHAMMAD BROKE TREATY
Radical Islam in the wake of 9/11
Jason Livingood, Campus Report, 11/25/03
http://www.campusreportonline.net/main/articles.php?id=30
Kenneth R. Timmerman, author of Preachers of Hate: Islam and the War on
America…said that 80 percent of the mosques in the United States are
Saudi-controlled. Saudi government-regulated children's textbooks, in
turn,
teach that Jews are "the sons of monkeys and pigs," Timmerman told the
crowd…
In Arabic, Arafat recalled the story of the Al-Hudaybiyya agreement
between
the Prophet Mohammad and the Meccan tribe of Quraish, in which Mohammad
pledged peace for 10 years with the Quraish, whose forces were stronger
than his at the time.
Mohammad used the peace to gather and strengthen his forces for 18
months,
then he broke the treaty by attacking and slaughtering the Quraish.
Mohammad justified his act by arguing that since the name he signed on
the
agreement was not "Mohammad, Prophet of Allah", he was not bound by the
terms of the accord.
ACTION REQUESTED: (As always, be POLITE. Hostile comments WILL be used
to
further defame Islam and Muslims.)
Contact Kenneth Timmerman to express your concerns about his biased and
inaccurate statements.
SEE:
http://www.insightmag.com/main.cfm?include=detail&storyid=87131#timmerman
CONTACT: ktimmerman@insightmag.com
COPY TO: prodriguez@insightmag.com, sstanley@insightmag.com,
mal.kline@academia.org, cair@cair-net.org
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND:
The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) never broke any agreement,
regardless of strength or weakness. There is not one shred of evidence
to
back up this false allegation.
With reference to authorities such as Ibn Ishaq, Ibn Saad, Al-Hakim and
Bukhari, the following is an outline of the events surrounding the
Treaty
of Hudaybiah:
1) The Prophet and his companions were prevented by the pagan Arabs
from
performing their pilgrimage to Mecca (Umrah). Instead of fighting, and
despite the willingness of his followers to enforce their religious
rights,
the Prophet chose a peaceful settlement.
2) Two years later, the pagan Arabs broke the treaty by attacking and
killing 20 allies of the Muslims as they slept. It is internationally
recognized that when one party breaks a treaty, the other party is
released
from its obligations.
3) Even after this attack, no bloody revenge was taken against those
who
broke the treaty. In fact, when the Muslims finally entered Mecca,
amnesty
was granted to nearly all former enemies. The Quran states: 'Yes,
whoever
fulfills his pledge and fears Allah much; verily, then Allah loves
those
who are the pious.' 3:76. Also: 'And fulfill (every) covenant.' 17:34
In 1996, U.S. News & World Report editor-in-chief Mortimer Zuckerman
also
claimed the Prophet Muhammad had a "doctrine" of deceit in making
treaties
with enemies while he was weak and violating them when he was strong.
In
the magazine's June 24, 1996, issue, this claim was retracted. The
editors
wrote: "...We deeply regret any ambiguity in the language; Mr.
Zuckerman
meant no insult. He was referring to Mr. Arafat's reference to the
Prophet
and did not intend to state that this was the doctrine of the
Prophet...it
was the Meccans, not the prophet Muhammad, who broke the peace of
Hudaybiah
of 628."
-----
IMMIGRANT REGISTRATION QUESTIONED
Sharyn Obsatz, Press-Enterprise, 11/29/03
http://www.pe.com/localnews/inland/stories/PE_NEWS_nmuslim30.580e3.html
Dozens of Inland men from predominantly Muslim or Arab countries are
re-registering with immigration authorities, even as the U.S.
Department of
Homeland Security debates the overall effectiveness of the registration
program.
A year after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, U.S. authorities
launched the controversial program aimed at tracking foreign students,
tourists and temporary workers from 25 countries where al-Qaida or
other
terrorist groups operate.
"Homeland Security is continuing to evaluate…the best way to accomplish
the
job," Homeland Security spokesman Bill Strassberger said by phone last
week
from the Washington, D.C., area. "As of today, there's been no change."
Thousands of visa-holders nationwide are required to revisit
immigration
offices within 10 days of the anniversary of their initial
registration.
The program applies to men from certain Middle Eastern, African and
Asian
counties, ranging from Morocco to North Korea, from Egypt to Indonesia.
Officials originally said they would expand the registration program to
visa-holders from other countries. But the expansion never occurred,
leading some to view the registration as biased…
Corona resident Hussam Ayloush said that even though he opposes the
program, he is advising people to re-register so they cannot be
penalized
later. He said by phone that rumors of a possible program suspension
might
mislead people into thinking that they don't have to re-register -- a
mistake that could make them vulnerable to deportation.
"We think this is part of a continuous, unfair pattern of confusing,
targeting and intimidating immigrants who happen to be from Muslim and
Arab
backgrounds," said Ayloush, who heads the Southern California chapter
of
the Council on American-Islamic Relations…
ALSO SEE:
ALGERIAN-BORN DETAINEE SEEN AS VICTIM OF EXCESS
Michael Powell, Washington Post, 11/29/03
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A20028-2003Nov28
BATAVIA, N.Y. -- Benamar Benatta sits in a whitewashed cell, lost in a
post-Sept. 11 world.
Jailed the night of the attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon,
the
Algerian air force lieutenant with an expired visa has spent the past
26
months in federal prisons, much of that time in solitary confinement --
even though the FBI formally concluded in November 2001 that he had no
connection to terrorism.
Since the government first took Benatta into custody, the United States
has
apprehended and released about 760 domestic detainees. More than 80
prisoners have been released from the military jail where alleged al
Qaeda
and Taliban fighters are held in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. It appears that
no
detainee has been locked up as long as Benatta, although it is
impossible
to know because of secrecy surrounding some material witnesses who may
still be in government custody.
He remains behind bars, awaiting a deportation hearing, unable to post
a
$25,000 bond…
Benatta was among the 1,200 or so men detained by U.S. law enforcement
agents in the frenzied weeks after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist
attacks.
He had a most unfortunate r�sum�: An Algerian and a Muslim, he was an
avionics technician, and -- like most of the others -- he lacked proper
immigration papers…
---
HIGH-PROFILE LAWYER TO PLEAD AL-ARIAN'S CASE
Elaine Silverstrini, Tampa Tribune, 11/29/03
http://tampatrib.com/floridametronews/MGA7BZH8LND.html
TAMPA - Sami Al-Arian's new attorney has dedicated his professional
life to
holding the U.S. government to the principles it espouses to the rest
of
the world.
William Moffitt recently began representing the former University of
South
Florida professor accused of being a leader in the Palestinian Islamic
Jihad. Moffitt is passionate in his defense of Al-Arian, having long
spoken
out on issues of race and political freedom.
"I've always felt that in times of crises, we sometimes pick out people
to
be made the devils," said Moffitt, 54, who is a past president of the
National Association of Criminal Defense Attorneys.
The organization claims more than 10,000 members and describes its
mission
as ensuring "justice and due process for persons accused of crime or
other
misconduct."
As the group's president, Moffitt testified before Congress about
racial
disparities in the nation's drug laws and asked the United Nations to
investigate racial bias in the U.S. justice system. He says he knows
what
it feels like to face hostility because of politics and race.
Moffitt received his bachelor's degree from the University of Oklahoma
in
1971, where he was the first black elected student body president.
"I remember the death threats I used to get," he said…
-----
CRYPTIC ATTACK OR POLITICALLY CORRECT CRACKDOWN?
Abraham H. Foxman, Washington Post, 11/29/03
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A20301-2003Nov28.html
U.S. Muslim leaders are right to be outraged about the anti-Muslim
message
that can be inferred from Johnny Hart's recent "B.C." comic strip.
Were it not for his history of using "B.C." to denigrate other faiths,
including unambiguous slights against Judaism, Hart's argument that his
Nov. 10 strip was not intended as an anti-Muslim slur might hold at
least a
shred of credibility. Yet, as anyone familiar with "B.C." knows, Hart
has
shamelessly used his medium to promote his strongly Christian outlook
while
casting aspersions on other faiths.
Taken in this context, the outhouse cartoon's message is clear. It is
nothing more than a thinly veiled attack on the Muslim faith -- one
that
must be forcefully condemned by cartoonists, journalists and most
importantly, responsible readers.
The writer is national director of the Anti-Defamation League.
ALSO SEE:
MILITANT ISLAM REACHES AMERICA
Daniel Pipes, Sydney Morning Herald, 11/29/03
http://www.smh.com.au/
We are so impressed with academic qualifications that it is easy for
PhDs
and professorships to disguise breathtaking intellectual sloppiness.
Read
this piece of slack, journalistic hackery and be amazed. Repeatedly,
Pipes
makes large claims about the nature of modern Islam based on second- or
third-hand accounts and relying, too often, on only one dubious source.
If
this was a thesis submitted for consideration by his peers, it would be
sent back with a brusque "Rewrite and research". Pipes's claim to fame
is
that after September 11, he was said to be the one person who predicted
the
rise of militant Islam. In reality, if this book is an indication, he
belongs to that tradition of American fear-mongering, which started
with
the Salem witch trials and which often produces insular hysteria as a
self-fulfilling prophecy…
-----
HOW TO TELL CHILDREN ABOUT DIFFERENT RELIGIOUS TRADITIONS
Katherine Lee, Times Daily, 11/29/03
http://www.timesdaily.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20031129/NEWS/311290301/1004
Holiday time is storytelling time, and holiday stories are often
stories of
the miraculous. So when children get involved in festive celebrations,
the
question often arises: How do you tell stories of the supernatural to
minds
too young to comprehend?
Religious traditions often evolve around miracles that are key to one's
faith. Jews celebrate Hanukkah, with its story of the small flask of
oil
that lighted the temple for eight days.
Christians have the story of the Virgin Birth, and the story of
Christ's
resurrection. Muslims consider the Quran a miraculous work in itself,
as
well as the story of the prophet Mohammed's ascension into heaven.
Throw
Santa into the mix, and storytelling time can be confusing.
So how do you teach children to believe in the miracles of your own
religion, warn them against believing in false ones and show respect
for
those of other faiths?
Experts say you simply tell the story…
Altaf Ali, director of the central Florida chapter of the Council for
American-Islamic Relations, said it's sometimes difficult to emphasize
to
young children the miraculous origins of the Quran.
"It's a little abstract," he said. "We try to tell them about the
tangible
things in the Quran, like the idea that everyone has two angels that
sit on
their shoulders and protect them. Telling them things like that
complements
the stories they hear in school, like fairy tales and other things…''
ALSO SEE:
SCOUTS TAKE A JOURNEY FOR FAITH
Rusty Pray, Philadelphia Inquirer, 11/29/03
http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/local/7371949.htm
MOORESTOWN - In the all-purpose room of the Baker School on West Maple
Avenue here yesterday, Judaism and Islam met face-to-face - and
exchanged
business cards.
"Are you free Sunday mornings?" Rabbi Gary M. Gans asked Zia Rahman.
"I'm
interested in having you come speak to my congregation."
"Anything I can do to help people understand," Rahman, managing trustee
of
the American Muslim Community in Voorhees, said after accepting the
invitation to visit Gans' Congregation Beth Tikvah in Marlton.
"The fact that we have a Jew and a Muslim in the same teaching center -
that's not happening often enough," Gans said.
Two of the world's great religions - so alike and yet so antagonistic -
came together here yesterday because of the Ten Commandments Hike, a
program to promote religious tolerance and understanding sponsored by
the
Burlington County Council of the Boy Scouts of America.
About 145 scouts, troop leaders and parents - some from as far away as
S
Springfield, Va. - took part in the all-day event…
---
THE REFORMER
Laura Secor, Boston Globe, 11/30/2003
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/ideas/articles/2003/11/30/the_reformer/
When Tariq Ramadan delivers a lecture, the room is invariably packed to
capacity. Afterwards, dozens of young Muslim men are likely to throng
the
stage, seeking his definitive guidance on everything from veiling to
animal
rights to how to live with dignity in a secular society.
"What I am doing with them is at the same time important and
dangerous,"
Ramadan says of his work with these young men. "It could be dangerous
if
you let them think you have the answers. I try to tell them, `I am not
what
I'm saying. I'm only trying to be."'
At age 41, Ramadan, an elegant, Swiss-born intellectual, imam, and
activist, has become a magnet for young Muslims in France, Switzerland,
and
Belgium. He's done it partly by making himself personally accessible to
the
devotees who purchase audiotapes of his lectures and often travel for
miles
just to hear him speak. And he's also done it with his unstinting
criticism
of their community's inclination toward insularity.
Outside the Muslim community, Ramadan is the object of both admiration
and
suspicion. He's the Muslim Martin Luther, the American and French press
have sometimes rhapsodized: He advocates that European Muslims use
their
unique experiences to lead a movement toward reform within Islam. He is
"two-faced," critics reply: He sounds like a moderate, having adopted a
vocabulary that he knows will be accepted by secular Westerners, but he
is
actually herding Francophone Muslims down the path of extremism…
-----
RAID ON ARAB TV NETWORK HARDLY A DEMOCRATIC MOVE
Helen Thomas, TheBostonChannel.com, 11/29/03
http://www.thebostonchannel.com/helenthomas/2667834/detail.html
WASHINGTON -- The raid by the U.S.-appointed Iraqi officials on an Arab
television network bureau in Baghdad and the ban on its broadcasts
hardly
fits my idea of how to spread democracy in the Middle East.
Isn't that the first thing dictators do -- shut down broadcast outlets
and
newspapers? For those in power, tolerating a free press is difficult,
even
in a democracy.
As a foreign occupier in Iraq, we are proving that it is intolerable.
The terrible irony here is that we pride ourselves on offering a model
to
the rest of the world on how to design -- and live by -- our
constitutional
freedoms.
Journalists around the globe have been taught to emulate our approach
to
newsgathering, hopefully in an atmosphere free of government
restraints.
At the same time, we're snuffing out news outlets we don't like…
ALSO SEE:
U.S. FUNDS IRAQI TV NETWORK IN BATTLE AGAINST 'HOSTILE' ARAB NEWS
STATIONS
Jim Krane, Associated Press, 11/28/03
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2003/11/28/international1630EST0578.DTL
One of the chief U.S. weapons in the battle to win Iraqi hearts and
minds
is Al-Iraqiya -- a Pentagon-funded TV station with an optimistic,
pro-American slant.
Announcers on Al-Iraqiya, which reaches 85 percent of Iraqis, decry the
guerrillas attacking U.S. military and Iraqi civilian targets as
"terrorists."
Problem is, those Iraqis fortunate enough to have satellite dishes
consider
Al-Iraqiya stodgy and slow on breaking news. They prefer Al-Jazeera and
Al-Arabiya, the flashy Gulf-based stations where anti-American fighters
are
branded "resisters."
Recently, condemnation has focused on the Qatar- and Dubai-based
networks.
The U.S.-appointed Iraqi Governing Council shut down Saudi-owned
Al-Arabiya
for "inciting murder" by broadcasting a voice said to belong to Saddam
Hussein. The State Department approved of the temporary closure but
groups
advocating press freedom were enraged by it.
Americans and their allies also show little love for Al-Jazeera…
-----
ARMY RESERVIST ACCUSED OF INSUBORDINATION
Associated Press, 11/28/03
http://apnews.excite.com/article/20031128/D7V3R9TG0.html
ROCHESTER, N.Y. - An Army reserve officer faces insubordination charges
after he questioned the legality of a waiver that his battalion was
asked
to sign allowing their third deployment to a war zone since January
2002.
Capt. Steve McAlpin of 401st Civil Affairs Battalion was notified in a
memorandum Wednesday that he was being removed from the unit's battle
roster. Members of the 401st will be deployed for duty overseas on Dec.
3.
McAlpin said he could face other punishment, including a court martial
and
losing rank, over the charges.
In the memorandum, Lt. Col. Phillip Carey, commander of the 401st,
charges
McAlpin with having a "negative attitude" toward the 401st and with
being
"insubordinate towards the leadership" of the unit.
McAlpin, 44, said he questioned the waiver last Saturday during a
teleconference with Col. Guy Sands, commander of the McAlpin's parent
unit,
the 360th Civil Affairs Brigade. McAlpin asked whether the battalion
may be
violating federal law by not allowing combat troops a required 12-month
"stabilization period" at home…
-----
IN GUANTANAMO, TEENAGERS PASS TIME WITH SOCCER, MOVIES, WAITING
DECISION ON
THEIR FATE
Frank Griffiths, Associated Press, 11/29/03
http://www.diario.com.mx/nota.asp?notaid=1953217aeae3ea320e3d51c6ce4fe804
GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba - It looks like a summer camp with
manicured lawns, a dusty soccer field and a library of kids' movies,
but
the fenced compound of Iguana House holds three teenagers accused of
fighting alongside Afghanistan's ousted Taliban.
Human rights advocates say the U.S. military should long ago have
released
the boys, between the ages of 13 and 15, but detention mission
commander
Maj. Gen. Geoffrey Miller said this week their freedom is being held up
at
higher levels.
Soldiers guard them day and night, never shutting their bedroom doors
and
monitoring them on wide-angle mirrors on the walls. The bathroom
remains
open, a small curtain covering part of the doorway for privacy.
"We're concerned that a prolonged separation from their families may
cause
a deterioration in their mental health," said Jo Becker, of the New
York-based group Human Rights Watch.
The boys, who wear orange jumpsuits, undergo more than an hour of group
therapy twice a week and also meet with psychiatrists.
Miller recommended in August that they be sent back to their home
countries. The request is awaiting approval by the Pentagon and other
agencies, Miller said, adding he expects a decision soon…
ALSO SEE:
AT GUANTANAMO, AN ESPIONAGE CASE SEEMS TO FIZZLE
Neil A. Lewis, New York Times, 11/30/03
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/30/weekinreview/30P2ST.html
IT became clear last week that the case against Capt. James J. Yee fell
far
short of what several senior defense officials had originally
suggested: a
major espionage plot at the Guantanamo Bay detention facility in Cuba.
Instead, the military announced that it was releasing Captain Yee, the
former Muslim chaplain at Guantanamo, after confining him for nearly
three
months on suspicion of espionage activities. And the military suddenly
found itself vulnerable to the allegation that it had fecklessly taken
aim
at him because of his Muslim faith.
Captain Yee was one of three Muslims, all American, at Guantanamo who
were
arrested on suspicion of espionage. The other two were translators, who
also had contact with the prisoners. They remain locked up.
Unnamed officials were quoted in news articles suggesting an
extraordinary
scenario: Wily enemies were using Muslims as a fifth column at
Guantanamo.
And Captain Yee had an extraordinary history; he was a Chinese-American
graduate of West Point who had converted to Islam and returned to the
Army
as a chaplain…
---
TEEN CAPTIVES OF U.S. SHARE SPECIAL JAIL
Carol Rosenberg, San Jose Mercury News, 11/30/03
http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/news/world/7380420.htm
GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL STATION, Cuba - They don't wet their beds and
their
jailers haven't seen them cry. But U.S. soldiers guarding the three
youngest terror suspects here say the boys -- ages 13 to 15 --
experience
typical adolescent mood swings amid their strict schedule of study,
sports
and prayer.
Since May, U.S. troops have segregated the three teens in a
concrete-block
building that suggests a cross between a seafront cottage and a halfway
house.
They refer to their captives as ''juvenile enemy combatants'' and call
their jail ''Iguana House.''
It is all part of a careful effort to treat the boys differently from
the
650-plus adult prisoners in Camp Delta, the Pentagon's prison for
Al-Qaida
and Taliban suspects.
Commanders won't identify the boys or their nationalities. But they say
the
boys wear orange jumpsuits, pray five times a day, amuse themselves
with
National Geographic videos -- and undergo interrogations, like any
other
captive here…
-----
'HEADSCARF BILL' MOOTED IN FRANCE
BBC News, 11/29/03
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3248614.stm
Raffarin is trying to unite a divided party French Prime Minister
Jean-Pierre Raffarin has announced plans that could in effect ban
Muslim
women from wearing headscarves in public institutions.
Mr Raffarin told a meeting of his governing UMP party on Friday that he
plans to introduce a bill that would be aimed at protecting women.
He did not directly refer to the vexed issue of headscarves in schools.
Calls to ban them have increased in recent years, amid signs of growing
militancy among Muslims in France.
Muslim girls wearing headscarves have been expelled from public schools
-
which have the authority to ban "ostentatious signs of religion".
Expelled girls have denied that they are proselytising, and say they
should
be free to wear what their religion dictates.
However a motion approved by 90% of UMP delegates at Friday's meeting
near
Paris called for a bill that would "explicitly ban the ostentatious
wearing
of any political or religious sign" in public schools.
In his address to the meeting, Mr Raffarin said the bill was designed
to
defend secularism and protect "all women from fundamentalist
pressures…"
-----
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To reach the list moderator, send a message to: cair@cair-net.org
-----
CAIR
Council on American-Islamic Relations
453 New Jersey Avenue, S.E.
Washington, D.C. 20003
Tel: 202-488-8787, 202-744-7726
Fax: 202-488-0833
E-mail: cair@cair-net.org
URL: http://www.cair-net.org
-----
Forwarded Message
Date:
Mon, 01 Dec 2003 14:02:48 -0500
To:
cair-net@cair.biglist.com
From:
"CAIR" <cair@cair-net.org>
Subject:
CAIR-NET: U.S. Muslims Applaud End of Registration Program
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
U.S. MUSLIMS APPLAUD END OF REGISTRATION PROGRAM
Islamic group says new system should be free of religious bias
(WASHINGTON, D.C., 12/1/2003) - The Council on American-Islamic
Relations
(CAIR) today applauded the Bush administration's decision to end a
visitor
registration program that primarily targeted Muslim men and drew
complaints
from minority and civil liberties groups. CAIR also said any new
visitor
screening system should be free of religious or racial bias.
The Washington-based Islamic civil rights and advocacy group's
statement
came following an announcement made this morning by the Department of
Homeland Security eliminating the National Security Entry Exit
Registration
System, or NSEERS. A new system will focus on individuals instead of on
"broad categories" of people. Those who were subject to NSEERS must
still
register as they enter or leave the country.
SEE: "Homeland Security Ends Registration"
http://www.newsday.com/news/politics/wire/sns-ap-registering-foreigners,0,4421390.story
In a statement, CAIR Executive Director Nihad Awad said: "Today's
announcement will no doubt bring relief to thousands of people who are
anxious about being singled out and discriminated against when visiting
the
United States. We appreciate the government's decision to eliminate the
special registration program, which has done little to promote security
and
has alienated thousands of law-abiding visitors to our nation. Any new
screening procedures should not be based on religion, ethnicity or
national
origin, but instead reflect the American values of equal justice and
religious freedom."
In December of last year, CAIR, along with several other civil rights
groups, filed a lawsuit asserting that immigration authorities
unlawfully
arrested large numbers of people in Los Angeles as they came forward to
voluntarily comply with special registration requirements.
The special registration program required nonimmigrant males from 25
Muslim-majority nations to register with immigration authorities or
face
detention and deportation. A little known provision of the program
required
annual re-registration. Critics viewed the re-registration requirement,
and
the entire registration process, as being designed to create
"deportation
traps" targeting Muslims and of little value in promoting national
security.
CAIR, America's largest Islamic civil liberties group, has received
numerous complaints from Muslims who felt discriminated against since
the
start of the program last year. For background on the Special
Registration
program, go to: http://uscis.gov/graphics/shared/lawenfor/specialreg/
- END -
CONTACT: Ibrahim Hooper, 202-488-8787 or 202-744-7726, E-Mail:
cair@cair-net.org; Rabiah Ahmed, 202-488-8787 or 202-439-1441, E-Mail:
rahmed@cair-net.org
NOTE: CAIR offers an e-mail list designed to be a window to the
American
Muslim community. Subscribers to the list, called CAIR-NET, receive
news
releases and other materials dealing with American Muslim positions on
issues of importance to our society.
To SUBSCRIBE to CAIR-NET, go to: http://cair.biglist.com/cair-net/
To reach the list moderator, send a message to: cair@cair-net.org
-----
CAIR
Council on American-Islamic Relations
453 New Jersey Avenue, S.E.
Washington, D.C. 20003
Tel: 202-488-8787, 202-744-7726
Fax: 202-488-0833
E-mail: cair@cair-net.org
URL: http://www.cair-net.org
-----
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
AMERICAN MUSLIM NEWS BRIEFS - 12/1/03
* HADITH OF THE DAY: A SEED OF FAITH
* CAIR'S LIBRARY PROJECT
* CAIR-DC: GRANT WRITING/PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT WORKSHOP
- CAIR-NJ Grant-Writing Workshop
- CAIR Fundraiser Tops $1 Million (Wash. Times)
* PATRIOT ACT AUTHOR HAS CONCERNS (Los Angeles Times)
- New Surveillance Fuel Debate In CA (Boston Globe)
- An Un-American Activity (St. Pete Times)
* ND: ENDING RAMADAN FAR FROM HOME (Grand Forks Herald)
- NY: Muslims Share Family Dinner (Newsday)
- UT: Zakat - An Act of Charity (Salt Lake Tribune)
* FRANKLIN GRAHAM TRAVELS TO SUDAN (AP)
* IRAQI TOWN DEVASTATED AS US RESPONDS TO ATTACK (AFP)
- Poll: Most Iraqis Mistrustful of Coalition (AFP)
-----
HADITH OF THE DAY: A SEED OF FAITH
The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon) said: "On the Day of Resurrection
I
will intercede and say, 'O my Lord! Admit into Paradise (even) those
who
have faith equal to a mustard seed in their hearts.'"
Sahih Al-Bukhari, Volume 9, Hadith 600
-----
CAIR LIBRARY PROJECT
The goal of CAIR's library project is to send accurate and objective
information about Islam to America's 16,000 public libraries.
For only $150, Muslim individuals and groups can sponsor 18-item
packages
about Islam and Muslims, which are later distributed to the library of
their choice.
To sponsor a library call, 1-800-392-7876 ext. 320 or for more
information
about the project, visit: www.libraryproject.org.
-----
GRANT WRITING & PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT TRAINING WORKSHOP
Federal Faith & Community based Initiative
SPEAKER: Dr. Khalifah Ramadan
WHEN: SATURDAY & SUNDAY, DECEMBER 20-21, 2003
9:30 a.m. - 5:30 p.m.
WHERE: Al-Huda Islamic School, 5301 Edgewood Rd, College Park, MD
COST: $95 Per person ($10 discount for 2 or more form the same
organization)
For further information contact: Khalid Iqbal at 202-488-8787 or e-mail
ki@cair-net.org
SEE ALSO:
CAIR-NJ HOSTS GRANT-WRITING WORKSHOP
WHAT: Each year, our federal government allocates millions of dollars
to
various agencies, at the federal, state, and local level in the form of
grants to a broad-range of groups. Our government is currently
interested
in funding faith and community-based organizations' programs and
projects.
Come to our two-day workshop to not only learn about the grant-writing
process, but to actually write your own grants. Dr. Khalifah Ramadan, a
national expert in grant-writing, will guide participants in developing
their project programs and in writing and applying for their own
grants.
WHEN: December 13-14, 2003 (Grant-writing preview session with Dr.
Ramadan
Friday, December 12, 8-9:30PM at the Islamic Center of Passaic County.)
WHERE: Islamic Educational Center of North Hudson (Internet connections
and
printing available)
To register, visit: https://www.123signup.com/event?id=dvrd. For more
information, visit our website www.cair-nj.org or contact CAIR-NJ at
cair@cair-nj.org. Seating is limited.
---
CASH FOR CAIR
Washington Times, 12/1/03
http://www.washtimes.com/national/inpolitics.htm
The Council on American-Islamic Relations topped its goal of raising $1
million at a Saturday night banquet in Washington attended by more than
1,000 people - including Democratic Reps. Dennis J. Kucinich of Ohio
and
Nick J. Rahall II of West Virginia.
Both Mr. Kucinich and Mr. Rahall "encouraged American Muslims to
participate in the political process," according to CAIR, America's
largest
Islamic advocacy group.
"We would like to thank all those who helped us reach our fund-raising
goal," CAIR Chairman Omar Ahmad said yesterday. "These added resources
will
enable us to continue and expand our work defending civil rights and
promoting a positive image of Islam."
-----
PATRIOT ACT AUTHOR HAS CONCERNS
Richard B. Schmitt, Los Angeles Times, 11/30/03
http://www.latimes.com/la-na-justice30nov30,1,632079.story
WASHINGTON - The Justice Department's war on terrorism has drawn
intense
scrutiny from the left and the right. Now, a chief architect of the USA
Patriot Act and a former top assistant to Atty. Gen. John Ashcroft are
joining the fray, voicing concern about aspects of the administration's
anti-terrorism policy.
At issue is the government's power to designate and detain "enemy
combatants," in particular in the case of "dirty bomb" plot suspect
Jose
Padilla, the Brooklyn-born former gang member who was picked up at a
Chicago airport 18 months ago by the FBI and locked in a military brig
without access to a lawyer.
Civil liberties groups and others contend that Padilla - as an American
citizen arrested in the U.S. - is being denied due process of law under
the
Constitution.
Viet Dinh, who until May headed the Justice Department's Office of
Legal
Policy, said in a series of recent speeches and in an interview with
The
Times that he thought the government's detention of Padilla was flawed
and
unlikely to survive court review.
The principal intellectual force behind the Patriot Act, the
terror-fighting law enacted by Congress after the Sept. 11, 2001,
attacks,
Dinh has steadfastly defended the Justice Department's anti-terrorism
efforts against charges that they have led to civil-rights abuses of
immigrants and others. While the Patriot Act does not speak to the
issue of
enemy combatants, his remarks still caught some observers by
surprise...
ALSO SEE:
NEW SURVEILLANCE GUIDELINES FUEL DEBATE IN CALIFORNIA
Bobby Caina Calvan, Boston Globe, 11/30/03
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2003/11/30/new_surveillance_guidelines_fuel_debate_in_california/
SACRAMENTO -- Federal authorities may now have broad powers under the
USA
Patriot Act to monitor the public in its fight against terrorism, but
guidelines distributed last month by the California attorney general's
office contradict the surveillance methods used by federal agencies --
and
advise local police to observe stricter state limits when it comes to
spying on the public.
"Put bluntly, it is a mistake of constitutional dimension to gather
information for a criminal intelligence file where there is no
reasonable
suspicion" of criminal activity, the guidelines state.
The guidelines, entitled "Criminal Intelligence Systems: A California
Perspective," were prompted by concerns over law enforcement responses
to
antiwar protests...
The 134-page document was distributed with little fanfare to every
police
department and sheriff's office. It is hardly a concise list of dos and
don'ts, but rather a lawyerly analysis of some of the existing laws
governing privacy, free expression, and intelligence gathering by law
enforcement.
The guidelines say that proper "boundaries" and oversight "are critical
to
maintaining the appropriate balance between public safety and
fundamental
rights such as free speech, assembly, and privacy."
Activists and civil libertarians applauded release of the guidelines...
---
AN UN-AMERICAN ACTIVITY
St Petersburg Times, 11/30/03
http://www.sptimes.com/2003/11/30/Opinion/An_un_American_activi.shtml
When Attorney General John Ashcroft announced in May 2002 that he was
lifting restrictions on domestic spying by the FBI - rules that had
been
put in place in response to the bureau's excesses during the 1960s and
'70s
- he promised the sweeping new powers would be used only "for the
purpose
of detecting and preventing terrorism."
Now we know better. A classified FBI intelligence memorandum has
recently
come to light demonstrating that the FBI is using this new authority to
spy
on nonviolent antiwar demonstrators. Ashcroft seems to be ushering us
back
to the bad old days of J. Edgar Hoover, when the FBI made enemies of
those
who engaged in political dissent and civil disobedience.
As reported by the New York Times, the FBI has been collecting detailed
information on the tactics and organization of antiwar protesters and
has
asked local policing agencies to report any suspicious activities to
the
FBI's counterterrorism operation.
The agency claims it is only interested in identifying individuals who
would engage in violence at demonstrations, but the memorandum
describes an
array of lawful actions used by peaceful demonstrators. For example,
the
memorandum instructs local law enforcement about the "innovative
strategies" of protesters such as the videotaping of arrests to
intimidate
police and the use of the Internet to organize and raise funds...
-----
ENDING RAMADAN FAR FROM HOME
Tu-Uyen Tran, Grand Forks Herald, 12/1/03
http://www.grandforks.com/mld/grandforks/news/7384798.htm
The prayer leader stood erect before a small group of worshippers all
facing roughly east towards the city of Mecca.
In Arabic, he solemnly called them to prayer, praising God the greatest
and
the highest.
Outside the meditation room at UND's International Center, it was a
frosty
and completely ordinary Tuesday morning in Grand Forks. But for the
dozen
worshippers inside it was one of the year's most holy days.
Nov. 25, was Eid al-Fitr, both a day of prayer and a day of celebration
ending the holy month of Ramadan.
Around the world, wherever Muslims predominate, Eid is a major holiday
in
the way that Christmas is a major holiday here.
The small Muslim community here can only make the best of it...
ALSO SEE:
MUSLIMS SHARE FAMILY DINNER
Jennifer Sinco Kelleher and Indrani Sen, Newsday, 12/1/03
http://www.newsday.com/news/local/longisland/ny-ligall013565814dec01,0,2351283.story
Though many still had refrigerators full of turkey leftovers, about 300
Muslim families from Suffolk County came out last night for another
celebratory dinner - Eid Milan, the "family dinner" that commemorates
the
close of Ramadan, the month of fasting, self-discipline and prayer that
ended last week.
For the first time, the annual event organized by the Selden-based
Islamic
Association of Long Island was so large that it had to be held at a
hotel,
the Wyndham Wind Watch in Hauppauge, instead of a mosque.
The families were joined at the buffet-style feast of Pakistani
curries,
rice, fried chicken and halal meats by County Executive-elect Steve
Levy
and by Suffolk County Police Commissioner John C. Gallagher - a sign,
some
guests said, of the growing influence of the Islamic community...
---
THE ZAKAT: AN ACT OF CHARITY, A TAX AND A TITHE
Hebah Al-Disi and Joel Addams, Salt Lake Tribune, 11/30/03
http://www.sltrib.com/2003/Nov/11302003/commenta/115655.asp
As a young Muslim girl living in Jordan, Hebah Al-Disi was taught from
an
early age by her father to appreciate Zakat, the Islamic charity-tax
similar to tithes and offerings in other religions.
During the last days of Ramadan one year, she accompanied her father in
giving Zakat to a poor family. After a half an hour driving, they
reached a
poor area in the suburbs of Amman, Jordan. They parked their car and
continued the trip on foot because there was no street to the apartment
of
the family.
"Here we are, Hebah," announced her father. He pointed to a very small,
one-room apartment. "This is the place."
He knocked, and a young girl opened the door, peered out, and ran
inside
calling to her mother, "Some people came to visit us! I think they are
Zakat donors!" The girl's mother soon appeared with a wide smile on her
face...
Zakat, the Islamic religious tax, is paid annually by Muslims around
the
world, usually during the month-long fast of Ramadan. Zakat is the
fourth
pillar of Islam and is considered as important as regular prayer,
fasting
and pilgrimage to Mecca...
-----
FRANKLIN GRAHAM TRAVELS TO SUDAN
Tim Whitmire, Associated Press, 11/30/03
http://newsobserver.com/nc24hour/ncnews/story/3083540p-2804729c.html
CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Evangelist Franklin Graham, long an outspoken critic
of
Sudan's Islamic government, hopes to encourage peace with a holiday
season
visit to the war-ravaged African country.
Graham plans to travel to the Sudanese capital of Khartoum this month,
along with a shipment of shoeboxes filled with gifts from American
children
that is part of his annual "Operation Christmas Child." He was invited
by
the Sudanese government and is to meet with the country's president,
Omar
el-Bashir, and faith leaders during a visit that he said will last less
than a week.
Details of the visit, including the precise dates Graham will be in
Sudan
and where he will visit, are still being worked out.
Graham, the son and successor of Billy Graham, has been involved in
international aid for decades through his Samaritan's Purse charity. He
said there are high hopes that a comprehensive peace settlement in
Sudan's
long-running civil war will be signed early next year...
-----
DEVASTATION IN IRAQI TOWN AS US RESPONDS TO ATTACK WITH DEADLY
BOMBARDMENT
Rouba Kabbara, Agence France Presse, 12/1/03
SAMARRA, Iraq - The Iraqi town of Samarra was partly devastated Monday
after ambushes of US troops sparked a massive response backed up by
helicopters in which local officials said eight civilians were killed
and
dozens more wounded by US fire.
US commanders initially said they killed 46 Iraqi people, all of them
insurgents, in the clashes on Sunday afternoon and evening, but later
upped
their toll to 54 without explaining whether the additional dead were
insurgents or civilians.
The town's police chief, Colonel Ismail Mahmud Mohammed, said the
guerrillas who attacked the US forces, wounding five soldiers and a
civilian according to a US toll, had withdrawn by the time the
Americans
returned fire.
He charged that the US troops had fired indiscriminately using all the
weapons in their arsenal.
Anguished residents, including middle-aged men, could be seen hugging
each
other in grief after the carnage on the streets, which tribal leaders
warned would only increase support for Washington's foes in the mainly
Sunni Muslim town.
Graffiti expressing support for the ousted Sunni-dominated regime of
Saddam
Hussein covered the walls of the city after the prolonged
bombardments...
ALSO SEE:
MOST IRAQIS MISTRUSTFUL OF US-LED COALITION, POLL FINDS.
Agence France Presse, 12/1/03
http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=7989
The vast majority of Iraqis are deeply mistrustful of the US-led
coalition
that is occupying their country, even if they're happy Saddam Hussein
is
history, suggests the preliminary results of a major public opinion
poll
released Monday.
Fewer than one percent of the 3,244 Iraqis interviewed by Oxford
Research
International, in conjunction with Oxford University's sociology
department, bemoaned the fall of Saddam's regime after the March
invasion.
But 79 percent said they have no confidence in the US-led forces now
occupying Iraq, according to a summary of the poll's findings released
Monday by Oxford Research International, a private research
organization.
Seventy-three percent had a similar lack of trust in the Coalition
Provisional Authority, led by Paul Bremer.
On the other hand, 70 percent had confidence in Iraq's religious
leaders,
and 54 percent in their "mukhtars" or local leaders.
Oxford Research International said its survey was "the first truly
representative national study in the recent history of the country,"
with a
total of 46 fieldworkers fanning out across Iraq for a month from
mid-October.
-----
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CAIR
Council on American-Islamic Relations
453 New Jersey Avenue, S.E.
Washington, D.C. 20003
Tel: 202-488-8787, 202-744-7726
Fax: 202-488-0833
E-mail: cair@cair-net.org
URL: http://www.cair-net.org
-----
Forwarded Message
Date:
Tue, 02 Dec 2003 15:30:43 -0500
To:
cair-net@cair.biglist.com
From:
"CAIR" <cair@cair-net.org>
Subject:
CAIR-NET: Debate Rages Over 'Lackawanna Six' Sentencing
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
AMERICAN MUSLIM NEWS BRIEFS - 12/2/03
* HADITH OF THE DAY: KINDNESS BRINGS PROSPERITY
* CAIR'S LIBRARY PROJECT
* DEBATE RAGES OVER 'LACKAWANNA SIX' SENTENCING (Buffalo News)
- Al-Arian Transcripts Questioned (St. Pete Times)
* CHRISTIANITY AND ISLAM BATTLE FOR AFRICAN SOULS (NY Times)
- Pope: Islam and Christianity Unite to Fight Terror (AGI)
- Incitement Watch: Islam for Catholics (Wash. Times)
* UPDATE ON CLAIM THAT PROPHET MUHAMMAD BROKE TREATY
* REGISTRATION OF MUSLIMS, ARABS HALTED (Wash. Times)
- Government Ends Foreign Registration Program (KR)
- U.S. Ends Special Registration (Cox)
- Registration Ends For Foreign Men (Orlando Sentinel)
* MYSTERY SHROUDS INSURGENTS KILLED BY US (AFP)
- Combat Leader Gives Inside Skinny on Battle (SFTT)
- Iraqis Deny US Accounts of Fight (Independent)
- Iraqis Dispute Claim of 54 Killed (San Fran Chronicle)
- Losing Hearts and Minds (Time)
- This War Not Against Terrorists (Atlanta Journal)
* REPRIMANDED FOR MARRIAGE TO IRAQI (AP)
-----
HADITH OF THE DAY: KINDNESS BRINGS PROSPERITY
The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: "Treating those under
one's
authority well produces prosperity, but an evil nature produces evil
fortune."
Sunan of Abu-Dawood, Hadith 2450
-----
CAIR LIBRARY PROJECT
The goal of CAIR's library project is to send accurate and objective
information about Islam to America's 16,000 public libraries.
For only $150, Muslim individuals and groups may sponsor 18-item
packages
about Islam and Muslims, which are then distributed to the library of
their
choice.
To sponsor a library call, 1-800-392-7876, ext. 320, or visit:
www.libraryproject.org.
-----
SENTENCING DEBATE RAGES OVER 'LACKAWANNA SIX'
Dan Herbeck, Buffalo News, 12/1/03
http://www.buffalonews.com/editorial/20031201/1051591.asp
They never built a bomb, never hijacked an airliner and, as far as the
U.S.
Justice Department can determine, never made any plans to commit an act
of
terrorism.
But the local Yemeni-Americans known as the "Lackawanna Six" are all
going
to prison, in a case that has ignited much debate over the Bush
administration's war against terrorism.
The sentencing will begin Wednesday afternoon when Mukhtar al-Bakri
appears
before District Judge William M. Skretny.
Under federal sentencing guidelines, al-Bakri is expected to be sent to
federal prison for 10 years. In the following two weeks, the others
will be
sentenced, and when it is all done, the six are expected to receive
sentences that will total at least 52 years.
All six have admitted that in spring 2001, they traveled to
Afghanistan,
received training at a camp run by the al-Qaida terrorist network and
heard
speeches by al-Qaida's leader, Osama bin Laden. The men have never been
accused of planning or engaging in any act of terrorism.
The prosecution has been hailed as a triumph for law enforcement by
President Bush, U.S. Attorney General John D. Ashcroft and FBI Director
Robert S. Mueller III, but critics call it an example of America
putting
people in jail for "thought crimes" and "guilt by association."
"It's the first time in American history where people are going to
prison
for going to a training camp," said David D. Cole, a Georgetown
University
law professor who recently published "Enemy Aliens: Double Standards
and
Constitutional Freedoms in the War on Terrorism," a book about how the
war
on terrorism has affected civil liberties. "It's wrong. . . . It's
unconstitutional…"
ALSO SEE:
AL-ARIAN TRANSCRIPTS QUESTIONED
Graham Brink, St. Petersburg Times, 12/2/03
http://www.sptimes.com/2003/12/02/Tampabay/Al_Arian_transcripts_.shtml
TAMPA - One of Sami Al-Arian's co-defendants says federal prosecutors
misinterpreted and distorted the taped conversations used to indict him
on
terrorism charges.
In a 51-page court motion, Sameeh Hammoudeh provides his own
transcripts of
many of the conversations, offering the first verbatim glimpse into a
handful of the 200 or so conversations in the indictment.
If accurate, Hammoudeh's translations paint a mundane picture of him
talking about his family, personal finances and charity fundraising - a
sharp contrast to the prosecutors' portrayal of an active fundraiser
for a
deadly terrorist organization…
Hammoudeh, hoping to be released on bail from federal prison, says
prosecutors don't understand the Arabic dialect being used in the
conversations. The prosecutors also cast a sinister light on innocent
exchanges, he says…
-----
CHRISTIANITY AND ISLAM BATTLE FERVENTLY FOR AFRICAN SOULS
Ned Martel, New York Times, 12/2/03
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/12/02/arts/television/02MART.html
Add Africa to the list of dangerous arenas where Christianity and Islam
are
clashing. Anyone charting global hot spots may know as much, but
viewers of
"Battle for Souls," on the Discovery Times Channel tonight, can get a
lesson in compounded pain. The continent is already gasping through
pandemics of poverty and AIDS, so bloodshed among true believers seems
to
inflict new lacerations on broken limbs.
"Battle for Souls" leads viewers into the riotous troubles with a focus
on
unrest in Nigeria. Christians dominate that nation's southern region;
Muslims have large communities in the north. In the overlapping central
strip, missionaries and evangelical Christians can count conversion
successes, aided by Western methods of population mapping and televised
Gospel messages.
Some Muslims in the area have shored up their resolve with stricter
adherence to the Koran. Interpretations include sentences like death by
stoning for adulterers and amputations for thieves.
Intensity on each side has led to unrest in the streets, including
church
burnings. Victimization and retaliation have begun a violent interplay,
and
the program shows how blame can be assigned to aggressors in both
faiths.
The Muslim and the Christian avenues to salvation might be seen as
peacefully parallel in some parts of the Northern Hemisphere, but the
African paths have dangerous bends. "Islam and Christianity do seem set
on
a collision course," says Philip Jenkins, a Penn State professor of
history
and religion…
SEE ALSO:
POPE: ISLAM AND CHRISTIANITY UNITE TO CONDEMN TERROR
Agenzia Giornalistica Italia, 12/2/03
http://www.agi.it/english/news.pl?doc=200312021437-1088-RT1-CRO-0-NF82
Vatican City - The "name of God" must not be used to incite violence
and
terrorism, to promote hatred and exclusion. The Pope asked this, on
receiving various Muslim leaders who came for a meeting organised by
the
Pontifical Council for Inter-religious Dialogue. According to the
Pontiff,
the dialogue between Islam and Christianity is, "necessary to build
bridges
between individuals, peoples, and cultures." And for this today it is
"especially urgent to follow dialogue, understanding, and cooperation
between the great world religions, in particular Christianity and
Islam."
Last Sunday at the Angelus, the old Pope sent an appeal to the great
religions against violence and terrorism, and this morning he repeated
that
"religion is called to build bridges between individuals peoples and
cultures, to be a sign of hope for humanity." "All men and women of
good
will should unite to repeat that, "the holy name of God is never used
to
incite violence and terrorism, to promote hatred and exclusion." "The
continued dialogue and cooperation that is proceeding between religions
will help Christians and Muslims to be always more concrete instruments
for
peace in our world." The Pope today also greeted representatives of
international Catholic organisations, meeting in Rome to reflect on
"how
Christian values can lead away from violence towards peace."
ALSO SEE:
INCITEMENT WATCH: ISLAM FOR CATHOLICS
Julia Duin, Washington Times, 12/1/03
http://www.washtimes.com/culture/20031201-091332-2655r.htm
Catholics - as well as other Christians - need to know a lot more about
Islam, say two authors of a book of 100 questions and answers on the
topic.
However, the outlook on Muslims from "Inside Islam: A Guide for
Catholics"
is hardly favorable.
One of the authors, Daniel Ali of Burke, the founder of
Christian-Islamic
Forum, is a Kurdish convert from Islam to Christianity. Co-author
Robert
Spencer is a Catholic researcher who also wrote "Onward Muslim
Soldiers," a
history of jihad.
"We wanted Catholics to become informed about Islam because not only is
Islam the church's chief rival in terms of religion but Islam is a
serious
threat to the peace and well-being of the Western world in general,"
Mr.
Spencer said.
Islam and the Roman Catholic Church each number about 1 billion
adherents,
although Islam, he says, is growing faster because of proselytizing.
"There's an unwillingness by Muslims to coexist as equals with other
religions, and they conduct a very energetic worldwide missions
campaign,"
he said. "Instead of Europe being Catholic as it was in the Middle
Ages, in
terms of demographic trends, it's set to be come Muslim Europe..."
SEND POLITE COMMENTS TO: letters@washingtontimes.com
COPY TO: jduin@washingtontimes.com, cair@cair-net.org
-----
UPDATE ON CLAIM THAT PROPHET MUHAMMAD BROKE TREATY
An 11/30/03 Incitement Watch headlined "Author Says Prophet Muhammad
Broke
Treaty" referenced an article appearing to quote Kenneth R. Timmerman,
author of "Preachers of Hate: Islam and the War on America," as saying
the
Prophet Muhammad broke the Treaty of Hudaibiya.
SEE: http://www.campusreportonline.net/main/articles.php?id=30
Many people contacted Insight Magazine to express their concerns about
this
false claim. (Timmerman is a senior writer for that publication.
Insight is
the sister publication of the Washington Times.)
SEE:
http://www.insightmag.com/main.cfm?include=detail&storyid=87131#timmerman
In response to those e-mails, an Insight editor claimed the article in
question does not "quote Ken as saying anything of the sort."
After some research, CAIR learned that Timmerman made similar claims in
his
book. He wrote:
"Muslims refer to the 'painful' concessions the Hudaibiya agreement
contained and note that Muhammad removed the words 'messenger of Allah'
from beneath his signature, thus making it an 'inferior peace
agreement.'
Just two years after signing the peace, Muhammad attacked Mecca and
slaughtered all the members of the Quraish, in direct violation of the
treaty. Since then, 'Hudaibiya' has been taken to mean a temporary
peace or
tactical agreement, intended to be swept aside whenever expedient."
Kenneth Timmerman, "Preachers of Hate," Page 197
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND:
The Prophet Muhammad never broke any agreement, regardless of strength
or
weakness. There is not one shred of evidence to back up this false
allegation.
With reference to authorities such as Ibn Ishaq, Ibn Saad, Al-Hakim and
Bukhari, the following is an outline of the events surrounding the
Treaty
of Hudaybiah:
1) The Prophet and his companions were prevented by the pagan Arabs
from
performing their pilgrimage to Mecca (Umrah). Instead of fighting, and
despite the willingness of his followers to enforce their religious
rights,
the Prophet chose a peaceful settlement.
2) Two years later, the pagan Arabs broke the treaty by attacking and
killing 20 allies of the Muslims as they slept. It is internationally
recognized that when one party breaks a treaty, the other party is
released
from its obligations.
3) Even after this attack, no bloody revenge was taken against those
who
broke the treaty. In fact, when the Muslims finally entered Mecca,
amnesty
was granted to nearly all former enemies. The Quran states: 'Yes,
whoever
fulfills his pledge and fears Allah much; verily, then Allah loves
those
who are the pious.' 3:76. Also: 'And fulfill (every) covenant.' 17:34
In 1996, U.S. News & World Report editor-in-chief Mortimer Zuckerman
also
claimed the Prophet Muhammad had a "doctrine" of deceit in making
treaties
with enemies while he was weak and violating them when he was strong.
In
the magazine's June 24, 1996, issue, this claim was retracted. The
editors
wrote: "...We deeply regret any ambiguity in the language; Mr.
Zuckerman
meant no insult. He was referring to Mr. Arafat's reference to the
Prophet
and did not intend to state that this was the doctrine of the
Prophet...it
was the Meccans, not the prophet Muhammad, who broke the peace of
Hudaybiah
of 628."
-----
REGISTRATION OF MUSLIMS, ARABS HALTED
Audrey Hudson, Washington Times, 12/1/03
http://www.washingtontimes.com/national/20031201-115121-4339r.htm
A federal immigration program targeting men from Middle Eastern
countries
for mandatory registration was abruptly ended yesterday by the Homeland
Security Department.
The National Security Entry-Exit Registration System (NSEERS) had been
criticized by Muslims and Arabs for singling out such a limited group,
despite the fact that all the hijackers involved in the September 11
attacks were Muslim.
Asa Hutchinson, the Department of Homeland Security's undersecretary
for
border and transportation security, told reporters that the change was
not
a response to criticism from civil liberties and minority-advocacy
groups.
He said eliminating NSEERS was a first step toward implementing a full
entry-exit system called US-VISIT. The system will use biometrics to
identify travelers by their right and left index fingerprints, and
digital
photographs. Personal and travel information also will be collected.
US-VISIT goes online in January at 115 airports and 14 seaports. It is
expected to be fully operational by 2005…
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) last December sued the
government, claiming immigration authorities unlawfully arrested large
numbers of people in Los Angeles as they came forward to comply with
the
registration requirements.
"Today's announcement will no doubt bring relief to thousands of people
who
are anxious about being singled out and discriminated against when
visiting
the United States," said Nihad Awad, CAIR executive director…
ALSO SEE:
GOVERNMENT ENDS FOREIGN REGISTRATION PROGRAM
Shannon Mccaffery, Knight Ridder, 12/2/03
http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/news/7389483.htm WASHINGTON -
The Bush administration is ending a controversial anti-terrorism
program
that required thousands of Middle Eastern men in the United States to
register with the government at regular intervals.
But visitors from the 25 "countries of concern" targeted by the
National
Security Entry Exit Registration System (NSEERS) will still face
additional
scrutiny when they enter or leave the country. And more than 13,000 men
may
be deported as a result of the program, most because they overstayed
their
visas.
Launched after the Sept. 11 attacks, NSEERS has drawn sharp criticism
from
immigration and civil liberties advocates, who said it discriminated
against male immigrants based solely on their national origin
The program required men from 25 countries that have terrorist ties to
go
to U.S. immigration offices and be fingerprinted, photographed and
interviewed. Some 83,519 complied.
None who registered have been charged with terrorism-related crimes.
But
the government does claim that the program stopped some with terrorist
connections from entering the country, and 143 foreigners were jailed
after
it was found that they were wanted for other crimes…
Those who registered when the program began in September 2002 were
facing
deadlines to re-register, creating fresh anxiety in Arab and Muslim
communities, where there was widespread fear that the program was being
used as a deportation trap.
Advocates on Monday expressed relief that the program's most onerous
mandates had been eliminated…
Nihad Awad, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic
Relations, said the program had "done little to promote security and
has
alienated thousands of law-abiding visitors."
---
U.S. ENDS SPECIAL REGISTRATION FOR MIDEAST VISITORS
Julia Malone, Cox News Service, 12/2/03
http://www.news-journal.com/news/content/coxnet/headlines/1202_registeration.html
WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration suspended a controversial program
on
Monday that required foreign visitors from 25 mostly Muslim countries
to
register periodically with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
The procedure will be replaced with an automated border watch system,
known
as the US-VISIT Program, which is scheduled to begin tracking the
arrival
and departure of foreign visitors at U.S. airports starting in January.
"This change will allow us to focus our efforts on the implementation
of
US-VISIT while preserving our ability to interview some visitors when
necessary," said Asa Hutchinson, undersecretary for border and
transportation security.
The decision cancels the National Security Entry/Exit Registration
System
(NSEERS), under which temporary visitors from the Middle East and other
Muslim areas were asked to check in at immigration offices 30 days
after
arriving in the United States.
Those here for longer periods were required to re-register after a year
here…
"Today's announcement will no doubt bring relief to thousands of people
who
are anxious about being singled out and discriminated against when
visiting
the United States," said Nihad Awad, executive director of the Council
on
American-Islamic Relations, in a statement.
The council and other civil rights groups sued the government after a
large
number of Muslims who voluntarily registered in Los Angeles were
arrested
for immigration violations…
---
REGISTRATION ENDS FOR FOREIGN MEN
Kelly Brewington, Orlando Sentinel, 12/2/03
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/nationworld/orl-asecregistration02120203dec02,1,5139580.story
The federal government today will end a controversial program that
required
more than 80,000 men from predominantly Muslim countries to be
fingerprinted, questioned and photographed by immigration officials.
Since the program began in November 2002, 83,519 men have registered
and
13,799 have been named in deportation proceedings.
None, however, has been charged with terrorist activity, prompting loud
protests from advocates.
A spokesman at the Department of Homeland Security said Monday that the
termination of the program was not a response to the backlash.
"This is something we have been looking at for some time," said Bill
Strassberger. "We've asked if this is the most effective use of our
resources. We decided when registering people domestically, it would be
better to use the information we received on individuals rather than
targeting specific broad groups or categories of people…"
Altaf Ali, director of the Florida chapter of the Council on
American-Islamic Relations, said there is confusion in Muslim
communities
about how the new program will work.
"Getting information from the Department of Homeland Security is like
pulling teeth out of a tiger's mouth," he said. "We tried to get
information on how many people were detained, and they wouldn't tell
us. We
want to know if the new system will be another form of profiling, by
singling people out on their race and religion."
-----
MYSTERY SHROUDS WHEREABOUTS OF BODIES OF 54 INSURGENTS SAID KILLED BY
US
Agence France Presse, 12/1/03
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&u=/afp/20031201/wl_mideast_afp/iraq_unrest_samarra_031201203113&e=3
SAMARRA, Iraq - The US military said it believed 54 insurgents were
killed
in intense exchanges in the northern Iraqi town of Samarra the previous
day
but commanders admitted they had no bodies.
The only corpses at the city's hospital were those of ordinary
civilians,
including two elderly Iranian pilgrims and a child.
US Brigadier General Mark Kimmit told a Baghdad press conference that
54
militants had been gunned down, 22 wounded and one arrested.
But challenged about what had happened to the bodies, Kimmit said: "I
would
suspect that the enemy would have carried them away and brought them
back
to where their initial base was."
Asked about reports from senior police and hospital officials in the
town
of eight civilians killed and dozens more wounded, the US general
insisted:
"We have no such reports whether from medical authorities or police…
ALSO SEE:
A COMBAT LEADER GIVES THE INSIDE SKINNY OF THE BIGGEST BATTLE SINCE THE
WAR
ENDED
http://www.sftt.org/cgi-bin/csNews/csNews.cgi?database=Special%20Reports%20Hack.db&command=viewone&op=t&id=92&rnd=16.346899020788562
The convoy which was attacked while driving through Samara was not a
supply
convoy as reported, but was carrying large amounts of new Iraqi
currency to
stock local Iraqi banks and US greenbacks used to pay for goods and
services the US forces need to accomplish their missions in Iraq. This
convoy was heavily guarded by Abrams Tanks and Bradley Fighting
Vehicles.
It was akin to a huge Brinks Truck delivery.
The reports of 54 enemy killed will sound great on the home front, but
the
greater story is much more disturbing and needs to be told to the
American
Public.
When we received the first incoming rounds, all I could think of was
how
the hell did the Iraqis (most of these attackers being criminals, not
insurgents) find out about this shipment? This was not broadcast on the
local news, but Iraqi police knew about it. Bing, Bing Bing, You do the
math.
Of greater importance in the scale of the attack and the coordination
of
the two operations. Iraqi Rebel Guerilla Units elements still retain
the
ability to conduct synchronized operations despite the massive
overwhelming
firepower "Iron Hammer" offensive this month.
Hack, most of the casualties were civilians, not insurgents or
criminals as
being reported…
---
IRAQIS DENY US ACCOUNTS OF FIERCE FIGHT WITH 'GUERRILLAS'
Phil Reeves, Independent, 12/2/03
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/story.jsp?story=469253
To Ali Abdullah Amin, the accusations and denials that were yesterday
flying about the latest battle between the occupiers and occupied of
Iraq -
the fiercest engagement, some say, since the early days of the US-led
invasion - were irrelevant.
He was not interested in whether the American military was telling the
truth when it said that its troops had killed 54 "attackers" -
shorthand
for Iraqi guerrillas who carried out a double ambush against a US
convoy in
the Sunni town of Samarra on Sunday which turned into a running fire
fight.
Nor was he wondering about the denials made by Iraqi hospital officials
and
policemen, in the face of what the Americans have presented as a
crushing
defeat for the pro-Saddamists, Baathists, ex-soldiers and other
fighters
who are violently opposing their presence.
Iraqi officials say only eight people died, including a 71-year-old
Iranian
pilgrim called Fathollah Hejazi, whose charred passport they were
showing
to all-comers. The old man had, it seems, come to visit the ancient
gold-domed Shi'ite mosque in this once-peaceful town on the banks of
the
Tigris…
---
IRAQIS DISPUTE CLAIM OF 54 KILLED
Vivienne Walt, San Francisco Chronicle, 12/2/03
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2003/12/02/MNGLP3E5LF1.DTL
Samarra, Iraq -- U.S. commanders said Monday they had killed up to 54
insurgents in the fiercest battle since Saddam Hussein's government
fell
nearly eight months ago, but townspeople disputed that claim, saying
only
eight were killed in the battle Sunday, most of them noncombatants.
Military officials said the simultaneous attacks against two convoys in
this city about 70 miles north of Baghdad were a highly synchronized
operation involving heavy munitions and requiring precise knowledge of
the
American convoys' schedules.
"This was a coordinated effort,'' said Col. Frederick Rudesheim,
commander
of the 4th Infantry Division's 3rd Brigade, whose tanks drove into two
ambushes as they escorted trucks carrying large amounts of the new
Iraqi
currency to branches of the Radifan Bank on opposite ends of town. He
said
30 to 40 insurgents attacked each convoy. "There was a concerted effort
by
the enemy to deal a significant blow to coalition forces," Rudesheim
added.
But with Samarra's hospital still filled with casualties, residents
told a
starkly different story. In a mix of rage and grief, residents lashed
out
at the brigade's soldiers, accusing them of firing randomly into
crowded
market areas in the center of the city, killing civilians, including
two
Iranians believed to be pilgrims visiting a Shiite mosque in town…
---
LOSING HEARTS AND MINDS
Brian Bennett, Time Magazine, 12/8/03
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1101031208-552124,00.html
Mohammed Ali Karam wants to kill a U.S. soldier. He doesn't love Saddam
Hussein, and he was happy in April when U.S. Marines rolled through his
Baghdad neighborhood on their way to liberate the capital. But he
turned
against the Americans the night he saw his brother Hussein, 27, take
two
bullets in the neck. At 10:30 p.m. on Nov. 17, Karam says, he and three
of
his brothers were driving to a neighborhood where the pumps were
working in
order to get water for their home. Hussein, in the passenger seat,
talked
excitedly about having his new suit tailored for his upcoming wedding.
That's when 82nd Airborne paratroopers, crouched in an observation post
across the street, opened fire--after rounds struck their position,
they
say. Three of the brothers ran to the safety of a creek bed, but
Hussein
didn't make it. In the car, said Karam, the soldiers found
Hussein--gurgling blood through his throat--but no weapons. Hussein
died on
the way to the hospital--three days before his wedding.
U.S. troops face a difficult task in trying to root out the violent
insurgents who want to drive them out of Iraq. But in pursuing this
deadly
enemy, the Americans are frequently guilty of excesses that are turning
ordinary Iraqis into foes. Bush's Thanksgiving visit meant little to
Iraqis, who cite three areas of concern: the killing of innocents, the
"disappearance" of countrymen detained by U.S. forces, and the
destruction
of buildings, including family homes. The last tactic, justified by
U.S.
commanders as legitimate demolition of military targets, is criticized
by
human-rights groups like Amnesty International as smacking of
collective
punishment...
---
THIS WAR NOT AGAINST TERRORISTS
Jay Bookman, Atlanta Journal Constitution, 12/1/03
http://www.ajc.com/opinion/content/opinion/bookman/index.html
From the beginning, the Bush administration's inability to talk
straight
about its Iraq policy has generated deep and valid suspicion. Good
policy
doesn't need to be defended by deception; the truth will do just fine.
We didn't get the truth a year ago, when Bush officials implausibly
claimed
that Saddam Hussein posed a dire threat to U.S. security. We're not
getting
the truth today, as President Bush and others depict our struggle in
Iraq
as some sort of defense of the American homeland…
Our men and women in uniform are not fighting for their lives against
international terrorists in Iraq. They are not fighting the people who
attacked us on Sept. 11, nor are they fighting allies of those people.
Instead, the guerrillas who are launching mortars at our military
bases,
attacking our troops on patrol or hiding booby traps on Iraqi highways
are
native Iraqis who are trying to evict American troops from their
country.
Despicable and cowardly as their tactics are, the Iraqi resistance is
almost entirely Iraqi.
-----
REPRIMANDED FOR MARRIAGE TO IRAQI
Bill Kaczor, Associated Press, 12/1/03
http://www.heraldtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20031201/APN/312010880
PENSACOLA, Fla. - A Florida National Guard soldier has been reprimanded
and
will be discharged over his marriage to an Iraqi woman while on a foot
patrol in Baghdad, his lawyer said Monday.
Sgt. Sean Blackwell, 27, is being punished for divulging the time and
location of the patrol to his bride, Ehdaa, and the Iraqi judge who
married
them, but he avoided a possible court-martial for dereliction of duty
and
disobeying orders, said Pensacola attorney Richard Alvoid.
"The more they punish him, the more negative publicity the military
likely
will receive," Alvoid said. "He is guilty of falling in love."
Alvoid had no information on a second Florida guardsman, Cpl. Brett
Dagen,
37, who married another Iraqi woman in a double ceremony during a break
on
the same patrol Aug. 17 after their commanding officer tried to block
the
weddings. Both women are physicians…
-----
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CAIR
Council on American-Islamic Relations
453 New Jersey Avenue, S.E.
Washington, D.C. 20003
Tel: 202-488-8787, 202-744-7726
Fax: 202-488-0833
E-mail: cair@cair-net.org
URL: http://www.cair-net.org
-----
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MUSLIM GROUP SUES CONGRESSMAN FOR DEFAMATION
(WASHINGTON, D.C., 12/3/2003) – A prominent national Islamic civil
rights
organization today announced that it has filed a defamation lawsuit
against
a congressman from North Carolina who falsely claimed the group is “the
fund-raising arm of Hezbullah.”
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) filed the lawsuit
Tuesday
in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia in response to
an
October 2003 Charlotte Observer newspaper article in which Rep. Cass
Ballenger (R-NC) claimed the stress of living near CAIR in Washington,
D.C., caused the breakup of his marriage.
Ballenger said that proximity to CAIR “bugged the hell” out of his
wife. He
said his wife also objected to women “wearing hoods” going in and out
of
CAIR's Capitol Hill headquarters. (NOTE: Many CAIR staffers wear
religiously-mandated headscarves, or hijab.) At the time of the
article’s
publication, CAIR attributed Ballenger’s statements to “Islamophobic
hysteria.”
In its lawsuit, CAIR said Ballenger’s defamatory statements harmed the
group’s reputation and were not protected speech because he did not
make
them within the scope of his role as a member of the House of
Representatives. The suit says Ballenger’s claim that CAIR raised funds
for
terrorists was made “with actual malice, wrongful and willful intent to
injure…and with reckless disregard for its truth or falsity.” CAIR is
seeking $2 million in compensatory and punitive damages, together with
costs and attorney’s fees.
“With this lawsuit, we are sending a clear message to all those who
make
malicious and defamatory statements against American Muslims or their
institutions that they will be held accountable in a court of law,”
said
Arsalan Iftikhar, CAIR's director of legal affairs.
Ballenger, who serves on the House International Relations Committee,
has
angered African-American and women's groups with previous bigoted
statements. Last December, Ballenger said African-American
Congresswoman
Cynthia McKinney stirred in him “a little bit of a segregationist
feeling.
I mean, she was such a b-tch.” In another incident, many people were
offended by a black lawn jockey -- long a symbol of racial
insensitivity --
in Ballenger's front yard.
CAIR, America's largest Islamic civil liberties group, is headquartered
in
Washington, D.C., and has 25 regional offices and chapters nationwide
and
in Canada.
- END -
CONTACT: Arsalan Iftikhar, 202-488-8787, 202-415-0799; Ibrahim Hooper,
202-488-8787 or 202-744-7726, E-Mail: cair@cair-net.org; Rabiah Ahmed,
202-488-8787 or 202-439-1441, E-Mail: rahmed@cair-net.org
NOTE: CAIR offers an e-mail list designed to be a window to the
American
Muslim community. Subscribers to the list, called CAIR-NET, receive
news
releases and other materials dealing with American Muslim positions on
issues of importance to our society.
To SUBSCRIBE to CAIR-NET, go to: http://cair.biglist.com/cair-net/
To reach the list moderator, send a message to: cair@cair-net.org
-----
CAIR
Council on American-Islamic Relations
453 New Jersey Avenue, S.E.
Washington, D.C. 20003
Tel: 202-488-8787, 202-744-7726
Fax: 202-488-0833
E-mail: cair@cair-net.org
URL: http://www.cair-net.org
-----
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Subject:
CAIR-NET: New Leader Steps Forward to Revive Islamic Group
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
AMERICAN MUSLIM NEWS BRIEFS - 12/3/03
* HADITH OF THE DAY: A LIVING SOUL
* CAIR'S LIBRARY PROJECT
* LEADER STEPS FORWARD TO REVIVE ISLAMIC GROUP (Chicago Trib)
- African-American Voices in Islam Debate (KR)
* ISLAMIC COUNCIL SUES BALLENGER FOR DEFAMATION (Roll Call)
- Muslim Group Sues N.C. Congressman Over Remarks (AP)
- Muslim Group Sues Congressman (UPI)
* FL RESIDENTS SET UP PROFILING HOTLINE (Orlando Sentinel)
* REGISTRATION ENDS; SUSPICIONS LINGER (SF Chronicle)
- US Announces New Foreign Traveler Program (VOA)
* MUSLIMS FEEL NEED TO RECONNECT (UPI)
* SABBATICAL USED TO PROMOTE UNITY (Gleaner News)
- The God Of Abraham, Jesus, Muhammad (Beliefnet.com)
- A Hands-On Lesson About The Islamic Faith (LA Times)
* GA STORE IS MIDEASTERNERS' CUP OF TEA (Atlanta Journal)
- ‘Castle’ Author Publishes ‘Mosque’ (Post-Gazette)
* U.S.-BORN TERROR SUSPECT TO GET ACCESS TO LAWYER (AP)
* U.S. FIRES GUANTANAMO DEFENSE TEAM (Guardian)
- A Guantanamo-Size Hole in the Constitution (Find Law)
- Special Reports: People the Law Forgot (Guardian)
- Secrecy Shrouds Detainees in U.S. (Atlanta Journal)
* ORIGINS OF THE MIDDLE EAST CRISIS (Sac. Bee)
- Poster Art With Palestinian Perspective (Wash. Post)
* U.S. ARMY USES BULLDOZE THREAT (Reuters)
* FRENCH JUROR DISMISSED FOR WEARING HEADSCARF (Reuters)
* HELP FREE REBIYA KADEER (AI)
-----
HADITH OF THE DAY: A LIVING SOUL
A funeral procession once passed in front of the Prophet Muhammad
(peace be
upon him) and he stood up out of respect. When he was told the person
in
the coffin was Jewish and not Muslim, he said: "Was it not a living
(soul)?"
Sahih Al-Bukhari, Volume 2, Hadith 399
-----
CAIR LIBRARY PROJECT
The goal of CAIR's library project is to send accurate and objective
information about Islam to America's 16,000 public libraries.
For only $150, Muslim individuals and groups may sponsor 18-item
packages
about Islam and Muslims, which are then distributed to the library of
their
choice.
To sponsor a library call, 1-800-392-7876, ext. 320, or visit:
www.libraryproject.org.
-----
NEW LEADER STEPS FORWARD TO REVIVE ISLAMIC GROUP
Geneive Abdo, Chicago Tribune, 12/3/03
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-0312030246dec03,1,2777501.story
Three months after W. Deen Mohammed resigned from the Chicago-based
American Society of Muslims, a preacher from New Jersey has vowed to
reconstitute the group and accelerate the integration of its 1.5
million
African-American members into the country's broader Islamic community.
Mustafa El-Amin, a longtime Mohammed supporter and the imam of the
Ibrahim
mosque in Newark, said Tuesday that he will make a formal announcement
on
Dec. 21 at Rutgers University of his plan to revive the 28-year-old
society.
Leaders in the group and Islamic experts said it is uncertain if
El-Amin,
who has Mohammed's support, can revive the society. Since Mohammed's
resignation in late August, many imams have left the organization, and
it
is unclear if they will return or form breakaway groups.
"I will openly state my intentions and ask others to join me in what I
understand and know to be Imam Mohammed's hopes for the ASM," said
El-Amin,
a high school history teacher. "Whatever shortcomings there were, we
will
correct. I will continue the commentary on the Koran and the life of
the
prophet Mohammed, and I will stress that [Muslims in America] are one
Islamic community, although we have distinct backgrounds..."
SEE ALSO:
VOICES OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN MUSLIMS OFTEN LEFT OUT OF ISLAM DEBATE
Matthai Chakko Kuruvila, Knight Ridder, 12/2/03
http://www.fortwayne.com/mld/newssentinel/7396826.htmhttp://www.fortwayne
SAN JOSE, Calif. - In the midst of an impoverished East Oakland
neighborhood as concerned with the war on drugs as the war in Iraq lie
answers to a question roiling the country since Sept. 11, 2001: Can
Islam
and the United States co-exist?
They can, say members of a largely African-American mosque there,
offering
their decades-old history as proof. But that history is often ignored
and
misconstrued.
Perhaps no group of Americans can speak about Islam and the United
States
with the same intimacy or authority as African-American Muslims. But
their
voice - and story - frequently is missing in the national conversation
about Islam after Sept. 11, 2001.
In some ways, it is a question about what is Islam, and what is Middle
East
politics, says Faheem Shuaibe, the imam, or spiritual leader, of the
East
Oakland mosque, Masjidul Waritheen...
-----
ISLAMIC COUNCIL SUES BALLENGER FOR DEFAMATION
Amy Keller, Roll Call, 12/3/03
http://www.rollcall.com/pub/1_1/breakingnews/3780-1.html
The Council of American-Islamic Relations filed a $2 million defamation
lawsuit Tuesday against Rep. Cass Ballenger (R-N.C.) in response to a
slew
of negative remarks the Congressman made about the group earlier this
year.
“With this lawsuit, we are sending a clear message to all those who
make
malicious and defamatory statements against American Muslims or their
institutions that they will be held accountable in a court of law,”
said
Arsalan Iftikhar, the council’s director of legal affairs.
The group is seeking $2 million in compensatory and punitive damages,
together with costs and attorney’s fees.
Ballenger's office declined to comment saying that it did not know the
details of the lawsuit.
In October, The Charlotte Observer ran a story in which Ballenger, 77,
claimed that the stress of living near the council’s headquarters in
Washington, D.C., caused the breakup of his 50-year marriage.
Ballenger — who announced Tuesday that he will not seek re-election
after
nine terms in Congress — said his home’s proximity to the council after
the
Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks “bugged the hell” out of his wife and
the
couple worried that the group was so close to the Capitol that “they
could
blow the place up.”
The council said in a press statement today that it has also taken
issue
with Ballenger’s claim that the group is “the fundraising arm for
Hezbollah,” saying that the Congressman’s “defamatory statements harmed
the
group’s reputation” and were not protected speech because he did not
make
them within the scope of his role as a House Member...
The Speech or Debate Clause contained in Article 1, Section 6 of the
Constitution protects speech and actions directly related to the
legislative function of a lawmaker.
The courts, however, have rejected the Speech or Debate Clause defense
in
cases involving press releases. In the 1979 Supreme Court case
Hutchinson
v. Proxmire, the court held that statements made by then-Sen. William
Proxmire (D-Wis.) in newsletter and press releases were not protected
under
the Speech or Debate Clause.
The statements at the center of the controversy involved Proxmire’s
awarding of his “Golden Fleece Award of the Month” in 1975 to a
behavioral
scientist conducting research on behalf of a federal agency. Proxmire
called the scientist’s research “nonsense” and a waste of tax dollars —
and
the researcher sued Proxmire for libel.
While the court did not find Proxmire’s statements libelous — because
they
were not made with “actual malice” — it said he could not use the
Speech or
Debate Clause defense because the statements at issue were not made as
part
of the core legislative process…
Ballenger also stirred up controversy a year ago when he said that
then-Rep. Cynthia McKinney (D-Ga.) had brought out “a little bit of a
segregationist feeling” in him.
“I mean, she was such a bitch,” said Ballenger, who later apologized
for
what he called “pretty stupid remarks…”
SEE ALSO:
MUSLIM GROUP SUES N.C. CONGRESSMAN OVER TERRORISM REMARKS
Associated Press, 12/3/03
http://www.newsday.com/news/politics/wire/sns-ap-congressman-lawsuit,0,51031
58.story
An American Muslim advocacy group has filed a defamation lawsuit
against
North Carolina Rep. Cass Ballenger, who accused the group of funding
terrorists and breaking up his 50-year marriage over the stress of
living
nearby.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations, which promotes Muslim civil
rights, said it filed the lawsuit against the 76-year-old Republican in
the
U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
Ballenger said in an October interview with The Charlotte Observer that
the
council, located across the street from his Capitol Hill home, was a
"fund-raising arm" for terrorist groups. He said he had reported the
group
to the CIA and FBI…
The lawsuit claims Ballenger's statements harmed the council's
reputation
and were not protected speech because he made them in an interview
rather
than in his role as a member of Congress.
Ballenger spokesman Preston Hartman said officials in the congressman's
office had not seen the lawsuit, and had no immediate comment.
In the newspaper interview, Ballenger said that after the 2001
terrorist
attacks, his wife was anxious about all the activity at the group's
headquarters, including people unloading boxes and women "wearing
hoods,"
or headscarves, going in and out of the office building - located just
a
few blocks from the U.S. Capitol...
Ballenger has been in hot water before. Last December, he drew
criticism
when he said then-Rep. Cynthia McKinney, a black Democrat from Georgia
known for her abrasive style, had stirred in him "a little bit of a
segregationist feeling."
He later apologized.
---
MUSLIM GROUP SUES CONGRESSMAN
United Press International, 12/03/03
http://interestalert.com/brand/siteia.shtml?Story=st/sn/12030000aaa02cc6.upi
WASHINGTON, Dec. 3 (UPI) -- A Muslim civil rights organization has
filed a
defamation suit against a North Carolina congressman for linking the
group
to Hezbollah.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations filed the suit Tuesday in
U.S.
District Court for the District of Columbia in response to an October
2003
Charlotte Observer article in which Rep. Cass Ballenger, R-N.C.,
claimed
the stress of living near CAIR in Washington, contributed to the
breakup of
his marriage.
Ballenger said that proximity to CAIR "bugged the hell" out of his
wife. He
said his wife also objected to women "wearing hoods" going in and out
of
CAIR's Capitol Hill headquarters.
Many CAIR staffers wear religiously mandated headscarves, or hijab.
At the time of the article's publication, CAIR attributed Ballenger's
statements to "Islamophobic hysteria."
In its suit, CAIR said Ballenger's defamatory statements harmed the
group's
reputation and were not protected speech because he did not make them
within the scope of his role as a member of the House of
Representatives.
-----
PINE HILLS RESIDENTS SET UP HOTLINE TO COMBAT PROFILING
Kelly Brewington, Orlando Sentinel, 12/3/03
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/orange/orl-locprofiling03120303dec
03,1,2358256.story
Civil-rights activists joined Pine Hills residents Tuesday to launch a
hotline where people can complain about racial profiling, part of a
grass-roots campaign to stop discrimination.
Led by the national group Association of Community Organizations for
Reform
Now (ACORN), a handful of residents spoke out against what they called
excessive police profiling of ethnic minorities in the west Orange
County
neighborhood....
With the support of Central Florida Hispanic advocacy group Latino
Leadership, state Sen. Gary Siplin, D-Orlando, and the Florida chapter
of
the Council on American-Islamic Relations, the group said it would
track
individual complaints and meet with law enforcement to discuss its
concerns.
The hotline, 407-254-5912, is also the phone number for ACORN's Orlando
headquarters. Organizers said the number would be linked to its own
voice-mail system to compile discrimination complaints. ACORN members
said
they want the effort to give them a more concise measure of complaints,
rather than relying on anecdotal stories.
But tales of racial and ethnic profiling exist beyond the Pine Hills
neighborhood, they said. Atif Fareed with the Council on
American-Islamic
Relations discussed the findings of a recent study that showed
escalating
discrimination complaints from Muslims throughout Florida.
This year alone, the agency has received more than 100 discrimination
complaints from Muslims, he said. In 2002, that figure was 78, an
increase
of 95 percent from 2001. Before the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks,
the
organization logged just 12 anti-Muslim complaints.
"President Bush says he wants to liberate the Iraqis, while Muslims in
the
United States, who are citizens, are being harassed," he said...
-----
REGISTRATION ENDS; SUSPICIONS LINGER
Anastasia Hendrix, San Francisco Chronicle, 12/3/03
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2003/12/03
/MNGSE3EQ5O1.DTL
Expecting to be interviewed and photographed, men arriving at the San
Francisco office of the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement
on
Tuesday to reregister themselves as visa holders from Middle Eastern
countries instead were handed a letter telling them that they were no
longer required to do so.
The letter, described as "walkaway papers" by one Department of
Homeland
Security official, explained that the government had immediately
suspended
the law mandating that men from predominantly Muslim and Arab countries
register with immigration officials once a year.
Immigration attorneys, advocates and activists regarded the decision as
an
important victory but said concerns and resentments still linger about
how
the program, known officially as the National Security Entry/Exit
Registration System, had been handled.
As of Oct. 30, 83,519 men had voluntarily reported to immigration
offices
for special registration. Of those, 143 were arrested on criminal
charges
and 23 remained in custody.
Government officials said the decision to suspend the requirement was
made
after careful review, and a determination that while the program has
proven
valuable, another program called US-VISIT will better meet security
needs.
That program is expected to be in place by the end of the year and will
collect biometric and other information from most visitors who enter
and
leave the country...
SEE ALSO:
US ANNOUNCES NEW FOREIGN TRAVELER IDENTITY PROGRAM
Nick Simeone, Voice of America, 12/2/03
http://www.voanews.com/article.cfm?objectID=1EF3EC8D-D047-42AE-AA809AB07AE1B
E8E
Beginning next month, everyone traveling to the United States with a
U.S.
visa will be fingerprinted and photographed upon arrival. It's part of
an
expanded homeland security program intended to better monitor the half
billion foreigners who legally arrive in the United States during a
typical
year, and to keep out anyone who may be on a terrorist watch list. A
program that had been used to track people arriving from some parts of
the
world had proven controversial.
If you're coming to the United States on a U.S. visa, be prepared to be
fingerprinted and photographed when you arrive at an air or seaport
beginning January 5.
"It's a comprehensive entry-exit system where we will know who has
arrived,
what is the purpose of their visit and have they departed the United
States," said Bill Strasberger, a spokesman for the U.S. Department of
Homeland Security, which is expanding a program that has been used to
track
foreigners arriving from 25 Middle Eastern countries. "Overstays have
been
a problem in the past. This really is not that much different from
systems
that have already been in place in many countries around the world..."
-----
MUSLIMS FEEL NEED TO RECONNECT
United Press International, 12/3/03
http://www.beliefnet.com/story/136/story_13664.html
Washington- Relations between the West and the Islamic world are being
redefined and some Muslim scholars say the current period is perhaps
the
most important since the crusades in determining these relations.
"Iraq will play a major role in redefining relations between the
followers
of the world's two major faiths," says Mowahid Hussain Shah, a
political
adviser to the Pakistani government told United Press International.
Shah and others say Muslims accepted the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan
as a
logical consequence of the terrorist attacks on the United States on
Sept.
11, 2001. "Al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden was living in Afghanistan.
He
had his camps there. Most Muslims also believed that the Taliban were
asking for trouble by taking on everybody," says Faiz Rehman, former
media
director of the Washington-based American Muslim Council.
Both Shah and Rehman say, however, most Muslims don't see a link
between
Sept. 11 and Iraq. Rep. Dennis J. Kucinich, D-Ohio, a Democratic
presidential candidate, endorses this view. Speaking at a fundraising
dinner last Saturday for the Council of American Islamic Relations,
Kucinich said after Sept. 11, the Islamic world was ready to receive
America with an "open heart" but "at a time when we needed to reach
out,
America stepped back..."
-----
MORRISON HOPES TO USE SABBATICAL TO PROMOTE UNITY
Judy Jenkins, Gleaner News, 12/3/03
http://www.courierpress.com/ecp/gleaner_news/article/0,1626,ECP_4476_2473166
,00.html
Northwest of Damascus, Syria, on the mountain of Seidnaya, stands an
ancient monastery that has seen its share of miracles.
According to legend, the Blessed Virgin once appeared there in the form
of
a gazelle to shame an emperor for wanton killing.
But a quieter miracle of human compassion and understanding takes place
there every day, and it has had a profound effect on the Rev. Gordon
Morrison, rector of the 200-year-old St. Paul's Episcopal Church here.
Morrison, an Oakland, Ind. native whose adult life has brought him
numerous
ties with the Middle East, personally witnessed the amazing revelation
last
summer while visiting his son in Syria.
As the minister noted in an August article that first appeared in the
state
Episcopal diocesan newsletter and later was reprinted in Syria's
national
newspaper, "At that shrine, Muslims and Christians worship together...
ALSO SEE:
THE GOD OF ABRAHAM, JESUS, AND MUHAMMAD
Jack Miles, Beliefnet.com, 12/3/03
http://www.beliefnet.com/story/136/story_13658_1.html
A week ago, President Bush scandalized some of his evangelical fans by
innocently asserting, during his trip to England, that Muslims and
Christians worship the same God. Richard Land, speaking for the
scandalized, has now rebuked the President for what Land calls playing
“theologian-in-chief.”
Land writes: “When President Bush concludes that Muslims and Christians
worship the same God, he is simply mistaken.” In my view, Bush is, at
least
on this point, a better theologian than his evangelical critic.
---
A HANDS-ON LESSON ABOUT THE ISLAMIC FAITH
Shideh Abedi, Los Angeles Times, 12/2/03
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/opinion/la-le-merrell2.5dec02,1,517
4187.story
Re "Extra Credit for Ramadan Fast Draws Protest," Nov. 27: World
history
teacher Len Cesene and the Royal Oak Intermediate School officials
displayed an all-encompassing vision of our world by introducing an
optional assignment (the fasting experience) to their students.
Hands-on
lessons are the best way for students to learn about life.
The real point of fasting is to promote self-control as well as empathy
toward our fellow hungry men. Any act that promotes such invaluable
lessons
in life is good for all of us regardless of the source. I believe that
your
coverage of these types of events will create an opportunity for a
timely
and healthy discussion about the basis of our faiths and will result in
a
greater understanding.
-----
CLARKSTON STORE AIMS TO BE MIDEASTERNERS' CUP OF TEA
Jill Sabulis, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 12/3/03
http://ajc.com/news/content/news/atlanta_world/bazaar/120303.html
>From the plate glass front of the small houseware store she tends in
Clarkston, Layla Karim sees little more than the asphalt parking lot of
Clarkston Village shopping center, with cars parked higgledy-piggledy,
some
lined up for grocery loading at Thriftown just up the strip.
But listen in on conversations with Karim's customers and a shopper
gets a
glimpse of this former Iraqi refugee's window into a much wider world.
On an ordinary day, Karim might bounce from attending a young woman
from
Eritrea to a Syrian man to a family of Bosnians --- and dozens of
nationalities in between. She greets them like old friends and then
scurries to find the item they seek --- a wooden paddle for pressing
designs into bread; a "water set" of pitcher and glasses with "Welcome"
in
Arabic script etched in gold; a hard-to-find Pakistani perfume called
Kashmir; a VHS copy of a classic Iraqi movie.
International Houseware is aimed at filling the needs of Clarkston's
many
Middle Eastern and African refugees and immigrants. On a tour of the
store,
Karim will describe an item by its popularity with the diverse shoppers
who
stop by her store. "That's for the Jordanians," she'll say. Or, "The
Somalians really like those."
A particular emphasis here is placed upon tea and coffee implements.
There
are kettles in all shapes and sizes, including the Turkish ibrik, a
long-handled, narrow-necked copper pot originally intended for brewing
on
hot desert sand...
ALSO SEE:
'CATHEDRAL,' 'CASTLE' AUTHOR FOLLOWS UP WITH 'MOSQUE'
Karen MacPherson, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 12/2/03
http://www.pittsburgpostgazette.com/books/reviews/20031202maccaulay1202fnp5.
asp
Thirty years ago, David Macaulay wrote and illustrated his first
children's
book, "Cathedral," which offered a fresh way to view architecture. It
won a
Caldecott Honor and launched him on a career as one of the top
children's
book authors and illustrators.
Over the years, Macaulay has published a number of books on
architecture,
including "Castle" (another Caldecott Honor book), "Pyramid" and
"Mill."
Worried that he was getting trapped in a literary formula, Macaulay
turned
to other types of picture books, including "Black and White," which won
the
1990 Caldecott Medal.
With his newest book, "Mosque" (Houghton Mifflin, $18, ages 8 up),
Macaulay
-- who trained as an architect at the Rhode Island School of Design --
has
returned to his architectural roots. In richly detailed drawings and
compelling text, "Mosque" tells the story of the design and
construction of
a fictional mosque in 16th- century Istanbul...
-----
U.S.-BORN TERROR SUSPECT TO GET ACCESS TO LAWYER
Associated Press, 12/2/03
http://www.msnbc.com/news/1000486.asp?0cv=CB10
WASHINGTON, — Reversing course, Pentagon officials have decided to
allow a
U.S.-born terrorism suspect access to a lawyer, the Defense Department
announced Tuesday.
The Pentagon statement said that allowing Hamdi access to a lawyer “is
not
required by domestic or international law and should not be treated as
a
precedent.”
The Defense Department will make arrangements over the next few days
for a
lawyer to visit Yaser Esam Hamdi “subject to appropriate security
restrictions,” a Pentagon statement said. Hamdi is being held as an
“enemy
combatant,” a designation the Bush administration says denies him
rights to
a lawyer or a trial.
The Supreme Court is considering whether to hear an appeal from a
public
defender, Frank Dunham, who challenged Hamdi’s detention and wanted to
act
as his lawyer.
Dunham had asked the Supreme Court to decide if the government has
unconstitutionally imprisoned Hamdi without access to attorneys and
without
charges being filed against him...
-----
U.S. FIRES GUANTANAMO DEFENSE TEAM
James Meek, The Guardian, 12/3/03
http://www.guardian.co.uk/guantanamo/story/0,13743,1098618,00.html
A team of military lawyers recruited to defend alleged terrorists held
by
the US at Guantanamo Bay was dismissed by the Pentagon after some of
its
members rebelled against the unfair way the trials have been designed,
the
Guardian has learned.
And some members of the new legal defence team remain deeply unhappy
with
the trials - known as "military commissions" - believing them to be
slanted
towards the prosecution and an affront to modern US military justice.
Of the more than 600 detainees at the US prison camp at Guantanamo,
none
has been charged with any crime, and none has had access to a lawyer,
although some have been in captivity of one kind or another for two
years.
But the US has repeatedly promised that at least some of the prisoners
will
be charged and tried by military commissions, an arcane form of
tribunal
based on long-disused models from the 1940s.
When charged, a prisoner will be assigned a uniformed military defence
lawyer. The prisoners have a theoretical right to a civilian lawyer,
but
the US has placed financial and bureaucratic obstacles in the way of
this...
ALSO SEE:
A GUANTANAMO-SIZE HOLE IN THE CONSTITUTION
Joanne Mariner, Find Law, 12/1/03
http://writ.findlaw.com/mariner/20031201.html
Visit the official U.S. Navy website for Guantanamo Bay and the first
thing
you'll see is a picture of a gigantic American flag planted firmly on
Cuban
soil. The picture confirms the obvious: that this forty-five square
mile
chunk of territory, geographically part of Cuba, is under direct and
exclusive American control.
The United States has occupied Guantanamo Bay for over a century. U.S.
Marines first wrested control of Guantanamo from Spain in 1898, at the
outset of the Spanish-American war. The American government later
formalized its power over the territory via agreements signed with Cuba
in
1903 and 1934, back when the Cuban Republic was an obedient client
state.
A single clause in these agreements reserves "ultimate sovereignty"
over
the territory to Cuba. Except for the right to an annual rent -- money
that
the current Cuban government refuses to accept -- Cuba's formal
sovereignty
has little practical value. No matter how unhappy the Cuban authorities
may
be with the United States, their putative "tenant," they are unable to
evict U.S. forces from the island.
Cuban sovereignty over Guantanamo exists only in the abstract. Yet it
is,
for the U.S. government, a convenient legal fiction. In the current
litigation over the fate of the hundreds of detainees held on
Guantanamo,
the government's position is premised on the fact that Guantanamo is
technically foreign soil. Because Guantanamo is part of Cuba, argues
the
government, it is beyond the reach of American courts...
---
SPECIAL REPORTS: PEOPLE THE LAW FORGOT
Guardian, 12/3/03
http://www.guardian.co.uk/guantanamo/0,13743,1000982,00.html
It is almost two years since the Guantanamo prison camp opened. Its
purpose
is to hold people seized in the 'war on terror' and defined by the Bush
administration as enemy combatants - though many appear to have been
bystanders to the conflict. Images of Camp Delta's orange-jumpsuited,
manacled detainees have provoked international outrage. But the real
horror
they face isn't physical hardship, it is the threat of infinite
confinement, without trial or access to legal representation. James
Meek
has spent the past month talking to former inmates and some of those
involved in operating the Pentagon's Kafkaesque justice system. He has
built an unprecedented picture of life on the base, which we present in
this special issue...
---
SECRECY SHROUDS TALLY OF DETAINEES IN U.S.
Rebecca Carr and George Edmondsom, Atlanta Journal Constitution,
12/3/03
http://www.ajc.com/news/content/news/1203/03detainees.html
Washington - Reports that the Defense Department is about to release
scores
of prisoners from Guantanamo Bay raise questions about the status of
thousands of people who have been detained in the United States since
the
Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
Government officials say nearly all of those detained have been
deported.
But civil liberties groups say it is hard to know because of the
secrecy
surrounding the detentions...
By the government's count, nearly all the 762 foreigners detained on
immigration charges during the investigation of the attacks by al-Qaida
have been deported. About 50 people are being held as material
witnesses in
pending investigations. And three suspected terrorists, including two
American citizens, are being held as enemy combatants by the military.
-----
ORIGINS OF THE MIDDLE EAST CRISIS: WHO CAUSED PALESTINIAN DIASPORA?
George Bisharat, Sacremento Bee, 11/30/03
http://www.sacbee.com/content/opinion/story/7887277p-8825984c.html
In early October, I meandered the shores of Lake Geneva, Switzerland
with
easy-laughing Mahmoud. We were bleary-eyed from international travel,
and
from many hours of animated discussions at our conference.
Scholars, lawyers and activists had converged to explore ways to
implement
the rights of Palestinians to return to and regain their homes, seized
by
Israel in 1948. This fate had befallen Villa Harun ar-Rashid, the
Jerusalem
home of my late grandfather, Hanna Ibrahim Bisharat. We had been
inspired
by accounts of successful campaigns for housing restitution for
refugees
and other dispossessed peoples in Bosnia, South Africa and Rwanda.
The sky was leaden, the wind off the slate lake bracing. But the
fountain
at the end of the lake lofted exuberant white plumes of water toward
the
heavens, and seemed to elevate with them our hopes and dreams for a
more
just and peaceful future.
Little did we suspect that in other conference rooms across the same
city,
Israelis and Palestinians had been conducting covert, informal
negotiations for two years toward what are now touted as the "Geneva
Accord." The agreement, while envisioning a Palestinian state in the
West
Bank and Gaza Strip, studiously avoids mention of the very rights
Mahmoud
and I, and many others, are fighting to protect. The negotiators,
prominent
private citizens, include former Israeli Justice Minister Yossi Beilin
and
former Palestinian Information and Culture Minister Yasser Abed Rabbo.
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has vehemently attacked the
unofficial
pact, and the negotiators have been condemned as irresponsible
meddlers...
ALSO SEE:
POSTER ART, PAINTED WITH A PALESTINIAN PERSPECTIVE
Philip Kennicott, Washington Post, 12/3/03
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A29918-2003Dec2.html
Dan Walsh, a graphic arts collector and political consultant from
Silver
Spring, is at his most intense when the subject is Palestine. He has
poured
his life, time and money into promoting understanding of this most
troubled
piece of real estate on planet Earth. He has studied, and is fluent in,
Arabic, he has visited the West Bank and worked with the PLO. Even
though
he conducts business at home in a T-shirt and shorts, when he talks
about
Israel and Zionism, he is unmasked as a type-A politics junkie who
speaks
and thinks at a supersonic clip.
"Have you read Herzl?" he asks, barely pausing for an answer before he
begins quoting chapter and verse from Theodor Herzl's "The Jewish
State,"
one of the seminal documents of the back-to-Palestine Zionist movement.
The
1896 text laid out, in detail, how European Jews would acquire property
in
what eventually became Israel; how they would organize their
communities,
cultivate the land, raise their standard of living and escape the toxic
anti-Semitism rampant throughout Europe. But it also passed rather
blithely
over the question of what would become of people who were already
living in
the Promised Land. And from that core problem -- two peoples, one land
--
comes the subject matter of Walsh's most fascinating obsession: the
political posters of Palestine...
Dan Walsh's collection of Palestinian poster art can be seen at
www.liberationgraphics.com.
-----
US ARMY USES BULLDOZE THREAT TO GET IRAQIS TO TALK
Andrew Hammond, Reuters, 12/3/03
http://famulus.msnbc.com/FamulusIntl/reuters12-03-025019.asp?reg=MIDEAST
HAWIJA, Iraq - When U.S. soldiers found explosives in the house of Aziz
Abdel-Wahhab and his elderly wife during a raid in the Iraqi town of
Hawija, they proposed swift and direct punishment -- demolishing the
building.
"This house is the heart of terrorism and if you're going to harbour
terrorism we're going to remove you from the community," said 1st
Lieutenant Steve Brignoli, explaining the order to destroy the
one-storey
stone house in a Hawija suburb.
"This will be a show of force, to embolden the local authorities."
The explosives were found during a major operation by the 173rd
Airborne
Brigade, which sent more than a thousand troops into Hawija on Tuesday
to
hunt for guerrillas in the town west of the strategic oil hub of
Kirkuk...
-----
FRENCH JUROR DISMISSED FOR WEARING HEADSCARF
Reuters, 12/3/03
http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/world/story/0,4386,221960,00.html
France's justice minister has ordered a court near Paris to replace a
female juror for wearing a headscarf, the ministry said last week,
adding
fuel to a debate about the place of religious symbols in public life.
Justice Minister Dominique Perben asked the court in Bobigny, northeast
of
Paris, to dismiss the woman who had appeared without the headscarf
during
the jury selection phase but wore it at the start of the trial Nov. 24.
"Informed of this incident, Dominique Perben immediately asked the
court to
request the replacement of this juror," the ministry said in a
statement.
The court had complied with his instructions, it added.
Perben said wearing a headscarf was contrary to the principles of
impartiality and independence under the law.
French law imposes strict religious neutrality in public institutions
but
the government has been split on whether to ban headscarves. France is
home
to Europe's largest Muslim minority with about 5 million people...
-----
ASK YOUR REPRESENTATIVE TO HELP FREE REBIYA KADEER
Amnesty International, 12/3/03
http://takeaction.amnestyusa.org/action/index.asp?step=2&item=10463
Urge your Representative to sign a congressional letter circulated by
Representatives Tom Lantos and Frank Wolf on Rebiya Kadeer's behalf.
The
letter urges President Bush to press for the release of this prominent
businesswoman and human rights advocate when the president meets with
Prime
Minister of China Wen Jiabao on December 9, 2003.
-----
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CAIR
Council on American-Islamic Relations
453 New Jersey Avenue, S.E.
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Tel: 202-488-8787, 202-744-7726
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Subject:
CAIR-NET: Court Strikes Down Part of Anti-Terror Law
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
AMERICAN MUSLIM NEWS BRIEFS - 12/4/03
* HADITH OF THE DAY: TEARS ARE A MERCY FROM GOD
* CAIR'S LIBRARY PROJECT
* CAIR-NJ: IMMIGRANT RIGHTS ADVOCATES START HOTLINE
- CAIR-GA: Area Muslims Cheer End of Registration
* COURT STRIKES DOWN PART OF ANTI-TERROR LAW (Reuters)
- Criminal Knowledge Must Be Proven (Wash. Post)
* CENSUS: U.S. ARAB POPULATION IS SURGING (AP)
- Arab-American Count in Toledo Too Low (Toledo Blade)
* ISLAMIC GROUP SUES CONGRESSMAN FOR REMARKS (Wash. Post)
- Muslim Group Suing Ballenger (Charlotte Observer)
- Islamic Group Sues US Lawmaker (AFP)
* DANIEL PIPES DRAWS PROTEST IN ILLINOIS (Daily Illini)
- Students Protest Controversial Speaker
- Daniel Pipes Spews Hate
* POLL: IRAQ WAR DID NOT REDUCE TERROR THREAT
- Geyer: Occupied Iraq Inspires Terror (UPS)
* US EXPORTS SHACKLES, ELECTRO-SHOCK TECHNOLOGY (AI)
* ACLU: PATRIOT ACT ALLOWS LIMITLESS SECRET SEARCHES (AP)
* YEE ATTORNEY WILL RAISE 'DOUBLE STANDARD' (LA Times)
* FRANCE IN HOT DEBATE OVER MUSLIM SCARVES (Chicago Trib)
* VA: MULTICULTURAL ISSUES DISCUSSION (Wash. Post)
-----
HADITH OF THE DAY: TEARS ARE A MERCY FROM GOD
When the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) was questioned about
crying
over the death of his granddaughter, he said: "(Weeping) is a mercy
that
God has placed in the hearts of His servants. And surely God bestows
mercy
upon those who are merciful among His servants."
Fiqh-us-Sunnah, Volume 4, Number 21
-----
CAIR LIBRARY PROJECT
The goal of CAIR's library project is to send accurate and objective
information about Islam to America's 16,000 public libraries.
For only $150, Muslim individuals and groups may sponsor 18-item
packages
about Islam and Muslims, which are then distributed to the library of
their
choice.
To sponsor a library call, 1-800-392-7876, ext. 320, or visit:
www.libraryproject.org.
-----
IMMIGRANT ADVOCATES START HOTLINE FOR THOSE FACING FBI OR BCIS
QUESTIONING
WAYNE PARRY, Associated Press, 12/4/03
NEWARK, N.J. (AP) Immigrants facing a knock at the door by the FBI or
federal immigration agents can now call a toll-free hotline to learn
their
legal rights and possibly get someone to come over and help.
But one of the key services the volunteers hope to offer _ observing
the
questioning as a civilian witness _ sets up a clash with federal
authorities, who said such outsiders are not permitted to sit in on
interrogations.
The New Jersey Civil Rights Defense Committee implemented the hotline
with
the state chapter of the Council on American Islamic Relations.
Volunteers who speak Spanish, Arabic and Urdu in addition to English
will
quickly remind the caller what their legal rights are, said Eric
Lerner, a
spokesman for the committee.
"They tell them they have the right not to be interviewed, and they
have
the right to refuse entry if (agents) don't have a warrant," he said.
The number is 1-888-655-2225.
If the immigrant consents to let agents into the house, a volunteer may
offer to be present to watch the questioning, Lerner said. If the
person is
taken into custody, the volunteer would immediately spread the word in
the
community, Lerner said…
The hotline is the second set up within the past month by immigrant
advocates in New Jersey. In November, a toll-free number,
1-877-818-4845,
was launched for immigrants being detained in some county jails,
enabling
them to reach legal help on the outside…
The system was designed to reduce the isolation many detainees
experienced
after more than 1,200 were arrested during the investigation into the
Sept.
11, 2001 terror attacks. Most were held in jails in New Jersey and New
York.
SEE ALSO:
AREA MUSLIMS CHEER END OF REGISTRATION
RICK BADIE, Atlanta Journal, 12/4/03
http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/gwinnett/1203/04muslims.html
Gwinnett County's Muslim community of 20,000 applauded news Monday that
the
Bush administration had ended a controversial program that required
foreign
visitors from 25 Muslim-majority nations to register with the U.S.
Department of Homeland Security.
"I can tell you, a lot of people here are happy," said Yosof Burke, a
Lilburn resident and president of the local Council on American-Islamic
Relations.
The registration program will be replaced with an automated border
watch
system, the US-VISIT Program. It's scheduled to begin tracking arrivals
and
departures of foreign visitors at U.S. airports in January. Atlanta's
Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport is a test site for the system.
The special registration, implemented after the terrorist attacks of
Sept.
11, 2001, required boys and men either to register with immigration
authorities or face detention and deportation. The provision also
called
for an annual reregistration, which was set for January.
Defenders of the program deemed it necessary in the fight against
terrorists.
Immigrant advocates generally called the mandate an unsettling
proposition
because men who posed no threat stood the chance of being jailed and
deported for infractions such as overstaying a visa…
When the program started, the Council on American-Islamic Relations
encouraged Muslims visiting the United States to abide by it.
But it also offered caution:
"Tell people when you go --- just in case you get locked up," recalled
chapter president Burke.
"We tried to educate people on what to do," he said. "We didn't have
near
as many problems here in Atlanta as other cities like Los Angeles, but
then
again, they have a bigger Muslim community."
Rumors that the special registration might be drawing to a close began
circulating among Gwinnett Muslims a month or so ago. The local chapter
of
the Council on American-Islamic Relations sent out electronic messages
when
the change in law was announced Monday. The organization plans to post
fliers at mosques to spread the word.
-----
U.S. COURT STRIKES DOWN PART OF ANTI-TERRORISM LAW
Reuters, 12/3/03
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A federal appeals court on Wednesday struck
down
part of a 1996 federal anti-terrorism law, saying the government's
definition of what constituted "material support" to foreign terror
groups
was too vague.
At issue is a statute that was the first to criminalize offering
"material
support" to foreign terror groups. That law was the precursor to the
controversial 2001 Patriot Act which expanded the government's
intelligence-gathering powers and increased penalties for activities
classified as terrorist.
In their decision, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld an earlier
preliminary ruling that prohibited the provision of "personnel" and
"training" to groups designated by the United States as "terrorist
organizations."
The court also ruled that before applying the law the government must
prove
beyond a reasonable doubt that a donor to a group branded as a "foreign
terrorist organization" knew of its unlawful activities.
"The prohibition on providing "training" and "personnel" is
impermissibly
overbroad and thus void for vagueness under the First and Fifth
Amendments," the court ruled.
That "personnel" provision was used to indict "American Taliban" John
Walker Lindh and six people in Buffalo, New York knows as the
"Lackawanna
Six," said David Cole, a lawyer for the Center for Constitutional
Rights
which brought the case.
He added the ruling that covers the Western states in the 9th Circuit
could
make it tougher for the Bush administration to prosecute individuals
charged with aiding designated terrorist groups.
"Virtually all of the terrorism criminal prosecutions since 9/11 have
relied on this material support statute and many of them have relied on
the
provision regarding 'personnel." Cole said…
SEE ALSO:
KNOWLEDGE OF ACTIVITY MUST BE PROVED FOR CONVICTION
Charles Lane, Washington Post, 12/4/03
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A33176-2003Dec3.html
A federal appeals court ruled yesterday that the government cannot
convict
groups or individuals of violating a federal law against "material
support"
for terrorist organizations unless it proves beyond a reasonable doubt
that
they knew the organizations were involved in terrorist activity.
The 2 to 1 ruling by a three-judge panel of the San Francisco-based
U.S.
Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit would make it more difficult for
the
government to win guilty pleas and jury verdicts under a 1996 statute
that
federal authorities have recently invoked to convict some U.S. citizens
of
aiding al Qaeda.
"Without the knowledge requirement," Judge Harry Pregerson wrote for
the
panel majority, "a person who simply sends a check to a school or
orphanage
run by [a U.S.-designated terrorist group] could be convicted under the
statute, even if that individual is not aware of the [group's]
designation
or of any unlawful activities undertaken by the [group]..."
-----
CENSUS: U.S. ARAB POPULATION IS SURGING
Associated Press, 12/3/03
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/census/2003-12-03-census-arabs_x.htm
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Arab population in the United States has nearly
doubled in the past two decades, according to the Census Bureau's first
report on the group.
Experts cited liberalized U.S. immigration laws and unrest in the
Middle
East that led many people to come to America.
The bureau counted nearly 1.2 million Arabs in the United States in
2000,
compared with 860,000 in 1990 and 610,000 in 1980. About 60% trace
their
ancestry to three countries: Lebanon, Syria and Egypt.
While earlier Arab immigrants came from countries with large Christian
populations, newer arrivals come from heavily Muslim countries such as
Iraq
and Yemen…
Almost half of the Arabs in the United States live in five states -
California (190,890), New York (120,370), Michigan (115,284), New
Jersey
(71,770) and Florida (77,461)...
Arab-Americans say their population is larger than that reported by the
Census Bureau, but many are reluctant to fill out government forms
because
they came from countries with oppressive regimes.
SEE ALSO:
ARAB-AMERICAN COUNT IN TOLEDO AREA IS FAR TOO LOW, LEADERS SAY
IGNAZIO MESSINA, Toledo Blade, 12/4/03
http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20031204/NEWS17/112040
124
Lucas and Monroe counties are among the areas in the United States with
higher than average Arab populations, according to a first-ever Census
Bureau report released yesterday that identifies where they live.
Without surprise to many, the Detroit and Dearborn, Mich., areas north
of
Toledo led the nation in the number of people who described themselves
as
Arab in the 2000 census.
But some people think the published census figures are way below the
actual
number of Arabs living in those areas.
About 1.2 percent of the people living in Lucas County are of Arab
decent,
according to the census bureau. Of the 5,250 people in the county who
reported Arab ancestry, 3,018 said they were Lebanese.
"Most of the Arabs that are here have been here for generations," said
Omar
Salhab, president of the Greater Toledo Association of Arab Americans.
"We
suffered back home like many did, and we came to this country looking
for
the same things other people looked for: freedom, freedom of religion,
and
of course, opportunities."
Mr. Salhab thinks the census figures for Arabs in the Toledo area are
extremely low. It has generally been believed that the number of Arabs
in
the city falls between 10,000 to 15,000, he said…
Recognition is usually accompanied with pride and honor. But for Arabs
living in America, it also includes a bit of the jitters.
Before the census, Arab-American groups lobbied to be included as an
individual group, but since Sept. 11, 2001, and subsequent passage of
the
USA Patriot Act, some say the figures could be used by law-enforcement
agencies to focus racial profiling.
"The positive is that it allows Arabs to see where the populations are
to
put more resources in those areas and that should be looked at
favorably,"
said Ahmad Al-Akhras, president of the Ohio Chapter of the Council on
American-Islamic Relations in Columbus.
"The downside of this, and not to say the census was profiling, but
maybe
it will allow overzealous law-enforcement groups to focus on these
groups
more. We know the Justice Department is profiling Arabs and from that
point
it might be some concern…"
-----
ISLAMIC GROUP SUES CONGRESSMAN FOR REMARKS
Carol D. Leonnig, Washington Post, 12/4/03
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A33545-2003Dec3.html
The country's largest Islamic civil liberties group has sued a North
Carolina congressman, saying that he defamed the organization when he
called it "the fund-raising arm for Hezbollah" and said that the stress
of
living near its Washington headquarters had contributed to the breakup
of
his marriage.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations filed the suit Tuesday
against
Republican Cass Ballenger based on comments he made in an Oct. 4
article in
the Charlotte Observer. Earlier Tuesday, Ballenger, 76, had announced
that
he would retire after nine terms in Congress and 38 consecutive years
in
public office.
In the Observer article, Ballenger was quoted as saying that when the
council moved into a Capitol Hill office on the same block of New
Jersey
Avenue SE as his townhouse, it "bugged the hell" out of his wife,
Donna. He
said that she grew increasingly nervous about the group's presence
after
the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and that women wearing "hoods"
were
entering and leaving its office. He also told the newspaper that he had
reported the group to the FBI and the CIA.
"Diagonally across from my house, up goes a sign -- CAIR the
fund-raising
arm for Hezbollah," Ballenger was quoted as saying. "That's 21/2 blocks
from the Capitol . . . and they could blow it up…"
"His statements are a symptom of what we see as rising anti-Muslim
rhetoric," said Arsalan Iftikhar, CAIR's director of legal affairs.
"This
sends a message that if you make unlawful, disparaging remarks, we will
hold you accountable."
Ballenger's Washington office said yesterday that he had no comment on
the
lawsuit. Calls to Donna Ballenger, who now lives in their Hickory,
N.C.,
home, were not returned…
After the announcement of his retirement, Ballenger told North Carolina
reporters that his remarks in the Observer were meant to explain his
wife's
unhappiness in Washington and their breakup, and did not reflect his
own
opinions about the Muslim organization.
"I was quoting my wife's feelings," he said, according to the Raleigh
News
& Observer. "I couldn't give a hoot about the Muslims across the
street."
In October, however, the Associated Press quoted Ballenger as saying
that
he objected to the council's presence. "The only difference I have is
that
building across the street," Ballenger told the wire service. "In my
opinion, it should never have been leased" to the council.
Ballenger has a history of making blunt and controversial statements.
Last
December, he infuriated African Americans and women's groups when he
said
that Rep. Cynthia McKinney (D-Ga.) had stirred in him "a little bit of
a
segregationist feeling. . . . I mean, she was such a bitch." Ballenger
later apologized...
In 1995, Ballenger explained to a Washington Post reporter how he
solicited
donations from manufacturing company owners by telling them that if
Republicans took over the House, he would help limit workplace safety
regulations at their plants. "And I'd say, 'I need some money.' And --
whoosh! -- I got it," Ballenger said.
He also refused to remove a statuette of a black-faced lawn jockey from
the
front yard of his Hickory home. An aide painted the jockey's face with
white primer after Ballenger's apology to McKinney.
SEE ALSO:
MUSLIM GROUP SUING BALLENGER
TIM FUNK, Charlotte Observer, 12/4/03
http://www.charlotte.com/mld/observer/7409248.htm
WASHINGTON - A leading American Muslim civil rights group has filed a
defamation lawsuit against Rep. Cass Ballenger for linking the group to
terrorists during an October 2003 interview with The Charlotte
Observer.
The Hickory Republican blamed the breakup of his 50-year marriage
partly on
the stress of living near the group's Capitol Hill headquarters, which
was
so close to the U.S. Capitol that he and his wife worried "they could
blow
the place up."
The Council on American-Islamic Relations said in its suit -- filed
Tuesday
in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia -- that these
and
other comments by Ballenger, 76, damaged its reputation and good name.
"(Ballenger's) statement was calculated to ... hold CAIR up to public
scorn, hatred and ridicule," said the lawsuit, which asks for $2
million to
compensate the group for damages and to punish Ballenger...
Ballenger has a history of making controversial statements. A year ago,
he
apologized after an Observer article quoted him saying that then-Rep.
Cynthia McKinney, an African American from Georgia known for her
abrasive
style, had stirred in him "a little bit of a segregationist feeling. I
mean, she was such a bitch."
In the Observer's October article about Muslims and his marriage,
Ballenger
was quoted as saying that his Washington townhouse's proximity to CAIR
after Sept. 11, 2001, "bugged the hell" out of his wife, Donna.
"Diagonally across from my house, up goes a sign -- CAIR the
fund-raising
arm for Hezbollah," Ballenger said. Hezbollah is a Lebanese militia
group
the United States has labeled a terrorist organization. "I reported
them to
the FBI and CIA."
Ballenger said in the post 9-11 environment in Washington, his wife was
anxious about all the activity at CAIR, including people unloading
boxes
and women "wearing hoods," or headscarves, going in and out of the
office
building on New Jersey Avenue. "That's 2 1/2 blocks from the Capitol,"
he
added, "and they could blow it up…"
---
ISLAMIC GROUP SUES US LAWMAKER
Agence France Presse, 12/3/03
An Islamic group said Wednesday it had sued a US lawmaker from North
Carolina over statements in which he blamed the organization for the
failure of his marriage and accused them of raising money for
militants.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations said it filed the suit
Tuesday in
US District Court in Washington over remarks by Representative Cass
Ballenger published October 4 on the front page of the Charlotte
Observer.
In the article, Ballenger blamed the stress of living near CAIR's
headquarters for the break-up of his 50-year marriage, and accused the
group of raising money for Hezbollah militia in Lebanon.
He also told the paper that CAIR's office was "two and a half blocks
from
the Capitol, and they could blow it up…"
CAIR said in a statement it was suing for two million dollars, claiming
Ballenger made the statement with "with actual malice, wrongful and
willful
intent to injure" the group's reputation.
-----
CONTROVERSIAL SPEAKER DRAWS CROWD AT FOELLINGER
Kali Bhandari, Daily Illini, 12/4/03
http://www.dailyillini.com/dec03/dec04/news/stories/news_story01.shtml
About 1,000 people went through 150 chanting and sign-waving
protesters,
metal detectors, back pack searches and University police to see one
speaker Wednesday evening.
Daniel Pipes, director of the Middle East Forum and a member of the
presidentially-appointed board of the U.S. Institute of Peace, was
brought
to Foellinger Auditorium by IllinIPAC (Illinois-Israel Public Affairs
Committee), as well as other groups, to speak on the
Israeli-Palestinian
conflict.
His organization specifically requested the heavy security presence,
said
Monika Pandya, Foellinger Auditorium manager.
Dean of Students William Riley said the security for the event "was
more
than would be typical for a speaker here at Foellinger."
Pipes opened his speech referring to the Oslo Accords, a series of
agreements negotiated between the Israeli government and the Palestine
Liberation Organization signed on Sept. 13, 1993, and said they had
failed.
He said the failure of the Oslo Peace Accords, and the second Intifada
began because Israeli leadership made two mistakes.
"The first Israeli mistake was to believe that the Palestinians had
given
up the dream of destroying Israel," he said.
Soon after the beginning of the speech, a couple protesters ducked in
the
auditorium and shouted "Free Palestine!"
Pipes ignored the outburst and continued, saying the Israelis made
concessions generously in the assumption that the Palestinians had
given up
the ambition of making Israel extinct. He said this assumption was
wrong.
Attempts to win peace by giving the Palestinians aid and money have
also
failed, he said…
Kenneth Cuno, director of the program in South Asian and Middle Eastern
Studies, was present at the lecture, and said curiosity drew him to the
lecture. He said he felt Pipes had missed a few things in his speech.
"In order to make his point, he left out an awful lot," Cuno said,
referring to a statement in Pipes' speech that the Palestinians wanted
to
destroy Israel and thus should be dealt with on those terms.
Cuno said opinion polls in both Palestinian territories and in Israel
showed that many people on both sides wanted peace, not the destruction
of
the other side.
"He's a polemicist, an extremist, and he's going to leave out some
stuff to
say the moon is made of green cheese," he said…
After ending his formal speech, Pipes criticized The Daily Illini for
printing opinion columns and editorials coming out against his views.
"No student newspaper has treated me in such a biased and one-sided
fashion
as the DI," Pipes said.
SEE ALSO:
STUDENTS PROTEST CONTROVERSIAL SPEAKER
Maureen Wilkey, Daily Illini, 12/4/03
http://www.dailyillini.com/dec03/dec04/news/stories/news_story02.shtml
"Borders kill people," read the sign graduate student Gabriel Cortez
held
at a rally for peace Wednesday evening outside Foellinger Auditorium.
About 150 people gathered for a rally and candlelight vigil for victims
of
oppression worldwide. The rally coincided with a speech given by Daniel
Pipes, a commentator on issues in the Middle East. Many students said
that
Pipes' messages are anti-Muslim and anti-immigration.
"We should all be able to see both sides of the issue," said senior in
LAS
and Justice for Palestine President Sara Bokhari. Bokhari helped
organize
the rally in the hopes that students could gain an understanding of the
Palestinian viewpoint before hearing Pipes' speech.
"By seeing both points of view, people can better educate themselves
about
the situation (in the Middle East)."
Baseer Tajuddin, a senior in LAS and president of the Muslim Students
Association, said Pipes' message affects all people, not just Muslims
and
Palestinians.
"This vigil is for everyone and is meant to promote peace rather than
(simply) to protest Pipes himself," Tajuddin said…
---
EXPERT SPEWS HATE
Daily Illini, 12/2/03
http://www.dailyillini.com/dec03/dec02/opinions/stories/letter03.shtml
Daniel Pipes touts himself as being a leading expert on the Middle
East,
yet he launches tirades against Muslims and Arabs at every chance he
gets
and promotes false information. He makes claims about Jerusalem not
being a
city of importance to Muslims (this is false) and fabricated the
following
statement in a New York Post opinions piece, "Muslims are only 4
percent of
Denmark's 5.4 million people but make up a majority of the country's
convicted rapists." This statement was also false according to Danish
politicians Elisabeth Arnold and Elisabeth Gerner Nielsen who know the
demography of Denmark far better than does Pipes. In the same
aforementioned article, Pipes continued to slander all Muslims and
vilify
them. When he has had the opportunity to comment on the positive
aspects of
Muslims, he denied that these exist. And he never misses an opportunity
to
condemn positive portrayals of Muslims such as the PBS documentary,
"Muhammad: Legacy of a Prophet." Daniel Pipes is not only biased, but
also
a bigot and I am ashamed he has been invited to promote hateful and
close-minded ideas on our campus.
Demian Kogan
Senior in LAS
-----
POLL: MORE PEOPLE DON'T BELIEVE IRAQ WAR REDUCED TERROR THREAT
Associated Press, 12/3/04
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2003-12-03-iraq-poll_x.htm
WASHINGTON (AP) - A growing number of Americans, seven in 10, doesn't
think
the war in Iraq has reduced the threat of terrorism, according to a
poll
out Wednesday.
Fewer than half felt that way in April, during the war. President Bush
and
members of his administration frequently say the efforts in Iraq are
central to winning the war on terror.
The poll by the Program on International Policy Attitudes at the
University
of Maryland also found strong support, 71%, for the United Nations to
take
the lead in helping establish a stable government in Iraq. That's up
from
half who felt that way in April…
The poll of 712 people was conducted by Knowledge Networks from Nov.
21-30
and has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 4 percentage
points.
SEE ALSO:
IRAQ WAR'S DANGEROUS TENTACLES REACH BEYOND COUNTRY'S BORDERS
Georgie Anne Geyer, Universal Press Syndicate
http://www.uexpress.com/georgieannegeyer/?uc_full_date=20031206
WASHINGTON -- American war-planners believe they are managing a
conflict
that is largely contained within Iraq, one that will end when we have
defeated a finite number of enemy combatants there. They also think we
are
drawing into Iraq foreign terrorists whose cause can be defeated there.
But more and more evidence, as many of us feared, indicates that
instead
the flow is going the other way -- that occupied Iraq has become the
exporter and inspiration of terrorism to neighboring countries and
beyond.
Take the recent bombings in Istanbul of the Jewish synagogues and the
British consulate general and bank. At first, it was reasonable to
speculate that the acts were a continuation of the internal Kurdish
terrorism that has so long rent Turkey. But the Turkish government has
clearly said no; these violent truck bombings were indeed related to
al-Qaida, and most of the terrorists involved in the attacks had
traveled
at some time to Afghanistan, Pakistan or Iran for training.
Moreover, CNN just reported from Turkish intelligence agency sources
that
they considered the attacks "an extension of the war in Iraq into
Turkey."
Those sources also said there has been a proliferation of weapons being
smuggled from Iraq into neighboring countries such as Jordan, Saudi
Arabia
and Turkey, including surface-to-air missiles that could be used
against
airliners in those countries.
The American position on the war has been that Iraq is "the front line
in
the war against terrorism," but the real configuration of the struggle
is
far more diffuse and complicated. A front line presupposes a
traditional
war in which enemies face one another and one side will eventually
vanquish
the other; but the war in Iraq takes on a more cellular structure, in
which
cells form, re-form, break up and then re-form again, often in
protective
coloring…
The real danger is that Iraq, rather than being the cemetery for
terrorism,
has become, as those of us who know the area long predicted, the
incubator
of it…
-----
US EXPORTS $20 MILLION OF SHACKLES, ELECTRO-SHOCK TECHNOLOGY
Amnesty International, 12/2/03
http://www.amnestyusa.org/countries/usa/document.do?id=F7CE0B13E65E100085256
DF00050B882
(Washington, DC) - A new Amnesty International report charges that in
2002,
the Bush Administration violated the spirit of its own export policy
and
approved the sale of equipment implicated in torture to Yemen, Jordan,
Morocco and Thailand, despite the countries' documented use of such
weapons
to punish, mistreat and inflict torture on prisoners. The US is also
alleged to have handed suspects in the 'war on terror' to the same
countries.
The total value of US exports of electro-shock weapons was $14.7
million in
2002 and exports of restraints totaled $4.4 million in the same period.
The
Commerce and State Departments approved these sales, permitting 45
countries to purchase electro-shock technology, including 19 that had
been
cited for the use of such weapons to inflict torture since 1990.
The report - The Pain Merchants - also reveals that the US approved the
2002 export to Saudi Arabia of nine tons of Smith & Wesson leg-irons.
Former prisoners in Saudi Arabia have stated that their restraints were
stamped with the name of Smith & Wesson. In a 2000 Amnesty
International
report, Phil Lomax, a UK national who was held for 17 days in 1999,
recounted how shackles used in Malaz prison in Riyadh, were made in the
US:
"When[ever] we were taken out of the cell we were shackled and
handcuffed.
The shackles were very painful. They were made of steel... like a
handcuff
ring. The handcuffs were made in the USA..."
-----
PATRIOT ACT ALLOWS LIMITLESS SECRET SEARCHES, ACLU ARGUES
SARAH KARUSH, Associated Press, 12/4/03
DETROIT - The USA Patriot Act gives federal agents unlimited and
unconstitutional authority to secretly seize library reading lists and
other personal records, civil liberties advocates told a judge.
A U.S. district judge in Detroit heard arguments Wednesday in the first
legal challenge to the part of the Patriot Act that lets agents obtain
such
things as library lists and medical information.
The American Civil Liberties Union filed the lawsuit in July on behalf
of
the Muslim Community Association of Ann Arbor and five other nonprofit
groups. The U.S. government argued that the case be dismissed, saying
there
is no basis for the plaintiffs' complaints since the provision being
challenged has never been used.
Judge Denise Page Hood said she would issue a written opinion on the
government's motion but did not say when.
The lawsuit names Attorney General John Ashcroft and FBI Director
Robert
Mueller as defendants.
The ACLU says that Section 215 of the Patriot Act, which allows the FBI
access to any "tangible things," including books and documents obtained
through an order from a secret court, does not require investigators to
show probable cause...
Ann Beeson, the ACLU's associate legal director, told the court that
the
range of things that could be sought under the Patriot Act was
"limitless."
"It could even be used to demand a personal journal from an
individual,"
she said.
The FBI must request a Section 215 order from the Foreign Intelligence
Surveillance Court, a secret body set up in 1978 to govern the
surveillance
of foreign powers and alleged foreign agents…
-----
ARMY CHAPLAIN'S LAWYER GETS SECRET DATA
Richard A. Serrano, Los Angeles Times
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-yee4dec04,1,746502.stor
y
When Army Capt. James Joseph Yee goes to a military court hearing here
next
week, the government may find itself faced with the same accusation it
has
leveled against the Muslim chaplain who ministered to detainees at the
U.S.
Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba: Mishandling classified material.
That odd turn of events occurred this week when Yee's hearing was
abruptly
delayed after military authorities discovered they had compromised
secret
intelligence by giving classified material to Yee's defense team. One
of
Yee's lawyers, a civilian, has not yet obtained government security
clearance.
That lawyer, Washington-based attorney Eugene R. Fidell, head of the
nonprofit National Institute of Military Justice, said Wednesday that
he
would raise a "double-standard" issue when the military court's
preliminary
hearing, known as an Article 32 examination, gets underway here Monday.
"I don't see how they can proceed on this against Chaplain Yee," Fidell
said. "If they don't know what's classified and what isn't, how is a
chaplain supposed to know? And if they don't properly mark things that
are
classified, how can they prosecute Chaplain Yee for the same thing?"
But Army Lt. Col. Bill Costello, spokesman for the U.S. Southern
Command,
which oversees the Guantanamo camp for suspected terrorists, said
although
the government "inappropriately" turned over classified material to
Fidell,
prosecutors quickly notified authorities and retrieved it…
-----
FRANCE IN HOT DEBATE OVER MUSLIM SCARVES
Tom Hundley, Chicago Tribune, 12/4/03
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0312040141dec04,1,1073787
.story
LILLE, France -- For the Muslims of this industrial city, the dream was
a
modest one: a school of their own. Not a Koranic school or a haven for
fundamentalist teaching but a classical French lycee.
They wanted a high school that not only would meet all the requirements
set
by the national Education Ministry but also where their daughters would
feel comfortable wearing a traditional Muslim head covering banned in
many
schools.
Eight years in the planning, the dream was transformed into
blackboards,
books, chemistry labs and computers this September when the Lycee
Averroes
greeted its first class of 14 students.
But the school now finds itself in the midst of what has become the
great
head scarf controversy, a furious national debate over the meaning of
secularism in French society and whether the laws that established a
century-old balance between church and state in predominantly Catholic
France need to be rewritten.
The debate has united the extremes of the French political spectrum,
with
left and right in rare agreement--for entirely contradictory
reasons--on
the need for a new law banning head scarves. At the same time, France's
fractious Muslim community has found an ally of sorts in the Roman
Catholic
Church, which has come out strongly against any changes in existing
law.
Since 1989, when three girls were expelled from their high school in
Creil
for wearing head scarves, the debate has been a recurring feature of
the
French political landscape. But this year it reached a new intensity
with
the opening of the Lycee Averroes and the expulsion of the media savvy
Levy-Omari sisters from their suburban Paris high school.
Lila, 18, and Alma, 16, come from a family in which their mother is a
non-practicing Catholic of Algerian origin and their father a
non-observant
Jew. The sisters are converts to Islam and have enthusiastically
embraced
its most conservative style of dress. Their school calls their
headdress a
provocation.
Since then, the French media have been filled with stories about
head-scarf-wearing medical students who refuse to treat male patients,
conservative Muslim husbands who won't allow wives to be seen by male
physicians and a civil servant who suddenly embraced the scarf and
refused
to shake hands with her male colleagues.
Last week, Justice Minister Dominique Perben ordered a court near Paris
to
dismiss a female juror who did not wear a head scarf during jury
selection
but began wearing one once the trial began.
Perben said that wearing the scarf violated the principles of
"impartiality
and independence" under the law…
-----
RESIDENTS TO DISCUSS MULTICULTURAL ISSUES
Washington Post, 12/4/03
Fairfax County officials are inviting residents in the Annandale area,
including the surrounding communities of Springfield, Alexandria, Falls
Church and Burke, to attend a multicultural dialogue Wednesday at
Thomas
Jefferson High School for Science and Technology.
The dialogue, called "Many Roads, One Community," will be from 6:30 to
9:30
p.m. at the school, 6560 Braddock Rd., Alexandria.
Organized by representatives of different faith groups in the
community,
the dialogue will be facilitated by George Mason University's Institute
for
Conflict Analysis and Resolution.
Officials said residents from various ethnic groups, faiths and
cultures
will explore how to build a stronger and more resilient community for
today
and the future. Questions to be addressed include: Since the Sept. 11,
2001, terrorist attacks, how has your community changed? What do we
want to
understand about one another? How can we build one resilient community?
The free event is open to the public. To register or get more
information,
call the Fairfax County Community Resilience Project at 703-533-5388.
-----
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CAIR
Council on American-Islamic Relations
453 New Jersey Avenue, S.E.
Washington, D.C. 20003
Tel: 202-488-8787, 202-744-7726
Fax: 202-488-0833
E-mail: cair@cair-net.org
URL: http://www.cair-net.org
-----
--------------------------------------------------------------------
mail2web - Check your email from the web at
http://mail2web.com/ .
Forwarded Message
Date:
Fri, 05 Dec 2003 00:53:53 -0500
To:
cair-net@cair.biglist.com
From:
"CAIR" <cair@cair-net.org>
Subject:
CAIR-NET: Paul Harvey Says Islam "Encourages Killing'
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
CAIR ACTION ALERT #407
PAUL HARVEY SAYS ISLAM 'ENCOURAGES KILLING'
Islamic civil rights group seeks on-air apology
(WASHINGTON, D.C., 12/5/2003) - The Council on American-Islamic
Relations
(CAIR) is calling for an on-air apology from syndicated radio
commentator
Paul Harvey who said on his Thursday program that Islam "encourages
killing."
Harvey, who has 24 million weekly listeners on some 1,600 radio
stations in
this country and around the world, made that claim during his Thursday
noon
commentary.
In that segment, Harvey described the bloody nature of cock fight
gambling
in Iraq and said: "Add to the thirst for blood a religion which
encourages
killing, and it is entirely understandable if Americans came to this
bloody
party unprepared."
TO LISTEN TO THE SEGMENT, GO TO: http://www.paulharvey.com/
Click on the Thursday noon program. The section with the offensive
quote
begins at 6:53. The quote itself begins at 8:25.
"We had hoped that a respected broadcast professional like Mr. Harvey
would
not join the growing number of Islamophobic hate-mongers in our
society,"
said CAIR Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper. "He falsely
attributes to
Islam two things that are specifically prohibited by our faith, murder
and
cruelty to animals." (Islam also prohibits gambling.)
Hooper quoted the Prophet Muhammad, who said one of the "biggest of
(the
great sins)" is "to murder a human being." (Sahih Al-Bukhari, 9:10) He
also
cited the Quran, Islam's revealed text, which states that when someone
takes another's life, "it would be as if he slew all mankind." (Quran,
5:32)
On animal cruelty, the Prophet said: "A woman was punished [by God]
because
of a cat. She had neither provided it with food nor drink, nor set it
free
so that it might eat the creatures of the earth." (Sahih Muslim, Hadith
1047)
In another tradition related by the Prophet, a man was rewarded by God
for
helping a thirsty animal. The man, who had just climbed down a well to
get
water for himself, saw a dog panting and licking mud because of
excessive
thirst. He went down the well again and filled his shoe with water for
the
dog. God thanked him for that deed and forgave his sins.
After relating that story, the Prophet was asked: "Is there a reward
for us
in serving animals?" He replied: "Yes, there is a reward for serving
any
(living being)." (Sahih Al-Bukhari, 3:646)
In other Islamic traditions, the Prophet prohibited capturing young
birds
because of the distress caused to their mother, and rebuked his
companions
who burnt an ant hill.
Hooper also cited the Quran, which says: "There is no beast that walks
on
earth and no bird that flies on its two wings that is not [God's]
creature…Unto their Sustainer shall they [all] be gathered." (Quran,
6:38)
In 1999, Harvey issued an on-air apology to Muslims for remarks
suggesting
that Islam was a "fraudulent religion." The apology came after hundreds
of
concerned Muslims called, faxed and e-mailed both Harvey's office and
that
of ABC Radio Networks, his program's syndicator.
CAIR, America's largest Islamic civil liberties group, is headquartered
in
Washington, D.C., and has 25 regional offices and chapters nationwide
and
in Canada.
- END -
IMMEDIATE ACTION REQUESTED: (As always, be firm but POLITE.)
Contact Paul Harvey to ask that he apologize on-air for his remarks.
CONTACT:
Mr. Paul Harvey
333 N Michigan Ave, Suite 1600
Chicago, IL 60601-4005
Phone: (312) 899-4085
Fax: (312) 899-4088
E-MAIL: http://www.paulharvey.com/email_form.shtml
COPY TO: Irma.N.Aviles@abc.com, Kevin.L.Miller@abc.com,
jennifer.purtan@abc.com, Steve.Jones@abc.com, cair@cair-net.org
PAUL HARVEY'S SPONSORS MAY BE LOCATED AT:
http://www.paulharvey.com/sponsorlist.shtml
Please make Mr. Harvey's sponsors aware of your concerns.
- PLEASE ANNOUNCE, POST AND DISTRIBUTE -
-----
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-----
CAIR
Council on American-Islamic Relations
453 New Jersey Avenue, S.E.
Washington, D.C. 20003
Tel: 202-488-8787, 202-744-7726
Fax: 202-488-0833
E-mail: cair@cair-net.org
URL: http://www.cair-net.org
-----
Forwarded Message
Date:
Sun, 07 Dec 2003 21:43:50 -0500
To:
cair-net@cair.biglist.com
From:
"CAIR" <cair@cair-net.org>
Subject:
CAIR-NET: Islam No Bar to Economic Growth - U.S. Study
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
AMERICAN MUSLIM NEWS BRIEFS - 12/7/03
* HADITH OF THE DAY: LAWFUL EARNINGS
* ISLAM NO BAR TO ECONOMIC GROWTH - U.S. STUDY (Financial Times)
* MUSLIMS PROMOTE TOLERANCE AT DU EVENT (Denver Post)
- Seminary Is Reaching Out to Muslims (LA Times)
- Do All Religious Paths Lead to the Same God? (Newhouse)
* TOUGH NEW TACTICS TIGHTEN GRIP ON IRAQ TOWNS (NY Times)
- Combat Casualty Count Doubted (Knight Ridder)
- Non-Approved Ammunition Used in Iraq (Army Times)
* US AIR RAID KILLS 9 CHILDREN IN AFGHANISTAN (Independent)
- Afghan Village Angry After Gunship Attack (AP)
* ARAB WAITER OUSTED FROM FUNDRAISER CLAIMS BIAS (Wash. Post)
- Terrorism Jars Jewish, Arab Party Loyalties (Wash. Post)
- Arab-Americans Are Difficult to Count (Houston Chron)
* TAKING THE INTIFADA TO THE FOOTBALL FIELD (Los Angeles Times)
* GUANT�NAMO CHAPLAIN AND HIS WIFE SPEAK OUT (New York Times)
-----
HADITH OF THE DAY: LAWFUL EARNINGS
The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) was asked what type of earning
was
best, and he replied: "A man's work with his hands and every (lawful)
business transaction."
Al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 846
The Prophet also said: "A truthful and trustworthy merchant is
associated
with the prophets..."
Al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 850
And also: "There was a merchant who would lend to the people, and
whenever
his debtor was in difficult circumstances, he would say to his
employees,
'Forgive him so that God may forgive us.' So, God forgave him."
Sahih Al-Bukhari, Volume 3, Hadith 292
-----
ISLAM NO BAR TO ECONOMIC GROWTH: U.S. STUDY
Alan Beattie, Financial Times, 12/7/03
http://news.ft.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=FT.com/StoryFT/FullStory&c=StoryFT&cid=1069493785165
There is no evidence that Islam restricts economic growth, according to
new
research that casts doubt on the widely-held belief that Muslim
societies
are intrinsically less conducive to capitalism than those dominated by
other religions.
The study, by Marcus Noland at the Institute for International
Economics
think-tank in Washington, reviewed growth in developing countries over
the
past few decades and found no evidence that countries with large Muslim
populations grew more slowly, or had lower productivity growth.
Looking at growth within three religiously mixed countries - India,
Malaysia and Ghana - only Malaysia showed statistically significant
lower
growth within its Muslim population.
"Islam does not appear to be a drag on growth or an anchor on
development
as alleged," the paper concludes.
Excluding the effects of oil production, which dominates the Islamic
Middle
East, or studying Muslim Arab countries separately made no difference
to
the results. Conventional economic fundamentals such as the level of
education and the share of investment and government in the economy -
which
were found to be unrelated to the prevalence of Islam - mattered far
more
for economic success.
"If one is concerned about economic performance in predominantly Muslim
regions or countries, conventional economic analysis may yield greater
insight than the sociology of religion," the study says.
Mr Noland said his results aroused suspicion, bordering on disbelief,
among
colleagues when he first produced them.
The study, started just after the September 11 attacks on the US, "had
a
very long gestation because of that", he said.
The view that particular religious affiliations affect growth has been
a
fertile ground for sociologists since the pioneering work of Max Weber,
the
German sociologist.
Some sociologists have argued that the tendency of Islamic education to
rely on reiteration of a finite set of information, together with the
disapproval of lending money at interest, has restricted innovation and
growth in Muslim countries.
In contrast to the highly successful Islamic civilisations around the
turn
of the first millennium, the fact that Muslims are relatively poor in
the
modern world has reawakened interest in the links between Islam and
economic success.
http://www.iie.com/publications/wp/2003/03-8.pdf
-----
MUSLIMS PROMOTE TOLERANCE AT DU EVENT
Zachery Kouwe, Denver Post, 12/7/03
http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1413,36~6439~1814603,00.html
Tayseer Zuaiter never expected to be on a list of suspected terrorists.
But
the Denver Muslim and restaurant owner was detained at Denver
International
Airport last month because his name popped up on an FBI database.
After security officials questioned him for several hours, Zuaiter was
allowed to fly to Las Vegas for a business conference. As it turns out,
the
man officials were looking for has no left arm.
"Sept. 11 was a wake-up call for all Muslims in this country," Zuaiter
said.
More than two years after the terrorist attacks on New York City and
the
Pentagon, some Americans still harbor a fear of Islam and Muslims.
"Muslims are known by the three B's: bomber, billionaire or belly
dancer,"
said Dr. Liyakat Takim, a professor of religion at the University of
Denver. "We need to overcome these stereotypes."
Takim and other Muslim leaders continued their quest to teach Americans
about Islam on Saturday by hosting a conference at DU's Graduate School
of
International Studies.
Attending the symposium were several elementary and high school
teachers as
well as other educators interested in teaching students about Islam in
America.
"We hope they take the content back to the classroom so we can maximize
awareness and promote tolerance," said George Brown a DU professor who
helped organize the conference.
Denver's Muslim leaders have recently started pushing their communities
to
reach out and educate others about Islam.
"Most Muslims are law-abiding, peace-loving citizens," said Khalid
Daraiseh, a local businessman who is active in the Muslim community.
"The
community is working so hard to promote a dialogue..."
SEE ALSO:
SEMINARY IS REACHING OUT TO MUSLIMS
Teresa Watanabe, Los Angeles Times, 12/6/03
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-muslim6dec06,1,2110963.story
One of the nation's leading evangelical Christian seminaries has
launched a
federally funded project for making peace with Muslims, featuring a
proposed code of ethics that rejects offensive statements about each
other's faiths, affirms a mutual belief in one God and pledges not to
proselytize.
The $1-million project, initiated by Fuller Theological Seminary in
Pasadena, is being hailed by both sides as a pioneering attempt to ease
continuing conflict. But, in an illustration of sharp theological
divides,
some conservative evangelicals are challenging the ethics code and
asserting that they do not believe in the same God as Muslims.
Tensions between Muslims and evangelical Christians have been
aggravated by
a series of negative remarks about Islam by national evangelical
leaders
since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Those included the
characterization of Islam by evangelist Franklin Graham as an evil
religion, and assertions by the Rev. Jerry Falwell that the Prophet
Muhammad was a terrorist and by the former president of the Southern
Baptist Convention, the nation's largest Protestant denomination, that
Muhammad was a "demon-possessed pedophile."
The Fuller project, funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of
Justice,
is intended to develop practical peacemaking practices for Christians
and
Muslims, publish a book about them and train local communities in their
use. It is the latest of several efforts that Fuller has launched since
Sept. 11 to build bridges with Muslims.
"We hope to lead a large portion of evangelical Christians into a
better
understanding of Islam," said Sherwood Lingenfelter, Fuller's provost
and
senior vice president. "After 9/11 there was a great deal of hostility
in
the Christian community toward Muslims. It is important for Christians
to
gain a respect for them and treat them with dignity and not assume
they're
all terrorists."
He said the wary view of Islam by many evangelical Christians was
rooted in
part in their commitment to Israel. Many believe that the physical
presence
of the state of Israel is required for Christ's return and therefore
vigorously defend Israel from perceived Islamic enemies, he said.
Others,
including many at Fuller, disagree that Israel would play any special
role
in the second coming, he said.
Muslim leaders, who regard tensions with evangelical Christians as one
of
their greatest interfaith challenges, say they are delighted by the
Fuller
initiative…
Muslims, many of them associated with the Islamic Center of Southern
California, broached the idea of an ethics code after Fuller invited
them
to join the peacemaking initiative. Maher Hathout of the Islamic center
said Muslims needed to be assured that they would be treated with
respect
because of pain over previous remarks by evangelical leaders and
Fuller's
own history of proselytizing in Islamic countries.
"The community knows about Fuller and will definitely ask questions"
about
the joint project, Hathout said.
Some conservative Christians decried parts of the proposed ethics code
and
predicted that it would bring an uproar from their ranks.
"For Fuller to declare that Christians and Muslims worship the same God
would be a radical departure, not only from the evangelical tradition
but
also the tenets of orthodox Christianity," said John Revell, a
spokesman
for the Southern Baptists' executive committee. He also questioned
whether
evangelical Christians who signed the proposed code against offensive
statements and proselytizing would compromise their religious
obligation to
"speak truth in love" and "spread the good news of Jesus Christ…"
The controversy over whether Muslims and Christians worship the same
God
recently flared anew when President Bush affirmed a shared belief with
Muslims at a London news conference last month - a view that was
immediately disavowed by conservative evangelicals…
David Augsburger, the project director at Fuller, said he hopes the
exchanges will have a positive ripple effect here and abroad.
"We're engaged in a conflict that is probably going to last through the
next two generations," Augsburger said.
"Because the major rhetoric on this is religious, it is highly
important
for us to seek to transform the floor of understanding between our two
major groups," he said.
---
DO ALL RELIGIOUS PATHS LEAD TO THE SAME GOD? BUSH REMARK RENEWS OLD
DEBATE
MARK O'KEEFE, Newhouse News Service, 12/5/03
http://www.newhousenews.com/archive/okeefe120503.html
He's the commander in chief, not the theologian in chief. Nonetheless,
President Bush stepped into a centuries-old religious controversy when
he
recently said of Muslims and Christians, "I believe we worship the same
God."
Do we?
The question has reignited lively polemics at a time when three of the
world's major faiths -- Judaism, Christianity and Islam -- are
variously
engaged in conflicts fueled by religion, in the Middle East and
elsewhere…
Some Muslims are tired of the spiritual jabs. Azizah al-Hibri, founder
of
KARAMAH, an organization of Muslim women lawyers for human rights,
finds it
"incredibly possessive, a not too holy quality, to argue that the God
of
one's religion belongs to it alone and no other."
Islam has a more inclusive approach, Ahmed said. He quotes Sura 10,
verse
47 of the Quran, the Muslim holy book: "To every people was sent an
apostle
to teach them in their own language, in their own country, making
things
clear..."
-----
TOUGH NEW TACTICS BY U.S. TIGHTEN GRIP ON IRAQ TOWNS
DEXTER FILKINS, New York Times, 12/7/03
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/12/07/international/middleeast/07TACT.html
BU HISHMA, Iraq, Dec. 6 - As the guerrilla war against Iraqi insurgents
intensifies, American soldiers have begun wrapping entire villages in
barbed wire.
In selective cases, American soldiers are demolishing buildings thought
to
be used by Iraqi attackers. They have begun imprisoning the relatives
of
suspected guerrillas, in hopes of pressing the insurgents to turn
themselves in.
The Americans embarked on their get-tough strategy in early November,
goaded by what proved to be the deadliest month yet for American forces
in
Iraq, with 81 soldiers killed by hostile fire. The response they chose
is
beginning to echo the Israeli counterinsurgency campaign in the
occupied
territories.
So far, the new approach appears to be succeeding in diminishing the
threat
to American soldiers. But it appears to be coming at the cost of
alienating
many of the people the Americans are trying to win over. Abu Hishma is
quiet now, but it is angry, too.
In Abu Hishma, encased in a razor-wire fence after repeated attacks on
American troops, Iraqi civilians line up to go in and out, filing
through
an American-guarded checkpoint, each carrying an identification card
printed in English only.
"If you have one of these cards, you can come and go," coaxed Lt. Col.
Nathan Sassaman, the battalion commander whose men oversee the village,
about 50 miles north of Baghdad. "If you don't have one of these cards,
you
can't."
The Iraqis nodded and edged their cars through the line. Over to one
side,
an Iraqi man named Tariq muttered in anger.
"I see no difference between us and the Palestinians," he said. "We
didn't
expect anything like this after Saddam fell."
The practice of destroying buildings where Iraqi insurgents are
suspected
of planning or mounting attacks has been used for decades by Israeli
soldiers in Gaza and the West Bank. The Israeli Army has also
imprisoned
the relatives of suspected terrorists, in the hopes of pressing the
suspects to surrender.
The Israeli military has also cordoned off villages and towns thought
to be
hotbeds of guerrilla activity, in an effort to control the flow of
people
moving in and out.
American officials say they are not purposefully mimicking Israeli
tactics,
but they acknowledge that they have studied closely the Israeli
experience
in urban fighting. Ahead of the war, Israeli defense experts briefed
American commanders on their experience in guerrilla and urban warfare.
The
Americans say there are no Israeli military advisers helping the
Americans
in Iraq.
Writing in the July issue of Army magazine, an American brigadier
general
said American officers had recently traveled to Israel to hear about
lessons learned from recent fighting there.
"Experience continues to teach us many lessons, and we continue to
evaluate
and address those lessons, embedding and incorporating them
appropriately
into our concepts, doctrine and training," Brig. Gen. Michael A. Vane
wrote. "For example, we recently traveled to Israel to glean lessons
learned from their counterterrorist operations in urban areas." General
Vane is deputy chief of staff for doctrine concepts and strategy, at
the
United States Army Training and Doctrine Command…
"You have to understand the Arab mind," Capt. Todd Brown, a company
commander with the Fourth Infantry Division, said as he stood outside
the
gates of Abu Hishma. "The only thing they understand is force - force,
pride and saving face…"
SEE ALSO:
COMBAT CASUALTY COUNT DOUBTED
Patrick Peterson, KNIGHT RIDDER, 12/6/03
http://www.tallahassee.com/mld/democrat/7427192.htm
GULFPORT, Miss. - An influential Mississippi congressman has raised the
possibility that the Pentagon has undercounted combat casualties in
Iraq
after he learned that five members of the Mississippi National Guard
who
were injured Sept. 12 by a booby trap in Iraq were denied Purple Heart
medals.
The guardsmen were wounded by an artillery shell that detonated as
their
convoy passed the tree in which it was hidden, but their injuries were
classified as "noncombat," according to Rep. Gene Taylor, D-Miss.
Taylor, a
senior member of the House Armed Services Committee, learned of the
classification when he visited the most seriously injured of the
guardsmen,
Spc. Carl Sampson, 35, at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in
Washington.
"How could no one have caught this?" Taylor said.
On Nov. 20, shortly after visiting Sampson, Taylor brought the matter
to
the attention of Gen. Richard B. Myers, the chairman of the Joint
Chiefs of
Staff, and the Purple Hearts quickly were awarded.
But Taylor said the incident raised concerns that Iraq combat
casualties
had been understated. He said Myers told him he'd been made aware of
similar oversights…
Defense Department statistics show that as of Thursday, some 2,150
service
members had been wounded in action in Iraq, while 354 were injured in
nonhostile incidents. Of 441 service members who have died in Iraq, 304
are
listed as killed in hostile action; 137 deaths resulted from nonhostile
action.
A Pentagon spokesman said the decision to award the Purple Heart was
made
at a unit level and that he couldn't explain how the misclassification
occurred…
---
NON-APPROVED AMMUNITION USED IN IRAQ
This 5.56mm round has all the stopping power you need - but you can't
use
it. John G. Roos, Army Times, 11/24/03
http://www.armytimes.com/story.php?f=1-292925-2426405.php
Ben Thomas and three colleagues were driving north out of Baghdad in an
SUV
on a clear mid-September morning, headed down a dirt road into a rural
village, when gunmen in several surrounding buildings opened fire on
them.
In a brief but intense firefight, Thomas hit one of the attackers with
a
single shot from his M4 carbine at a distance he estimates was 100 to
110
yards.
He hit the man in the buttocks, a wound that typically is not fatal.
But
this round appeared to kill the assailant instantly.
"It entered his butt and completely destroyed everything in the lower
left
section of his stomach ... everything was torn apart," Thomas said.
Thomas, a security consultant with a private company contracted by the
government, recorded the first known enemy kill using a new - and
controversial - bullet.
The bullet is so controversial that if Thomas, a former SEAL, had been
on
active duty, he would have been court-martialed for using it. The
ammunition is "nonstandard" and hasn't passed the military's approval
process.
"The way I explain what happened to people who weren't there is … this
stuff was like hitting somebody with a miniature explosive round," he
said,
even though the ammo does not have an explosive tip. "Nobody believed
that
this guy died from a butt shot."
The bullet Thomas fired was an armor-piercing, limited-penetration
round
manufactured by RBCD of San Antonio…
-----
US AIR RAID KILLS NINE CHILDREN IN SOUTH AFGHANISTAN
Kim Sengupta, The Independent, 12/8/03
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/asia/story.jsp?story=471134
The United Nations has demanded an immediate investigation into an
attack
by an American warplane, which killed nine children playing in the
compound
of a house in Southern Afghanistan.
The Afghan President, Hamid Karzai, who faces growing dissatisfaction
over
the return of the Taliban as well as the number of civilian casualties
caused by the US, has expressed concern over the raid.
The American military claim that a former Taliban militant, Mullah
Wazir,
who had boasted of attacking aid workers, was killed in the attack on
the
town of Makur, near Ghazni. Afghan officials in Ghazni said Mr Wazir
had
not been at the building during the raid.
Haji Assadullah, the governor of Ghazni province and an ally of Mr
Karzai's
US-sponsored interim government, said: "It has not been ascertained if
Mullah Wazir was killed or not, although the property did belong to
him."
The UN expressed its "profound distress" at the attack. It warned that
the
deaths would aggravate tensions in Southern Afghanistan where there has
been an increase in the number of attacks on US and Afghan government
forces.
Lakhdar Brahimi, the UN special envoy for Afghanistan, called for a
swift
inquiry into the deaths and for the outcome to be made public. He said:
"This incident adds to a sense of insecurity and fear."
A US military spokesman, Lieutenant Colonel Bryan Hilferty, said the
loss
of innocent lives was "regretted" and that "the tragic incident" was
being
investigated. The military added that US and Allied forces in
Afghanistan
"follow stringent rules of engagement to specifically avoid this type
of
incident while continuing to target terrorists. The operation took
place
after extensive intelligence over an extended period of time…"
SEE ALSO:
AFGHAN VILLAGE ANGRY AFTER GUNSHIP ATTACK
AIJAZ RAHI, Associated Press, 12/7/03
HUTALA, Afghanistan (AP) - Hats and shoes littered a blood-stained
field in
this desolate Afghan village Sunday, a day after U.S. warplanes -
targeting
a terror suspect - mistakenly killed nine children.
American officials offered their regrets Sunday and said they were
``deeply
saddened'' by the deaths. The United Nations called for an
investigation.
And the Afghan government urged the U.S.-led coalition hunting Taliban
and
al-Qaida fighters to make sure such an accident is never repeated.
In Hutala on Sunday, a line of fresh graves marked the tragedy, and
village
men stood quietly by a stream in a dusty field where the children had
been
playing. They seemed as bewildered as they were angry…
Villagers said the young victims had been playing with marbles in a
dusty
field beside mud homes in this impoverished valley, some 150 miles
southwest of Kabul, when the A-10 ground attack aircraft homed in.
Military officials said Sunday they had no idea children were in the
area
when they decided to attack. U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad said the
suspect targeted and killed was a former Taliban commander named Mullah
Wazir, adding that he was ``deeply saddened'' by the ``tragic loss of
innocent life…''
Troops discovered the children's bodies after rushing to the scene to
verify that they had got Wazir. U.S. officers flew in Sunday to
apologize
to village elders, Hilferty said.
But residents were adamant that the military had acted on bogus
intelligence. Many said the man killed was not Wazir, and that the
former
district commander under the Taliban had left the village some days
before
the attack.
``There are no terrorists, no Taliban or al-Qaida here,'' said Abdul
Majid
Farooqi. ``Just poor people…''
-----
ARAB WAITER OUSTED FROM FUNDRAISER CLAIMS BIAS
Alan Cooperman, Washington Post, 12/6/03
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A40265-2003Dec5.html
An Arab American waiter who has worked for seven years at the Hyatt
Regency
in Baltimore said he was sent home yesterday prior to a presidential
fundraiser by a manager who asked him just one question: "Is your name
Mohamad?"
Mohamad I. Pharoan, 58, a naturalized U.S. citizen, said that he was
not
told why he was being sent home, but that he believed he was singled
out by
the U.S. Secret Service or the hotel's security staff because of his
ethnicity or religion.
"Whoever did that, they owe me an apology," said Pharoan, who is
Muslim. "I
think it's discrimination just because of my name."
President Bush raised more than $1 million for his reelection campaign
at
the afternoon banquet for more than 550 people at the Hyatt Regency at
the
Inner Harbor. Pharoan said he arrived for work dressed in a tuxedo at
8:24
a.m., about four hours before the banquet. An employee from the hotel's
personnel office checked off his name on a master list, Pharoan said.
About 15 minutes later, he said, the Hyatt's banquet manager pulled him
aside and asked about his first name. It was a strange question, he
said,
because he was sure the manager knew his name.
"I told him, 'Yes, my name is Mohamad,'" Pharoan said. "He said, 'I'm
sorry, we cannot use you today -- you have to go home…'"
SEE ALSO:
TERRORISM JARS JEWISH, ARAB PARTY LOYALTIES
Laura Blumenfeld, Washington Post, 12/7/03
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A41204-2003Dec6.html
In the last presidential election, Arabs supported the Republican
candidate
while Jews overwhelmingly backed the Democrat. That was before the
attacks
of Sept. 11, 2001, and Bush's response. Since then, the political
moorings
of the two communities have come loose. Democratic and Republican
leaders
are trying to catch them as they drift. Though they are small in
numbers,
Arab and Jewish populations are concentrated in several swing states,
such
as Michigan and Florida. And Jewish donors play a role in many
campaigns.
Sensing an opening, Democratic presidential contenders have reached out
to
Arab voters, speaking at an Arab American Institute conference this
fall in
Detroit. AAI President James Zogby, a Democrat, quipped: "They didn't
come
because we have pretty brown eyes." But then, the Democratic National
Committee also held an emergency strategy session last year to address
reported Republican gains among Jews.
Republicans, meanwhile, describe a White House so at ease with Judaism
that
Jay Lefkowitz, then deputy assistant for domestic policy, blew a
three-foot
shofar, or ram's horn, at a senior staff meeting during the High Holy
Days,
drawing laughter and applause from senior strategist Karl Rove. But
when
asked to invite a Sunni Muslim leader to a White House event supporting
the
Iraq war, Khaled Saffuri, chairman of the conservative Islamic Free
Market
Institute, said no one would go.
"If you defend this administration, it's like saying cancer is good for
you," Saffuri said. Arabs tell him they will vote for a Democrat --
"any
Democrat."
Jack A. Abramoff, a lobbyist and a leading Jewish Republican
fundraiser, is
predicting a more favorable trend in his community. "We could see a
tremendous shift," he said. "Bush is the most pro-Israel president in
U.S.
history…"
---
ARAB-AMERICANS' SUCCESSFUL ASSIMILATION MAKES THEM DIFFICULT TO COUNT
KIM COBB, Houston Chronicle, 12/6/03
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/metropolitan/2274056
This is the first time the Census Bureau has issued a report focusing
on
the Arab-American population. The question on ancestry or ethnic
heritage
went out on the 2000 Census long form to one out of every six
households,
but 19 percent of the respondents provided no response to the ancestry
question.
The Census Bureau reports 1.25 million Americans claimed Arab ancestry
in
the 2000 Census -- an increase of about 40 percent over 1990. But the
Arab
American Institute Foundation in Washington, D.C., a partner with the
Census Bureau, estimates the national population of Arab-Americans to
be
more than 3.5 million.
The census acknowledges 18 countries as Arab, but the Arab American
Institute Foundation also recognizes Arabic-speaking people who call
themselves Assyrian or Chaldean, Somali or Sudanese.
The number of Texans who claim Arab ancestry has more than doubled
since
the census first measured ethnic origin in 1980, and AAIF studies show
that
Texas is one of the most popular destinations for new arrivals from the
Persian Gulf region.
"Just the fact that this particular report shows a number in the range
of
11,000 is indicative of the underestimation of the (Houston Arab)
community," said Houston attorney DeeDee Baba, 29. "There are that many
in
Sugar Land, alone, right?"
As coordinator of the local Arab American Leadership Council, Baba sees
that low number as evidence that Houston residents of Arab descent have
made themselves easy to overlook, and need to be more vocal.
"Sometimes, in the current political climate, maybe there are not a lot
of
people who are proud to be Arab-Americans," Baba said. "Sometimes, if
you
just kind of do your own thing, you can avoid the stigma. I don't know
if
that's been the trend for 10 years, but post-9/11 may be a factor to
consider."
But Fustok, who was born in Syria, suggests different motivation for
the
low profile.
"Most Arab-Americans, when they come here, they want to fit," Fustok
said.
"They don't see themselves as different, and they see themselves as
guests
of a country. As guests, they try to make as few waves as possible."
-----
TAKING THE INTIFADA TO THE FOOTBALL FIELD
William Lobdell, Los Angeles Times, 12/7/03
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-football7dec07,1,4250723.story
What could be more American? Dozens of young men in Orange County have
planned a football tournament for the New Year's weekend in Irvine.
But this gathering of Muslim American athletes on the gridiron - they
say a
first for Southern California - is being flagged for unsportsmanlike
conduct by religious leaders dismayed by some of the team's names.
Monikers for the flag-football teams include Mujahideen, Intifada and
Soldiers of Allah and are accompanied on the league's Web site,
http://muslimfootball.com , by logos of masked men, some with daggers
or
swords.
An organizer of the Jan. 4 event, geared for American Muslims in their
teens and 20s, said the names are a sign of football bravado and a show
of
support for Muslims in the Middle East.
"A lot of the kids on our team are from Palestinian origin," said Tarek
Shawky, Intifada's 29-year-old captain and quarterback. "We are in
solidarity with people in the uprising. It's about human rights and
basic
freedoms."
"I think they should be more sensitive and show respect to other
people's
sensitivities," said Muzammil Siddiqi, director of the Islamic Society
of
Orange County and a national Muslim leader. "The words themselves do
not
have bad meanings, but people associate them with what's going on in
the
world around them..."
But one Islamic scholar said she wonders why the team names should be
controversial.
"Who cares? Why are people so sensitive?" said Yvonne Yazbeck Haddad, a
professor at Georgetown University. "Intifada is something that Muslims
and
Palestinians all approve of. It means 'just get off my back...'
The Muslim athletes aren't the first Americans to choose controversial
team
names. The NBA's Washington franchise, for example, renamed itself the
Wizards in 1997 after Bullets was deemed too violent. In 2000, Wheaton
College replaced its Crusader label after 70 years, with the more
politically correct Thunder.
Twenty miles down Interstate 5 from Irvine, where the football
tournament
will be held, a new Catholic high school in San Juan Capistrano changed
its
name before it opened last year, from the Crusaders to the Lions, a
move
applauded by local Muslim leaders.
Some of those same officials say they oppose the controversial names
for
the Muslim football teams, but emphasize that they reflect youthful
hyperbole more than any dark meaning.
"They tend to be a little more on the emotional side, and they also
look
for something that will raise eyebrows," said Hussam Ayloush, executive
director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations' Southern
California
chapter. He said he would advise the players to change the names…
-----
GUANT�NAMO CHAPLAIN AND HIS WIFE SPEAK OUT
SARAH KERSHAW, New York Times, 12/5/03
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/12/05/national/05YEE.html
SEATTLE, Dec. 4 - At noon last Sept. 11, Huda Yee arrived at the
Seattle-Tacoma airport for a long-awaited reunion with her husband,
Capt.
James J. Yee, a Muslim chaplain who was supposed to return home from
Guant�namo Bay for a one-week leave.
Mrs. Yee, a 29-year-old Palestinian from Syria, had gone to Syria
almost a
year earlier with her 4-year-old daughter, Sarah, to be with her family
while her husband, an Army chaplain permanently stationed at Fort
Lewis,
south of here, ministered to detainees at Guant�namo Bay, Cuba. The two
had
arranged to fly home on the same day.
But by evening, when there was still no sign of her husband, and after
she
went to their home in Olympia, 60 miles south of here, to look for him
and
found their furniture still covered in plastic, she concluded that
something was terribly wrong.
"I didn't know if he was alive," Mrs. Yee said in Arabic. "But I knew
there
were troubles."
That day at the airport was the beginning of a bizarre and frightening
three-month odyssey for Mrs. Yee and her husband, who quickly became a
cause c�l�bre for advocacy groups across the country who accuse the
government of trumping up an espionage case against him. On Thursday,
Captain Yee spoke publicly for the first time with some of those
supporters, many of whom have likened his case to that of the Los
Alamos
scientist Wen Ho Lee, to thank them for letter-writing campaigns and
protests on his behalf.
"The case is still ongoing and there are still some battles that need
to be
fought," he told them.
Sometime after that day at the airport, the F.B.I. came to search her
house
but would not give her any information, Mrs. Yee said. It was not until
Sept. 20 that she learned from a television news report that her
husband,
35, was arrested on Sept. 10 in Florida on his way home and was being
held
by the military on suspicion of spying.
"I saw all the news," she said. "All the bad news about my husband. I
didn't believe it. I fell down. I got sick."
Captain Yee was held in solitary confinement in a South Carolina Navy
brig
for nearly three months while he was under investigation, permitted
only
two 15-minute telephone calls a day after a month and, his lawyers
said,
barred from speaking Arabic to his wife, whom he met while studying
Islam
in Syria in 1997.
He was released last week without any espionage charges brought against
him. But in a twist that Mrs. Yee said was more devastating than the
espionage investigation, the military has charged him with adultery - a
violation of military code - and possession of pornography, in addition
to
charges that he had disobeyed orders by taking classified information
home...
Captain Yee's supporters say the government has charged him with
adultery
and keeping pornography - a fairly unusual move by the military justice
system - to save face and trump up what has always been a weak case.
"He was defamed and smeared and accused of being a spy," said Ibrahim
Hooper, a spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, a
Washington advocacy group whose Seattle chapter was in close contact
with
Captain Yee's relatives during his detainment. "Then all of sudden,
they're
not even sorry. They're saying, `You can go now, and for good measure
we'll
throw in a few charges to further damage your reputation.' It's a very
suspicious scenario that developed…"
-----
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-----
CAIR
Council on American-Islamic Relations
453 New Jersey Avenue, S.E.
Washington, D.C. 20003
Tel: 202-488-8787, 202-744-7726
Fax: 202-488-0833
E-mail: cair@cair-net.org
URL: http://www.cair-net.org
-----
Forwarded Message
From:
"cair@cair-net.org" <cair@cair-net.org>
To:
cair-net@cair.biglist.com
Subject:
CAIR-NET: Contact ADM About Paul Harvey's Offensive Remark
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
CAIR ACTION ALERT #408
CONTACT ADM ABOUT PAUL HARVEY’S OFFENSIVE REMARK
Ask sponsor to reconsider ads until Harvey issues on-air apology
(WASHINGTON, D.C., 12/8/2003) – CAIR is calling on all people of
conscience
to contact Archer Daniels Midland Company (ADM) and ask that they
reconsider their advertising plans after syndicated radio commentator
Paul
Harvey’s failure to apologize for saying Islam “encourages killing.”
(NOTE: Illinois-based ADM, one of Harvey’s major sponsors, has over
26,000
employees, more than 270 processing plants and net sales of $30.7
billion.
A new sponsor will be featured each day until Harvey responds to Muslim
concerns.)
In a commentary last week, Harvey described the bloody nature of cock
fight
gambling in Iraq and said: “Add to the thirst for blood a religion
which
encourages killing, and it is entirely understandable if Americans came
to
this bloody party unprepared.” Harvey has 24 million weekly listeners
on
some 1,600 radio stations in this country and around the world.
CAIR has asked Harvey for an on-air apology.
TO LISTEN TO THE SEGMENT, GO TO:
http://www.cair-net.org/audio/paulharvey.ram
“As an international corporation doing business in the Muslim world,
Archer
Daniels Midland should disassociate itself from extremist views that
would
demonize one-fifth of the world’s population,” said CAIR Executive
Director
Nihad Awad.
Awad noted that Islam prohibits murder, gambling and cruelty to animals
such as witnessed in cock fights.
In 1999, Harvey issued an on-air apology to Muslims for remarks
suggesting
that Islam was a “fraudulent religion.” The apology came after hundreds
of
concerned Muslims called, faxed and e-mailed both Harvey’s office and
that
of ABC Radio Networks, his program’s syndicator.
IMMEDIATE ACTION REQUESTED: (As always, be firm but POLITE.)
Contact Archer Daniels Midland CEO Allen Andreas to ask that he
reconsider
advertising on Paul Harvey’s program.
CONTACT:
Mr. Allen Andreas
Chairman and CEO
Archer Daniels Midland Company
4666 Faries Parkway
Decatur, IL 62526
TEL: 1-800-637-5843
FAX: 217-424-4266
E-MAIL: l_augustine@admworld.com, angela_shaw@admworld.com,
june.westgaard@abc.com
COPY TO: info@admworld.com, Irma.N.Aviles@abc.com,
Kevin.L.Miller@abc.com,
jennifer.purtan@abc.com, Steve.Jones@abc.com, cair@cair-net.org
COPY E-MAIL TO: http://www.paulharvey.com/email_form.shtml
ALSO CONTACT:
Mr. Paul Harvey
333 N Michigan Ave, Suite 1600
Chicago, IL 60601-4005
Phone: (312) 899-4085
Fax: (312) 899-4088
ALL PAUL HARVEY’S SPONSORS MAY BE LOCATED AT:
http://www.paulharvey.com/sponsorlist.shtml
Please make Mr. Harvey’s other sponsors aware of your concerns.
- PLEASE ANNOUNCE, POST AND DISTRIBUTE –
-----
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http://cair.biglist.com/cair-net/
To reach the list moderator, send a message to: cair@cair-net.org
-----
CAIR
Council on American-Islamic Relations
453 New Jersey Avenue, S.E.
Washington, D.C. 20003
Tel: 202-488-8787, 202-744-7726
Fax: 202-488-0833
E-mail: cair@cair-net.org
URL: http://www.cair-net.org
-----
--------------------------------------------------------------------
mail2web - Check your email from the web at
http://mail2web.com/ .
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
AMERICAN MUSLIM NEWS BRIEFS - 12/8/03
* VERSE OF THE DAY: TRAFFIC AND TRADE
* CAIR LIBRARY PROJECT: 7086 SPONSORED
* CAIR SACRAMENTO HOSTS FIRST ANNUAL BANQUET
- Support CAIR-AZ Radio Ads
* CAIR-CAN: CANADA SHOULD ENSURE FAIR TRIAL OF JAMAL AKKAL
* BOMBINGS 'INHUMAN,' MUSLIM GROUP SAYS (LA Times)
- CA Muslims Mourn Recent Bombing Victims (OC Register)
- Condemn Criminals, Not Muslims (E. Valley Trib)
* N.VA. NEIGHBORS UP IN ARMS OVER SECRETIVE ENCLAVE (Wash. Post)
* MEDIA URGED TO REPORT FAIRLY ON ISLAM (Toledo Blade)
- We Also Have Right to Skip 'B.C.' Strip (Sun Herald)
* NEWT GINGRICH: DISSENT IN THE BUNKER (Newsweek)
- Kucinich Asks for Investigation of Afghan Air Attack
- From Tommy Franks, a Doomsday Scenario (St. Pete Times)
- Truth at A Dead End (St. Pete Times)
* WILL THE PLAN IN IRAQ REPEAT MISTAKES OF VIETNAM? (New Yorker)
- Shock Video: Who Shot New 9/11 Tapes? (Antiwar.Com)
- Ted's Guilt By Association (Edmonton Sun)
* IMMIGRANT GROUPS BEMOAN WHAT HASN'T CHANGED (Chicago Trib)
- Many Special Registration Requirements Continue
* MUSLIM SUPPORTS RELIGIOUS SIGHTS HIT BY VANDALS (Idaho Statesman)
* FRENCH CHRISTIANS URGE CHIRAC NOT TO BAN VEIL (Reuters)
* MUSLIM CARTOONIST DRAWS A BEAD ON CONTROVERSY (Oakland Trib)
-----
VERSE OF THE DAY: TRAFFIC AND TRADE
O ye who believe! Do not squander one another's wealth in vanities, but
let
there be amongst you traffic and trade by mutual good will.
The Holy Quran, 4:29
-----
CAIR LIBRARY PROJECT: 7086 SPONSORED
The goal of CAIR's library project is to send accurate and objective
information about Islam to America's 16,000 public libraries.
For only $150, Muslim individuals and groups may sponsor 18-item
packages
about Islam and Muslims, which are then distributed to the library of
their
choice.
To sponsor a library call, 1-800-392-7876, ext. 320, or visit:
www.libraryproject.org.
-----
CAIR SACRAMENTO HOSTS FIRST ANNUAL BANQUET
The Council on American-Islamic Relations, Sacramento Valley cordially
invites you to attend its First Annual Fundraising Banquet
WHEN: Sunday, December 14, 2003
Dinner and program: 5-9pm
WHERE: The Holiday Inn, NE Sacramento, 5321 Date Avenue, (I-80 &
Madison
Ave.)
Sacramento, CA 98541
SEATING IS LIMITED! RESERVE YOUR SEAT EARLY
TICKETS: $35 per person in advance, $45 at the door
$350 (for table of 10)
Free childcare available
Spaces are limited, R.S.V.P. by December 7th
For information, call 916-441-6269
ALSO SEE:
SUPPORT CAIR-AZ RADIO ADS
CAIR-AZ ran ads on KJZZ/NPR 91.5FM four times daily during the three
days
of Eid and have continued ads until December 5, 2003. This campaign is
designed to further educate the broader public on the meaning of Islam
and
the significance of Muslim holidays.
Our goal is to run at least two ads daily with alternating messages
through
the remainder of 2003.
For just $61.00 you can personally support one ad and participate in
this
powerful form of Dawah. Please help continue educating the Arizona
community about the truth of Islam.
Please call CAIR-AZ at 602-262-CAIR (2247) with your pledge amount for
this
vital project.
-----
CAIR-CAN: CANADA SHOULD ENSURE FAIR TRIAL OF JAMAL AKKAL
(Ottawa, Canada, 11/8/03) - The Canadian Council on American-Islamic
Relations (CAIR-CAN) today called on the Canadian government to ensure
that
a Canadian citizen held in Israel, Jamal Akkal, is given a fair trial
in
accordance with recognized international standards. CAIR-CAN is also
calling on the Canadian government to investigate reports that Akkal
was
tortured by Israeli authorities into giving a confession and that he is
currently being mistreated in prison.
In a statement issued today, CAIR-CAN wrote:
"The Canadian government has an obligation to immediately investigate
allegations that Jamal Akkal's confession was extracted through torture
and
sleep deprivation and that Akkal is being mistreated during his
confinement
in Israel.
“In its annual report on Israel, Amnesty International indicated that
the
ill-treatment of Palestinian prisoners was "widespread during arrest
and
interrogation," and that "there were numerous reports of torture in
detention."
"It is essential that Canadian officials continue to be present and
monitor
the ongoing trial of Akkal in Israel to ensure that the trial is
conducted
transparently and in accordance with recognized international human
rights
standards."
-END-
Contact: Naeem Saloojee at 613.254.9704; E-mail:Canada@cair-net.org
-----
BOMBINGS 'INHUMAN,' MUSLIM GROUP SAYS
Stanley Allison, LA Times, 12/8/03
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/orange/la-me-interfaith8dec08,1,4127957
Taking a public stance against the recent bombings of synagogues in
Turkey
and a mosque in India, leaders of the Orange County Muslim community
denounced the attacks at a gathering with Jewish and Christian
representatives on Sunday.
The interfaith vigil, held at a Mission Viejo mosque, was organized by
the
Orange County Islamic Foundation to remember the victims of the car
bombings at two crowded synagogues in Istanbul and a mosque in Parbani,
India...
About 100 people of different faiths joined in condemning the terrorist
violence committed in the name of religion.
Several groups purportedly linked to the Al Qaeda terrorist network
have
claimed responsibility for nearly simultaneous Nov. 15 attacks on the
two
Istanbul synagogues that left 25 people dead, including the bombers, an
8-year-old girl and her 85-year-old grandmother. More than 300 were
injured...
As the number of attacks in the name of religion continues to grow, so
do
the number of voices in opposition.
"This is not the first time Muslims have stood up in condemnation, but
we
have to admit that the condemnations are not as sensational as the acts
themselves," said Hussam Ayloush, executive director of the Council on
American-Islamic Relations.
ALSO SEE:
MUSLIMS GATHER WITH CHRISTIANS AND JEWS TO MOURN RECENT BOMBING VICTIMS
Mayrav Saar, Orange County Register, 12/8/03
http://www2.ocregister.com/ocrweb/ocr/article.do?id=70463§ion=LOCAL
MISSION VIEJO - Mohannad Malad thought it went without saying: Acts of
violence are unacceptable according to the teachings of Islam, even if
those acts are committed by people who call themselves Muslims.
But Malad has been watching the news. He's seen pundits on certain
television networks denounce his religion as a vessel of hate. He has
watched people who have the ear of the president claim that Muslims in
America hear about Middle East terrorist attacks with impassivity. That
Muslims don't speak out.
Malad thought it was time to speak out.
On Sunday, 80 people - Muslims, Jews and Christians - gathered at the
Orange County Islamic Foundation to hear local Muslim leaders denounce
last
month's bombings at synagogues in Turkey that killed 25 people,
including
two suicide bombers, and another attack at a mosque in India that
injured
21...
---
CONDEMN CRIMINALS, NOT LAW-ABIDING MUSLIMS
Deedra Abboud, East Valley Tribune, 12/2/03
http://www.aztrib.com/
Gary Nelson called on "Islamic spokesmen to publicly condemn the
criminals
who have used their religion as an excuse to scatter body parts from
one
end of the planet to the other." Hopefully Mr. Nelson's use of the term
"spokes-MEN" was an oversight in this day and age. As the executive
director and spokesWOMAN of the Arizona Chapter of the Council on
American
Islamic Relations (CAIR-AZ), I would like to answer his call.
CAIR-AZ, along with the vast majority of the Muslim population, would
agree
that "criminal" is an appropriate term to describe those who use their
religion to kill, oppress, or otherwise terrorize innocent civilians
anywhere. When so-called Muslims cause harm worldwide they are, indeed,
contradicting the teachings of Islam.
Unfortunately, every act committed by a person who is Muslim seems to
be
tied to Islam and Muslims in America are somehow held accountable for
every
Ali, Hussein and Mohammad that walks the face of the earth. This
includes
acts that are cultural and have no basis in Islam.
As the Middle East only makes up 18 percent of the " . . . huge,
worldwide,
billion member . . . " religion of Islam, it is inconceivable that Mr.
Nelson is attempting to hold individual Muslims in the U.S. responsible
for
actions of people they don't even know. Groups of people cannot be
judged
by the minority among them or by their stereotypes.
Please ask the criminals to condemn acts of terrorism instead of the
peaceful, lawabiding Muslims in America.
-----
N.VA. NEIGHBORS UP IN ARMS OVER SECRETIVE ENCLAVE
Annie Gowen, Washington Post, 12/8/03
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A44090-2003Dec7.html
A string of four break-ins in late August surprised many in Rusinko's
quiet, affluent Woodmont neighborhood in North Arlington. But residents
were even more surprised when they learned that the culprit -- who
pleaded
guilty to two of the burglaries last month -- was a resident of one of
two
group homes owned by the Fellowship, a religious organization that has,
since 1978, run a secluded spiritual retreat called the Cedars at the
end
of their block.
The Fellowship, best known for its National Prayer Breakfast every
February, is described by backers as a loosely knit group of friends
who
advise the rich and powerful on the teachings of Jesus Christ.
In its mission to create global harmony, the Fellowship has for decades
quietly brought together Third World leaders, disgraced captains of
industry, members of Congress and ambassadors for talks at an imposing
white mansion that sits on a hill overlooking the Potomac River. Pop
star
Michael Jackson was a guest last year.
More than 16 Fellowship families have moved into homes around the
Cedars'
dead-end street, forming a tight-knit enclave that prays, socializes
and
home-schools its children together...
But the organization never applied for the necessary special-use permit
from the county, he said, because the Fellowship got informal approval
decades ago to establish two homes on the street...
-----
MEDIA URGED TO REPORT FAIRLY ON ISLAM
Erica Blake, Toledo Blade, 12/7/03
http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20031207/NEWS08/112070
100
Najat Kassem left a symposium focusing on fairness in reporting on
religion
with a renewed vigor.
But her energy wasn’t centered on blaming others for not understanding
her
culture.
Instead, she concentrated on what more she can do to educate and raise
awareness among reporters, editors, and the public at large.
The Islamic Center of Greater Toledo in Perrysburg Township yesterday
sponsored a four-hour symposium that considered how the media deals
with
religious issues, diversity, and tolerance.
Central to the discussion was whether the media is fair in its
reporting of
events...
ALSO SEE:
WE ALSO HAVE THE RIGHT TO SKIP THE 'B.C.' STRIP
Norman E. Hopp, Sun Herald, 12/8/03
http://www.sunherald.com/mld/thesunherald/news/editorial/letters/7433325.htm
I wish to respond to the Kathleen Parker column of Dec. 4 ("The demand
for
tolerance by the manifestly intolerant"). I would find it much easier
to
accept Johnny Hart's strip of Nov. 10 at face value if Mr. Hart had not
made it quite clear through previous strips that he is conservative in
both
his religion and his politics.
That being said, I cannot deny that Mr. Hart has a constitutional right
to
say whatever he wants to in his comic strip. I also have a
constitutional
right to refuse to read "B.C.," which I have been exercising for three
years now.
If you agree that telling the Islamic world that their religion stinks
like
an outhouse merely plays directly into the hand of Osama bin Laden, I
invite you to exercise your constitutional rights as well. If you do,
please tell the editors of this paper and maybe we can get "B.C."
removed
from The Sun Herald.
-----
DISSENT IN THE BUNKER
John Barry and Evan Thomas, Newsweek, 12/15/03
http://www.msnbc.com/news/1002188.asp
The military has been hitting hard lately in Iraq, using overwhelming
firepower to kill the enemy in operations with videogame names like
Iron
Hammer and Ivy Cyclone II. But behind the scenes, some military
experts,
including high-ranking officers in U.S. Special Forces (Army Green
Berets,
Navy SEALs and the like), are beginning to complain that America’s
strategy
in Iraq is wrongheaded.
“This is what Westmoreland was doing in Vietnam,” says a top Special
Forces
commander, referring to the firepower-heavy tactics favored by the
military’s senior commander in Vietnam, Gen. William Westmoreland, who
lost
sight of America’s essential mission in that lost war: winning the
hearts
and minds of the people.
One center of private concerns with America’s Iraq strategy is the
Defense
Policy Board, a collection of outside experts—mostly heavyweight
conservatives—who regularly consult with Secretary of Defense Donald
Rumsfeld. Disquiet in this quarter is particularly significant, since
the
DPB pushed from the outset for the invasion of Iraq. Last week one of
the
more colorful and outspoken members of the group, former House speaker
Newt
Gingrich, went public with his worries and ideas in an interview with
NEWSWEEK. He was careful to say that he does not speak about the
board’s
deliberations “on or off the record,” but he proceeded to hold forth in
his
insightful, if mildly bombastic, way about the shortcomings of
administration policy in Iraq...
ALSO SEE:
KUCINICH TO ASK FOR INVESTIGATION OF AIR ATTACK IN AFGHANISTAN
http://www.kucinich.us/pressreleases/pr_120703.php
Presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich will ask for an investigation of
last night's air attack by the United States-led military against a
suspected terrorist in Afghanistan, which killed nine children as well
as
the intended target, according to the Central Command.
Kucinich released this statement:
"I will ask for an investigation to determine the circumstances in
which
the nine children died. This incident is damaging to world peace. Last
year
an American flying gunship attacked a wedding party in Afghanistan
killing
48 people.
"In the name of fighting terrorism, the Bush administration has killed
thousands of innocent civilians, including many children. The Bush
administration turned what should have been an international criminal
investigation into a war. It has set aside international laws. It has
not
found Osama bin Laden.
"Considering the amount of time the Bush administration allegedly
spends on
surveillance, the deaths of these nine children cry out for an
explanation
-- and an investigation."
Kucinich is the Ranking Democrat on the Subcommittee on National
Security,
Emerging Threats, and International Relations. He will ask the
Subcommittee
to hold an investigation of last night's air attack. Kucinich will be
contacting members of the Subcommittee to ask them to join in this call
for
an investigation.
---
FROM TOMMY FRANKS, A DOOMSDAY SCENARIO
Robyn E. Blumner, St. Pete Times, 12/7/03
http://www.sptimes.com/2003/12/07/Columns/From_Tommy_Franks__a_.shtml
The doomsday scenario was laid out by Gen. Tommy Franks, the recently
retired head of CentCom, in of all places the December edition of Cigar
Aficionado magazine.
"What is the worst thing that can happen in our country?" Franks asked
rhetorically. "Two steps. The first step would be a nexus between
weapons
of mass destruction . . . and terrorism." The second step would be "the
western world, the free world, loses what it cherishes most, and that
is
freedom and liberty we've seen for a couple of hundred years in this
grand
experiment that we call democracy."
Franks suggested that a "massive casualty-producing event" might cause
"our
population to question our own Constitution and begin to militarize our
country."
For those tapped into the alternative media world of the Internet, the
quotes bounced around faster than a Paris Hilton sex video. Franks, a
four-star general, was warning of a future he sees as possible if not
likely. Our economy might survive another terrorist assault, so might
our
mass culture - it'll take more than a nuclear device to shut up Jessica
Simpson - but the prognosis for the Constitution is bleak.
New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman repeated the alarm in a recent
column when he said that virulent terrorism "is the most serious threat
to
open societies, because one more 9/11 and we'll really see an erosion
of
our civil liberties."
We ain't seen nothing yet, according to the experts. If terrorism's
sting
is felt again, fascism may be its aftermath...
---
TRUTH AT A DEAD END
Susan Taylor Martin, St. Pete Times, 12/8/03
http://www.sptimes.com/2003/12/08/Worldandnation/Truth_at_a_dead_end.shtml
ZUBAYDIYAH, Iraq - On this single point, everyone agrees: On Oct. 20, a
car
carrying Iraqi civilians collided with a minibus full of Ukrainian
coalition troops.
Beyond that, there is bitter dispute.
Did 13-year-old Karim Nasser, trapped in the car and screaming for
help,
burn to death as his two uncles lay unconscious from beatings by
Ukrainian
soldiers? That is what the Iraqis say...
-----
WILL THE COUNTER-INSURGENCY PLAN IN IRAQ REPEAT THE MISTAKES OF
VIETNAM?
Seymour M. Hersh, New Yorker, 12/8/03
http://www.newyorker.com/fact/content/?031215fa_fact
The American-Israeli liaison on Iraq amounts to a tutorial on how to
dismantle an insurgency. One former Israeli military-intelligence
officer
summarized the core lesson this way: “How to do targeted killing, which
is
very relevant to the success of the war, and what the United States is
going to have to do.” He told me that the Americans were being urged to
emulate the Israeli Army’s small commando units, known as Mist’aravim,
which operate undercover inside the West Bank and Gaza Strip. “They can
approach a house and pounce,” the former officer said. In the Israeli
view,
he added, the Special Forces units must learn “how to maintain a
network of
informants.” Such a network, he said, has made it possible for Israel
to
penetrate the West Bank and Gaza Strip organizations controlled by
groups
such as Hamas, and to assassinate or capture potential suicide bombers
along with many of the people who recruit and train them.
On the other hand, the former officer said, “Israel has, in many ways,
been
too successful, and has killed or captured so many mid-ranking
facilitators
on the operational level in the West Bank that Hamas now consists
largely
of isolated cells that carry out terrorist attacks against Israel on
their
own.” He went on, “There is no central control over many of the suicide
bombers. We’re trying to tell the Americans that they don’t want to
eliminate the center. The key is not to have freelancers out there...”
ALSO SEE:
SHOCK VIDEO: WHO SHOT NEW 9/11 TAPES?
Justin Raimondo, Anti-War, 12/8/03
http://www.antiwar.com/justin/justincol.html
I shivered, a little, as I watched Lisa Meyers' report on NBC the other
night:
"New and threatening messages have been received from Al Qaeda. There's
a
videotape aimed at American and Saudi Arabian rulers and another that
includes what appears to be well-produced footage of the 9/11 attacks –
raising still other questions."
It's sinister to contemplate. Video believed to have been in U.S.
government hands somehow pops up on a website alleged to be an Al Qaeda
mouthpiece, and U.S. government officials hold it up as a reason to
cower
in fear before the threat of another major terrorist attack on American
soil. Meanwhile, the President avers that Iraq is the central arena in
his
"war on terrorism," and his supporters claim that we're battling them
in
the streets of Baghdad so we don't have to fight them in the streets of
Boise – or whatever alliterative cliche first comes to mind...
---
TED'S GUILT BY ASSOCIATION
Shahina Siddiqui, Edmonton Sun, 12/7/03
Re: "How to measure moderate Muslim," by Ted Byfield, Nov. 30. In
quoting
his guru, Daniel Pipes and listing his questionnaire that will
determine
the "good Muslims from "bad Muslims," Byfield reminds us of the Spanish
Inquisition when the Christian establishment committed one of the worst
crimes against humanity by forcing Muslims and Jews to abandon their
faiths
in favour of Christianity. Few did. However, hundreds of thousands
succumbed to the torture and died painful deaths. Security is a concern
of
all Canadians, regardless of their faith. The only difference is that
while
Byfield is willing to sacrifice our Charter of Rights and Freedoms, to
indulge in guilt by association and to accept speculation as evidence.
We
are not. To use the tragedy of Sept. 11, 2001, to forward one's cause
of
religious discrimination and demonization is not worthy of a Canadian.
Social exclusion of Canadian Muslims as "the other" will only hurt our
society and diminish our humanity. Let us send a message loud and clear
to
Pipes and his avid Canadian supporters that his brand of "penmanship"
is
not welcome in Canada. Our country has suffered much at the hands of
such
racism.
-----
IMMIGRANT GROUPS BEMOAN WHAT U.S. HASN'T CHANGED
Angela Rozas, Chicago Tribune, 12/8/03
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chicago/chi-0312080197dec08,1,62649
27.story
While the Department of Homeland Security last week largely suspended a
program that required men from predominantly Muslim countries to
register
with the government, activists warned Sunday that some provisions
remain in
force.
"The program is not over," said Fred Tsao, policy director of the
Illinois
Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights. "Even though men who
registered
during the past year do not need to re-register, these men face other
requirements that are still in effect."
Men from 24 predominantly Muslim countries and North Korea still need
to
notify immigration officials at airports when they are leaving the
country
and should be prepared for the possibility they might be called in for
special interviews, he said.
Many of those who attended a meeting on the issue Sunday said they and
others thought the registration program was over. "I think it's not
clear,"
Mohammed Abba, 51, a U.S. citizen formerly of Pakistan, said of the
program. "People were coming up to me and saying: 'Did you hear? It's
over.' But it's not. There are still things that the community must do
so
that they don't get in trouble."
The Justice Department began the program in November 2002. It required
men
from the Muslim countries and North Korea to register annually with the
government because of their homeland's supposed ties with terrorism.
The
government started deportation proceedings against about 14,000. But it
has
yet to charge anyone with terrorism.
Although the suspension scrapped the requirement that people who
registered
with immigration officials must re-register this year, it left in place
some other requirements...
ALSO SEE:
SPECIAL REGISTRATION HAS NOT ENDED - MANY REQUIREMENTS CONTINUE
American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) and the ACLU
Immigrants'
Rights Project
ARE SPECIAL REGISTRANTS STILL SUBJECT TO OTHER REQUIREMENTS?
YES. All Special Registrants continue to be subject to the following
requirements.
* Departure Registration. Every person who was specially registered at
either Call-In or POE continues to be subject to "departure
registration."
This has NOT changed. Special Registrants must (1) depart only from
specially designated ports and (2) comply with special departure
processing, which involves an appearance before a Customs and Border
Protection (CBP) officer. Turning in the I-94 or being processed by
airline personnel does NOT satisfy this requirement.
Processes for having this requirement waived were added by the interim
rule, but the standards for the waivers are quite high.
* Reporting Changes of Address, Employment, or Educational Institution.
Persons who were or are registered and who remain in the U.S. for 30
days
or more must notify DHS of any change of address/residence, employment,
or
educational institution within 10 days of the change. The notification
must be in writing on the form, AR-11, designated for reporting these
changes. The form is available at www.uscis.gov. The new rule
provides
that F, J or M non-immigrants entered into the SEVIS system no longer
have
to comply with this requirement if the change of address/residence or
educational institution is reported through SEVIS within 10 days of
such
change. This exception does NOT apply to changes of employment...
-----
MUSLIM SUPPORTS RELIGIOUS SIGHTS HIT BY VANDALS
VANDALS HIT JEWISH CENTER, GREEK CHURCH
Chereen Langrill, Idaho Statesman, 12/8/03
http://www.idahostatesman.com/Search/story.asp?id=55331
Edie Leavengood hopes her children will remember the support, rather
than
the vandalism, that occurred Wednesday at the Jewish Education Center
and
neighboring Greek Orthodox Church.
Spray-painted swastikas and racial slurs were discovered Wednesday
morning
at both buildings on Bannock Street. At 6:30 p.m., as children filed
into
the Jewish center for Hebrew classes, nearly 80 people stood outside as
volunteers used a power washer and acetone to erase the hateful
messages.
Leavengood, who is a member of Congregation Ahavath Beth-Israel, waited
outside with her 6-year-old daughter while her 11-year-old son attended
the
class. The family talked with their children before arriving Wednesday
to
tell them about the vandalism and also to teach them about the power of
hate and love, she said...
Boise Police Chief Don Pierce spoke briefly to the children before they
went inside the center. He told them he was there to let them know the
community cares about them, Leavengood said...
Said Ahmed-Zaid received an e-mail from the Idaho Human Rights
Education
Center and wanted to show his support. Zaid is a member of the nearby
Islamic Center of Boise.
“It�s times like this we need to show we�re all united,” he said.
-----
FRENCH CHRISTIANS URGE CHIRAC NOT TO BAN MUSLIM VEIL
Tom Heneghan, Reuters, 12/8/03
PARIS - France's Christian churches urged President Jacques Chirac on
Monday not to ban girls' Islamic headscarves from public schools,
saying
the country's failure to integrate its Muslim citizens was a far more
serious problem.
In a letter to Chirac, the Roman Catholic, Protestant and Orthodox
churches
said an anti-veil law would not resolve a heated dispute over whether
wearing religious symbols violated France's strict separation of church
and
state.
But failing to better integrate France's five million Muslims in the
country of 60 million could prompt some to resort to violence or follow
Islamic fundamentalists, they wrote.
Chirac stoked the headscarf debate last Friday by saying there was
"something aggressive" about veils and France must bar religious
propaganda
from schools. He is due to decide soon whether to seek a law banning
them...
-----
MUSLIM EDITORIAL CARTOONIST DRAWS A BEAD ON CONTROVERSY
Angela Hill, Oakland Tribune, 12/8/03
http://www.oaklandtribune.com
BERKELEY -- Khalil Bendib likes to draw controversy, and people even
pay
him to do it.
The controversial part comes rather naturally. As an Algerian-born
Muslim
American, the Berkeley-based, award-winning editorial cartoonist has an
unusual perspective as he critiques a myriad of topics, from racism and
homophobia to foreign policy and the Patriot Act, and even certain
Muslim
groups.
The pay part has been a little more work. His personal motto being,
"The
pen is funnier than the sword," Bendib, 46, shunned the editorial
restraints of mainstream media several years ago, and his work now
appears
in on-line publications such as The Black Commentator and is
distributed
through a progressive news service to various community newspapers
across
the country.
And now he has published a book of his cartoons called, "It Became
Necessary to Destroy the Planet in Order to Save It!" (Plan Nine
Publishing, $15.95).
It's a collection of what he calls "truly subversive editorial
cartoons."
The cover depicts a laughing President George W. Bush riding a bucking
missile a la Slim Pickins in "Dr. Strangelove," and the title refers to
the
military's explanation during the Vietnam War as to why a village had
to be
destroyed.
"I thought it was a good title for what Bush is doing right now,"
Bendib
said.
Bendib's work recently got some national attention, thanks to Utah Sen.
Orrin Hatch. "I kind of made fun of President Bush's nomination of
Janice
Rogers Brown (to the federal appeals court), as though she were the
next
Clarence Thomas," Bendib said.
It was a cartoon of Brown, a conservative African American, but as a
smiling and exaggerated U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas face
on
a woman's body with a wild Afro, being applauded by Thomas, Secretary
of
State Colin Powell and National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice as
President Bush says, "Welcome to the federal bench, Ms. Clarence ... I
mean, Ms. Rogers Brown. You'll fit right in!"
The piece didn't seem terribly notable to Bendib until he was visiting
relatives in Algiers last month and started getting overseas calls from
the
New York Times..
-----
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-----
CAIR
Council on American-Islamic Relations
453 New Jersey Avenue, S.E.
Washington, D.C. 20003
Tel: 202-488-8787, 202-744-7726
Fax: 202-488-0833
E-mail: cair@cair-net.org
URL: http://www.cair-net.org
-----
--------------------------------------------------------------------
mail2web - Check your email from the web at
http://mail2web.com/ .
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
AMERICAN MUSLIM NEWS BRIEFS - 12/8/03
* VERSE OF THE DAY: TRAFFIC AND TRADE
* CAIR LIBRARY PROJECT: 7086 SPONSORED
* CAIR SACRAMENTO HOSTS FIRST ANNUAL BANQUET
- Support CAIR-AZ Radio Ads
* CAIR-CAN: CANADA SHOULD ENSURE FAIR TRIAL OF JAMAL AKKAL
* BOMBINGS 'INHUMAN,' MUSLIM GROUP SAYS (LA Times)
- CA Muslims Mourn Recent Bombing Victims (OC Register)
- Condemn Criminals, Not Muslims (E. Valley Trib)
* N.VA. NEIGHBORS UP IN ARMS OVER SECRETIVE ENCLAVE (Wash. Post)
* MEDIA URGED TO REPORT FAIRLY ON ISLAM (Toledo Blade)
- We Also Have Right to Skip 'B.C.' Strip (Sun Herald)
* NEWT GINGRICH: DISSENT IN THE BUNKER (Newsweek)
- Kucinich Asks for Investigation of Afghan Air Attack
- From Tommy Franks, a Doomsday Scenario (St. Pete Times)
- Truth at A Dead End (St. Pete Times)
* WILL THE PLAN IN IRAQ REPEAT MISTAKES OF VIETNAM? (New Yorker)
- Shock Video: Who Shot New 9/11 Tapes? (Antiwar.Com)
- Ted's Guilt By Association (Edmonton Sun)
* IMMIGRANT GROUPS BEMOAN WHAT HASN'T CHANGED (Chicago Trib)
- Many Special Registration Requirements Continue
* MUSLIM SUPPORTS RELIGIOUS SIGHTS HIT BY VANDALS (Idaho Statesman)
* FRENCH CHRISTIANS URGE CHIRAC NOT TO BAN VEIL (Reuters)
* MUSLIM CARTOONIST DRAWS A BEAD ON CONTROVERSY (Oakland Trib)
-----
VERSE OF THE DAY: TRAFFIC AND TRADE
O ye who believe! Do not squander one another's wealth in vanities, but
let
there be amongst you traffic and trade by mutual good will.
The Holy Quran, 4:29
-----
CAIR LIBRARY PROJECT: 7086 SPONSORED
The goal of CAIR's library project is to send accurate and objective
information about Islam to America's 16,000 public libraries.
For only $150, Muslim individuals and groups may sponsor 18-item
packages
about Islam and Muslims, which are then distributed to the library of
their
choice.
To sponsor a library call, 1-800-392-7876, ext. 320, or visit:
www.libraryproject.org.
-----
CAIR SACRAMENTO HOSTS FIRST ANNUAL BANQUET
The Council on American-Islamic Relations, Sacramento Valley cordially
invites you to attend its First Annual Fundraising Banquet
WHEN: Sunday, December 14, 2003
Dinner and program: 5-9pm
WHERE: The Holiday Inn, NE Sacramento, 5321 Date Avenue, (I-80 &
Madison
Ave.)
Sacramento, CA 98541
SEATING IS LIMITED! RESERVE YOUR SEAT EARLY
TICKETS: $35 per person in advance, $45 at the door
$350 (for table of 10)
Free childcare available
Spaces are limited, R.S.V.P. by December 7th
For information, call 916-441-6269
ALSO SEE:
SUPPORT CAIR-AZ RADIO ADS
CAIR-AZ ran ads on KJZZ/NPR 91.5FM four times daily during the three
days
of Eid and have continued ads until December 5, 2003. This campaign is
designed to further educate the broader public on the meaning of Islam
and
the significance of Muslim holidays.
Our goal is to run at least two ads daily with alternating messages
through
the remainder of 2003.
For just $61.00 you can personally support one ad and participate in
this
powerful form of Dawah. Please help continue educating the Arizona
community about the truth of Islam.
Please call CAIR-AZ at 602-262-CAIR (2247) with your pledge amount for
this
vital project.
-----
CAIR-CAN: CANADA SHOULD ENSURE FAIR TRIAL OF JAMAL AKKAL
(Ottawa, Canada, 11/8/03) - The Canadian Council on American-Islamic
Relations (CAIR-CAN) today called on the Canadian government to ensure
that
a Canadian citizen held in Israel, Jamal Akkal, is given a fair trial
in
accordance with recognized international standards. CAIR-CAN is also
calling on the Canadian government to investigate reports that Akkal
was
tortured by Israeli authorities into giving a confession and that he is
currently being mistreated in prison.
In a statement issued today, CAIR-CAN wrote:
"The Canadian government has an obligation to immediately investigate
allegations that Jamal Akkal's confession was extracted through torture
and
sleep deprivation and that Akkal is being mistreated during his
confinement
in Israel.
“In its annual report on Israel, Amnesty International indicated that
the
ill-treatment of Palestinian prisoners was "widespread during arrest
and
interrogation," and that "there were numerous reports of torture in
detention."
"It is essential that Canadian officials continue to be present and
monitor
the ongoing trial of Akkal in Israel to ensure that the trial is
conducted
transparently and in accordance with recognized international human
rights
standards."
-END-
Contact: Naeem Saloojee at 613.254.9704; E-mail:Canada@cair-net.org
-----
BOMBINGS 'INHUMAN,' MUSLIM GROUP SAYS
Stanley Allison, LA Times, 12/8/03
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/orange/la-me-interfaith8dec08,1,4127957
Taking a public stance against the recent bombings of synagogues in
Turkey
and a mosque in India, leaders of the Orange County Muslim community
denounced the attacks at a gathering with Jewish and Christian
representatives on Sunday.
The interfaith vigil, held at a Mission Viejo mosque, was organized by
the
Orange County Islamic Foundation to remember the victims of the car
bombings at two crowded synagogues in Istanbul and a mosque in Parbani,
India...
About 100 people of different faiths joined in condemning the terrorist
violence committed in the name of religion.
Several groups purportedly linked to the Al Qaeda terrorist network
have
claimed responsibility for nearly simultaneous Nov. 15 attacks on the
two
Istanbul synagogues that left 25 people dead, including the bombers, an
8-year-old girl and her 85-year-old grandmother. More than 300 were
injured...
As the number of attacks in the name of religion continues to grow, so
do
the number of voices in opposition.
"This is not the first time Muslims have stood up in condemnation, but
we
have to admit that the condemnations are not as sensational as the acts
themselves," said Hussam Ayloush, executive director of the Council on
American-Islamic Relations.
ALSO SEE:
MUSLIMS GATHER WITH CHRISTIANS AND JEWS TO MOURN RECENT BOMBING VICTIMS
Mayrav Saar, Orange County Register, 12/8/03
http://www2.ocregister.com/ocrweb/ocr/article.do?id=70463§ion=LOCAL
MISSION VIEJO - Mohannad Malad thought it went without saying: Acts of
violence are unacceptable according to the teachings of Islam, even if
those acts are committed by people who call themselves Muslims.
But Malad has been watching the news. He's seen pundits on certain
television networks denounce his religion as a vessel of hate. He has
watched people who have the ear of the president claim that Muslims in
America hear about Middle East terrorist attacks with impassivity. That
Muslims don't speak out.
Malad thought it was time to speak out.
On Sunday, 80 people - Muslims, Jews and Christians - gathered at the
Orange County Islamic Foundation to hear local Muslim leaders denounce
last
month's bombings at synagogues in Turkey that killed 25 people,
including
two suicide bombers, and another attack at a mosque in India that
injured
21...
---
CONDEMN CRIMINALS, NOT LAW-ABIDING MUSLIMS
Deedra Abboud, East Valley Tribune, 12/2/03
http://www.aztrib.com/
Gary Nelson called on "Islamic spokesmen to publicly condemn the
criminals
who have used their religion as an excuse to scatter body parts from
one
end of the planet to the other." Hopefully Mr. Nelson's use of the term
"spokes-MEN" was an oversight in this day and age. As the executive
director and spokesWOMAN of the Arizona Chapter of the Council on
American
Islamic Relations (CAIR-AZ), I would like to answer his call.
CAIR-AZ, along with the vast majority of the Muslim population, would
agree
that "criminal" is an appropriate term to describe those who use their
religion to kill, oppress, or otherwise terrorize innocent civilians
anywhere. When so-called Muslims cause harm worldwide they are, indeed,
contradicting the teachings of Islam.
Unfortunately, every act committed by a person who is Muslim seems to
be
tied to Islam and Muslims in America are somehow held accountable for
every
Ali, Hussein and Mohammad that walks the face of the earth. This
includes
acts that are cultural and have no basis in Islam.
As the Middle East only makes up 18 percent of the " . . . huge,
worldwide,
billion member . . . " religion of Islam, it is inconceivable that Mr.
Nelson is attempting to hold individual Muslims in the U.S. responsible
for
actions of people they don't even know. Groups of people cannot be
judged
by the minority among them or by their stereotypes.
Please ask the criminals to condemn acts of terrorism instead of the
peaceful, lawabiding Muslims in America.
-----
N.VA. NEIGHBORS UP IN ARMS OVER SECRETIVE ENCLAVE
Annie Gowen, Washington Post, 12/8/03
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A44090-2003Dec7.html
A string of four break-ins in late August surprised many in Rusinko's
quiet, affluent Woodmont neighborhood in North Arlington. But residents
were even more surprised when they learned that the culprit -- who
pleaded
guilty to two of the burglaries last month -- was a resident of one of
two
group homes owned by the Fellowship, a religious organization that has,
since 1978, run a secluded spiritual retreat called the Cedars at the
end
of their block.
The Fellowship, best known for its National Prayer Breakfast every
February, is described by backers as a loosely knit group of friends
who
advise the rich and powerful on the teachings of Jesus Christ.
In its mission to create global harmony, the Fellowship has for decades
quietly brought together Third World leaders, disgraced captains of
industry, members of Congress and ambassadors for talks at an imposing
white mansion that sits on a hill overlooking the Potomac River. Pop
star
Michael Jackson was a guest last year.
More than 16 Fellowship families have moved into homes around the
Cedars'
dead-end street, forming a tight-knit enclave that prays, socializes
and
home-schools its children together...
But the organization never applied for the necessary special-use permit
from the county, he said, because the Fellowship got informal approval
decades ago to establish two homes on the street...
-----
MEDIA URGED TO REPORT FAIRLY ON ISLAM
Erica Blake, Toledo Blade, 12/7/03
http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20031207/NEWS08/112070
100
Najat Kassem left a symposium focusing on fairness in reporting on
religion
with a renewed vigor.
But her energy wasn’t centered on blaming others for not understanding
her
culture.
Instead, she concentrated on what more she can do to educate and raise
awareness among reporters, editors, and the public at large.
The Islamic Center of Greater Toledo in Perrysburg Township yesterday
sponsored a four-hour symposium that considered how the media deals
with
religious issues, diversity, and tolerance.
Central to the discussion was whether the media is fair in its
reporting of
events...
ALSO SEE:
WE ALSO HAVE THE RIGHT TO SKIP THE 'B.C.' STRIP
Norman E. Hopp, Sun Herald, 12/8/03
http://www.sunherald.com/mld/thesunherald/news/editorial/letters/7433325.htm
I wish to respond to the Kathleen Parker column of Dec. 4 ("The demand
for
tolerance by the manifestly intolerant"). I would find it much easier
to
accept Johnny Hart's strip of Nov. 10 at face value if Mr. Hart had not
made it quite clear through previous strips that he is conservative in
both
his religion and his politics.
That being said, I cannot deny that Mr. Hart has a constitutional right
to
say whatever he wants to in his comic strip. I also have a
constitutional
right to refuse to read "B.C.," which I have been exercising for three
years now.
If you agree that telling the Islamic world that their religion stinks
like
an outhouse merely plays directly into the hand of Osama bin Laden, I
invite you to exercise your constitutional rights as well. If you do,
please tell the editors of this paper and maybe we can get "B.C."
removed
from The Sun Herald.
-----
DISSENT IN THE BUNKER
John Barry and Evan Thomas, Newsweek, 12/15/03
http://www.msnbc.com/news/1002188.asp
The military has been hitting hard lately in Iraq, using overwhelming
firepower to kill the enemy in operations with videogame names like
Iron
Hammer and Ivy Cyclone II. But behind the scenes, some military
experts,
including high-ranking officers in U.S. Special Forces (Army Green
Berets,
Navy SEALs and the like), are beginning to complain that America’s
strategy
in Iraq is wrongheaded.
“This is what Westmoreland was doing in Vietnam,” says a top Special
Forces
commander, referring to the firepower-heavy tactics favored by the
military’s senior commander in Vietnam, Gen. William Westmoreland, who
lost
sight of America’s essential mission in that lost war: winning the
hearts
and minds of the people.
One center of private concerns with America’s Iraq strategy is the
Defense
Policy Board, a collection of outside experts—mostly heavyweight
conservatives—who regularly consult with Secretary of Defense Donald
Rumsfeld. Disquiet in this quarter is particularly significant, since
the
DPB pushed from the outset for the invasion of Iraq. Last week one of
the
more colorful and outspoken members of the group, former House speaker
Newt
Gingrich, went public with his worries and ideas in an interview with
NEWSWEEK. He was careful to say that he does not speak about the
board’s
deliberations “on or off the record,” but he proceeded to hold forth in
his
insightful, if mildly bombastic, way about the shortcomings of
administration policy in Iraq...
ALSO SEE:
KUCINICH TO ASK FOR INVESTIGATION OF AIR ATTACK IN AFGHANISTAN
http://www.kucinich.us/pressreleases/pr_120703.php
Presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich will ask for an investigation of
last night's air attack by the United States-led military against a
suspected terrorist in Afghanistan, which killed nine children as well
as
the intended target, according to the Central Command.
Kucinich released this statement:
"I will ask for an investigation to determine the circumstances in
which
the nine children died. This incident is damaging to world peace. Last
year
an American flying gunship attacked a wedding party in Afghanistan
killing
48 people.
"In the name of fighting terrorism, the Bush administration has killed
thousands of innocent civilians, including many children. The Bush
administration turned what should have been an international criminal
investigation into a war. It has set aside international laws. It has
not
found Osama bin Laden.
"Considering the amount of time the Bush administration allegedly
spends on
surveillance, the deaths of these nine children cry out for an
explanation
-- and an investigation."
Kucinich is the Ranking Democrat on the Subcommittee on National
Security,
Emerging Threats, and International Relations. He will ask the
Subcommittee
to hold an investigation of last night's air attack. Kucinich will be
contacting members of the Subcommittee to ask them to join in this call
for
an investigation.
---
FROM TOMMY FRANKS, A DOOMSDAY SCENARIO
Robyn E. Blumner, St. Pete Times, 12/7/03
http://www.sptimes.com/2003/12/07/Columns/From_Tommy_Franks__a_.shtml
The doomsday scenario was laid out by Gen. Tommy Franks, the recently
retired head of CentCom, in of all places the December edition of Cigar
Aficionado magazine.
"What is the worst thing that can happen in our country?" Franks asked
rhetorically. "Two steps. The first step would be a nexus between
weapons
of mass destruction . . . and terrorism." The second step would be "the
western world, the free world, loses what it cherishes most, and that
is
freedom and liberty we've seen for a couple of hundred years in this
grand
experiment that we call democracy."
Franks suggested that a "massive casualty-producing event" might cause
"our
population to question our own Constitution and begin to militarize our
country."
For those tapped into the alternative media world of the Internet, the
quotes bounced around faster than a Paris Hilton sex video. Franks, a
four-star general, was warning of a future he sees as possible if not
likely. Our economy might survive another terrorist assault, so might
our
mass culture - it'll take more than a nuclear device to shut up Jessica
Simpson - but the prognosis for the Constitution is bleak.
New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman repeated the alarm in a recent
column when he said that virulent terrorism "is the most serious threat
to
open societies, because one more 9/11 and we'll really see an erosion
of
our civil liberties."
We ain't seen nothing yet, according to the experts. If terrorism's
sting
is felt again, fascism may be its aftermath...
---
TRUTH AT A DEAD END
Susan Taylor Martin, St. Pete Times, 12/8/03
http://www.sptimes.com/2003/12/08/Worldandnation/Truth_at_a_dead_end.shtml
ZUBAYDIYAH, Iraq - On this single point, everyone agrees: On Oct. 20, a
car
carrying Iraqi civilians collided with a minibus full of Ukrainian
coalition troops.
Beyond that, there is bitter dispute.
Did 13-year-old Karim Nasser, trapped in the car and screaming for
help,
burn to death as his two uncles lay unconscious from beatings by
Ukrainian
soldiers? That is what the Iraqis say...
-----
WILL THE COUNTER-INSURGENCY PLAN IN IRAQ REPEAT THE MISTAKES OF
VIETNAM?
Seymour M. Hersh, New Yorker, 12/8/03
http://www.newyorker.com/fact/content/?031215fa_fact
The American-Israeli liaison on Iraq amounts to a tutorial on how to
dismantle an insurgency. One former Israeli military-intelligence
officer
summarized the core lesson this way: “How to do targeted killing, which
is
very relevant to the success of the war, and what the United States is
going to have to do.” He told me that the Americans were being urged to
emulate the Israeli Army’s small commando units, known as Mist’aravim,
which operate undercover inside the West Bank and Gaza Strip. “They can
approach a house and pounce,” the former officer said. In the Israeli
view,
he added, the Special Forces units must learn “how to maintain a
network of
informants.” Such a network, he said, has made it possible for Israel
to
penetrate the West Bank and Gaza Strip organizations controlled by
groups
such as Hamas, and to assassinate or capture potential suicide bombers
along with many of the people who recruit and train them.
On the other hand, the former officer said, “Israel has, in many ways,
been
too successful, and has killed or captured so many mid-ranking
facilitators
on the operational level in the West Bank that Hamas now consists
largely
of isolated cells that carry out terrorist attacks against Israel on
their
own.” He went on, “There is no central control over many of the suicide
bombers. We’re trying to tell the Americans that they don’t want to
eliminate the center. The key is not to have freelancers out there...”
ALSO SEE:
SHOCK VIDEO: WHO SHOT NEW 9/11 TAPES?
Justin Raimondo, Anti-War, 12/8/03
http://www.antiwar.com/justin/justincol.html
I shivered, a little, as I watched Lisa Meyers' report on NBC the other
night:
"New and threatening messages have been received from Al Qaeda. There's
a
videotape aimed at American and Saudi Arabian rulers and another that
includes what appears to be well-produced footage of the 9/11 attacks –
raising still other questions."
It's sinister to contemplate. Video believed to have been in U.S.
government hands somehow pops up on a website alleged to be an Al Qaeda
mouthpiece, and U.S. government officials hold it up as a reason to
cower
in fear before the threat of another major terrorist attack on American
soil. Meanwhile, the President avers that Iraq is the central arena in
his
"war on terrorism," and his supporters claim that we're battling them
in
the streets of Baghdad so we don't have to fight them in the streets of
Boise – or whatever alliterative cliche first comes to mind...
---
TED'S GUILT BY ASSOCIATION
Shahina Siddiqui, Edmonton Sun, 12/7/03
Re: "How to measure moderate Muslim," by Ted Byfield, Nov. 30. In
quoting
his guru, Daniel Pipes and listing his questionnaire that will
determine
the "good Muslims from "bad Muslims," Byfield reminds us of the Spanish
Inquisition when the Christian establishment committed one of the worst
crimes against humanity by forcing Muslims and Jews to abandon their
faiths
in favour of Christianity. Few did. However, hundreds of thousands
succumbed to the torture and died painful deaths. Security is a concern
of
all Canadians, regardless of their faith. The only difference is that
while
Byfield is willing to sacrifice our Charter of Rights and Freedoms, to
indulge in guilt by association and to accept speculation as evidence.
We
are not. To use the tragedy of Sept. 11, 2001, to forward one's cause
of
religious discrimination and demonization is not worthy of a Canadian.
Social exclusion of Canadian Muslims as "the other" will only hurt our
society and diminish our humanity. Let us send a message loud and clear
to
Pipes and his avid Canadian supporters that his brand of "penmanship"
is
not welcome in Canada. Our country has suffered much at the hands of
such
racism.
-----
IMMIGRANT GROUPS BEMOAN WHAT U.S. HASN'T CHANGED
Angela Rozas, Chicago Tribune, 12/8/03
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chicago/chi-0312080197dec08,1,62649
27.story
While the Department of Homeland Security last week largely suspended a
program that required men from predominantly Muslim countries to
register
with the government, activists warned Sunday that some provisions
remain in
force.
"The program is not over," said Fred Tsao, policy director of the
Illinois
Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights. "Even though men who
registered
during the past year do not need to re-register, these men face other
requirements that are still in effect."
Men from 24 predominantly Muslim countries and North Korea still need
to
notify immigration officials at airports when they are leaving the
country
and should be prepared for the possibility they might be called in for
special interviews, he said.
Many of those who attended a meeting on the issue Sunday said they and
others thought the registration program was over. "I think it's not
clear,"
Mohammed Abba, 51, a U.S. citizen formerly of Pakistan, said of the
program. "People were coming up to me and saying: 'Did you hear? It's
over.' But it's not. There are still things that the community must do
so
that they don't get in trouble."
The Justice Department began the program in November 2002. It required
men
from the Muslim countries and North Korea to register annually with the
government because of their homeland's supposed ties with terrorism.
The
government started deportation proceedings against about 14,000. But it
has
yet to charge anyone with terrorism.
Although the suspension scrapped the requirement that people who
registered
with immigration officials must re-register this year, it left in place
some other requirements...
ALSO SEE:
SPECIAL REGISTRATION HAS NOT ENDED - MANY REQUIREMENTS CONTINUE
American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) and the ACLU
Immigrants'
Rights Project
ARE SPECIAL REGISTRANTS STILL SUBJECT TO OTHER REQUIREMENTS?
YES. All Special Registrants continue to be subject to the following
requirements.
* Departure Registration. Every person who was specially registered at
either Call-In or POE continues to be subject to "departure
registration."
This has NOT changed. Special Registrants must (1) depart only from
specially designated ports and (2) comply with special departure
processing, which involves an appearance before a Customs and Border
Protection (CBP) officer. Turning in the I-94 or being processed by
airline personnel does NOT satisfy this requirement.
Processes for having this requirement waived were added by the interim
rule, but the standards for the waivers are quite high.
* Reporting Changes of Address, Employment, or Educational Institution.
Persons who were or are registered and who remain in the U.S. for 30
days
or more must notify DHS of any change of address/residence, employment,
or
educational institution within 10 days of the change. The notification
must be in writing on the form, AR-11, designated for reporting these
changes. The form is available at www.uscis.gov. The new rule
provides
that F, J or M non-immigrants entered into the SEVIS system no longer
have
to comply with this requirement if the change of address/residence or
educational institution is reported through SEVIS within 10 days of
such
change. This exception does NOT apply to changes of employment...
-----
MUSLIM SUPPORTS RELIGIOUS SIGHTS HIT BY VANDALS
VANDALS HIT JEWISH CENTER, GREEK CHURCH
Chereen Langrill, Idaho Statesman, 12/8/03
http://www.idahostatesman.com/Search/story.asp?id=55331
Edie Leavengood hopes her children will remember the support, rather
than
the vandalism, that occurred Wednesday at the Jewish Education Center
and
neighboring Greek Orthodox Church.
Spray-painted swastikas and racial slurs were discovered Wednesday
morning
at both buildings on Bannock Street. At 6:30 p.m., as children filed
into
the Jewish center for Hebrew classes, nearly 80 people stood outside as
volunteers used a power washer and acetone to erase the hateful
messages.
Leavengood, who is a member of Congregation Ahavath Beth-Israel, waited
outside with her 6-year-old daughter while her 11-year-old son attended
the
class. The family talked with their children before arriving Wednesday
to
tell them about the vandalism and also to teach them about the power of
hate and love, she said...
Boise Police Chief Don Pierce spoke briefly to the children before they
went inside the center. He told them he was there to let them know the
community cares about them, Leavengood said...
Said Ahmed-Zaid received an e-mail from the Idaho Human Rights
Education
Center and wanted to show his support. Zaid is a member of the nearby
Islamic Center of Boise.
“It�s times like this we need to show we�re all united,” he said.
-----
FRENCH CHRISTIANS URGE CHIRAC NOT TO BAN MUSLIM VEIL
Tom Heneghan, Reuters, 12/8/03
PARIS - France's Christian churches urged President Jacques Chirac on
Monday not to ban girls' Islamic headscarves from public schools,
saying
the country's failure to integrate its Muslim citizens was a far more
serious problem.
In a letter to Chirac, the Roman Catholic, Protestant and Orthodox
churches
said an anti-veil law would not resolve a heated dispute over whether
wearing religious symbols violated France's strict separation of church
and
state.
But failing to better integrate France's five million Muslims in the
country of 60 million could prompt some to resort to violence or follow
Islamic fundamentalists, they wrote.
Chirac stoked the headscarf debate last Friday by saying there was
"something aggressive" about veils and France must bar religious
propaganda
from schools. He is due to decide soon whether to seek a law banning
them...
-----
MUSLIM EDITORIAL CARTOONIST DRAWS A BEAD ON CONTROVERSY
Angela Hill, Oakland Tribune, 12/8/03
http://www.oaklandtribune.com
BERKELEY -- Khalil Bendib likes to draw controversy, and people even
pay
him to do it.
The controversial part comes rather naturally. As an Algerian-born
Muslim
American, the Berkeley-based, award-winning editorial cartoonist has an
unusual perspective as he critiques a myriad of topics, from racism and
homophobia to foreign policy and the Patriot Act, and even certain
Muslim
groups.
The pay part has been a little more work. His personal motto being,
"The
pen is funnier than the sword," Bendib, 46, shunned the editorial
restraints of mainstream media several years ago, and his work now
appears
in on-line publications such as The Black Commentator and is
distributed
through a progressive news service to various community newspapers
across
the country.
And now he has published a book of his cartoons called, "It Became
Necessary to Destroy the Planet in Order to Save It!" (Plan Nine
Publishing, $15.95).
It's a collection of what he calls "truly subversive editorial
cartoons."
The cover depicts a laughing President George W. Bush riding a bucking
missile a la Slim Pickins in "Dr. Strangelove," and the title refers to
the
military's explanation during the Vietnam War as to why a village had
to be
destroyed.
"I thought it was a good title for what Bush is doing right now,"
Bendib
said.
Bendib's work recently got some national attention, thanks to Utah Sen.
Orrin Hatch. "I kind of made fun of President Bush's nomination of
Janice
Rogers Brown (to the federal appeals court), as though she were the
next
Clarence Thomas," Bendib said.
It was a cartoon of Brown, a conservative African American, but as a
smiling and exaggerated U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas face
on
a woman's body with a wild Afro, being applauded by Thomas, Secretary
of
State Colin Powell and National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice as
President Bush says, "Welcome to the federal bench, Ms. Clarence ... I
mean, Ms. Rogers Brown. You'll fit right in!"
The piece didn't seem terribly notable to Bendib until he was visiting
relatives in Algiers last month and started getting overseas calls from
the
New York Times..
-----
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To reach the list moderator, send a message to: cair@cair-net.org
-----
CAIR
Council on American-Islamic Relations
453 New Jersey Avenue, S.E.
Washington, D.C. 20003
Tel: 202-488-8787, 202-744-7726
Fax: 202-488-0833
E-mail: cair@cair-net.org
URL: http://www.cair-net.org
-----
--------------------------------------------------------------------
mail2web - Check your email from the web at
http://mail2web.com/ .
Forwarded Message
Date:
Tue, 09 Dec 2003 14:06:27 -0500
To:
cair-net@cair.biglist.com
From:
"CAIR" <cair@cair-net.org>
Subject:
CAIR-NET: MD Muslims Say Bank Must Address Discrimination
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - 12/9/03
- MEDIA ADVISORY -
MD MUSLIMS SAY BANK MUST ADDRESS DISCRIMINATION CLAIMS
Muslim employee alleges harassment by Bank of America co-workers
(WASHINGTON, D.C.) - On Wednesday, December 10, the Maryland office of
the
Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-MD), along with a coalition
of
other civil rights organizations, will host a press conference to
announce
that many Muslims will cancel their Bank of America accounts unless
that
company adequately addresses claims of discrimination against a Muslim
employee.
WHEN: Wednesday, December 10, at 10:30 a.m.
WHERE: 255 N. Washington Street, Rockville Town Center, Rockville, MD
(Across the street from Bank of America. One block away from the
courthouse.)
Beginning in April of this year, a Muslim worker at a Rockville, Md.,
branch of Bank of America has allegedly faced a hostile work
environment
after she complained of receiving an offensive anti-Muslim e-mail
message
that was circulated among company personnel. The e-mail claimed:
"Muslim
terrorists are so quick to commit suicide" because they have "no beer,
no
booze…rags for clothes…you can't shave, your wife can't shave…your
bride is
picked by someone else. She smells like your donkey, but your donkey
has a
better disposition."
CAIR-MD assisted the Muslim employee in filing a complaint with the
EEOC.
Bank of America claims it conducted an investigation and took action to
resolve the situation, but the worker and her attorney say the bank's
efforts were inadequate and amounted to a "slap on the wrist" for the
alleged offenders. She is asking for a public apology, punitive damages
and
diversity training for bank management. Bank officials, despite
receiving
thousands of e-mails from concerned Muslims, have repeatedly refused to
meet with Islamic representatives.
Other groups scheduled to attend the news conference include the NAACP,
ACLU-Maryland, CASA of Maryland, Sikh Media Watch and Resource Task
Force
(SMART), and the National Council of Pakistani Americans (NCPA).
In a statement, CAIR-MD said: "Bank of America enjoys the patronage of
Muslim-owned business accounts throughout the United States, and they
also
enjoy the benefits of large transactions from the Middle East and the
Muslim world. What this young woman has been enduring is unacceptable
and
should be addressed by upper management at Bank of America. No one
should
be singled out in the workplace because of their faith or ethnicity."
CAIR, America's most prominent Islamic civil liberties group, says
workplace bias constitutes is its largest category of discrimination
claims
by American Muslims.
- END -
CONTACT: CAIR-Maryland, Rizwan Mowlana, 301-986-1900, 301-672-9355;
CAIR-DC, Ibrahim Hooper, 202-488-8787 or 202-744-7726, E-Mail:
cair@cair-net.org; Rabiah Ahmed, 202-488-8787 or 202-439-1441, E-Mail:
rahmed@cair-net.org
NOTE: CAIR offers an e-mail list designed to be a window to the
American
Muslim community. Subscribers to the list, called CAIR-NET, receive
news
releases and other materials dealing with American Muslim positions on
issues of importance to our society.
To SUBSCRIBE to CAIR-NET, go to: http://cair.biglist.com/cair-net/
To reach the list moderator, send a message to: cair@cair-net.org
-----
CAIR
Council on American-Islamic Relations
453 New Jersey Avenue, S.E.
Washington, D.C. 20003
Tel: 202-488-8787, 202-744-7726
Fax: 202-488-0833
E-mail: cair@cair-net.org
URL: http://www.cair-net.org
-----
Forwarded Message
Date:
Tue, 09 Dec 2003 15:36:12 -0500
To:
cair-net@cair.biglist.com
From:
"CAIR" <cair@cair-net.org>
Subject:
CAIR-NET: Israel Trains U.S. Assassination Squads in Iraq
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
AMERICAN MUSLIM NEWS BRIEFS - 12/9/03
* HADITH OF THE DAY: LOVE THE POOR
* CAIR LIBRARY PROJECT: 7086 SPONSORED
* ISRAEL TRAINS U.S. ASSASSINATION SQUADS IN IRAQ (Guardian)
- Concrete, Razor Wire, ID Cards (CS Monitor)
- Iraq Tactics Resemble Those of Israel (NY Times)
- Meet the 'Terror Tourists' (BBC)
* PAUL HARVEY NOW SAYS ISLAM IS 'RELIGION OF PEACE'
- Paul Harvey Targeted By Islamic Group (Newsmax)
- Under Fire from Islamic Group for Comments (About Radio)
* TERRORISM CASES FIZZLING OUT IN US COURTS: STUDY (SMH)
- Poison Gas Plot in Texas (CBS 11)
* SHREDDING OF PAPERS THREATENS TERROR CASE (Chicago Trib)
* U.S. REVOKES VISA OF CLERIC AT SAUDI EMBASSY (Wash. Post)
* CASE AGAINST EX-CHAPLAIN FOCUSED ON AFFAIR (NY Times)
- Defense Cries Foul at Chaplain Hearing (Reuters)
- GA Officer Balancing Beliefs, Service (Macon Telegraph)
* FRANCE SPLIT ISLAMIC HEADSCARF BAN (Independent)
- Turkish Women Chafe Under Scarf Ban (Phil. Inquirer)
* NEW MUSLIM OUTREACH CAMPAIGN TO MEDIA (Unity Prod.)
* DAVID COLE DIALOGUES WITH VA MUSLIM COMMUNITY
-----
HADITH OF THE DAY: LOVE THE POOR
The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: "O God, grant me life as
a
poor man, cause me to die as a poor man and resurrect me in the company
of
the poor." His wife asked him why he said that, and he replied:
"Because
(the poor) will enter Paradise (before) the rich. Do not turn away a
poor
man…even if all you can give is half a date. If you love the poor and
bring
them near you…God will bring you near Him on the Day of Resurrection."
Al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 1376
-----
CAIR LIBRARY PROJECT: 7086 SPONSORED
The goal of CAIR's library project is to send accurate and objective
information about Islam to America's 16,000 public libraries.
For only $150, Muslim individuals and groups may sponsor 18-item
packages
about Islam and Muslims, which are then distributed to the library of
their
choice.
To sponsor a library call, 1-800-392-7876, ext. 320, or visit:
www.libraryproject.org.
-----
ISRAEL TRAINS US ASSASSINATION SQUADS IN IRAQ
Julian Borger, Guardian, 12/9/03
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1102940,00.html
Israeli advisers are helping train US special forces in aggressive
counter-insurgency operations in Iraq, including the use of
assassination
squads against guerrilla leaders, US intelligence and military sources
said
yesterday.
The Israeli Defence Force (IDF) has sent urban warfare specialists to
Fort
Bragg in North Carolina, the home of US special forces, and according
to
two sources, Israeli military "consultants" have also visited Iraq.
US forces in Iraq's Sunni triangle have already begun to use tactics
that
echo Israeli operations in the occupied territories, sealing off
centres of
resistance with razor wire and razing buildings from where attacks have
been launched against US troops.
But the secret war in Iraq is about to get much tougher, in the hope of
suppressing the Ba'athist-led insurgency ahead of next November's
presidential elections.
US special forces teams are already behind the lines inside Syria
attempting to kill foreign jihadists before they cross the border, and
a
group focused on the "neutralisation" of guerrilla leaders is being set
up,
according to sources familiar with the operations...
ALSO SEE:
CONCRETE, RAZOR WIRE, ID CARDS
Matthew Clark, Christian Science Monitor, 12/8/03
http://www.csmonitor.com/2003/1208/dailyUpdate.html
Analysts say security tactics in Iraq echo West Bank, as US general
forecasts more violence.
"As the guerrilla war against Iraqi insurgents intensifies, American
soldiers have begun wrapping entire villages in barbed wire," reads the
first sentence of a front page article in Sunday's New York Times.
"West
Bank East: Americans in Iraq make war the Israeli way" is the headline
of
an opinion piece Saturday in The Daily Star, a Lebanese paper.
The tougher US approach to security in Iraq, begun in early November,
draws
more parallels to Israeli tactics each day.
The new strategy applied by the US military "appears to be succeeding
in
diminishing the threat to American soldiers," reports the Times. "But
it
appears to be coming at the cost of alienating many of the people the
Americans are trying to win over." The Times quoted one of the Iraqi
civilians lining up at a checkpoint in the Iraqi town of Abu Hishma as
saying: "I see no difference between us and the Palestinians. We didn't
expect anything like this after Saddam fell..."
Many of the tactics employed by US forces in Iraq in recent days to
counter
a sharp escalation in attacks by insurgents bear striking similarities
to
those used by the Israelis against Palestinian militants in the West
Bank
and the Gaza Strip - a greater use of air power, surface-to-surface
missiles, round-the-clock surveillance by unmanned aerial vehicles of
suspected guerrilla centers, large-scale search-and-seize operations,
cracking down on a sullen, increasingly hostile civilian population...
---
EDITORIAL: SAVING THE VILLAGE
New York Times, 12/9/03
http://nytimes.com/2003/12/09/opinion/09TUE2.html
With a heavy dose of fear and violence, and a lot of money for
projects, I
think we can convince these people that we are here to help them," an
American battalion commander in Iraq said recently. He was speaking
from a
village that had been virtually wrapped in razor wire after a series of
attacks on U.S. troops. "This fence is here for your protection. Do not
approach or try to cross, or you will be shot," a sign reads.
Unwelcome as Vietnam analogies are right now, it's hard to ignore the
resemblance to that infamous military comment about having to destroy a
village in order to save it. There are also more current, but equally
chilling, comparisons. As Dexter Filkins reported in The Times on
Sunday,
American tactics in Iraq are coming to resemble those used by Israel on
Palestinians. That is the opposite of where we were supposed to be
heading.
The intractable Israeli-Palestinian relationship poisons the entire
political dialogue in the Middle East. The Iraq invasion was supposed
to be
its antidote.
When troops occupy people from another culture, even a tiny sliver of
local
resistance can create havoc. The guerrilla fighters strike from out of
the
neighborhoods, killing soldiers, whose units naturally respond with
tightened security. That response antagonizes average citizens, who
find
themselves delayed, searched and sometimes taken into custody as they
attempt to pursue their daily lives...
Resolving to stay the course is commendable, but having a strategy for
what
to do next is better. Our own position has always been that the United
States is ill equipped to handle nation-building in an unfamiliar
country
and culture, and that the job is best accomplished by the United
Nations.
Even if the Bush administration were willing, that kind of handoff
would
not be easy to accomplish. But right now the American people are in
danger
of discovering that the United States has become the very thing we were
most determined to avoid.
---
MEET THE 'TERROR TOURISTS'
Tim Tate, BBC, 12/7/03
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/3295067.stm
Lisa Reed is nervous. Wearing only a light T-shirt and combat trousers
she
is on patrol through the deserted Arab streets of Hebron.
After an upsurge in shootings and suicide bombings the Israeli army has
imposed a daytime curfew on Hebron's Palestinian population: today the
streets are empty and eerily quiet.
Lisa is a part-time dental nurse from Newport News, Virginia. She has
never
been to Israel or the Palestinian territories before - much less been
on an
armed patrol of an Arab city under military curfew...
Lisa Reed is one of a unique new group of "Terror Tourists". She and
four
other American men have signed up for Operation Shiloh - an intensive
five-day course in counter-terrorism run by Israeli entrepreneurs
Yehoshua
Mizrachi and Jay Greenwald in association with commandos from the
country's
Special Forces.
The aim is to equip ordinary American men and women with military
survival
skills in the event of a terrorist attack on their homes or
neighbourhoods...
-----
PAUL HARVEY NOW SAYS ISLAM IS 'RELIGION OF PEACE'
Conciliatory statement comes following outrage over offensive remark
(WASHINGTON, D.C., 12/9/2003) - Chicago-based syndicated radio
commentator
Paul Harvey today said through his on-air substitute that Islam is a
"religion of peace." Harvey's conciliatory statement came following
outrage
in the American Muslim community over his assertion last week that
Islam
"encourages killing."
On today's noon program, a prepared statement from Harvey said he had
received letters from "dear friends" in the American-Muslim community
who
"reminded all of us that Islam is a religion of peace, that terrorists
do
not represent Islam."
In his December 4th commentary, Harvey described the bloody nature of
cock
fight gambling in Iraq and said: "Add to the thirst for blood a
religion
which encourages killing, and it is entirely understandable if
Americans
came to this bloody party unprepared." (Harvey has 24 million weekly
listeners on some 1,600 radio stations in this country and around the
world.)
TO LISTEN TO THE SEGMENT, GO TO:
http://www.cair-net.org/audio/paulharvey.ram
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), a Washington-based
Islamic civil rights and advocacy group, called for an on-air apology
and
asked concerned Muslims to contact both Harvey and his sponsors. That
request resulted in hundreds of calls, faxes and e-mails noting that
Islam
prohibits murder, gambling and cruelty to animals.
"We would like to thank all those who took the time to speak out in
defense
of Islam," said CAIR Executive Director Nihad Awad. "Once again, we see
that positive actions bring positive results."
Awad also made an open offer to arrange a meeting between Harvey and
American Muslim leaders to begin a dialogue on issues related to Islam.
In 1999, Harvey issued an on-air apology to Muslims for remarks
suggesting
that Islam was a "fraudulent religion." The apology came after hundreds
of
concerned Muslims called, faxed and e-mailed both Harvey's office and
that
of ABC Radio Networks, his program's syndicator.
- END -
CONTACT: Ibrahim Hooper, 202-488-8787 or 202-744-7726, E-Mail:
cair@cair-net.org; Rabiah Ahmed, 202-488-8787 or 202-439-1441, E-Mail:
rahmed@cair-net.org
ALSO SEE:
PAUL HARVEY TARGETED BY ISLAMIC DEFAMATION GROUP
Newsmax, 12/8/03
http://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2003/12/8/234554.shtml
Legendary broadcaster Paul Harvey has provoked a "cockfight" with an
Islamic civil rights group over his incendiary remarks about the bloody
sport of cockfighting.
During his noontime broadcast last Thursday, Harvey described the
blood-soaked sport in graphic detail.
But what angered The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) was
his
charge that Islam is "a religion which encourages killing" - and CAIR
is
demanding an on-air apology from the legendary broadcaster.
Harvey was speaking about cockfighting in Iraq, which he said was
allowed
by Saddam Hussein to give Iraqis a chance to ventilate their anger,
resentment and frustration.
Said Harvey: "Cockfights, which go on year round, are attended by
Iraqis
from all over their country. Roosters furiously fan their wings and
swipe
razor-sharp claws at each other's necks and eyes - you'll want a jacket
to
cover your face when the blood sprays. The wagering becomes frenzied,
shouting, the patrons of the place screaming for their favorite -
they'll
say 'harder, let him have it, he has to die.'"
Iraqis, Harvey explained, who have not "had human rights for
generations,
cannot understand why in the world Americans make such a fuss over
animals." Trainers of the fighting roosters, he said, "play the odds;
wagering usually starts at $50 in a country where that is most of a
month's
salary."
"Add to the [Iraqis'] thirst for blood a religion which encourages
killing,
and it is entirely understandable if Americans came to this party
unprepared."
Stormed CAIR's Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper: "We had hoped
that a
respected broadcast professional like Mr. Harvey would not join the
growing
number of Islamophobic hate-mongers in our society. He falsely
attributes
to Islam two things that are specifically prohibited by our faith,
murder
and cruelty to animals..."
ALSO SEE:
PAUL HARVEY UNDER FIRE FROM ISLAMIC CIVIL LIBERTIES GROUP FOR RADIO
COMMENTS
About Radio, 12/6/03
http://radio.about.com/cs/latestradionews/a/aa120603a.htm
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) is calling for an
on-air
apology from syndicated radio commentator Paul Harvey who said on his
Thursday program that Islam "encourages killing."
Harvey, who has 24 million weekly listeners on some 1,600 radio
stations in
this country and around the world, made that claim during his Thursday
noon
commentary.
In that segment, Harvey described the bloody nature of cock fight
gambling
in Iraq and said: "Add to the thirst for blood a religion which
encourages
killing, and it is entirely understandable if Americans came to this
bloody
party unprepared...."
-----
TERRORISM CASES FIZZLING OUT IN US COURTS: STUDY
Richard Schmitt, Sydney Morning Herald, 12/9/03
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/12/08/1070732145997.html
A new study of terrorism prosecutions in the United States since the
September 11, 2001 attacks shows that while 184 people have been
convicted
of crimes deemed to involve "international terrorism", defendants were
sentenced to a median prison term of just 14 days and, in many cases,
received no jail sentence at all.
This is among the conclusions of a provocative study by researchers at
Syracuse University who examined the US Government's terrorist
prosecution
data.
In its two-year war on terrorism, the US Justice Department has
trumpeted a
number of high-profile convictions and lengthy jail terms won against
alleged terrorist sympathisers and supporters in federal courtrooms
across
the country.
But the study determined that, in the most serious cases, sentences
were in
fact dropping.
The number of defendants sentenced to five years or more in prison for
terrorism-related crimes declined in the two years after the attacks
compared with the previous two years, the authors found...
ALSO SEE:
CBS 11 INVESTIGATES POISON GAS PLOT
Robert Riggs, CBS 11 TV, 11/26/03
http://cbs11tv.com/investigations/local_story_330180036.html
Federal authorities this year mounted one of the most extensive
investigations of domestic terrorism since the Oklahoma City bombing,
CBS
11 has learned.
Three people linked to white supremacist and anti-government groups are
in
custody. At least one weapon of mass destruction - a sodium cyanide
bomb
capable of delivering a deadly gas cloud - has been seized in the Tyler
area.
Investigators have seized at least 100 other bombs, bomb components,
machine guns, 500,000 rounds of ammunition and chemical agents. But the
government also found some chilling personal documents indicating that
unknown co-conspirators may still be free to carry out what appeared to
be
an advanced plot. And, authorities familiar with the case say more
potentially deadly cyanide bombs may be in circulation.
Since arresting the three people in May, federal agents have served
hundreds of subpoenas across the country in a domestic terror
investigation
that made it onto President Bush's daily intelligence briefings and set
off
national security alarms among the country's most senior counter-terror
officials.
William J. Krar, originally from New Hampshire, last week pleaded
guilty in
Tyler federal court to possession of a chemical weapon near the East
Texas
town of Noonday. He faces up to ten years in prison. His common-law
wife,
Judith Bruey, pleaded guilty to lesser weapons charges and faces up to
five
years in prison.
Also arrested this past Spring was Newark, New Jersey resident Edward
Feltus. The New Jersey Militia member has pleaded guilty to attempting
to
purchase fake United Nations and Department of Defense identity cards
from
Krar.
All three have steadfastly maintained their silence, even though
talking
could reduce their prison sentences, and the investigation has stalled
for
now. Evidence seized and the fact that none of the defendants will talk
has
given rise to speculation that unknown conspirators may be still be
involved in a broader plot to use Krar's home-built chemical weapons,
government officials say.
-----
SHREDDING OF KEY PAPERS THREATENS U.S. TERROR CASE
Geneive Abdo, Chicago Tribune, 12/9/03
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-0312090086dec09,1,7889323.story
A federal magistrate has disclosed that documents that could be
critical in
the government's prosecution of a Palestinian charged as an Islamic
militant in the U.S. have been destroyed, potentially undermining the
Bush
administration's ability to prosecute a case that it has called a
victory
in its war on terrorism.
Sami Al-Arian, a former professor at the University of South Florida in
Tampa, is in jail on charges of funneling money and support from
Chicago
and Florida to the radical Palestinian group Islamic Jihad.
U.S. Magistrate Thomas McCoun said in a letter to Al-Arian's lawyers
that
search warrants used in 1995 in his case were shredded by mistake,
casting
doubt on the admissibility of some government evidence. Investigators
used
the warrants to raid Al-Arian's home, his university office and a think
tank with which he was associated.
The absence of the court documents could prevent the U.S. government
from
using as evidence in court material they seized from the 1995 search,
Linda
Moreno, one of Al-Arian's lawyers, said Monday. Since the Sept. 11
attacks,
several cases the U.S. government has brought against alleged Islamic
militants have fizzled for lack of evidence.
"Dr. Al-Arian has a right to legally challenge the search and seizure
of
his home and his university office," Moreno said. "In order to do that
he
has to examine the integrity of the search warrant, its application,
its
affidavit and the resulting inventory.
"If those documents have been destroyed, how do we know that the
affidavit
had sufficient probable cause?..."
-----
U.S. REVOKES VISA OF CLERIC AT SAUDI EMBASSY
Susan Schmidt and Caryle Murphy, Washington Post, 12/7/03
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A41907-2003Dec6.html
U.S. authorities have revoked the diplomatic visa of an influential
Islamic
cleric, and the Saudi government has decided it will no longer sponsor
an
Islamic institute in Virginia where he sometimes lectured, moves that
reflect both nations' increasing efforts to curb the spread of
extremist
Islamic rhetoric, according to U.S. and Saudi officials.
Jaafar Idris, who was affiliated with the Fairfax-based Institute for
Islamic and Arabic Sciences in America, left the United States two
weeks
ago after his visa was revoked, U.S. officials said. Idris is a native
of
Sudan, but was sponsored as a diplomat here by the Saudi embassy and
had an
office in that embassy's Islamic affairs section, according to a lawyer
associated with him.
Idris's departure follows a decision by the Saudi government to stop
providing diplomatic status to Islamic clerics and educators teaching
overseas, according to a senior Saudi official who declined to be
identified. The official said that in the future, only staff with
legitimate diplomatic business at Saudi embassies around the world will
be
given diplomatic visas, part of a larger effort to get Saudi embassies
out
of the business of promoting religion.
"We are going to shut down the Islamic affairs section in every
embassy,"
the officials said. "That's the objective..."
-----
CASE AGAINST EX-CHAPLAIN OPENS FOCUSING ON AFFAIR
Neil A. Lewis, New York Times, 12/9/03
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/12/09/national/09YEE.html
ORT BENNING, Ga. - The military opened its case on Monday against Capt.
James J. Yee, who was once billed by Pentagon officials as part of a
major
espionage plot, not with evidence of any significant security breaches
but
with detailed testimony about a two-month extramarital affair he had
with a
female officer this year.
In a spare and harshly lighted military courtroom at the base here,
prosecutors led off their case against Captain Yee, the former Muslim
chaplain at Guant�namo Bay, Cuba, by calling Karyn Wallace, a Navy
lieutenant who said she had met him at Guant�namo's bachelor quarters.
Under precise questioning from a prosecutor and the military judge,
Lieutenant Wallace recounted how she and Captain Yee had gone from
being
close friends to having an intimate relationship in the summer, both at
Guant�namo and in Orlando, Fla., where they took leave together.
Captain Yee's wife, Huda, their 4-year-old daughter in her arms, loudly
and
emotionally confronted Lieutenant Wallace outside the courtroom after
the
testimony. Captain Yee, along with his elderly parents, who were in the
courtroom, seemed stunned and drained by the testimony.
Captain Yee was arrested on Sept. 10 at the Naval Air Station in
Jacksonville, Fla., on suspicion of espionage after customs inspectors
found papers in his luggage that they said were suspicious and might
have
contained classified information. He was charged with an offense far
less
serious than espionage, transporting classified information without a
required secure container, at the time and confined in solitary in a
naval
brig for nearly three months while the military completed its
investigation...
ALSO SEE:
DEFENSE CRIES FOUL AT GUANTANAMO CHAPLAIN HEARING
Paul Simao, Reuters, 12/9/03
FORT BENNING, Ga., - A hearing for a Muslim Army chaplain once
suspected of
espionage but now charged with little more than mishandling classified
documents at the U.S. base at Guantanamo Bay ground to a halt on
Tuesday
amid accusations that the military was withholding evidence, hiding
witnesses and jeopardizing the right to a fair trial.
Lawyers for Capt. James Yee, who was arrested in September and charged
with
taking government materials without proper security locks out of
Guantanamo
in Cuba, said normal military procedures were not being followed in the
case.
"Trial by ambush. I believe that is what has happened in this case,"
Eugene
Fidell, one of Yee's civilian defense lawyers, told reporters during an
impromptu press conference at this Army base about 100 miles (160 km)
southwest of Atlanta.
Fidell said the military's inability and refusal to make some evidence
and
witnesses available to the defense and its attempts to hold some legal
discussions in private could violate Yee's constitutional right to a
fair
and speedy trial...
-----
ROBINS OFFICER BALANCING BELIEFS, SERVICE
Gene Rector, Macon Telegraph, 12/9/03
http://www.macon.com/mld/telegraph/7447313.htm
ROBINS AIR FORCE BASE- A practicing Muslim at Robins Air Force Base
says
he's had no problem balancing his religious beliefs with service to his
country and the Air Force.
Even if he had to fight fellow Muslims in places like Iraq, Maj. Tim
Oldenburg believes his faith makes allowances for it.
"In Islam, you're supposed to fight oppression, and Saddam (Hussein)
was an
oppressor to many people," he said. "It's just like we had to fight
Hitler
years ago. I would have no qualms about going to Iraq."
So far, the soft-spoken engineer has not been tapped for deployment.
But he
does play an important role in keeping the nation's premier air
superiority
aircraft in fighting trim. The 13-year Air Force veteran works in the
F-15
system program office at Robins.
Oldenburg says he encounters little criticism in pursuing his beliefs,
although he recognizes that many people consider the war on terrorism
to be
a conflict against Islam...
-----
FRANCE SPLIT BY PROPOSAL TO BAN ISLAMIC HEADSCARVES AND CRUCIFIXES IN
SCHOOLS
John Lichfield, Independent, 12/9/03
http://news.independent.co.uk/europe/story.jsp?story=471462
President Jacques Chirac must make a potentially explosive decision in
the
next few days whether to demand a new law banning Islamic headscarves
and
other religious symbols from French state schools.
The issue has been causing strong debate for weeks, splintering French
society far from the usual left-right lines.
All Christian churches in France issued a joint statement yesterday
urging
M. Chirac to resist pressure from "militant secular" forces for an
outright
ban on headscarves in state schools, which would also mean a ban on
crucifixes and kippas.
The women's magazine Elle published a petition, signed by leading
French
feminists and actresses, attacking the Islamic headscarf as "an
intolerable
discrimination against women" and calling for a law to reinforce the
principle of a "lay" republic but also the principle of equality
between
the sexes.
The "pro" headscarf forces also range from Muslim groups and
anti-racist
campaigners to the racist National Front (which is reluctant to lose a
vote-generating issue). The "anti"-scarf forces include most mainstream
parties of the left and right.
A 20-strong commission of inquiry, set up by M. Chirac in the summer to
try
to resolve a 15-year-old quarrel, will deliver its findings tomorrow or
the
following day...
ALSO SEE:
MUSLIM WOMEN CHAFE UNDER SCARF BAN IN SECULAR TURKEY
Soraya Sarhaddi, Philadelphia Inquirer, 12/9/03
http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/news/nation/7446499.htm
ISTANBUL, Turkey- Aysegul Yilmaz wants to complete her university
studies
and become a teacher. She also wants to cover her hair with a scarf, as
many observant Muslim women do worldwide.
Despite the fact that Turkey is a predominantly Muslim country, the law
forbids Yilmaz, 21, to do both at the same time.
Similar bans on head scarves in French and German schools are being
challenged in the judicial systems of those countries, but in Turkey's
secular democracy the courts force women to check their religion at the
doors of all government institutions. Secularists enforce the ban on
head
scarves with a passion equal to that in strict Islamic countries where
women are forced to cover themselves.
Zealous professors determined to keep Islam out of Turkish public life
even
rejected a knit hat that Yilmaz wore in government buildings in an
attempt
to circumvent the ban...
-----
NEW OUTREACH CAMPAIGN TO JOURNALISTS
Community Support Requested
WASHINGTON (12/2/03) - Unity Productions Foundation, creators and
producers
of the PBS film, Muhammad: Legacy of a Prophet, introduced a campaign
today
to send American Journalists a complimentary DVD of the film about the
7th
century Prophet and his impact on the lives of modern American Muslims
in
order to help increase understanding about Islam.
"The need for continued outreach has never been greater," said Alex
Kronemer, Unity Productions Foundation co-founder. "The September 11th
attacks on the United States and their aftermath heightened everyone's
awareness of Islam, but did not necessarily deepen understanding about
the
faith. An ABC survey released September 10, 2003, indicated that,
while
one out of two Americans has a negative opinion about Islam, two-thirds
admitted they did not know much about the religion."
To help address this, Unity Productions Foundation launched the 'Share
the
Legacy' campaign, which offers the film at half-price to encourage
people
to distribute it for education, outreach and dialogue. The journalist
component of the campaign seeks to increase understanding of Islam and
the
American Muslim community on a wide scope by focusing on the media.
"Islam is in the news every day," said Michael Wolfe, also a co-founder
of
Unity Productions Foundation. "So the people who write the news need to
understand what Islam is." Approximately 3,000 journalists who write
about
religion for American newspapers have been identified as potential
recipients of the film.
Several journalists who have seen the film already consider it an
outstanding resource. The San Francisco Chronicle described it as
"Riveting, informative and inspiring," and even stated 'Muhammad:
Legacy
of a Prophet' should almost be required watching for non-Muslims,"
while
Catholic News Service said it "...offers viewers fresh insights into
the
spiritual foundations of Islam...even more rewarding is the program's
introduction to Americans who are faithful Muslims."
The campaign seeks $57,000 (which includes shipping and handling) to
reach
all 3,000 Journalists, or $19 for each copy shipped. The first 500
copies
have already been sponsored and the community is asked to sponsor
additional copies in the spirit of increasing understanding about Islam
and
knowledge about the life of the Prophet. Donations are tax-deductible.
Muhammad: Legacy of a Prophet, originally aired on PBS on December
18th,
2002 to a national television audience of several million
viewers. Featuring scholars such as Dr. John Voll, Karen Armstrong and
Seyyed Hossein Nasr, it is the story of the 7th century Prophet who
changed
world history in 23 years, and continues to shape the lives of more
than
1.2 billion people. It takes viewers not only to the ancient Arabian
world
but into the homes, mosques, and workplaces of some of America's
estimated
seven million Muslims to discover the many ways in which Muslims follow
Muhammad's example.
The company managing the campaign is Astrolabe Pictures. Checks may
be
made out to Unity Productions Foundation in increments of $19 and sent
to:
UPF - Legacy Journalists Fund, c/o Astrolabe, 201 Davis Drive, Suite I,
Sterling, VA, 20164.
For all other inquiries, please call 800-392-7876x314.
For more information about Unity Productions Foundation, or to learn
about
other projects and initiatives, visit www.upf.tv.
To sponsor copies for journalists on-line visit:
https://www.upf.tv/contact/support.php and type JOURNALISTS FUND where
asked to identify the project you are donating to. Donations are
tax-deductible.
-----
DAVID COLE DIALOGUES WITH VA MUSLIM COMMUNITY
WHAT: Professor David Cole, Georgetown Professor of Law and civil
rights
champion would like to share his thoughts with the ADAMS community on
the
current onslaught on civil rights in America and the threat of more
attacks
in proposed legislation.
Professor Cole, author of the multi-award-winning "No Equal Justice
Race
and Class in the American Criminal Justice System", "Terrorism and the
Constitution Sacrificing Civil Liberties in the Name of National
Security"
and recently "Enemy Aliens", demonstrates how history shows that
acceptance
of a double standard in balancing liberty and security, by imposing
measures on foreign-born citizens, paves the way for similar measures
against all citizens. Prof. Cole also exposes race and class-based
double
standards in the criminal justice system.
WHEN: Wednesday, December 10, 2003 at 7:00 PM
WHERE: ADAMS Main Hall
2222 Colts Neck Road.
Reston, VA 20191
Contact: amtibrahim@aol.com
-----
To SUBSCRIBE to or UNSUBSCRIBE from this list, go to:
http://cair.biglist.com/cair-net/
To reach the list moderator, send a message to: cair@cair-net.org
-----
CAIR
Council on American-Islamic Relations
453 New Jersey Avenue, S.E.
Washington, D.C. 20003
Tel: 202-488-8787, 202-744-7726
Fax: 202-488-0833
E-mail: cair@cair-net.org
URL: http://www.cair-net.org
-----
Forwarded Message
Date:
Wed, 10 Dec 2003 14:41:01 -0500
To:
cair-net@cair.biglist.com
From:
"CAIR" <cair@cair-net.org>
Subject:
CAIR-NET: Michigan Arab Newspaper Office Firebombed
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MICHIGAN ARAB NEWSPAPER OFFICE FIREBOMBED
(WASHINGTON, D.C., 12/10/2003) - The Michigan chapter of the Council on
American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-MI) today condemned a firebomb attack
on
the office of an Arab American newspaper in that state. CAIR-MI said
the
attack may have been prompted by the rising tide of anti-Muslim,
anti-Arab
rhetoric in our society.
According to Osama Siblani, publisher of the Arab American News in
Dearborn, the attack occurred some time between midnight on Monday and
9
a.m. on Tuesday. Siblani told CAIR that the firebomb failed to
penetrate a
bullet-proof door that had been installed after earlier attacks, and
instead burned an area just outside the office. Some of the flammable
liquid leaked under the door and burned a small area of interior tiles.
He
said Dearborn police, along with the FBI and the ATF, are investigating
the
incident as a possible hate crime.
SEE: "Firebomb Hits Local Arab-American News Building"
http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/2694550/detail.html
"It is still too early to conclusively judge the motive for the attack,
but
if past experience is an indicator, the perpetrators were likely
inspired
by the deluge of Islamophobic rhetoric emanating from a growing list of
Muslim-bashers in our society," said CAIR-MI Assistant Director Celena
Khatib.
In the past year, CAIR has received a number of reports of physical
assaults against American Muslims (or those perceived to be Muslim) and
Islamic institutions. Those incidents included an arson attack on a
Georgia
mosque, the bombing of a Muslim family's van in Illinois, a cross
burning
at a Maryland Islamic school, the kidnapping and beating of a
Massachusetts
pizza delivery man whose attackers thought he was Muslim, the shooting
of a
Sikh man in Arizona who may have been mistaken for an Arab, and the
stabbing of a Virginia Muslim who was called a "terrorist pig." Similar
incidents have been reported in other states.
CAIR, America's largest Islamic civil liberties group, is headquartered
in
Washington, D.C., and has 25 regional offices and chapters nationwide
and
in Canada.
- END -
CONTACT: CAIR-MI, Celena Khatib, 248-569-2203 or 734-306-9507; Ibrahim
Hooper, 202-488-8787 or 202-744-7726, E-Mail: cair@cair-net.org; Rabiah
Ahmed, 202-488-8787 or 202-439-1441, E-Mail: rahmed@cair-net.org
NOTE: CAIR offers an e-mail list designed to be a window to the
American
Muslim community. Subscribers to the list, called CAIR-NET, receive
news
releases and other materials dealing with American Muslim positions on
issues of importance to our society.
To SUBSCRIBE to CAIR-NET, go to: http://cair.biglist.com/cair-net/
To reach the list moderator, send a message to: cair@cair-net.org
-----
CAIR
Council on American-Islamic Relations
453 New Jersey Avenue, S.E.
Washington, D.C. 20003
Tel: 202-488-8787, 202-744-7726
Fax: 202-488-0833
E-mail: cair@cair-net.org
URL: http://www.cair-net.org
-----
Forwarded Message
Date:
Wed, 10 Dec 2003 16:03:05 -0500
To:
cair-net@cair.biglist.com
From:
"CAIR" <cair@cair-net.org>
Subject:
CAIR-NET: Six More Afghan Children Killed in U.S. Attack
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
AMERICAN MUSLIM NEWS BRIEFS - 12/10/03
* HADITH OF THE DAY: RELIGION IS EASY
* CAIR'S LIBRARY PROJECT: 7086 SPONSORSHIPS
- CAIR ST. Louis Helps PBS Raise Funds
- Calgary CAIR-CAN Fundraiser
* INCITEMENT WATCH: PRINTING INFLAMMATORY LETTER WRONG
* U.S. ACTIONS CLAIM SIX MORE AFGHAN CHILDREN (Wash. Post)
- Six Afghan Children Killed In U.S. Attack (AP)
- Iraq to Stop Counting Civilian Dead (AP)
* PENTAGON: MANY OF NEW IRAQ SOLDIERS QUIT (AP)
* PILOT ACCUSES MESA AIR GROUP OF DISCRIMINATION (AP)
- Unfriendly Skies (Phoenix News Times)
* MD MUSLIM BANK WORKER HARASSED OVER E-MAIL (AP)
* U.S. DENIES ALLIES CONTRACTS IN IRAQ (Chicago Trib)
- US Block on Iraq Contracts Threatens Rift (AP)
* LOCAL COLLEGES OPPOSE PANEL ON MIDDLE EAST (NY Sun)
* CASINO OWNED BY JEWISH EXTREMISTS' BACKER (IPS)
- As Support Falls, Israel Boosts PR (JTA)
* ANTI-TERROR REGISTRATION PROGRAM ALIVE AND WELL (AJC)
- CAIR-NJ: Hot Line Helps Immigrants Know Their Rights
* MI TERROR TRIAL LAWYERS TO TESTIFY (Detroit News)
* YEE: UNCLEAR PAPERS CARRIED WERE CLASSIFIED (NY Times)
- Hearing for Muslim Chaplain Postponed (AP)
* IN 'MOSQUE,' A DOOR TO ISLAMIC CULTURE (Phil. Inquirer)
* PA MUSLIM SCHOOL AT HOME IN SYNAGOGUE (Jewish Exponent)
* ORGANIZING NJ PAKISTANI-AMERICANS (Jersey Journal)
* TX MUSLIM COMMUNITY BURIES VICTIMS OF FIRE (AP)
* FRENCH CHIEF RABBI URGES NO BAN ON VEIL (Reuters)
-----
HADITH OF THE DAY: RELIGION IS EASY
The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: "Religion is very easy,
and
whoever overburdens himself in his religion will not be able to
continue in
that way. So you should not be extremists, but try to be near to
perfection
and receive the good tidings that you will be rewarded."
Sahih Al-Bukhari, Volume 1, Hadith 38
-----
LIBRARY PROJECT: 7086 SPONSORED
The goal of CAIR's library project is to send accurate and objective
information about Islam to America's 16,000 public libraries.
For only $150, Muslim individuals and groups may sponsor 18-item
packages
about Islam and Muslims, which are then distributed to the library of
their
choice.
To sponsor a library call, 1-800-392-7876, ext. 320, or visit:
www.libraryproject.org.
ALSO SEE:
CAIR ST. LOUIS HELPS PBS RAISE FUNDS
Muhammad, Legacy of Prophet, Islam: Empire of Faith, and The Hajj. If
you
have enjoyed these programs from PBS, CAIR-St. Louis asks that you to
join
Channel 9 as a member and donate tonight during their annual
fundraiser.
CAIR-St. Louis will be answering phone calls during the KETC/Channel 9
fundraising drive tonight, Wednesday, December 10th, 2003 between 6:00
and
10:30 pm.
Pledges may be made tonight by calling 314-512-9090 or 1-800-568-9099
or on
the web at www.ketc.org.
---
CALGARY CAIR-CAN FUNDRAISER
WHAT: Calgary CAIR-CAN will be having its fundraiser, featuring Imam
Siraj
Wahhaj and Riad Saloojee, Executive Director of CAIR-CAN.
WHEN: Saturday, December 20, 2003, Doors open at 6:00pm
WHERE: Telus Convention Centre
120 9th Avenue SE
Calgary, Alberta
Macleod Halls C and D (South Building, lower level)
Tickets are $20 in advance, including parking (valid Telus Convention
Centre parkade and Civic Plaza parkade only).
Tickets are $25 at the door
Babysitting is available (ages 3 and up)
Seating is limited
-----
INCITEMENT WATCH: RUNNING INFLAMMATORY LETTER WRONG
MICHAEL A. CHIHAK, Tucson Citizen, 12/6/03
http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/index.php?page=opinion&story_id=120603b7_chihakcolumn
Let me begin today's column with a sincere apology to the Muslim
community
and to all of Tucson for a serious error in judgment we made this week
at
the Tucson Citizen.
That error was printing a letter to the editor that called for the
execution of Muslims as a way to stop the killings of American soldiers
in
Iraq.
We should not have printed it. We are sorry that we did.
Never before have I publicly disagreed with the writer of a letter to
the
editor of this newspaper. And only once before in my memory have I
thought
that a letter to the editor should not have been printed in this
newspaper.
After all, the free expression aspects of the First Amendment don't
belong
just to the media. They belong to everyone, and we in the media should
strive to encourage as much free expression as we can.
This week, however, I saw a limit to that, and the Citizen went beyond
the
limit.
The opinion expressed in that letter to the editor Tuesday was, to me,
an
unthinkable idea. To say that I wholeheartedly disagree with it is not
near
strong enough of a statement of opposition.
Printing it was a mistake and a case of bad judgment…
SEE ALSO:
http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/index.php?page=opinion&story_id=120403b5_lettershttp://www.tucsoncitizen.com/index.php?page=opinion&story_id=120603b7_letters
-----
U.S. ACTIONS IN AFGHANISTAN CLAIM SIX MORE CHILDREN
Pamela Constable and Fred Barbash, Washington Post, 12/10/03
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A52212-2003Dec10.html
KABUL, Afghanistan,- Six children and two adults were crushed to death
under a toppled wall Friday during an air and ground assault by U.S.
military forces on a farm compound in eastern Paktia Province, U.S.
military officials in Afghanistan confirmed Wednesday.
The incident came to light only four days after nine children died
during
an American air assault Saturday on another village compound in
neighboring
Ghazni Province. In both cases, the U.S. forces were targeting the
homes of
suspected Islamic extremists but instead inadvertently killed civilians
in
the area...
The new incident, coming so closely after the deaths of the children in
Ghazni, is bound to deepen the concern of Afghan and international
authorities here over such high-powered military assaults in populated
areas. United Nations officials here sharply criticized the first
attack
and U.S. military officials apologized for the deaths.
The U.S.-led coalition forces have launched a number of military raids
on
eastern Afghanistan in recent days, hoping to crush the actions of
anti-government fighters from the revived Taliban movement and other
groups. These extremists have carried out a series of bombings,
shootings
and kidnappings in the past several weeks, and have vowed to violently
disrupt the national constitutional assembly that begins Saturday...
ALSO SEE:
SIX AFGHAN CHILDREN KILLED IN U.S. ATTACK
Stephen Graham, Associated Press, 12/10/03
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20031210/D7VBCK200.html
KABUL, Afghanistan - Six children were killed during an assault by U.S.
forces on a compound in eastern Afghanistan, a U.S. military spokesman
said
Wednesday, the second time in a week that civilians have died in action
against Taliban and al-Qaida suspects.
The children died during an attack on Friday against a complex near the
eastern city of Gardez where a renegade Afghan commander, Mullah
Jalani,
was believed to have stocked weapons, said Lt. Col. Bryan Hilferty.
"The next day we discovered the bodies of two adults and six children,"
he
said. "We had no indication there were noncombatants" in the compound.
Hilferty said that U.S. warplanes and troops attacked the compound in a
nighttime raid, setting off secondary explosions. The bodies were
discovered the following day. They appeared to have been crushed by a
falling wall, he said.
The news comes on the heels of another tragic U.S. military blunder in
neighboring Ghazni province on Saturday. Nine children were found dead
in a
field after an attack by a A-10 ground attack aircraft that was
targeting a
Taliban suspect.
---
AP: IRAQ TO STOP COUNTING CIVILIAN DEAD
Associated Press, 12/10/03
http://www.ajc.com/news/content/news/ap/ap_story.html/Intl/AP.V9700.AP-Iraq-Civilian-C.html
BAGHDAD, Iraq - Iraq's Health Ministry has ordered a halt to a count of
civilians killed during the war and told its statistics department not
to
release figures compiled so far, the official who oversaw the count
told
The Associated Press on Wednesday.
The order was relayed by the ministry's director of planning, Dr. Nazar
Shabandar, but the U.S.-led Coalition Provisional Authority, which
oversees
the ministry, also wanted the counting to stop, said Dr. Nagham Mohsen,
the
head of the ministry's statistics department.
``We have stopped the collection of this information because our
minister
didn't agree with it,'' she said, adding: ``The CPA doesn't want this
to be
done.''
A spokesman for the CPA had no immediate response.
The U.S. and British militaries don't count civilian casualties from
their
wars, saying only that they try to minimize civilian deaths.
A major investigation of Iraq's wartime civilian casualties was
compiled by
The Associated Press, which documented the deaths of 3,240 civilians
between March 20 and April 20. That investigation, conducted in May and
June, surveyed about half of Iraq's hospitals, and reported that the
real
number of civilian deaths was sure to be much higher.
-----
PENTAGON: MANY OF NEW IRAQ SOLDIERS QUIT
PAULINE JELINEKT, Associated Press, 12/10/03
WASHINGTON (AP) - Plans to deploy the first battalion of Iraq's new
army
are in doubt because a third of the soldiers trained by the U.S.-led
occupation authority have quit, defense officials said Wednesday.
Touted as a key to Iraq's future, the 700-man battalion lost some 250
men
over recent weeks as they were preparing to begin operations this
month,
Pentagon officials said…
It was uncertain exactly why a third abandoned their new jobs, though
some
had complained that the starting salary - $60 a month for privates -
was
too low, officials said. The Chicago Tribune, which first reported the
resignations, quoted officials in Baghdad as saying soldiers were angry
after comparing their pay with the salaries of other forces. Iraqi
police
are paid $60 a month and the Civil Defense Corps $50, officials have
said.
Others may have feared threats from insurgents who have targeted Iraqis
cooperating with occupation authorities, one Defense Department
official said.
It also was unclear whether what remains of the battalion would be sent
out
for duty, officials said. And Bremer was said to be considering a
review of
salaries…
-----
PILOT ACCUSES MESA AIR GROUP OF DISCRIMINATION
Associated Press, 12/10/03
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/1210PilotSues10-ON.html
FARMINGTON, N.M. - A graduate of the San Juan College-Mesa Airlines
flight
school has filed a lawsuit against Mesa Air Group alleging
discrimination.
Frank Nickman said Mesa refused to hire him as a commercial pilot
because
of his Iranian heritage.
"It was a decision based on fear," Nickman said Tuesday.
Nickman, 37, filed a federal lawsuit Nov. 17 against the Phoenix-based
Mesa
Air Group claiming his civil rights were violated based on his race. He
has
also filed complaints with the U.S. Department of Justice, the U.S.
Department of Education and the U.S. Equal Opportunity Employment
Commission.
"I believe I have been discriminated against because of my religion
(Muslim) and national of origin in violation of Title VII of the U.S.
Civil
Rights Act of 1964, as amended," Nickman wrote in his EOEC complaint.
"I
believe I have not been hired because of the post 9-11 climate. ... All
of
my non-Middle Eastern-Muslim classmates have been hired with or without
interviews," Nickman added.
Nickman said he was verbally abused by classmates following the Sept.
11,
2001, terrorist attacks...
ALSO SEE:
UNFRIENDLY SKIES
Robert Nelson, Phoenix New Times, 12/11/03
http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/issues/2003-12-11/nelson.html/1/index.html
Frank Nickman was a stellar student, graduating with honors.
Frank Nickman, formerly Farzin Nikmanesh, knew he would be your devil
the
moment he stepped back into the terminal in Farmington, New Mexico, the
morning of September 11, 2001. He looked at the televisions; he looked
at
the drained white faces beneath them. Ah, this is why we were ordered
to
land immediately. Some guys who look like me flying the planes I want
to
fly just murdered thousands of Americans.
"My first thought was everybody else's thought: Oh my God, this is
terrible,'" Nickman says. "Then the other realization began to sink in:
This is the end of everything I have worked so hard for. As of today, I
am
finished.'"
Since emigrating from Iran in 1989, Nickman's American dream was to be
a
commercial airline pilot. It was an expensive dream. In 2000, he and
his
wife sold off their insurance business and house in California to
pursue
it. In January of 2001, he entered Phoenix-based Mesa Air Group's
intensive
two-year pilot training program, which is at San Juan College in
Farmington. By the time he graduated with honors in 2002, he had spent
$60,000.
By early 2003, he was the only member of his 29-member graduating class
who
wasn't offered a first-officer job with Mesa.
Indeed, it appears that no student with Nickman's level of academic
success
in the Mesa Air Group program has ever been denied a job by the
company.
And Mesa Air Group clearly sells the program -- and its high price --
with
assurances that a job is waiting upon graduation. The company's Web
site
proudly professes, for example, that 98 percent of those who have been
through the program have been hired by the company.
But not Frank Nickman, even though Nickman arguably was Mesa's best
student
ever...
-----
MUSLIM BANK WORKER ALLEGES HARASSMENT OVER E-MAIL
Associated Press, 12/9/03
ROCKVILLE, Md.- A Muslim Bank of America worker has filed a complaint
with
the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission over an e-mail that
allegedly
circulated in the company that was derogatory to Muslims.
The woman, who worked at a Rockville branch office, received the e-mail
in
April that explained "Why Muslim terrorists are so quick to commit
suicide," according to the Council on American-Islamic Relations.
Some of the reasons given were "Rags for clothes and towels for hats,"
and
"You can't shower to wash off the smell of donkey cooked over burning
camel
dung."
Rizwan Mowlana of CAIR's Maryland branch said they want Bank of America
to
issue an apology, pay "punitive damages" and require diversity training
for
bank management. He would not name the woman involved in the case. The
EEOC
complaint was filed in Baltimore.
A spokeswoman for Bank of America did not return a call seeking
comment.
-----
U.S. DENIES ALLIES CONTRACTS IN IRAQ
Stephen J. Hedges, Chicago Tribune, 12/10/03
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-0312100208dec10,1,418199.story
WASHINGTON -- Citing national security concerns, the Bush
administration is
excluding France and Germany, which opposed the invasion of Iraq, from
bidding on $18.6 billion in U.S.-funded reconstruction projects in the
war-torn country.
Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz signed an order to that effect
Friday, saying it was "necessary for the protection of essential
security
interests of the United States" to limit competition for the contracts
to
the U.S., Iraq and countries that supplied forces or otherwise
supported
the coalition.
Besides excluding contractors from France and Germany, the order also
bars
those from Russia and Canada, which also did not support the Iraqi
invasion. The order, posted on a Pentagon Web site, said that "limiting
competition for prime contracts will encourage the expansion of
international cooperation in Iraq and in future efforts," presumably by
dangling the prospect of contracts for those willing to contribute
forces...
ALSO SEE:
US BLOCK ON IRAQ CONTRACTS THREATENS NEW RIFT
Timothy Heritage, Reuters, 12/10/03
PARIS (Reuters) - A deep new transatlantic rift opened Wednesday over a
U.S. decision to exclude Iraq war opponents including France, Russia
and
Germany from bidding for lucrative contracts to rebuild the country.
Paris, Berlin and Moscow reacted angrily to the decision, which
threatened
efforts to rebuild diplomatic ties damaged by the war, and the European
Commission said it is investigating whether the move complies with
global
trade rules.
Washington also faced the risk of a dispute with its neighbor Canada as
well as China, which were also excluded from bidding for 26 contracts
worth
$18.6 billion.
While to door was shut on traditional allies such as France and
Germany,
more than 60 others were eligible, including Japan, Britain, Australia,
Poland, Italy, Norway, Spain, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt,
South
Korea, the Philippines and Romania.
"The interests of a political settlement of the situation in Iraq and
the
rebuilding of Iraq are best served by uniting the efforts of the
international community, and not splitting it," Russian Foreign
Minister
Igor Ivanov said, visiting Berlin.
The White House stood its ground over the decision, which it announced
Tuesday…
The United States cited security reasons for limiting the countries
that
can bid for contracts covering electricity, communications, public
buildings, transport, public works, security and justice.
Its move poses a major threat to efforts to rebuild trust between
Washington and its European partners that had gradually been bearing
fruit
in recent months.
France, which like Russia was owed billions of dollars from contracts
during Saddam Hussein's rule, declined direct comment.
But a Foreign Ministry spokesman said Paris would study whether the
U.S.
decision was legal.
Germany said the U.S. move was unacceptable. "And it wouldn't be in
line
with the spirit of looking to the future together and not into the
past," a
spokesman for German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder said in Berlin.
Canada's incoming prime minister, Paul Martin, said the U.S. move was
"difficult to fathom."
European Commission spokeswoman Arancha Gonzalez said the EU executive
would look into whether setting limits on the bidders met World Trade
Organization rules...
-----
LOCAL COLLEGES OPPOSE PANEL ON MIDDLE EAST
Marta Hummel, New York Sun, 12/10/03
http://www.nysun.com/
WASHINGTON - A group of New York universities are lobbying Congress
against
a plan to create an advisory panel to oversee federally funded Middle
East
studies programs.
The bill is being pushed by conservatives and pro-Israel forces
concerned
that Middle East studies programs funded in the name of improving
America's
national security have become shelters for professors and students
hostile
to American interests.
Rep. Howard Berman, a California Democrat, has spoken of "the
anti-American
bias that pervades...Middle East studies programs." Examples include a
Columbia University professor, Joseph Massad, who has claimed that
"Zionist
Jewish colonialism" was a "commitment to European white supremacy in
Jewish
guise." The lobbying effort has the potential to put Senator Clinton in
a
conundrum. She's a member of the Senate's Health, Education, Labor and
Pensions Committee, which has jurisdiction.
Lobbyists for New York colleges say they are looking to Mrs. Clinton
for
help in fending off the oversight panel, which they complain violates
academic freedom.
Mrs. Clinton has also tried to stay on the good side of the pro-Israel
community, which is a powerful constituency in New York.
The head of federal relations for New York University, Alicia Hurley,
said
New York universities are "very concerned" by a provision that would
create
an advisory board to oversee federally funded area-studies programs.
Representatives of a group of New York universities, including Cornell,
Columbia, and NYU, met Friday with aides to 12 New York congressmen to
discuss a range of issues, including the proposed advisory board, Ms.
Hurley said.
The meeting included representatives of Mrs. Clinton, Ms. Hurley said,
adding she met with Mrs. Clinton...
"There is a tendency to see the grants as entitlements," said Daniel
Pipes,
a founder of Campus Watch, which monitors Middle East Studies on
campus.
"The purpose of the program is to strengthen the government
capabilities in
key areas...which seems like an outrageous proposition to the
universities."
A Hoover Institution fellow and National Review Online contributor,
Stanley
Kurtz, said university faculty who are funded by the Title VI grants
funded
in the House bill promote an antigovernment agenda.
He cited a Web site at New York University with essays on September 11,
2001 that sharply criticize American policy.
"Naturally, it is right and proper that projects funded by Title VI are
governed according to standards of free speech and academic freedom,"
he said.
"Free speech, however, is not an entitlement to a government subsidy.
And
unless steps are taken to balance university faculties with members who
both support and oppose American foreign policy, the very purpose of
free
speech and academic freedom will have been defeated," he said.
A House bill creating the advisory panel was sponsored by the chairman
of
the Subcommittee on Select Education of the Education and the Workforce
Committee, Rep. Peter Hoekstra.
The section that the universities oppose says, "Nothing in this title
shall
be construed to authorize the board to mandate, direct, or control an
institution of higher education's specific instructional content,
curriculum or program of instruction."
"The Board is authorized to study, monitor, apprise, and evaluate a
sample
of activities supported under this title in order to provide
recommendations to the Secretary or Congress for the improvement of
programs under the title and to ensure programs meet the purposes of
the
title," the bill says, referring to the secretary of education.
Even though the language says the board will not have authority to
change
curriculum, many universities and academics say it is not enough of a
safeguard for free speech.
"Put bluntly, the fear in the academic community is that even if the
Board
can't review syllabi, funding can be used as a weapon to enforce the
promulgation of a particularistic view of American interests," said a
lecturer in the department of political science at Yale University,
Richard
Marcus, in an email...
"We believe the current legislation leaves open the possibility that
the
Advisory Board could intrude into the academic conduct and content of
higher education and could impinge on institutional decisions about
curriculum and activities," said the president of the American Council
on
Education, David Ward, in a letter to Congress. "Indeed, the powers
vested
in the proposed advisory board make it more of an investigative, rather
than an advisory, body…"
-----
GROUP CONTESTS CASINO OWNED BY JEWISH EXTREMISTS' BACKER
Jim Lobe, Inter Press News Agency, 12/5/03
http://www.ipsnews.net/interna.asp?idnews=21429
While U.S. Treasury officials scour financial records worldwide to stop
funds donated by wealthy Arabs from flowing to radical Islamist groups,
a
small group of U.S. citizens is trying to shut down a major source of
funding for Jewish extremists in Israel and the occupied territories.
Its target is a gambling casino located half a world away in a tiny
low-income, mostly Latino town called Hawaiian Gardens, tucked into the
urban sprawl of greater Los Angeles.
The Hawaiian Gardens Casino has made tens of millions of dollars for
its
owner, Irving Moskowitz, a 75-year-old doctor and businessman who moved
to
Florida more than 20 years ago.
His Irving I. Moskowitz Foundation, which operates a bingo parlour next
door, has also produced tens of millions of dollars over the years,
most of
which it passed to other charities or foundations that support the most
extreme elements in the Jewish settlement movement in Israel and the
occupied territories, according to records the foundation is required
to
file with U.S. tax authorities.
The foundation has also provided hundreds of thousands of dollars to
right-wing U.S. Zionist groups, particularly the Zionist Organisation
of
America (ZOA) and Americans for a Safe Israel (ASI), as well as
neo-conservative think tanks -- among them the Centre for Security
Policy
(CSP) and the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) -- that were in the
forefront of the drive to war in Iraq...
SEE ALSO:
WITH SUPPORT FOR ISRAEL FALLING, CABINET PLEDGES STRONGER P.R. EFFORT
Joe Berkofsky, JTA,
12/9/03
http://www.jta.org/page_view_story.asp?strwebhead=Israel+pledges+stronger+P%2ER%2E+effort&intcategoryid=4
NEW YORK, Dec. 9 (JTA) - Israel may be rebuilding a crucial weapon in
its
defense arsenal - P.R.
The Israeli Cabinet is reviewing a Foreign Ministry proposal to make
public-relations fallout an integral part of regular debate about
diplomatic and military measures, JTA has learned.
Gideon Meir, a deputy director general of Israel's Foreign Ministry,
told
JTA that Cabinet Secretary Israel Maimon will convene a meeting of top
officials of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's office and the defense,
finance
and foreign ministries to consider a comprehensive plan to overhaul
Israel's P.R. efforts and its image abroad…
Some think radical change cannot come swiftly enough for Israel -
which,
according to Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi, founder and president of the
Israel
Project, is losing the battle for American hearts and minds.
After three years of intense media coverage of the Palestinian
intifada,
Americans tired of the seemingly endless violence increasingly are
neutral
on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, she said.
A November survey for the Israel Project by Neil Newhouse found that 62
percent of 800 registered voters said the United States should remain
neutral in the conflict…
o Forty-seven percent of Republicans said the United States should side
with Israel in the Mideast conflict, a feeling shared by only 22
percent of
Democrats. In contrast, 49 percent of Republicans and 70 percent of
Democrats believe the United States should remain neutral.
At the same time, Americans are increasingly willing to draw moral
parallels between Palestinian terrorism and Israel's military
responses,
she said:
o Forty-five percent of American voters say Israel "acts much like the
terrorists it is fighting," up from 39 percent in July.
-----
ANTI-TERRORISM REGISTRATION PROGRAM ALIVE AND WELL
Mark Bixler, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 12/10/03
http://www.ajc.com/wednesday/content/epaper/editions/wednesday/atlanta_world_f36d9604a1ed51f51052.html
The headline thrilled Jehanzeb Burki, a Pakistani doctoral student at
Georgia Tech.
"Washington ends special registration programme," it said.
"I was like, 'Oh yeah!'" said Burki, who read the news last week in the
Internet edition of Dawn, an English-language Pakistani newspaper.
Like many from Arab and Muslim countries, he interpreted the news to
mean
the United States was scrapping a controversial initiative requiring
men
with ties to North Africa, the Middle East and South Asia to be
fingerprinted, photographed and interviewed.
He was surprised to learn that some requirements of the program are
very
much in effect.
On Dec. 1, the Department of Homeland Security, headed by Tom Ridge,
said
people who went through special registration would not have to return
for a
follow-up interview a year later, as was originally required. Also,
people
who were registered as they entered the country would no longer have to
check in with authorities a month later.
However, all 177,260 people registered nationally still must report to
immigration officials before leaving the country for a visit. Also,
they
can leave only through a designated port of entry, including
Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. And authorities say they may
notify some visa holders privately that they must register...
SEE ALSO:
Hot line helps immigrants know their rights
EMAN VAROQUA, The Record, 12/10/03
http://www.northjersey.com
Eric Lerner hopes the next time the FBI knocks on an immigrant's door
for
an interview, one of his volunteers will be present.
Lerner, an organizer with the New Jersey Civil Rights Defense
Committee,
helped launch a new hot line with the state chapter of the Council on
American Islamic Relations called the Emergency Response System (ERS).
Immigrants can call the toll-free number, (800) 655-2225, and speak to
a
volunteer about their civil rights, and in more severe circumstances a
volunteer will be dispatched to their home.
Volunteers started the hot line in response to an immigration sweep
after
Sept. 11, 2001. More than 1,200 persons were arrested and held in jails
for
violations such as overstaying visas. Many were deported, some
released,
and others remain detained. Authorities have repeatedly declined to
state
the number of detainees and deportees…
-----
TERROR TRIAL LAWYERS TO TESTIFY
David Shepardson, Detroit News, 12/10/03
http://www.detnews.com/2003/metro/0312/09/c01-345771.htm
DETROIT -- Government lawyers must appear in court Friday to explain
why
evidence wasn't turned over to lawyers representing the defendants in
the
Detroit terrorism trial, a federal judge ruled Monday.
The material included a letter written to the U.S. Attorney's Office by
indicted alleged drug dealer Milton "Butch" Jones in December 2001,
which
claims that he had discussions with Youssef Hmimssa, a key government
witness. The letter raises questions about Hmimssa's credibility.
U.S. District Judge Gerald E. Rosen said government lawyers and federal
agents who have "information as to why this evidence wasn't provided to
defense counsel" must appear at the hearing.
Recently, the U.S. Attorney's Office turned over documents to defense
lawyers that were not given before the trial...
-----
PROSECUTORS SAY IT'S UNCLEAR PAPERS CHAPLAIN CARRIED WERE CLASSIFIED
Neil A. Lewis, New York Times, 12/10/03
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/12/10/national/10YEE.html?ex=1071637200&en=d8951ef4afd950e4&ei=5062&partner=GOOGLE
FORT BENNING, Ga. - The criminal proceedings against Capt. James J.
Yee,
the former Muslim chaplain at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, fell into confusion
on
Tuesday and stalled as the military prosecutors asked for extra time to
determine whether documents that were found in Captain Yee's luggage
when
he was leaving the base were, in fact, classified.
The hearing was postponed until Jan. 19 to give the prosecutors time to
review the documents that set off a major investigation into whether
Captain Yee was a spy, a contention from which the government has since
emphatically distanced itself.
The military's case against Captain Yee ostensibly began when customs
officials found documents they believed were suspicious and possibly
containing classified materials in his backpack on Sept. 10 when he
arrived
from Guantanamo at the naval air station in Jacksonville, Fla.
Officials
initially thought Captain Yee might have been part of an elaborate plan
to
infiltrate the Caribbean base, where some 660 prisoners from the Afghan
war
are being held...
ALSO SEE:
HEARING FOR MUSLIM CHAPLAIN POSTPONED
Elliott Minor, Associated Press, 12/10/03
http://www.ajc.com/news/content/news/ap/ap_story.html/National/AP.V9353.AP-Guantanamo-Hear.html
FORT BENNING, Ga.--The Muslim chaplain accused of mishandling
classified
information from the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, says he'll
take
advantage of a postponement in his case to visit his family.
``The first thing on my mind is spending time with my family,'' Army
Capt.
James Yee said Tuesday after officials agreed to delay his preliminary
hearing for more than a month. The delay will allow the Army to review
documents that defense attorneys seek to have released.
Maj. Gen. Geoffrey Miller, commander of Guantanamo camp operations,
granted
a postponement until Jan. 19, said Col. Dan Trimble, the presiding
judge in
the case against Yee.
Defense attorneys say they need to see the documents the Army
confiscated
three months ago from Yee's backpack as he returned from Guantanamo,
where
he worked with suspected terrorists--most captured during fighting in
Afghanistan...
-----
IN 'MOSQUE,' A DOOR TO ISLAMIC CULTURE
Kathy Boccella, Phil. Inquirer, 12/10/03
http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/entertainment/7454584.htm
In his first book about the building of a cathedral, David Macaulay
showed
how great religious architecture could transcend religious affiliation.
Thirty years later, his message is as timely as ever.
In his newest show-and-tell book, Mosque, Macaulay shows how the sheer
power and intensity of architecture can connect people of different
cultures.
"There's a consistency to architecture," said Macaulay, an architect
turned
best-selling author of beautiful how-they're-made books, several of
which
have been made into public-television programs. "The form may relate to
a
particular religion you aren't familiar with, but you can be a
Christian
and walk into a mosque in Istanbul and be overwhelmed by the beauty and
form."
Then Sept. 11, 2001, hit, and like everyone else the 56-year-old
architect
was stunned.
"I thought I can't just pace around and say, 'What can I do?' I decided
to
put my talents to work on something that's useful," he said during a
recent
visit here to promote his book and work with students from the Charter
School for Architecture and Design in Philadelphia.
"I'm using what I know, architecture, as a way of shining a little bit
of
light on a particular period of Islamic culture," he said...
-----
MUSLIM SCHOOL FINDS HOME IN PHILADELPHIA SYNAGOGUE
Joshua Runyan, Philadelphia Jewish Exponent, 12/9/03
http://www.jta.org/page_view_story.asp?intarticleid=13541&intcategoryid=5
PHILADELPHIA - In an unusual instance of Muslim-Jewish cooperation, a
synagogue in the Philadelphia area is serving as a home for a local
Muslim
private school.
So far, things are going well, say those involved since the school year
began Sept. 8.
"It's been wonderful," said Nikkita Shoatz-Ahmad, owner and principal
of
the Muslim school, NSA Educational Learning Center. The school operates
out
of classroom space at Congregation Beth T'fillah of Overbrook Park.
"The
community's been accepting us very well."
In its second year of existence, Shoatz-Ahmad's school has 65 students
in
grades kindergarten through eight. The Educational Learning Center has
two
locations: the synagogue and a storefront nearby.
The synagogue's board "was 100 percent in agreement" to grant the
Muslim
school the space, Shoatz-Ahmad said. She said she heard about the empty
space for rent in an advertisement in a local newspaper.
Albert Romm, president of Beth T'fillah, said, "We've had no problems
whatsoever."
Beth T'fillah, which for decades has leased the same classrooms to the
nearby Robert E. Lamberton Elementary School, at one time "had a large
Hebrew school which went by the wayside," Romm said. Since Lamberton's
departure, the synagogue has had extra space on its hands.
Then the Muslim school turned to the synagogue...
-----
MALIK BEGINS GRASS-ROOTS ORGANIZING OF JERSEY CITY'S
PAKISTANI-AMERICANS
Jason Fink, Jersey Journal, 12/9/03
http://www.nj.com/news/jjournal/index.ssf?/base/news-2/1070968363281190.xml
Those who know Abdul Malik would never describe him as timid.
A fierce advocate for a number of causes in Jersey City, Malik, a
native of
Pakistan who came to this country 12 years ago, says he does not like
to
give up until he is satisfied with the results of whatever campaign he
is
pursuing.
So city officials and others involved in government should be on
notice:
Malik has turned his fighting spirit to one cause very dear to him. He
is
trying to bring organization to the city's community of
Pakistani-Americans, a growing population that, by his own estimate,
may
now number somewhere close to 10,000 in Jersey City.
As the founder and president of the 2-year old Association of
Pakistani-Americans for Community Organizing - whose offices are on the
third floor of a Pavonia Avenue building housing mostly doctors office,
a
block from the Journal Square PATH Transportation Center - Malik is
beginning the kind of grass-roots organizing that members of so many
other
communities have done with great success over the years.
"We are trying to establish a uniform community platform for
Pakistanis,"
Malik said recently. "We want to get our fair share of the system."
And while he insists his group is not overtly political, almost in the
same
breath Malik describes the potential influence Pakistanis in the city
can
have at the polls...
-----
MUSLIM COMMUNITY HELPS BURY VICTIMS OF ALVIN FIRE
Juan A. Lozano, Associated Press, 12/9/03
http://www.dfw.com/mld/startelegram/news/state/7453264.htm
PEARLAND, Texas - As hundreds of graveside mourners raised their hands
in
Islamic prayer to honor five children who died in a fire last week,
their
father Salim Charina did the same Tuesday afternoon.
But he had to do so laying on a bed in the back of a nearby ambulance
because he is still recovering from burns he suffered when he tried to
save
his children when their apartment in nearby Alvin caught on fire Dec.
2.
Even though he was weak and his arms were heavily bandaged, Charina
still
was able to raise his hands in prayer as he said goodbye to his
children.
His wife, Candice Towns, sat in a wheelchair in a nearby tent. She is
recovering from a broken left leg and broken vertebrae she suffered
when
Charina pushed her through an upstairs window of their apartment as
they
escaped the blaze.
Charina was unable to get to his children and the bodies of Zain, 4;
Zohaib, 3; Shafina, 2; and 2-month-old twins Amann, a boy, and Cyra, a
girl, were found in the two upstairs bedrooms...
-----
FRENCH CHIEF RABBI URGES NO BAN ON MUSLIM VEIL
Tom Heneghan, Reuters, 12/10/03
http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=370594&contrassID=1&subContrassID=8&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y
PARIS - France's chief rabbi has added a Jewish voice to a choir of
Christian churches calling on President Jacques Chirac to stand firm
against a growing movement to ban the Muslim veil in public schools and
offices.
Grand Rabbi Joseph Sitruk, in an interview with the daily Le Figaro on
Wednesday, said French of all faiths should show tolerance towards each
other rather than seek to issue bans.
The Roman Catholic, Protestant and Orthodox churches spoke out on
Monday
against a ban, saying France's failure to integrate its Muslim citizens
was
a more pressing problem than the few cases where schoolgirls refused to
remove their veils.
"The right way is not to pass a law, which I fear would end up banning
all
religous symbols," Sitruk said a day before a special commission was to
hand Chirac a report on church-state relations in France.
"What an aberration it is to want to muzzle religion in the name of
secularism," he said, adding the century-old separation of church and
state
had worked well and should not be altered...
-----
To SUBSCRIBE to CAIR-NET, go to: http://cair.biglist.com/cair-net/
To reach the list moderator, send a message to: cair@cair-net.org
-----
CAIR
Council on American-Islamic Relations
453 New Jersey Avenue, S.E.
Washington, D.C. 20003
Tel: 202-488-8787, 202-744-7726
Fax: 202-488-0833
E-mail: cair@cair-net.org
URL: http://www.cair-net.org
-----
Forwarded Message
Date:
Thu, 11 Dec 2003 13:25:14 -0500
To:
cair-net@cair.biglist.com
From:
"CAIR" <cair@cair-net.org>
Subject:
CAIR-NET: Secret Service Takes Blame for Waiter's Exit
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
AMERICAN MUSLIM NEWS BRIEFS - 12/11/03
* HADITH OF THE DAY: PRAISE AND THANK GOD
* SUPPORT MIDAMAR HALAL FOODS
* CAIR'S LIBRARY PROJECT: 7086 SPONSORSHIPS
* CAIR HOSTS GRANT WRITING WORKSHOP
- CAIR on Paula Zahn Now
- CAIR-DFW Employment Opportunity
- CAIR-St. Louis to Co-Sponsor Red Cross Blood Drive
* SECRET SERVICE TAKES BLAME FOR WAITER'S EXIT (Wash. Post)
- Islamic Group Alleges Bias at MD Bank (Baltimore Sun)
- MI Police Investigate Attack on Newspaper (AP)
- Feds Investigate Dearborn Firebombing (Detroit News)
* NJ SIKHS WANT SAFETY FROM HATE CRIMES (NJ Sunbeam)
- CA: $100K Awarded to Victim of Post-9/11 Attack
* NO TERMS REACHED IN LAWSUIT OVER MUSLIM GIRL'S SCARF (AP)
- French Report Backs Ban on Veil, Kippa, Cross (Reuters)
* SECRECY SHROUDS MN AL-QAIDA INMATE AND CASE (Star Tribune)
- The Quiet Fall of an American Terrorist (Salon.Com)
- Letter May Toss Out Terror Convictions (Detroit News)
* CRITICS: HOMELAND SECURITY 'DESTROYING FAMILIES' (Newsday)
* BIDDING FOR ISOLATION (NY Times)
* IN SPEECH, NOBEL WINNER REBUKES THE U.S. (NY Times)
* DIVERSITY RULES SCHOOL AT CLOSE OF RAMADAN (Free Press)
- MD Residents Come Together To Learn (Wash. Post)
-----
HADITH OF THE DAY: PRAISE AND THANK GOD
The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said God suggested turning a
valley into gold for his use, but he replied: "No, my Lord, but let me
have
enough to eat and be hungry on alternate days. Then when I am hungry, I
shall make supplication to Thee and make mention of Thee, and when I
have
enough (to eat) I shall praise and thank Thee."
Al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 1353
-----
SUPPORT MIDAMAR HALAL FOODS
Today's news briefs are brought to you by Midamar, a Muslim owned
company
that has been a leader and pioneer in the halal food industry since
1974.
When you need to buy quality halal products, contact Midamar at
1-800-362-3711 or shop online at: http://www.midamarhalal.com/
CAIR wishes to thank Midamar for its past support and for providing
halal
turkey and chicken for the 9th annual CAIR banquet in Washington, D.C.
-----
CAIR LIBRARY PROJECT: 7086 SPONSORSHIPS
The goal of CAIR's library project is to send accurate and objective
information about Islam to America's 16,000 public libraries.
For only $150, Muslim individuals and groups may sponsor 18-item
packages
about Islam and Muslims, which are then distributed to the library of
their
choice.
To sponsor a library call, 1-800-392-7876, ext. 320, or visit:
www.libraryproject.org.
------
CAIR HOSTS GRANTS WRITING WORKSHOP
WHAT: Each year, our federal government allocates millions of dollars
to
various agencies at the federal, state, and local level in the form of
grants, cooperative agreements, and contracts to a variety of groups.
Currently, under the FEDERAL FAITH & COMMUNITY BASED INITIATIVE, our
government is interested in funding faith and community-based
organizations' programs and projects. This form of funding has remained
unexplored by the Muslim American community.
National expert in grant writing Dr. Kalifah Ramadan, Director of
Domestic
Programs at Kindhearts Charitable and Humanitarian Development, will
show
you how to write grants to get the money you need from the government.
This workshop is a must for activists or organizations who work with
the
following federal departments:
- Housing and Urban Development
- Education
- Agriculture
- Health and Human Services
- Department of Labor
- Department of Justice
- Federal Emergency Management Administration
Cost is $95 per person ($10 discount for 2 or more from the same
organization).
WHERE: CAIR National's office
453 New Jersey Ave. S.E,
Washington D.C. 20003
WHEN: Saturday and Sunday, December 20-21, 2003.
Registration deadline Dec. 15.
For more information, contact CAIR at register@cair-net.org or call
202-488-8787.
ALSO SEE:
CAIR ON PAULA ZAHN NOW - 12/10/03
http://www.cnn.com/CNN/Programs/paula.zahn.now/
ZAHN: Now to our debate tonight. There isn't anything much more
American
for young men to do on New Year's Day than play a little football. So
why
should an upcoming tournament in California be causing so many
controversy
among religious leaders? Well, it might be because the players are
young
Muslim men, and the team names include the Mujahideen and the Intifada.
Joining us in California is Sabiha Khan of the Council on American
Islamic
Relations, and Rabbi Abraham Cooper, director of the Simon Wiesenthal
Center. Welcome to both of you.
SABIHA KHAN, CAIR SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA: Thank you.
ZAHN: Let's talk a little bit, Sabiha, about the names of these teams.
Besides Mujahideen and Intifada, you've got Soldiers of Allah. Do you
understand why people are offended by these names?
KHAN: Well, first of all, Paula, I'd just like to say that as soon as
we
did hear about this story, as soon as it broke out, we did contract the
organizers and ask them and requested them perhaps they would consider
changing their names. These are average-day youth who wanted to show
their
bravado and pick the scariest names, the toughest names, and perhaps
they
didn't realize when they did choose these names that, you know, these
names
are often associated with fearful items.
You know, we're not naive. We realize that these words are thrown about
in
the poplar culture, by some in the media, and they've come to be known
as
different things than Muslims know about. But this was actually an
internal
football game, and these youths, all they wanted to do was play
football.
And they all know what these terms mean to each other. But again,
realizing
this and feeling shameful and that they could actually hurt other
people
and offend other people, they did decide to change the names.
ZAHN: All right, Rabbi Cooper, let's listen to what one of those young
men
had to say about this controversy. Quote -- we can actually hear him
say it
himself...
ZAHN: Sabiha, Rabbi, was just talking about the bravado of these young
man.
Is it bravado or just complete lack of sensitivity here?
RABBI ABRAHAM COOPER, SIMON WIESENTHAL CENTER: Well, you know, to their
credit, one of the young men actually called me on Monday morning, and
I
explained to him that we're not only talking about a football league
but a
reality check. Suicide bombings are now a reality. Every morning, when
you
wake up and watch CNN, it could be Moscow, it could be Riyadh, it could
be
Turkey, it could be Jerusalem. And I explained to him that, Look, we
live
in the real world, and these names, in fact, need to be dropped.
What troubles me is...
KHAN: Actually, Paula...
COOPER: Excuse me. If I may just finish? What troubles me is that, you
know, just in June of 1991, the Islamic community just down the road
from
Irvine asked the Catholic high school to drop the name Crusaders from
their
team, which they did, because of events that took place 1,000 years
ago.
Today...
KHAN: But people are (UNINTELLIGIBLE)
COOPER: ... Mujahideen, Intifada are, in fact, terms that are used to
inspire in real time young people from democracies like the United
Kingdom
to go up and blow them themselves up in the Holy Land or to be involved
in
attacking our young people who are in the military service from
Afghanistan
to Iraq.
ZAHN: All right, but...
COOPER: So my hope is that they will, in fact, drop it. And I told them
if
they did, they would be our guests at the Museum of Tolerance. And if
they
want, I'm happy to come out and toss the first coin of their game on
January 4.
ZAHN: All right, now, Sabiha, you say these men do feel shame now by
their
actions, after the fact. As far as you're concerned, is this
controversy over?
KHAN: Right. They just want to play football…You know, we shouldn't
really
score a point for Israel at the expense of Muslims who just want to
play
football, American teenagers, young, in their 20s. Really, what the
Intifada is, and if we go back in our historical records, Intifada is
an
uprising that began in 1987 that was peaceful. And we only heard about
suicide bombings...
-----
CAIR-DFW EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY
CAIR-DFW has now a full time operational office in the metroplex and is
currently accepting applications for the following position:
Job Title - Executive Director
Location - Dallas/Fort Worth area
For more information, e-mail info@cairdfw.org or call 972-241-7233.
---
CAIR-ST. LOUIS TO CO-SPONSOR RED CROSS BLOOD DRIVE
WHAT: Annual CAIR-St. Louis Blood Drive
WHERE: Dar ul-Islam Mosque, 517 Weidman Road, Ballwin, Missouri
WHEN: Sunday, December 14, 2003 - 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
For the second year in a row, CAIR-St. Louis and the St. Louis Chapter
of
the Islamic Medical Association of North America will be sponsoring a
blood
drive with the Red Cross. Blood supplies in the St. Louis area are at a
critical level and the Red Cross is concerned that they may run short
of
supplies by the end of the year. Donating blood is relatively painless
and
may be completed quickly. Your blood donations are a tremendous gift
to
those in need. For more information, call CAIR-St. Louis at (636)
207-8882.
-----
SECRET SERVICE TAKES BLAME FOR WAITER'S EXIT
Alan Cooperman, Washington Post, 12/11/03
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A54565-2003Dec10.html
The Secret Service took responsibility yesterday for sending an Arab
American waiter home from his job at a Baltimore hotel before a
presidential fundraiser last week. But it said the decision resulted
from
confusion over his work schedule, rather than from ethnic or religious
discrimination.
While expressing regret over the incident, the Secret Service also
stopped
short of offering the apology that the waiter, Mohamad I. Pharoan, 58,
has
sought.
Pharoan, a Syrian-born Muslim who immigrated to the United States in
1992
and became a citizen in 1996, was told to go home shortly after he
arrived
Friday morning at the Hyatt Regency at the Inner Harbor, where he has
worked for seven years.
He had expected to help serve lunch to 550 people at a banquet at which
President Bush raised $1 million for his reelection campaign. Instead,
he
says, he was given a few minutes to change clothes and was escorted off
the
premises after a manager asked him one question: "Is your name
Mohamad?"
Last week, the Secret Service denied that it had requested the hotel's
management to dismiss Pharoan for the day. But a spokesman said
yesterday
that after further review, the Secret Service found it was
responsible...
ALSO SEE:
ISLAMIC GROUP ALLEGES BIAS AT ROCKVILLE BANK BRANCH
Jamie Smith Hopkins, Baltimore Sun, 12/11/03
http://www.sunspot.net/business/bal-bz.protest11dec11,0,1618897.story
The Council on American-Islamic Relations pledged yesterday to call for
an
international boycott of Bank of America if the company doesn't meet
with
representatives about claims of religious discrimination at a Rockville
branch.
Standing across the street from the branch bank, leaders of the
council's
Maryland office said they've been trying to talk to company officials
for
months and will give them two more weeks to set up a meeting.
"They've opened a Pandora's box," said S. Rizwan Mowlana, executive
director of the council's state office. "It could have been better for
them
to address this issue and nip it in the bud."
Mowlana said a Muslim employee of the Rockville branch complained to
her
manager after another worker circulated an e-mail in April saying
Muslim
terrorists are quick to commit suicide because, among other reasons,
"your
bride is picked by someone else. She smells like your donkey, but your
donkey has a better disposition."
Mowlana said bank management brushed off the complaint and made life
difficult for the Muslim employee afterward, including refusing her a
day
off on a religious holiday. "She was singled out," he said...
---
POLICE INVESTIGATE ATTACK ON NEWSPAPER
Tarek El- Tablawy, Associated Press, 12/11/03
DETROIT - Dearborn police are investigating a firebombing attempt aimed
at
the offices of an Arab-American newspaper.
Osama Siblani, the editor and publisher of the Arab American News,
believes
the attack may be linked to a demonstration held to protest a recent
visit
by Israeli Labor Party leader Shimon Peres.
Federal and local authorities, however, have yet to determine whether
the
attack was a hate crime.
"We're aware of it and we're taking a look at it," said FBI Special
Agent
Dawn Clenney, declining further comment.
Siblani told The Detroit News that he left the newspaper office at
11:30
p.m. Monday, several hours after Peres' appearance in Dearborn. An
employee
who arrived at work at 9 a.m. Tuesday discovered the damage.
The Molotov cocktail did little damage, scorching the sidewalk by the
newspaper's bulletproof back door. There are no suspects and no leads,
said
Dearborn police Lt. Tom Teefey...
---
FEDS INVESTIGATE DEARBORN FIREBOMBING
David Shepardson, Detroit News, 12/11/03
http://www.detnews.com/2003/wayne/0312/11/d03-4804.htm
DEARBORN - Two federal agencies are investigating an apparent
firebombing
of an Arab-American newspaper whose owner suspects the attack was
related
to his opposition to an award given to a former Israeli prime minister.
Osama Siblani, publisher of the 25,000-circulation Arab-American News,
said
he believes his Dearborn office was targeted because he led a
demonstration
protesting the peace award that was given Monday to Israeli Labor Party
leader Shimon Peres.
"I have to assume my position on Peres is what caused this," Siblani
said.
"I believe that stirred the pot."
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and the
FBI
are investigating the attack, which caused a small amount of damage
outside
the back door of Siblani's office at 5706 Chase.
Siblani said Willie Hulon, the special agent in charge of the Detroit
FBI,
called him to express his concern about the incident. Siblani said he
planned to meet today with an FBI agent assigned to the case...
-----
SIKH INDIANS SEEK SAFETY FROM ANTI-MUSLIM HATE CRIMES
Terrence Dopp, New Jersey Sunbeam, 12/10/03
http://www.nj.com/news/sunbeam/local/index.ssf?/base/news-2/1071040821212090.xml
TRENTON -- New Jersey's 30,000 Sikhs, Asian Indian immigrants who sport
turbans and beards and are often misidentified as extremist Muslims,
are
increasingly becoming the mistaken targets of anti-Muslim hate crimes,
religious leaders said Tuesday.
The Sikh Coalition, a national advocacy group, said devotees of the
religion, finding themselves the butt of discrimination since the 2001
terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, D.C. are looking to
increase
education about the sect and end discrimination in the workplace and in
schools.
"After Sept. 11 it didn't matter. It was like I was the enemy," Singh
said.
"Anytime there is an incident of terrorism or war that is attributed to
Arabs or Muslims it is blamed (by some Americans) on Sikhs."
The Sikh religion, one of the newest religions in the world and the
fifth
largest, comes from the Punjab area of India. It's male followers all
wear
beards, do not cut their hair and wear it under a turban.
According to a letter the group is circulating to government officials,
Sikh leaders want to see more cooperation between them and state
officials
in tracking and prosecuting hate crimes and an end to what they called
widespread harassment of their children in New Jersey's public
schools...
ALSO SEE:
$100,000 IN DAMAGES AWARDED TO VICTIM OF POST-9/11 HATE VIOLENCE ATTACK
AT
SAN DIEGO AREA GAS STATION
Sacramento - The Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) today
announced that a former gas station attendant has been awarded $100,000
in
damages by the Fair Employment and Housing Commission (FEHC) for a
hate-motivated attack that occurred in the wake of the September 11
terrorist attacks.
The victim, a La Mesa resident of Jordanian descent, was working the
graveyard shift at a San Diego area gas station around midnight on
November
18, 2001, when Horacio Plascencia entered the station and asked for a
pack
of cigarettes.
After refusing to pay for the item, Plascencia brandished a screwdriver
and
threatened to kill the victim, insisting the victim was from
Afghanistan
and saying the attendant was "with the guy who tried to destroy
America."
Plascencia grabbed and scuffled with the attendant, pinning the
victim's
head to the counter and stabbing him in the finger and right
temple. Police apprehended Plascencia a short time later...
The FEHC found that Plascencia discriminated against the victim because
of
his national origin and ordered Plascencia to pay $75,000 in actual
damages
for the victim's emotional distress and $25,000 as a civil penalty for
the
unlawful hate violence. Plascencia was sentenced to six years in state
prison following an admission to the attack as part of a plea
agreement. He is incarcerated at Ironwood State Prison in Blythe,
California, and has the right to appeal the Commission's decision. The
victim has since returned to Jordan...
Victims of hate violence may call the DFEH toll-free hotline at (866)
460-HELP. Further information about DFEH and the Ralph Act may be
obtained
by visiting the Department's web site at www.dfeh.ca.gov or by calling
(800) 884-1684.
-----
NO TERMS REACHED IN LAWSUIT OVER MUSLIM GIRL'S SCARF
Associated Press, 12/11/03
MUSKOGEE, Okla. - A lawsuit filed on behalf of a Muslim girl suspended
from
school for wearing a head scarf remained unsettled Wednesday after the
two
sides met, school district representatives said.
D.D. Hayes, attorney for Muskogee Public Schools, met with lawyers
representing the family of 11-year-old Nashala Hearn as part of a
settlement conference.
Hayes reported that no terms were reached and that he was barred from
discussing the case further, said his assistant, who declined to be
identified.
The district suspended Nashala in October for wearing a head scarf that
officials believe violates the districtwide dress code. The child is
Muslim
and wears the hijab as part of her religion.
ALSO SEE:
FRENCH REPORT BACKS BAN ON VEIL, KIPPA, CROSS
Reuters, 12/11/03
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=3976524
PARIS - A long-awaited report on church- state relations in France
advised
the government on Thursday to forbid school pupils to wear Muslim
veils,
Jewish skullcaps or large Christian crosses.
The report presented to President Jacques Chirac said wearing such
"conspicuous signs of religion" was contrary to the strict secularism
French law requires for state establishments.
It also suggested that a Jewish and a Muslim holy day -- Yom Kippur and
Eid
al-Kebir -- be made official holidays such as Christmas and that
companies
allow workers to take off the religious holiday of their choice,
commission
secretary Remy Schwartz told journalists.
Muslim headscarves have become a major issue in France amid growing
concern
that militant Islamist views could be spreading among disaffected
elements
of the country's five million Muslims, who make up eight percent of the
population.
The debate over a ban -- which Christian, Muslim and most Jewish
religious
leaders opposed -- also reflects concerns about the failed integration
of
most Muslims and the way globalisation is changing the nature of French
society.
-----
SECRECY SHROUDS MINNEAPOLIS AL-QAIDA INMATE AND CASE
Pam Louwagie, Star Tribune, 12/11/03
http://www.startribune.com/stories/462/4261331.html
His name wasn't included on a public list of Hennepin County jail
inmates.
He stood before a federal magistrate judge behind closed doors.
The man who a law enforcement official said was arrested and jailed
Tuesday
on suspicion of associating with the Al-Qaida terrorist network was
enveloped into the justice system, it seems, in an almost-entirely
secret
process.
Some people say that's a problem.
"Bad laws happen in secret. Bad decisions are made in secret," said
Charles
Samuelson, executive director of the Minnesota Civil Liberties Union.
"The
big concern is we want to know what government's doing because we want
to
make sure the government's doing what we want it to do. . . . We had a
revolution in 1776 to get rid of stuff like this..."
Omar Jamal, executive director of the Somali Justice Advocacy Center in
St.
Paul, said Somali and Muslim communities are very concerned about
authorities withholding the name of the jailed man.
The government needs to identify him and be open and fair in his
handling
and treatment, Jamal said...
ALSO SEE:
THE QUIET FALL OF AN AMERICAN TERRORIST
Frederick Clarkson, Salon.com, 12/11/03
http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2003/12/10/waagner/
Only a couple of years ago, Clayton Waagner was one of three
extreme-right
American terrorists on the FBI's 10 Most Wanted list, a self-styled
avenging angel of the unborn. In the autumn of 2001, at the apex of
national fear about terrorist strikes and deadly anthrax attacks, he
mailed
hundreds of envelopes stuffed with white powder and threatening letters
to
abortion clinics and reproductive rights organizations -- all in the
name
of the antiabortion Army of God. Doctors, staffers, clients and their
families were terrified, and hundreds of clinics were shut down. That
made
Clayton Waagner a celebrity, of sorts, and to some, a hero.
Waagner lost his spot atop the 10 Most Wanted lists when an alert
Kinko's
clerk outside of Cincinnati recognized him from a wanted poster, and in
a
federal courtroom in Philadelphia last week, he was convicted of
threatening the use of weapons of mass destruction and other federal
charges, more than 50 counts in all. The two-week trial was remarkable
not
so much for its verdict as for the near-complete lack of media
attention
that it attracted. Perhaps the conclusion was too anticlimactic, a
foregone
conclusion. Or perhaps it was because Attorney General John Ashcroft's
prosecutors sought to make the trial not about abortion, but about
"anthrax
hoaxes." In a news culture obsessed with Osama bin Laden and Saddam
Hussein
and overseas terror threats, few reporters were there for the
denouement...
Perhaps it's no surprise that Waagner's story is already disappearing
into
the deep shadows still cast by Sept. 11, 2001. But he was very much a
part
of that story, and the fear he created, amplified in that climate of
terror, still reverberates through the culture...
---
LETTER MAY TOSS OUT TERROR CONVICTIONS
David Shepardson, Detroit News, 12/11/03
http://www.detnews.com/2003/metro/0312/11/a01-5120.htm
DETROIT - The government's first major terrorism convictions after the
September 11 attacks are in danger of being tossed out by a judge,
federal
officials and legal experts said Wednesday.
U.S. District Judge Gerald E. Rosen has ordered FBI agents and federal
prosecutors to appear Friday at an unusual hearing after the government
acknowledged it failed to turn over to the defense a potentially
significant piece of evidence. A Dec. 30, 2001, letter from a notorious
convicted drug dealer, Milton "Butch" Jones, raised questions about the
government's key witness in the trial of four Metro Detroit men accused
of
forming an underground cell to support terrorism.
Justice Department attorneys will acknowledge at the Friday hearing
that
its prosecutors erred, senior law enforcement officials told the
Associated
Press. The officials said the Justice Department is concerned about how
Rosen will rule.
A federal official told The Detroit News on Wednesday that the Justice
Department believes the two prosecutors in the trial, Assistant U.S.
Attorneys Richard Convertino and Keith Corbett, were told by a superior
to
turn over the letter from Jones to the defense, but they didn't do so.
A ruling tossing out the conviction would be a major embarrassment for
the
Bush administration.
The two convictions the government won in June in the Detroit terrorism
case were cited by U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft and other
officials
as a key win in the Bush administration's war against terrorism.
"Today's verdict represents an important victory in the ongoing war
against
terrorism," U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Collins said.
-----
CRITICS: HOMELAND SECURITY 'DESTROYING FAMILIES'
Mae M. Cheng, NY Newsday, 12/11/03
http://www.nynewsday.com/news/local/newyork/politics/nyc-reg1211,0,4000307.story
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security should ease up on immigrants
from
Arab and Muslim countries who complied with a yearlong special
registration
requirement lifted last week, critics said yesterday.
The requirement, instituted in November 2002, required certain
immigrant
men from 25 countries such as Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia to register
with
U.S. immigration officials so the government can keep better track of
them.
About 16.5 percent of the 83,500 nationally who had complied as of
Sept.
30, 2003 (the latest data available) were referred for deportation
proceedings on charges that their immigration status was illegal,
officials
say.
Those proceedings continue.
"Special registration is a program of destroying families," said Navila
Avili of the Bronx, whose father, Mohammed Ali, a Bangladeshi native,
is
among those being held for possible deportation. "People who are
detained
should be let out."
Bill Strassberger, a spokesman with the Department of Homeland
Security,
said exceptions will not be made simply because people complied with
the
registration program.
He said that while it was important for people to comply with the
program,
it is also important that people abide by U.S. immigration laws...
-----
BIDDING FOR ISOLATION
New York Times, 12/11/03
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/12/11/opinion/11THU2.html
Just when it looked as if there was a chance to expand international
involvement in Iraq, President Bush has reversed field again and left
the
European allies angry, the secretary of state looking out of step, and
the
rest of us wondering exactly what his policy really is.
Late last week, it seemed as if Mr. Bush had decided to seek the global
support he needs to free the United States of the demands that come
with
its unilateral occupation of Iraq. Secretary of State Colin Powell was
in
Brussels, expansively inviting NATO and the United Nations to join the
security and reconstruction efforts. And President Jacques Chirac was
sending the message that he was prepared, finally, to get involved.
Then came the news that Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz had
issued
a decree, approved by Mr. Bush, barring any country that did not
support
the invasion - including France, Germany, Russia and Canada - from
competing for next year's $18.6 billion in prime reconstruction
contracts.
The document, printed before Mr. Powell was back in Foggy Bottom, said
America's "essential security interests" required the move. But it is
hard
to follow that reasoning when it means cutting out countries that might
be
able to bid competitively, contribute money, forgive debts and relieve
American forces. The approved list of 63 nations includes Britain,
Italy
and Japan, but quickly tapers off to countries unlikely to help and to
struggling nations like Albania and Eritrea...
-----
IN SPEECH, NOBEL WINNER REBUKES THE U.S.
Craig S. Smith, New York Times, 12/11/03
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/12/11/international/europe/11NOBE.html
SLO, - Shirin Ebadi, an Iranian lawyer, received the 2003 Nobel Peace
Prize
here Wednesday, declaring that the prize would inspire women across the
Muslim world to fight for equality in oppressive, patriarchal
societies.
But Ms. Ebadi, who has represented political prisoners and the victims
of
political violence in Iran, avoided sharp criticism of the Islamic
government there and delivered her most pointed rebuke instead to the
United States for what she called human rights abuses carried out in
the
name of fighting terrorism.
Many Iranian exiles have complained that by awarding the prize to a
woman
working within the legal system in Iran, the Nobel Foundation is
supporting
political Islam over a secular alternative in the country. Indeed, the
Iranian government has taken Ms. Ebadi's prize as an opportunity to
showcase recent reforms and put the best possible light on the position
held by women there.
After Wednesday's award ceremony, Iran's vice president for the
environment, Massoumeh Ebtekar, appeared on CNN to congratulate Ms.
Ebadi
and extol the advances of women in Iran. Ms. Ebtekar is better known to
many people in the West as the official interpreter and spokeswoman for
the
militants who took American hostages in 1979 at the American Embassy in
Tehran...
-----
DIVERSITY RULES SCHOOL AT CLOSE OF RAMADAN
Melanie D. Scott, Detroit Free Press, 12/11/03
http://www.freep.com/news/cfp/2/neid11_20031211.htm
Chomping on cupcakes, brownies and other refreshments, students of
diverse
backgrounds and religions socialized with their friends and made new
ones
in a section of the Canton High School learning resource center last
week.
Others waited in line for ornate, floral temporary tattoos made with
henna
paste -- and speculated as to how cool they would look after the
designs
were dry.
The students were celebrating Eid al-Fitr (pronounced Ayed-al-Fit-ree),
a
holiday at the end of the holy month of Ramadan.
More than 30 students from Canton, Plymouth and Salem high schools
participated in the event that has been sponsored by the Muslim Student
Association since the group was formed three years ago.
In addition to food and henna art, students were able to check out
traditional Muslim clothing often worn to holiday celebrations and
important events such as weddings...
ALSO SEE:
MD RESIDENTS OF MANY FAITHS COME TOGETHER TO SHARE, LEARN
Hamil R. Harris, Washington Post, 12/11/03
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A53432-2003Dec10.html
Mark Epner had never been inside a mosque, but he jumped at the chance
last
week to not only visit one but to learn more about the religion and
culture.
"I have been looking forward to this for weeks," said Epner, who is
Jewish
and a resident of Potomac, as he took off his shoes before entering the
Jaferia Islamic Center in Burtonsville. Around him, dozens of Jews,
Muslims
and Christians had gathered for a time of sharing and discovery.
At a time when peace in the Middle East remains elusive, those who
attended
last Wednesday's event sought to find some common bonds.
"God has created you from one male and one female. . . . It is a
challenge
for us to be together and to be close," said Imam Syed Naqvi as he
welcomed
guests from communities across Montgomery, Howard, Prince George's and
Baltimore counties.
The event, sponsored by the Maryland Muslim Council, was an effort to
help
dispel misconceptions about Muslims and foster friendships. It included
a
forum, an exhibition of Islamic art and a dinner of pizza, pasta, peas
and
rice, lamb and other ethnic dishes.
Initially, the Jewish guests sat in clusters by themselves, the Muslim
men
sat together, and the Muslim women gathered in the back of the room.
But as
the night progressed people started rearranging their folding chairs
and
the chatter got louder. By the end of the forum, people were laughing
over
cake and roaming through the building...
-----
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CAIR
Council on American-Islamic Relations
453 New Jersey Avenue, S.E.
Washington, D.C. 20003
Tel: 202-488-8787, 202-744-7726
Fax: 202-488-0833
E-mail: cair@cair-net.org
URL: http://www.cair-net.org
-----
Forwarded Message
Date:
Fri, 12 Dec 2003 14:52:31 -0500
To:
cair-net@cair.biglist.com
From:
"CAIR" <cair@cair-net.org>
Subject:
CAIR-NET: Judge OKs Islam in Class/Hijab Wins EEOC Support
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
AMERICAN MUSLIM NEWS BRIEFS - 12/12/03
* HADITH OF THE DAY: FEED THOSE IN NEED
* SUPPORT MIDAMAR HALAL FOODS
* CAIR'S LIBRARY PROJECT: 7087 SPONSORSHIPS
- CAIR's Grant Writing Workshop Dec. 20-21
* CA: JUDGE OKS ISLAMIC ROLE-PLAYING IN CLASSROOM (SF Chron)
- Drop the names and the Outrage (LA Times)
* PA OFFICER WINS EEOC SUPPORT FOR HIJAB (Phil. Inquirer)
- Hijab FAQ
- France to Ban Religious Attire in School (NY Times)
- French Panelist: Muslims Hurting French Values (AP)
* MUSLIMS AND JEWS: A HOPEFUL FUTURE (Columbus Dispatch)
- Bridge Builder Leading NCCJ (Cincinnati Inquirer)
* 'I AM NOT A TERRORIST,' CLERIC SAYS (Newsday)
- Arar: Delivered Into Hell by U.S. (LA Times)
* COMMUNITY RALLIES AGAINST PATRIOT ACT (Daily Collegian)
* DANIEL PIPES: TROUBLING HISTORY (Daily Illini)
- Pipes Appointment Bypassed Senate Vote (Daily Illini)
* WITH GOD, BUSH IS ON THE RIGHT SIDE (LA Times)
* SETTLERS VIE FOR E. JERUSALEM (Christian Science Monitor)
* MILITARY TACTICS IN IRAQ KILLED CIVILIANS (Reuters)
- Bombs Still Kill in Iraq (USA Today)
* IRAQ CONTRACTS: A DELIBERATE DEBACLE (NY Times)
- Israel Quietly Helps U.S. in Iraq (Reuters)
- Israel Working for Iraq Contracts (Globes)
-----
HADITH OF THE DAY: FEED THOSE IN NEED
The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: "A man has sinned enough
if
he neglects to feed those in need."
Fiqh-us-Sunnah, Volume 3, Number 100
------
SUPPORT MIDAMAR HALAL FOODS
Today's news briefs are brought to you by Midamar, a Muslim owned
company
that has been a leader and pioneer in the halal food industry since
1974.
When you need to buy quality halal products, contact Midamar at
1-800-362-3711 or shop online at: http://www.midamarhalal.com/
CAIR wishes to thank Midamar for its past support and donations.
-----
CAIR LIBRARY PROJECT: 7087 SPONSORSHIPS
The goal of CAIR's library project is to send accurate and objective
information about Islam to America's 16,000 public libraries.
For only $150, Muslim individuals and groups may sponsor 18-item
packages
about Islam and Muslims, which are then distributed to the library of
their
choice.
To sponsor a library call, 1-800-392-7876, ext. 320, or visit:
www.libraryproject.org.
SEE ALSO:
CAIR HOSTS GRANT WRITING WORKSHOP
WHAT: Each year, our federal government allocates millions of dollars
to
various agencies at the federal, state, and local level in the form of
grants, cooperative agreements, and contracts to a variety of groups.
Currently, under the FEDERAL FAITH & COMMUNITY BASED INITIATIVE, our
government is interested in funding faith and community-based
organizations' programs and projects. This form of funding has remained
unexplored by the Muslim American community.
National expert in grant writing Dr. Kalifah Ramadan will show you how
to
write grants to get the money you need from the government.
This workshop is a must for activists or organizations who work with
the
following federal departments:
- Housing and Urban Development
- Education
- Agriculture
- Health and Human Services
- Department of Labor
- Department of Justice
- Federal Emergency Management Administration
Cost is $95 per person ($10 discount for 2 or more from the same
organization).
WHERE: CAIR National's office
453 New Jersey Ave. S.E,
Washington D.C. 20003
WHEN: Saturday and Sunday, December 20-21, 2003.
Registration deadline Dec. 15.
For more information, contact CAIR at register@cair-net.org or call
202-488-8787.
-----
JUDGE OKS ISLAMIC ROLE-PLAYING IN CLASSROOM
Bob Egelko, San Francisco Chronicle, 12/12/03
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2003/12/12/MNGBN3L90R10.DTL
A federal judge says a Contra Costa County school was merely teaching
seventh-graders about Islam, not indoctrinating them, in role-playing
sessions of a history class that called for students to adopt Muslim
names
and recite language from prayers.
In a ruling announced Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Phyllis Hamilton
dismissed a suit by two Christian students and their parents who
claimed
the use of role-playing at Excelsior School in Byron during the 2001-02
school year amounted to an unconstitutional endorsement of Islam.
During the course at the middle school, teacher Brooke Carlin, using an
instructional guide, told her students that they would adopt roles as
Muslims for three weeks. She said she stressed that the exercise was
only a
role- playing game to teach them what Muslims believe.
She encouraged them to use Muslim names, recited prayers in class,
required
students to recite a line from a prayer and made them give up something
for
a day, such as television or candy, to simulate fasting during Ramadan.
On
the final exam, students were asked for a critique of elements of
Muslim
culture.
That was all within constitutional bounds, Hamilton said, because the
purpose was educational, not religious, and students engaged in no
actual
religious exercises or demonstrated "any devotional or religious
intent...''
SEE ALSO:
DROP THE NAMES -- AND THE OUTRAGE
Dana Parsons, LA Times, 12/12/03
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/orange/la-me-parsons12dec12,1,5221276.column
Having played in my early 20s on a city league basketball team that we
dubbed No. 10 Bike - after the brand name of our jockstraps - I
appreciate
the deep thought that young men put into team nicknames.
We could have called ourselves the Bouncy Boys, but we wanted to make a
statement that reverberated throughout Lincoln, Neb., basketball and
beyond.
Or, perhaps, get a laugh or ruffle some feathers.
Times have changed - but not the urge young men have to be provocative.
This leads us to the gridiron issue that started in South County and
ended
up Wednesday night on CNN - the nicknames of some teams in the upcoming
Muslim Football Tournament in Irvine.
"Muslim Football Tournament" sounds like a spoof waiting to happen, but
it's a real deal scheduled for Jan. 4 at Heritage Park. It features
teams
with names like 4th and Goal, 88ers, Playmakerz and Fantizzle Fizzle -
a
term apparently borrowed from rapper Snoop Dogg.
Besides those Americanized handles, however, a few other team names
include
Mujahideen and Intifada. One of the Intifadas acknowledged that the
nicknames represent support for Muslims in the Middle East.
Each reader is now obliged to pause and decide if you want to scream in
outrage or, like me, yawn and get on with your life.
Some local religious leaders have spoken out, to varying degrees, about
the
names. Two groups - the Islamic Society of Orange County and the
Council on
American-Islamic Relations - have done as much as anybody in the county
to
foster interfaith understanding…
-----
OFFICER IN SCARF DISPUTE WINS FEDERAL SUPPORT
Thomas Ginsberg, Philadelphia Inquirer, 12/12/03
http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/7471591.htm
Federal officials have accused Philadelphia police of wrongly
prohibiting a
female officer from wearing a Muslim head scarf, opening the way for a
civil-rights lawsuit against the force.
The Philadelphia office of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity
Commission
ruled on Nov. 4 that the police department appeared to violate the
rights
of Kimberlie Webb, 41, an eight-year officer.
It said the department lacked valid reason or legal precedent when it
threatened to fire Webb after she came to work Aug. 12 wearing the
dark-blue hijab, also known as a khimar, over the top and back of her
head.
In response, the city's Law Department, acting on behalf of the police,
declined the EEOC's offer of conciliation services, according to Police
Commissioner Sylvester M. Johnson and his legal adviser, Karen Simmons.
Under EEOC policy, such a refusal sets in motion a process under which
the
matter is referred to the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Justice
Department, where lawyers may consider whether to sue the city over
violation of Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act...
SEE ALSO:
HIJAB FAQ
Q: WHAT ARE THE REQUIREMENTS FOR MUSLIM WOMEN'S DRESS?
A: Rules regarding Muslim women's (and men's) attire are derived from
the
Quran, Islam's revealed text, and the traditions (hadith) of the
Prophet
Muhammad (peace be upon him). In the Quran, God states: "Say to the
believing men that they should lower their gaze and guard their
modesty...And say to the believing women that they should lower their
gaze
and guard their modesty; that they should not display their beauty and
adornments except what (must ordinarily) appear thereof; that they
should
draw their veils over their bosoms and not display their beauty except
to
their husbands, their fathers...(a list of exceptions)" [Chapter 24,
verses
30-31]
Also, "O Prophet! Tell thy wives and daughters, and the believing
women,
that they should cast their outer garments over their persons...that
they
should be known and not molested." [Chapter 33, verse 59]
A wife of the Prophet Muhammad narrated: "When the verse 'That they
should
draw their veils over their bosoms' was revealed, (the women) tore
their
thick outer garments and made veils from them." [Sunan of Abu-Dawood,
Hadith 1901]
In another tradition, the Prophet is quoted as saying: "...If the woman
reaches the age of puberty, no part of her body should be seen but this
---
and he pointed to his face and hands." [Sunan of Abu-Dawood, Hadith
1902]
From these and other references, the vast majority of Muslim scholars
and
jurists, past and present, have determined the minimum requirements for
Muslim women's dress: 1) Clothing must cover the entire body, with the
exception of the face and the hands. 2) The attire should not be form
fitting, sheer or so eye-catching as to attract undue attention or
reveal
the shape of the body.
There are similar, yet less obvious requirements for a Muslim male's
attire. 1) A Muslim man must always be covered from the navel to the
knees.
2) A Muslim man should similarly not wear tight, sheer, revealing, or
eye-catching clothing. In addition, a Muslim man is prohibited from
wearing
silk clothing (except for medical reasons) or gold jewelry. A Muslim
woman
may wear silk or gold.
Q: IS ISLAMIC DRESS APPROPRIATE FOR MODERN TIMES?
A: Islamic dress is modern and practical. Muslim women wearing Islamic
dress work and study without any problems or constraints.
Q: DOES ISLAMIC DRESS IMPLY THAT WOMEN ARE SUBMISSIVE OR INFERIOR TO
MEN?
A: Islamic dress is one of many rights granted to Islamic women. Modest
clothing is worn in obedience to God and has nothing to do with
submissiveness to men. Muslim men and women have similar rights and
obligations and both submit to God.
Q: BUT AREN'T THERE MUSLIM WOMEN WHO DO NOT WEAR ISLAMIC DRESS, OR
HIJAB?
A: Some Muslim women choose not to wear hijab. Some may want to wear it
but
believe they cannot get a job or may face discrimination wearing a head
scarf. Others may not be aware of the requirement or are under the
mistaken
impression that wearing hijab is an indication of inferior status.
---
BAN RELIGIOUS ATTIRE IN SCHOOL, FRENCH PANEL SAYS
Elaine Sciolino, New York Times, 12/11/03
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/12/12/international/europe/12FRAN.html
PARIS - A report delivered to President Jacques Chirac on Thursday
called
for a new law banning the wearing of "conspicuous" religious symbols in
French public schools -- large crosses for Christians, head scarves for
Muslim girls, or skullcaps for Jewish boys.
The recommendation was the most striking in an official reassessment of
how
to preserve the principle of the separation of religion and state in
France
in light of such developments as the rise of a large Muslim population
and
a new wave of anti-Semitism.
That principle, the report said, would be guaranteed by impartiality
and
the banning of all conspicuous religious symbols in official
institutions,
but individuals using those institutions would not be barred from
wearing
"discreet symbols like, for example, medallions, small crosses, Stars
of
David, hands of Fatima, or small Korans."
In today's France, no social issue provokes more emotion and debate and
cuts across political lines more sharply than the Islamic veil. This
week's
Elle magazine, for example, printed an open letter to Mr. Chirac signed
by
leading French women -- Muslim and non-Muslim -- calling for an
outright ban.
The report, prepared by an independent commission appointed by the
government, also recommended that public schools add Jewish and Muslim
holidays to the Christian holidays now observed, a move so far untested
in
Europe, and to provide special meals for Jews and Muslims in school
cafeterias.
In addition, employers were urged to allow employees to choose the
religious holidays they take off -- for example, Yom Kippur for Jews,
Id
al-Kebir for Muslims or the Orthodox Christmas for Orthodox Christians.
The 67-page report is the work of a 20-member commission of religious
leaders, teachers, politicians and sociologists that was created in
July by
Mr. Chirac. It is certain to intensify rather than quiet the
increasingly
shrill debate in France over the intrusion of religion into public
institutions as the country struggles to retain the ideal of strict
separation between religion and state it codified into law a century
ago...
---
PANEL BOSS: MUSLIMS HURTING FRENCH VALUES
John Leicester, Associated Press, 12/12/03
http://www.ajc.com/news/content/news/ap/ap_story.html/Intl/AP.V4718.AP-France-Head-Sca.html
PARIS - Muslim groups are chafing at the core values of modern-day
France,
the head of a presidential panel said Friday, a day after it called for
the
outlawing of Islamic head scarves in schools.
Bernard Stasi said outlawing head scarves and other religious symbols
from
schools will not solve all France's problems with its large immigrant
community. But he said the nation cannot tolerate those who seek to
undermine its values, which include a strict separation of church and
state.
``There are indisputably Muslims or ... groups seeking to test the
resistance of the republic, that bear a grudge against the values of
the
republic, that want France to no longer be France,'' Stasi said on
France-Inter radio. ``We cannot tolerate that.''
Stasi is the former minister for France's overseas dominions from
1973-1974
and author of ``Immigration, a chance for France'' in 1984. He said
that
France has not succeeded in integrating its millions of immigrants,
many
from former colonies in North Africa...
-----
INTERFAITH PARTNERS PRODUCE BOOK ON WHAT JEWS AND MUSLIMS SHARE
Felix Hoover, Columbus Dispatch, 12/12/03
http://www.dispatch.com/news/religion/faith-story.php?story=dispatch/2003/12/12/20031212-E1-02.html
A new locally produced book tries to show that not all Jewish-Muslim
relations are as tempestuous as the news from the Middle East generally
suggests.
Muslims and Jews: Building a Hopeful Future emphasizes things the
Faiths
have in common as religious minorities in this country. It was edited
by
Norman Hosansky, a Jew, and Mazhar Jalil, a Muslim, and includes
writings
from about a dozen authors.
Hosansky belongs to Congregation Tifereth Israel; Jalil is a member of
The
Islamic Center. The two congregations stand a few doors apart on E.
Broad
Street, and about 15 years ago, they decided to begin a dialogue.
At that time we were very close, and very far away," Jalil said.
The more they got together, the more they realized what they share in
this
country and abroad. People often forget about the centuries of peaceful
coexistence between Jews and Muslims, Jalil said.
The book borrows from a previous volume: Muslims and Christians,
Muslims
and Jews edited by Marilyn R. Waldman. The new publication is dedicated
in
memory of Waldman, former professor of history and comparative studies
at
Ohio State University, who died in 1996.
Both works build on relationships formed at local conferences in 1989
and
1997 that brought together Christians as well as Jews and Muslims who
thought better understanding among their faiths was essential to
improve
the community at large...
ALSO SEE:
BRIDGE BUILDER LEADING NCCJ
Kevin Aldridge, Cincinnati Enquirer, 12/8/03
http://www.enquirer.com/editions/2003/12/08/loc_loc1nccj.html
When Dr. Inayat K. Malik moved to Cincinnati in 1967, there were only a
handful of Muslims living in the area.
"You could count them using your two hands," said Malik, a native of
Pakistan who now operates a urology practice in Montgomery. "We had no
place to get together and worship. We used to gather in people's homes,
in
banquet halls or wherever we could get a place."
Today, there are an estimated 10,000 Muslims in Greater Cincinnati.
They
own the Islamic Center, which sits majestically along Interstate 75 in
West
Chester.
Malik, 63, was elected Sept. 1 to serve a one-year term as chairman of
the
National Conference for Community and Justice (NCCJ) for Greater
Cincinnati. He is the first Muslim to preside over the organization in
its
59-year history.
Robert "Chip" Harrod, the executive director of NCCJ, said the election
of
Malik is significant when one considers that relations between Jews and
Muslims in America and elsewhere are being challenged by international
events. Harrod said the move represents NCCJ's quest to be more
inclusive
of different religious communities.
In 1998, the NCCJ changed its name from the National Conference of
Christians and Jews to better reflect its mission to build inclusive
communities. Malik succeeds attorney Jack C. Rubenstein, who is
Jewish...
-----
'I AM NOT A TERRORIST,' CLERIC SAYS
Anthony M. DeStefano, Newsday, 12/11/03
http://www.nynewsday.com/news/local/crime/nyc-terr1212,0,5960297.story
A Muslim cleric from New Jersey convicted of money smuggling insisted
Thursday that he was not a terrorist as a federal judge in Brooklyn
sentenced him to more than 5 years in prison.
While prosecutors have linked Alaa Al-Saadawi, 33, to a charity
suspected
of being a money conduit for terrorists, Judge Nicholas Garaufis said
the
case was about nothing more than the imam's conviction in July of
conspiring to smuggle more than $659,000 out of the United States on a
flight to Cairo in 2002.
"This is a crime involving currency violations, which is a serious
crime -
and not about anything else," Garaufis said, before handing out a
63-month
sentence, the maximum under the guidelines.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Samantha Schreiber, in letters filed over the
past
month with Garaufis, asserted that Al-Saadawi had traveled around the
country as a fund-raiser for the Global Relief Foundation, a group that
federal officials said has provided support for Osama bin Laden and
other
known terrorist groups...
ALSO SEE:
DELIVERED INTO HELL BY US WAR ON TERROR
Maher Arar, Los Angeles Times, 12/11/03
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/opinion/la-le-slater12.1dec12,1,4275029.story
I recently spent 10 1/2 months in a grave-sized cell in Syria, unsure
why I
was there, unsure how to get out. Fear paralyzed my wits when I needed
them
most. I was beaten and I was tortured and I was constantly scared.
Every
day I worried that I would never be released, that I would disappear
into
that concrete grave forever.
Why was I being held? I still don't really know. I am not a terrorist.
I am
not a member of Al Qaeda. I am a Syrian-born Canadian. A father and a
husband. A telecommunications engineer. I have never been in trouble
with
the police and have always been a good citizen.
My ordeal began on the afternoon of Sept. 26, 2002, when my flight back
from a family vacation in Tunisia stopped over in New York and American
immigration officials pulled me aside to answer a few questions. At
first
it was only an inconvenience - thorough airport security, post
9/11-style.
But my questioners persisted. And when someone waved a copy of the 1997
lease for my Ottawa apartment, I was shocked and confused. What was
going
on here? Who gave them the lease and what was its significance to them?
For
the first time, I began to realize that the questioning was not simply
routine...
-----
COMMUNITY RALLIES AGAINST PATRIOT ACT
Dan O'Brien, Daily Collegian, 12/11/03
http://www.dailycollegian.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2003/12/11/3fd81fb6d3463
The University of Massachusetts' chapter of the Americans Civil
Liberties
Union held a rally in front of the Student Union yesterday, in an
effort to
protest many aspects of the USA Patriot Act.
There were seven speakers at the rally, representing the ACLU, Asian
Americans for Political Action, the Graduate Employee Organization,
Office
of ALANA Affairs, the Muslim Students Association and the Department of
political science at Mount Holyoke College.
Bill Newman, head of the Western Massachusetts chapter of the ACLU,
spoke
of the presence of the FBI on college campuses, particularly at UMass.
Newman alleged that he requested records of the FBI's correspondence
between the UMass Police and the Amherst Police Department, but has
received no information from either department.
"UMass won't disclose any records," he said...
-----
TROUBLING HISTORY
Arsalan Iftikar, Daily Illini, 12/12/03
http://www.dailyillini.com/dec03/dec12/opinions/stories/letter01.shtml
The recent appearance of Daniel Pipes at Foellinger Auditorium speaks
highly for the advancement of political debate on college campuses. In
this
marketplace of ideas, however, it is important to get the "other side
of
the story" in order to add context to political discourse by "experts"
like
Mr. Pipes whose nearsightedness is evident from the context of his past
record.
Mr. Pipes has always shown a troubling bigotry toward Arabs and
Muslims. As
early as 1983, an otherwise positive Washington Post book review noted
that
Pipes displayed "a disturbing hostility to contemporary Muslims ... He
professes respect for Muslims; but is frequently contemptuous of them."
Pipes, said the reviewer, "is swayed by the writings of anti-Muslim
writers" and the book "is marred by inconsistencies and evidence of
hostility."
In a videotaped speech to the American Jewish Congress, Mr. Pipes
stated
that "the presence and increased stature, and affluence, and
enfranchisement of American Muslims ... will present true dangers to
American Jews."
If the word "Muslims" was replaced with "African Americans," or any
other
minority group for that matter, and the word "Jews" was replaced with
"whites," this speech would be forcefully condemned as racially
prejudiced
propaganda more worthy of a KKK newsletter than statements of a
distinguished University professor. Just as anti-Semitism and racism
towards any other minority should be vigorously damned, so should
blanket
statements about Muslims and Arabs be equally damned, especially by the
likes of Mr. Pipes...
Arsalan Iftikhar is the Director Of Legal Affairs, Council On
American-Islamic Relations Washington, D.C.
SEE ALSO:
PIPES APPOINTMENT BYPASSED SENATE VOTE
http://dailyillini.com/dec03/dec12/opinions/stories/letter03.shtml
Daniel Pipes is in the news. To suggest that his views are opposed only
by
Arab Americans and American Muslims is inaccurate. As the U.S. Senate
subcommittee debated his nomination to the U.S. Institute for Peace
(USIP),
it was becoming clear that the presidential nomination was in jeopardy.
Here is what some members of the U.S. Senate had to say about Pipes.
In Christopher Dodd's (D-Conn.) view, Pipes' positions were
inconsistent
with the USIP's efforts to "contribute to the promotion of
international
peace and the resolution of conflicts without recourse to violence."
Senator Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) spoke about how offended he was by Pipes'
anti-Muslim commentary. Senator Harkin said, "Some people call (Pipes)
a
scholar ... but this is not the kind of person you want on the USIP."
Senator Edward Kennedy: "The views of this nominee are longstanding,
well
known, and decidedly one-sided. And they are not the words of one
committed
to bridging differences and bringing peace."
Given what he had heard, even Republican Senator John Warner (Va.) had
many
more questions regarding the nominee and thought that it deserved
closer
investigation.
The Senate never got the chance to debate or vote. Pipes was appointed
to
the taxpayer funded USIP during recess, bypassing a senate vote…
It is ironic that the issue of freedom of speech without intimidation
is
(incorrectly) being invoked for a person who, in the spirit of academic
McCarthyism, launched a site called Campus Watch, which tracks
professors
on college campuses who are critical of Israel. So much for free speech
without intimidation!
Rizwan-uddin
University professor
-----
WITH GOD, BUSH IS ON THE RIGHT SIDE
Jack Miles, Los Angeles Times, 12/12/03
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-miles12dec12,1,3788700.story
(Jack Miles is a MacArthur Fellow and author of "God: A Biography"
(Vintage, 1996). A longer version of this article appeared on
Beliefnet.com.)
During his trip to Britain last month, President Bush scandalized some
of
his evangelical fans by innocently asserting that Muslims and
Christians
worship the same God.
Evangelical theologian Richard Land, speaking for the scandalized,
rebuked
the president for what Land calls playing "theologian in chief." In
Land's
view, "when President Bush concludes that Muslims and Christians
worship
the same God, he is simply mistaken."
In my view, Bush is, at least on this point, a better theologian than
his
critics.
Though Land neither confirms nor denies that Jews and Christians
worship
the same God, surely he would concede that the first Christians - Jews
all
- did not understand Christian discipleship to entail switching to a
new
God. But what of the first Muslims? If they too understood themselves
to be
worshiping the god of the Jews, then were they not necessarily
worshiping
the god of the Christians as well?
The Koran identifies Allah as none other than the God to whom Abraham
offered "submission" (or "islam") in the episode Jews and Christians
know
so well from Genesis 22, the story of the binding of Isaac.
As the paradigmatic Muslim, or "submitter," Abraham then made the
original
paradigmatic pilgrimage to Mecca, Muslims believe, accompanied by the
very
son, Ishmael, whom Allah had rescued so dramatically.
Jews and Christians have always believed that Muhammad got this story
wrong. It was Isaac, not Ishmael, who was bound, they believe, and
Abraham
made no such pilgrimage to Mecca. But have Jews and Christians also
believed, historically, that Muhammad had the divine protagonist wrong
as
well - to the point that he was referring to another deity
altogether?..
-----
SETTLERS VIE FOR EAST JERUSALEM
Ben Lynfield, Christian Science Monitor, 12/12/03
http://www.csmonitor.com/2003/1212/p06s01-wome.html
JERUSALEM - While attention is focused on the fate of far-flung West
Bank
settlement outposts, Israel has launched a major settlement thrust only
a
few miles from the Knesset in Jerusalem.
The bulldozers started grinding in the Palestinian area of Jabal
Mukaber
last week to launch the largest settlement yet inside a Palestinian
neighborhood.
Nof Zahav, or Golden View, is to include 600 housing units, a hotel,
and a
synagogue/community center. It will split Jabal Mukaber and its more
than
10,000 residents into two parts.
A pro-settlement party in Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's coalition and
critics alike say that Nof Zahav is a key link in an evolving chain of
settlements being built inside Arab areas to establish Israeli
domination
over East Jerusalem and fragment it so it will be impossible to have a
viable Palestinian capital there.
"We break up Arab continuity and their claim to East Jerusalem by
putting
in isolated islands of Jewish presence in areas of Arab population,"
say
Uri Bank, a leader of the pro-settlement Moledet party. "Then we
definitely
try to put these together to form our own continuity. It's just like
Legos
- you put the pieces out there and connect the dots. That is Zionism.
That
is the way the state of Israel was built. Our eventual goal is Jewish
continuity in all of Jerusalem..."
-----
MILITARY TACTICS IN IRAQ KILLED CIVILIANS - REPORT
Reuters, 12/11/03
http://www1.chinadaily.com.cn/en/doc/2003-12/12/content_289912.htm
NEW YORK - More than 1,000 civilians were killed or wounded by U.S. and
British cluster bombs in the Iraq war, while Iraqi violations of
humanitarian law led to significant civilian casualties, Human Rights
Watch
said on Thursday.
The New York-based watchdog group said its research in Iraq between
April
29 and June 1 in 10 cities was not intended to find out the number of
civilian casualties but to focus on military tactics that caused them.
It said that while U.S.-led forces took precautions to spare civilians
and
uphold the legal obligations of warfare, different military practices
in
the ground war, the air war and the post-conflict period could have
prevented civilian deaths.
The report, "Off Target: The Conduct of the War and Civilian Casualties
in
Iraq," said ground-launched cluster bombs killed or hurt more than
1,000
civilians, while "decapitation" strikes aimed at Iraqi leaders killed
dozens of noncombatants.
Cluster munitions are small bomblets scattered on a target area by
larger
bombs, rockets or artillery shells. Some of those bombs contain
hundreds of
smaller explosive devices, which can be designed to kill enemy troops
or
rip treads off tanks. They can be very dangerous close to civilian
areas
because they disperse widely...
ALSO SEE:
CLUSTER BOMBS KILL IN IRAQ, EVEN AFTER SHOOTING ENDS
Paul Wiseman, USA TODAY, 12/10/03
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2003-12-10-cluster-bomb-cover_x.htm
BAGHDAD - The little canisters dropped onto the city, white ribbons
trailing behind. They clattered into streets, landed in lemon trees,
rattled around on roofs, settled onto lawns.
When Jassim al-Qaisi saw the canisters the size of D batteries falling
on
his neighborhood just before 7 a.m. April 7, he laughed and asked
himself:
"Now what are the Americans throwing on our heads?" (Interactive
graphic:
How a cluster bomb works and more)
The strange objects were fired by U.S. artillery outside Baghdad as
U.S.
forces approached the Iraqi capital. In the span of a few minutes, they
would kill four civilians in the al-Dora neighborhood of southern
Baghdad
and send al-Qaisi's teenage son to the hospital with metal fragments in
his
foot.
The deadly objects were cluster bomblets, small explosives packed by
the
dozens or hundreds into bombs, rockets or artillery shells known as
cluster
weapons. When these weapons were fired on Baghdad on April 7, many of
the
bomblets failed to explode on impact. They were picked up or stumbled
on by
their victims...
-----
A DELIBERATE DEBACLE
Paul Krugman, New York Times, 12/12/03
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/12/12/opinion/12KRUG.html
James Baker sets off to negotiate Iraqi debt forgiveness with our
estranged
allies. And at that very moment the deputy secretary of defense
releases a
"Determination and Findings" on reconstruction contracts that not only
excludes those allies from bidding, but does so with highly offensive
language. What's going on?
Maybe I'm giving Paul Wolfowitz too much credit, but I don't think this
was
mere incompetence. I think the administration's hard-liners are
deliberately sabotaging reconciliation.
Surely this wasn't just about reserving contracts for administration
cronies. Yes, Halliburton is profiteering in Iraq - will apologists
finally
concede the point, now that a Pentagon audit finds overcharging? And
reports suggest a scandal in Bechtel's vaunted school-repair program.
But I've always found claims that profiteering was the motive for the
Iraq
war - as opposed to a fringe benefit - as implausible as claims that
the
war was about fighting terrorism. There are deeper motives here...
ALSO SEE:
ISRAEL QUIETLY HELPS U.S. IN IRAQ, AIDES SAY
Adam Enotus, Reuters, 12/11/03
http://www.forbes.com/business/newswire/2003/12/11/rtr1178050.html
WASHINGTON - A key U.S. ally behind-the-scenes in the war in Iraq,
Israel
has been contributing intelligence, tactics and technology mostly in
secret
to avert an Arab backlash, congressional aides and analysts said
Thursday.
The commander of the Israel Defense Forces' Golani Brigade briefed U.S.
Marines in mid-June on the lessons the IDF has learned from its
conflict
with the Palestinians.
The Israelis have supplied the American military with aerial
surveillance
equipment, decoy drones and D-9 armored bulldozers, sources close to
the
Israeli government said.
The Israelis are also considering sharing new training software
designed
for Israeli commanders stationed in Palestinian areas, the sources
said.
Israeli tactics, which have been honed against a 3-year-old Palestinian
revolt in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, have prompted protests by
international human rights groups.
Neither the White House nor the Israeli Embassy will openly talk about
connections between U.S. operations in Iraq and Israel's
hotly-contested
tactics in Palestinian areas. Such connections could spark a backlash
against Washington in the Arab world, where suspicions of U.S.
intentions
are already rife.
In keeping with its low profile, Israel was left off the White House's
much-publicized list of coalition partners, and this week was denied --
along with anti-Iraq war countries France, Germany and Russia --
eligibility for lucrative post-war reconstruction contracts...
---
ISRAEL WORKING BEHIND SCENES TO GET IRAQ CONTRACTS
Ran Dagoni, Globes Online, 12/11/03
http://www.globes.co.il/serveen/globes/docview.asp?did=750148&fid=942
Israel assumed a long time ago, perhaps as a result of hints from the
US,
that it would not be included in the list of countries eligible to
participate in Iraqi reconstruction tenders. Israel is now working
behind
the scenes with the Bush administration and the US Congress to obtain
access to these projects, Washington sources told "Globes" yesterday.
Israel Ambassador to the US Daniel Ayalon responded, "No comment" to a
"Globes" question on the subject.
The sources said that Israel and the US had no interest in publicizing
their discussions on this very sensitive issue. They explained that the
two
countries were "under an international microscope" because of the links
between them before and during the war in Iraq, which included the
assignment to Israel of a senior US liaison officer. The sources added
that
the provisional Iraqi administration operating under the auspices of
the US
occupation authorities would oppose any Israeli presence in
reconstruction
work in Iraq. The sources noted that Israel was aware of this
sensitivity,
and was not trying to achieve the status of main contractor for large
projects, realizing that that such an aspiration was simply
unrealistic.
Israel is demanding, however, that it be given the opportunity to serve
as
a subcontractor in telephony, infrastructures, irrigation, and other
projects, and as a supplier of inputs...
-----
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-----
CAIR
Council on American-Islamic Relations
453 New Jersey Avenue, S.E.
Washington, D.C. 20003
Tel: 202-488-8787, 202-744-7726
Fax: 202-488-0833
E-mail: cair@cair-net.org
URL: http://www.cair-net.org
-----
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
CAIR WELCOMES CAPTURE OF SADDAM HUSSEIN
U.S. Muslim group says punish Hussein, transfer power
(WASHINGTON, D.C., 12/14/2003) - The Council on American-Islamic
Relations
(CAIR) today welcomed the capture of former Iraqi leader Saddam
Hussein.
CAIR, a Washington-based Islamic civil rights and advocacy group, said
Hussein should be tried by an international tribunal and then punished
for
the "death and devastation" he imposed on the Iraqi people.
In a statement, CAIR said:
"As we continue to oppose the war in Iraq, we hope the capture of
Saddam
Hussein creates a window of opportunity for peace and reconciliation.
He
must be brought before an international tribunal and then punished for
the
death and devastation his tyrannical rule imposed on that
long-suffering
nation and its neighbors.
"Hussein's capture should also facilitate the rapid transfer of
sovereignty
to a representative Iraqi government and the swift withdrawal of
American
military forces. It is now time for the Iraqi people, free of despotic
rule
or foreign occupation, to take control of their own destiny."
CAIR, America's largest Islamic civil liberties group, is headquartered
in
Washington, D.C., and has 25 regional offices and chapters nationwide
and
in Canada.
- END -
CONTACT: Ibrahim Hooper, 202-488-8787 or 202-744-7726, E-Mail:
cair@cair-net.org; Rabiah Ahmed, 202-488-8787 or 202-439-1441, E-Mail:
rahmed@cair-net.org
NOTE: CAIR offers an e-mail list designed to be a window to the
American
Muslim community. Subscribers to the list, called CAIR-NET, receive
news
releases and other materials dealing with American Muslim positions on
issues of importance to our society.
To SUBSCRIBE to or UNSUBSCRIBE from this list, go to:
http://cair.biglist.com/cair-net/
To reach the list moderator, send a message to: cair@cair-net.org
-----
CAIR
Council on American-Islamic Relations
453 New Jersey Avenue, S.E.
Washington, D.C. 20003
Tel: 202-488-8787, 202-744-7726
Fax: 202-488-0833
E-mail: cair@cair-net.org
URL: http://www.cair-net.org
-----
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
AMERICAN MUSLIM NEWS BRIEFS - 12/15/03
* HADITH OF THE DAY: THE BEST CHARITY
* SUPPORT MIDAMAR HALAL FOODS
* CAIR'S LIBRARY PROJECT: 7087 SPONSORSHIPS
- CAIR's Grant Writing Workshop Dec. 20-21
* MUSLIM FOOD PANTRY FEEDS BODY AND SOUL (Chicago Trib)
* RELIGIOUS VOTING BLOCS SHIFT ALLEGIANCES (Chicago Trib)
- NH Muslims Brings Concerns to Politicians (AP)
- Arab-Americans Organize to Influence Elections (AP)
- TX Muslim Wins Council Seat (Houston Chronicle)
* BOOK TACKLES HOAX OF JEWISH 'PLOT' (Philadelphia Inq.)
- A Rabbi's Faith in Peace (NY Newsday)
* WHERE ISRAELIS FACE PALESTINIANS (UPI)
* JUDGE RIPS LAWYERS IN DETROIT TERROR CASE (AP)
- Searches Not Subject to Oversight (Wash. Post)
- Captain Yee's Ordeal (NY Times)
* NPR COMMENTATOR QUESTIONS IRAQ TACTICS (Wash. Post)
* THE THREAT FROM DOMESTIC TERRORISTS (New York Times)
* VEILED IS BEAUTIFUL, SAY EGYPT'S FEMINISTS (Independent)
- NY: Hijab Ban Inexcusable (Saratogian)
- France's Unholy Fuss (Toronto Star)
* CHECHNYA'S SECRET SLAUGHTER (Observer)
- Bosnians Want Karadzic Arrest After Saddam (Reuters)
* MN: SHARING LESSONS ON SOMALI CULTURE (Pioneer Press)
-----
HADITH OF THE DAY: THE BEST CHARITY
The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: "The best charity is
that
given to a relative who does not like you."
Fiqh-us-Sunnah, Volume 3, Number 100
-----
SUPPORT MIDAMAR HALAL FOODS
Today's news briefs are brought to you by Midamar, a Muslim owned
company
that has been a leader and pioneer in the halal food industry since
1974.
When you need to buy quality halal products, contact Midamar at
1-800-362-3711 or shop online at: http://www.midamarhalal.com/
CAIR wishes to thank Midamar for its past support and donations.
-----
CAIR LIBRARY PROJECT: 7087 SPONSORSHIPS
The goal of CAIR's library project is to send accurate and objective
information about Islam to America's 16,000 public libraries.
For only $150, Muslim individuals and groups may sponsor 18-item
packages
about Islam and Muslims, which are then distributed to the library of
their
choice.
To sponsor a library call, 1-800-392-7876, ext. 320, or visit:
www.libraryproject.org.
SEE ALSO:
CAIR HOSTS GRANT WRITING WORKSHOP
WHAT: Each year, our federal government allocates millions of dollars
to
various agencies at the federal, state, and local level in the form of
grants, cooperative agreements, and contracts to a variety of groups.
Currently, under the FEDERAL FAITH & COMMUNITY BASED INITIATIVE, our
government is interested in funding faith and community-based
organizations' programs and projects. This form of funding has remained
unexplored by the Muslim American community.
National expert in grant writing Dr. Kalifah Ramadan will show you how
to
write grants to get the money you need from the government.
This workshop is a must for activists or organizations who work with
the
following federal departments:
- Housing and Urban Development
- Education
- Agriculture
- Health and Human Services
- Department of Labor
- Department of Justice
- Federal Emergency Management Administration
Cost is $95 per person ($10 discount for 2 or more from the same
organization).
WHERE: CAIR National's office, 453 New Jersey Ave. S.E., Washington
D.C. 20003
WHEN: Saturday and Sunday, December 20-21, 2003. Registration deadline
Dec. 15.
For more information, contact CAIR at register@cair-net.org or call
202-488-8787.
-----
MUSLIM-RUN FOOD PANTRY FEEDS BODY AND SOUL
Manya A. Brachear, Chicago Tribune, 12/14/03
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-0312140183dec14,1,4481441.story
When Jahan Ghaemi abruptly stops his taxi in the Loop, jumps out and
offers
a bag of bread to a homeless man, the first words he often hears above
the
din of angry horns are "God bless."
As a Muslim, Ghaemi believes the expression of gratitude will come
true:
For every gift he gives to another, Allah blesses him a hundredfold.
But that's not why the Iranian immigrant takes time out of his route to
feed the hungry.
"It doesn't matter what religion you are," he said. "It's everyone's
responsibility to help others."
That belief is at the heart of the Sabeel Food Pantry, apparently the
nation's first Muslim-run pantry that is open year-round to serve the
needy. Founded this year by the Chicago-based Islamic Food and
Nutrition
Council, the pantry caters to customers of all faiths and backgrounds
from
the surrounding Avondale neighborhood.
Organizers said the food pantry embodies the Islamic principle of
sadaqa,
or charity. It also supplements the command or pillar of Islam called
zakat, under which Muslims must donate about 2.5 percent of their
assets to
the needy each year.
Rabiah Ahmed, communications coordinator for the Washington-based
Council
on American Islamic Relations, said the pantry also is a way to educate
others about Islam. After the backlash associated with the attacks of
Sept.
11, 2001, the Muslim community realized it was too isolated, she said.
"Feeding the poor has always been a big part of our faith," Ahmed said.
"But it's always been part of something you do in your own community.
In
America, you can't live like that. You have to go beyond your borders.
These types of concerns affect people of all different faiths..."
-----
KEY RELIGIOUS VOTING BLOCS SHIFTING ALLEGIANCES
Geneive Abdo, Chicago Tribune, 12/14/03
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0312140412dec14,1,2515582.story
The increasing influence of religion in American life is widely
expected to
shake up the 2004 presidential contest, realigning some traditional
voting
blocs in ways that might surprise both major parties, political
pollsters
and experts say.
Some Jewish and Muslim voters appear to be abandoning their past party
affiliations and fewer evangelical Christians may go to the polls,
adding
to the volatility of the race.
The Bush administration's strategy to lure Jewish voters away from the
Democratic Party seems to be working, said pollsters and Jewish
leaders,
who point to President Bush's support for Israel as one of the reasons
for
the shift.
Muslims, many of whom supported the president overwhelmingly in 2000,
now
are working to defeat him. Driven by outrage over what they see as a
clampdown on their civil rights and by opposition to U.S. policy in the
Middle East, Muslims across the country are holding registration
drives,
hoping to mobilize 1 million voters to try to oust Bush...
ALSO SEE:
MUSLIM COMMUNITY BRINGS CONCERNS TO POLITICAL LEADERS
Kate McCann, Associated Press, 12/13/03
MANCHESTER, N.H. - A woman from Bangladesh, wearing a burka, points to
a
small cut under her 11-year-old son's left eye -- an injury received
when
he was a hit by a snowball this week.
"They tell him 'go back Iraq'," said his mother, who owns a convenience
store in Manchester. "After the war ... the kids start hating him."
Samuel, a slight sixth-grader, is an American. His mother immigrated
from
Bangladesh 15 years ago. They have experienced teasing and
name-calling,
just part of the problems 40 members of New Hampshire's Muslim
community
brought to a meeting Friday night.
Attorney General Peter Heed, Episcopal Bishop Douglas Theuner and other
law
enforcement and government officials met with Muslims in the basement
of a
Manchester mosque.
It was the third such meeting since the Sept. 11 attacks. Some measures
have been implemented in New Hampshire since then, like cultural and
sensitivity-training for police officers and a hot line for anyone who
believes they are being harassed or discriminated against because of
their
religion...
---
ARAB-AMERICANS ORGANIZE TO INFLUENCE ELECTIONS
Mike Schneider, Associated Press, 12/13/03
http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/ny-bc-nj--arab-americans-po1213dec13,0,1415504.story
ORLANDO, Fla. - Jim Bajalia has always voted for Republican
presidential
candidates. The second-generation Palestinian-American was an
enthusiastic
College Republican at Florida State University, and he once explained
to
former Democratic President Jimmy Carter during an airplane encounter
why
he never voted for him.
But President Bush's policies in Iraq and Israel, and local and state
politicians' insensitivity to Arab-American concerns, have sorely
tested
Bajalia's political loyalty. He believes it's time Arab-Americans flex
their political muscle.
"We have the political wherewithal and knowledge to make sure
politicians
are more sensitive to our issues," said Bajalia, 42, who runs a retail
liquidation business in Jacksonville.
Arab-Americans are organizing politically in an unprecedented way.
Activists such as Bajalia have formed, or are in the process of
creating,
umbrella groups in at least nine states. The state Arab-American
Leadership
Councils hope to channel Arab-American civic, religious and cultural
groups
into unified, influential political voices at the local and state
levels.
The groups are modeled after the national Arab American Leadership
Council,
a Washington-based, bipartisan political action committee that
contributes
money to candidates for federal office. The idea to form several of the
state councils, which won't be PACS, took shape at a conference
sponsored
by the Arab American Institute in Dearborn, Mich., in October...
---
KHAN INSPIRES MUSLIMS WITH ELECTION TO COUNCIL
Tara Dooley, Houston Chronicle, 12/13/03
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/religion/2293190
There were a few - even a close friend or two - who told M.J. Khan not
to
bother.
Too close to the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11 for a Muslim to claim a
seat
on Houston's City Council, they said.
But many more encouraged Khan to cast his lot to represent District F
and
become what they believed would be the first Muslim on the council. And
as
the race turned from election to run-off, Khan gathered not only votes
in
one of Houston's most diverse neighborhoods, but also supporters in the
Muslim community.
Last week, as Khan won 53.2 percent of the vote to defeat Terry McConn,
Muslims around Houston celebrated in seeing one of their own succeed to
public office.
"The whole community is pretty excited," said Naveed Quraishi, a
48-year-old NASA engineer whose family volunteered on Khan's campaign.
"They did something and it worked. We backed a guy who knew what he was
doing, apparently..."
Though the number of Muslim candidates remains lower than before Sept.
11,
national Muslim organizations see a trend toward greater involvement in
the
political system, said Mohamed Nimer, author of the Council on
American-Islamic Relations' North American Muslim Resource Guide.
"The Muslims do not feel alienated," said Nimer, whose guide was
published
in 2002 and among other topics traced the emergence of Muslims in
political
life. "They actually feel more urgency to become more involved in the
public square, and their political activism is increasing."
-----
NEW BOOK TACKLES RESILIENT HOAX OF JEWISH 'PLOT'
Jim Remsen, Philadelphia Inquirer, 12/14/03
http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/7484457.htm
If anti-Semitism is a rogue religion, its reigning bible is The
Protocols
of the Elders of Zion.
The Protocols, first issued in Russia a century ago, is a notoriously
fraudulent manifesto. It purports to spell out a Jewish plot to control
the
world by secretly manipulating the financial markets, the media, and
other
levers of power.
Though it was soon exposed as a paranoid hoax forged by the czar's
secret
police, The Protocols didn't vanish. In fact, its vitriol has never had
wider circulation than today, because of the Internet and the "New
Anti-Semitism" that watchdog groups are chronicling, particularly in
Europe
and the Muslim world.
In response, specialists from the Simon Wiesenthal Center, a Jewish
human-
rights group, have written a book that scholars say is the first
item-by-item rebuttal of the undying Protocols.
Titled Dismantling the Big Lie, the new book tackles a grim task. The
Protocols is a dense polemic, a supposed master plot written by Jewish
"learned elders" who regard non-Jews as "a flock of sheep, and we are
their
wolves..."
The Arab Voice newspaper in North Jersey published excerpts last year,
drawing condemnations from both Jewish groups and the Council on
American
Islamic Relations.
The Protocol is "such nonsense," Islamic council spokesman Ibrahim
Hooper
said in an interview. "But it just keeps returning out there..."
ALSO SEE:
A RABBI'S FAITH IN PEACE
Martin C. Evans, Newsday, 12/15/03
http://www.newsday.com/news/local/longisland/ny-lirabb1215,0,1915649.story
He was a stranger in town, a bearded, bespectacled man with a British
accent and a blue yarmulke, an Israeli Jew amid a roomful of mostly
Muslims
from halfway around the world.
Many of the Muslims who surrounded him in the basement of Westbury's
Islamic Center of Long Island Thursday night wanted answers to nagging
questions that seemed to cut at their insides and challenge their sense
of
Islamic pride.
Why are Israelis walling off the West Bank? Why do Israeli soldiers
subject
Palestinians to collective punishment? Why do they restrict Palestinian
Muslims from traveling to some of their holy sites?
But Rabbi David Rosen, the Israel-based director of interreligious
affairs
for the American Jewish Committee, never seemed to flinch.
Invited to an interfaith gathering in the domed mosque on Brush Hollow
Road, Rosen fielded questions one by one, sometimes expressing
agreement
with Israeli policies, often criticizing his government's actions, and
always displaying the engaging skills of a seasoned diplomat...
-----
WHERE ISRAELIS FACE PALESTINIANS
Joshua Brilliant, United Press International, 12/12/03
http://www.upi.com/view.cfm?StoryID=20031212-080317-9704r
KALANDIA CHECKPOINT, West Bank - A recently published book describing
Israeli soldiers' brutality toward Palestinians has made Israelis react
with rage, indignation and shame.
"It's a pity we didn't know about it (then)," a senior army officer
said of
the author's remorseful account. "He should have been jailed."
The writer is a war criminal that needs psychiatric help, a reserve
soldier
suggested. However, a human rights activist said, "The picture he
presented
is by and large very realistic."
The book, "Checkpoint Syndrome," by Liran Ron Furer, describes his
unit's
behavior near Khan Yunis, in the central Gaza Strip. Furer served there
before the second intifada erupted in September 2002, when Israel and
the
Palestinian Authority were still implementing the Oslo accords, and
were
conducting joint patrols.
That thaw did not impress most soldiers in his unit, Furer said. They
felt
Arabs sometimes mocked and deliberately frightened them...
-----
JUDGE RIPS LAWYERS IN DETROIT TERROR CASE
David Runk, Associated Press, 12/14/03
http://abcnews.go.com/wire/US/ap20031212_2200.html
DETROIT - A federal judge criticized government lawyers Friday for
failing
to turn over certain evidence to the defense in the nation's first
post-Sept. 11 terrorism case, but said he needed more time to decide
whether to throw out the convictions.
The case, in which two Arab immigrants were convicted last June of
being
part of a Detroit terror cell, was hailed as an early success in the
Bush
administration's war on terror. A third defendant was convicted of
document
fraud; a fourth was acquitted.
The defendants have asked the judge to overturn their convictions
because a
letter from an imprisoned drug gang leader, who claimed the
government's
key witness lied to federal agents, was not turned over until several
weeks
ago.
The evidence ``should have been turned over,'' U.S. District Judge
Gerald
Rosen said at the end of the emergency hearing. But ``that does not get
the
defendants all the way to a new trial.''
Prosecutors have a legal obligation to turn over evidence that can be
used
to impeach the testimony of prosecution witnesses or prove a
defendant's
innocence.
Several Justice Department lawyers on Friday conceded the evidence
should
have been turned over. One lawyer said he ordered Keith Corbett, one of
the
prosecutors at the trial, to turn over the December 2001 letter from
gang
leader Milton ``Butch'' Jones...
ALSO SEE:
MANY SEARCHES NOT SUBJECT TO REGULAR COURTS' OVERSIGHT
Dan Eggen, Washington Post, 12/13/03
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A60964-2003Dec12
The FBI has implemented new ground rules that fundamentally alter the
way
investigators handle counterterrorism cases, allowing criminal and
intelligence agents to work side by side and giving both broad access
to
the tools of intelligence gathering for the first time in decades.
The result is that the FBI, unhindered by the restrictions of the past,
will conduct many more searches and wiretaps that are subject to
oversight
by a secret intelligence court rather than regular criminal courts,
officials said. Civil liberties groups and defense lawyers predict that
more innocent people will be the targets of clandestine surveillance.
The new strategy -- launched in early summer and finalized in a
classified
directive issued to FBI field offices in October -- goes further than
has
been publicly discussed by FBI officials in the past and marks the
final
step in tearing down the legal wall that had separated criminal and
intelligence investigations since the spying scandals of the 1970s,
authorities said.
Senior FBI officials said the changes have already helped the bureau
disrupt plans for at least four terrorist attacks overseas and uncover
a
terrorist sleeper cell in the United States, though they declined to
provide details on those cases. The approach also has resulted in a
notable
surge in the number of counterterrorism investigations, a statistic
that is
classified but currently stands at more than 1,000 cases, officials
said. ..
---
CAPTAIN YEE'S ORDEAL
New York Times, 12/14/03
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/12/14/opinion/14SUN1.html
The military's mean-spirited and incompetent prosecution of Capt. James
Yee, the former Muslim chaplain at Guant�namo Bay, illustrates the
danger
of allowing the war on terrorism to trump basic rights. After holding
Captain Yee in solitary confinement for nearly three months, and
smearing
him with adultery and pornography charges, the military is now
uncertain
whether the documents whose confidentiality he is charged with
breaching
were even confidential. In the interest of justice, and of resurrecting
their own reputation, military prosecutors should drop the case.
The charges against Captain Yee, who was arrested in September, have
always
been murky. The military seems to have suspected him of being part of a
plot to infiltrate Guant�namo, and to have been concerned about
contacts
between him and two other military men it was keeping under watch. But
rather than bring serious conspiracy charges, the military merely
accused
Captain Yee of taking home, and improperly transporting, classified
material. Military officials have been unforthcoming about the nature
of
the material, but at least some, and perhaps all of it appears to be
documents, such as maps of the camp and lists of prisoners who have
been
interrogated, that a chaplain might have for job-related reasons...
-----
BREAKING POINT
Jim Sollisch, Washington Post, 12/14/03
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A61279-2003Dec12.html
This is the seventh time I've started and restarted this essay. It's
about
the war in Iraq, and it's the last thing I want to write about. Like
most
Americans, I want to believe that the war was/is necessary even though
every reason given for it has turned out to be untrue. I want to
believe
that we are liberators, not occupiers. Good guys, not bad guys. I want
to
believe there is a way out of this that makes the world a better place
than
it was before.
And so, like most Americans, I keep quiet. I read the headlines but not
the
stories. I resist understanding the difference between Shiites and
Sunnis.
I can spell Tikrit and Mosul, but I refuse to remember which city is
sympathetic to Saddam and which is not. I am the new antiwar protester.
I
carry angst, not placards. I march down the aisles of Wal-Mart, not
down
the streets of America. I am Hamlet, deciding whether to be or not to
be,
deciding nothing.
I read that our occupying army is now using the techniques of the
Israeli
army -- burning down houses, encasing whole villages in razor wire,
detaining the families of suspected insurgents. And, I am too ashamed
to
keep quiet.
This is what one of our colonels in Iraq said, as quoted in the New
York
Times: "With a heavy dose of fear and violence, and a lot of money for
projects, I think we can convince these people that we are here to help
them." That colonel is our representative in Iraq. He is the ambassador
of
our values. He speaks for you and me. If he is the ugly American, so
are we.
Our troops have enclosed the entire town of Abu Hishma in barbed wire.
A
town of 7,000 people, caged in like chickens because someone in the
town
attacked our troops. On the fence is posted this sign: "This fence is
here
for your protection. Do not approach or try to cross it, or you will be
shot." In this Alice-in-Wonderland world of occupation, I guess it's
possible to shoot someone for his own protection. You and I wrote this
sign. We wrote it with the ink of our silence...
Jim Sollisch is a commentator on National Public Radio.
-----
OUR ENEMIES AT HOME
Daniel Levistas, New York Times, 12/13/03
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/12/13/opinion/13LEVI.html
In April, as Baghdad fell and American soldiers began searching for
weapons
of mass destruction in Iraq, federal officials uncovered a cache of
deadly
chemicals much closer to home - in the eastern Texas town of Noonday.
The
stockpile included a fully functional sodium cyanide bomb capable of
killing hundreds, as well as neo-Nazi and antigovernment literature,
illegal weapons, half a million rounds of ammunition, and more than 100
explosives, including bombs disguised as suitcases.
William Krar, a 62-year-old manufacturer of gun parts and a right-wing
extremist who had rented the storage locker in which the cache was
found,
has pleaded guilty in federal court to possessing a chemical weapon and
faces a possible life sentence. Two others - Judith L. Bruey, Mr.
Krar's
companion, and Edward Feltus, a member of a parmilitary group called
the
New Jersey Militia - are awaiting sentencing.
An isolated incident involving a few Americans on the far-right fringe?
Most people probably assume so, but federal authorities served more
than
150 subpoenas in the case, and are still searching for others who may
have
been involved.
The Noonday case shows just how serious a threat we face from domestic
terrorists. Consider this year's other high-profile incident involving
rightist causes: the arrest of Eric Rudolph, accused of bombing
abortion
clinics and the 1996 Olympics. During his five years in the wilderness,
he
was often viewed by the public and press as a lone fugitive. But law
enforcement officials have linked him to two national movements: the
Army
of God, a biblically inspired underground network of anti-abortion
extremists; and the Christian Identity movement, whose members believe
that
Jews are the literal children of Satan, nonwhites are sub-human, and
that
Anglo-Saxon Christians are the true descendants of the lost tribes of
Israel...
-----
VEILED IS BEAUTIFUL, SAY EGYPT'S FEMINISTS AND FASHIONISTAS
Nyier Abdou, Independent, 12/13/03
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/africa/story.jsp?story=472809
Every year, I try to pull together the various strands of my extensive
Cairene family for a family portrait. These pictures have become a
chronicle of many things - the birth and staggering growth of new
generations, for one.
In the past few years, the most noticeable trend is the covering of the
women in the family. Four years ago, one or two headscarves could be
spotted in the crowd; today, only one or two women are without one.
The increasing number of women wearing the hijab has brought about a
radical change in the image of the Egyptian woman. As young, urbane
women
increasingly take the veil, age-old associations between hijab and the
traditional religious conservatism dissipate. "It's not a matter of old
women getting veiled, just out of a habit," says Nesrine Samara,
project
manager at the new English-language magazine Jumanah, a fashion bible
for
veiled women due to launch this month. "It's not a matter of just
covering
up; it means a lot of other things." Ms Samara, a 27-year-old marketing
executive, is a political science graduate of the American University
of
Cairo. Smartly dressed in camel boots, a long coat and a bright orange
scarf, she resists the notion that being veiled is simply about being
modest. Women are increasingly taking the veil as a way of identifying
with
the larger culture of Islam, she argues...
SEE ALSO:
FRENCH PLAN INEXCUSABLE RESTRICTION OF FREEDOM
The Saratogian, 12/15/03
http://www.saratogian.com/site/news.cfm?BRD=1169&dept_id=17711&newsid=10663294&PAG=461&rfi=9
France is twisting the concept of protecting its secular state to
justify
expansion of religious discrimination.
French President Jacques Chirac supports a national ban against
conspicuous
or 'obvious' political and religious symbols in classrooms -- a rule
targeting Muslim head scarves and also including Jewish skullcaps.
What's
really obvious is the motivation: the fear that the prevalence of head
scarves reflects the rise of militant Islam in France.
Head scarves are already forbidden for people working in the public
sector
in France. The new rules would apply to public schools.
Certain religious symbols are worn not only as a show of faith but in
adherence to religious law. For instance, certain denominations of
observant Jews follow law that requires men to keep their head covered;
the
traditional head covering is the little round skullcap, the yarmulke.
Banning people, adults or children, from wearing the coverings demanded
by
their faith merely fuels resentment and drives their presence
underground.
Of the country's 60 million people, about 7 percent are Muslim; what
worries France's leadership, though, is the growth of Muslim
militants...
ALSO SEE:
FRANCE'S UNHOLY FUSS
The Toronto Star, 12/15/03
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1071272705376&call_pageid=968256290204&col=968350116795
To hear Bernard Stasi tell it, France is teetering on the brink. Dark
forces are "trying to destabilize the country," he reported a few days
ago.
They "bear a grudge against the values of the republic." They "want
France
to no longer be France." And "it's time for the republic to react."
What spurred this alarm? An attack by Al Qaeda? Corsican separatism? A
run
on the franc? Adulterated wine?
Well, no. France appears to be terrorized by Muslim schoolgirls. Or to
put
it more precisely, by the Islamic scarves, or hijab, some of them wear.
Don't laugh. President Jacques Chirac isn't. He sees "something
aggressive"
in children wearing hijab.
French conservatives, seemingly still traumatized at being chased from
Algeria 40 years ago, regard Islam as the enemy and hijab as its icon.
Progressives denounce it as demeaning women. Few seem to accept that
some
Muslim women see it as piety, nothing more.
This official paternalism, or xenophobia, is out of place in a modern,
multicultural state. France now counts 5 million Muslims among its 60
million citizens. It should respect their cultural practices, so long
as
they do not infringe on others' rights...
-----
CHECHNYA'S SECRET SLAUGHTER
Nick Paton Walsh, Observer, 12/14/03
http://www.guardian.co.uk/russia/article/0,2763,1106705,00.html
Dusk was falling on the farm in the Chechen hills. Four men and a woman
cowered in the freezing mud of a ditch. Above them were a group of
Russia's
elite troops who had mistakenly shot up a civilian bus, killing one
man,
headmaster Said Alaskhanov, during a bungled stop-and-search operation.
Over the static of their radio, the order allegedly came to clean up
the
mess. The five were pulled from the ditch and told to run. They were
shot
as they fled.
In the second high-profile case of its kind, the Russian military have
opened the trial of four soldiers for murder, in a bid to show troops
are
accountable for atrocities committed in the separatist republic - where
murders are perpetrated daily.
The last such case was that of Yuri Budanov, jailed for 10 years for
the
rape and murder of an 18-year old Chechen girl. His imprisonment was
seen
as a token gesture from the Kremlin...
SEE ALSO:
BOSNIAN MUSLIMS WANT KARADZIC ARREST AFTER SADDAM
Nedim Dervisbegovic, Reuters, 12/15/03
SARAJEVO, Bosnia and Herzegovina (Reuters) - Bosnian Muslims welcomed
the
arrest of Saddam Hussein Monday, but voiced frustration at the West's
failure to capture Bosnian Serb wartime leader Radovan Karadzic, still
one
of the world's most wanted men.
Karadzic, indicted for genocide in Bosnia's 1992-1995 war by the U.N.
war
crimes court, could have been brought to justice just as easily had
there
been the same political will that led to Hussein's capture, the Muslims
believe.
"(The Saddam arrest shows) that if there was true will to arrest
Karadzic
it could have already been done and could still be done," said
political
commentator Senad Pecanin of the independent weekly magazine Dani.
Karadzic, who together with his military chief Ratko Mladic was twice
indicted by the Hague-based court for genocide against Muslims and
Croats,
has been on the run since 1996, when Western pressure forced him to
quit
public life.
NATO, which leads a 12,000-strong peace force in Bosnia, failed twice
last
year to grab Karadzic in a remote eastern village and analysts have
said
fear of casualties and of another failure makes the alliance even more
reluctant to go after him.
He is believed to be shuttling between mountainous Serb-controlled
eastern
Bosnia and neighboring Serbia and Montenegro, while Mladic is often
reported to be under the protection of the military in Serbia and
Montenegro…
-----
SHARING LESSONS ON SOMALI CULTURE
John Welbes, St. Paul Pioneer Press, 12/14/03
http://www.twincities.com/mld/pioneerpress/living/education/7480414.htm
Abdisalam Adam reaches under his desk for a piece of luggage, still
packed
full of cultural items he picked up on a trip to a Somali region of
Ethiopia over the summer.
There's a comb and a spoon intricately carved out of wood, an urn used
for
milking camels and a koor, which is a camel bell that villagers use to
keep
track of their livestock.
As the Somali community specialist for St. Paul's public schools, Adam
uses
the items in presentations he makes about Somali culture. His audiences
include school staff, students and older Somali immigrants who now have
children in the schools.
"Families are excited when they see stuff they used in their
childhood," he
said.
Adam taught English Language Learner students in the St. Paul district
for
years, but this fall he took on a new role. With about 800 Somali
students,
the district saw a need to reach out to that community and increase its
involvement in the schools. Adam jumped at the opportunity...
-----
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-----
CAIR
Council on American-Islamic Relations
453 New Jersey Avenue, S.E.
Washington, D.C. 20003
Tel: 202-488-8787, 202-744-7726
Fax: 202-488-0833
E-mail: cair@cair-net.org
URL: http://www.cair-net.org
-----
Forwarded Message
Date:
Tue, 16 Dec 2003 14:36:25 -0500
To:
cair-net@cair.biglist.com
From:
"CAIR" <cair@cair-net.org>
Subject:
CAIR-NET: Arrest of MD Muslim Student Stirs Protest
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
AMERICAN MUSLIM NEWS BRIEFS - 12/16/03
* HADITH OF THE DAY: DON'T SPEAK ILL OF THE DEAD
* SUPPORT MIDAMAR HALAL FOODS
* CAIR'S LIBRARY PROJECT: 7106 SPONSORSHIPS
- CAIR's Grant Writing Workshop Dec. 20-21
* ARREST OF MD MUSLIM STUDENT STIRS PROTEST (Wash. Post)
* SUPREME DISAGREEMENT OVER A SUPREME BEING (LA Times)
* CAIR-FL: TRY HIM IN INTERNATIONAL COURT (St. Pete Times)
- Group Calls for Transfer of Power (Tampa Bay News)
* STAND UP TO SHARON (American Conservative)
- Dean's Remarks Alarm Jews (Miami Herald)
- Dean Blames Rove for Online Attacks (JTA)
* JEWISH EXTREMISTS DREAM OF DESTROYING MOSQUES (AP)
* IRAQI VICE (Newsweek)
* VICTIM'S FAMILY MOURNS A DREAM LOST (Poughkeepsie Journal)
* WHITE HOUSE RECEIVES REQUEST FOR APOLOGY (Star Tribune)
- Arab-American Stereotypes Hard To Bear (Baltimore Sun)
- Tales of a Society Scared Into Stupidity (The Star)
* BOARD APPROVES MUSLIM SCHOOL'S CURRICULUM (Metro West Daily)
* GROUPS DENOUNCE INCLUSION ON CHINA'S TERROR LIST (AFP)
-----
HADITH OF THE DAY: DON'T SPEAK ILL OF THE DEAD
The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: "Do not speak ill of the
dead (for) they have seen the result of (the deeds) that they sent
before
them."
The Prophet also said: "Mention the good deeds of your dead and cover
their
evil deeds."
Fiqh-us-Sunnah, Volume 4, Number 76
-----
SUPPORT MIDAMAR HALAL FOODS
Today's news briefs are brought to you by Midamar, a Muslim owned
company
that has been a leader and pioneer in the halal food industry since
1974.
Contact Midamar at 1-800-362-3711 or shop online at:
http://www.midamarhalal.com/
-----
CAIR LIBRARY PROJECT: 7106 SPONSORSHIPS
The goal of CAIR's library project is to send accurate and objective
information about Islam to America's 16,000 public libraries.
For only $150, Muslim individuals and groups may sponsor 18-item
packages
about Islam and Muslims, which are then distributed to the library of
their
choice.
To sponsor a library call, 1-800-392-7876, ext. 320, or visit:
www.libraryproject.org.
ALSO SEE:
CAIR HOSTS GRANT WRITING WORKSHOP
WHAT: Each year, our federal government allocates millions of dollars
to
various agencies at the federal, state, and local level in the form of
grants, cooperative agreements, and contracts to a variety of groups.
Currently, under the FEDERAL FAITH & COMMUNITY BASED INITIATIVE, our
government is interested in funding faith and community-based
organizations' programs and projects. This form of funding has remained
unexplored by the Muslim American community.
National expert in grant writing Dr. Kalifah Ramadan will show you how
to
write grants to get the money you need from the government.
This workshop is a must for activists or organizations who work with
the
following federal departments:
- Housing and Urban Development
- Education
- Agriculture
- Health and Human Services
- Department of Labor
- Department of Justice
- Federal Emergency Management Administration
Cost is $95 per person ($10 discount for 2 or more from the same
organization).
WHERE: CAIR National's office, 453 New Jersey Ave. S.E., Washington
D.C. 20003
WHEN: Saturday and Sunday, December 20-21, 2003. Registration deadline
Dec. 15.
For more information, contact CAIR at register@cair-net.org or call
202-488-8787.
-----
ARREST OF HOWARD COUNTY STUDENT STIRS PROTEST
Ylan Q. Mui, Washington Post, 12/16/03
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A3390-2003Dec15.html
A 15-year-old youth was arrested at his Howard County school last week
after he refused a teacher's order to change seats, prompting a student
protest and questions from a national advocacy group about whether the
action was related to the youth's Islamic heritage.
The arrest took place during the teenager's biology class at Glenelg
High
School on Wednesday, according to the youth's attorney and school
system
officials. His teacher had created a new seating chart and wanted to
move
him to a new desk. The student refused, saying he wanted to sit next to
his
friends.
The teacher then called one of the school's three assistant principals,
who
requested that the student come to his office, school system
spokeswoman
Patti Caplan said. She said the administrator, Robert Connor, left the
classroom, expecting the youth to follow him.
When Connor realized that the student, a sophomore, was not behind him,
he
called a police officer stationed at the school, Caplan said. Connor
and
the officer returned to the classroom and found the student sitting in
his
new seat, she said.
Caplan said Connor again asked the youth to come to his office, and the
student again refused.
Sherry Llewellyn, Howard County police spokeswoman, said Officer Kelly
Smith then told the youth that "if he continued to refuse to leave the
classroom and continue to be disruptive, the officer would have no
option
other than to arrest him for disorderly conduct."
"This is unheard of," said Rizwan Mowlana, executive director of the
Council on American-Islamic Relations of Maryland, an advocacy group
that
became involved in the case because of the youth's Middle Eastern
descent.
"In our eyes, this does not warrant a policeman."
Mowlana said he and other advocates will meet with school officials
this
morning to express concern that the teenager was singled out for
harsher
treatment because of his ethnic background...
-----
SUPREME DISAGREEMENT OVER A SUPREME BEING
Walt Comins-Richmond, Los Angeles Times, 12/16/03
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/letters/la-le-richmond16dec16,1,2093969.story
Re "With God, Bush Is on the Right Side," Commentary, Dec. 12: Jack
Miles
was precisely on target. When I began studying the Koran and converted
to
Islam, I continued to worship the same God to whom I had prayed since I
was
a child, and about whom I learned in Catholic school. The notion that
Allah
is not the God of the Jews and Christians is, frankly, absurd.
The many mainstream Christians whom I have met have never imagined such
a
claim as is made by evangelical theologian Richard Land. Miles has made
a
great contribution toward friendship between Muslims and Christians by
pointing out to the many Muslims who think that Land's comments
represent
Christianity that he represents a fringe group that does not reflect
the
vast majority of American Christians.
What is somewhat disappointing, however, is that President Bush relies
upon
these fringe elements for support. As long as he does so, his positive
comments about Islam must always be taken with a grain of salt.
-----
TRY HIM IN AN INTERNATIONAL COURT
Ahmed Bedier, ST. Petersburg Times, 12/16/03
http://www.stpetetimes.com/2003/12/16/Opinion/Armed_forces_deserve_.shtml
Scroll down.
On behalf of the Florida office of the Council on American-Islamic
Relations (CAIR) and the Muslim Community of Tampa Bay, we welcome the
capture of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein. Now that he is captured,
Hussein should be tried by an international tribunal court and then
punished for the death and devastation he imposed on the Iraqi people.
As we at CAIR continue to oppose the war in Iraq, we hope the capture
of
Saddam Hussein creates a window of opportunity for peace and
reconciliation.
Hussein's capture should also facilitate the rapid transfer of
sovereignty
to a representative Iraqi government and the swift withdrawal of
American
military forces. It is now time for the Iraqi people, free of despotic
rule
or foreign occupation, to take control of their own destiny.
Ahmed Bedier, communications director, Council on American-Islamic
Relations, Florida, Tampa
ALSO SEE:
MUSLIM GROUP CALLS FOR U.S. TO TRANSFER POWER BACK TO IRAQIS
Tampa Bay 10 News, 12/15/03
http://www.wtsp.com/news/news.aspx?storyid=6072
The Florida office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, CAIR,
says
it's happy to hear that Saddam Hussein has been captured. But CAIR says
now
that Hussein has been taken into custody, it's time for the U.S. to
transfer power back to the Iraqi people.
He also said the longer the U.S. stays in Iraq, the more resentment and
resistance there will be towards America.
CAIR spokesman Ahmed Bedier
"What I would recommend is an immediate transfer or very quick transfer
of
power of the governing to the Iraqi people, but remain there more as
peacekeeping not as an occupying force."
"As long as America is seen by the Iraqis as an occupying force they'll
continue to defy it and continue to resist it."
----
STAND UP TO SHARON
Pat Buchanan, American Conservative, 12/15/03
http://www.amconmag.com/12_15_03/buchanan.html
Israel is a "thunderously failed reality" that "rests on a scaffolding
of
corruption, and on foundations of oppression and injustice." Were these
words spoken by an American leader, he would be denounced as an
anti-Semite. But these are the words of a former speaker of the Israeli
Knesset who cries for his country. "The countdown to the end of Israeli
society has begun," writes Avraham Burg, "the end of the Zionist
enterprise
is already on our doorstep."
"Israel, having ceased to care about the children of the Palestinians,
should not be surprised when they come washed in hatred and blow
themselves
up in the centers of Israeli escapism." Burg implores "Diaspora Jews"
to
"speak out." To little avail.
Why? Why, when a Knesset member is unintimidated, are we so silent?
Why,
when Ariel Sharon is dragging America's good name through the mud and
blood
of Ramallah and Jenin, are we so tongue-tied? Did not Burke instruct
us,
"To sin by silence when they should protest makes cowards out of men"?
Israelis are speaking truth to power. Army Chief of Staff Moshe Yaalon
has
told Israel's press it was Sharon who undermined Palestinian leader
Mahmoud
Abbas. Twenty-seven Israeli Air Force pilots have refused to obey
"immoral
orders" for air strikes on "populated civilian centers..."
ALSO SEE:
DEAN'S MIDEAST REMARKS SOUNDING ALARMS FOR JEWS
Peter Wallsten, Miami Herald, 12/12/03
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/7477054.htm
Democrat Howard Dean, who has taken pains in recent months to soothe
tensions over controversial statements about Israel, remains haunted by
the
issue this week even as he gains momentum as the front-runner for his
party's presidential nomination.
Dean rankled some Jewish Democrats in Florida Saturday, when he told
about
1,000 state party activists at a dinner in Orlando that
Palestinians were the most prepared people in the Arab world for
democracy
because women play a prominent role in their government, and that the
United States should try to strengthen ''moderates'' in the Islamic
world.
The remarks were part of a lengthy explanation by Dean of his
philosophy on
the Middle East, in which he embraced the ''special relationship''
between
the United States and Israel.
But to some Jews in the audience the comments seemed to underscore his
assertions at a September debate that the United States should be
''even-handed'' in its approach to the peace process rather than
favoring
Israel...
---
DEAN BLAMES ROVE FOR ONLINE ATTACKS
Matthew E. Berger, Global Jewish News, 12/15/03
http://www.jta.org/page_view_story.asp?strwebhead=Who%92s+behind+anti%2DDean+e%2Dmails%3F&intcategoryid=3
WASHINGTON - Howard Dean is smarting from e-mails that distort his
views on
the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and he has suggested that President
Bush's right-hand man is behind the e-mail campaign. Speaking Monday to
the
Pacific Council on International Policy, a leadership forum in Los
Angeles,
Dean said he believed Karl Rove, the White House's senior political
adviser, is behind an e-mail campaign that has flooded inboxes of
American
Jews across the country.
The White House referred calls about Rove's alleged involvement in the
e-mail campaign to the Bush/Cheney re-election campaign. Scott Stanzel,
a
campaign spokesman, said the campaign does not respond to comments by
the
Democratic contenders.
The message in the e-mails is that Dean wants an "even-handed" policy
toward the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Many Jews consider that a way
of
saying that the United States should be less supportive of Israel.
"I've discovered that 'even-handedly' is a code word to certain people
who
think that is being unfair, and I don't want to ever repeat that word
again," Dean said after his speech, in which he outlined his vision for
foreign affairs and national security. "It is now making its way around
the
Internet in an unsigned piece of literature, undoubtedly from one of my
worthy opponents, perhaps Karl Rove."
The campaign later said Dean made the comments in a light-hearted
exchange
with a questioner, who wanted to know how he would deal more
even-handedly
with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Matthew Dorf, Dean's liaison to the Jewish community, noted that the
audience broke into laughter after Dean said it. However, Dorf
reiterated
Dean's comment that the e-mails are politically motivated.
"It's clearly the work of political opponents and not true friends of
Israel," he said.
-----
JEWISH EXTREMISTS DREAMING OF DESTROYING KEY JERUSALEM MOSQUES
GAVIN RABINOWITZ, Associated Press, 12/16/03
HERZLIYA, Israel (AP) - Jewish militants arrested for plotting to blow
up a
Palestinian school also had vague ideas about destroying the third
holiest
shrine of Islam in Jerusalem, the head of the domestic Shin Bet
security
service said Tuesday.
Such aspirations by extremists pose a strategic threat to Israel and
Jews
around the world, and "should keep us awake at night," said the Shin
Bet
chief, Avi Dichter.
In the past three years of fighting, seven Palestinians were killed and
19
wounded in attacks by Jewish extremists, Dichter said.
Four Israelis from the Bat Ayin settlement near the West Bank city of
Hebron were arrested in April 2002 after a bomb was found in their car
trailer. Police said the settlers intended to set off the bomb at a
Palestinian girls' school in east Jerusalem. They were released in a
plea
bargain deal.
Other settlers arrested in the past year on suspicion they were
involved in
attacks against Palestinians were released after police could not come
up
with enough evidence to issue an indictment.
Dichter said Tuesday that beyond plotting violence against
Palestinians,
"it appears to me that the dream of these same extremists is most
worrisome."
"The dream of these extremists to remove ... the mosques from the
Temple
Mount should keep us awake at night," he said.
Dichter was referring to a key disputed Jerusalem holy site, revered by
Muslims as the place where Prophet Muhammad ascended to heaven and by
Jews
as the site of their biblical Temple…
In the 1980s, Jewish militants bombed the cars of Arab mayors in the
West
Bank, seriously injuring two of them. Another group plotted to blow up
one
of the mosques on a disputed Jerusalem holy shrine. The site houses the
Dome of the Rock and Al-Aqsa mosques.
-----
IRAQI VICE
Christian Caryl, Newsweek, 12/15/03
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/3706289/
Post Saddam sleaze: Pornographic theaters have flourished in Baghdad
since
the U.S. occupation began
The trip from Ali's village to Baghdad takes an hour and a half by bus.
As
soon as he arrives, the 21-year-old Iraqi heads straight to Abu
Abdullah's,
just off Sadoun Street in an alley with a number instead of a name. "I
don't have a wife," he says. "I don't have enough money to get married.
So
I come here." At Abu Abdullah's, $1.50 buys 15 minutes alone with a
woman.
The room is a cell with only a curtain for a door, and Ali complains
that
Abu Abdullah's women should bathe more often. But the young man says
it's
still a big improvement from Saddam Hussein's day. Back then, he says,
the
only establishment for a poor boy like himself was at a Gypsy
settlement on
the capital's western outskirts. "But now there are plenty of places."
He
grins. "Now we have freedom."
Before the invasion, Iraq was one of the world's most tightly
controlled
societies. Only a few specially licensed stores could sell alcohol, and
in
recent years drinking was banned outright in restaurants and hotels. A
committee in the Ministry of Culture kept a strict watch against even
mildly naughty movies, magazines and films. Convicted prostitutes could
be
beheaded. Hard-core drug abuse was virtually unknown--if you didn't
count
certain members of Saddam's immediate family and their close friends.
Now
Iraqis like Ali are making up for what they've missed--and many other
Iraqis, young and old, are blaming America. "Some people say the spread
of
such things is designed to weaken our society," says Col. Daoud Selman,
a
police chief in one of Baghdad's roughest districts. "Every day we hear
it
from people on the street. Not just the religious people, but ordinary
ones, too."
Iraqis call it "the bad side of freedom..."
-----
SHOOTING VICTIM'S FAMILY MOURNS A DREAM LOST
Rasheed Oluwa, Poughkeepsie Journal, 12/15/03
http://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/monday/localnews/stories/lo121503s10.shtml
WAPPINGERS FALLS -- Through tears and anguish, Muhammad Nazrul Islam
Sarnaker spoke of justice Sunday.
Justice for his son, 20-year-old Mamun Miah, who was shot in the head
the
night of Dec. 7 while working at the Worrall Avenue Deli in the City of
Poughkeepsie.
Justice for his wife, Layle Begum, who lost her eldest son and family
leader.
And justice for his family members, who arrived in the city from
Bangladesh
nearly 1 1/2 years ago and the embodiment of their dreams wiped out by
one
act of violence.
''He was a good man,'' a tearful Sarnaker said Sunday during a prayer
service at the Masjid al-Noor mosque in Wappinger. ''He was always
respectful. He didn't drink or smoke cigarettes. He was a good Muslim.
He
never even looked me directly in the eye when he spoke to me be-cause
he
had so much respect for me...''
-----
WHITE HOUSE RECEIVES MCCOLLUM REQUEST FOR APOLOGY
Star Tribune, 12/16/03
http://www.startribune.com/stories/587/4269764.html
WASHINGTON D.C. - The White House said Monday that officials are
looking
into a complaint brought by Rep. Betty McCollum and others on behalf of
Muhammad Pharoan, a Baltimore hotel employee who says he was barred
from
working at a Bush fundraiser because of his name.
The Minnesota Democrat and eight other House members -- including
presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich -- wrote Bush a letter Friday
calling the incident a "shocking example of racial profiling."
Secret Service spokeswoman Ann Roman said the incident occurred because
of
a discrepancy between the employee's work schedule and a Secret Service
list of scheduled workers at the hotel. The Secret Service has
apologized
to Pharoan. "His exclusion was in no way related to his ethnic and
religious background," Roman said.
Pharoan, a waiter at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Baltimore, was sent
home
before a Dec. 5 Bush fundraiser. He has called the incident a case of
discrimination.
Pharoan, an Arab American, told CNN and the Washington Post that he was
scheduled to work and doesn't agree with the Secret Service's account.
ALSO SEE:
ARAB-AMERICAN TEENS FIND STEREOTYPES HARD TO BEAR
Linda Linley, Baltimore Sun, 12/16/03
http://www.sunspot.net/news/local/bal-md.arabic16dec16,0,5364736.story?coll=bal-local-headlines
Ridwan Yaseen Tomhe is proud of his culture and his religion, but he
knows
that his family traditions set him apart from classmates at Boys' Latin
School.
A first-generation Arab-American and a Muslim, Tomhe doesn't go to
parties.
He doesn't drink or smoke. And he fasts from dawn to dusk during the
holy
month of Ramadan.
He has enjoyed his time at Boys' Latin, where he is now a senior, an
honor
student and was one of the football team's captains. But his thoughts
often
turn to Sept. 11, 2001, a day when he says life changed for him, his
family
and other Arab-Americans.
This fall, he devoted his senior speech -- delivered before 264
upper-school students -- to the topic in hopes of trying to erase some
of
the racism and fear associated with Arab-Americans.
"The word 'Arab' to some people is synonymous with the word
'terrorist,'
implying that all Arabs are terrorists," he told his fellow students.
"This
is absolutely in no way true."
He described the confusion that his Arabic name often causes, growing
up in
the United States with parents who are natives of Damascus, Syria, his
visits to his parents' homeland and what life is like in that
country...
---
NINE TALES OF A SOCIETY SCARED INTO STUPIDITY
Haroon Siddiqui, The Star, 12/14/03
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1071361744577&call_pageid=968332188854&col=968350060724
At a party the other night, five people were talking about their
experiences, or those of relatives and friends, while crossing the
American
border.
As law-abiding citizens, they do not begrudge the need for post-9/11
vigilance. They even understand the occasional arbitrariness that might
creep into the immigration screening process.
What they are saddened about is the bad manners, arrogance and the
seeming
racism of the immigration officials involved, as well as the obvious
idiocy
of some of the policies of the Bush administration.
Herewith, the stories told by the five people, plus four from
elsewhere.
After a routine set of questions at the border, the first man was
asked:
"Carrying any baklava?..."
-----
BOARD APPROVES MUSLIM SCHOOL'S CURRICULUM
Michelle Mullenberg, Metro West Daily News, 12/15/03
http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/news/local_regional/nthb_curriculum12152003.htm
NORTHBOROUGH -- After saying goodbye to one private school, the
district
and town are welcoming another.
The Northborough K-8 School Committee recently approved the curriculum
for
the Alhuda Academy, a Muslim school formerly located in Westborough.
The school, which is prekindergarten through ninth grade, is located on
Southwest Cutoff in the former building of Al-Hamra Academy. Al-Hamra
moved
to Shrewsbury last spring.
The school committees must OK the curriculum of all private schools,
said
Superintendent Bob Melican.
Melican welcomed the new school and hoped it would form close relations
with the surrounding public schools. "The exchange between the academy
and
another one of our schools is very important."
The Al-Hamra Academy was closely aligned with Proctor Elementary
School, he
said.
All of the teachers at Alhuda also attended the district's professional
development day Dec. 1, said Charles Gobron, director of curriculum and
instruction...
-----
MUSLIM GROUPS DENOUNCE INCLUSION ON CHINA'S LIST OF "TERRORIST" GROUPS
Agence France Presse, 12/16/03
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_asiapacific/view/62225/1/.html
BEIJING - Two groups listed by China as "terrorist" organisations
Tuesday
denounced the move as a politically motivated act unfairly targeting
Muslims who want freedom.
"Terrorism and requesting political freedom are two different matters.
We
don't spread terrorism. We advocate political freedom," Dilxat Raxit,
who
represents the East Turkistan Information Center (ETIC) and World
Uighur
Youth Congress (WUYC), told AFP.
The groups were among four included on China's first ever list of
terrorist
organisations, along with 11 Uighur Muslims living abroad whom it
identified Monday as separatists trying to create an independent
Islamic
state called East Turkistan in Xinjiang.
Raxit said China was capitalizing on the global anti-terrorism campaign
to
crack down on ethnic Uighur separatists and other dissidents in its
northwestern Xinjiang region...
-----
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CAIR
Council on American-Islamic Relations
453 New Jersey Avenue, S.E.
Washington, D.C. 20003
Tel: 202-488-8787, 202-744-7726
Fax: 202-488-0833
E-mail: cair@cair-net.org
URL: http://www.cair-net.org
-----
Forwarded Message
Date:
Wed, 17 Dec 2003 18:14:58 -0500
To:
cair-net@cair.biglist.com
From:
"CAIR" <cair@cair-net.org>
Subject:
CAIR-NET: CAIR Opposes French Move to Ban Religious Symbols
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
AMERICAN MUSLIM NEWS BRIEFS - 12/17/03
* HADITH OF THE DAY: THE QURAN IS PROOF
* SUPPORT MIDAMAR HALAL FOODS
* CAIR'S LIBRARY PROJECT: 7107 SPONSORSHIPS
- 400 Turn Out For CAIR-Sacramento Fundraiser
- CAIR Grant Writing Workshop Dec. 20-21
* INCITEMENT WATCH: FORMER REP SMEARS PROPHET MUHAMMAD
- Daniel Pipes Says Bush Appointee Like 'Nazi'
- Pat Robertson Promotes Religious War
* CAIR OPPOSES FRENCH MOVE TO BAN RELIGIOUS SYMBOLS
- Religious Clothing Allowed in U.S. Schools (AP)
* CHIRAC SEEKS LAW BANNING HEAD SCARVES (AP)
- Hijab FAQ
* ISLAM PART OF HOLIDAY PROGRAM (Cincinnati Inquirer)
- Do Muslims, Christians Worship the Same God? (Slate)
* OFFICIALS REACT TO MD STUDENT'S ARREST (Baltimore Sun)
* U.S. CONSIDERS EXPANDING FBI DATABASE (Wash. Post)
- U.S. and Europe Share Passenger Data (NY Times)
* FISK: INSURGENTS OR PROTESTERS? (Independent)
* SADDAM IS GONE, BUT U.S. ISN'T (SJ Mercury News)
- Joy Fades as Iraqis Chafe Under Occupation (NY Times)
- Senators Were Told Weapons Could Hit U.S. (FL Today)
* COMING SOON TO ARAB TV'S: U.S. (NY Times)
* OFFICES OF INTERPRETER'S LAWYERS SEARCHED (AP)
* CANADIANS' TOLERANCE IS TESTED AGAINST ARABS (Wash. Post)
- After They Talk, Detainees Can Have Lawyers (AP)
- Guantanamo a 'Black Hole' - Visitor (Reuters)
* VA: BECOME A MUSLIM FOSTER CARE PARENT
-----
HADITH OF THE DAY: THE QURAN IS PROOF
The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: "The Quran is proof on
your
behalf or against you."
Sahih Muslim, Hadith 97
-----
SUPPORT MIDAMAR HALAL FOODS
Today's news briefs are brought to you by Midamar, a Muslim owned
company
that has been a leader and pioneer in the halal food industry since
1974.
Contact Midamar at 1-800-362-3711 or shop online at:
http://www.midamarhalal.com/
-----
CAIR LIBRARY PROJECT: 7107 SPONSORSHIPS
The goal of CAIR's library project is to send accurate and objective
information about Islam to America's 16,000 public libraries.
For only $150, Muslim individuals and groups may sponsor 18-item
packages
about Islam and Muslims, which are then distributed to the library of
their
choice.
To sponsor a library call, 1-800-392-7876, ext. 320, or visit:
www.libraryproject.org.
ALSO SEE:
400 TURN OUT FOR CAIR-SACRAMENTO FUNDRAISING DINNER
(WASHINGTON, D.C., 12/17/2003) - The Council on American-Islamic
Relations
today said some 400 people, including officials and community leaders,
turned out for the first annual fundraising banquet of its Sacramento
Valley office (CAIR-Sacramento Valley) on Sunday, December 14. The
Washington-based Islamic civil rights and advocacy group said the
dinner
raised $120,000 in contributions.
Speakers and attendees at the event included California State Senator
Deborah Ortiz, Mayor Heather Fargo, Executive Editor of the Sacramento
Bee
Rick Rodriguez, President and Publisher of the Sacramento Bee Janis
Heaphy,
members of the city council, and many other community and interfaith
leaders.
"One of the highlights of the banquet was the diversity of guests we
had in
attendance. It was a true representation of Sacramento and the
surrounding
localities," said Rashid Ahmad, president of CAIR-Sacramento Valley.
CAIR, America's largest Islamic civil liberties group, is headquartered
in
Washington, D.C., and has 16 offices nationwide and in Canada.
- END -
CONTACT: CAIR-Sacramento, Rashid Ahmad, 916-441-6269; CAIR-National,
Ibrahim Hooper, 202-488-8787 or 202-744-7726, E-Mail:
cair@cair-net.org;
Rabiah Ahmed, 202-488-8787 or 202-439-1441, E-Mail: rahmed@cair-net.org
---
CAIR HOSTS GRANT WRITING WORKSHOP
WHAT: Each year, our federal government allocates millions of dollars
to
various agencies at the federal, state, and local level in the form of
grants, cooperative agreements, and contracts to a variety of groups.
Currently, under the FEDERAL FAITH & COMMUNITY BASED INITIATIVE, our
government is interested in funding faith and community-based
organizations' programs and projects. This form of funding has remained
unexplored by the Muslim American community.
National expert in grant writing Dr. Kalifah Ramadan will show you how
to
write grants to get the money you need from the government.
This workshop is a must for activists or organizations who work with
the
following federal departments:
- Housing and Urban Development
- Education
- Agriculture
- Health and Human Services
- Department of Labor
- Department of Justice
- Federal Emergency Management Administration
Cost is $95 per person ($10 discount for 2 or more from the same
organization).
WHERE: CAIR National's office, 453 New Jersey Ave. S.E., Washington
D.C. 20003
WHEN: Saturday and Sunday, December 20-21, 2003. Registration deadline
Dec. 15.
For more information, contact CAIR at register@cair-net.org or call
202-488-8787.
-----
INCITEMENT WATCH: FORMER CONGRESSMAN SMEARS PROPHET MUHAMMAD
CNN TALKBACK LIVE, 12/14/01
http://www-cgi.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0112/14/tl.00.html
(NOTE: Bob Dornan's is challenging Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) for his
House seat. SEE: http://www.msnbc.com/local/myoc/M343511.asp )
FORMER CONGRESSMAN ROBERT K. DORNAN, TALK RADIO NETWORK: ...And maybe
he's
had an epiphany and he'll now help his country and realize what a jerk
his
father was to let him dump Jesus for a camel driver who had nine
wives...
DORNAN: You bet it is. Because I hear everybody criticizing the
Crusades
instead of Islam killing Christians and Jews for 1400 years...
HARRIS: All right. You know, I'm not a cleric, but I gotta -- I think I
remember them using camels when Jesus was around, too. Let me -- let me
ask
you something else about this.
DORNAN: But they didn't murder other camel drivers.
HARRIS: Well, OK. Let me ask you...
DORNAN: Mohammed did, Leon.
BRIAN: How could you actually as an elected official in a country that
embraces separation of church and state make pro-Jesus Christ and
anti-Islam statements? That is offensive and wrong.
DORNAN: Why? All you've heard is pro-Islamic statements for the last
three
months. It's not wrong. I'm not in office anymore. I never invoked
Jesus'
name on the House floor. Many times I was tempted, but you ought to
study
the two men. Study Jesus Christ, a man of peace, and study Mohammed, a
man
of war. Study them.
HARRIS: Well, well, well. Now let's stop...
(CROSSTALK)
HARRIS: Here we go. Here we go. Listen, I don't think I want...
SPENCE: I just want to say one thing. Give me the chance to say one
thing.
HARRIS: I just don't think we want this genie out of the bottle, Gerry.
SPENCE: I just want to say one thing. Jesus said, "forgive them.
Forgive
them." And I don't hear much forgiveness on the part of you.
DORNAN: Well, and what did Mohammed say?
SPENCE: I just don't hear it.
DORNAN: Cut their throats.
ALSO SEE:
INCITEMENT WATCH: DANIEL PIPES SAYS BUSH APPOINTEE LIKE 'NAZI'
The Muddle of the Moderate Muslim
Katherine Mangu-Ward, Weekly Standard, 12/22/03
http://www.weeklystandard.com/
"Calling (Khaled) Abou El Fadl a moderate, (Daniel Pipes) says, is like
making a distinction 'between a moderate Nazi and a radical Nazi.'"
NOTE: President Bush used a recess appointment to place Daniel Pipes on
the
board of the United States Institute of Peace. Abou El Fadl was
appointed
to a seat on the United States Commission on International Religious
Freedom last May by President Bush.
For more on Khaled M. Abou El Fadl, visit:
http://www.uscirf.gov/cirfPages/bio_AbouElFadl.php3
---
INCITEMENT WATCH: PAT ROBERTSON PROMOTES RELIGIOUS WAR
http://www.townhall.com/news/politics/200312/FOR20031217d.shtml
"Make no mistake about it - the entire world is being convulsed by a
religious struggle. The fight is not about money or territory; it is
not
about poverty versus wealth; it is not about ancient customs versus
modernity," the Christian leader said.
"No - the struggle is whether...Allah, is Supreme, or whether the
Judeo-Christian Jehovah God of the Bible is Supreme," Robertson said.
-----
U.S. MUSLIM GROUP OPPOSES FRENCH MOVE TO BAN RELIGIOUS SYMBOLS
(WASHINGTON, D.C., 12/17/2003) - The Council on American-Islamic
Relations
(CAIR) today opposed French President Jacques Chirac's call for
legislation
that would ban Islamic head scarves, or hijab, Jewish yarmulkes and
large
Christian crosses in public schools.
The Washington-based Islamic civil rights and advocacy group said the
proposed ban would restrict the ability of French Muslims, Jews and
Christians to freely exercise their religious beliefs. CAIR said the
move
would also contravene the French constitution and the European
Convention
on Human Rights.
"A nation cannot claim to uphold principles of liberty and equality
while
denying the religious rights of its citizens," said CAIR Executive
Director
Nihad Awad. "The proposed ban on Muslim, Jewish and Christian religious
symbols has very little to do with defending the secular nature of
France.
A Muslim woman or Jewish man wearing religious attire is not an
endorsement
of a state religion and I hope that Jewish and Christian leaders
worldwide
will join our call in opposing this upcoming legislation."
Awad noted that Christian and Jewish religious leaders in France have
also
opposed any ban on religious symbols in public schools and hospitals.
CAIR, America's largest Islamic civil liberties group, is headquartered
in
Washington, D.C., and has 25 regional offices and chapters nationwide
and
in Canada.
- END -
CONTACT: Ibrahim Hooper, 202-488-8787 or 202-744-7726, E-Mail:
cair@cair-net.org; Rabiah Ahmed, 202-488-8787 or 202-439-1441, E-Mail:
rahmed@cair-net.org
SEE ALSO:
RELIGIOUS CLOTHING ALLOWED IN U.S. SCHOOLS
Associated Press, 12/17/03
American students generally have the right to wear religious garb such
as a
Jewish skullcap, a Muslim scarf or a cross in public school, although
restrictions can be made if the school has a dress code that is not
directed at a particular faith.
For example, a school trying to limit gang activity may set a dress
code
that incidentally bars religious clothing like headwear, according to
Jeffrey Sinensky, general counsel for the American Jewish Committee.
If a school has such a dress code, administrators still have the power
to
make exceptions if a student asks to wear a religious item. School
officials usually accommodate students, though occasionally disputes
arise
that make their way into court, said Sinensky and Ibrahim Hooper, of
the
Council on American-Islamic Relations, a civil rights group.
Hooper said there have been sporadic cases in which school districts
have
attempted to ban headscarves or persuade Muslim girls not to wear them,
usually from a mistaken belief that they disrupt the school
environment.
But the conflicts have usually been quickly resolved, he said…
On the Net:
Department of Education guidelines on religion in public school:
http://www.ed.gov/policy/gen/guid/religionandschools/index.html
-----
CHIRAC SEEKS LAW BANNING HEAD SCARVES
Elaine Ganley, Associated Press, 12/17/03
http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-3517881,00.html
PARIS - French President Jacques Chirac asked parliament on Wednesday
for a
law banning Islamic head scarves and other religious insignia in public
schools, a move that aims at shoring up the nation's secular tradition,
despite cries that it will stigmatize France's 5 million Muslims.
Chirac said he also wanted to open the way for businesses to impose the
same ban, warning that ``fanaticism is gaining ground'' in France.
``Secularism is one of the great successes of the Republic,'' Chirac
said
in an address to the nation. ``It is a crucial element of social peace
and
national cohesion. We cannot let it weaken.''
For many French, the Islamic head scarf symbolizes Muslim militancy and
fears that fundamentalists are making dangerous inroads in France.
But Muslims - for many of whom the scarf is a mark of modesty and a
symbol
of identity - say a ban is discriminatory and violates their freedoms.
They
warn it could provoke a backlash, pushing Muslims out of France's
mainstream life and fueling militancy.
Chirac said he would push for a law to be enacted in time for the
school
year that begins next autumn. Islamic head scarves, Jewish skullcaps
and
large crucifixes would fall under the ban.
ALSO SEE:
HIJAB FAQ
Q: WHAT ARE THE REQUIREMENTS FOR MUSLIM WOMEN'S DRESS?
A: Rules regarding Muslim women's (and men's) attire are derived from
the
Quran, Islam's revealed text, and the traditions (hadith) of the
Prophet
Muhammad (peace be upon him). In the Quran, God states: "Say to the
believing men that they should lower their gaze and guard their
modesty...And say to the believing women that they should lower their
gaze
and guard their modesty; that they should not display their beauty and
adornments except what (must ordinarily) appear thereof; that they
should
draw their veils over their bosoms and not display their beauty except
to
their husbands, their fathers... (a list of exceptions)" [Chapter 24,
verses 30-31]
Also, "O Prophet! Tell thy wives and daughters, and the believing
women,
that they should cast their outer garments over their persons...that
they
should be known and not molested." [Chapter 33, verse 59]
A wife of the Prophet Muhammad narrated: "When the verse 'That they
should
draw their veils over their bosoms' was revealed, (the women) tore
their
thick outer garments and made veils from them." [Sunan of Abu-Dawood,
Hadith 1901]
In another tradition, the Prophet is quoted as saying: "...If the woman
reaches the age of puberty, no part of her body should be seen but this
---
and he pointed to his face and hands." [Sunan of Abu-Dawood, Hadith
1902]
From these and other references, the vast majority of Muslim scholars
and
jurists, past and present, have determined the minimum requirements for
Muslim women's dress: 1) Clothing must cover the entire body, with the
exception of the face and the hands. 2) The attire should not be form
fitting, sheer or so eye-catching as to attract undue attention or
reveal
the shape of the body.
There are similar, yet less obvious requirements for a Muslim male's
attire. 1) A Muslim man must always be covered from the navel to the
knees.
2) A Muslim man should similarly not wear tight, sheer, revealing, or
eye-catching clothing. In addition, a Muslim man is prohibited from
wearing
silk clothing (except for medical reasons) or gold jewelry. A Muslim
woman
may wear silk or gold.
Q: IS ISLAMIC DRESS APPROPRIATE FOR MODERN TIMES?
A: Islamic dress is modern and practical. Muslim women wearing Islamic
dress work and study without any problems or constraints.
Q: DOES ISLAMIC DRESS IMPLY THAT WOMEN ARE SUBMISSIVE OR INFERIOR TO
MEN?
A: Islamic dress is one of many rights granted to Islamic women. Modest
clothing is worn in obedience to God and has nothing to do with
submissiveness to men. Muslim men and women have similar rights and
obligations and both submit to God.
Q: BUT AREN'T THERE MUSLIM WOMEN WHO DO NOT WEAR ISLAMIC DRESS, OR
HIJAB?
A: Some Muslim women choose not to wear hijab. Some may want to wear it
but
believe they cannot get a job or may face discrimination wearing a head
scarf. Others may not be aware of the requirement or are under the
mistaken
impression that wearing hijab is an indication of inferior status.
-----
ISLAM PART OF HOLIDAY PROGRAM
Michael D. Clark, Cincinnati Enquirer, 12/17/03
http://www.enquirer.com/editions/2003/12/17/loc_ramadanrap.html
MASON - More than the 1,500 students, parents and guests crowded into
Mason
Intermediate School's gym Tuesday for a musical celebration of
international holidays including, for the first time, Muslim students
from
a local Islamic center.
The annual school musical event this year celebrated religious, racial
and
national diversity with the help of dozens of students who performed
musical tributes to various holiday traditions in Mexico, India,
England,
America - including the African-American celebration of Kwanza - as
well as
Christianity and Judaism.
But it was the participation of students from the Islamic Center of
Greater
Cincinnati's International Academy that drew curious attention as
third-,
fourth- and fifth-graders from the West Chester Township religious
school
joined the line-up to perform what was described as the "Ramadan Rap,"
as
well as traditional Islamic songs celebrating Ramadan, which is the
religion's holiest month.
"This is the first time they have performed in a public school. We
thought
it was a good opportunity to get to know each other better as
neighbors,"
explained Shakila Ahmad, a trustee with the Islamic Center, located in
Butler County a few miles from Warren County's Mason school system.
"Diversity is important and it has to start here, and it has to start
with
the young kids..."
ALSO SEE:
DO MUSLIMS AND CHRISTIANS WORSHIP THE SAME GOD?
Steven Waldman, MSN, 12/17/03
http://slate.msn.com/id/2092762/
When George Bush last month declared that Christians, Jews, and Muslims
worship the same God, some of his evangelical supporters had a holy
cow.
They have been arguing for some time that Islam is a fundamentally
dangerous and false religion, and then the most important evangelical
in
America, George Bush, goes and pays Muslims the ultimate compliment.
Ted Haggard, president of the National Association of Evangelicals,
explained his disagreement with Bush:
The Christian God encourages freedom, love, forgiveness, prosperity and
health. The Muslim god appears to value the opposite. The personalities
of
each god are evident in the cultures, civilizations and dispositions of
the
peoples that serve them. Muhammad's central message was submission;
Jesus'
central message was love. They seem to be very different personalities.
Richard Land, a top official of the Southern Baptist Convention,
explained
the theology. "The Bible is very clear about this. There is only one
true
God and His name is Jehovah, not Allah..."
The real controversy is whether Muslims pray to the same God as
Christians
and Jews. So, in the spirit of the Ramadan-Hanukkah-Christmas season,
we
went straight to God's biographer, or at least Jack Miles, author of
God: A
Biography. He noted that linguistic similarities indicated that Bush's
position is correct:
Allah in Arabic is a contraction for al-ilah, "the-God," and as such is
cognate with Hebrew eloh, "god" (plural of abstraction, elohim,
"deity").
Linguistic technicalities aside, what matters is that back in the
seventh
century, the first Muslims were using the same kind of word in Arabic
that
the Jews were using theologically in Hebrew and using it in the same
way...
-----
OFFICIALS REACT TO STUDENT ARREST
Tricia Bishop, Baltimore Sun, 12/17/03
http://www.sunspot.net/news/local/howard/bal-ho.police17dec17,0,2272137.story?coll=bal-local-howard
Howard school officials expressed concern yesterday about the level of
force used against a Glenelg High student who said he was thrown to the
ground, handcuffed and arrested by a school-based police officer in
front
of his classmates after refusing to switch seats last week in biology
class...
Sophomore Marvin Ebrahimzadeh, 15, "was badly bruised on the forehead
and
body and wrists" during the arrest, said Rizwan Mowlana, the council's
executive director. "He was treated like a criminal, and this is a puny
little kid."
Still, Marvin Ebrahimzadeh said, he doesn't "feel safe around the
police
officer." He hasn't been in school since the Dec. 10 arrest, and his
attorney, Hassan Ahmad, said he is unlikely to return while Smith is
there.
"He was subjected to a great deal of mental and physical abuse," said
Ahmad, who is trying to reach a resolution with school representatives
that
will return the youth to school, which he said could include a request
for
the officer's dismissal and diversity training for school staff.
Ahmad said he is examining whether the incident happened because of
anti-Muslim sentiment toward the youth, who is Middle Eastern and
Muslim...
-----
U.S. CONSIDERS EXPANDING FBI DATABASE
Dan Eggen, Washington Post, 12/17/03
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A6149-2003Dec16
Homeland security officials want to add tens of thousands of illegal
immigrants and foreign students to an FBI database designed primarily
to
help police apprehend wanted criminals, allowing them to instantly
identify
foreign nationals who have been deported or have violated student
visas.
The proposal -- part of a broad push by the Bush administration to more
closely monitor foreign nationals since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist
attacks -- is raising concerns among some civil liberties advocates and
law
enforcement groups that fear it will bring police heavily into the
business
of apprehending immigration violators who have committed no serious
crimes.
In some cases, they said, that could violate state rules that prohibit
police from enforcing federal immigration laws.
Spokesman Jorge Martinez stressed that the Justice Department has not
yet
made a decision on the plan.
Under the proposal, the FBI's main fugitive database would be expanded
to
include the names of 140,000 immigrants who are deported each year for
noncriminal reasons, officials said. An unknown number return to the
country and are here illegally. Authorities also would add the names of
thousands of foreign students who do not show up for class or otherwise
violate their visas...
ALSO SEE:
U.S. AND EUROPEANS AGREE ON SHARING OF AIRLINE PASSENGER DATA
Philip Shenon, New York Times, 12/17/03
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/12/17/international/europe/17AIRL.html
WASHINGTON - The European Union said Tuesday that it had agreed to
allow
the United States to continue to collect passenger records on all
airline
travelers flying to the United States from Europe, heading off a
trans-Atlantic showdown over a policy that the Bush administration says
is
vital to combating terrorism.
The agreement with the Bush administration ended a threat that the
European
Union would cite European privacy laws in blocking airlines from
continuing
to turn over the passenger records, which are scanned by the Homeland
Security Department and matched against terrorist watch lists before
travelers arrive in the United States.
A law enacted shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks requires
all
airlines to provide the United States with computerized passenger
records
for all travelers headed to the United States.
Bush administration officials have said the screening procedure has
allowed
law-enforcement agencies to head off potential terrorists and other
criminals trying to enter the United States through international
airports,
most notably Jose Padilla, an American arrested last year at O'Hare
International Airport in Chicago and accused of plotting to explode a
radiological device in the United States.
But several European governments and European privacy advocates have
balked
at the transfer of airline passenger information, saying it violates
European privacy laws. Their complaints were overruled by the 15-member
European Union, which agreed in February on an interim deal to allow
airlines to turn over the data. But in recent months, privacy advocates
had
stepped up pressure on the European Union to end the agreement...
-----
INSURGENTS OR PROTESTERS? 18 ARE KILLED IN CLASHES WITH US TROOPS
Robert Fisk, Independent, 12/17/03
http://fairuse.1accesshost.com/news1/fisk3.html
While Washington and London were still congratulating themselves on the
capture of Saddam Hussein, US troops have shot dead at least 18 Iraqis
in
the streets of three major cities in the country.
Dramatic videotape from the city of Ramadi 75 miles west of Baghdad
showed
unarmed supporters of Saddam Hussein being gunned down in semi-darkness
as
they fled from Americans troops. Eleven of the 18 dead were killed by
the
Americans in Samarra to the north of Baghdad.
All the killings came during demonstrations by Sunni Muslims against
the
American seizure of Saddam, protests that started near Samarra on
Monday
evening. The first demonstrators blocked roads north of Baghdad when
armed
men appeared alongside civilians who believed - initially - that US
forces
had arrested one of Saddam's doubles rather than the ex-dictator of
Iraq.
But their jubilation turned to fury when the Americans opened fire in
Samarra a few hours later.
As usual, the American military claimed that all 18 dead were
"insurgents"
and that US forces had come under fire in all three cities. But this is
what they claimed in Samarra just over two weeks ago when they boasted
they
had shot 54 "terrorists". Journalists investigating the killings
concluded
then that while US forces in the city had been ambushed while taking
currency notes to two banks in the city, the only victims of American
gunfire that could be confirmed were nine civilians, one of them a
child,
another an Iranian pilgrim...
-----
SADDAM IS GONE, BUT U.S. ISN'T
Arsalan T. Iftikhar, San Jose Mercury News, 12/17/03
http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/news/opinion/7511198.htm
''Saddam has been captured,'' was the only thing that I heard on the
other
end of the phone before jarring myself out of slumber and darting to
the
television. I felt a calming sensation, relief for all Iraqis who would
never have to face the prospect of this man ever hurting them again. I
truly felt that our soldiers had accomplished something on that day.
Nonetheless, I have always opposed the war in Iraq and continue to
oppose
its subsequent occupation. Is it possible to be happy about Saddam's
capture while still opposing the war? The answer is an emphatic
''yes.''
When our nation was debating the merits of going to war, there was
absolutely no guarantee that Saddam would ever be caught, let alone,
alive
and unkempt in a spider hole in Tikrit nine months later.
Many people see Saddam's capture as vindication for supporting the war.
With Saddam's dictatorial regime brutalizing Iraq for so long and with
the
video coverage of his capture, some people may mistakenly believe that
we
have accomplished all of our objectives.
Well, where are the weapons of mass destruction, which were President
Bush's justification for this war?...
ARSALAN T. IFTIKHAR is director of legal affairs for the Council on
American-Islamic Relations, the nation's largest Muslim civil rights
and
advocacy group.
ALSO SEE:
JOY FADES AS IRAQIS CHAFE UNDER A GRIM OCCUPATION
Edward Wong, New York Times, 12/16/03
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/12/16/international/middleeast/16GRAV.html
MAHAWIL, Iraq - In the evening gloom, on a dirt track a quarter mile
from
this country's largest killing field, the two brothers spoke of the
need
for answers.
They wanted Saddam Hussein to tell them - to tell all of Iraq - why the
bullet-scarred remains of more than 3,000 people had been dug up here
last
summer. They wanted to know why one of their cousins was among those
found,
why this cousin had disappeared 12 years earlier while buying flour at
the
village market, why members of the Baath Party had killed so many of
their
own countrymen.
Those were the easy questions.
More important, said the brothers, Dhiya and Ayad Abed, they wanted to
know
why life had gotten worse for them since the American-led forces ousted
Mr.
Hussein. Why did they lack electricity and fuel, why were there no
jobs,
why were armed bandits roaming the streets?
"It was inevitable that he be captured," said Dhiya Abed, 27. "There
was no
other way for this to end. But the Americans have to do something for
us
because things are worse than before."
The Abed brothers and others in this rural area provide a sobering
glimpse
into the impact of Mr. Hussein's capture on Iraqis, including those who
suffered enormously under his rule. The joyous bursts of gunfire that
echoed throughout parts of Iraq on Sunday are already a distant memory.
Many people are left wondering how they will push on with their daily
lives
in a country controlled by a foreign power and filled with political
and
economic uncertainty...
---
SENATORS WERE TOLD IRAQI WEAPONS COULD HIT U.S.
John McCarthy, Florida Today, 12/15/03
http://www.floridatoday.com/!NEWSROOM/localstoryN1216NELSON.htm
U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson said Monday the Bush administration last year
told
him and other senators that Iraq not only had weapons of mass
destruction,
but they had the means to deliver them to East Coast cities.
Nelson, D-Tallahassee, said about 75 senators got that news during a
classified briefing before last October's congressional vote
authorizing
the use of force to remove Saddam Hussein from power. Nelson voted in
favor
of using military force.
Nelson said he couldn't reveal who in the administration gave the
briefing.
The White House directed questions about the matter to the Department
of
Defense. Defense officials had no comment on Nelson's claim.
Nelson said the senators were told Iraq had both biological and
chemical
weapons, notably anthrax, and it could deliver them to cities along the
Eastern seaboard via unmanned aerial vehicles, commonly known as
drones...
-----
COMING SOON TO ARAB TV'S: U.S.
Jim Rutenberg, New York Times, 12/17/03
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/12/17/international/middleeast/17NETW.html
PRINGFIELD, Va. - The United States' next great hope for winning Arab
hearts and minds hides in a squat two-story building in a generic
industrial park here, just off I-95. The only hint of what may lie
within
is the black-tape lettering on the front door that reads "News."
Inside, construction crews are working seven days a week to complete
studios for the most ambitious United States government-sponsored
international media project since the Voice of America began
broadcasting
in 1942.
It is to be called Al Hurra, a slickly produced Arab-language news and
entertainment network that will be beamed by satellite from this
Washington
suburb to the Middle East. The name translates to English as "The Free
One."
Al Hurra is meant to be America's "fair and balanced" pan-Arab answer
to
outlets like Al Jazeera, the Qatar-based satellite network that White
House
officials accuse of fanning anti-Americanism in the Persian Gulf
region.
The network may start broadcasting as early as next month. But it
already
faces skepticism, even from an outside Middle East expert appointed by
Secretary of State Colin L. Powell to review American public relations
efforts in the Arab world.
Many Middle East scholars have questioned whether its target audience,
suspicious of all things American, would ever accept it, especially
when
its main hub is in Virginia...
---
OFFICES OF INTERPRETER'S LAWYERS SEARCHED
Matt Kelley, Associated Press, 12/16/03
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/politics/wire/sns-ap-guantanamo-interpreter,1,4139591.story
WASHINGTON - Military authorities searched offices of lawyers who
represent
an Air Force interpreter charged with spying at the Guantanamo Bay,
Cuba,
prison, one of the man's lawyers said Tuesday.
The Air Force delayed a preliminary hearing for Senior Airman Ahmad I.
al-Halabi because of the search and other actions last week that
defense
lawyers say have interfered with al-Halabi's preparations for his
military
trial. The hearing, which had been scheduled for Monday, was
rescheduled
for Jan. 13, the Air Force said in a brief statement issued Tuesday.
Al-Halabi is charged with espionage and aiding the enemy for allegedly
e-mailing secrets from the prison camp to an unidentified person and
planning to carry notes from some of the prisoners to his native Syria.
His
lawyers say he is innocent.
Air Force investigators searched the offices of al-Halabi's military
lawyers Thursday at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, his
civilian
lawyer, Donald G. Rehkopf Jr., said Tuesday. The investigators, who had
a
military warrant, copied the hard drive of one of the defense lawyers'
computers, Rehkopf said...
-----
CANADIANS' CULTURE OF TOLERANCE IS TESTED BY CASES AGAINST ARABS
DeNeen L. Brown, Washington Post, 12/17/03
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A6169-2003Dec16.html
TORONTO -- Hassan Almrei, a Syrian who immigrated to Canada on a fake
passport, sat in a glass cage in a courtroom, watching lawyers in
flowing
black robes argue his case.
A tall man thinned by a hunger strike, Almrei, 29, listened intently as
prosecutors accused him of having links to terrorists and demanded he
be
deported to Syria, where he was born. His attorney, Barbara Jackman,
argued
it would be inhumane to send the man to a country known for torture.
>From time to time, Jackman leaned through the window of the cage to
talk
with her client. Almrei, who had failed as a small restaurant owner in
Toronto, admitted in an affidavit that he had lied to government agents
about his activities, but denied he was a terrorist.
The cases of Almrei and other Canadian immigrants of Arab descent
underscore the tensions in a larger debate in Canada about how to deal
with
immigrants accused of involvement in terrorism. Canadians pride
themselves
on ideals of tolerance, inclusion and the belief that immigrants should
have the same rights as Canadian citizens. At the same time, the
country is
wrestling with how to protect national security and answer critics who
contend that the country's liberal immigration policies make Canada
easy
prey for terrorists...
ALSO SEE:
OFFICIALS: AFTER THEY TALK, ENEMY COMBATANTS CAN HAVE LAWYERS
Associated Press, 12/16/03
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dallas/nation/stories/121703dnnatenemy.97814.html
WASHINGTON - U.S. citizens classified as enemy combatants should gain
access to attorneys only after they have disclosed everything they know
about terrorist operations, federal law enforcement officials said
Tuesday.
Three senior Justice Department officials, briefing reporters on
condition
of anonymity, outlined the policy for the first time, calling it the
proper
way to balance national security and constitutional protections for
people
in government custody as part of the war on terrorism.
One of the officials said the goal never has been to deny counsel, only
to
delay it until interrogations are finished.
Critics say the policy gives the government too much leeway and treads
on
the constitutional right of a defendant to be granted quick access to
an
attorney and the courts. They note the government still is arguing
strenuously in federal courts that it has an absolute right to deny
access
to lawyers for enemy combatants, including U.S. citizens, and that such
a
decision is not subject to review by judges...
---
GUANTANAMO A 'BLACK HOLE' - 1ST CIVILIAN TO VISIT
Grant McCool, Reuters, 12/17/03
NEW YORK, Dec 17 (Reuters) - The U.S. Navy base in Guantanamo Bay,
Cuba,
where suspected Taliban soldiers are being held, is a "physical and
moral
black hole," the first civilian lawyer allowed to meet a client there
said
on Wednesday.
Australian lawyer Stephen Kenny, who last week visited detainee David
Hicks
of Adelaide, Australia, said at a news briefing in New York that Hicks
was
in "reasonable spirits" but "quite depressed about his conditions."
Hicks, 28, and hundreds of other detainees were arrested in the U.S.
invasion of Afghanistan in response to the Sept. 11 attacks by the al
Qaeda
network of Islamic militants headquartered there.
The detainees have been held for two years without charges or contact
with
the outside world, drawing worldwide criticism of this aspect of
Washington's war on terrorism.
The Australian was the first detainee at Guantanamo Bay to be allowed a
visit by a lawyer. Kenny was accompanied at the Navy base by U.S.
military
defense counsel and restrictions were placed on what he could say about
his
five days of meetings.
The government gave permission for the visit after the U.S. Supreme
Court
said last month it would review a ruling that the detainees are outside
the
jurisdiction of U.S. courts. The court would decide by the end of June
the
cases of two British nationals, two Australians and 12 Kuwaitis, but a
ruling would likely effect all detainees.
Kenny said the United States had not issued a timetable for Hicks' case
and
"I don't know when, or if, David will be formally charged, or if or
when he
will come to trial."
-----
BECOME A MUSLIM FOSTER CARE PARENT
WHAT: Dar Al-Hijrah Social Services Presents, "Foster Care Orientation
Meeting." An increasing number of Middle Eastern and Muslim children
are
coming into the public family services system due to family
difficulties,
domestic violence, or arrests, detentions, and deportations of
community
members. To help insure and to provide culture sensitive and
appropriate
care for these children, we need families and individuals to agree to
be
foster parents and to undergo the necessary training. Foster care
parenting
may be occasional, temporary, and limited, as you like. Opening your
home
to these children could be a real saving event in their lives.
Both Ms. Linda Raddack, Emma Marshall, Foster Care/Adoption Recruiters,
with Fairfax County, will explain about the process, procedures and
requirements for both foster care and adoption. And also will allow
time
for questions to be answered.
Who can be a Foster Parent?
Each prospective foster parent is considered on an individual basis.
He or she: Must be at least 21 and in good health, may be either single
or
married, must be able to provide a child with a safe, structured, happy
home.
The Department of Family Services prospective foster parents with
comprehensive training in foster parenting. In addition, each applicant
must participate in home study process before being approved as a
foster
parent.
WHEN: Saturday, December 20, 2003 @ 8:15 p.m.
Please contact Dar Al-Hijrah Social Services office at 703-531-2912 for
more information.
-----
To SUBSCRIBE to or UNSUBSCRIBE from this list, go to:
http://cair.biglist.com/cair-net/
To reach the list moderator, send a message to: cair@cair-net.org
-----
CAIR
Council on American-Islamic Relations
453 New Jersey Avenue, S.E.
Washington, D.C. 20003
Tel: 202-488-8787, 202-744-7726
Fax: 202-488-0833
E-mail: cair@cair-net.org
URL: http://www.cair-net.org
-----
Forwarded Message
Date:
Thu, 18 Dec 2003 17:08:07 -0500
To:
cair-net@cair.biglist.com
From:
"CAIR" <cair@cair-net.org>
Subject:
CAIR-NET: Officer Removed After Arrest of MD Muslim Student
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
AMERICAN MUSLIM NEWS BRIEFS - 12/18/03
* HADITH OF THE DAY: MODESTY
* CAIR'S LIBRARY PROJECT: 7107 SPONSORSHIPS
* OFFICER REMOVED AFTER ARREST OF MD MUSLIM STUDENT
* BUSH OVERRULED ON ENEMY COMBATANT PADILLA (AP)
- Hussein Enters Post-9/11 Web of U.S. Prisons (NYT)
* CONYERS-NADLER LETTER TO ASHCROFT ON 9/11 DETAINEES
- Conyers on Arar Deportation (Wash. Post)
* U.S. HAS MISGIVINGS ABOUT HEADSCARVES STANCE (Reuters)
- CAIR's CNN International Interview on Hijab (CNN)
- Try Tolerance (Times Picayune)
- Secularism Gone Mad (Guardian)
- France to Move Swiftly on Headscarf Ban (Reuters)
* STILL NO MASS WEAPONS, NO TIES TO 9/11 (Boston Globe)
* POLL: 43% OF AMERICANS SAY ISRAEL THREATENS PEACE (AP)
* ISLAM: THE NEXT AMERICAN RELIGION? (Beliefnet.Com)
* INDIAN WOMEN FED UP WITH SEXISM, BUILD OWN MOSQUE (AFP)
* VA MUSLIMS CALLED ON TO FEED THE HOMELESS
----
HADITH OF THE DAY: MODESTY
The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: "Every religion has an
innate character. The character of Islam is modesty."
Al-Muwatta, Volume 47, Number 9
-----
CAIR LIBRARY PROJECT: 7107 SPONSORSHIPS
The goal of CAIR's library project is to send accurate and objective
information about Islam to America's 16,000 public libraries.
For only $150, Muslim individuals and groups may sponsor 18-item
packages
about Islam and Muslims, which are then distributed to the library of
their
choice.
To sponsor a library call, 1-800-392-7876, ext. 320, or visit:
www.libraryproject.org.
-----
OFFICER REMOVED AFTER ARREST OF MD MUSLIM STUDENT
Some disciplinary duties taken away from vice principal
(WASHINGTON, D.C., 12/18/2003) - The Maryland office of the Council on
American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-MD) today announced that a police
officer
who was involved in the arrest of a Muslim high school student has been
removed from duty pending the results of an investigation. CAIR-MD
officials also say some disciplinary duties have been taken away from a
vice principal who initiated the arrest.
Earlier this week, Howard County school administrators expressed
concern
about the level of force used against a 15-year-old Glenelg High School
student who was thrown to the ground, handcuffed and arrested in front
of
his classmates after refusing to switch seats in class.
CAIR-MD met with school officials after the student's parents contacted
the
civil rights group over concerns that the incident may have been
provoked
by the boy's Middle Eastern origins or Islamic faith. In protest of the
force used in the incident, dozens of the arrested student's classmates
wore patches pinned to their clothes with the boy's initials and the
arrest
date.
SEE: "OFFICIALS REACT TO STUDENT ARREST"
http://www.sunspot.net/news/local/howard/bal-ho.police17dec17,0,2272137.story
"We appreciate the fact that school system authorities are taking this
matter seriously and acting accordingly," said Seyed Rizwan Mowlana,
executive director of CAIR-MD.
CAIR, America's largest Islamic civil liberties group, is headquartered
in
Washington, D.C., and has 25 regional offices and chapters nationwide
and
in Canada.
- END -
CONTACT: CAIR-Maryland, Rizwan Mowlana, 301-986-1900, 301-672-9355;
CAIR-DC, Ibrahim Hooper, 202-488-8787 or 202-744-7726, E-Mail:
cair@cair-net.org; Rabiah Ahmed, 202-488-8787 or 202-439-1441, E-Mail:
rahmed@cair-net.org
-----
BUSH OVERRULED ON ENEMY COMBATANT PADILLA
Associated Press, 12/18/03
http://abcnews.go.com/wire/US/ap20031218_1194.html
NEW YORK - President Bush does not have power to detain American
citizen
Jose Padilla seized on U.S. soil as an enemy combatant, a federal
appeals
court ruled Thursday.
The decision could force Padilla, held in a so-called "dirty bomb"
plot, to
be tried in civilian courts.
In a 2-to-1 ruling, a three-judge panel of the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court
of
Appeals said Padilla's detention was not authorized by Congress and
that
Bush could not designate him as an enemy combatant without the
authorization.
SEE ALSO:
HUSSEIN ENTERS POST-9/11 WEB OF U.S. PRISONS
James Risen and Thom Shanker, New York Times, 12/18/03
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/12/18/international/middleeast/18SADD.html
WASHINGTON- Saddam Hussein is now prisoner No. 1 in what has developed
into
a global detention system run by the Pentagon and the Central
Intelligence
Agency, according to government officials.
It is a secretive universe, they said, made up of large and small
facilities scattered throughout the world that have sprouted up to
handle
the hundreds of suspected terrorists of Al Qaeda, Taliban warlords and
former officials of the Iraqi government arrested by the United States
and
its allies since the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the
Pentagon and the war in Iraq.
Many of the prisoners are still being held in a network of detention
centers ranging from Afghanistan to the United States Naval Base at
Guant�namo Bay in Cuba. Officials described it as a prison system with
its
own unique hierarchy, one in which the most important captives are kept
at
the greatest distance from the prying eyes of the public and the media.
It
is a system in which the jailers have refined the arts of interrogation
in
order to drain the detainees of crucial information.
Mr. Hussein's new address is still a closely guarded secret, although
he is
still inside Iraq, American officials said Wednesday. No one will say
precisely where, but it seems likely that he is at a highly secure
detention facility established at Baghdad International Airport, where
the
United States is holding the other top Iraqi leaders it has captured.
When
asked if Mr. Hussein was at airport, American officials declined to
comment.
The C.I.A. has quietly established its own detention system to handle
especially important prisoners. The most important Qaeda leaders are
held
in small groups in undisclosed locations in friendly countries in the
developing world, where they face long interrogations with no promise
of
ever gaining release. For example, at least two of the top Qaeda
figures
captured since the Sept. 11 attacks - Abu Zubaydah and Ramzi bin
al-Shibh -
were held for a time in a secure location in Thailand. They were later
moved to another country, officials said...
-----
CONYERS-NADLER LETTER TO ASHCROFT ON SUPPLEMENTAL IG REPORT ON 9/11
DETAINEES
December 18, 2003
The Honorable John D. Ashcroft
Attorney General of the United States
U.S. Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20530
Dear Mr. Attorney General:
We have just read the Office of the Inspector General's Supplemental
Report
concerning detainees' allegations of abuses at the Metropolitan
Detention
Center in Brooklyn, New York (http://www.usdoj.gov/oig/igspecr1.htm ).
We are deeply troubled by the Supplemental Report and believe that it
demands your immediate personal attention, and may well necessitate
disciplinary action against any Department employees found to have
engaged
in the illegal or inappropriate conduct described in the report.
Among other things, we would note that the Supplemental Report
identifies
numerous instances of physical and verbal abuse by correctional
officers.
This included officers who "slammed detainees against the wall, twisted
their arms and hands in painful ways, stepped on their leg restraint
chains, and punished them by keeping them restrained for long periods
of
time." The OIG also details the fact that several corrections officers
went
so far as to record illegally meetings between detainees and their
attorneys, a clear violation of the Fourth and Sixth Amendments.
Actions
such as these not only constitute a disservice to the Department but
seriously undermine our war against terror.
We also were shocked to learn that many of the officers attempted to
deny
responsibility for their actions. We know this because the IG's report
clearly notes that many of the abuses were corroborated by current and
former correctional officers, and were captured on videotape. For
example,
the OIG notes that:
Three staff members stated in OIG interviews that they did not press
compliant detainees against the wall because that would be
inappropriate.
In viewing videotapes, however, we saw these same officers pressing
compliant detainees into walls. In addition, three other staff members
denied that they, or anyone else, had bent or twisted detainees' arms,
hands, fingers, or thumbs. Again, we observed on videotapes these same
staff members twisting compliant detainees' arms, hands, wrists, or
thumbs.
Given the extremely serious and credible nature of the charges laid out
in
today's Supplemental Report, as well as in the initial report released
in
June 2003, we believe it is incumbent upon the Department to take
immediate
action not only to prevent these abuses from recurring but also to
discipline the offending officers.
We look forward to meeting with you at your earliest convenience to
discuss
these very serious charges. Please reply to us through Perry Apelbaum
or
Ted Kalo of the Judiciary Committee staff, 2142 Rayburn House Office
Building, Washington, DC 20515 (tel: 202-225-6504; fax: 202-225-4423).
Sincerely,
John Conyers, Jr.
Jerrold Nadler
Ranking Member
Ranking Member
House Judiciary Committee
Subcommittee on the Constitution
ALSO SEE:
CONYERS ON ARAR DEPORTATION
DeNeen L. Brown, Washington Post, 12/18/03
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A6456-2003Dec16_2.html
TORONTO -- Rep. John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.) has asked U.S. officials to
investigate the case of a Syrian Canadian who was arrested in New York
last
year and deported to Syria.
Maher Arar, who was accused of having ties to terrorists, was arrested
in
New York on Sept. 26, 2002, while traveling with his Canadian passport.
He
was flown to Jordan, then to Syria, where he says he was imprisoned and
beaten.
Rights groups say the United States violated international laws
prohibiting
prisoners from being sent to countries that practice torture. Arar was
returned to Canada after nearly a year in a Syrian prison, and has
filed
suit against Jordan and Syria for kidnapping and torture.
"Recent reports indicate that the Immigration and Naturalization
Service,
the Central Intelligence Agency and the attorney general arranged for
Mr.
Arar to be delivered into the hands of Syrian intelligence officials
who
are renowned for their use of torture against prisoners," Conyers said
in a
letter sent Tuesday to the inspector general of the Department of
Homeland
Security and to Attorney General John D. Ashcroft. "Because Mr. Arar no
longer has any ties to Syria, the only reason for doing so could have
been
the hope of extracting information through methods disallowed by the
United
States and international law."
U.S. officials have said Arar, who was born in Syria, was refused entry
after his name appeared on an immigration watch list. U.S. officials
said
they had been assured by Syria that Arar would not be tortured.
-----
US HAS MISGIVINGS ABOUT CHIRAC'S HEADSCARVES STANCE
Reuters, 12/18/03
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=politicsNews&storyID=4016508
WASHINGTON - The U.S. State Department voiced misgivings on Thursday
about
French President Jacques Chirac's plan to bar the wearing of Islamic
headscarves, Jewish skullcaps and large Christian crosses in French
state
schools.
"(A) fundamental principle of religious freedom that we work for in
many
countries of the world, including on this very issue of headscarves, is
that all persons should be able to practice their religion and their
beliefs peacefully without government interference as long as they are
doing so without provocation and intimidation of others in the
society,"
the U.S. ambassador for international religious freedom said.
"President Chirac is concerned to maintain France's principle of
secularism
and he wants that, as I think he said, not to be negotiable. Our hope
is
religious freedom would be a nonnegotiable as well," ambassador John
Hanford told reporters when asked about the issue as he presented the
State
Department's annual report on religious freedom.
"One Muslim leader said this is a secularism that excludes too much. We
are
very concerned that that not be the case," he added. "So we are going
to
watch this carefully and (it is) certainly an important concern."
Chirac called on Wednesday for a law banning Islamic headscarves and
other
religious symbols in state schools, despite protests from Muslims in
France
and across the world...
ALSO SEE:
SEPARATION OF CHURCH, STATE IN FRANCE
Jim Clancy, CNN International, 12/17/03
http://www.cnn.com/CNNI/
Discussion of France's ban on display of conspicuous religious symbols,
such as headscarves for Muslim women, in public schools.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JIM CLANCY, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR (voice-over): The French president
decides on banning religious signs and symbols in schools. Intended to
make
it clear that France is secular, the law prohibits conspicuous
religious
symbols. But there have been warnings, the measure could alienate the
country's five million Muslims, and leaders of all three main religions
have expressed concern. On this edition of Q&A, separating church and
state
in France.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CLANCY: Hello, and welcome once again to Q&A. It has been an angry
debate
in France, one that has lasted for months. The focus has been on
whether
religious symbols should be banned in state schools. But it's been the
Islamic community that feels any ban is really directed at them.
Despite
the opposition, French President Jacques Chirac wants to go ahead with
the
new law.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JACQUES CHIRAC, FRENCH PRESIDENT (through translator): We are talking
about
the Star of David or (UNINTELLIGIBLE) or a small cross. Those are
acceptable. But when it's obvious, in other words, when worn it means
that
people can immediately what religion they belong to, that should not be
accepted. For example, the veil, whatever we call it, or hitah (ph) or
(UNINTELLIGIBLE) cross. Those are not to be worn in state schools.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CLANCY: Will this end the debate? Not likely. This is just a beginning.
That's the scenario that appears to be playing out.
With us from Paris, Christian Malar, a senior foreign editor with
France 3
Television, and in Washington, Ibrahim Hooper, spokesman for the
Council on
American Islamic Relations. We're also going to be opening up the phone
lines here. We want to hear from you. What are your views on this? Are
schoolgirls in headscarves really a problem, a problem that must be
dealt
with by the French president? Call us now with your thoughts, your
opinions
or questions for our guests at 1-404-827-1010.
Christian Malar, you are there in Paris, let's begin with you. What is
the
significance of what Jacques Chirac has said this day?
CHRISTIAN MALAR, FRANCE 3 TELEVISION: Well, Jim, the key message,
delivered
-- conveyed today by President Chirac is very firm and very clear. The
principles of French secularism are not negotiable under the pretext of
religious liberties.
Let me come back very briefly on why we have been coming to this
situation
today in France. I think we had until now the regular -- the different
communities -- Muslim, Jewish and Catholic have been coping with each
other
without too many troubles. But I think the French authorities might
have
been a little bit scared by the fact that some students, some girls
going
to French state schools started putting the headscarves on the head,
showing sign of -- religious signs of Muslim religion, and it has been
maybe in some part backed or manipulated by some Muslim fundamentalist
organization, which exist in France.
And all (UNINTELLIGIBLE) from one particular reason. We have something
which is expanding now to all religions in the country. And my - - my
fear
today as an observer, is we don't want in France -- and President
Chirac
remind us that we're not going to have in this country to accept social
and
religious sectarianism, sectarianism. But I think that from a short --
a
small story, to a big story we might amplify the phenomenon of social
and
religious sectarianism in this country.
CLANCY: Ibrahim Hooper, looking on from across the Atlantic, you have
heard
this today, and you have followed it. Your observations.
IBRAHIM HOOPER, COUNCIL ON AMERICAN ISLAMIC RELATIONS: Well, the first
thing to know is that a headscarf is not like wearing a cross, or a
Star of
David. It's a religious practice, it's mandated by the faith of Islam.
So
what the state in France would be doing is prohibiting French Muslims
from
carrying out the dictates of their faith.
So, that's the first thing. But I think if you take the example of
America,
there are Muslim women in schools, in government offices, in
businesses,
all over the country wearing headscarves, and the Constitution is still
standing, America is still here, the world has not come to an end, and
I
don't think it's going to come to an end in France if a 12-year old
girl
wears a scarf in a public school.
CLANCY: Ibrahim, very briefly, let me just ask you. If you would have
known, for a certainty, that political forces were behind it,
fundamentalist Islamic preachers saying, all right, everybody out
there,
wear your headscarves, would you agree with it then?
HOOPER: Well, that's always the boogeyman that's put out there, that
there
is some nefarious hands behind this kind of thing. In all of these
cases,
where the case where the father was Jewish of one of these girls? We
have
these simple families, who want to carry out their religious beliefs,
their
Islamic beliefs that have been long standing, for more than 1,400
years,
and that's all. They want to go to school and be productive members of
the
society.
And if these same students wore a scarf as a fashion statement, no one
would have a problem. But if they wear it out of a sense of modesty, in
a
sense of religious obligation, somehow it's a threat to the society.
It's
just utter nonsense…
---
TRY TOLERANCE
Times-Picayune, 12/18/03
http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/index.ssf?/base/news-0/1071762900255300.xml
French President Jacques Chirac thinks schoolgirls who wear headscarves
in
observance of their religion are a threat to his country's social
order.
He's pushing the French parliament to pass a law that would ban Islamic
head scarves and other religious items from public schools. He also
wants
businesses to be able to ban them.
Such a law is necessary to stop rising fanaticism, he says. But what
about
rising bigotry? It's hard to see this law as anything other than
discrimination against France's religious minorities, even if it does
ostensibly apply to the insignia of all religions.
A Christian student, for example, would be allowed to wear a small,
discreet crucifix, although a large one would violate the law. But a
Muslim
girl wouldn't be able to wear a head-covering in keeping with the
tenets of
her faith. Nor would a Jewish boy be allowed to wear a yarmulke.
President Chirac insists that the point is to protect France's
secularism...
---
SECULARISM GONE MAD
Madeleine Bunting, Guardian, 12/18/03
http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,3604,1109242,00.html
A 13-year-old girl is an exemplary pupil in every way; she listens
carefully to her teachers, does her homework and is a cheerful member
of
the class. But in one respect, according to President Jacques Chirac
yesterday, her behaviour threatens nothing less than the social peace
and
national cohesion of the French nation - she insists on wearing a
headscarf. All around her, pupils are wearing the kind of outlandish
clothes and hairstyles one would expect of teenagers anywhere in
Europe.
But there is one garment that, the president has declared, challenges
the
secularity of republican France: the square metre or so of material
that
covers this girl's hair.
It seems preposterous: how can the clothing of schoolgirls become an
issue
of such enormous symbolic weight that for 14 years it has been the
touchstone of a debate about the French constitution, about what it is
to
be French and how France should "integrate" its 3.7 million Muslims -
the
largest Muslim minority in Europe? (Significantly, France talks of
integration, not multi-culturalism.) It is not just schoolgirls who
will be
affected but also public servants; a juror was even dismissed during a
trial because she was wearing a headscarf. The French state must be
seen to
be entirely neutral in all its dealings, and Chirac yesterday endorsed
the
findings of an official commission and asked parliament to pass a law
banning all "ostentatious religious symbols..."
---
FRANCE TO MOVE SWIFTLY ON MUSLIM HEADSCARF BAN
Joelle Diderich, Reuters, 12/18/03
PARIS - French Education Minister Luc Ferry said on Thursday he planned
to
submit to parliament early next year a draft law banning religious
symbols
such as Islamic headscarves in state schools.
The measure, announced by President Jacques Chirac in a speech on
Wednesday, has drawn protests from Muslims in France and across the
world.
But French religious leaders who voiced concern before the speech were
more
positive after hearing it.
"There will be a law specifically concerning schools, because this is
the
central issue," Ferry told French radio RTL. "It will probably be
submitted
in February, given that it has to be applicable by the start of the new
school year in 2004."
Ferry said he planned to keep the draft law short and simple, and
although
he had yet to settle the exact wording he was leaning towards
prohibiting
what would be described as "ostentatious" symbols of faith.
The minister, who earlier expressed concern over suggestions there
might be
an outright ban on all religious symbols in schools, said he was
satisfied
that Chirac had decided to restrict the ban to overt symbols such as
headscarves, Jewish skullcaps and large Christian crosses.
Pupils will still be allowed to wear discreet symbols of faith such as
small Islamic pendants, the star of David or Christian crosses...
-----
STILL NO MASS WEAPONS, NO TIES TO 9/11, NO TRUTH
Derrick Z. Jackson, Boston Globe, 12/17/03
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2003/12/17/still_no_mass_weapons_no_ties_to_911_no_truth/
THE INVASION was still a lie. The capture of Saddam Hussein changes
nothing
about that. There were too many forked tongues in the road to his lair.
The
way we removed the dictator, we became a global dictatorship.
No major reason for the war has been proven. The deadly WMDs became
weapons
of mysterious disappearance. In August 2002, Vice President Cheney
said:
"Simply stated, there is no doubt that Saddam Hussein now has weapons
of
mass destruction. There is no doubt he is amassing them to use against
our
friends, against our allies, and against us."
In the 48-hour warning to Saddam on March 17, 2003, Bush said,
"Intelligence gathered by this and other governments leaves no doubt
that
the Iraq regime continues to possess and conceal some of the most
lethal
weapons ever devised. . . . The terrorists could fulfill their stated
ambitions and kill thousands or hundreds of thousands of innocent
people in
our country or any other."
On March 30, a week and a half after the start of the invasion, Defense
Secretary Donald Rumsfeld boasted about the weapons of mass
destruction,
"We know where they are. They're in the area around Tikrit and Baghdad
and
east, west, south, and north somewhat."
Nine months later, no chemical or biological weapons of mass
destruction
have been found...
-----
POLL: 43 PERCENT OF AMERICANS FEEL ISRAEL THREATENS WORLD PEACE
Jonathan M. Katz, Associated Press, 12/17/03
http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGAIIN9YBOD.html
JERUSALEM - Some 43 percent of Americans believe Israel is a threat to
world peace, according to a poll presented Wednesday by a Jewish group,
but
many more are concerned about North Korea, Iraq and Iran.
The Anti-Defamation League said its survey showed much less concern
about
Israel among Americans than a recent poll in Europe, where Israel was
at
the top of the list of countries perceived as threatening world peace.
The ADL poll showed that 43 percent of Americans believe Israel is a
threat
to world peace, placing it behind seven other countries. In last
month's
Eurobarometer poll, 59 percent of Europeans chose Israel, ranking it
number
one.
North Korea ranked first in the U.S. poll at 77 percent, with Iraq and
Iran
tied for second at 76 percent. About 37 percent of Americans said the
United States itself was the greatest threat.
A Boston-based research firm interviewed 1,200 American adults by phone
earlier this month for the ADL. The survey's margin of error was 4
percentage points. The poll was presented during a national security
conference in Herzliya attended by Israeli leaders and world figures.
The poll showed about 40 percent of Americans sympathize primarily with
Israel in the Mideast conflict, compared to just 15 percent that
sympathize
with Palestinians, numbers Foxman said have remained consistent since
1991...
-----
ISLAM: THE NEXT AMERICAN RELIGION?
Michael Wolfe, Beliefnet.com, 12/18/03
http://www.beliefnet.com/story/69/story_6982.html
Americans tend to think of their country as, at the very least, a
nominally
Christian nation. Didn't the Pilgrims come here for freedom to practice
their Christian religion? Don't Christian values of righteousness under
God, and freedom, reinforce America's democratic, capitalist ideals?
True enough. But there's a new religion on the block now, one that fits
the
current zeitgeist nicely. It's Islam.
Islam is the third-largest and fastest growing religious community in
the
United States. This is not just because of immigration. More than 50%
of
America's six million Muslims were born here. Statistics like these
imply
some basic agreement between core American values and the beliefs that
Muslims hold. Americans who make the effort to look beyond popular
stereotypes to learn the truth of Islam are surprised to find
themselves on
familiar ground.
Is America a Muslim nation? Here are seven reasons the answer may be
yes.
Islam is monotheistic. Muslims worship the same God as Jews and
Christians.
They also revere the same prophets as Judaism and Christianity, from
Abraham, the first monotheist, to Moses, the law giver and messenger of
God, to Jesus--not leaving out Noah, Job, or Isaiah along the way. The
concept of a Judeo-Christian tradition only came to the fore in the
1940s
in America. Now, as a nation, we may be transcending it, turning to a
more
inclusive "Abrahamic" view...
-----
WOMEN IN INDIAN VILLAGE FED UP WITH SEXISM, BUILD OWN MOSQUE
Agence France Presse, 12/18/03
NEW DELHI - A group of Muslim women in an Indian village, fed up with
what
they say are sexist decisions made by the male authorities particularly
in
divorce cases, have decided to build their own mosque, a report said
Thursday.
The women in the village of Parambu in the southern state of Tamil Nadu
have formed a group called Chaaya (Shadow) and acquired land to build
the
mosque, the Hindustan Times daily said.
"This decision was taken after we found male-dominated jamaats (dispute
settlement forums) handing down discriminatory verdicts in family
disputes,
especially in divorce matters," said Sherifa, the convenor of Chaaya,
who
uses just one name.
"When a man seeks divorce, only his case is heard by the jamaat. The
wife
is never called for a hearing, saying that women are not permitted
inside
mosques, where the jamaat usually sits," she said.
A woman priest well-versed in the Koran and Islamic tenets is to take
charge at the new mosque...
-----
VA MUSLIMS CALLED ON TO FEED THE HOMELESS
WHAT: Volunteers are needed to prepare the distribution of food among
the
homeless again. Volunteers from the Muslim community are necessary
since
Christian members of the interfaith coalition will be celebrating
Christmas
Eve. If Muslim volunteers don't come forward for that evening, about
150
of the homeless in Fairfax County will go hungry. So, please come and
join
us inshallah.
WHEN: Wednesday, 24 December.
First Shift (food preparation): 3:30 pm to 6:00 pm (we need most help
during this shift)
Second Shift (food distribution): 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm
WHERE: Fairfax Presbyterian Church
10723 Main Street, Fairfax, VA 22030
CONTACT: shoma@prodigy.net
-----
To SUBSCRIBE to or UNSUBSCRIBE from this list, go to:
http://cair.biglist.com/cair-net/
To reach the list moderator, send a message to: cair@cair-net.org
-----
CAIR
Council on American-Islamic Relations
453 New Jersey Avenue, S.E.
Washington, D.C. 20003
Tel: 202-488-8787, 202-744-7726
Fax: 202-488-0833
E-mail: cair@cair-net.org
URL: http://www.cair-net.org
-----
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CAIR LAUNCHES WEEKLY ELECTION UPDATE
First alert focused on USA PATRIOT Act
(WASHINGTON, D.C., 12/19/2003) - The Council on American-Islamic
Relations
(CAIR) today issued the first of its weekly "Election 2004 Updates"
designed to promote the political empowerment of the American Muslim
community. The updates will focus on issues of importance to the
American
Muslim community and candidates' positions on those issues.
This week's alert looks at the positions of presidential candidates on
the
USA PATRIOT Act. SEE:
http://www.cair-net.org/muslimvote2004/issue1.html
(Future alerts will be distributed directly through CAIR's e-mail
lists. To
offer comments or suggestions about the updates, e-mail:
hmansori@cair-net.org)
Provisions of that act have been challenged by civil libertarians as
infringing on the rights of all Americans. Muslims are specifically
concerned with section 213 (sneak and peak searches), section 215
(personal
records), section 412 (indefinite detentions), and section 802
(definition
of domestic terrorism).
Each Election 2004 Update will also encourage American Muslim voter
registration and offer information about the registration process.
"To have a voice in the political process, American Muslims must be
aware
of the issues that impact their lives and have an understanding of
where
each candidate stands on those issues," said CAIR Executive Director
Nihad
Awad.
Awad added that along with awareness of the issues, every eligible
American
Muslim must be registered to vote. He noted that CAIR's political
awareness
and voter registration campaign is part of a nationwide effort by a
number
of Muslim groups.
CAIR, America's largest Islamic civil liberties group, is headquartered
in
Washington, D.C., and has 25 regional offices and chapters nationwide
and
in Canada.
- END -
CONTACT: Ibrahim Hooper, 202-488-8787 or 202-744-7726, E-Mail:
cair@cair-net.org; Rabiah Ahmed, 202-488-8787 or 202-439-1441, E-Mail:
rahmed@cair-net.org
NOTE: CAIR offers an e-mail list designed to be a window to the
American
Muslim community. Subscribers to the list, called CAIR-NET, receive
news
releases and other materials dealing with American Muslim positions on
issues of importance to our society.
To SUBSCRIBE to CAIR-NET, go to: http://cair.biglist.com/cair-net/
To reach the list moderator, send a message to: cair@cair-net.org
-----
CAIR
Council on American-Islamic Relations
453 New Jersey Avenue, S.E.
Washington, D.C. 20003
Tel: 202-488-8787, 202-744-7726
Fax: 202-488-0833
E-mail: cair@cair-net.org
URL: http://www.cair-net.org
-----
Forwarded Message
Date:
Fri, 19 Dec 2003 15:20:13 -0500
To:
cair-net@cair.biglist.com
From:
"CAIR" <cair@cair-net.org>
Subject:
CAIR-NET: Detainee Abuse Probe Sought/Yee Returns Home
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
AMERICAN MUSLIM NEWS BRIEFS - 12/19/03
* HADITH OF THE DAY: GOD DOES NOT NEED SUFFERING
* CAIR'S LIBRARY PROJECT: 7111 SPONSORSHIPS
* WA SUPPORTERS WELCOME RETURN OF JAMES YEE
- Officer Who Arrested Student Removed (Wash. Post)
* MUSLIMS SEEK PROBE OF DETAINEE ABUSE
- Muslims Being Deported Despite Rules Change (IPS)
* WAR ON TERRORISM'S LEGAL TACK REJECTED (Wash. Post)
- Prosecution Challenged in Charity Case (Wash. Post)
- The Courts Assert Themselves (NY Times)
- The Padilla Decision (New York Times)
* NJ CLERIC TO REVIVE MUSLIM ORGANIZATION (AP)
* NO WMD IN IRAQ: WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE? (Wash. Post)
- Rumsfeld Visited Baghdad in 1984 (Wash. Post)
- The Neocon Lie Factory (Democracy Now)
* SHARON'S LIMITED VISION (NY TIMES)
* FRENCH MUSLIM GIRLS EYE CATHOLIC SCHOOLS (AP)
- Muslims Urged to Press French on Ban (Reuters)
- Danish Muslim Dismissed for Headscarf (FT)
* ISLAM IN ARKANSAS (Arkansas Times)
- Muslims Give Teaching on Jesus (Ottawa Citizen)
* PRISON IMAM JOB OPPORTUNITY
-----
HADITH OF THE DAY: GOD DOES NOT NEED SUFFERING
A man once told the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him): "My sister
has
taken a vow to perform (the pilgrimage to Mecca) on foot." The Prophet
replied: "God gets no good from the affliction your sister imposed on
herself, so let her perform (the pilgrimage) riding."
Sunan of Abu- Dawood, Hadith 1458
-----
CAIR LIBRARY PROJECT: 7111 SPONSORSHIPS
The goal of CAIR's library project is to send accurate and objective
information about Islam to America's 16,000 public libraries.
For only $150, Muslim individuals and groups may sponsor 18-item
packages
about Islam and Muslims, which are then distributed to the library of
their
choice.
To sponsor a library call, 1-800-392-7876, ext. 320, or visit:
www.libraryproject.org.
-----
CAIR-SEATTLE: WA SUPPORTERS WELCOME RETURN OF JAMES YEE
WHAT: On Friday, December 19, members of the Washington Muslim
community
will gather at Sea-Tac Airport to welcome home James Yee. Huda Suboh
and
Sarah Yee, Yee's wife and daughter, as well as friends, community
supporters and religious leaders will also greet him at the airport.
This
will be Yee's first visit home.
Yee, the Muslim chaplain formerly assigned to Guantanamo Bay, was
released
on November 25 after spending 76 days in solitary confinement.
A NEWS CONFERENCE will precede the Welcome Home Celebration. Eugene
Fidell, Yee's civilian attorney will call-in from Washington, D.C. and
will
take questions. Yee and his wife, Huda Suboh, will make statements, but
will not answer questions pertaining to the case.
WHEN: Friday December 19, 2003. Yee's Arrival at Airport � 3:15 pm.
News
conference and Reception � 4:30 pm.
WHERE: Welcome � Sea-Tac Airport Arrivals Level escalators located
between
baggage carrousels #14 and #15, near the United Airlines baggage claim
and
Flying Eagle Espresso
News conference and Reception � Seattle Radisson Airport Hotel, The
Phoenix
Room
17001 Pacific Highway South, Seattle, WA 98188
- END -
CONTACT: CAIR-Seattle, Samia El-Moslimany, 206-409-3407, E-MAIL:
samia@cair-seattle.org
SEE ALSO:
CAIR-MD: OFFICER WHO ARRESTED STUDENT IS REMOVED
Washington Post, 12/18/03
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A13750-2003Dec18.html
A Howard County police officer has been temporarily removed from his
post
at Glenelg High School, a week after he arrested a teenager who refused
a
teacher's order to change seats.
On Dec. 10, officer Kelly Smith handcuffed Marvin Ebrahimzadeh, 15, of
Woodbine during biology class after the student disobeyed the teacher's
order and then refused to follow an assistant principal to the office.
The
youth was taken to a police station and charged with disorderly
conduct.
His parents later took him to the emergency room with several bruises,
his
attorney said.
Ebrahimzadeh, who stayed home after the arrest, returned to school
Wednesday. Schools spokeswoman Patti Caplan said that police are
reviewing
the arrest and that Assistant Principal Robert Connor will no longer be
involved with decisions concerning the student.
"They felt because of the trust that has broken down, it would be
better
for all parties involved," Caplan said.
The student's family and the Council on American-Islamic Relations in
Maryland, which is part of a national advocacy group, had questioned
whether the boy was singled out because of his Middle Eastern heritage.
A
representative of the American-Islamic council said he did not believe
the
arrest was racially motivated...
-----
MUSLIMS SEEK CONGRESSIONAL PROBE OF DETAINEE ABUSE
(WASHINGTON, D.C., 12/19/2003) - A prominent national Islamic civil
rights
and advocacy group today called for congressional hearings on
newly-released evidence of abuse directed at post-9/11 detainees in the
United States.
The Washington-based Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) is
reacting to a Justice Department report showing that post-9/11
detainees
held at a New York facility suffered physical and verbal abuse by
guards.
Inspector General Glenn A. Fine's supplemental report said officials at
the
Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC) in Brooklyn, N.Y., illegally taped
meetings between detainees and their lawyers, and used strip searches
or
restraints as forms of punishment. It said abuse included slamming
prisoners against walls and painfully twisting their arms.
The allegations of abuse came from videotapes that federal prison
officials
had previously claimed were destroyed. (In the inspector general's
initial
report, he noted that none of the 762 Muslim and Arab aliens detained
in
post-9/11 sweeps were ever charged with a terrorism-related offense.
SEE:
http://www.usdoj.gov/oig/special/03-06/index.htm )
SEE: "Tapes Show Abuse of 9/11 Detainees"
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A13497-2003Dec18.html
"Report on September 11 Detainees' Allegations of Abuse"
http://www.usdoj.gov/oig/special/0312/index.htm
"Congress must take the initiative both in investigating these abuses
and
proposing legislation that would help prevent such mistreatment of
prisoners," said CAIR Board Chairman Omar Ahmad.
CAIR, America's largest Islamic civil liberties group, is headquartered
in
Washington, D.C., and has 25 regional offices and chapters nationwide
and
in Canada.
- END -
CONTACT: Ibrahim Hooper, 202-488-8787 or 202-744-7726, E-Mail:
cair@cair-net.org; Rabiah Ahmed, 202-488-8787 or 202-439-1441, E-Mail:
rahmed@cair-net.org
ALSO SEE:
MUSLIMS STILL BEING DEPORTED DESPITE RULES CHANGE
Katherine Stapp, Inter Press Service, 12/17/03
http://www.ipsnews.net/headlines.asp
NEW YORK - U.S. immigration officials have dropped parts of a
contentious
registration programme for Muslim and Arab men, but critics say that
thousands are still being deported and many others face onerous
screening
procedures when they travel.
The programme dates back to November 2002, when the Justice Department
started requiring all male non-citizens over age 16 from any of 21
countries suspected of terrorist links to register with the Immigration
and
Naturalisation Service, now a division of the Department of Homeland
Security (DHS).
The process entails being interviewed, photographed and fingerprinted,
or
facing possible criminal prosecution. Many of those who have complied
said
the ordeal took several days, during which time they were held in
unheated
detention cells without any way to communicate with their families.
Earlier this month, officials said that some 83,000 people who had
already
registered once would not be automatically required to return for
periodic
follow-up interviews, as under the old rules. But they would still have
to
notify the DHS of any change of address, employment or educational
institution within 10 days of the change.
In addition, the planned deportations of at least 13,000 people who
were
found during the initial registration to have committed immigration
violations are still going forward...
Civil liberties and Arab American groups welcomed the rule changes, but
argue that the programme remains fundamentally biased, and is not
working
in any case, since it has not led to a single terrorist prosecution.
Other persistent problems include the failure of immigration
authorities to
explain the programme's requirements to the public, advocates say.
"A lot of people in the community took the announcement as an end to
special registration, when in fact, this is not the case," said Rabiah
Ahmed of the Washington-based Council on American-Islamic Relations.
"We
wish there had been more outreach."
"The fear is still there," she added. "So many people know someone who
has
been detained or deported..."
-----
WAR ON TERRORISM'S LEGAL TACK IS REJECTED
Charles Lane, Washington Post, 12/19/03
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A13521-2003Dec18.html
In ordering the Bush administration to charge al Qaeda suspect Jose
Padilla, declare him a material witness or set him free within 30 days,
a
New York federal appeals court has directly challenged the
administration's
legal approach to the war on terrorism -- and intensified the clash
between
the executive and judicial branches, which will ultimately have to be
settled at the Supreme Court, legal analysts said yesterday.
The administration's assertion of authority to declare a U.S. citizen
within the United States an enemy combatant, and to hold him or her
indefinitely and incommunicado, has always been the most controversial
of
its legal claims, attracting criticism from across the ideological
spectrum.
And the 2 to 1 decision by a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the
2nd
Circuit attacked that claim at its roots.
In an opinion that encapsulated the misgivings about the
administration's
assertions of executive power that many judges and lawyers have
expressed
almost since the war began, Judges Rosemary S. Pooler and Barrington D.
Parker rejected President Bush's view that the Constitution gives him
the
authority as commander in chief to decide on his own who is an enemy of
the
United States in wartime -- or even to decide where the battlefield
begins
and ends.
"Presidential authority does not exist in a vacuum," Pooler and Parker
wrote.
Rather, the court ruled, Bush needs express authorization from Congress
to
fight the war at home by detaining U.S. citizens on U.S. soil. The
Sept.
18, 2001, joint resolution authorizing the president to use force
against
all "persons" linked to al Qaeda is not sufficient -- especially given
that
a federal law passed in 1971 bans the detention of citizens without
express
congressional authorization...
ALSO SEE:
PROSECUTION CHALLENGED IN ISLAMIC CHARITY CASE
Jerry Markon, Washington Post, 12/19/03
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A13748-2003Dec18.html
The government's effort to stiffen the sentence of the first person
convicted in a broad probe of Islamic charities in Northern Virginia
ran
into tough questions yesterday from a federal judge.
Soliman S. Biheiri was convicted in October in U.S. District Court in
Alexandria on immigration charges that usually would result in less
than
six months in prison. Because prosecutors contend that he did business
with
people designated as terrorists by the U.S. government, including a
leader
of the Islamic Resistance Movement, or Hamas, they are trying to
persuade a
judge to impose a term of 10 years.
But that judge, T.S. Ellis III, called the government's argument
"nonsense"
at one point during a hearing yesterday and said the connection between
Biheiri's fraudulent efforts to obtain U.S. citizenship and his alleged
terrorist ties required the judge to make an "inference" that is not
clear...
---
IN DEBATE ON ANTITERRORISM, THE COURTS ASSERT THEMSELVES
David Johnston, New York Times, 12/19/03
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/12/19/national/19ASSE.html?hp
WASHINGTON - The broad presidential powers invoked by the Bush
administration after Sept. 11, 2001, to detain suspected terrorists
outside
the civilian court system is now being challenged by the federal
courts,
the very branch of the government the White House hoped to circumvent.
The two separate appellate court rulings on Thursday swept away crucial
parts of the administration's legal strategy to handle terrorist
suspects
outside the criminal justice system and incarcerate them indefinitely
without access to lawyers or to the evidence against them.
The rulings are by no means a final judicial verdict on the
administration's approach. But the rulings demonstrated powerfully the
willingness of the courts to challenge the administration's procedures,
which were put in place without Congressional approval in the
tumultuous
months that followed the Sept. 11 attacks.
The issue of whether the administration has gone too far will not be
decided definitively until the cases reach the Supreme Court. The court
has
agreed to decide whether detainees at Guant�namo Bay, Cuba, are
entitled to
access to civilian courts to challenge their open-ended detention.
Nevertheless, in one sense the administration has already lost an
important
point by the courts' willingness to ignore assertions that the issues
are
exclusively within the discretion of the executive branch...
---
THE PADILLA DECISION
New York Times, 12/19/03
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/12/19/opinion/19FRI1.html
In a signal 2-to-1 ruling yesterday, a federal appeals court in
Manhattan
struck a blow against egregious presidential overreaching in the name
of
fighting terrorism. The court, ruling in the case of Jose Padilla, the
so-called dirty bomber, denied the Bush administration's sweeping claim
that the president has executive authority to hold Americans
indefinitely
in secret without access to lawyers simply by declaring them "enemy
combatants."
Mr. Padilla, an American citizen, was taken into custody in Chicago in
May
2002. He is being held incommunicado at a Navy brig in Charleston,
S.C.,
where he has been denied access to counsel. Not long after his arrest,
Attorney General John Ashcroft announced that Mr. Padilla was part of a
plot by Al Qaeda to explode a radiological "dirty bomb." But no charges
have yet been brought.
While the ruling was in the particular case of Mr. Padilla, the
decision's
larger message - that there are constitutional limits on the
president's
power to deny basic civil liberties in the name of fighting terrorism -
is
one that protects the liberty of all Americans.
The two-judge majority underscored that it was not denying the serious
threat that Al Qaeda poses, nor the president's responsibility to
protect
the nation. The court also did not address the substance of the
government's suspicions about Mr. Padilla. Rather, the decision
correctly
found that the president possesses no inherent constitutional authority
as
commander in chief to detain as enemy combatants American citizens
seized
on American soil, away from the zone of combat. Moreover, the detention
of
an American citizen under the circumstances of Mr. Padilla's case, the
ruling said, citing a 1971 statute, was not authorized by Congress...
-----
NEWARK CLERIC TO REVIVE NATIONAL MUSLIM ORGANIZATION
DAVID PORTER, Associated Press, 12/19/03
TRENTON, N.J. - The nation's largest black Muslim organization,
decimated
in recent months by the resignation of founder Warith Deen Mohammed and
other leaders, has hit bottom but can still be salvaged, according to a
Newark cleric who has embraced the task of rebuilding it
Mustafa El-Amin, 46, imam of the Masjid Ibrahim mosque, is scheduled to
announce his plans to revive the American Society of Muslims during a
talk
Sunday at the Paul Robeson Cultural Center at Rutgers University in New
Brunswick.
"I'm stepping forward to renew, revise and reorganize the ASM," El-Amin
said Thursday. "First of all, because I understand that to be
(Mohammed's)
wish, and second, to preserve the history, legacy and integrity of this
community. His intent was to continue to make an effort to correct the
problems and make it better, rather than abandon ship."
Mohammed resigned unexpectedly in late August at ASM's annual
convention.
That led to widespread defections that have crippled the Chicago-based
group, which is believed to have about 1.5 million members and is
considered the largest predominantly black Muslim group in the country.
"It was a great surprise to the Muslim community," said Ibrahim Hooper,
spokesman for the Washington, D.C.-based Council on American-Islamic
Relations. "There was no hint he was thinking of leaving."
Mohammed, the son of Nation of Islam founder Elijah Muhammad, formed
the
ASM in 1975 when he aligned the separatist Nation of Islam with more
mainstream Islamic principles. The move led Louis Farrakhan to split
with
the group and revive Elijah Muhammad's separatist beliefs.
El-Amin said he plans to continue W.D. Mohammed's efforts to establish
better interfaith dialogue and understanding. Those efforts,
particularly
the continuing attempt to adopt mainstream Islamic religious ideas,
were
resisted by many in the ASM, which led to Mohammed's resignation.
El-Amin's other plans include reinstating the ASM's Islamic Affairs
Council
to communicate and execute goals and programs, and what he called a
brainstorming team of professional members.
He also said he would stress Islamic education, adding that another of
Mohammed's complaints was that many imams had refused to fully learn
the Koran…
-----
WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE?
Washington Post, 12/19/03
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A13783-2003Dec18.html
LAST YEAR the U.S. intelligence community produced a formal estimate
concluding that Iraq possessed large stocks of chemical and biological
weapons and that it had reconstituted its nuclear bomb program. But a
concerted postwar search by a U.S. survey team so far has found no
weapons
or nuclear program -- only suspicious facilities and a continuing
intention
to acquire such arms.
"So what's the difference?" President Bush demanded of ABC's Diane
Sawyer
in an interview broadcast Tuesday. "The possibility that [Saddam
Hussein]
could acquire weapons. If he were to acquire weapons, he would be the
danger." In fact, the difference is much larger than that -- and the
president's cavalier dismissal of it is shocking.
Start with the National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) the administration
delivered to Congress in October 2002, just as it was considering
whether
to authorize war. Mr. Bush told Ms. Sawyer it was "very sound" -- yet
by
now it is obvious that it was not. Not only did the NIE mistake the
seriousness of Iraq's nuclear program, but it concluded that Iraq was
still
producing such deadly chemical agents as mustard, sarin and VX and had
hundreds of tons of chemical weapons stockpiled. These have not been
found,
and the CIA-directed postwar survey group has surmised that Iraq did
not
have a large or centrally controlled chemical weapons program after
1991...
Pressed by Ms. Sawyer, Mr. Bush fell back on a rote response: "Saddam
Hussein was a threat, and the fact he is gone means America is a safer
country." That statement, at least, is true, as is Mr. Bush's argument
that
the postwar findings prove that Saddam Hussein violated the U.N.
resolution
offering him a "final opportunity." But the degree of the threat, as
described by Mr. Bush and his administration to Congress, the American
public and the world, matters enormously. It matters because some in
Congress and the public who supported the war might not have done so
had
they been given a more accurate account of Iraq's weapons. And it
matters
because the gap between the administration's words and the emerging
truth
has done serious damage to its credibility, both at home and abroad.
Mr.
Bush already must live with the probability that future warnings he may
make about "gathering threats" will be greeted with considerable
skepticism. By denying the problem, he merely makes it worse.
ALSO SEE:
RUMSFELD VISITED BAGHDAD IN 1984 TO REASSURE IRAQIS, DOCUMENTS SHOW
Dana Priest, Washington Post, 12/19/03
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A13558-2003Dec18.html
Donald H. Rumsfeld went to Baghdad in March 1984 with instructions to
deliver a private message about weapons of mass destruction: that the
United States' public criticism of Iraq for using chemical weapons
would
not derail Washington's attempts to forge a better relationship,
according
to newly declassified documents.
Rumsfeld, then President Ronald Reagan's special Middle East envoy, was
urged to tell Iraqi Foreign Minister Tariq Aziz that the U.S. statement
on
chemical weapons, or CW, "was made strictly out of our strong
opposition to
the use of lethal and incapacitating CW, wherever it occurs," according
to
a cable to Rumsfeld from then-Secretary of State George P. Shultz.
The statement, the cable said, was not intended to imply a shift in
policy,
and the U.S. desire "to improve bilateral relations, at a pace of
Iraq's
choosing," remained "undiminished." "This message bears reinforcing
during
your discussions..."
---
THE LIE FACTORY
How the Neocons & the Office of Special Plans Pushed Disinformation and
Bogus Intelligence on Iraq
Democracy Now, 12/18/03
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=03/12/18/1734209
We speak with investigative reporter Robert Dreyfuss and retired
Pentagon
official Karen Kwiatkowski about a secret Pentagon intelligence unit
created weeks after 9/11 to push disinformation and faulty intelligence
to
create the case for war in Iraq.
As the U.S. occupation of Iraq extends into it eight month and into
2004,
some 460 U.S. troops have been killed in Iraq and thousands more have
been
wounded. U.S. forces have failed to produce any of mass destruction in
the
country - the stated reason for going to war against Baghdad.
A new investigation examines how a secret Pentagon intelligence unit
led
the nation to war by pushing disinformation and faulty intelligence to
produce wildly exaggerated threats posed by Iraq. A detailed article in
this month's issue of Mother Jones reveals how just weeks after the
Sept.
11 attacks, the Bush administration set up the secret Pentagon unit and
war-planning task force named the Office of Special Plans. Today we
take a
look at The Lie Factory.
Robert Dreyfuss, investigative reporter and contributing editor at
Mother
Jones, the Nation and American Prospect. His article The Lie Factory
was
just published in this month's Mother Jones magazine.
Karen Kwiatkowski, recently retired Air Force lieutenant colonel who
served
in the Pentagon's Near East and South Asia (NESA) unit in the year
before
the invasion of Iraq. Her articles can be found at LewRockwell.com.
To purchase an audio or video copy of this entire program, click here
for
our new online ordering or call 1 (800) 881-2359.
-----
SHARON'S LIMITED VISION
New York Times, 12/19/03
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/12/19/opinion/19FRI2.html
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon of Israel did little to advance the cause
of
Middle East peace yesterday when he warned the Palestinians that if
they
did not move to uphold their end of an agreement soon, Israel would act
unilaterally. He is right that the Palestinian Authority is required,
under
the American-sponsored peace plan known as the road map, to dismantle
terrorist networks, and has failed to do so. But he is wrong that the
plan
views that step as a precondition to Israel taking its own painful
steps,
namely the freezing of Jewish settlement in the West Bank and Gaza
Strip
and an end to confiscation and demolition of Palestinian homes and
property. The sides are to act simultaneously.
Mr. Sharon did make a bit of history in the speech, which comes at a
time
of soul-searching within his party due to growing public impatience
with
violence and hard economic times. He said that any unilateral moves by
Israel would include moving some settlements "to reduce as much as
possible
the number of Israelis located in the heart of the Palestinian
population."
This is the first time that the leader of the conservative Likud Party
has
promised to remove Jewish settlements in occupied lands. But no details
were offered, and it seems likely that Mr. Sharon hopes only to move
some
isolated settlements alongside others still within occupied areas,
rapidly
complete a physical barrier and, in effect, tell the Palestinians that
he
has nothing further to say to them...
-----
FRENCH MUSLIM GIRLS EYE CATHOLIC SCHOOLS
Elane Ganley, Associated Press, 12/18/03
http://www.salon.com/mwt/wire/2003/12/18/scarves/
PARIS - Muslims girls who refuse to remove their head scarves will have
few
options if they go to school in France starting next fall: enroll in a
private school, likely Roman Catholic, or drop out.
A ban on wearing conspicuous religious insignia like head scarves,
large
crucifixes or Jewish skullcaps in public schools will likely be in
place by
the new school year in September. President Jacques Chirac, in a
nationally
televised speech, asked parliament to adopt a law instituting the ban.
Chirac's request capped months of debate about mainly Roman Catholic
France's struggle to hold together the multiracial, multicultural but
often
poorly integrated society it has become after waves of immigration from
North Africa and elsewhere.
France has the largest Muslim population in Western Europe, estimated
at
some 5 million, and there is concern that an assertive minority could
threaten national cohesion in an increasingly diverse France.
ALSO SEE:
CLERIC URGES MUSLIMS TO PRESS FRENCH OVER HEADSCARF BAN
Reuters, 12/19/03
DOHA, - An influential Islamic cleric urged Muslims on Friday to use
their
political and economic influence over France to fight a draft law
banning
religious symbols in schools, including Muslim headscarves.
Sheikh Youssef al-Qaradawi, an outspoken Egyptian-born cleric based in
the
Gulf state of Qatar, told worshippers at a Doha mosque the law "pained
and
harmed Muslims."
His comments were aired by the Al Jazeera Arabic television channel.
"Don't provoke the hatred and enmity of Muslims," Qaradawi said,
referring
to the French government.
"France has interests with us (Muslims) and if Islamic institutions...
and
Islamic leaders protested, then it would back down but nobody cares
about
Islam any more."
Qaradawi, dean of an Islamic college in Qatar, has condemned Muslim
militant attacks as well as U.S. policies towards the Muslim world. He
has
issued fatwas, or religious edicts, urging a boycott of U.S. goods.
Qaradawi also criticised the stance of Sunni Islam's most prestigious
institution, al-Azhar in Egypt, towards the ban...
---
DANISH MUSLIM DISMISSED FOR WEARING HEADSCARF LOSES COURT CASE
Clare MacCarthy, Financial Times, 12/19/03
http://news.ft.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=FT.com/StoryFT/FullStory&c=StoryFT&cid=1071251667715
Europe's controversy over the wearing of Islamic headscarves took a new
twist yesterday when Denmark's high court ruled against a supermarket
cashier who was sacked for wearing a hijab.
The precedent-setting judgment, which runs contrary to earlier Danish
court
rulings, is likely to trigger further heated debate about the rights of
immigrant communities in Denmark, where there have been tensions.
Integration of Denmark's immigrants, roughly 7 per cent of the
population,
was the main theme in general elections which brought a centre-right
administration into power.
The case began two years ago when Najla Ainouz, a 25-year-old woman of
Moroccan origin, lost her job at a Copenhagen supermarket after she
adopted
a stricter form of Islam that required her to keep her hair and neck
covered in public.
Her employer, the Fotex supermarket chain, said her headscarf breached
its
established dress code, which also bans prominent Christian symbols as
well
as gaudy hair colourings and nose rings.
Ms Ainouz disagreed and, with the backing of her trade union, sued
Fotex
for unfair dismissal under Danish anti-discrimination law...
-----
ISLAM IN ARKANSAS
David Koon, Arkansas Times, 12/19/03
http://www.arktimes.com/031219coverstorya.html
It's a November morning, soon after a frosty Arkansas sunrise, and
10,000
miles from Mecca a long line of cars is snaking across the lot of the
Arkansas State Fairgrounds. Every kind of automobile you can imagine is
represented: big German luxo-barges, pickups, soccer-mom-worthy SUVs,
10-year-old Fords that look like they're held together with prayer and
bailing wire. As the line thins, the stragglers hurry in, harried dads
with
their kids pointing out parking spaces near the horse barns, young men
in
low-slung rice-rockets, letting their big mufflers wind as they rush up
the
hill to the Farm Bureau Arts and Crafts building near Barton Coliseum.
For as many people who show, the gathering isn't drawing much attention
from the world at large. There will be no mention of it in the next
day's
paper, or on the evening news. That's understood, given that it's
taking
place on a Tuesday, before most people have had their first cup of
java.
It's not until you round the corner of the building and see them
emerging
from their cars that it hits you just how rare a gathering like this is
in
Little Rock. About a thousand Muslims - black and brown, even a scruffy
white kid or two; that guy you knew in college who had broadened his
mind -
are climbing out of their cars and headed for the building, men going
in
through the north doors, women and bundled-up children entering through
doors on the west.
There is a festive air about them. A few of the men smile and joke
outside
in the chill air, shaking hands and slapping each others' backs,
speaking
in smooth, rolling Arabic. This, too, is understandable. Last night,
when
the crescent moon broke the horizon, they ended the fast of Ramadan,
the 30
days in which Muslims fast during daylight hours and study the Qur'an
in
the evening. Today, the Eid Ul-Fitr, is one of the Muslim calendar's
big
holidays: the Festival of Fast Breaking. Think Thanksgiving and
Christmas
rolled into one...
ALSO SEE:
MUSLIMS TO GIVE TEACHING ON JESUS
Bob Harvey, Ottawa Citizen, 12/19/03
http://www.canada.com/ottawa/ottawacitizen/news/city/story.html?id=adae325e-0623-4263-a1de-c54c7338cb68
Ottawa Muslims want to share their reverence for Jesus with area
Christians.
"You cannot be a Muslim and not believe in Jesus," says Yasin Dwyer, a
convert and now a teacher of Islam.
He is one of four speakers who will share Islam's teachings on Jesus
tonight at the National Library on Wellington Street. Mr. Dwyer said
that,
like Christianity, Islam believes in Jesus' virgin birth, and his
status as
a prophet of God.
Zai Sarkar, president of the Islam Care Centre, which is sponsoring the
event, said "many non-Muslims do not know how honoured and revered a
personality Jesus is in Islam...
Mr. Sarkar said Jesus is mentioned more than 30 times in the Koran,
more
often than Muhammad himself. The Koran also tells of Jesus' 12
disciples,
and of their last supper with him before his crucifixion, and predicts
that
Jesus will someday return to Earth.
However, Islam and Christianity do differ on some aspects of Jesus'
significance and his life and death. Muslims believe Jesus did not die
on
the Cross, but was taken up into heaven by God. Although Muslims call
Jesus
"Messiah" (an anointed one), they do not believe in Him as the Son of
God
or as the incarnation of God...
-----
PRISON IMAM JOB OPPORTUNITY
AGENCY: Department of Justice
LOCATION: Department of Justice, Bureau of Prisons, FCC Beaumont
CLASSIFICATION CODE: R - Professional, administrative, and management
support services
SUBJECT: MUSLIM IMAM
SOLICITATION NUMBER: RFQ-050211-002-4
CONTACT: Connie Brassfield, Contract Specialist, Phone (409)727-8187,
ext.
3374, Fax (409)626-3406, Email crwilliams@bop.gov - Bernadette Briggs,
Contract Specialist, Phone (409) 727-8187, ext. #3239, Fax (409)
626-3406,
Email bbriggs@bop.gov
INTERNET ADDRESS:
http://www2.eps.gov/spg/DOJ/BPR/50211/RFQ%2D050211%2D002%2D4/Attachments.html
-----
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CAIR
Council on American-Islamic Relations
453 New Jersey Avenue, S.E.
Washington, D.C. 20003
Tel: 202-488-8787, 202-744-7726
Fax: 202-488-0833
E-mail: cair@cair-net.org
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-----
Forwarded Message
Date:
Sun, 21 Dec 2003 21:34:43 -0500
To:
cair-net@cair.biglist.com
From:
"CAIR" <cair@cair-net.org>
Subject:
CAIR-NET: 3 Charges Against Translator Dropped/Islam Promotes
Growth
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
AMERICAN MUSLIM NEWS BRIEFS - 12/21/03
* HADITH OF THE DAY: HELP THE OPPRESSED
* 3 CHARGES AGAINST TRANSLATOR DROPPED (AP)
- Sami Al-Arian: Christmas in Coleman (TBCJP)
* WA: CHAPLAIN YEE COMES HOME (The Olympian)
- Yee Calls Spy Furor 'Harrowing Ordeal' (SPI)
- Muslim Chaplain Thanks Backers (Mercury News)
- Accused Chaplain Returns Home (AP)
- Homecoming Takes Chaplain Away From Storm (ST)
* NEW STUDY: ISLAM 'DOESN'T' SLOW ECONOMIES (CS Monitor)
* SC: PREPARING FOR BANTUS IS VOLUNTEERS PASSION (The State)
* BUSH DECLARES: "WE MUST GET RID OF ARAFAT" (Yahoo News)
* TURKEY: UNVEILED BY MUSLIMS (Knight Ridder)
- German Chancellor Opposes Headscarves (AFP)
- Religious Symbols in France (NY Times)
- Muslim Women March against Scarf Ban (AJC)
* INTRODUCING YOUNG READERS TO ISLAM (New York Times)
* CA: OFFICER BRIDGES GAP BETWEEN TWO WORLDS (LA Times)
* ENGAGE MR. SHARON (Wash. Post)
- Israeli Commandos Refuse to Serve (Reuters)
- Palestinian Boy, Age 6, Killed (Reuters)
-----
HADITH OF THE DAY: HELP THE OPPRESSED
The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) described a man who asked God
why
he was being punished in the grave. The man was told: "You passed by an
oppressed person but did not help him."
Fiqh-us-Sunnah, Volume 4, Number 89b
-----
3 CHARGES AGAINST TRANSLATOR DROPPED
Associated Press, 12/21/03
http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/nation/ny-usguan213593144dec21,0,6432984.story
Washington - The Air Force has dropped three counts in an espionage
case
against a Syrian-born airman who worked as a translator at the
Guantanamo
Bay, Cuba, prison camp for terrorism suspects.
The lawyer for Senior Airman Ahmad I. al-Halabi, a supply clerk
detailed to
the prison, said yesterday that once those charges were removed,
"simply
the gut of the case was gone."
Dropped was the single count in the charge that accused al-Halabi of
"aiding the enemy," a capital offense.
Also dropped were counts that dealt with e-mailing information about
Guantanamo detainees and committing espionage by transmitting
information
to unauthorized recipients.
Additional charges were dropped by the Army last month. But al-Halabi
still
faces 17 of the 30 charges filed against him following his arrest in
July
after nine months as an Arabic translator at the prison. They include
other
espionage counts, disobeying an order, making false official
statements,
mishandling classified documents and lying on a credit application...
SEE ALSO:
SAMI AL-ARIAN: CHRISTMAS IN COLEMAN
Melva Underbakke, Tampa Bay Coalition for Justice and Peace, 12/21/03
CONTACT: tampabayjustice@yahoo.com
On Christmas Day, the Al-Arian family usually spends the day together
relaxing over breakfast and watching the Christmas parades. This year
will
be different. Sami Al-Arian will spend most of the day shivering in his
very cold cell, one of two people at the federal prison at Coleman who
do
not have jackets. (The other is cellmate Sameeh Hamoudeh.) The guards
all
wear wool jackets, but the inmates also have jackets � except for Sami
and
Sameeh. They are also the only two inmates who have not been convicted
of
anything.
While Sami waits in his cell, his wife and five children will begin the
hour and a half drive from Tampa to Coleman. When they arrive at the
prison, they are put in a very small room to wait for Sami. The room is
approximately 4 by 5 feet, and only has room for two chairs. The room
is
crowded, and the family takes turns sitting down. After a wait of one
to
one and a half hours, Sami is finally brought to the visiting area. The
family's first view of him will be when he enters the room, shackled
and
with his hands cuffed behind him. Once he is in the room, the guards
remove
the handcuffs and lock the door behind him.
The children will not be hugging their father because there is a glass
window between them. They also won't be talking to him right away,
because
the only way to talk to him is over a telephone. There is only one
telephone, so Nahla and the five children take turns talking to Sami.
While
one person is talking to him, the rest cannot hear what he is saying…
These visits are difficult, but they are very important, because these
are
the only visits Sami is allowed. The convicted prisoners can be visited
by
anyone, but Sami is only allowed to see his immediate family. Friends
and
other relatives are not allowed to see him. The visits are also
important
because Sami is only allowed one phone call a month.
If you would like to send a letter to Sami, his address is:
Sami Al-Arian
#40939-018
Coleman Federal Complex-USP
P.O. Box 1033
Coleman, FL.33521
If you would like to write to the judge concerning his conditions, the
names and addresses are:
Honorable Thomas B. McCoun III
Sam M. Gibbons U.S. Courthouse
801 N. Florida Ave., #223
Tampa, Florida 33602-3800
Honorable James Moody
Sam M. Gibbons U.S. Courthouse
801 N. Florida Ave.
Tampa, FL 33602-3800
-----
CHAPLAIN YEE COMES HOME
Christian Hill, The Olympian, 12/20/03
http://www.theolympian.com/home/news/20031220/frontpage/5013.shtml
SEATAC -- In September, a panicked Huda Suboh left Seattle-Tacoma
International Airport in tears after her husband, Capt. James Yee,
never
showed up for a planned reunion.
Ten days later, Suboh, 29, learned of his fate while watching the
television news in the clubhouse of their Olympia apartment building.
Military officials had detained and later charged Yee, a Muslim
chaplain
counseling detainees at the U.S. prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, for
allegedly mishandling classified information.
Friday, husband and wife were reunited at the airport while Yee is on
leave
during a delay in his military hearing.
The hearing, which resumes Jan. 19, will determine whether the 1990
West
Point graduate will face a general court-martial, which could bring a
military dismissal and prison time.
"My daughter and I are very happy to have Yousef back," Suboh said,
referring to him by the family's name for him.
Joining the couple and their 3-year-old daughter, Sarah, was a group of
friends and supporters who rallied for the pretrial release of Yee
during
his 76-day detention. They greeted Yee with hugs, flower bouquets and
signs
that read "Welcome Home, Yee" and "Justice for Yee."
Yee, wearing a gray suit, thanked supporters for their efforts during a
press conference after his arrival from San Francisco, where he had
visited
his uncle and cousin.
"The support has been truly, truly, truly outstanding," he said. "I
think I
also speak for my wife and daughter when I say that the support already
has
meant so much to us."
The military is dealing harshly with Yee because of his religion and
ethnicity, supporters have said.
"Why did this happen to James Yousef Yee?" asked Samia El-Moslimany,
vice
chairwoman of the Seattle chapter of the Council on American-Islamic
Relations..."
ALSO SEE:
YEE CALLS BEING SWEPT UP IN SPY FUROR 'A HARROWING ORDEAL'
Claudia Rowe, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 12/20/03
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/153396_yee20.html
After being detained in a military brig on suspicion of espionage,
Capt.
James Yee, an Army chaplain who was held for 76 days without being
formally
charged, spoke out yesterday during a homecoming visit with his family.
His comments were notable for their distinct lack of rancor.
Yee, 35, was stopped in Jacksonville, Fla., in September after leaving
Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where he had been stationed as a spiritual
counselor
for prisoners accused of links to al-Qaida. Federal agents said they
found
classified sketches of the military prison in his bags, and he was
placed
in solitary confinement in South Carolina.
Yee was never officially accused, but upon his release Nov. 25, he was
slapped with a string of charges, including failure to obey orders and
storing pornography on his government computer, although none
approached
treason. A preliminary hearing was postponed after government officials
said they needed more time to determine whether documents found in
Yee's
luggage were, in fact, classified. In the meantime, Yee is on a 30-day
leave...
Touching down at Sea-Tac Airport after spending several days with
relatives
in San Francisco, Yee appeared relieved. He lifted his young daughter
into
air, gave her a kiss and embraced supporters who had gathered, holding
hand-lettered signs and banners proclaiming, "Justice for Yee!"...
---
MUSLIM CHAPLAIN THANKS BACKERS
Matthai Chakko Kuruvila, Mercury News, 12/20/03
http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/news/7537798.htm
Imprisoned for 76 days as part of a fizzled military investigation into
espionage, Army Capt. James Yee emerged in a Foster City hotel Friday
as
activists' symbol of a war on terrorism gone awry.
In his first public appearance among the supporters who led a national
effort to clear his name, Yee said, ``My family and I, we can't thank
you
enough.''
Other than calling his case a ``harrowing ordeal,'' the Muslim chaplain
declined to comment specifically about his pending case.
But, he added, ``Your support continues to be needed.''
Yee's support in the Bay Area is no coincidence. The Bay Area's ethnic
communities are both tech savvy and politically active. Cecilia Chang,
the
Fremont activist who spearheaded an online campaign to clear the name
of
Los Alamos scientist Wen Ho Lee, has taken up Yee's cause. She
organized
Friday's event...
Some American Muslims see Yee's case as yet another reminder of their
feelings of post-Sept. 11, 2001, persecution under the Bush
administration...
Helal Omeira, executive director of the Bay Area chapter of the Council
on
American-Islamic Relations, described Yee's case as part of ``a
consistent
drive to intimidate members of the community.''
After being released from prison, Yee was charged with viewing
pornography
on his computer and adultery, which is a violation of the military
code.
Omeira, echoing the comments of other Yee supporters, called the new
charges a matter of ``throwing stuff up on the wall to see what
sticks...''
---
MUSLIM CHAPLAIN ACCUSED OF MISHANDLING DOCUMENTS RETURNS HOME
Associated Press,
http://www.accessnorthga.com/news/ap_newfullstory.asp?ID=27520
SEATAC, Wash. - A Muslim chaplain formerly stationed at Fort Lewis
returned
to Washington state Friday for the first time since his arrest on
accusations of mishandling classified information from the U.S. prison
at
Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
Army Capt. James Yee was greeted by his wife, Huda Suboh; their
3-year-old
daughter, Sarah; and about 15 other supporters when he arrived at
Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. They attended a welcoming party
at a
nearby hotel before heading to their home in Olympia.
This is tremendous, very, very tremendous, Yee told supporters. The
support
continues to be needed as the legal aspects of my situation are still
ongoing and I still face some charges...
---
HOMECOMING TAKES CHAPLAIN AWAY FROM MILITARY STORM
Janet I. Tu and Ray Rivera, Seattle Times, 12/20/03
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2001819968_yee20m.html
The convoluted odyssey of Muslim Army Chaplain James Yee took one turn
yesterday that was welcomed by his family and supporters: He came home.
Yee, whose wife and daughter live in Olympia, flew into Seattle-Tacoma
International Airport yesterday afternoon to greetings from about two
dozen
supporters wearing "Justice for Capt. Yee" buttons and carrying
welcome-home signs. He walked into the baggage-claim area to cheers of
"Allahu Akbar" ("God is the greatest") and hugged his 4-year-old
daughter,
Sarah, and his wife, Huda Suboh.
"This is tremendous," Yee said later. "It's really, really, really
tremendous."
Yee, an Army captain formerly stationed at Fort Lewis, was arrested
Sept.
10 on suspicion of espionage and sedition after federal agents said he
was
found with information on detainees and the prison facilities at
Guant�namo
Bay, where he ministered to captured Taliban and al-Qaida suspects. Yee
was
held in prison for 76 days of solitary confinement awaiting trial.
He was released Nov. 25 after being charged with six considerably
lesser
offenses, including making a false official statement, mishandling
classified documents, committing adultery and storing pornography on
his
government-issued computer...
-----
NEW STUDY: ISLAM 'DOESN'T' SLOW ECONOMIES
David R. Francis, Christian Science Monitor, 12/22/03
http://www.csmonitor.com/2003/1222/p17s01-wmgn.html
Is Islam a drag on economic growth? Economists have debated the impact
of
religion on economic performance for many years. A long line of
scholars
has blamed the relative poverty of Muslims today on their religious
beliefs. But economist Marcus Noland maintains that this long-standing
view
is wrong.
"There is nothing inherent about these [Islamic] societies that they
have
to perform poorly," says the economist with the Institute for
International
Economics in Washington. "If anything, Islam promotes growth.... There
may
be undue pessimism about the prospects of these countries…"
-----
PREPARING FOR BANTUS IS VOLUNTEERS PASSION
Monique Angle, The State, 12/21/03
http://www.thestate.com/mld/thestate/news/7541817.htm
The Bantus, a group of African Muslims with a history of enslavement
and
persecution, were scheduled to start arriving in the Columbia area
shortly
after the New Year. Half were to move to Columbia; half to Cayce.
But in October, the State Department called off plans to move any
Bantus to
Cayce, citing insufficient community support. Now, the Bantus will be
settled in Columbia. The first group is expected to move from a Kenyan
refugee camp in February.
Although support may not have been found throughout Cayce, hundreds of
people in the Columbia metropolitan area have worked behind the scenes,
organizing, raising money and collecting clothing.
More than 43 faith groups and nonprofits across the Midlands in
Columbia,
Lexington, Cayce, Elgin, Swansea, Irmo and other communities have
signed on
to sponsor a Bantu family. The sponsors will provide rent, utilities,
clothing, food and other assistance for at least a six-month period.
In addition, Lutheran Family Services, the Columbia agency resettling
the
Bantus, has received $48,000 in private donations for the project,
about
half what it expects is needed to cover resettlement costs...
-----
BUSH DECLARES: "WE MUST GET RID OF ARAFAT"
Yahoo News, 12/21/03
http://sg.news.yahoo.com/031221/1/3gt41.html
US President George W. Bush told an Israeli journalist that "we must
get
rid of" Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, the mass-circulation Yediot
Aharonot daily has reported.
Bush's comments came in a brief exchange with the paper's correspondent
during a Christmas drinks party in Washington, several hours after a
keynote speech by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon Thursday in which
he
outlined plans for unilateral disengagement from peace negotiations
with
the Palestinians.
The US government has boycotted Arafat with Bush accusing the veteran
leader of failing the Palestinian people. Israel has also shunned the
74-year-old, branding him an absolute obstacle to peace and confining
him
to his West Bank headquarters for more than two years.
Israel's security cabinet approved Arafat's "removal" in September,
with
one minister even suggesting that he could be assassinated, but
Washington
warned Israel not to attempt to expel him.
Bush was non-committal about Sharon's speech, saying that he would wait
to
see what happened on the ground.
"Speeches are good things, but they are words. I am waiting for
action," he
was quoted as saying...
-----
UNVEILED BY MUSLIMS
Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson, Knight Ridder, 12/21/03
http://www.canada.com/montreal/montrealgazette/
ISTANBUL, Turkey - Aysegul Yilmaz wants to complete her university
studies
and become a teacher. She also wants to cover her hair with a scarf, as
many observant Muslim women do worldwide.
Despite the fact Turkey is a predominately Muslim country, the law
forbids
Yilmaz, 21, to do both at the same time.
Similar bans on head scarves in schools in France and Germany are being
challenged in court, but in Turkey's secular democracy, the courts
force
women to check their religion at the doors of all government
institutions.
Islamic secularists enforce the ban on head scarves with a passion
equal to
that in strict Islamic countries where women are forced to cover up.
Zealous professors determined to keep Islam out of Turkish public life
even
rejected a knit hat Yilmaz wore in government buildings in an attempt
to
circumvent the ban.
"My family doesn't have the money, or I would move to America and live
there," said Yilmaz, who outside school wears fashionable silk scarves
pulled tightly around her face and pinned to a black prayer cap
underneath.
"At least in America you can practice your religion and go to school
and
work..."
ALSO SEE:
GERMAN CHANCELLOR OPPOSES PUBLIC SERVANTS WEARING HEADSCARVES
Agence France Presse, 12/21/03
BERLIN - German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder is opposed to public
servants
wearing Islamic headscarves but is not against students wearing them in
schools, he said in an interview published Sunday.
"My position is clear: headscarves have no place in the public service,
and
that includes teachers. However I would not stop a young girl from
going to
school with a headscarf," he told the Bild am Sonntag newspaper.
"Germany is a secular state influenced by three great traditions;
Greco-Roman philosophy, Judeo-Christian religion and the heritage of
the
Enlightenment," he said.
Germany's highest tribunal, the federal constitutional court, ruled in
September that the state of Baden-Wuerttemberg was wrong to forbid a
Muslim
female teacher from wearing a headscarf in the classroom.
But the court specifically said individual states could legislate to
ban
religious apparel if it were deemed to unduly influence children...
---
RELIGIOUS SYMBOLS IN FRANCE
New York Times, 12/20/03
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/12/20/opinion/20SAT3.html
President Jacques Chirac made the wrong decision on Wednesday when he
announced his support for a legal ban in state-run schools on what he
called "conspicuous" religious symbols. He offered Muslim scarves,
Jewish
skullcaps and large crucifixes as examples, but the dispute into which
he
stepped is about the scarves worn by devout Muslim women and girls.
Speaking before an invited gathering that included religious leaders
from
all major faiths, Mr. Chirac cast his decision as a reaffirmation of
France's commitment to a rigorous separation of church and state. But
it is
not that at all. Banning believers from following the discipline of
their
religions would amount to imposing the view of the state upon them.
One fallacy stems from the fact that a Christian wearing a cross is not
analogous to a Sikh wearing a turban, a Muslim wearing a scarf or a Jew
wearing a skullcap. To hang a crucifix around your neck is a personal
display of faith. To observant Muslims, Jews and Sikhs, however, head
coverings are obligations. Their observance therefore falls under the
rubric of freedom of expression and conscience, not, as Mr. Chirac
would
have it, proselytism.
Mr. Chirac depicted France as a land in which diverse people were
joined in
a common identity that would be endangered by the release of religious
centrifugal forces, by the celebration of distinctions that served to
separate and not unite. The danger, he declared, was division,
discrimination and confrontation. But the French understand full well
that
the discussion is essentially about Muslims, so any law is certain to
be
perceived by the Muslims precisely as divisive, discriminatory and
confrontational. The streets of France are richly festooned these days
with
Christmas decorations, and major Catholic holidays are official state
holidays in France. In his speech the president also came out against
adding a Muslim and a Jewish holiday, a decision that is also an error
in
our view...
---
MUSLIM WOMEN MARCH AGAINST SCARF BAN
John Leicester, Associated Press, 12/21/03
http://www.ajc.com/news/content/news/ap/ap_story.html/Intl/AP.V4200.AP-France-Head-Sca.html
PARIS - Thousands of people, mainly Muslim women shouting ``The veil,
my
choice,'' marched through Paris on Sunday against presidential
proposals to
ban Islamic head scarves from public schools and maybe at work, too.
The protest, a cry of anguish from a rarely heard section of French
society, was the first in Paris against President Jacques Chirac's
announcement Wednesday that head scarves and other conspicuous
religious
symbols, including Jewish skullcaps and large Christian crosses, should
be
banned from schools to protect French secularism.
Chirac urged parliament to pass the law before the 2004-2005 school
year
starts in September. He also proposed giving company bosses the right
to
decide whether religious symbols can be worn at work and said a law
should
stop patients from refusing care from doctors of the opposite sex -
aimed
at Muslim women who have rebuffed male medical workers.
Paris police put the number of marchers at 3,000. More than half were
women, girls and even young children wearing head scarves. They marched
in
a boisterous, flag-waving column hundreds of yards long through rain to
the
Place de la Bastille, where the prison stormed at the start of the
French
revolution in 1789 once stood...
-----
INTRODUCING YOUNG READERS TO ISLAM
Nicholas D. Kristof, New York Times, 12/21/03
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/12/21/books/review/1221books-children.html
No child is too young to become a cosmopolitan multiculturalist. And
now
that Islam is a hot topic in America, not to mention probably the
fastest-growing religion in the world, two new books offer the
discerning
young reader a glimpse of the Islamic world.
Well, O.K., these books are probably aimed more at the discerning
parents
of the undiscerning kid, who will doze as Mom or Dad reads aloud about
the
mihrab, the minber, the muezzin and other features of Islam. But they
make
a lovely introduction -- and I mean lovely, for both books are
gorgeously
illustrated.
David Macaulay is renowned for spectacular children's books with an
architectural flavor, among them ''Cathedral'' and ''Pyramid.''
''Mosque''
is a superbly illustrated and technically engrossing explanation of how
a
great Turkish mosque complex would be built in about 1600. It's like an
erector set packed into a book.
Frankly, I had no idea that I was interested in how mosques were put
together, but I found the subject fascinating. And I learned how to
make a
brick and build a dome, and also a good deal about the economics of the
Ottoman Empire and the role of the mosque in society. Macaulay's mosque
is
fictional, but loosely based on those built around Istanbul (then
Constantinople) in the late 16th century by Sinan, a great architect of
the
Ottoman Empire...
-----
OFFICER BRIDGES GAP BETWEEN TWO WORLDS
Ann M. Simmons, Los Angeles Times, 12/20/03
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-somalicop20dec20,1,4803780.story
SAN DIEGO - One community that claims him consists of industrious,
hard-nosed cops, versed in street smarts. Another is a population of
often-disoriented refugees, many traumatized by violence and war.
His ability to merge both of these worlds has been the key to success
for
Abdiweli Heibeh -- the first Somali American to become a police officer
in
San Diego and possibly the first nationwide.
As Somalia dissolved into civil war in the early 1990s, refugees
arrived in
San Diego -- about 6,000 to 8,000 eventually -- concentrating in an
area
east of downtown that has come to be known as Little Mogadishu.
"The city was overwhelmed, the Police Department was overwhelmed, the
schools were overwhelmed," Heibeh said.
Many Somali teenagers, who had been exposed to rape, torture and other
acts
of violence in their homeland, drifted into crime. Police also dealt
with
domestic violence and conflicts between the refugees and the city's
large
population of Southeast Asians, who share many of the neighborhoods in
which the Somalis congregated.
Efforts to resolve those issues were hampered by the refugees' mistrust
of
police. The Somalis were familiar with repressive, cruel and corrupt
government authorities back home, and many expected similar treatment
from
police here...
-----
ENGAGE MR. SHARON
Washington Post, 12/20/03
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A16640-2003Dec19.html
THE ANNOUNCEMENT by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon of a unilateral
"disengagement plan" for the West Bank and Gaza Strip sounded
momentous. If
no progress is made in peace talks with the Palestinians in the coming
months, Mr. Sharon said, Israel might create its own de facto border by
completing the construction of a security fence, redeploying troops and
dismantling outlying Jewish settlements. The speech, however, left
plenty
of room for maneuver. Mr. Sharon didn't say where the unilateral
boundary
would be drawn, which or how many settlements would be evacuated or
even
when any action would begin. He suggested negotiations with the
Palestinian
Authority and promised to implement a series of measures required of
Israel
by the Bush administration's incremental "road map" plan. In effect,
the
address gave the impression of great movement while committing Mr.
Sharon
to nothing concrete.
The veteran Israeli leader has not changed: He still hopes to preserve
Israeli control indefinitely over most of the West Bank. What produced
his
initiative was not fresh inspiration but a sudden shift of the
political
climate in Israel. After years of grimly supporting Mr. Sharon's
hard-line
stance, Israelis have been galvanized by a series of independent
proposals
for a two-state solution. They also have begun to listen to warnings
from
senior military figures that some concessions must be made on the
ground
and to demographers who predict that without them, Israel will soon
rule
over a land in which Jews are a minority. A senior figure in Mr.
Sharon's
own Likud party recently proposed a unilateral withdrawal to a border
that
would ensure that Israel could remain a democratic Jewish state.
Meanwhile,
Mr. Sharon's popularity has been sinking. He has been pressured by the
Bush
administration to start taking some of the steps in the road map and by
Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia to negotiate a cease-fire. His
response has been to give all sides the impression he may act as they
propose...
ALSO SEE:
ISRAELI COMMANDOS REFUSE TO SERVE IN W.BANK, GAZA
Megan Goldin, Reuters, 12/21/03
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=4028320
JERUSALEM - Thirteen fighters in Israel's most celebrated commando unit
have publicly refused to serve in the West Bank and Gaza Strip because
they
believe the army's operations there are immoral, Israeli media reported
on
Sunday.
The commandos announced their refusal to serve in a letter sent to
Prime
Minister Ariel Sharon, who has come under increased pressure to halt
efforts to quash a three-year-old Palestinian uprising and instead
engage
in peace treaty talks.
"We will no longer be party to an oppressive rule in the territories
and
the disregard for the human rights of millions of Palestinians," the 13
Sayeret Matkal reservist commandos wrote in their letter, according to
local television stations.
"We will no longer be a defensive wall against settlements," added the
letter, in a reference to Jewish settlements in lands Israel occupied
in
the 1967 Middle East war.
The Sayeret Matkal, or General Staff Reconnaissance Unit, is Israel's
most
elite commando unit and has often been compared to the U.S. military's
Delta Force or the British army's SAS...
---
PALESTINIAN BOY, AGED SIX, KILLED DURING CLASHES
Reuters, 12/21/03
NABLUS, West Bank - A six-year-old Palestinian boy was shot dead on
Sunday
when Israeli soldiers opened fire at stone-throwers in a West Bank
refugee
camp, Palestinian medics said.
Palestinian witnesses said Mohammad Naim Isryda was shot in the chest
while
playing near his house in the Balata refugee camp in the city of
Nablus.
Medics said Isryda died shortly afterwards.
An Israeli military source said that soldiers opened fire after an
explosive device was hurled at them, and that the army was
investigating
claims of casualties.
Palestinian medics also said 13-year-old Nur Emran died of wounds he
sustained when Israeli soldiers shot him in the head with a rubber
bullet
during stone-throwing clashes that erupted in the camp on December 16…
-----
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CAIR
Council on American-Islamic Relations
453 New Jersey Avenue, S.E.
Washington, D.C. 20003
Tel: 202-488-8787, 202-744-7726
Fax: 202-488-0833
E-mail: cair@cair-net.org
URL: http://www.cair-net.org
-----
Forwarded Message
Date:
Mon, 22 Dec 2003 11:52:33 -0500
To:
cair-net@cair.biglist.com
From:
"CAIR" <cair@cair-net.org>
Subject:
CAIR ELECTION UPDATE: Pres. Candidates on the PATRIOT Act
Council on American-Islamic Relations http://www.cair-net.org
On the Issue of the USA PATRIOT Act:: Republican Presidential Candidates
President George W. Bush
Signed the PATRIOT Act into law on October 26, 2001
Advocates a plan to expand the law to allow administrative subpoenas,
the use of the death penalty in crimes like terrorist financing, and
the list of terrorism-related crimes eligible for death Visit: Bush Cheney 04’ Official Blog
:: Democratic Presidential Candidates
:: (In Alphabetical Order)
General Wesley Clark
Supports the suspension of portions of the PATRIOT Act that endanger privacy including those dealing with search a seizure
Believes the evidence shows the PATRIOT Act has been abused
Calls on Congress to review the entire law Official Site:http://www.clark04.com/ Also Visit: The Wesley Clark Weblog
Governor Howard Dean
Calls for the rollback of the PATRIOT Act and the overly broad
investigative and surveillance powers it gives to the government.
Urges Congress to reconsider aspects of the PATRIOT Act and other anti-terror tactics that lead to abuses
Challenged the FBI’s practice of gathering information on anti-war demonstrators Official Site: http://www.deanforamerica.com/ Also Visit: Howard Dean Weblog
Senator John Edwards
Voted for the PATRIOT Act
Supports anti-money laundering laws and information sharing among
government agencies but troubled by sneak and peak and library records
provisions
Proposes establishing an independent civil liberties watchdog agency to monitor the FBI Official Website: http://www.johnedwards2004.com/ Also Visit: John Edwards Official Blog
Representative Richard Gephardt
Voted for the PATRIOT Act and advocated the sunset provision
Questions Ashcroft’s implementation of the law
Opposes PATRIOT II and any further expansion of investigative and surveillance powers Official Website: http://www.dickgephardt2004.com/
Senator Joseph Lieberman
Voted for the PATRIOT Act
Troubled by snooping on library records and searching people’s belongings inappropriately Official Website: http://www.joe2004.com/
Ambassador Carol Moseley Braun
Opposes the PATRIOT Act because it violates the 1st, the 4th, the 5th,
the 6th, the 8th, and the 14th amendments to the Constitution
Believes the PATRIOT Act should be allowed to expire by its own terms and that PATRIOT II is frightening Official Website: http://www.carolforpresident.com/
Reverend Al Sharpton
Criticized Ashcroft for silencing dissent
Supports repeal of PATRIOT Act Official Website: http://www.sharpton2004.org/
December 2003 :: Issue #1 What is the USA PATRIOT Act?
The PATRIOT Act
was signed by President Bush in October 2001. The law vastly expands
government surveillance and investigatory powers. The law has been
criticized by civil liberties organizations as far-reaching, unchecked,
and prone to abuse. 84% of respondents to CAIR’s August 2003 poll believe the PATRIOT Act harms civil liberties.
Muslims are specifically concerned with section 213 (sneak and peak searches), section 215 (personal records), section 412 (indefinite detentions), and section 802
(definition of domestic terrorism). CAIR joined the first ever legal
challenge to the PATRIOT Act on July 30, 2003 and has worked with
members of Congress to support S.1709 and H.R. 3352 or the SAFE Act, and H.R. 3171 or the Benjamin Franklin True PATRIOT Act.
How can I help?
It is critical that all eligible American Muslims are registered to
vote. CAIR is leading the drive to ensure that all Muslim citizens of
the US over the age of 18 know their rights as a voter and exercise
those rights to their fullest come November 5th, 2004.
To register to vote, visit the Federal Election Commission website and submit the National Mail Voter Registration Form.
Why should I vote?
The Muslim community must work to enjoin the good and forbid the evil.
Voting plays an essential role. Deciding to support or oppose a
candidate based upon his or her opinions or actions can have a
tremendous impact on the formulation of government policy at all
levels: policies that can affect your local community and the entire
Muslim ummah worldwide.
Subscribe
to this newsletter
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Contact Information
Council on American-Islamic Relations
453 New Jersey Avenue, SE
Washington, DC 20003
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
AMERICAN MUSLIM NEWS BRIEFS - 12/22/03
* HADITH OF THE DAY: SEEK FORGIVENESS:
* CAIR'S LIBRARY PROJECT: 7112 SPONSORSHIPS
- CAIR's Grant Writing Workshop a Success!
* GE PULLS ADS FROM PAUL HARVEY'S PROGRAM
* AZ GROUP DISPELS MISUNDERSTANDINGS OF MUSLIM WOMEN (AP)
- Veiled Opposition Comes Out in Force (Wash. Post)
* PATRIOT ACT PUTS STUDENTS UNDER SCRUTINY (Indy Star)
- Patriot Act's Broad Brush (Sacramento Bee)
* RIGHTS BODY REPORTS TORTURE DEATH IN UZBEK JAIL (Reuters)
* IF LIBYA CAN DO IT, WHY NOT ISRAEL? (Guardian)
- Indian Americans Ascend the Hill (Wash. Times)
* SADDAM WAS HELD BY KURDS, LEFT FOR US TROOPS (AFP)
-----
HADITH OF THE DAY: SEEK FORGIVENESS
The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) quoted God as saying: "O My
servants, I have forbidden oppression for Myself and have made it
forbidden
amongst you, so do not oppress one another...O My servants, you sin by
night and by day, and I forgive all sins, so seek forgiveness of Me and
I
shall forgive you."
Hadith Qudsi 17
-----
CAIR LIBRARY PROJECT: 7112 SPONSORSHIPS
The goal of CAIR's library project is to send accurate and objective
information about Islam to America's 16,000 public libraries.
For only $150, Muslim individuals and groups may sponsor 18-item
packages
about Islam and Muslims, which are then distributed to the library of
their
choice.
To sponsor a library call, 1-800-392-7876, ext. 320, or visit:
www.libraryproject.org.
ALSO SEE:
CAIR'S GRANT WRITING WORKSHOP A SUCCESS!
CAIR's two-day grant writing workshop in D.C. this past weekend was a
success, with some people being turned away because all available
spaces
had been reserved. Participants came from across the Washington metro
area
to hear Dr. Kalifah Ramadan's presentation.
-----
GE PULLS ADS FROM PAUL HARVEY'S PROGRAM
The following message was sent today by the General Electric Corporate
Feedback Team in response to a Muslim's e-mail about Paul Harvey's
recent
remark that Islam "encourages killing." After receiving hundreds of
messages from concerned Muslims, Harvey said through his on-air
substitute
that Islam is a "religion of peace."
From General Electric's Corporate Feedback Team:
Thank you for your recent inquiry on ge.com. We have received your
E-mail
about the comments of Paul Harvey on December 4, 2003. GE certainly
doesn't
endorse the comment and regrets any offense that it may have caused.
While
we look into the matter further, we have pulled GE's advertisements
from
Mr. Harvey's show. We appreciate voicing your concerns to us.
Thank you for your interest in GE.
GE Corporate Feedback Team
FOR BACKGROUND, SEE: "Paul Harvey Now Says Islam is a Religion of
Peace"
http://www.cair-net.org/asp/article.asp?id=32846&page=NB
-----
ORGANIZATION TRIES TO DISPEL MISUNDERSTANDINGS OF MUSLIM WOMEN
Kirsten Searer, Associated Press, 12/22/03
http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/index.php?sec=2
MESA, Ariz. - Summaya Syed arrived in Arizona alone, without an
education
to support her baby son or any idea how to drive a car.
Three years later, the 26-year-old is an Arizona State University
student
studying to become a teacher. Along a tough road, she has been
financially
and emotionally nourished by the American Muslim Women's Association, a
group of mostly East Valley women who care for single mothers,
refugees,
battered women, students and senior women who have been cast aside.
Their purpose is not just charity. This group of educated women -
including
a doctor, teacher, artist, U.S. Army commander and engineer - is
quietly
working to reshape thinking on the role of women in Islam.
"Muslim women, we are not just housewives," said Hamida Jamali, a
Chandler
resident and former pathologist. "We are educated. We are intelligent.
We
are working women and we are equal parts in the family. We are not just
a
slave. All those misunderstandings I hear all the time."
On Saturday, the group held its annual Eid dinner, a celebration to
mark
the end of the fasting month of Ramadan. They welcomed Aslam Abdullah,
editor of two Muslim-American newspapers and vice chairman of the
Muslim
Public Affairs Council...
SEE ALSO:
VEILED OPPOSITION COMES OUT IN FORCE
Keith B. Richburg, Washington Post, 12/22/03
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A20117-2003Dec21.html
PARIS - Thousands of French Muslims -- many of them women wearing head
scarves of various styles and colors -- marched through the
rain-drenched
streets of Paris on Sunday in the first large show of opposition to
President Jacques Chirac's call for a law banning veils and other overt
religious symbols from public classrooms.
Many of the women carried signs reading "Don't Touch My Veil!" and "I
Vote," a reminder to France's political leadership that the country's
estimated 5 million to 7 million Muslims could constitute a formidable
voting bloc, with regional elections coming in March.
The crowd, which moved from the Place de la Republique to the Bastille,
a
traditional protest route, chanted and walked behind large banners with
other slogans, such as "The Veil Is Our Choice" and "Yes to Secularism,
No
to Islamophobia." The multiracial crowd was sprinkled with hundreds of
French tricolor flags, and the marchers occasionally sang the French
anthem, the Marseillaise. "French and Muslim -- and Proud!" one banner
read.
"They talk about human rights. They talk about democracy," said a
bearded
man pushing his 21/2-year-old daughter in a toy red car festooned with
a
French flag. "So where is the liberty here?"
The march was led by three women who spoke to the crowd from the back
of a
truck -- one woman was fully veiled; another's hair was covered by a
long
black cloth that hung over the shoulders of her fashionably tight black
leather jacket to her jeans; and the third was bare-headed. The women
said
the rally was about a woman's right to choose...
-----
PATRIOT ACT PUTS FOREIGN STUDENTS UNDER SCRUTINY
Milan Patel and Matt Stone, Indianapolis Star, 12/21/03
http://www.indystar.com/articles/8/104335-1688-009.html
True love and Carolyn Baugh brought Tarek al Basti to the United
States,
but they didn't live happily ever after.
While in Egypt as an exchange student, Baugh met Basti. They fell in
love
and were married. After the couple moved to Evansville, Basti worked
hard
at a restaurant and eventually saved enough money to buy it. He became
an
American citizen.
Needing workers, Basti sponsored family and friends from Egypt to work
in
the restaurant. However, one of those friends, in the middle of a
divorce,
brought much grief to Basti and his family.
After the friend arrived in Evansville, his ex-wife called the FBI and
accused him of plotting a terrorist attack on Chicago. In October 2001,
Basti and seven friends were arrested. They were not told why they were
being held, they weren't allowed counsel, and relatives were not told
where
they were.
The Evansville Eight, as they were called, were taken to a jail in
Chicago,
where they were handcuffed and shackled. They were paraded in front of
TV
cameras.
A week later, the FBI released the men. The agency also later
apologized,
but lasting damage had been done. Not only did business slow at the
restaurant, but the men have encountered problems at airports when
traveling to visit relatives in Egypt.
John Krull, executive director of the Indiana Civil Liberties Union,
related this story to explain the effects of the USA Patriot Act. The
federal law, rapidly passed in October 2001, is an acronym for Uniting
and
Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to
Intercept
and Obstruct Terrorism. It is supposed to defend against terrorism and
other criminals in the United States...
ALSO SEE:
LIBERTY IN THE BALANCE: PATRIOT ACT'S BROAD BRUSH
Sam Stanton, Sacramento Bee, 12/21/03
http://www.sacbee.com/content/news/projects/liberty/story/7989769p-8926319c.html
Becky Foster isn't a terrorist, but her bank didn't want to take any
chances.
Before she could open a new account, bank officials told her, the USA
Patriot Act required them to run her name through a government list of
suspected terrorists.
The public corruption probe known as "G-sting" is aimed at strip-club
owners, but that didn't stop the FBI from using the Patriot Act to
secretly
obtain reams of banking information for its investigation.
Originally sold to Congress as a means of fighting terrorism in the
wake of
the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, the Patriot Act has been used in numerous
criminal cases unrelated to terrorism probes, officials say.
In addition, some financial institutions have been citing it to explain
why
they're now asking for sensitive personal information from their
customers...
-----
RIGHTS BODY REPORTS NEW TORTURE DEATH IN UZBEK JAIL
Reuters, 12/22/03
http://www.gateway2russia.com/st/art_184606.php
ALMATY - A human rights watchdog has reported the death in detention in
ex-Soviet Uzbekistan of a young man accused of theft, the fourth such
incident this year, and said his body had shown signs of severe
torture.
Uzbek President Islam Karimov has developed warm ties with the United
States in return for supporting Washington's "war on terror" in
Afghanistan
to the south.
But human rights bodies and some diplomats accuse him of cracking down
on
dissent and tolerating widespread torture in jails.
Human Rights Watch (HRW) said the body of Kamalodin Jumaniazov, a
25-year-old father of two arrested in November on suspicion of theft,
had
been recovered by relatives in a mortuary in western Uzbekistan with
serious bodily injuries.
"Witnesses who viewed the body told Human Rights Watch that it had two
bloody injuries on the forehead, bruising on the nape of the neck and a
grazed knee," HRW said in a report posted on its site www.hrw.org at
the
weekend.
HRW said a prosecutor had told the family their son had committed
suicide
by hanging himself in his cell with a sweater...
-----
IF LIBYA CAN DO IT, WHY NOT ISRAEL?
Peter Preston, Guardian, 12/22/03
http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/comment/0,10551,1111567,00.html
There's a logic to these things. Muammar Gadafy, growing older, and his
isolated Libya, growing poorer, were getting nothing worthwhile from
the
atomic bomb they hadn't built yet or chemicals they had scant residual
use
for. Logic - and common sense - meant changing tack. Good for logic.
But
logic doesn't stop there.
What next? If weapons of mass destruction are a menace in unstable
regions
such as the Middle East, if their availability must be reduced, then
logic
begins to move us closer to the confrontation we never seek with the
nuclear power we - let alone Messrs Bush and Blair - seldom mention:
Israel.
Nobody, including the Knesset, quite knows what happens inside the
Dimona
complex, but if you put together a compote of usually reliable sources
(the
Federation of American Scientists, Jane's Intelligence Review, the
Stockholm Institute), a tolerably clear picture emerges. Ariel Sharon
probably has more than 200 nuclear warheads this morning - more if the
17
years since Mordechai Vanunu's kidnapping have been devoted to building
stockpiles.
That makes Israel the world's fifth largest nuclear power, boasting
more
bangs from Washington's bucks than Blair's Britain. And over in the
other
WMD basket, nobody much dissents when a report by the office of
technology
assessment for the US Congress concludes that Israel has "undeclared
offensive chemical warfare capabilities" and is "generally reported as
having an undeclared offensive biological warfare programme". Bombs,
missiles, delivery systems, gases, germs? Tel Aviv has the lot. We only
forget to remember because it's not a suitable subject for polite
diplomatic conversation...
ALSO SEE:
INDIAN AMERICANS ASCEND THE HILL
Tom Carter, Washington Times, 12/20/03
http://www.washtimes.com/world/20031219-093705-9413r.htm
After years of sitting on the political sidelines, the Indian-American
community is organizing, lobbying Capitol Hill, collecting campaign
funds -
and U.S. politicians are paying attention.
"Howard Dean was the first to send us a position paper," said Sanjay
Puri,
executive director of the Virginia-based U.S. India Political Action
Committee (USINPAC). "We sent Dean's comments out to our members. It
was
written up in the Indian press. He was very good on Kashmir and
immigration. I'm told [that] after we sent it out to our members, his
Web
site got a lot of hits and donations from Indian Americans."
Mr. Puri, an information-technology entrepreneur and founder of
USINPAC,
said Indian-American doctors, professionals and business owners have
been
asked for money by politicians for years. They donated, but rarely
asked a
candidate's position on issues of interest to the Indian community.
"That has got to change," said Mr. Puri, whose lunch at Capitol Hill's
White Tiger was interrupted several times by Indians who recognized him
and
wanted to say hello.
Just 14 months old, USINPAC has 27,000 members among the estimated 2
million Indian Americans living in the United States. It is an affluent
and
educated population that is growing by 10 percent a year.
Mr. Puri said 40,000 Indian physicians are practicing medicine in the
United States. Some 60 percent of the small hotels in the United States
are
owned by Indians. In addition, Indian information technology (IT)
specialists, who have created more than 1,000 IT businesses and
hundreds of
thousands of IT jobs in the United States, are everywhere in the U.S.
computer industry...
-----
SADDAM WAS HELD BY KURDISH FORCES, DRUGGED AND LEFT FOR US TROOPS
Agence France Presse, 12/20/03
http://www1.chinadaily.com.cn/en/doc/2003-12/22/content_292365.htm
LONDON - Saddam Hussein was captured by US troops only after he had
been
taken prisoner by Kurdish forces, drugged and abandoned ready for
American
soldiers to recover him, a British Sunday newspaper said.
Saddam came into the hands of the Kurdish Patriotic Front after being
betrayed to the group by a member of the al-Jabour tribe, whose
daughter
had been raped by Saddam's son Uday, leading to a blood feud, reported
the
Sunday Express, which quoted an unnamed senior British military
intelligence officer.
The newspaper said the full story of events leading up to the ousted
Iraqi
president's capture on December 13 near his hometown of Tikrit in
northern
Iraq, "exposes the version peddled by American spin doctors as
incomplete".
A former Iraqi intelligence officer, whom the Express did not name,
told
the paper that Saddam was held prisoner by a leader of the Kurdish
Patriotic Front, which fought alongside US forces during the Iraq war,
until he negotiated a deal...
The deal apparently involved the group gaining political advantage in
the
region.
An unnamed Western intelligence source in the Middle East told the
Express:
"Saddam was not captured as a result of any American or British
intelligence. We knew that someone would eventually take their revenge,
it
was just a matter of time..."
-----
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-----
CAIR
Council on American-Islamic Relations
453 New Jersey Avenue, S.E.
Washington, D.C. 20003
Tel: 202-488-8787, 202-744-7726
Fax: 202-488-0833
E-mail: cair@cair-net.org
URL: http://www.cair-net.org
-----
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
AMERICAN MUSLIM NEWS BRIEFS - 12/23/03
* HADITH OF THE DAY: CONSOLE THOSE IN DISTRESS
* CAIR'S LIBRARY PROJECT: 7114 SPONSORSHIPS
* INCITEMENT WATCH: ‘CHISELING’ THE WALL OF ISLAM
* U.S. MUSLIMS CONDEMN ISRAELI ATTACKS ON REFUGEES
* BLANKET FINGERPRINTS FOR U.S. TOURISTS (News.com)
- Airports to Start Tracking Foreigners (AP)
* ISLAMIC LEADER PRAISES TOLERANCE (St. Pete Times)
- Muslims, Jews Keep Traditions Alive (Press Enter.)
- Melting Pot Should Have All Faiths (Comm. Appeal)
* GE TURNS OUT THE LIGHT ON PAUL HARVEY (CNSNews)
* PLAN TO SAVE GROUP RAISES HOPES, AND DOUBTS (NY Times)
* RUMSFELD MADE IRAQ OVERTURE DESPITE CHEMICAL USE (NY Times)
- Terrorism and Liberty (NY Times)
* 'LOST TRIBE' FINDS ITSELF ON FRONT LINES OF CONFLICT (NY Times)
- Black Caucus Target of Pro-Israel Lobby? (Black Comm.)
-----
HADITH OF THE DAY: CONSOLE THOSE IN DISTRESS
The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: "Every believer who
consoles
his brother in distress will be dressed by God in an apparel of honor
on
the Day of Resurrection."
Fiqh-us-Sunnah, Volume 4, Number 80a
-----
CAIR LIBRARY PROJECT: 7114 SPONSORSHIPS
The goal of CAIR's library project is to send accurate and objective
information about Islam to America's 16,000 public libraries.
For only $150, Muslim individuals and groups may sponsor 18-item
packages
about Islam and Muslims, which are then distributed to the library of
their
choice.
To sponsor a library call, 1-800-392-7876, ext. 320, or visit:
www.libraryproject.org.
A testimonial from a sponsored library:
"Many thanks for the fine materials! I am glad to be able to offer
them to
our community. I think these are needed materials. I had begun to
build
my own Islam collection, but didn't have the budget to do as much as I
wanted. Thanks to you, we now have a collection that will help
encourage
appreciation and open-mindedness. The books & videos are going out!"
-
Archdale Public Library, Archdale, North Carolina
-----
INCITEMENT WATCH: ‘CHISELING’ THE WALL OF ISLAM
Southern Baptist Press,
http://www.sbcbaptistpress.org/bpnews.asp?ID=17315
WAKE FOREST, N.C. --Robert George* is in the business of breaking down
walls in North Africa.
His tool, the Word of God, is effective and powerful, but the wall he
is
chiseling is the 1,400-year-old fixture of Islam. It does not budge
easily…
George realizes that many small cracks must first take place if the
wall of
Islam is to collapse completely. He continues to fight the good fight
because he knows the strength of the God he serves.
-----
U.S. MUSLIMS CONDEMN ISRAELI ATTACKS ON REFUGEES
(WASHINGTON, D.C., 12/23/03) - A prominent national Islamic civil
rights
and advocacy group today condemned an Israeli raid on a Gaza Strip
refugee
camp that resulted in the deaths of at least eight people and the
wounding
of many more, including nine Palestinian children.
The Washington-based Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) said
in a
statement:
"Israeli attacks on heavily-populated areas using armored vehicles
inevitably results in the deaths of Palestinian civilians. Instead of
promoting peace and security, these bloody incursions serve only to
perpetuate the cycle of violence and to fuel mutual mistrust.
"This continued aggression should be met with a serious response by our
own
government. Otherwise, silence in the face of such illegal actions by
the
right-wing Israeli government provides tacit support for future
killings
and further damages our image and interests in the Muslim world. Our
government’s condemnation on the killing of civilians –- whether
Palestinian or Israeli -- should be the same.
CAIR calls on American Jewish leaders to condemn Israeli attacks on
civilians and join the growing opposition by high-ranking Israeli
military
officers and soldiers who refuse to be involved in an immoral
occupation.
CAIR, America's largest Islamic civil liberties group, is headquartered
in
Washington, D.C., and has 16 regional offices nationwide and in Canada.
- END -
CONTACT: Ibrahim Hooper, 202-488-8787 or 202-744-7726, E-Mail:
cair@cair-net.org; Rabiah Ahmed, 202-488-8787 or 202-439-1441, E-Mail:
rahmed@cair-net.org
-----
BLANKET FINGERPRINTS FOR US TOURISTS
News.com, 12/23/03
http://www.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057,8243841%255E2,00.html
US airports and seaports are preparing to begin using fingerprints and
photographs to keep track of when foreigners enter the country and when
they leave.
The program, to be up and running on January 5 at all 115 airports that
handle international flights, will let Customs officials instantly
check an
immigrant or visitor's criminal background.
"I think people have come to understand that an increase to security is
necessary," said US Homeland Security spokesman Bill Strassberger.
At Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, between 1000 and 2000
passengers will be fingerprinted and photographed each day. Security
officials are setting up equipment, training personnel and asking for
volunteers to test the program.
The program, called US-VISIT, or US Visitor and Immigrant Status
Indicator
Technology, will check an estimated 24 million foreigners each year,
though
some will be repeat visitors.
Inkless fingerprints will be taken and checked instantly against a
national
database for criminal backgrounds and any terrorist lists, Mr
Strassberger
said. The process will be repeated when the foreigners leave the
country as
an extra security measure and to ensure they complied with visa
limitations...
ALSO SEE:
AIRPORTS TO START TRACKING FOREIGNERS
Penny Cockerell, Associated Press, 12/22/03
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A23312-2003Dec22.html
DALLAS - Major U.S. airports and seaports are preparing to begin using
fingerprints and photographs to keep track of when foreigners enter the
country and when they leave.
The program, to be up and running on Jan. 5 at all 115 airports that
handle
international flights, will let Customs officials instantly check an
immigrant or visitor's criminal background.
"I think people have come to understand that an increase to security is
necessary," said U.S. Homeland Security spokesman Bill Strassberger.
At Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, between 1,000 to 2,000
passengers will be fingerprinted and photographed each day. Security
officials are setting up equipment, training personnel and asking for
volunteers to test the program.
The program, called US-VISIT, or U.S. Visitor and Immigrant Status
Indicator Technology, will check an estimated 24 million foreigners
each
year, though some will be repeat visitors...
-----
ISLAMIC LEADER PRAISES TOLERANCE
Robert King, St. Petersburg Times, 12/23/03
http://www.sptimes.com/2003/12/23/Hernando/Islamic_leader_praise.shtml
SPRING HILL - The leader of the nation's largest Islamic group told
local
Muslims on Sunday that tolerance for other faiths and respect for women
has
made Islam in America a model for the rest of the Muslim world.
Sayyid Syeed, secretary general of the Islamic Society of North
America,
also said America's standing as the world's lone superpower gives it a
special duty to ensure its Muslim community continues to thrive,
particularly in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks.
Despite concerns from many Muslims that their civil liberties have been
threatened in the name of national security, Syeed said America has
largely
held up its end of the bargain.
"What we experienced here on 9/11 was a tragedy of colossal magnitude,"
Syeed said. "But we passed that test."
Based in Plainfield, Ind., ISNA is an umbrella organization for more
than
300 Muslim mosques, schools and service organizations. Its annual
convention, which drew 30,000 people this year, is the largest annual
gathering of Muslims in America.
ISNA's stated goals include training imams - or local prayer leaders -
for
service, youth development and promoting a "true and accurate" image of
Islam.
One of ISNA's subsidiaries, the North American Islamic Trust, owns
about 27
percent of the estimated 1,200 mosques in the United States, according
to a
report by the Council on American-Islamic Relations. The Hernando
County
mosque on Barclay Avenue is owned by the trust...
ALSO SEE:
MUSLIMS, JEWS AIM TO KEEP TRADITIONS ALIVE
Bettye Wells Miller, Press Enterprise, 12/23/03
http://www.pe.com/localnews/inland/stories/PE_News_Local_chside23.e8c4.html
Inland Muslim and Jewish congregations have stepped up efforts to reach
20-something Muslims and Jews in recent years.
But unlike some Christian churches that embrace contemporary culture to
reach young adults, local mosques and synagogues celebrate the rich
traditions and prayers of their faiths while creating a greater sense
of
intimacy and community.
Religious leaders of both faiths said those efforts are especially
aimed at
supporting college-age students who often feel pressured by other
students
to ignore their religious roots.
Reform Jews in the U.S. recently launched a program called "Packing for
College" that encourages synagogues to support their students while
they
are away at college and to better ground college-bound students in
Jewish
teachings...
---
MELTING POT SHOULD HAVE ROOM FOR ALL FAITHS
Danish Siddiqui, Commercial Appeal, 12/21/03
http://www.gomemphis.com/mca/opinion_columnists/article/0,1426,MCA_539_2517898,00.html
Everywhere you go at this time of year, you can't help but notice the
holiday spirit expressed in carols, nativity scenes, mall Santas and
other
images of the Christmas season.
But what about those of us here in Memphis who don't celebrate
Christmas,
or even Hanukkah? Those of us who don't buy Christmas trees or hang
stockings over our fireplaces, and who may not really understand what
all
the holiday fuss is about?
That's pretty weird, isn't it?
The Council on American-Islamic Relations estimates that 7 million
Muslims
live in the United States. I can't speak for the rest of them, but I
can
say from my own experience that in some respects, the Christian holiday
of
Christmas does seem to be a holiday for everyone - a holiday, that is,
from
going to work or school.
But I don't share the religious aspects of the holiday, and that seems
to
make me and other Muslims strange or even frightening to some Memphians
who
are unfamiliar with our faith...
Danish Siddiqui is a senior at the University of Memphis and president
of
the Muslim Students' Association of Memphis.
-----
GE TURNS OUT THE LIGHT ON PAUL HARVEY
Susan Jones, CNSNews.com, 12/23/03
http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewPolitics.asp?Page=%5CPolitics%5Carchive%5C200312%5CPOL20031223a.html
General Electric, in response to Muslim complaints, has decided to pull
its
lighting advertisements from Paul Harvey's syndicated radio show, at
least
for the time being.
On Dec. 4, the 84-year-old Harvey was describing cockfighting in Iraq
when
he made the following comment on-air: "Add to the thirst for blood a
religion which encourages killing, and it is entirely understandable if
Americans came to this bloody party unprepared."
The Council on American-Islamic Relations, a Muslim civil rights group,
objected to the phrase "a religion which encourages killing," and it
demanded an apology.
About a week later, Harvey issued a statement through a fill-in host.
He
didn't apologize, but he did say that Islam is a "religion of peace."
On Monday, CAIR distributed an e-mail that General Electric's Corporate
Feedback Team sent to a Muslim who complained about Harvey's remark...
-----
PLAN TO SAVE MUSLIM GROUP RAISES HOPES, AND DOUBTS
Patrick Healy, New York Times, 12/23/03
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/12/23/nyregion/23MUSL.html
NEWARK — The nation's largest group of black Muslims was plunged into
disarray this year when its founder resigned and many top leaders
followed
suit, leaving others in the organization to wonder whether it would
survive
or crumble.
Now, a largely unknown Newark high school teacher says he can revive
the
1.5-million-member organization, the American Society of Muslims. Some
scholars and black Muslim community leaders say his efforts are doomed,
but
the teacher, Mustafa el-Amin, says he will tour the country to attract
new
members and draw back the ones who left.
He outlined his goals Sunday afternoon in a speech at Rutgers
University
here, soberly holding up the Koran as he called for the rebirth of the
American Society of Muslims. Mr. Amin said he could right the tattered
society because he had the support of its departed founder, W. Deen
Muhammad, who remains a spiritual leader.
"I'm standing on solid ground," Mr. Amin said in an interview, his
baritone
infused with flavors of his family's Baptist and Pentecostal roots. "My
effort is renewing, reviving, reorganizing..."
-----
RUMSFELD MADE IRAQ OVERTURE IN '84 DESPITE CHEMICAL RAIDS
Christopher Marquis, New York Times, 12/23/03
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/12/23/international/middleeast/23RUMS.html
WASHINGTON — As a special envoy for the Reagan administration in 1984,
Donald H. Rumsfeld, now the defense secretary, traveled to Iraq to
persuade
officials there that the United States was eager to improve ties with
President Saddam Hussein despite his use of chemical weapons, newly
declassified documents show.
Mr. Rumsfeld, who ran a pharmaceutical company at the time, was tapped
by
Secretary of State George P. Shultz to reinforce a message that a
recent
move to condemn Iraq's use of chemical weapons was strictly in
principle
and that America's priority was to prevent an Iranian victory in the
Iran-Iraq war and to improve bilateral ties.
During that war, the United States secretly provided Iraq with combat
planning assistance, even after Mr. Hussein's use of chemical weapons
was
widely known. The highly classified program involved more than 60
officers
of the Defense Intelligence Agency, who shared intelligence on Iranian
deployments, bomb-damage assessments and other crucial information with
Iraq.
The disclosures round out a picture of American outreach to the Iraqi
government, even as the United States professed to be neutral in the
eight-year war, and suggests a private nonchalance toward Mr. Hussein's
use
of chemicals in warfare. Mr. Rumsfeld and other Bush administration
officials have cited Iraq's use of poisonous gas as a main reason for
ousting Mr. Hussein...
ALSO SEE:
TERRORISM AND LIBERTY
New York Times, 12/23/03
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/12/23/opinion/23TUE3.html
After four years of work, a federal commission on terrorism issued its
final report last week. The report was unremarkable except for one
recommendation that shone brightly through the usual thicket of
bureaucratic prose. Aggressive antiterrorism policies, the report
suggested, when combined with increasingly sophisticated surveillance
technologies, could have a "chilling effect" on the right to privacy
and
other fundamental civil liberties. To prevent that from happening, the
commission recommended that the White House establish a bipartisan
panel to
review how constitutional guarantees would be affected by all new laws
and
regulations aimed at enhancing national security.
The report appeared only days before two federal courts rebuked the
Bush
administration for ignoring constitutional restraints in the name of
fighting terrorism. The commission did not directly criticize the
administration's policies, but it urged the government to take special
precautions to protect against the infringement of basic rights. The
report
was also notable for the fact that it came from a fairly conservative
panel
consisting mainly of law-enforcement and municipal officials and headed
by
James Gilmore III, a former Republican governor of Virginia...
-----
'LOST TRIBE' FINDS ITSELF ON FRONT LINES OF MIDEAST CONFLICT
Greg Myre, New York Times, 12/22/03
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/12/22/international/middleeast/22SETT.html
HAVEI SHOMRON, West Bank — Sharon Palian and his fellow immigrants from
India are still struggling with the Hebrew language and remain partial
to
homemade kosher curry rather than Israeli cuisine.
But the 71 immigrants, who arrived in June with the firm conviction
that
they were descended from one of the biblical lost tribes of Israel,
feel
they have completed a spiritual homecoming…
"Israel can bring lost tribes from India, Alaska or Mars, as long as
they
put them inside Israel," said Saeb Erekat, the chief Palestinian
negotiator. "But to bring a lost person from India and have him find
his
land in Nablus is just outrageous…"
Most of the immigrants have recently completed a religion course and
are
now recognized as Jewish by the state, permitting them to become
citizens…
ALSO SEE:
CONGRESSIONAL BLACK CAUCUS TARGET OF PRO-ISRAEL LOBBY?
Margaret Kimberley, Black Commentator, 12/18/03
http://www.blackcommentator.com/69/69_fr_cbc.html
As the presidential campaign season heats up every day brings news of
endorsement one-upmanship. In one week we witnessed Al Gore endorsing
Howard Dean, Charles Rangel and other black elected officials endorsing
Wesley Clark, South Carolina Black Congressman James Clyburn endorsing
Dick
Gephardt, and Al Sharpton angry because no one had endorsed him.
It was expected that Maryland Congressman Elijah Cummings, Chair of the
Congressional Black Caucus, would soon endorse Howard Dean as well.
But Cummings' endorsement hit a temporary snag. The Baltimore Sun
reported
that the Cummings endorsement was in jeopardy because leaders of
Baltimore's Jewish community were concerned about Dean's commitment to
Israel. Dean made headlines in September when he said that the United
States should be "even handed" in dealing with Israel and the
Palestinians.
One would have thought from the response that Dean had expressed love
for
suicide bombers. It didn't seem to help that Dean's wife is Jewish and
that
his national campaign co-chairman, Steve Grossman, was formerly
president
of the American Israeli Political Action Committee (AIPAC). Anyone who
steps outside of pro-Israeli orthodoxy gets the cold shoulder, even if
his
credentials are otherwise acceptable.
Members of the Congressional Black Caucus have been particularly
vulnerable
to the pressures exerted by the pro-Israel lobby. In 2002 Cynthia
McKinney
of Georgia and Earl Hilliard of Alabama were both defeated by
challengers
who raised large sums of money from Jewish groups outside of their
states...
-----
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CAIR
Council on American-Islamic Relations
453 New Jersey Avenue, S.E.
Washington, D.C. 20003
Tel: 202-488-8787, 202-744-7726
Fax: 202-488-0833
E-mail: cair@cair-net.org
URL: http://www.cair-net.org
Forwarded Message
Date:
Wed, 24 Dec 2003 13:04:27 -0500
To:
cair-net@cair.biglist.com
From:
"CAIR" <cair@cair-net.org>
Subject:
CAIR-NET: U.S. Muslims Defend Freedom/Dems Court Muslims
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
AMERICAN MUSLIM NEWS BRIEFS - 12/24/03
* HADITH OF THE DAY: GOD IS GENEROUS
* CAIR'S LIBRARY PROJECT: 7114 SPONSORSHIPS
- 540+ Attend CAIR-CAN Fundraising Dinner
* DC-AREA MUSLIMS FEED HOMELESS
* U.S. MUSLIMS DEFEND THEIR FREEDOM, OURS (Sacramento Bee)
* DEMOCRATS COURT VOTE OF DISGRUNTLED MUSLIMS (Reuters)
- Immigration Reform on Bush Agenda (Wash. Post)
* NEOCONS TRY TO LIMIT STUDY OF OTHER CULTURES (In These Times)
* ISLAMIC PROFESSOR SPARKS CONTROVERSY IN EUROPE (VOA)
* AFFLECK REVEALS FASCINATION WITH THE MIDDLE EAST (AFP)
* DIVERSE BELIEFS FIND COMMON GROUND IN PA VALLEY (AP)
-----
HADITH OF THE DAY: GOD IS GENEROUS
The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: "If anyone transgresses
and
receives punishment in this world, God is too just to repeat the
punishment
of His servant in the next. And if anyone transgresses and God conceals
it
and forgives him, He is too generous to go back upon a thing He has
forgiven."
Al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 1023
-----
CAIR LIBRARY PROJECT: 7114 SPONSORSHIPS
The goal of CAIR's library project is to send accurate and objective
information about Islam to America's 16,000 public libraries.
For only $150, Muslim individuals and groups may sponsor 18-item
packages
about Islam and Muslims, which are then distributed to the library of
their
choice.
To sponsor a library call, 1-800-392-7876, ext. 320, or visit:
www.libraryproject.org.
SEE ALSO:
OVER 540 ATTEND CALGARY FUNDRAISING DINNER
Calgarians donate more than any other city
(Ottawa, 24/12/2003) - Alhamdulillah (praise be to God), CAIR-CAN's
Calgary
fundraising dinner, held on Saturday, December 20th, 2003, was a
success.
The event was presented in collaboration with the Muslim Council of
Calgary
(MCC).
More than 540 people attended the event to learn about CAIR-CAN's
activism
for Canadian Muslims and to demonstrate their support through financial
commitments. Calgarians donated over $145 000.
For pictures of the event, see:
www.caircan.ca/downloads/Calgary201203/DSC00374.JPG
www.caircan.ca/downloads/Calgary201203/DSC00391.JPG
www.caircan.ca/downloads/Calgary201203/DSC00399.JPG
www.caircan.ca/downloads/Calgary201203/DSC00409.JPG
Speakers included Imam Siraj Wahaj, Imam Jamal Hammoud, Hatim Zaghloul,
president of the Muslim Council of Calgary (MCC), and CAIR-CAN
Executive
Director Riad Saloojee. The event also featured a special taped message
for
Calgary Muslims by Maher Arar.
"CAIR-CAN would like to thank Calgary Muslims and the MCC for their
overwhelming generosity and support," stated CAIR-CAN Executive
Director
Riad Saloojee.
He added: "We are particularly grateful for the support of Calgary
Muslims
given the fact that the community is currently collecting funds for
much-needed community projects. May Allah bless all of the donors at
the
dinner and increase the Calgary Muslim community in all good, both in
this
world and the hereafter."
CAIR-CAN
Council on American-Islamic Relations CANADA
P.O. Box 13219, Ottawa, ONT, K2K 1X4
Tel: 1-866-524-0004
Fax: 613-254-9810
URL: www.caircan.ca
-----
DC-AREA MUSLIMS FEED HOMELESS
(WASHINGTON, D.C., 12/24/03) - On Wednesday, December 24,
Washington-area
Muslims will prepare food and then distribute it to the homeless.
WHEN: Wednesday, December 24, Food Preparation: 3:30 - 6 p.m., Food
Distribution: 6 - 8 p.m.
WHERE: Fairfax Presbyterian Church, 10723 Main Street, Fairfax, VA
The food distribution is sponsored by Food Source Foundation (FSF), an
interfaith group founded by Muslims in the wake of the 9/11 attacks,
when
local charities suffered a drop in donations.
After the food is prepared in the church by a dozen Muslim volunteers,
it
will be taken to specified locations in Fairfax and Centerville for
direct
delivery to some 150 homeless people.
"Islam mandates taking care of those in need, whatever their faith or
life
circumstances," said Ibrahim Hooper, communications director for the
Washington-based Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR).
Hooper quoted the Quran, Islam's revealed text, which states: "Have you
seen the one who denies the Judgment (to come)? It is he who drives
away
the orphan with harshness and does not encourage feeding the indigent."
(Quran, 107:1-3)
He also cited the Prophet Muhammad, who said: "Verily, God…will say on
the
Day of Resurrection…'O son of Adam, I asked you for food but you did
not
feed Me.' The person will respond: 'My Lord, how could I feed Thee when
Thou art the Lord of the worlds?' (God) will (then) say: 'Didn't you
know
that a servant of Mine asked you for food but you did not feed him, and
were you not aware that if you had fed him you would have found him by
My
side?'" (Sahih Muslim, Hadith 1172)
CAIR, America's largest Islamic civil liberties group, is headquartered
in
Washington, D.C., and has 25 regional offices and chapters nationwide
and
in Canada.
- END -
CONTACT: Food Source Foundation, Mukit Hossain, 703-932-9769, E-Mail:
shoma@prodigy.net; CAIR, Ibrahim Hooper, 202-488-8787 or 202-744-7726,
E-Mail: cair@cair-net.org; Rabiah Ahmed, 202-488-8787 or 202-439-1441,
E-Mail: rahmed@cair-net.org
-----
MUSLIM AMERICANS DEFEND THEIR FREEDOM, OURS
Ginger Rutland, Sacramento Bee, 12/23/03
http://www.sacbee.com/content/opinion/story/7998189p-8934735c.html
Quite by chance, on the day that Saddam Hussein was captured hiding in
a
hole in Iraq, the Council on American-Islamic Relations' new Sacramento
Valley chapter held its first fund-raising banquet.
Like other Americans across the country, the largely Muslim crowd
celebrated the downfall of the brutal Iraqi dictator. It was a nuanced
celebration, one that recognized the special impact this war has had on
their community.
For Muslim Americans, the fallout of 9/11, the wars in Afghanistan and
in
Iraq, even the capture of Saddam focus an unwelcome and uncomfortable
spotlight on them. They feel under attack that their loyalty is
doubted,
their patriotism suspect. In response to the threat, Muslim Americans
have
borrowed a page from a well-worn playbook used by legions of
beleaguered
minorities who preceded them: They've organized politically.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations, CAIR, is at the center of
that
effort. A Washington-based civil rights organization with 30 chapters
across the United States and Canada, CAIR's stated mission is to
"improve
the American Muslim experience through education, political activism,
community interaction and media relations."
"It's our time to pay," CAIR's national chairman, Omar Ahmad, told the
banquet guests. "We must fight for our civil rights. They will not be
given
to us."
Ahmad then presided over a fund drive that raised an astonishing
$113,000
in less than an hour. The money was targeted for scholarships,
especially
for Muslim students who seek careers in public service, for legal aid
for
Muslim immigrants, and for outreach and education about Islam to the
non-Muslim community...
-----
DEMOCRATS COURT VOTE OF DISGRUNTLED U.S. MUSLIMS
Caroline Drees, Reuters, 12/23/03
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20031223/us_nm/usa_politics_muslims_dc_1
WASHINGTON - Three years after Muslim Americans overwhelmingly voted
for
George W. Bush, democratic presidential candidates are courting these
disenchanted voters in hopes of winning millions of backers in key
states.
"I want to earn the support of Muslims and Muslim leaders across the
United
States," Sen. John Kerry, a Democrat from Massachusetts, told a major
Muslim conference outside Los Angeles last weekend.
"I very much hope for your support," Democratic front-runner and former
Vermont governor, Howard Dean, told the same meeting, the Muslim Public
Affairs Council annual convention.
Dean, Kerry and Ohio Rep. Dennis Kucinich all called in from the
campaign
trail, and the audience was receptive.
Angered by post-Sept. 11 legislation like the USA Patriot Act which
Muslims
feel discriminates against them, upset about wars against two Muslim
countries, and frustrated by a perceived pro-Israeli bias in Middle
East
peacemaking, many U.S. Muslims are shifting their political
allegiance...
"Today I go to mosques and many people tell me they'll vote for ABB --
anybody but Bush," said Hussam Ayloush, head of the Council on
American-Islamic Relations in southern California.
A straw poll among the 800 MPAC delegates showed more than 67 percent
planned to vote for Dean, compared to just 2 percent for Bush. Upon
hearing
the poll results, one delegate said, "How did Bush manage to get 2
percent?..."
SEE ALSO:
IMMIGRATION REFORM ON BUSH AGENDA
Mike Allen, Washington Post, 12/24/03
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A25882-2003Dec23.html
President Bush plans to kick off his reelection year by proposing a
program
that would make it easier for immigrants to work legally in the United
States, in what would constitute the most significant changes to
immigration law in 18 years, Republican officials said yesterday.
Lobbyists working with the White House said Bush is developing a plan
that
would allow immigrants to cross the border legally if jobs are waiting
for
them. The sources said the administration also wants to provide a way
for
some undocumented workers in the United States to move toward legal
status.
Bush will try to make the plan more palatable to conservatives by
including
stricter entry controls, including increased use of technology at the
border and steps toward better enforcement of current visa restrictions
and
reporting requirements, sources said...
-----
WE AREN'T THE WORLD
Laurie King-Irani, In These Times, 12/11/03
http://inthesetimes.com/comments.php?id=488_0_2_0_C
Laurie King-Irani is an anthropologist at the University of Victoria,
British Columbia.
Already-strapped institutions of higher learning are facing an
ideologically driven effort to limit funding for the study of cultures
outside the United States.
For nearly four decades, American universities have benefited from the
U.S.
Department of Education programs funded under Title VI of the Higher
Education Act of 1965. Title VI provides grants to nurture area and
international studies centers and aims to create national resources for
teaching foreign language and supporting research and training in
international studies and world affairs. But these programs are under
threat as neoconservatives seek to place conditions on continued
funding.
Title VI reauthorization already has passed the House and is expected
to be
taken up by the Senate in January. Differences in the bills will be
hammered out in conference -- a process not open to the public.
"This legislation represents the thin end of the wedge for political
interference with the curriculum," says Rashid Khalidi, the Edward Said
Professor of Arab Studies at Columbia University's Middle East
Institute.
"It is meant to provide a highly partisan, ideological litmus test for
academics..."
-----
ISLAMIC PROFESSOR SPARKS CONTROVERSY IN EUROPE
Lisa Bryant, Voice of America, 12/23/03
http://www.voanews.com/article.cfm?objectID=929500C5-9F7B-45BF-9AF102AADCAA140C
A Swiss-born Islamic professor has become one of Europe's most
talked-about
Muslim leaders. Some praise him as a visionary religious scholar who
teaches devout Muslims how to assimilate in a secular Europe. But
others
denounce him as an anti-Semitic firebrand, inspired by his
fundamentalist
heritage.
Tens of thousands of French viewers tuned in recently to an evening
television program called 100 Minutes to Convince. It featured three of
France's most controversial figures - Interior Minister Nicolas
Sarkozy,
far-right political leader Jean-Marie Le Pen, and Swiss Muslim scholar
Tariq Ramadan.
And, as so often happens when Mr. Ramadan appears in public forums,
ordinarily dull political banter turned into political fireworks - this
time pitting Mr. Sarkozy against Mr. Ramadan.
France's Interior Minister challenged Mr. Ramadan to denounce the
stoning
of adulterous women, a practice condoned by some Islamic leaders,
including
his brother. Mr. Sarkozy also questioned Mr. Ramadan's support for
French
Muslim women who choose to wear veils. Mr. Sarkozy told Mr. Ramadan,
"Tell
French Muslims to make an effort to integrate. If you don't, it's
because
you are a master of double talk."
It's a label often put on the charismatic, controversial 41-year-old
Swiss
professor, whose biggest following is among the estimated 5-6 million
Muslims living in France. Mr. Ramadan has been nicknamed the king of
ambiguity, and the prince of double language.
Schooled in Swiss and Egyptian universities, Mr. Ramadan teaches
philosophy
in Switzerland, and lectures widely in Europe and the United States. He
has
authored several books about reconciling Islam and the West. The
English
edition of his latest work, Western Muslims and the Future of Islam,
has
just been published in the United States...
-----
BEN AFFLECK REVEALS A REAL FASCINATION WITH THE MIDDLE EAST
Mohamed Fahdel, Agence France Presse, 12/24/03
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/s1016024.htm
MANAMA, - Hollywood actor Ben Affleck, on a Christmas visit to US
sailors
in Bahrain, confessed to a fascination with the Middle East and berated
Americans for their ignorance of the issues.
"I've always been drawn to the Middle East as an area of study because
it
always seems sort of mysterious and exotic," he told AFP after cheering
the
troops on the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise off Bahrain on Tuesday.
"It's interesting, really, that is the reason I was first attracted ...
and
it's also one of the reasons I read about it and study about it," said
the
31-year-old better known for his involvement with pop superstar
Jennifer
Lopez than the intricacies of Oriental politics.
"It's the people, religion, politics, the culture and the legacy of
imperialism and the way nations grapple with notions of nationalism,"
he said.
"Ever since the end of the First World War and the breakup of the
Ottoman
empire, it seems to me that the Middle East and the Gulf has been
struggling to define itself and emerge from the colonial shadow.
"I think it's the most misunderstood part of the world by certain
people in
the United States."
Affleck also dismissed common Western stereotypes about Islam.
"There is a perception in some circles that Islam is inherently more
violent than Christianity, that this notion of Jihad is inherent in
Islam
and leads Muslims to be more brutal than Christians. I think that is
false.
"There is a misunderstanding of Islamic culture, some people believe
that
it is primitive, and that is also.
"Most people in the United States don't even know the difference
between
Persians and Arabs. I mean they are really in a fundamental lack of
understanding ... They don't know what is the nature of the
disagreement
over Palestine, people don't understand that..."
------
DIVERSE RELIGIOUS BELIEFS FIND COMMON GROUND IN LEHIGH VALLEY
Joe McDermott, Associated Press, 12/24/03
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=10708896&BRD=2212&PAG=461&dept_id=465812&rfi=6
BETHLEHEM, Pa.- The appearance of the Hindu Temple Society on Airport
Road
gives little sign of the experiment that's been going on inside for
more
than 15 years.
The little building just north of Schoenersville Road is home to Lehigh
Valley practitioners of India's four major faiths - Hinduism, Jain,
Sikh
and Buddhism. Though all share a homeland, they almost never share
space in
India.
The temple in Hanover Township, Northampton County, offers a cohesion
that
practitioners of the four faiths don't find in their native land.
And they are not alone. Across the Lehigh Valley worship centers,
churches
and temples are signaling a new religious diversity...
-----
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CAIR
Council on American-Islamic Relations
453 New Jersey Avenue, S.E.
Washington, D.C. 20003
Tel: 202-488-8787, 202-744-7726
Fax: 202-488-0833
E-mail: cair@cair-net.org
URL: http://www.cair-net.org
-----
Forwarded Message
Date:
Fri, 26 Dec 2003 17:26:17 -0500
To:
cair-net@cair.biglist.com
From:
"CAIR" <cair@cair-net.org>
Subject:
CAIR-NET: U.S. Muslims Pray for Iranian Earthquake Victims
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
U.S. MUSLIMS PRAY FOR IRANIAN EARTHQUAKE VICTIMS
(WASHINGTON, D.C., 12/26/2003) The Council on American-Islamic
Relations
(CAIR) today asked members of the American Muslim community to pray for
those killed in Friday's earthquake in Iran.
The Washington-based Islamic civil rights and advocacy group also
expressed
condolences to the families of the victims and urged all people of
conscience worldwide to offer humanitarian assistance.
"We are deeply saddened by the news of the tragic earthquake in Iran,"
said
CAIR Chairman Omar Ahmad. "We extend our sincerest condolences to the
families of those killed and pray for the speedy recovery of those
injured
in the earthquake. CAIR is working on identifying relief organizations
that
will provide aid to the affected areas."
The earthquake took place in the historic city of Bam in southeast Iran
on
Friday, and a preliminary estimate said the death toll could reach as
high
as 20,000.
CAIR, America's largest Islamic civil liberties group, is headquartered
in
Washington, D.C., and has 25 regional offices and chapters nationwide
and
in Canada.
- END -
CONTACT: Rabiah Ahmed, 202-488-8787 or 202-439-1441, E-Mail:
rahmed@cair-net.org, or Ibrahim Hooper, 202-488-8787 or 202-744-7726,
E-Mail: cair@cair-net.org.
NOTE: CAIR offers an e-mail list designed to be a window to the
American
Muslim community. Subscribers to the list, called CAIR-NET, receive
news
releases and other materials dealing with American Muslim positions on
issues of importance to our society.
To SUBSCRIBE to ISLAM-INFONET, go to: http://cair.biglist.com/cair-net/
-----
CAIR
Council on American-Islamic Relations
453 New Jersey Avenue, S.E.
Washington, D.C. 20003
Tel: 202-488-8787, 202-744-7726
Fax: 202-488-0833
E-mail: cair@cair-net.org
URL: http://www.cair-net.org
-----
Forwarded Message
Date:
Fri, 26 Dec 2003 17:35:16 -0500
To:
cair-net@cair.biglist.com
From:
"CAIR" <cair@cair-net.org>
Subject:
CAIR-NET:Difference in Justice for Muslims, Non-Muslims
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
AMERICAN MUSLIM NEWS BRIEFS - 12/26/03
* HADITH OF THE DAY: THOSE SHADED BY GOD
* CAIR'S LIBRARY PROJECT: 7116 SPONSORSHIPS
* QUOTE OF THE DAY: RELIGIOUS FREEDOM FRIES (NY Times)
* DIFFERENCE IN JUSTICE FOR MUSLIMS, NON-MUSLIMS (Oregon Live)
- No Jail Time for Terrorist Suspect (Post-Intel.)
- Immigrant Is Freed After Years in Detention (NY Times)
- Dhafir Lawyers Request Bail (Syracuse.Com)
- Terror-Prosecution List's Accuracy in Question (LA Times)
* QUAKE DEATHS COULD REACH 10,000 IN IRAN (AP)
* CHURCH AND STATE (Washington Times)
* ANGLICAN LEADER CHIDES FRANCE (NY Times)
- Leader Attacks France over Headscarf Ban (AFP)
-----
HADITH OF THE DAY: THOSE SHADED BY GOD
The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: "Do you know who will go
first on the Day of Resurrection to the shade of God...Those who when
given
what is right accept it, when asked for something give freely and who
judge
in favor of others as they do for themselves."
Al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 1042
-----
CAIR LIBRARY PROJECT: 7116 SPONSORSHIPS
The goal of CAIR's library project is to send accurate and objective
information about Islam to America's 16,000 public libraries.
For only $150, Muslim individuals and groups may sponsor 18-item
packages
about Islam and Muslims, which are then distributed to the library of
their
choice.
To sponsor a library call, 1-800-392-7876, ext. 320, or visit:
www.libraryproject.org.
-----
QUOTE OF THE DAY: RELIGIOUS FREEDOM FRIES
Omer M. Mozaffar, New York Times, 12/26/03
Religious Symbols And the French
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/12/26/opinion/L26FRAN.html
To the Editor:
Re "Religious Symbols in France" (editorial, Dec. 20):
Life has been unusually difficult for me, a practicing Muslim American,
for
the past few years. But I thank God I'm not in France.
Perhaps the next time I order fast food, I'll order religious freedom
fries.
-----
A DIFFERENCE IN JUSTICE FOR MUSLIMS AND NON-MUSLIMS
Shabbir Bala, Oregon Live, 12/26/03
http://www.oregonlive.com/commentary/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/editorial/1072357379198290.xml
Several young men in Lackawanna, N.Y., Portland and Bellingham, Wash.,
were
recently sentenced on terrorism-related charges. The suspects in New
York
and Oregon received long sentences, while the suspect in Washington
state
received probation. Can someone explain the different sentences
received or
recommended in three different terrorism cases involving serious
charges?
The defendants in New York are receiving seven to 10 years in prison
for
their "thoughts" while attending an al-Qaida camp in Afghanistan.
Prosecutors said they had no evidence the men were involved in planning
any
imminent terrorist act. U.S. District Judge William Skretny said,
"Speculation regarding the actual threat you present has run the gamut
from
those who believe you were a terror cell member ready to strike, to
those
who believe you were one of six confused young men who found themselves
in
over their heads."
An Oct. 6 editorial in the Los Angeles Times, commenting on the Oregon
defendants charged with conspiring to aid al-Qaida's campaign against
the
United States, concluded that the indictments were "more suggestive of
bumbling, would-be holy warriors than of soldiers training for deadly
missions." Yet Attorney General John Ashcroft called the arrests a
major
breakthrough in law enforcement. "We've neutralized a suspected
terrorist
cell within our borders," he told a news conference announcing the
arrests
in October 2002. They are getting terms ranging up to 18 years in
prison.
Then there is Paul Revak, a young man from Maltby, Wash. He was accused
of
a plot to blow up the U.S. Coast Guard Station in Bellingham and other
government targets. A fellow student at Western Washington University
in
Bellingham informed the FBI after Revak told him of his plans,
described
himself as an anarchist and produced a "manifesto" in which Revak
declared
war against the U.S. government...
Shabbir Bala is a Snohomish, Wash., businessman.
ALSO SEE:
NO JAIL TIME FOR TERRORIST SUSPECT
Paul Shukovsky, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 12/6/03
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/151383_terrorist06.html
A Western Washington University student who plotted to blow up a Coast
Guard base in Bellingham was sentenced yesterday to five years of
probation
with stringent conditions, including mental health treatment, after the
judge said the young man could be a budding sociopath.
Paul Revak, 20, sought the help of a fellow student last May to bomb
the
Coast Guard base. Revak, a self-proclaimed anarchist, told the student
that
the bombing would "have an impact" toward starting a revolution against
the
U.S. government, according to a complaint filed by FBI special agent
James
Powers.
Revak presented the student with a grandiose manifesto that laid out
the
option of "unrest, protest, and if need be, revolution. You need not
worry
about Osama or Saddam or the boogeyman, but if you are part of this
empire,
you should fear us..."
And while federal public defender Thomas Hillier II portrayed his
client as
an intelligent but confused young man with great potential, Lasnik said
such reasoning is "missing the boat."
---
TEENAGE AFRICAN IMMIGRANT IS FREED AFTER 3 YEARS IN DETENTION
Cate Doty, New York Times, 12/24/03
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/12/25/national/25IMMI.html
WASHINGTON - A teenage immigrant from Guinea, who had been held in
detention centers for three years during a legal struggle for his
release
and permanent asylum, has been freed, his lawyers announced on
Wednesday.
The youth, Malik Jarno, now 18, was released by Asa Hutchinson, under
secretary of the Department of Homeland Security.
Mr. Jarno, described by his lawyers as mentally retarded, had been held
in
an adult correctional facility in York, Pa., that also houses other
illegal
immigrants. He and his case became a symbol for the thousands of child
immigrants who arrive alone in the United States and are then detained
by
immigration services.
His case prompted a number of members of Congress and human rights
groups
to pressure Mr. Hutchinson to release the teenager. In a letter to Mr.
Hutchinson in August, members of Congress contended that Mr. Jarno was
a
victim of "reprehensible mistreatment" by federal immigration
officials.
Garrison Courtney, a spokesman for Immigration and Customs Enforcement,
said that because Mr. Jarno was not a security threat, Mr. Hutchinson
had
decided to release him to the International Friendship House, a refugee
shelter in York, while he seeks permanent asylum in the United
States...
---
DHAFIR LAWYERS REQUEST BAIL
John O’Brien, Syracuse.com, 12/25/03
http://www.syracuse.com/news/poststandard/index.ssf?/base/news-14/1072344922189451.xml
Lawyers for a Manlius doctor jailed after being accused of using a
charity
to illegally ship money to Iraq asked a federal judge for the fourth
time
Wednesday to set bail.
The request from lawyers for Dr. Rafil Dhafir includes the claim that
he's
being treated as a suspected terrorist even though prosecutors have
never
made that allegation. Bail should be set as it has been in other
white-collar crime cases, according to Dhafir's lawyer, Devereaux
Cannick.
"When you peel the layers back, this is just a basic, garden-variety
white-collar indictment - the same type of indictment Martha Stewart is
facing, the same type that Enron executives and Tyco executives faced,"
Cannick said. Each of those defendants was released from jail on bail
before trial, he said.
"The only thing that's different here is the specter of terrorism,"
Cannick
said. "But there's no charge of terrorism."
The bail request has not yet been acted on...
---
CLAIMS INFLATED? TERROR-PROSECUTION LIST'S ACCURACY IN QUESTION
Richard B. Schmitt, Los Angeles Times, 12/26/03
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2001822380_terror24.html
PITTSBURGH — In the weeks after the Sept. 11 attacks, Ali Alubeidy was
in
the cross hairs of the Justice Department, singled out as a potential
terrorist by no less than U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft.
In fact, he was guilty — of paying off a corrupt bureaucrat to obtain a
commercial driver's license, including a permit to transport hazardous
materials. His sentence: three years' probation.
But the terrorism case against him never got off the ground.
Prosecutors
soon realized he was not a terrorist or involved in any terrorist
organization, and even said so publicly.
To the Justice Department, however, Alubeidy, and 19 other Middle
Eastern
men caught up in the driver's license scam, still count. They are
included
on a list of more than 280 cases that the department cites as evidence
that
it is winning the war on terrorism.
The growing list has been regularly highlighted by Ashcroft and other
Justice Department officials in speeches and congressional testimony,
and
even by President Bush. In an address to federal law-enforcement
officials
on the eve of the anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, Bush referred to
the
"more than 260 suspected terrorists" that the government has hauled to
court...
-----
QUAKE DEATHS COULD REACH 10,000 IN IRAN
Ali Akbar Dareini, Associated Press, 12/26/03
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/7571906.htm
TEHRAN, Iran - A severe earthquake devastated the historic city of Bam
in
southeast Iran on Friday, and a preliminary estimate said the death
toll
could reach 10,000.
Hasan Khoshrou, a legislator for Kerman province where the quake
occurred,
said there was still no precise number of dead from the magnitude 6.7
quake, but officials working in Bam had given him that figure.
``The quake hit the city when most of the people were in bed, raising
fears
that the death toll may go higher,'' he said.
Officials surveying the city of 80,000 people from helicopter said
about 60
percent of the city's houses were destroyed, Khoshrou said. Water,
power
and phone lines were cut. The earthquake struck at about 5:30 a.m.
Footage shot from a helicopter and aired on Iranian state television
showed
widespread devastation in Bam, with rows and rows of collapsed or
damaged
buildings next to others that appeared to be intact.
------
CHURCH AND STATE
John McCaslin, Washington Times, 12/23/03
http://washingtontimes.com/national/20031223-102722-9425r.htm
Leaders of the American Muslim community are encouraging members of the
faith to weigh U.S. presidential candidates by their positions on the
USA
Patriot Act.
Issuing the first of weekly "Election 2004 Updates," the Council on
American-Islamic Relations in Washington observes that provisions of
the
act have been challenged by civil libertarians as infringing on the
rights
of all Americans.
“Muslims are specifically concerned with section 213 (sneak and peak
searches), section 215 (personal records), section 412 (indefinite
detentions), and section 802 (definition of domestic terrorism)," says
the
political update.
"To have a voice in the political process, American Muslims must be
aware
of the issues that impact their lives and have an understanding of
where
each candidate stands on those issues," says council executive director
Nihad Awad.
------
ANGLICAN LEADER CHIDES FRANCE FOR MOVES AGAINST SIGNS OF FAITH
Agence France-Presse, 12/26/03
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/12/26/international/26ARCH.html?ex=1073019600&en=f2774ce2bb2d05ff&ei=5062&partner=GOOGLE
LONDON - The head of the worldwide Anglican church, Archbishop Rowan
Williams of Canterbury, criticized France on Thursday over its proposal
to
ban religious symbols, including the Islamic veil, from state schools.
Archbishop Williams, the primate of the Church of England and the
spiritual
leader for more than 75 million people, also spoke out against
religious
extremism and intolerance during his Christmas Day sermon at Canterbury
Cathedral.
"Alas," he said, "religious faith has too often been the language of
the
powerful, the excuse for oppression, the alibi for atrocity."
Archbishop Williams said religious intolerance was being given a new
lease
on life "by the threat of terror carried out in the name of a religion
--
even when representatives of that religion at every level roundly
condemn
such action as incompatible with faith."
But he said the call of President Jacques Chirac of France for a law
banning religious symbols in state schools was unsurprising "in a
secular
environment that looks at religion not only with suspicion or
incomprehension but with fear."
The proposal to ban Muslim head scarves in French schools suggests that
there is still a nervousness about letting commitment show its face in
public, he said...
ALSO SEE:
ANGLICAN CHURCH LEADER ATTACKS FRANCE OVER MUSLIM HEADSCARF BAN
Agence France Presse, 12/25/03
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_world/view/63557/1/.html
LONDON - The spiritual leader of the worldwide Anglican Church used his
Christmas message on Thursday to attack France's decision to ban
Muslims
from wearing headscarves in schools.
"It isn't all that surprising if a secular environment looks at
religion
not only with suspicion or incomprehension but with fear," Archbishop
of
Canterbury Rowan Williams said in his sermon.
"The proposal to ban Muslim headscarves in French schools suggests that
there is still a nervousness about letting commitment show its face in
public."
Williams has been preoccupied with relations between Christians and
Muslims
over the past year and was a leading critic of the US-led war on Iraq.
French President Jacques Chirac last week declared his support for a
ban on
"conspicuous" religious insignia -- including the Muslim headscarf, the
Jewish skullcap and large Christian crucifixes -- from French state
schools.
The ban was recommended by an advisory committee, on grounds that
French
schools are strictly secular, and Chirac indicated that he would like
to
see the ban written into law by the start of the next academic year...
-----
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To reach the list moderator, send a message to: cair@cair-net.org
-----
CAIR
Council on American-Islamic Relations
453 New Jersey Avenue, S.E.
Washington, D.C. 20003
Tel: 202-488-8787, 202-744-7726
Fax: 202-488-0833
E-mail: cair@cair-net.org
URL: http://www.cair-net.org
-----
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
AMERICAN MUSLIM NEWS BRIEFS - 12/28/03
* HADITH OF THE DAY: OPPRESSION
* ICNA RELIEF ESTABLISHES IRAN EARTHQUAKE FUND
- Iranian-Americans Organize Help (SJ Mercury News)
* CAIR-FL: KUCINICH TO ADDRESS FLORIDA MUSLIMS
* CAIR-NY: NY MUSLIMS TO PROTEST FRENCH HIJAB BAN
- Muslim Woman Kept Out of French Bank (Telegraph)
* MUSLIMS FEAR BACKLASH WITH INCREASED THREAT LEVEL (ABC)
* PROFESSORS WORRY BILL MAY FETTER WORLD VIEW (Oregonian)
- Life in Limbo for Student Arrested in ID Sweep (AP)
* GOD WANTS US TO BE ONE COMMUNITY (Dallas News)
- Muslims Discuss Balance Between Beliefs (Sun Times)
- In this Neighborhood, He's the Amir (NY Times)
* PILGRIMS SHOULD PREPARE FOR JOURNEY (National Post)
* CONVERSIONS TO ISLAM ON RISE IN U.S. (Daily News)
* ATTACKS FORCE RETREAT FROM PLANS FOR IRAQ (Wash. Post)
- U.S. Rubbishes Blair's WMD Claim (Sunday Herald)
- Missionaries Set Out in Iraq (Telegraph)
* CAIR-NJ: A 'WITCHES' BREW' FOR MIDEAST PEACE? (Record)
- Israel Seeks to Avoid Disarmament Fest (Haaretz)
- WZO: Europe is Becoming Muslim (Haaretz)
-----
HADITH OF THE DAY: OPPRESSION
The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: "After my time, leaders
will
arise whose falsehood will be believed and who will be assisted in
their
oppression by those who enter their presence. They have nothing to do
with
me and I have nothing to do with them...But those who do not enter (the
presence of the oppressive leaders), believe their falsehood or help
them
in their oppression, those (people) belong to me and I belong to them."
Al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 1039
-----
ICNA RELIEF ESTABLISHES IRAN EARTHQUAKE FUND
http://www.reliefonline.org/
Other relief organizations that have established similar funds should
notify CAIR by sending an e-mail to: cair@cair-net.org
SEE ALSO:
IRANIAN-AMERICANS ORGANIZE HELP FOR DEVASTATED RELATIVES
Karen de Sa and Matthai Chakko Kuruvila, San Jose Mercury, 12/27/03
http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/news/local/7579974.htm
Panicked Iranians throughout California and the Bay Area prayed,
donated
and tried desperately to reach overseas family members Friday, as news
spread of earthquake devastation and more than 5,000 dead in the
ancient
city of Bam.
Hundreds of people called community leaders seeking to donate money to
relief efforts, as leaders of Northern California's largest Iranian
mosque
in downtown Oakland urged followers to help the quake victims in any
way
they could…
-----
KUCINICH TO ADDRESS FLORIDA MUSLIMS
Presidential candidate will speak to Islamic leaders in Tampa
(TAMPA, FL 12/28/2003) - The Florida office of the Council on
American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-FL) announced today that Democratic
presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich will be in Tampa December 30th
to
address a gathering of Muslim activists and leaders.
WHEN: Tuesday, December 30, 5 p.m.
WHERE: Islamic Society of Tampa Bay Area, 7326 East Sligh Ave, Tampa,
FL
Kucinich's visit will include a tour of the Islamic Society of Tampa
Bay
Area, the Crescent Clinic (a free medical clinic), the Universal
Academy of
Florida (a full-time Muslim school) and a food pantry for the needy.
The
event is free and open to the public.
"As a presidential candidate, Mr. Kucinich has taken a leading role in
reaching out to the American Islamic community and addressing issues of
importance to Muslims," said Parvez Ahmed, board chairman of CAIR-FL.
"As
the presidential election draws closer, we expect more candidates to
follow
Mr. Kucinich's example."
Dennis Kucinich is a four-term Democratic Congressman from Ohio.
CAIR, America's largest Islamic civil liberties group, is headquartered
in
Washington, D.C., and has 25 regional offices and chapters nationwide
and
in Canada.
NOTE: CAIR-FL is a non-profit organization and does not endorse any
political candidates.
-END-
CONTACT: Ahmed Bedier (813) 731-9506, abedier@cair-florida.org; Altaf
Ali
(954) 298-8214, altaf@cair-florida.org
------
NY MUSLIMS TO PROTEST FRENCH HIJAB BAN
Letters & Petitions to be delivered to French Consulate in New York
(NEW YORK, NY, 12/28/03) - On Tuesday, December 30th, the New York
office
of the Council on American Islamic Relation (CAIR-NY) will coordinate
the
delivery of letters and signed petitions to the Consulate General of
the
Republic of France in New York City, protesting President Jacques
Chirac's
plan to ban religiously-mandated head scarves or hijab, in public
schools.
The letters and petitions will be hand-delivered following noon press
conference outside the French Consulate.
WHEN: Tuesday, December 30th, 2003, 12:00 Noon
WHERE: Consulate General of France, 934 Fifth Avenue (near 74th
Street),
New York City
Among the sponsors of this press conference are CAIR-NY, Islamic Circle
of
North America, Islamic Center of Long Island, Muslim American Society,
Muslims Students Association, Women In Islam Inc and others.
CONTACT: Council on American-Islamic Relations
475 Riverside Drive, Suite 246
New York NY 10115
Tel: 212-870-2002
Fax: 212-870-2020
E-mail: cair-ny@cair-ny.com
URL: http://www.cair-ny.com
ALSO SEE:
HEADSCARF WOMAN KEPT OUT OF BANK
Telegraph, 12/27/03
http://news.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;$sessionid$XG3OFBSVSMSZ5QFIQMFSFFWAVCBQ0IV0?xml=/news/2003/12/27/wscarf27.xml
The French bank Soci�t� G�n�rale said yesterday one of its security
guards
had been "over-zealous" in turning away from a branch in Paris a Muslim
woman who was wearing an Islamic headscarf.
The woman was stopped from entering on Monday after she refused to
abide by
a sign that required customers to take off "scarves, caps, helmets and
all
other head coverings and sunglasses", a measure taken against robbers
trying to disguise themselves.
But the incident took on bigger proportions, with France in the throes
of a
fierce debate over whether to ban Islamic headscarves and other
"conspicuous" religious items from schools and public offices.
Islamic groups around the world have decried the proposal, which was
backed
last week by President Jacques Chirac.
A bank spokesman said the entry requirement had been in force for
several
years, "but employees know how to distinguish between possible masked
robbers and a client. The matter has been blown up because of the
context."
-----
MUSLIMS FEAR BACKLASH WITH INCREASE IN TERROR THREAT LEVEL
ABC, 12/26/03
http://abclocal.go.com/wls/news/122603_ns_muslims.html
There has been a backlash against the Muslim community ever since the
September 11 attacks and the recent upgrade of our nation's terror
threat
level isn't helping matters. Every time the government issues or
upgrades
its terrorism alerts, American Muslims cringe because it's also a
signal
that more religious and ethnic profiling is on its way.
The effort to distance Islam from terrorism is at the center of this
weekend's Muslim American Society convention in Chicago. A recurring
theme
at this year's convention is how the fear of terrorism has affected the
lives and civil rights of millions of Muslims in the United States.
There
is deepened concern that the Patriot Act -- passed after the World
Trade
Center attacks -- has not only focused on Muslim immigrants as possible
terrorist suspects, but also caused American born Muslims to be
profiled as
terrorists.
"I myself, a native-born American, I have a double whammy. I have to
worry
about driving while black and flying while Muslim," said Mahdi Bray,
Muslim
American Society.
Mahdi Bray is an African American who has practiced Islam for the past
27
years. He says news of up and down terrorism alerts and colored flags
increase anti-Muslim sentiment...
-----
PROFESSORS WORRY BILL MAY FETTER WORLD VIEW
Shelby Oppel, Oregonian, 12/27/03
http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/front_page/107252988311210.xml
Summary: Legislation headed to the U.S. Senate would create an advisory
board to monitor universities' international studies programs
Professors of international studies are upset about a bill in Congress
that
they say threatens academic freedom in the name of national security.
The proposal, which passed the House this fall on voice vote, would
create
an advisory board of political appointees to keep tabs on federally
financed international studies programs at colleges and universities.
The
bill could affect any university, including those in Oregon, that
requests
funding under Title VI of the higher education act.
"This vehicle could be a disaster for American education," said Gilbert
Merkx, vice provost for international affairs at Duke University. He
and
others are concerned that the board will politicize decisions regarding
which universities receive financial support for their research....
Opponents of the board, including groups that represent the majority of
U.S. colleges and universities and the American Association of
University
Professors, say the legislation opens the door for politics to
influence
what and how professors teach...
ALSO SEE:
LIFE IN LIMBO FOR JORDANIAN STUDENT ARRESTED IN ID SWEEP
Associated Press, 12/27/03
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=10720127&BRD=2212&PAG=461&dept_id=465812&rfi=6
PITTSBURGH - Unlike other college seniors making plans for life after
graduation, a Jordanian student said his life is in limbo following his
arrest as part of a now-defunct federal program to register foreign
nationals in the name of homeland security.
Abdelqader Abu-Snaineh, 21, was led off the campus of La Roche College
in
handcuffs in June because he did not show up to register under the
National
Security Entry Exit Registration System, which targeted visitors from
25
mainly Middle Eastern countries.
"When you are a (college) senior, you want to know what the next step
is,
you want to be able to prepare yourself," Abu-Snaineh said. "It's
affected
my life big time. It's affected me personally, socially. I want
everything
to be normal again."
Abu-Snaineh said he was arrested despite seeking the advice of La Roche
officials after notifying them that he had failed to register.
One month after his scheduled August graduation, Abu-Snaineh will go
before
a judge who will determine his status -- even though the registration
system was scuttled earlier this month.
Penalties for those caught up in the sweep remain in place, U.S.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesman Michael Gilhooly said...
-----
GOD WANTS US TO BE ONE COMMUNITY
Marzuq Abdul Jaami, Dallas News, 12/26/03
http://www.dallasnews.com/religion/opinion/stories/122703dnrelguestcolumn.13f09.html
JERUSALEM - I have worked the last three decades building bridges of
understanding between religions.
I've taken cues from Prophet Muhammad, who worked with Christians,
Muslims
and Jews in Medina (in ancient Arabia), and from my religious leader,
Imam
W. Deen Mohammed, who started interfaith work with rabbis and ministers
in
the United States in 1975 after dismantling the Nation of Islam and
bringing it into true al-Islam.
This fall, my work carried me to Israel. I was a member of a mission
team
with the American Clergy Leadership Conference and the Interreligious
and
International Federation for World Peace, organizations that are
working to
establish an interfaith council at the United Nations and focus
religious
efforts toward peace in the Middle East.
I joined more than 130 other American clergy, rabbis and imams, along
with
300 supporters from Europe, Africa, and Asia on the third mission of
the
clergy conference. We were to march and rally for peace with local
Jews,
Christians and Muslims in Jerusalem...
ALSO SEE:
MUSLIMS DISCUSS BALANCE BETWEEN BELIEFS, U.S. SOCIETY
Rummana Hussain, Sun Times, 12/27/03
http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-muslim.html
Asmaa Albadawi never signed up to be a poster child for Islam.
Still, in a sea of navel-grazing baby tees and low-slung jeans, the
University of Kansas freshman's hijab or religious head scarf elicits
stares, whispers, questions and, sometimes, the occasional snicker.
"I don't go around holding up a sign that's says, 'If you want to know
about Islam, talk to me,' but when I walk past them, people know I'm
Muslim. So I know every single action that comes from me represents my
religion," said Albadawi, who wants her non-Muslim peers to understand
the
faith she and other followers say is unfairly associated with
terrorism.
Albadawi and thousands of other Muslims discussed the need to integrate
with mainstream American society while maintaining their unique beliefs
during a four-day conference titled "Muslims, Citizens of the West:
Rights,
Duties and Prospects," at the Hyatt Regency. The conference, which runs
through the weekend, is jointly sponsored by the Muslim American
Society
and the Islamic Circle of North America.
Like previous Islamic gatherings, the event featured Quranic
recitations
and a bazaar with prayer rugs, incense, children's books and games. But
the
panel discussions -- one called "How to Raise Your Children to be Both
Muslim and American" -- were largely focused on the need for Muslims to
be
politically and socially active members of society...
---
IN THIS NEIGHBORHOOD, HE'S THE AMIR TO KNOW
Christopher John Farah, New York Times, 12/28/03
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/12/28/nyregion/28amir.html
THE prince of Mount Hope reclined behind the counter top of his
restaurant,
His People's Halal Kitchen, wearing a faded purple robe and matching
skullcap. But don't let the royal colors or the majestic title fool
you.
To fellow members of Islamic Sunnatul Jamaat, the thriving mosque
across
the street that he helped found in 1980, Abdullah Cromwell is known
simply
as the amir, the Arabic word for prince. He does not reign over legions
of
obedient subjects, however; instead he spends most of his time serving
the
Muslim community of the Mount Hope section of the Bronx.
"Life isn't about me, it's about God," the amir said recently, resting
after a long day. "Life is about trying to praise and worship God,
because
he deserves to be praised and worshiped."
Despite his modesty and his low profile -- his religious beliefs do not
permit him to be photographed -- the amir projects a regal aura. His
soft
baritone possesses an air of authority. His long gray beard seems to
bespeak wisdom as much as advancing years. He has been around longer
than
just about anyone else in this primarily immigrant community -- he came
to
New York from Trinidad in 1976, in his early 20's -- but people flock
to
him for more reasons than his longevity can explain...
-----
PILGRIMS SHOULD TAKE CARE TO PREPARE FOR JOURNEY
Dr. Robert Patrick O'Brien and Dr. Dominique Tessier, National Post,
12/27/03
http://www.canada.com/national/nationalpost/news/archives/index.html
An estimated 1.1 billion people worldwide are Muslim and one of their
biggest religious celebrations will take place between Jan. 23 and Feb.
4
in Saudi Arabia.
The hajj, or annual pilgrimage to Makkah and Madinah (Mecca and Medina
in
modern-day Saudi Arabia), is a week-long event following in the
footsteps
of Muhammad, founder of Islam.
The hajj is the ultimate mass gathering. Approximately two million
Muslims
from more than 70 countries journey to these holy cities. This act of
faith
is one of the Five Pillars of Islam and must be performed at least once
in
a lifetime by all Muslims who are sound of mind and physically and
financially capable of performing the pilgrimage.
It has always been a perilous affair to go on the hajj. The sheer
numbers
of pilgrims poses formidable challenges. In recent years, hundreds have
died as a result of demonstrations, fires, stampedes, infectious
diseases,
sunstroke or heat exhaustion. Saudi authorities have spent billions of
dollars since 1925 improving the hajj infrastructure in an attempt to
improve security and decrease the health risks associated with this
annual
mass gathering...
The prevention of illness and injury is critical to the pilgrim's
ability
to complete this pilgrimage. Heat illness and dehydration are
formidable
adversaries in the completion of the hajj. Attention must be placed on
prevention through the use of effective sunscreens, umbrellas and
frequent
hydration. The danger of heat-related illness is greater for the very
young
and those of advanced age...
-----
CONVERSIONS TO ISLAM ON RISE IN U.S.
Tamer El-Ghobashy, Daily News, 12/26/03
http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/nydailynews/515515351.html?did=515515351&FMT=ABS&FMTS=FT&desc=FERTILE+CRESCENT+Conversions+to+Islam+on+rise+in+U.S.
Marisol Rivera spent Christmas Day much as she had in years past,
preparing
breakfast and watching as her four children excitedly opened their
gifts.
Yet despite the familiar ritual, the holiday now has little religious
significance for the 32-year-old from Queens.
Last January, Rivera converted to Islam - joining more than 30,000
Americans who make the same leap each year, helping make Islam one of
the
fastest-growing religions in the United States.
"I felt drawn to Islam," said Rivera, fingering a gold charm that
spells
Allah in Arabic. "I felt it was something I could practice and apply in
my
life."
Experts say the number of people converting to Islam, especially whites
and
Latinos like Rivera, actually has risen since Sept. 11, 2001.
The terrorist attacks sparked negative sentiment toward Islam, spurring
bias attacks in parts of Brooklyn. But it also brought unprecedented
attention to a faith followed by 1 billion people worldwide...
-----
ATTACKS FORCE RETREAT FROM WIDE-RANGING PLANS FOR IRAQ
Rajiv Chandrasekaran, Washington Post, 12/28/03
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A35053-2003Dec27
BAGHDAD - The United States has backed away from several of its more
ambitious initiatives to transform Iraq's economy, political system and
security forces as attacks on U.S. troops have escalated and the
timetable
for ending the civil occupation has accelerated.
Plans to privatize state-owned businesses -- a key part of a larger
Bush
administration goal to replace the socialist economy of deposed
president
Saddam Hussein with a free-market system -- have been dropped over the
past
few months. So too has a demand that Iraqis write a constitution before
a
transfer of sovereignty.
With the administration's plans tempered by time and threat, the U.S.
administrator of Iraq, L. Paul Bremer, and his deputies are now focused
on
forging compromises with Iraqi leaders and combating a persistent
insurgency in order to meet a July 1 deadline to transfer sovereignty
to a
provisional government...
The new approach, U.S. diplomats said, calls into question the
prospects
for initiatives touted by conservative strategists to fashion Iraq into
a
secular, pluralistic, market-driven nation. While the diplomats
maintain
those goals are still attainable, the senior official said, "ideology
has
become subordinate to the schedule..."
ALSO SEE:
U.S. RUBBISHES BLAIR'S WMD CLAIM
Douglas Fraser, Sunday Herald, 12/28/03
http://www.sundayherald.com/38974
TONY Blair is facing severe embarrassment after the US official running
Iraq dismissed his claims that "massive evidence" of weapons programmes
had
been found in the country as a "red herring".
Paul Bremer, head of the Coalition Provisional Authority, has recorded
an
interview for broadcast this morning, in which he was unaware the
claims
were from the Prime Minister, when he described them as unfounded and
the
work of someone trying to undermine the US-led coalition in Iraq.
The humiliation comes at the end of a year when Blair's claims on Iraqi
weapons have consistently hobbled his leadership. Currently on a New
Year
family break in Egypt, Blair comes back to face publication of Lord
Hutton's report into the circumstances leading to the death of weapons
scientist David Kelly.
The Prime Minister also faces a year-end poll, showing he is the least
trusted from a list of 30 British politicians. And with his other key
task
next month to win round support for university top-up fees, he finds
his
Education Secretary Charles Clarke in the place immediately above
him...
Bremer's comments have been recorded for ITV's Jonathan Dimbleby
programme
to be broadcast this morning. The presenter put to the US administrator
the
claim that the Iraq Survey Group (ISG) had unearthed "massive evidence
of a
huge system of clandestine laboratories". The claim went on to say that
Saddam Hussein had attempted to "conceal weapons..."
---
BIBLE BELT MISSIONARIES SET OUT ON A 'WAR FOR SOULS' IN IRAQ
David Rennie, Telegraph, 12/17/03
http://news.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;$sessionid$XG3OFBSVSMSZ5QFIQMFSFFWAVCBQ0IV0?xml=/news/2003/12/27/wirq27.xml
American Christian missionaries have declared a "war for souls" in
Iraq,
telling supporters that the formal end of the US-led occupation next
June
will close an historic "window of opportunity".
Organising in secrecy, and emphasising their humanitarian aid work,
Christian groups are pouring into the country, which is 97 per cent
Muslim,
bearing Arabic Bibles, videos and religious tracts designed to "save"
Muslims from their "false" religion.
The International Mission Board, the missionary arm of the Southern
Baptists, is one of those leading the charge.
John Brady, the IMB's head for the Middle East and North Africa, this
month
appealed to the 16 million members of his church, the largest
Protestant
denomination in America...
-----
A 'WITCHES' BREW' FOR MIDEAST PEACE?
Salaheddin Mustafa, The Record, 12/26/03
http://www.bergenrecord.com
Regarding "A proposal for peace in the Mideast" (Other Views, Dec. 12):
The author, Thomas Coad, states that Israel "should roll rapidly
through
the West Bank and Gaza and wipe out or expel the terrorists." Maybe
Coad
missed the past 37 years where Israel has "rolled" right through these
areas, destroying lives and property, confiscating Palestinian land to
build Jewish-only settlements and bypass roads.
And his solution for the crisis - well, of course - permanent
inequality
for all non-Jewish "citizens" of this newly formed state. To ensure
this
permanent inequality, he proposes a witches' brew of racial and
religious
engineering that would be the cornerstone of this "democracy." Citizens
would be categorized at birth, but if they happen to upset the targeted
racial mix then maybe they should be banished for being born into the
wrong
caste.
To top it off, the non-Jewish segment of this population would not be
able
to have their voices counted when it comes to electing the leader of
the
nation.
Instead of these silly solutions based on ugly racial engineering, the
Palestinian people want and deserve true independence in a state of
their
own, unencumbered with Israeli colonies, military checkpoints, and
bypass
roads. The outline for the solution is clear and is documented in U.N.
resolutions and international law. Only through justice will peace
prevail
for all peoples of the Middle East...
The writer is a board member of the New Jersey chapters of both the
American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee and the Council on American
Islamic Relations.
ALSO SEE:
ISRAEL SEEKS TO AVOID MIDDLE EAST DISARMAMENT FEST
Aluf Benn, Haaretz, 12/26/03
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/376176.html
The American effort to neutralize security threats gradually in the
Mideast
has recently produced some marked improvements in Israel's strategic
environment. Iraq has been conquered, Iran was forced to expand
international supervision of its nuclear facilities, Libya promised to
dismantle its nonconventional weapons, and Jerusalem believes that
Syria
will be next in line. The Arab world, led by Egypt, has responded with
the
expected demand that Israel also join the regional disarmament fest.
The equally predictable response from Israel stressed its lack of faith
in
its enemies' promises, and insisted that the danger has not yet passed.
But
if the Iranians and Libyans keep their word, Israel is likely to
encounter
growing skepticism about its need for wide security margins, and be
asked
to do its bit toward changes in the region.
The United States has made it clear that it does not intend to deal
with
Israel's nuclear capabilities now. "I don't think there will be a
change in
policy toward Israel in the nuclear field," a senior American official
said
this week. "The Arabs will raise the issue, and Israel will need to
find a
way to explain its policy. But we understand that as long as Israel is
facing Arab rejectionism from so many directions, the way to deal with
this
is via quiet discussions..."
---
WZO: EUROPE IS BECOMING MUSLIM
Amiram Barkat, Haaretz, 12/29/03
http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/spages/376973.html
"Europe is becoming a Muslim continent," a new public relations booklet
prepared by the World Zionist Organization warns.
The booklet, a Hebrew-language copy of which was obtained by Haaretz,
was
prepared for a conference of leaders of Orthodox communities worldwide
that
opens today in Jerusalem, and will be distributed to all of the
approximately 200 rabbis and community leaders in attendance. Entitled
"A
Guide to Anti Semitism and Terror for Diaspora Communities," the
booklet
was prepared by the WZO's Spiritual Services for the Diaspora unit,
"with
the goal of raising awareness of the issue," according to unit chairman
Rabbi Yehiel Wasserman.
The booklet states that dialogue on the basis of mutual concern for
religion is impossible with Muslims, even moderates, because Islam has
no
common theological concepts with Judaism.
Regarding the dangers posed by Muslims in Europe, the document states
that
"what began 40 years ago as an innocent migration by the unemployed"
has
become "an attempt at conquest aimed at changing the face of the
Western
world and history…"
-----
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CAIR
Council on American-Islamic Relations
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Tel: 202-488-8787, 202-744-7726
Fax: 202-488-0833
E-mail: cair@cair-net.org
URL: http://www.cair-net.org
-----
Forwarded Message
Date:
Mon, 29 Dec 2003 14:51:45 -0500
To:
cair-net@cair.biglist.com
From:
"CAIR" <cair@cair-net.org>
Subject:
CAIR ELECTION UPDATE: Pres. Candidates on Affirmative Action
Issue # 2: December 2003 Affirmative ActionDemocratic Candidates (in alphabetical order)
General Wesley Clark (D)
Joined a group of retired military officers who filed a brief with the
U.S. Supreme Court in support of affirmative action at the University
of Michigan
Believes such policies are "necessary to facilitate diversity within, and thus the legitimacy of, the nation's leadership" Official Site: http://www.clark04.com/ Also Visit: The Wesley Clark Weblog
Governor Howard Dean (D)
Promises to pursue policies that "encourage racial diversity on campuses"
Supports "fair and effective affirmative action in employment, and in programs that aid small disadvantaged businesses" Official Site: http://www.deanforamerica.com/ Also Visit: Howard Dean Weblog
Senator John Edwards (D)
Supports "ensuring fair admissions to colleges and universities" as a civil rights priority
Signed a brief that urged the United States Supreme Court to uphold affirmative action at the University of Michigan Official Website: http://www.johnedwards2004.com/ Also Visit: John Edwards Official Blog
Rep. Richard Gephardt (D)
Voted for legislation preserving affirmative action policies, such as
HR 6 of 1998 extending Higher Education Act of 1965 and HR 680 of 1998,
which authorizes the transfer to States of surplus personal property
for donation to nonprofit providers of necessaries to impoverished
families and individuals
Filed an amicus brief in support of the University of Michigan affirmative action program Official Website: http://www.dickgephardt2004.com/
Senator John Kerry (D)
Supports "preserving affirmative action" as a civil rights priority
Opposed efforts in the Senate to undermine or eliminate affirmative action programs Official Website: http://www.johnkerry.com/ Also Visit: John Kerry For President Blog
Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D)
Believes affirmative action is still essential because a truly level
playing field is still an elusive goal, not a reality in America
Joined Members of Congress in signing a friend of the court brief supporting the University of Michigan diversity policy Official Website: http://www.kucinich.us/ Also Visit: Kucinich Blog & News
Senator Joseph Lieberman (D)
Voted against efforts to end affirmative action in Congress
Supported President Clinton's "mend it, don't end it" approach to affirmative action Official Website: http://www.joe2004.com/
Ambassador Carol Moseley Braun (D)
Supports the survival of affirmative action to increase opportunity to women and minorities
Supports the Supreme Court decision to uphold the University of
Michigan admission policy and opposes pending challenge to the City of
Chicago's effort to support affirmative action in contracting Official Website: http://www.carolforpresident.com/
Reverend Al Sharpton (D)
Lists affirmative action as the first of his top 10 priorities
Seeks to introduce a constitutional amendment that reads, "All citizens
of the United States shall enjoy the right to public education of equal
high quality" Official Website: http://www.sharpton2004.org/
O ARepublican Candidate
President George W. Bush (R)
Called affirmative action policies that include race as one of the factors in college admission decisions a "quota" system
Filed a brief before the Supreme Court against the University of Michigan affirmative action policy Official Site: http://www.georgewbush.com Also Visit: Bush Cheney 04’ Official Blog
What is Affirmative Action?
Affirmative action calls for minorities and women to be given special
consideration in employment, education and contracting decisions. It is
designed to redress a history of discrimination suffered by these
segments of American society. 62% of respondents to CAIR's August 2003
poll supported affirmative action.
How can I help?
It is critical that all eligible American Muslims are registered to
vote. CAIR is leading the drive to ensure that all Muslim citizens of
the US over the age of 18 know their rights as a voter and exercise
those rights to their fullest come November 5th, 2004.
Why should I vote?
The Muslim community must work to enjoin the good and forbid the evil.
Voting plays an essential role. Deciding to support or oppose a
candidate based upon his or her opinions or actions can have a
tremendous impact on the formulation of government policy at all
levels: policies that can affect your local community and the entire
Muslim ummah worldwide.
Subscribe
to this newsletter
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Contact Information
Council on American-Islamic Relations
453 New Jersey Avenue, SE
Washington, DC 20003
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
AMERICAN MUSLIM NEWS BRIEFS - 12/29/03
* HADITH OF THE DAY: ACT JUSTLY
* LIBRARY PROJECT: 7124 SPONSORSHIPS
* IRAN EARTHQUAKE: HOW TO HELP
- Help
Pours In For Victims of Quake (LA Times)
- Dead
Mother's Embrace Saves Baby's Life (Reuters)
- American
Survives Iran Quake (Daily News)
-
Relations Begin To Thaw In The Aftermath (Indep.)
- Friends
Turn Out To Console Families (Chicago Tribune)
* U.S. MUSLIMS TO PROTEST FRENCH HIJAB BAN
* THE TERROR THREAT AT HOME, OFTEN OVERLOOKED (CSM)
* EFFORT TO PROMOTE U.S. FALLS SHORT, CRITICS SAY (NY Times)
* MUSLIM FOOTBALL TOURNAMENT UNDER FIRE FOR TEAM NAMES (AP)
* BUSH SIGNS PARTS OF PATRIOT ACT II INTO LAW (SA Current)
* MAN'S MISSION TO EVANGELIZE IN IRAQ AGAIN (Beacon-Journal)
-----
HADITH OF THE DAY: ACT JUSTLY
The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: "If you are put in a
position of authority...fear God and act justly."
Al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 1046
-----
CAIR LIBRARY PROJECT: 7124 SPONSORSHIPS
The goal of CAIR's library project is to send accurate and objective
information about Islam to America's 16,000 public libraries.
For only $150, Muslim individuals and groups may sponsor 18-item packages
about Islam and Muslims, which are then distributed to the library of
their choice.
The IRANIAN MUSLIM ASSOCIATION OF NORTH AMERICA is accepting donations at
its headquarters: 3376 Motor Ave., West Los Angeles, CA 90034.
Contributions may also be made with credit cards at (310) 202-8181 or
online at
www.iman.org.
ISLAMIC RELIEF has launched a worldwide emergency appeal in response to
the devastating earthquake that hit. In the initial stage, Islamic Relief
is planning to provide temporary shelter, medical supplies, food and
non-food items such as hygiene kits, cooking sets, tents, water
purification tablets, generators, etc. At a later stage, Islamic Relief
will focus on housing and community and public building reconstruction
(schools, clinics, etc).
To donate, send checks to Islamic Relief, 1919 W Magnolia Blvd, Burbank,
CA 91506, call (888) 479-4968, or visit:
www.irw.org
LIFE FOR RELIEF AND DEVELOPMENT is mobilizing to send emergency relief to
the earthquake victims in Iran. LIFE plans to send 7 tons of food and 1.5
tons of clothing to Iran in a matter of days. A team of representatives
from LIFE has been dispatched to Iran to assist in relief efforts on the
ground, and will coordinate efforts with the United Nations Disaster
Management Team and the International Red Crescent Society.
THE INTERNATIONAL FEDERATION OF RED CROSS AND RED CRESCENT SOCIETIES has
launched a preliminary appeal for 15.4 million Swiss francs (US$ 12.3
million) to bring desperately needed relief assistance to the
victims.
To donate, visit
http://www.redcross.org.uk/iranearthquakeappeal,
phone 08705 125 125 or send checks, made payable to British Red Cross -
Iran Earthquake Appeal, to: Iran Earthquake Appeal, The British Red
Cross, FREEPOST, London SW1X 7BR.
OXFAM is sending water and sanitation equipment, including bladder tanks
and water purification chemicals, on a British Red Cross plane in the
early hours of December 30th.
OXFAM is also sending a water engineer to the scene of the earthquake to
help set up the necessary facilities. He will work with the International
Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent. So far, OXFAM have commited
�70,000 to this response.
Mohammad Davatolhagh emerged from his van Sunday loaded down with large,
plastic Kmart bags filled with hundreds of dollars worth of blankets and
clothing for the victims of the devastating earthquake that struck Iran
last week.
"I've heard the weather is cold over there and that they need
help," said Davatolhagh, 45, a pharmacy technician from Reseda.
"They need warm things."
Torrance resident Bill Young Jr. joined Davatolhagh moments later at the
West Los Angeles headquarters of the Iranian Muslim Assn. of North
America to make a donation of three bags of clothes. "I don't have a
lot myself. I'm not rich. But these people have lost everything,"
Young said.
Young and Davatolhagh were among the dozens of donors who showed up
Sunday at the headquarters with clothing and money for victims of the
quake, which is believed to have killed 20,000 to 40,000 people and
injured thousands of others. The temblor devastated the historic city of
Bam, about 600 miles southeast of Tehran.
A telethon broadcast on five Los Angeles-based Iranian television
stations had raised more than $330,000 as of about 4 p.m. Sunday,
according to Mohsen Movaghar, the association's vice president.
He said donations ranged from a 4-year-old girl offering $5 to a
businessman donating $20,000...
BAM, Iran - A baby girl cradled in her dead mother's arms was rescued
alive from the rubble of a collapsed building in Bam on Monday -- a rare
moment of joy amid the devastation of Iran's worst earthquake for
years.
But rescuers were witness more to the fragility of human life when one
seven-year-old boy was found alive but suffocated as people rushed
forward to dig him free.
The six-month-old baby girl, named Nassin, was found in remarkably good
health 72 hours after the earthquake destroyed her family's house on
Friday, Red Crescent aid officials told Reuters.
They said her mother's protective embrace had shielded the child from
falling debris and saved her life. The rest of the infant's family was
found dead under the rubble...
Two days after devastating earthquake leveled Bam, Iran, two women are
overcome by the immensity of the loss. Officials fear death toll will top
30,000.
A Fordham University Law School graduate was miraculously pulled alive
from rubble in the devastating earthquake in Iran that killed her
boyfriend.
Adele Freedman was in severe condition last night in a Tehran hospital
after her tour guide summoned a rescue party to dig her and her
boyfriend, Tobb Dell'Oro, out of a collapsed hotel where they were
staying.
"That woman [the tour guide] is a hero. I don't know how we could
ever thank her," Dell'Oro's sister Tam Dell'Oro told the Daily News
last night.
Freedman's story of survival came on a day when rescuers had all but
given up hope of finding any more survivors from Friday's predawn monster
quake that killed at least 22,000 people and left 100,000 homeless...
The United States this weekend loosened the ice that has frozen its
relations with Iran for decades, joining the worldwide effort to speed
emergency supplies and personnel to the devastating earthquake in Bam.
Yesterday, two American cargo planes landed in Kerman, the provincial
capital, the first US flights to land in Iran in more than 10
years.
Washington is sending 150,000 tons of medical supplies and 200 emergency
workers and disaster experts, a show of humanitarian diplomacy that has
necessitated a level of formal contact between American and Iranian
officials barely seen since 1979. That year, when Jimmy Carter was
President, students overran the US embassy in Tehran and held 52
Americans hostage for 444 days.
There have been no formal diplomatic relations between the two countries
since the hostage crisis. Nearly two years ago, President George Bush
declared that Iran, along with Iraq and North Korea, belonged to an
"axis of evil" that was fostering terrorism in the
world.
Yet on Friday, when the full extent of the catastrophe was becoming
apparent, Richard Armitage, the Deputy Secretary of State, phoned the
Iranian ambassador to the United Nations, Mohammed Zarif, and personally
offered American condolences and aid. Such direct contact with the
Iranians is rare. Normally, Washington resorts to communicating with Iran
through the Swiss government. And it drew a warm response. "We
greatly welcome any assistance from the United States," Akbar Alavi,
the governor of Kerman, said...
More than 200 people came to the Islamic Cultural Center in Northbrook
Sunday evening to pray for the victims of the Iranian earthquake, to
sympathize with the survivors and to help raise money for the relief
effort.
Not all of the 200 were Iranian. Nor were they all Muslim. Seven of them
were 6th-grade classmates of Sima Bambouyani, 11, a pupil at the Chicago
Academy on the Northwest Side, who was killed Friday while visiting
relatives over the holidays in the ancient city of Bam.
The seven classmates, who made the trip to Northbrook to share their
memories and sorrow, described Sima as a perpetually smiling girl who
loved SpongeBob SquarePants and who got each of her them a Christmas
present before she left for Iran.
"It was just so shocking to all of us because we were best
friends," said Kristen White, 11.
Sima's father, Mahmoud Bambouyani , 53, stood in the hallway of the
cultural center, tears streaming down his cheeks as he accepted hugs,
handshakes and well wishes from the region's tight-knit community of
residents originally from Bam...
-----
U.S. MUSLIMS TO PROTEST FRENCH HIJAB BAN
Letters to be delivered to consulates nationwide
(WASHINGTON, D.C., 12/29/2003) – On Tuesday, December 30, the Council on
American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) will coordinate the delivery of letters
to French diplomatic offices in the United States protesting President
Jacques Chirac’s plan to ban religiously-mandated head scarves, or hijab,
in public schools. The letters will be delivered following noon news
conferences outside consulates in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Houston,
Miami, and New York.
WHEN: Tuesday December 30, 2003, Noon (local time)
WHERE: French Consulates in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Houston, Miami,
and New York (Contact the local CAIR office for details.) SEE:
http://www.cair-net.org/asp/chapters.asp
The Washington-based Islamic civil rights and advocacy group says the
ban on head scarves in schools proposed last week by President Chirac
would restrict the ability of French Muslims to freely exercise their
religious beliefs. CAIR said the move contravenes the French
constitution and the European Convention on Human Rights. (The proposed
ban would also prohibit Jewish yarmulkes and large Christian crosses,
but it is widely regarded as being designed solely to restrict Islamic
religious practices.)
“To Muslim women and men, wearing modest attire is not a political
statement or a cultural practice imposed by others, it is the
fulfillment of a religious requirement,” said Sabiha Khan,
communications director for CAIR’s Southern California office.
“Religious freedom is a universal right that should be protected and
respected by all.”
Khan noted that Muslim, Christian and Jewish religious leaders in
France and throughout the world have opposed any ban on religious
symbols in public schools. Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams
described the French government’s move as "provocative and destructive."
CAIR, America's largest Islamic civil liberties group, is headquartered
in Washington, D.C., and has 25 regional offices and chapters
nationwide and in Canada.
- END –
CONTACT: Ibrahim Hooper, 202-488-8787 or 202-744-7726, E-Mail:
cair@cair-net.org; Rabiah Ahmed, 202-488-8787 or 202-439-1441, E-Mail:
rahmed@cair-net.org
HOUSTON – It began as a misdelivered envelope and developed into the
most extensive domestic terrorism investigation since the Oklahoma City
bombing.
Last month, an east Texas man pleaded guilty to possession of a weapon
of mass destruction. Inside the home and storage facilities of William
Krar, investigators found a sodium-cyanide bomb capable of killing
thousands, more than a hundred explosives, half a million rounds of
ammunition, dozens of illegal weapons, and a mound of white-supremacist
and antigovernment literature.
Vote in the MonitorTalk poll: Does US media coverage of terrorism show signs of ethnic bias?...
But outside Tyler, Texas, the case is almost unknown. In the past nine
months, there have been two government press releases and a handful of
local stories, but no press conference and no coverage in the national
newspapers.
Experts say the case highlights the increased cooperation and quicker
response by US agencies since Sept. 11. But others say it points up
just how political the terror war is. "There is no value for the Bush
administration to highlighting domestic terrorism right now," says
Robert Jensen, a journalism professor at the University of Texas in
Austin. "But there are significant political benefits to highlighting
foreign terrorists, especially when trying to whip up support for
war..."
WASHINGTON — America, the land that gave the world Coca-Cola, "Titanic"
and the Marlboro Man, is having a hard time selling itself.
The government's public-relations drive to build a favorable impression
abroad — particularly among Muslim nations — is a shambles, according
to Republican and Democratic lawmakers, State Department officials and
independent experts. They say the effort, known as public diplomacy,
lacks direction and is starved of cash and personnel.
Washington has failed to capitalize on the ouster of Saddam Hussein,
those critics say, and did not maintain the sympathy generated by the
Sept. 11 attacks. In Iraq, occupation officials routinely place blame
for their miscalculations on pessimistic American news media, a reflex
that even some hawks denounce as deceptive.
Public diplomacy is "a complete and utter disaster in Iraq," said Mark
Helmke, a senior staff member on the Senate Foreign Relations
Committee, who holds that the occupation authority has done little to
counter criticism that it is an imperial, occupying force. "We have
four different agencies running media operations there. There's no
coordination, no strategy."
A senior State Department official, who is active in public diplomacy,
says he starts his day pondering the antipathy to the United States...
IRVINE, Calif. - The idea was innocent enough: A group of young men
organize a holiday football tournament and give their teams such
innocuous names as "4th and Goal" and "1988'ers."
It was some of the other team names that raised eyebrows: Intifada, Soldiers of Allah and Mujahideen.
The furor that followed has forced some teams to change their names and
a handful of players to quit. It also sparked a debate that threatens
to overshadow the tournament, which was planned primarily for young
Muslims and scheduled for Jan. 4.
"This was really just supposed to be about the youth playing football.
Now it's become so political that a part of me thinks we shouldn't even
play," said Tarek Shawky, 29, one of the tournament's organizers.
Those involved in the league said they never set out to upset or offend
anyone. But critics say such names as Intifada and Mujahideen glorify
terrorism...
Muslim leaders have asked the teams to reconsider the names.
"Sensitizing our youths is our role as adults," said Hussam Ayloush,
the executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations in
Southern California.
But he also said he believed the players were not being malicious when they decided the names.
"In this case, the choices were totally innocent and meant for a small
intra-Muslim tournament whose members all knew what the terms stand
for," Ayloush said. "Unfortunately, we are aware that a few of those
terms are being tainted by the abominable actions of a few Muslims..."
On December 13, when U.S. forces captured Saddam Hussein, President
George W. Bush not only celebrated with his national security team, but
also pulled out his pen and signed into law a bill that grants the FBI
sweeping new powers. A White House spokesperson explained the curious
timing of the signing - on a Saturday - as "the President signs bills
seven days a week." But the last time Bush signed a bill into law on a
Saturday happened more than a year ago - on a spending bill that the
President needed to sign, to prevent shuttng down the federal
government the following Monday.
By signing the bill on the day of Hussein's capture, Bush effectively
consigned a dramatic expansion of the USA Patriot Act to a mere
footnote. Consequently, while most Americans watched as Hussein was
probed for head lice, few were aware that the FBI had just obtained the
power to probe their financial records, even if the feds don't suspect
their involvement in crime or terrorism.
By signing the bill on the day of Hussein's capture, Bush effectively
consigned a dramatic expansion of the USA Patriot Act to a mere
footnote.
The Bush Administration and its Congressional allies tucked away these
new executive powers in the Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal
Year 2004, a legislative behemoth that funds all the intelligence
activities of the federal government. The Act included a simple, yet
insidious, redefinition of "financial institution," which previously
referred to banks, but now includes stockbrokers, car dealerships,
casinos, credit card companies, insurance agencies, jewelers, airlines,
the U.S. Post Office, and any other business "whose cash transactions
have a high degree of usefulness in criminal, tax, or regulatory
matters..."
He has seen the bombed-out buildings. He has talked with the American
soldiers and the Iraqi people. He has heard the explosion of bombs and
the firing of guns.
And he is eager to go back.
''A war is a horrible situation, but God can use bad things for good,''
said Sanson, 52. ''The opportunity to evangelize there is great. I
can't wait to go back.''
Sanson, of Hudson, is one of 24 volunteers from the United States who
recently returned from a 10-day mission to distribute 11,000 Bibles
written in Arabic to people in Jordan and Iraq. The mission was
sponsored in part by Connection magazine, a regional religious
publication based in Garfield Heights and distributed at supermarkets,
churches and Christian bookstores.
During the first half of the trip, Sanson was in Jordan, where access
to the streets was prohibited. He and other missionaries distributed
Bibles and tracts at a church and to the Bible Society, which produces
and distributes Bibles.
Because Iraq is under U.S. control, the missionaries had more freedom
to walk the streets and talk with people there. They talked with U.S.
soldiers, gave them tracts and shared words of encouragement...
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
AMERICAN MUSLIM NEWS BRIEFS - 12/30/03
* HADITH OF THE DAY: GOD'S BLESSINGS
* CAIR LIBRARY PROJECT: 7149 SPONSORSHIPS
* CAIR-STL: MUSLIMS, JAPANESE-AMERICANS DISCUSS PREJUDICE (STL
Today)
* CAIR-CAN: INTERVIEW WITH RIAD SALOOJEE (CTV)
* MUSLIMS ROUNDS UP SUPPORT FOR FOOD BANK (News 8 Austin)
- Making a Difference: Dr. Safdar
Chaudhary (Post-Gazette)
* WA: MUSLIMS JOIN RALLY IN RECOGNITION OF SLAIN INNOCENTS
(Olympian)
* U.S. WARMS TO PROSPECT OF NEW TALKS WITH IRAN (Wash. Post)
* FRENCH MAYOR DEFENDS MUSLIM VEIL BAN (Reuters)
* MUSLIM INMATE SUES OVER BEATING (Salt Lake Tribune)
* POST-9/11 DETAINEE STILL HELD WITHOUT CHARGES (ABC News)
-----
HADITH OF THE DAY: GOD'S BLESSINGS
The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: "While Job
was...taking a bath, a swarm of gold locusts fell on him and he started
collecting them in his garment. His Lord called to him, 'O Job! Have I
not made you rich enough not to need what you see?' He said, 'Yes, O
Lord! But I cannot dispense with your Blessing.'"
Sahih Al-Bukhari, Volume 4, Hadith 604
------
CAIR LIBRARY PROJECT: 7149 SPONSORSHIPS
The goal of CAIR's library project is to send accurate and objective
information about Islam to America's 16,000 public libraries.
For only $150, Muslim individuals and groups may sponsor 18-item packages
about Islam and Muslims, which are then distributed to the library of
their choice.
On Saturday, the series continues with "Profiling in America"
at 3:30 and "Floodgates: Black & White in St. Louis" at
2:30.
The January show will also be in the Des Lee auditorium. After Saturday's
performances, members of the Japanese American Citizens League and the
Council on American-Islamic Relations will lead a discussion on
prejudice. These productions aren't usually available to the general
public but only to groups, such as schools or community organizations.
"Footsteps West" is best suited to students in grades 4 through
12, "River Roads" to those in kindergarten to fourth grade,
"Profiling" to those in grades 6 to 12 and
"Floodgates" to those in grades 4 to 12. Tickets are $4 for
single shows, $6 for each afternoon's two-show package. For more
information, call 314-361-9017.
-----
CAIR-CAN: INTERVIEW WITH ALEX NEVE, GARR PARDY, AND RIAD SALOOJEE
Craig Oliver and John Ibbitson, CTV Television, 12/28/03
GUEST: Riad Saloojee, Council on American-Islamic Relations Canada; Alex
Neve, Amnesty International; Gar Pardy, Former Foreign Affairs
Official.
JOHN IBBITSON: And continuing our discussion about Canadians held abroad
and our responsibilities here at home, we are joined in Calgary by Riad
Saloojee, he's the executive director of the Council on American-Islamic
Relations; and here in Ottawa by Gar Pardy who is a retired former
official with Foreign Affairs who worked on the Sampson case; and Alex
Neve of Amnesty International...
IBBITSON: Well speaking of Canadian and American governments and,
perhaps, overreaction, Mr. Saloojee you have been highly critical of what
you see as, in essence, racial profiling by the Canadian government of
Islamic Canadians and others in this country. The fact remains, however,
you've heard this before, that the United States was attacked by Islamic
extremists. Aren't they simply doing what is necessary to protect our
borders?
RIAD SALOOJEE [Council on American-Islamic Relations Canada]: No, I don't
think so. There is a perception among the Arab and Muslim community,
Canadian Arabs and Muslims that their government has failed them. The
Maher Aware case is, I think, quite exemplary in this regard. Here you
have a Canadian citizen who was caught up in the US policy of rendition
to torture whereby low-level suspects are sent to foreign governments to
be interrogated and to be tortured. I think the feeling is that racial
profiling simply does not work. There is no definitive, no qualitative
evidence that these sorts of racial profiling tactics work. All they do,
in fact, is create cynicism among Canadian Arabs and Muslims, make them
feel like second-class citizens. The feeling is that we should prosecute
terrorists and we should try to make Canada safer and more secure, but we
should do that within the rule of law...
IBBITSON: But gentlemen you know, all of you,t hat Canada has a long and
perhaps honourable tradition of exercising what is called soft power,
that we try to use moral suasion and we try to work sometimes in the
background. We have no choice. We are a middle power and the ability to
project for us is considerably limited. I mean, what alternatives are
there to so-called soft power?
SALOOJEE: Well, you know, we have recent precedents where when Canada
took a very strong active role there was some movement. About a month
after Maher Arar was detained in the United States and then deported, the
Canadian government in the face of face of rising racial profiling of
Arabs and, Canadian Arabs and Muslims across the US border, issued a
travel advisory. And it was a very, very strong and very overt political
statement, you know, in effect saying that we advise our Canadian Arab
and Muslim citizens to be very cautious when they travel to the United
States. And very shortly after the Canadian government issued that
advisory, you had John Ashcroft give the Canadian government assurances,
and give the Canadian people assurances that there would not be any more
racial profiling of Canadian Arabs and Muslims. So, I mean, there was an
example where you saw a very strong political unequivocal statement that
Canadian citizens ought not to be treated like second-class citizens, and
what you got from that was a strong American response...
The Capital Area Food Bank was pleasantly surprised when it got an
unexpected gift from one local religious group on Monday.
The Muslim Community Support Services donated more than 1,550 pounds of
food raised in its inaugural food drive.
Muslim Community Support Services is a local nonprofit that provides
social services to needy people in Austin.
President Mohsin Lari said members distributed at least five grocery bags
to their neighbors asking for non-perishable food items, which were then
left on their doorstep for collection.
To help if you'd like to help with donations, call the Muslim Community
Support Services at (512) 775-1481...
When Dr. Safdar Chaudhary was working as a psychiatrist at the former St.
Francis Medical Center, he treated patients for drug and alcohol abuse.
Often school counselors would call about a student with a problem, and
medical teams were there to help.
But when managed care emerged, those services gradually evaporated,
including programs designed to prevent substance abuse. And federal funds
for drug programs have shrunk from 11 percent of the national budget more
than a decade ago to 4 percent.
"We know if we don't do preventive care, the problem is not going to
go away," he says. "It's almost like if you don't get a
vaccination for polio, you start seeing polio cases go up
again."
Chaudhary, 45, who was born in Pakistan, didn't have the power to change
national health policy, but he thought that he could do something in his
adopted home town of Monroeville.
With support from the Muslim Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh,
Chaudhary and his assistant, M. Rashad Hasan, created the Coalition for
Human Dignity to work toward preventing drug and alcohol use among local
youth. In 2002, the U.S. Justice Department awarded the coalition a
$99,935 Drug-Free Communities grant. It's one of a few such grants made
to the region since 1999.
Substance abuse among Monroeville's 30,000 residents is no worse than
that in other suburban communities, with marijuana and alcohol use the
most prevalent. The coalition is working to involve the whole community
-- the Gateway School District, local religious groups, Monroeville Parks
and Recreation Department and the Monroeville Pitcairn Drug Task Force --
in the prevention efforts...
OLYMPIA -- Sunday's celebration of the Feast of Holy Innocents began with
a half dozen women who had marched from Saint Michael's Parish joining
several early arrivals at Percival Landing.
Thirty minutes later, nearly three dozen people had assembled on the
corner of Fourth Avenue and Water Street, where they held up signs that
read "We declare peace," "Have the courage to live
nonviolently," "All people are one human family," and
"Child deaths are not just collateral damage."
There were Catholics, Quakers, Muslims, Unitarians and Jews among those
gathered to urge passers-by to pause to consider the plight of children
throughout the world on the day of the feast that commemorates Herod's
slaying of all male children younger than 2 in an attempt to dispose of a
threat from Jesus Christ.
Sunday's vigil was organized to reflect upon the violence suffered by
children today as a result of political and economic policies of world
leaders, according to Bob Zeigler, who heads Saint Michael's Social
Justice Committee. The committee and the Olympia Fellowship of
Reconciliation sponsored the event.
"So many of our policies are based on fear and greed, and they have
dire consequences for our children here and abroad," Zeigler said...
The United States is open to restoring a dialogue with Iran after
"encouraging" moves by the Islamic republic in recent months,
Secretary of State Colin L. Powell said yesterday.
Iranian leaders have agreed to allow surprise inspections of the
country's nuclear energy program, have made overtures to moderate Arab
governments and, in the past week, have accepted direct U.S. help as the
country struggles with the effects of a devastating earthquake.
"There are things happening, and therefore we should keep open the
possibility of dialogue at an appropriate point in the future,"
Powell, who is recovering from surgery for prostate cancer, said in an
interview. "All of those things taken together show, it seems to me,
a new attitude in Iran in dealing with these issues -- not one of total,
open generosity. But they realize that the world is watching and the
world is prepared to take action."
Powell's public assessment comes as the administration is reviewing its
policy on Iran for the third time since President Bush took office, other
U.S. officials said.
Iran has been one of the thorniest issues for the administration. U.S.
officials have been deeply divided over whether to engage Iran, as they
have attempted with North Korea, or to support regime change, as with
Iraq. An original policy review on Iran drifted into an impasse and was
revived twice -- before the military invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq,
both of which border Iran...
PARIS - A suburban Paris mayor who banned all religious symbols from
civil weddings as part of France's campaign against the Islamic veil HAS
brushed off criticism that his hard line will alienate Muslims.
Jacques Martin, a member of President Jacques Chirac's conservative UMP
party, reacted after a cabinet minister warned him France's strict
separation of church and state did not mean a couple could not express
personal convictions at its wedding.
Earlier this month Chirac proposed a draft law to ban religious symbols
such as headscarves, Jewish skullcaps and large Christian crosses in
schools and public institutions.
Martin's ban is one of several cases of official zeal over the issue. In
another, a bank branch refused to admit veiled customers.
The proposed ban has triggered loud protests from the five million-strong
Muslim community, the largest in Europe making up about eight percent of
the French population. Many Muslims say wearing a veil is required by
Islam...
His trouble with a white supremacist began with the Sept. 11 terror
attacks, prison inmate Jacques Dupree Miranda claims.
The 29-year-old convicted thief, who is black and a practicing Muslim,
claims that because of his religious beliefs, he was targeted by other
inmates and by correctional officers who were angered by the terrorist
actions and tried to incite violence against him. The harassment
culminated in a Sept. 20, 2001, beating by a death-row inmate while
guards stood by that left him with a permanent debilitating injury,
Miranda says.
And it all could have been avoided if Utah Department of Corrections
officials had done their job and heeded his warning that other inmates
wanted to kill him, Miranda claims.
In a federal lawsuit filed against the department and individual
officers, Miranda accuses the defendants of cruel and unusual punishment,
negligence, battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress and
violation of his constitutional rights. The suit seeks at least $1
million in damages.
Corrections spokesman Jack Ford said the department has not been served
with the suit, but did say, "There was no encouragement by
correctional officers for this type of activity."
But Miranda claims that the officers relayed information to Troy Kell, a
white supremacist sentenced to death for killing a black inmate with a
homemade knife in 1994, that encouraged the prisoner to attack
him...
BUFFALO, N.Y., — Benemar Benatta still isn't sure why the U.S. government
kept him locked in solitary confinement long after it knew he had nothing
to do with 9/11.
"I am not [a] criminal," Benatta said. "I [have] never
been a criminal."
An electronics technician in the Algerian air force, Benatta was sent to
the United States in 2000 to train with a military plane
manufacturer.
But just six days before 9/11, he fled to Canada, seeking asylum.
He was detained at the border for having false identification. Then the
attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon happened, and the
29-year-old Muslim was sent to a prison in New York City where he says he
was locked in solitary confinement 24 hours a day...
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
AMERICAN MUSLIM NEWS BRIEFS - 12/31/03
* HADITH OF THE DAY: RESPECT COVENANTS
* CAIR'S LIBRARY PROJECT: 7149 SPONSORSHIPS
* KUCINICH SAYS MUSLIMS UNFAIRLY TARGETED BY U.S. (AP)
- Kucinich
Has Antiwar Message (St. Pete Times)
- Kucinich
Counts on Muslim Votes (Tampa Tribune)
* CAIR COORDINATES NATIONAL PROTESTS ON HIJAB BAN
- French
Scarf-Ban Plan Prompts Rally (CC Times)
- Muslim
Women Rip French Plan (Mercury News)
- Women
Criticize French Ban (NY Sun)
- Muslims
Protest Plan to Ban Hijabs (SF Chron.)
- Forget
Fashion, This Is Freedom (Telegraph)
* CA: MUSLIMS REACH OUT TO WIDER COMMUNITY (Pak. Link)
* LEARNING TO BUILD MOSQUES, MAYBE SOME BRIDGES (NY Times)
- She Rose
To Occasion, Donating Kidney (Daily News)
- Airman
is Ambassador for Islam (AF Link)
* OH: FAMILY FINDS HOPE FAR FROM HOMELAND (Plain Dealer)
* TERRORISM CASE THROWN INTO TURMOIL (Wash. Post)
- OH: Mother of 3 Fights
Deportation (Plain Dealer)
- Release from Jail Sought For
Suspect (Wash. Post)
* MUSLIM WOMEN TARGET OF VIOLENCE IN GUJARAT (Oneworld)
* WAS IT REALLY THE US THAT GOT SADDAM? (CS Monitor)
* ISRAEL TO DOUBLE SETTLER NUMBERS (Reuters)
- Israel Is Concerned About
Whistleblower (AP)
- Soldier Sorry For Not
Shooting Arab (Al Jazeerah)
- Number of Settlers Rises
(Haaretz)
-----
HADITH OF THE DAY: RESPECT COVENANTS
The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: "There is no faith in
he who is not trustworthy, and there is no religion in he who does not
respect his covenant."
Al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 4
-----
CAIR LIBRARY PROJECT: 7149 SPONSORSHIPS
The goal of CAIR's library project is to send accurate and objective
information about Islam to America's 16,000 public libraries.
For only $150, Muslim individuals and groups may sponsor 18-item packages
about Islam and Muslims, which are then distributed to the library of
their choice.
TAMPA, Fla. - Democratic Presidential Candidate Dennis Kucinich, the Ohio
U.S. Rep. who led a fight in the U.S. House against war in Iraq, visited
a mosque Tuesday and told the congregation that he thought American
Muslims were unfairly targeted by the U.S. government.
"At this time of rolling back of civil liberties, all Americans need
to be worried about any American deprived of his or her rights,"
Kucinich said at the Islamic Society of Tampa. "All Americans should
be very concerned about a government trying to get more and more into
peoples' private lives.
Kucinich said his opposition to the war in Iraq will take him to the
White House...
Kucinich also opposed the Patriot Act, passed after the Sept. 11, 2001
terrorist attacks to give the government more access to private records
and to make it easier to prosecute accused terrorists...
Parvez Ahmed, chairman of the board of the Florida Council on
American-Islamic Relations, said that if the Patriot Act were truly
intended to be fair, Goldstein would have been prosecuted under its
provisions.
"Goldstein could have been used to give the Muslim community more of
a sense of comfort," Ahmed said.
Ahmed said the traditionally conservative Muslim community in Florida
supported George Bush in 2000. Though the agency will not endorse a
candidate, he said he thought many Muslims would support Kucinich when
they heard his message...
ALSO SEE:
KUCINICH TAKES ANTIWAR MESSAGE TO ISLAMIC CENTER
Adam C. Smith, St. Petersburg Times, 12/31/03 www.stpetetimes.com
TAMPA - Dennis Kucinich barely cracked a smile as he walked into the
crowd awaiting him at an east Tampa mosque Tuesday. Instead, it was
straight to business, directing the handful of TV cameras to prepare for
his remarks.
This is serious stuff, this "illegal" war in Iraq, trampling of
civil rights and profit-driven health care system, and the long shot
Democratic presidential candidate sounded like a man too worried about
the state of America to waste time with small talk.
Which is precisely why so many of his ardently liberal supporters see him
as the only real choice among the nine-person Democratic field.
"The rest are just Republocrats," said Jay Alexander of St.
Petersburg, who was among nearly 100 Kucinich supporters and Muslims who
turned out for the Ohio congressman at the Islamic Society of the Tampa
Bay Area.
Stephanie Donald, a Port St. Lucie writer who has been organizing
Floridians for Kucinich for months, said in November she'll write-in
Kucinich's name, rather than vote for any other Democrat who might win
the nomination...
Kucinich came to Tampa to meet with Muslims and members of the Council on
American-Islamic Relations, a national civil rights group.
While only about 25,000 Muslims voted in Florida in 2000 - overwhelmingly
backing Bush - activists say Muslims are disenchanted with the Bush
administration, particularly over civil rights issues since Sept. 11.
Kucinich has been reaching out aggressively to those voters.
"The civil liberties of all Americans are only as strong as the
civil liberties that we accord to the Muslim-American community,"
Kucinich said...
TAMPA - In the 2000 election, U.S. Muslims voted overwhelmingly to put
Texas Gov. George W. Bush in the White House.
This time around, four-term Democratic U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio,
a long- shot White House candidate, is campaigning aggressively for the
Muslim vote on a platform built around immediate U.S. withdrawal from
Iraq.
Kucinich brought his message to Tampa on Tuesday in a tour of the Islamic
Society of Tampa Bay Area and a speech to about 100 local Muslims, many
of whom said they liked his civil liberties pitch.
``The defining issue for Muslims is the restriction of civil liberties,''
Kucinich said, while being shown around a free medical clinic, full-time
Muslim school and food pantry for the needy at the Sligh Avenue mosque.
The appearance was organized by local members of the Council on
American-Islamic Relations, the nation's biggest Islamic civil liberties
group. The nonprofit group does not endorse candidates. A Kucinich rally
with music and poetry was held later at Viva La Frida, a Florida Avenue
restaurant.
Kucinich, whose support stands in the low single digits in most national
polls, is hoping to use antiwar sentiment to ignite a candidacy that has,
so far, failed to take off. Asked why, he said he believes voters will
begin to rally to him if public sentiment turns sour against the
continuing occupation of Iraq...
-----
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA INTERFAITH LEADERS PROTEST FRENCH MOVE TO BAN
HIJAB
(Anaheim, CA - 12/31/2003) - The Council on American-Islamic Relations -
Southern California (CAIR-LA) yesterday led a delegation of local
interfaith leaders to deliver a letter of protest to the Deputy Consul
General of France in Los Angeles, opposing French President Jacques
Chirac's call for legislation to ban Islamic head scarves, or hijab,
Jewish yarmulkes and large Christian crosses in public schools. As part
of a nationwide campaign, letters of protest were delivered at noon
followed by news conferences outside consulates in Los Angeles, San
Francisco, Houston, Miami, and New York.
Reverend Connie Regener, representing the Christian community, Adrienne
Goldstone of the Interfaith Communities United for Justice and Peace
(ICUJP) and representing the Jewish community, Nitasha Sawhney of the
Sikh Council of Southern California, and Abel Lopez of All Saints Church
as well as Muslim women came out to protest the banning of hijab and
other religious symbols in front of the consulate.
Regener, Goldstone, and CAIR-LA communications director Sabiha Khan
handed Deputy Consul General, Oligier Placon, the letter as well as a
petition with over 400 signatures urging France to uphold religious
freedom. The three women relayed to the deputy the concerns of Americans,
especially that of American Muslim women who observe hijab, on the impact
of such a discriminatory law posing on the lives of Muslim women in
France. The deputy promised to forward the letter, petition, and
concerns to the Foreign Minister of France. (See text of protest letter
below.)
The Washington-based Islamic civil rights and advocacy group says the ban
on head scarves in schools proposed last week by President Chirac would
restrict the ability of French Muslims to freely exercise their religious
beliefs. CAIR said the move contravenes the French constitution and the
European Convention on Human Rights. (The proposed ban would also
prohibit Jewish yarmulkes and large Christian crosses, but it is widely
regarded as being designed solely to restrict Islamic religious
practices.)
"To Muslim women and men, wearing modest attire is not a political
statement or a cultural practice imposed by others, it is the fulfillment
of a religious requirement," said Khan. "Muslims, Jews,
Christians, and other faiths stand together in opposing any type of
religious oppression in France or anywhere in the world. Religious
freedom is a universal right that should not be subject to the whims of
the majority or the dictates of secular extremists."
Khan noted that Muslim, Christian and Jewish religious leaders in France
and throughout the world have opposed any ban on religious symbols in
public schools. Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams described the
French government's move as "provocative and
destructive."
CAIR, America's largest Islamic civil liberties group, is headquartered
in Washington, D.C., and has 25 regional offices and chapters nationwide
and in Canada.
-
END -
CONTACTS: CAIR-LA, Sabiha Khan, 714-776-1847 or 714-390-0334,
E-MAIL: socal@cair.com; CAIR-National, Ibrahim Hooper, 202-488-8787 or
202-744-7726, E-MAIL: cair@cair-net.org; Rabiah Ahmed, 202-488-8787 or
202-439-1441, E-Mail: rahmed@cair-net.org
Bay Area Muslims joined others around the country Tuesday to protest the
French government's proposal to ban the wearing of
"conspicuous" religious clothing such as Muslim head scarves
and Jewish skullcaps in public schools.
Rallying in front of the French Consulate in San Francisco, 15 women
wearing the head covering, or hijab, denounced the proposal and met with
French Deputy Consul General Olivier Arribe. Protesters in Los Angeles,
New York, Houston and Miami rallied at French consulates in those
cities.
Wearing the head covering is a duty for Muslim women, and asking them to
remove it during school hours would violate personal religious beliefs,
said San Jose resident Dahlia Eltoumi, who spoke at the
protest.
"It's just like if they made me drink alcohol," Eltoumi said.
"I wouldn't do it." The proposal, which has yet to become
French law, has sparked outcry all over the Muslim world as well as from
Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams. He said the proposed ban
suggests "a nervousness about letting (religious) commitment show
its face in public..."
Eltoumi said Arribe told her during a private meeting Tuesday that the
government was seeking the ban only to create a neutral learning
environment. Arribe invited protesters back to the consulate for a second
meeting.
The issue has sparked worldwide Muslim outrage because it is seen by many
as an attack on religious freedom, said Helal Omeira, executive director
of the Northern California branch of the Council on American-Islamic
Relations, which organized Tuesday's protests...
But she was so distressed by French President Jacques Chirac's proposal
to ban overtly religious symbols from public schools -- including the
hijab, the head scarf many Muslim women wear -- that she joined a dozen
protesters Tuesday at the French Consulate in San Francisco.
``If one sees oppression anywhere, it's one's responsibility to speak
out,'' said Usman, 23, who wears a hijab and whose sister-in-law recently
left France because she was repeatedly taunted for being
Muslim.
The protest was organized by local chapters of the Council on
American-Islamic Relations, a group based in Washington, D.C. Protests
also were held outside French consulates in Los Angeles, Houston, Miami
and New York. Separate protests have been held this month by students in
Iran and Lebanon.
A larger, worldwide protest is planned for mid-January that may include a
wider interfaith community, said Helal Omeira, executive director of the
local CAIR chapter.
However, the Northern California chapter was deluged with calls from
``many, many Muslim sisters'' after Chirac called for the new law, he
said, and wanted to act quickly...
---
MUSLIM WOMEN CRITICIZE FRENCH POSITION ON RELIGIOUS SYMBOLS
Daniela Gerson, New York Sun, 12/31/03 www.nysun.com
Global protests against a French presidential proposal to ban conspicuous
religious symbols in public schools reached New York yesterday, with some
50 people, mainly Muslim women, voicing their disapproval in front of the
French Consulate.
The march was organized by various area Islamic organizations, many of
which have sided with France on its criticism of the war in Iraq and
Israeli policy. But now the criticism is for France. "Because of the
position they took on the war in Iraq it is all the more surprising that
they have decided to enact a measure that would really isolate the Muslim
population in France, or at least the Muslim women," said the
director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations of New Jersey,
Farza Ali. "It is really quite shocking when a country like France
that is really progressive and with such a huge Muslim population would
take this type of measure."
"I can't understand it - How can the headscarf be an act of
extremism? A girl, 8 to 9 years old, going to school with a headscarf?
And a Jewish boy in a skullcap, what sort of extremism is he doing?"
asked Mohammad Yousufuddin, president of the New York chapter of the
Islamic Circle of North America, after presenting the French adjunct
consul with 3,000 letters addressed to President Chirac. The petitions
deplored the proposed ban and a rise of "Islamophobia" in
France...
A dozen Bay Area Muslims gathered at the French Consulate in San
Francisco at noon Tuesday to protest France's proposed ban on religiously
mandated head scarves, or hijabs, and other religious symbols in public
schools.
The protesters, mostly women wearing hijabs, waited outside the consulate
to show their support as a representative of the Northern California
chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-NCA) presented
a letter of opposition to Olivier Arribe, the deputy consul
general.
Dahlia Eltoumi met with Arribe for about 30 minutes and said he had
assured her the letter, written in French and English, would be forwarded
to high-ranking members of the French government.
"I explained that it's not like taking off a jacket," said
Eltoumi. "The hijab is not so much symbolic as it is a religious
mandate."
Similar letters were delivered simultaneously to consulates in Los
Angeles, Houston, Miami and New York in anticipation of an international
day of protest that has been called for Jan. 16 in the United States and
Jan. 17 in Europe.
Earlier this month, French President Jacques Chirac supported a
recommendation for a law to ban "conspicuous" religious symbols
from schools and other public places, such as federal buildings and
public service buildings...
But according to a statement release by the Council on American-Islamic
Relations, a Washington-based Islamic civil rights advocacy group,
"the ban would restrict the ability of French Muslims to freely
express their religious beliefs..."
The Muslim veil has become a hot political issue in France - but Stella
White cannot see what the fuss is about. A Catholic from Kent, she
explains the joys of the complete cover-up
To liberated Westerners, the hijab, or veil, is a stain on womankind. It
symbolises the crushing of the female spirit and is the mark of slavery,
transforming a woman into a passive lump who is only allowed out of the
house to buy her husband's dinner.
When faced with this piece-of-cloth-on-legs, English women will often
meet the eyes peeking out of the hijab with an expression of pity and
sadness. For them, the veil represents a living death. This might also be
the feeling of the French authorities, who have decided to ban the hijab
in schools, believing that no young girl should have to carry the burden
of repression on her tender head.
Yet for many, including myself, the veil is not an instrument of
coercion, but a means of liberation. Personally, I have never felt so
free as I do when I am wearing it...
SACRAMENTO, Calif. - The Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) of
the Sacramento Valley Area took a huge step forward as it held what can
only be described as the event of the year on behalf of the Muslims in
California's State Capital. With a list of local dignitaries just too
long to mention, CAIR Sacramento succeeded in launching itself from
beyond its relative infancy as its first annual fundraising banquet lived
up to its "Faith in Action" theme and raised over $100,000,
supported by the local interfaith effort (Abrahamic religions) and Asian
groups, especially Japanese Americans and Pacific Islanders.
Over the years, this reporter has witnessed many attempts by Muslims in
Northern California to not only reach out to non-Muslims but to
communicate with people who matter in their communities. Many successes
have been witnessed in the San Francisco Bay Area, in Stockton, Lodi and
Woodland along with Sacramento. Immediately after the horror of Sept. 11,
Muslims in Sacramento along with the local interfaith community plus the
Japanese-American JACL and the Asian and Pacific Islander CAPITAL
organization, launched an unprecedented outreach and media effort. And
with support from the media, local newspapers, The Sacramento Bee and the
Sacramento News and Review (and full participation of Pakistan Link) the
message of America's unity amidst diversity was heard loud and clear.
And it was during this time that a need was felt to formally extend the
Civil Rights related work of CAIR to Sacramento. A local ACLU branch has
also been created. And it appears that CAIR has now taken the lead role
with its ability to create local political and social alliances. This
fundraising banquet on Dec. 14 and those in attendance were a reflection
of the success of CAIR locally (as well as being a true window into
Sacramento's incredible diversity).
The event started off with a recitation from the Holy Quran and a welcome
by local CAIR Executive Director Rashad Baadqir. Dinner was served while
the program was continued (making this an interesting reporting
assignment). Rashid Ahmad, the President of the local CAIR group
acknowledged the dignitaries present, a list just too long to report
here. Some of the "Who's who" of Sacramento was present and
that was not just from the local Muslim community. Tamer Ahmad was emcee
and deserves kudos for a job well done...
Friends and colleagues nagged David Macaulay for 25 years to write a book
about a mosque to complement the series that started with
"Cathedral" and went on to include "City,"
"Pyramid" and "Castle."
But to him, the books had begun to feel formulaic. He had moved on to
other pursuits: "The Way Things Work" and "Building
Big," as well as a series of other children's books.
Then came the attacks of Sept. 11.
Mr. Macaulay, an architect and professor at the Rhode Island School of
Design, said he was working in his studio in Bristol, R.I., when his wife
rushed across the lawn to tell him that two planes had crashed into the
World Trade Center.
He sat in front of the television for five hours. Four days later, he was
on the phone to his longtime editor: "I want to do 'Mosque.'
"
Mr. Macaulay dropped what he had been working on, a book about the human
body, and in his words, "just went at it." Architecture could
be a great universal, he said, combining inspiration and
problem-solving...
If you're looking for some peace and hope with which to kick off 2004,
you'll find it riding on float No. 45 in Thursday's Tournament of Roses
parade.
That's where a Caucasian Muslim woman from Glendale will be waving to the
crowds alongside an African-American Christian man to whom she donated a
kidney in 2001.
Their names are Patricia Abdullah and Mike Jones, and the fate of
literally hundreds of thousands of people in this country who need organ
transplants are riding with them on that "Symphony of Life"
float.
"The float is taking a national conversation that has been ignored
and shunted aside, and putting it before millions of people," says
Abdullah, whose name was Patricia Wright before she converted to the
Muslim faith 18 years ago...
In the military, service members pull double duty as worker bees in their
daily jobs and, on a more far-reaching level, U.S. ambassadors in their
communities and around the world.
One noncommissioned officer here pulls triple duty. He is also an
ambassador for his religion -- Islam.
Tech. Sgt. Glynis Turner, a 39th Communications Squadron quality
assurance evaluator, is the Islamic lay leader for the base chapel which
welcomes all religions.
He is one of 12 Muslim airmen among more than 4,000 airmen, Department of
Defense employees and family members here with predominately
Judeo-Christian backgrounds.
Since Muslims occupy a small percentage of the military population, there
are only two ordained Islamic chaplains in the Air Force, Turner
said.
So, the service he provides to the base as an Islamic lay leader is not
well-known, but none the less important. He assists other Islamic
followers, dispels myths about Islam and increases understanding of the
religion and culture.
Turner recently represented his faith as a Muslim in the military at an
iftar for influential community leaders in Adana...
In a room thousands of miles from home, a Kurdish woman held her
6-year-old son, the victim of a land-mine explosion, and sobbed quietly.
Medina Ismail Isa, temporarily living in Cleveland, at once shed tears of
sadness and joy. She cried for her boy, Honer Arif Said, because his
face, riddled with shrapnel, "is not right." And she cried
because a group of local doctors and Fairview Hospital employees have
promised to do everything they can to help him - at no charge.
"I'm very happy to be here," Isa said last week through an
interpreter, Farsad Abo of Columbus.
As Isa wiped her eyes, Honer, who lost his left arm below the elbow in
the blast, slid off her lap to catch a small orange ball tossed by his
5-year-old brother, Omed Arif Said.
On Dec. 20, the boys and their mother moved into a suite at Laura's Home,
a long-term recovery facility for women and children run by the City
Mission. But their path to the United States began a couple of months
ago, when Dr. Louis Caravella, former chief executive of Fairview,
Lutheran and Lakewood hospitals, heard their story...
Local groups, including the Council on American-Islamic Relations and the
Islamic Center of Cleveland, also are reaching out by regularly visiting
the family, stocking their refrigerator and supplying toys…
DETROIT - The verdict in the nation's first terrorist trial after the
Sept. 11, 2001, attacks left both sides claiming victory: two men guilty
of terrorism charges and two others cleared of them.
But several recent developments -- including revelations that prosecutors
may have withheld key exonerating evidence -- have thrown the case into
turmoil. U.S. District Judge Gerald E. Rosen is considering throwing out
the convictions and starting over.
Federal prosecutors acknowledged this month that they did not turn over
at least two key pieces of evidence that defense lawyers said would have
helped their cause. Rosen issued a rare public rebuke of Attorney General
John D. Ashcroft for violating his gag order and exhibiting "a
distressing lack of care" in his public statements about the case.
The two chief prosecutors, unceremoniously removed from the "sleeper
cell" case, have entered into a public spat with their bosses.
In addition, Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa) has charged that the two
prosecutors were removed because one of them -- against the wishes of
senior officials at the Justice Department -- testified before the Senate
Finance Committee, which Grassley chairs, about how terrorists sell false
documents and identities to pay for their activities.
"It looks pretty bad for the government," said David A. Moran,
an assistant professor of law at Wayne State University in Detroit.
"It's clear that Judge Rosen, who tends to be on the government's
side, is disturbed by what happened. What he has to decide now is whether
there would have been a reasonable probability of a different
outcome..."
Haiat Awad was the first in her family to become an American citizen,
when she was born here 11 years ago.
A brother and sister followed.
But now, their mother, a Venezuelan-born Muslim refugee, has two
heart-wrenching options - leave her children here, parentless, to enjoy
the privileges of being U.S. citizens or take them with her to Venezuela,
where she has no relatives, no job and no home.
Immigration officials have ordered Amina Silmi, 35, to leave the country
by Jan. 6. Her visitor's visa has expired.
U.S. immigration laws do not require officials to consider how a
deportation will affect American-born children, a leading Cleveland
immigration attorney said.
"The laws have no provisions for families, despite all of the talk
about family values," David Leopold said...
Some in Cleveland's Muslim community blame selective enforcement of
immigration laws; a Muslim focus has swept up innocents during the war on
terrorism, they say.
Julia Shearson, director of the Cleveland office of the Council on
American-Islamic Relations, contends that Silmi's scheduled deportation
is an example of extreme and callous enforcement of federal immigration
laws.
The government's "unrelenting aim to deport Amina Silmi will strip
three U.S. citizens, her children . . . of the right to grow up in the
United States with their mother, to stay with their friends in school and
to enjoy the benefits of being American-born citizens," Shearson
said. "We're facing a harsh, cold wall here..."
Benamar Benatta has obtained a lawyer, and offers of shelter and a job.
Now, if a federal judge agrees to lower or waive his $25,000 bond next
week, he could step out of his prison cell for the first time in 27
months.
Benatta is one of the last lost men of 9/11. Jailed on the day of the
2001 attacks, the Algerian air force lieutenant has spent more than two
years in federal prisons -- much of that time in solitary confinement --
even though the FBI formally concluded in November 2001 that he had no
connection to terrorism.
Benatta was among 1,200 men detained in the weeks after the terrorist
attacks. Save for a possible unknown material witness, no detainee has
remained locked up as long as Benatta.
The Washington Post reported on Benatta's long detention in an article
this Nov. 29. The article tracked his case from his arrest in 2001 to a
federal magistrate's decision in September that lambasted federal
prosecutors and recommended Benatta's release...
The federal prosecutor in Buffalo agreed to drop all charges against
Benatta, 29, shortly after Schroeder released his decision. Benatta now
faces a deportation charge. Unlike many facing such charges, he remains
behind bars at the Buffalo Federal Detention Facility in Batavia, N.Y.,
because he cannot post the bond...
NEW DELHI - A report released by rights groups Wednesday says while the
government looks on, Muslim women in the western Indian state of Gujarat
continue to face different forms of violence in their daily lives, nearly
two years after the state was torn apart by anti-Muslim riots.
"Women have been invisiblized in Gujarat," says Farah Naqvi,
one of the authors of the report - Threatened Existence: A Feminist
Analysis Of The Genocide In Gujarat. "But government inaction has
been complete and total," she adds.
The report, released in the Indian capital, New Delhi, urges the Indian
judiciary to ensure prosecution of all instances of sexual violence. It
calls upon the Indian government to investigate and take legal action
against officials and individuals responsible for the continuing
harassment of Muslim women.
"The violence continues in different and frightening forms with
long-term consequences on the lives of all members of the Muslim
community, particularly women," says the report presented by the
International Initiative for Justice in Gujarat (IIJG). "Not only
were Muslims the victims of vicious politically motivated attacks in
February/March 2002 but they continue to be so even today," it
says...
It's become a world famous phrase: "Ladies and gentlemen, we got
him."
More than two weeks after the US civil administrator in Iraq, Paul
Bremer, uttered those words at a press conference in Baghdad, reports
continue to circulate that Saddam Hussein was first captured by a
Kurdish-led intelligence unit, drugged, then put into the "spider
hole" to be taken by the US military.
The Sydney Morning Herald reports that US forces took Mr. Hussein into
custody Saturday, Dec. 13 around 8.30 p.m. local time, but "sat on
the news" until 3 p.m. the next day. However, the Herald points out
that in the early hours of Sunday, Dec. 14 a Kurdish language wire
service reported explicitly: "Saddam Hussein was captured by the
Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK). A special intelligence unit led by
Qusrat Rasul Ali, a high-ranking member of the PUK, found Saddam Hussein
in the city of Tikrit, his birthplace."
According to the Herald, the Western news media in Baghdad were
"electrified" by the first media account of the capture, which
was from a Tehran-based news agency, but quickly began to rely
"almost exclusively on accounts from US military and intelligence
organizations..."
JERUSALEM - Israel intends to double the number of Jewish settlers in the
Golan Heights over the next three years to tighten its grip over the
plateau seized from Syria in a 1967 war, a cabinet minister said on
Wednesday.
There was no immediate comment from Syria or chief Middle East peace
broker the United States. But the move was likely to anger Damascus and
may ruffle Washington, struggling to salvage a "road map" plan
for defusing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The Israeli army shot and wounded 10 Palestinians and one Israeli in its
second confrontation in five days with protesters opposing a barrier
Israel is building inside occupied West Bank territory Palestinians seeks
for a state, witnesses said.
Persistent violence has torn the road map to Palestinian statehood in the
West Bank and Gaza Strip. Palestinians vowed revenge after Israel botched
a bid to kill a militant leader with a missile strike on Monday, wounding
10 passersby instead.
Agriculture Minister Yisrael Katz told Israel Radio the right-wing
cabinet had agreed to double the current settler population of 17,000 to
solidify its hold over the Golan before opening any peace negotiations
with Syria.
Such a move would increase "facts on the ground" --
consolidating Israeli control over captured territory -- similar to the
way the barrier slicing through West Bank terrain would incorporate
Jewish settlements Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has vowed never to yield
under any peace treaty...
JERUSALEM - Israel is concerned that a whistleblower who spilled Israeli
nuclear secrets to a newspaper two decades ago might have more to say
after his imminent release from prison, and is looking for ways to
silence him, officials said Tuesday.
Mordechai Vanunu, a former nuclear technician, was sentenced to 18 years
in prison for espionage after giving dozens of pictures and a description
of alleged weapons from Israel's top-secret Dimona nuclear reactor to
London's Sunday Times in 1986. He is due to be released in
April.
Israel's official policy about nuclear weapons is purposely ambiguous:
Officials say only that Israel will not be the first to introduce them
into the Middle East.
But based on Vanunu's pictures, experts concluded Israel had the world's
sixth-largest stockpile of nuclear weapons. The CIA estimated more
recently that Israel has between 200 and 400 nuclear weapons.
Since his arrest, Vanunu has become the poster figure for critics of
Israel's nuclear program.
He was nominated for the 2003 Nobel peace prize and an American couple
adopted him in the mistaken belief that this would entitle him to U.S.
citizenship and hasten his release...
An Israeli soldier who three days ago mistakenly shot and seriously
wounded a Jewish demonstrator in the northern West Bank has told
interrogators he thought he was shooting a Palestinian, not a
Jew.
“I am sorry, I never thought I was shooting at Jews, I would never shoot
a Jew,” the soldier reportedly said.
The Israeli victim, Gil Nima’ati, was protesting against the construction
of the so-called separation wall near the northern West Bank village of
Mis-ha north west of Nablus, along with hundreds of Palestinians and
international peace activists.
Another protester, a woman from the US, was also lightly wounded in the
shooting which sparked off widespread acrimony and recrimination in
Israel because a Jew was shot.
The soldier who pulled the trigger - his identity has not been released -
reportedly said he could not recognise the identity of the demonstrators,
who were protesting against the construction of the “separation wall” in
the northern West Bank...
The settler population has increased by 16 percent on average since Prime
Minister Ariel was elected to office in February 2001, according to
updated information released Tuesday by the Interior Ministry.
The rate of population growth in settlements was three times higher than
in the Negev and Galilee regions.
According to the report, there were more than 236,000 people living in
settlements in the end of 2003.
In some isolated settlements the population increased significantly: in
the Gaza Strip settlement of Kfar Darom, the population increased by 52
percent over the past three years; the population of Netzarim grew by 24
percent during the same period of time; the number of settlers in the
West Bank settlement of Tapuah, near Nablus, grew by 50 percent and in
Yitzhar – by 30 percent.
In August this year Haaretz released Interior Ministry
data according to which more than half of the 145 settlements in the West
Bank and Gaza Strip grew by more than the 3 percent natural growth rate,
while 30 settlements recorded an overall drop in population.
A further 30 settlements grew, but by less than the natural growth rate,
according to the ministry data...
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
- MEDIA ADVISORY -
KUCINICH SEEKS HALT TO DEPORTATION OF OHIO MUSLIM FAMILY
Venezuelan Muslim faces removal despite U.S.-born children
(WASHINGTON, D.C., 1/1/04) - Presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich
will
hold a news conference today in Ohio to seek government action in the
case
of a Muslim women in that state who faces imminent deportation despite
the
fact that she has three U.S.-citizen children. Kucinich has written a
letter to the Department of Homeland Security about the case.
WHEN: Thursday, January 1, 11 a.m.
WHERE: Congressional office of Rep. Dennis Kucinich, 14400 Detroit
Avenue,
Lakewood, Ohio (CONTACT: 216-228-8850)
The Muslim refugee mother faces the options of abandoning her children
or
taking them to Venezuela, where she has no family support or employment
prospects. Immigration officials have ordered the woman to leave the
United
States by January 6.
The Muslim mother, her children, the family's attorney, and
representatives
of the Cleveland office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations
(CAIR-Cleveland) will attend the news conference.
CAIR-Cleveland Director Julia Shearson said the family should be
allowed to
remain in the United States on humanitarian grounds.
"Two of these American children have special needs that may not be
addressed if forced to leave the country," said Shearson. "This is the
only
country the children have ever known." She said this case would allow
the
government to show its support for family values by keeping the mother
and
children together.
SEE: "MOTHER OF 3 U.S. CITIZENS FIGHTS JAN. 6 DEPORTATION"
http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/cuyahoga/1072866604164770.xml
CAIR, America's largest Islamic civil liberties group, is headquartered
in
Washington, D.C., and has 25 regional offices and chapters nationwide
and
in Canada. (NOTE: CAIR does not endorse political candidates.)
- END -
CONTACT: CAIR-Cleveland, Julia Shearson, 216-440-2247; Ibrahim Hooper,
202-488-8787 or 202-744-7726, E-Mail: cair@cair-net.org
NOTE: CAIR offers an e-mail list designed to be a window to the
American
Muslim community. Subscribers to the list, called CAIR-NET, receive
news
releases and other materials dealing with American Muslim positions on
issues of importance to our society.
To SUBSCRIBE to or UNSUBSCRIBE from this list, go to:
http://cair.biglist.com/cair-net/
To reach the list moderator, send a message to: cair@cair-net.org
-----
CAIR
Council on American-Islamic Relations
453 New Jersey Avenue, S.E.
Washington, D.C. 20003
Tel: 202-488-8787, 202-744-7726
Fax: 202-488-0833
E-mail: cair@cair-net.org
URL: http://www.cair-net.org
-----
Forwarded Message
From:
"cair@cair-net.org" <cair@cair-net.org>
To:
cair-net@cair.biglist.com
Subject:
CAIR-NET: Deportation of Ohio Muslim Family Halted
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
AMERICAN MUSLIM NEWS BRIEFS - 1/2/04
* VERSE OF THE DAY: UPHOLD JUSTICE
* DEPORTATION OF OHIO MUSLIM FAMILY HALTED
- Help Keep a Family Together
* KUCINICH HELPS WOMAN FIGHTING DEPORTATION (Plain Dealer)
- Congressman Seeks to Block Woman's Deportation (AP)
* NEW WILLIE NELSON SONG CONDEMNS WAR IN IRAQ (Reuters)
- What Ever Happened to Peace On Earth (Statesman)
- Bush Priority for 2004: Get Out of Iraq (Independent)
* NJ: MUSLIM LEADER, 71, DIES IN CAR CRASH (Star Ledger)
- Pakistani Elected Mayor of NJ Town (Daily Times)
- FBI Seeks Help From NJ Muslims (AP)
* PAKISTANI FAMILY IN LEGAL LIMBO (Delaware Online)
* FAMILY GETS RIGHTS TO ISLAM SYMBOL (Poughkeepsie Journal)
* COLUMN ON HEAD SCARVES DEEPLY OFFENSIVE (Oregon live)
* ISRAELI SOLDIER HELD OVER PEACE ACTIVIST SHOOTING (The Age)
- Funding Road to Seminary at Illegal Outpost (Haaretz)
-----
VERSE OF THE DAY: UPHOLD JUSTICE
Show forgiveness, uphold justice and turn away from the ignorant.
The Holy Quran, 7:199
-----
GOOD NEWS ALERT
DEPORTATION OF OHIO MUSLIM FAMILY HALTED
(WASHINGTON, D.C., 1/2/04) - The Council on American-Islamic Relations
(CAIR) tonight applauded a decision by immigration authorities to
temporarily halt the deportation of a Muslim family in Ohio with three
U.S.-citizen children. The deportation is being halted pending a review
of
the family's case.
Yesterday, presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich held a news
conference in
Ohio seeking government action to keep the family together in the
United
States. (Kucinich also wrote a letter to the Department of Homeland
Security asking that the deportation be stopped.)
The Muslim refugee mother faces the options of abandoning her children
or
taking them to Venezuela, where she has no family support or employment
prospects. Immigration officials had ordered the woman to leave the
United
States by January 6.
Representatives of CAIR's Cleveland office took part in Kucinich's news
conference and asked that the family be allowed to remain in America on
humanitarian grounds.
"We would like to thank Representative Kucinich for his timely
intervention
in this case, and also thank all those who contacted their elected
officials to ask that these American children remain in the only
country
they know," said CAIR Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper. "We hope
this
temporary measure will lead to a permanent solution."
CAIR, America's largest Islamic civil liberties group, is headquartered
in
Washington, D.C., and has 25 regional offices and chapters nationwide
and
in Canada. (NOTE: CAIR does not endorse political candidates.)
- END -
CONTACT: CAIR-Cleveland, Julia Shearson, 216-440-2247; Ibrahim Hooper,
202-488-8787 or 202-744-7726, E-Mail: cair@cair-net.org
SEE ALSO:
For Immediate Release: Contact:
Friday, January 2, 2004
Martin Gelfand (216) 228-8850 (o)
(216) 659-7089 (c)
DEPORTATION PLACED ON HOLD
Mother of 3 Can Stay in U.S. Pending Administrative Review at
Immigration
Agency
CLEVELAND - Congressman Dennis J. Kucinich (D-Ohio) expressed relief
that
the deportation order for a mother of 3 young children, U.S. citizens
born
in the United States, was placed on hold pending an administrative
review.
Amina Silmi was to have been deported to her native Venezuela on
January 6,
2004, leaving her 2 daughters, 11 and 6, and her 5-year-old autistic
son,
without either mother or father in the United States. Roy Bailey, the
Ohio
and Michigan Field Office Director of the U.S. Bureau of Immigration
and
Customs Enforcement, spoke with Congressman Kucinich today to inform
him of
this development.
"I am grateful for this prompt response to our request for a review,"
said
Kucinich. "We will continue to stay in touch with the immigration
agency
and will help to provide them with all relevant information in our
efforts
to keep these 3 American children together with their mother in their
home."
Yesterday, Kucinich sent a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Tom
Ridge
asking for a review of this case. The U.S. Bureau of Immigration and
Customs Enforcement, formerly the Immigration and Naturalization
Service,
is an agency within the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
-30-
Martin D. Gelfand
Senior Counsel
Office of Congressman Dennis J. Kucinich
14400 Detroit Avenue
Lakewood, Ohio 44107
216-228-8850
216-228-6465 (fax)
---
ACTIONS REQUESTED:
IMPORTANT: As always, please remember to be polite and courteous when
contacting public officials. Ohio Muslims are asked to contact their
elected representatives to ask that the family be allowed to remain
PERMANENTLY in the United States on humanitarian grounds.
Ohio Members of Congress:
SENATE MEMBERS
Mike DeWine (R-OH) (614) 469-5186
George Voinovich (R-OH) (614) 469-6697
HOUSE MEMBERS
Steve Chabot (R-OH-1) (513) 684-2723
Rob Portman (R-OH-2) (513) 791-0381
Michael Turner (R-OH-3) (937) 225-2843
Michael Oxley (R-OH-4) (419) 423-3210
Paul Gillmor (R-OH-5) (419) 448-9016
Ted Strickland (D-OH-6) (740) 376-0868
David Hobson (R-OH-7) (937) 325-0474
John Boehner (R-OH-8) (513) 779-5400
Marcy Kaptur (D-OH-9) (419) 259-7500
Dennis Kucinich (D-OH-10) (216) 228-8850
S. Tubbs Jones (D-OH-11) (216) 522-4900
Patrick Tiberi (R-OH-12) (614) 523-2555
Sherrod Brown (D-OH-13) (440) 245-5350
Steven LaTourette (R-OH-14) (440) 352-3939
Deborah Pryce (R-OH-15) (614) 469-5614
Ralph Regula (R-OH-16) (330) 489-4414
-----
KUCINICH HELPS WOMAN FIGHTING DEPORTATION
James F. McCarty, Plain Dealer, 1/2/04
http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/cuyahoga/107303950
5101062.xml
With four days left until she is scheduled to be deported back to
Venezuela, Amina Silmi picked up a valuable ally on Thursday.
Congressman and presidential hopeful Dennis Kucinich vowed to fight the
Lakewood woman's deportation and the forced separation from her
children,
ages 11, 6 and 5 - all of whom are U.S. citizens. Silmi, 35, has lived
in
the United States for 11 years on an expired visitor's visa.
"We're going to move heaven and earth to help this family," said
Kucinich,
his eyes brimming with tears. "If it means I have to call Tom Ridge,
other
members of Congress, the White House - I'm going to make those calls."
Kucinich addressed Silmi's case at a New Year's Day news conference at
his
Lakewood congressional office. He released a letter that he sent to
Ridge,
the Homeland Security chief, on Wednesday protesting Silmi's
deportation
order, which he called "a miscarriage of justice and an abuse of our
immigration laws."
He also plans to introduce a bill in Congress that would grant American
citizenship to Silmi.
"We are not going to stand by and watch these children become orphans
because of some bureaucratic process," Kucinich said...
ALSO SEE:
CONGRESSMAN SEEKS TO BLOCK WOMAN'S DEPORTATION
Associated Press, 12/2/03
http://www.newarkadvocate.com/news/stories/20040102/localnews/152614.html
CLEVELAND - Dennis Kucinich, a congressman and Democratic candidate for
president, wants to block the deportation of a woman who has lived in
the
United States for 11 years on an expired visitor visa.
Kucinich, in a New Year's Day news conference, said he would fight the
deportation of Amina Silmi, 35, of Lakewood, who has children ages 11,
6
and 5, all U.S. citizens.
Kucinich released a letter sent to Tom Ridge, the Homeland Security
chief,
on Wednesday protesting the deportation order. He said he would
introduce a
bill granting American citizenship to Silmi.
Silmi, twice married and divorced, accused her former husbands of
domestic
abuse. Her children lost their only father figure Dec. 1, when he was
deported to Jordan for trafficking in food stamps...
-----
NEW WILLIE NELSON SONG CONDEMNS WAR IN IRAQ
Reuters, 12/31/03
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/s1018863.htm
DALLAS - Country music icon Willie Nelson has written a Christmas song
with an edge -- a protest against the war in Iraq that he hopes will
stir
passions in those who hear it.
Nelson, 70, told Reuters on Wednesday he wrote "Whatever Happened to
Peace
on Earth" after watching the news on Christmas Day and will play it in
Austin, Texas on Saturday at a concert to benefit Democratic
presidential
candidate Dennis Kucinich.
His rare foray into protest music -- he said it was only the second
such
song he had written, after the Vietnam-era "Jimmy's Road" -- follows
recent
political controversies stirred by the Dixie Chicks and Steve Earle.
The Dixie Chicks, one of the biggest acts in country music, had their
music
boycotted by some country stations after lead singer Natalie Mains said
at
a concert in London just before the invasion of Iraq that she was
embarrassed to be from the same state as President Bush.
Last year Steve Earle sparked the ire of conservatives with his song
"John
Walker's Blues" about the young American who converted to Islam was
captured while fighting alongside the Taliban in Afghanistan.
Nelson said his new song criticized the Bush administration's decision
to
invade Iraq and those who thought it unpatriotic to speak out against
the
war.
The song opens with the line "How much oil is one human life worth?"
and
swings into the chorus: "Hell they won't lie to me/ Not on my own damn
TV/
But how much is a liar's word worth/ And whatever happened to peace on
earth?"
"I hope that there is some controversy," said the country singer, who
has
five nominations in the upcoming Grammy Awards. "If you write something
like this and nobody says anything, then you probably haven't struck a
nerve...
ALSO SEE:
WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO PEACE ON EARTH
American-Statesman, 12/30/03
http://www.statesman.com/metrostate/content/metro/1203/1231willie_song.html
Willie Nelson, who has endorsed Dennis Kucinich for President, and who
will
lead a fundraising concert for Kucinich's campaign in Austin, Texas, on
Jan. 3, 2004, wrote a new song on Christmas that he will perform in
public
for the first time at the Austin concert.
There's so many things going on in the world
Babies dying
Mothers crying
How much oil is one human life worth
And what ever happened to peace on earth
We believe everything that they tell us
They're gonna' kill us
So we gotta' kill them first
But I remember a commandment
Thou shall not kill
How much is that soldier's life worth
And whatever happened to peace on earth...
---
MR BUSH HAS ONE PRIORITY FOR 2004: GET AMERICA OUT OF IRAQ. FAST.
Robert Fisk, Independent, 2/04
http://www.independent.co.uk/search/search.jsp?minisearch=1&keywords=robert+
fisk#
Ever since Daniel Pipes - he of the failed American neo-cons - piped up
last summer with his plan to install a "democratic-minded autocrat"
(sic)
in Iraq, I have been eyeing the Washington crystal ball for further
signs
of what the designers of this wretched war have in store for the Iraqis
whom they "liberated" for "democracy" last year. And bingo, not long
before
Christmas, another of those chilling proposals for "New Iraq" popped up
from the same right-wing cabal. Any predictions for Iraq this year may
thus
have to be based on the thoughts of Leslie Gelb, a former chairman of
the
United States Council on Foreign Relations, whose wretched plans for
"liberated" Iraq call for something close to ethnic cleansing.
In no less an organ than The New York Times - the same paper which
carried
a plea last year that Americans should accept that US troops will
commit
"atrocities" in Iraq - appeared Mr Gelb's "Three State Solution", an
astonishing combination of simplicity and ruthlessness. It goes like
this.
America should create three mini-states in Iraq - Kurds in the north,
Sunnis in the centre and Shias in the south - the frontiers of these
three
entities drawn along ethnic, sectarian lines. The "general idea," says
Mr
Gelb, "is to strengthen the Kurds and Shias and weaken the Sunnis."
Thus US
forces can extricate themselves from the quagmire of the "Sunni
triangle"
while the "troublesome and domineering"
Sunnis themselves - with no control over Iraq's northern or southern
oil
fields - will be in a more moderate frame of mind.
True, the chopping up of Iraq might be "a messy and dangerous
enterprise" -
tens of thousands of Iraqis, after all, would be thrown out of their
homes
and pushed across new frontiers - but Washington should, if necessary,
impose partition by force. This is the essence of the Gelb plan...
-----
JERSEY MUSLIM LEADER, 71, DIES IN CAR CRASH
Jeff Daimant, Star-Ledger, 1/2/04
http://www.nj.com/news/ledger/jersey/index.ssf?/base/news-5/1072939861120650
.xml
New Jersey Muslims yesterday mourned Imam Omar Aziz, a popular and
influential Jersey City- based religious leader known by Muslims
statewide.
He died in a car accident Tuesday.
Aziz, 71, was chairman of the Council of Imams for northern New Jersey,
a
prison chaplain at Hudson County Correction Center and leader of the
Masjid
Al-Inman, a mosque in Jersey City.
The accident occurred about 2:30 p.m. Tuesday in Kearny. Police say
Aziz
was driving a Lincoln Continental, waiting at a traffic light on
Hackensack
Avenue, when a tractor without a trailer skidded through the
intersection
and collided with the car.
The truck's driver, Maurice Hicks, 36, of Newark, told police that just
before the light turned red, he noticed the Lincoln inch into the
intersection. Hicks then hit his brakes, which locked and caused him to
spin, Kearny police investigator Richard Poplaski said. The back of the
truck hit Aziz's car, he said.
An officer nearby quickly saw the aftermath, and noticed Hicks walking
away
from the accident. The officer chased him and charged him with leaving
the
scene of a fatal accident...
ALSO SEE:
PAKISTANI ELECTED MAYOR OF NEW JERSEY TOWN
Khalid Hasan, Daily Times, 1/2/04
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_2-1-2004_pg7_44
WASHINGTON: The new year will see a small New Jersey town swear in a
Pakistani-American mayor, by all accounts, the first one to be so
honoured.
Ali Chaudhry will be sworn in Friday as the first Pakistani-American
mayor
of the town of Baskin Ridge.
He has been active in local politics for six years. Elected member of
the
town council three years running, he was deputy mayor last year and is
now
"chief of all he surveys."
Chaudhry has arranged a reception for Pakistanis living in the area
Friday
to celebrate his assumption of Baskin Ridge's highest elected office.
---
FBI SEEKS HELP FROM NJ MUSLIMS
Associated Press, 12/31/03
http://kyw.com/Local%20News/wcbskyw_story_365141209.html
NEWARK, N.J. - With the nation on high terror alert, the FBI is asking
New
Jersey Muslims to report any suspicious activity, including threats
against
themselves or mosques or schools, as well as potential terrorist
activity.
Continuing a series of outreach efforts it intensified after the Sept.
11,
2001, terror attacks, the FBI in New Jersey contacted Muslim community
leaders in northern New Jersey earlier this week and asked for help in
tracking and preventing bias crimes, as well as potential terrorism.
At least six of the Sept. 11 hijackers either lived or spent time in
the
Paterson area shortly before the attacks.
The request came shortly after the nationwide terror alert was raised
to
orange, representing a high risk of terror attack. It is the second
highest
level of alert on the color-coded warning chart.
The upgrade followed warnings that the terrorist organization al-Qaida
may
be plotting attacks against the United States during the holidays,
including New Year's Eve...
-----
PAKISTANI FAMILY IN LEGAL LIMBO
Delaware Online, 1/2/03
http://www.delawareonline.com/newsjournal/local/2004/01/01storiespakistan.ht
ml
A Pakistani father whose family faced severe hardship when he was to be
deported in early 2003 is still in a legal limbo.
Masood Sadiq was scheduled to be sent back to Pakistan in January 2003
because he and his family had overstayed their 1990 tourist visa. The
family pleaded for mercy because they feared deportation could rupture
the
family or threaten the lives of two of Sadiq's three children. Zuneera,
12,
has a rare blood condition that requires constant transfusions and
Saad, 7,
has cerebral palsy. Their mother, Shagufta Masood, was also ill and
struggling to care for her children.
Medical experts said sending them back to Pakistan would put the
children's
lives in peril.
Federal authorities granted Sadiq a humanitarian parole in January
2003,
letting him return to his family and his job at Seasons Pizza. But the
legal issues were never resolved.
"I don't know how long it is going to go on," said Sadiq, who has to
report
to federal officials every three months, cannot leave the state without
permission and cannot return if he leaves the United States.
The only way to resolve the family's legal status would be for a
Delaware
congressman to get a special bill through Congress to give the family
permanent status, according to their attorney, Stephen Converse. In the
meantime, Sadiq said, he is happy that his family members are getting
the
medical attention they need and that they are together...
-----
HOPEWELL JUNCTION FAMILY GETS RIGHTS TO ISLAM SYMBOL
Tammy Cilione, Poughkeepsie Journal, 1/1/04
http://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/today/business/stories/bu010104s1.shtml
HOPEWELL JUNCTION -- The Islamic symbol of the crescent and star has
now
been patented.
Hopewell Junction attorney Aziz Ahsan and his family took on the task
of
seeking a patent for the symbol following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist
attacks. Patenting the symbol was Ahsan's attempt to create a positive
Muslim identity.
''There was a feeling that Muslims had something to do with the
attacks,''
said Ahsan, adding most Muslims are law abiding citizens.
The Ahsans submitted the crescent and star design to the U.S. State
Patent
and Trademark office and after a year of examination, the patent was
issued
on Dec. 16.
When people see a cross they think of Christianity and when they see
the
Star of David they think of Judaism, but there was no one accepted
public
symbol for Islam, Ahsan said.
Ahsan said it is important to understand the symbol has no religious
significance but is associated with Islam. ''The intent is not to
worship
it, but to show Muslims belong to the religious fabric of the world,''
Ahsan said...
-----
GEYER'S COLUMN ON HEAD SCARVES DEEPLY OFFENSIVE
Sumaiya Ahmed, Oregon Live, 12/31/03
http://www.oregonlive.com/commentary/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/editorial/107
2875418112080.xml
A Dec. 26 column in The Oregonian, "French are right about head
scarves" by
Georgie Anne Geyer, disgusted and hurt me greatly. From the beginning
to
the end of the article, I found many flaws and numerous stereotypes. My
hope is to correct these mistakes as accurately as I can.
It is true that most Islamic organizations are male-dominated. Let's
look
at the French government. Last time I checked, it too was
male-dominated
along with every other powerful country in this world. Obviously, this
male
domination hasn't affected the rights of the women in those countries.
So
why then would the same concept affect Muslim women?
The hijab, or Islamic head covering, is a completely misunderstood
idea. To
the uneducated eye, it portrays oppression. That couldn't be more
wrong.
The Quran, or the Islamic holy book, says that hijab is required.
However,
the final decision is that of the woman. No one can really force her to
do
it.
The sarcasm in the article about dressing modestly was hurtful. If we
look
at our world right now, who gets more respect? Is it hookers on the
streets
dressed in almost nothing or lawyers and doctors modestly dressed? So
obviously, the modesty gives you an upper hand since it forces people
to
respect you for only your mind. Modesty itself is freedom because you
don't
have to give in to the peer pressure by stripping yourself of
dignity...
Sumaiya Ahmed is a Sunset High School freshman in Beaverton.
-----
ISRAELI SOLDIER HELD OVER PEACE ACTIVIST SHOOTING
Chris McGreal, The Age, /2/04
http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/01/01/1072908854689.html
An Israeli soldier has been arrested after admitting he shot a British
peace activist in the head, leaving him in a vegetative state.
The Israeli military said on Wednesday that the soldier had been
accused of
gunning down 22-year-old Tom Hurndall following an inquiry demanded by
the
student's family and the British Foreign Office.
Mr Hurndall was shot eight months ago in a Palestinian refugee camp in
the
Gaza Strip as he tried to help children out of the path of an Israeli
tank.
The Israeli army claimed the man they shot was wearing camouflage and
was
carrying a gun, a claim denied by Mr Hurndall's family.
The Foreign Office pressed for a full criminal investigation.
Mr Hurndall's family said the army's initial report on the shooting was
a
"straightforward fabrication".
"We absolutely knew from our own investigation that Tom was not
carrying a
gun and that the army's initial investigation was an attempt to blame
him,"
said Mr Hurndall's sister, Sophie.
"I'm relieved they've finally admitted the truth, but the Israeli
military
does not have a good track record of holding soldiers to account..."
Mr Hurndall is in a vegetative state in a London hospital with a large
part
of his brain shot away. His family says it is still considering whether
to
seek a court order to shut off his life support.
ALSO SEE:
STATE FUNDING $1M ROAD TO KAHANE SEMINARY AT ILLEGAL OUTPOST
Haaretz, 1/2/03
http://ww/w.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/378656.html
The state is footing the bill for the paving of a $1 million road
leading
to an illegal outpost in the West Bank, after a seminary dedicated to
the
teachings of the former leader of the extremist Kach party, Rabbi Meir
Kahane, was built at the site.
Kahane was assassinated by an Egyptian militant in New York in November
1990. He served a term in the Knesset in the 1980s, but his party was
banned at the next election as racist.
The Tapuach West outpost, situated close to the settlement of Tapuach,
consists of a wooden structure covered with stone. It is also used as
center to perpetuate the memory of the extremist rabbi, as well as to
commemorate Kahane's son and his wife, Benjamin and Dalia Kahane, who
were
killed in a shooting attack in December 2000.
A spokesman for Kach said that, "At a time when [Prime Minister Ariel]
Sharon talks about the expulsion of the Jews from their homes, we
continue
and grow stronger. Sharon, [Defense Minister Shaul] Mofaz and [Vice
Prime
Minister Ehud] Olmert can talk to the media, but we will do the talking
on
the ground."
A report on Channel Two Television on Thursday showed the new,
freshly-paved road. The prime minister's spokesman was not immediately
available for comment on the television report...
-----
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CAIR
Council on American-Islamic Relations
453 New Jersey Avenue, S.E.
Washington, D.C. 20003
Tel: 202-488-8787, 202-744-7726
Fax: 202-488-0833
E-mail: cair@cair-net.org
URL: http://www.cair-net.org
-----
--------------------------------------------------------------------
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Forwarded Message
Date:
Mon, 05 Jan 2004 13:19:49 -0500
To:
cair-net@cair.biglist.com
From:
"CAIR" <cair@cair-net.org>
Subject:
CAIR ELECTION UPDATE: Presidential Candidates on Profiling
Issue # 3: January 2004 Racial/Religious ProfilingDemocratic Candidates (in alphabetical order)
General Wesley Clark (D)
Condemns racial profiling and supports federal legislation that helps end racial profiling
Proposes reinstatement of programs that allow young minorities to become police officers Official Site: http://www.clark04.com/ Also Visit: The Wesley Clark Weblog
Governor Howard Dean (D)
Condemns racial profiling and supports DOJ Policy Guidance; but
proposes the inclusion of state and local law enforcement into DOJ
Guidelines
Supports legal mechanisms for victims of profiling, race data
collection, and narrower immigration and national security exceptions
for profiling
Proposes federal action, including withholding federal funding for
state and local law enforcement agencies which engage in racial
profiling
Also supports using the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to label racial
profiling by law enforcement as a form of discrimination under the law. Official Site: http://www.deanforamerica.com/ Also Visit: Howard Dean Weblog
Rep. Richard Gephardt (D)
Opposed H.R. 2671 or CLEAR Act stating in May 2002 that "adding
enforcement of immigration laws to their duties [state and local
police] would increase their burden and, as local authorities have
argued, would hurt efforts to build relationships with immigrant
communities who would be afraid to report crimes" Official Website: http://www.dickgephardt2004.com/
Senator John Kerry (D)
Cosponsored S. 989 or End Racial Profiling Act of 2001
Believes the practice of racial profiling should be prohibited and that remedies should be established for its victims Official Website: http://www.johnkerry.com/ Also Visit: John Kerry For President Blog
Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D)
Cosponsored H.R. 2074 or End Racial Profiling Act of 2001
Introduced H.R. 3171 or Benjamin Franklin True Patriot Act that
includes provisions that ban spying on religious institutions and stop
mandatory detentions of certain aliens (section 412 of PATRIOT Act). Official Website: http://www.kucinich.us/ Also Visit: Kucinich Blog & News
Senator Joseph Lieberman (D)
Opposes racial profiling
Cosponsored bill requiring data collection on racial profiling and
believes this is the first step in ending racial profiling Official Website: http://www.joe2004.com/
Ambassador Carol Moseley Braun (D)
Supports the elimination of racial profiling by authorities, except in suspect-specific situations Official Website: http://www.carolforpresident.com/
Reverend Al Sharpton (D)
Believes that we should openly resist racial profiling because
profiling of Arabs and Muslims is wrong and will eventually lead to
widespread profiling of other Americans.
In the past, has led numerous rallies against police brutality and racial profiling Official Website: http://www.sharpton2004.org/
President George W. Bush (R)
Opposes federal "anti-racial profiling" laws
Directed the Attorney General to review the use of race by federal law
enforcement agencies, to work with Congress to develop data collection
methods, and to report findings and recommendations regarding racial
profiling Official Site: http://www.georgewbush.com Also Visit: Bush Cheney 04’ Official Blog
What is Racial Profiling?
Racial profiling is when law enforcement officials solely rely on race,
religion, ethnicity, or national origin in routine or spontaneous
investigations. Racial profiling has beset African-Americans and other
minority groups for decades. Since September 11th, Muslims, Arab and
South Asian Americans have been especially scrutinized with generalized
suspicion and subjected to "random" searches and seizures based upon
religion and national origin; without any trustworthy evidence linking
specific individuals to any criminal conduct.
Muslim, Arab and
South Asian travelers, visitors, and students, including those who are
American citizens, have regularly reported discriminatory treatment
since 9/11. An erosion of trust between Muslims and law enforcement
agencies has now emerged, while no monumental gain has been achieved by
the profiling of the affected groups. Resources devoted to such
programs as the NSEERS "special registration" program have ultimately
been diverted; as such programs have been proven costly and largely
ineffective.
There are some
governmental leaders who have taken a strong stand in protecting the
rights of all Americans. Congress has issued legislation including H.R.
2074, introduced by Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) in June 2001, to prohibit
racial profiling. The companion bill in the Senate, S. 989, introduced
by Senator Russell Feingold would effectively mirror Mr. Conyers'
resolution.
Unfortunately,
there are some bills recently introduced which would actually encourage
racial profiling; including H.R. 2671, or the CLEAR Act, which would
impel local and state police to enforce immigration laws at the expense
of community safety.
Like many elected
officials, community leaders, media outlets and activists, American
Muslims oppose the use of racial, religious or ethnic profiling with no
corroborating evidence of criminal activity. The American Muslim
community is particularly concerned that racial profiling creates
unnecessary divisions and mistrust between our communities and law
enforcement agencies. Moreover, we believe that it generates a false
sense of security.
Like all
Americans, we believe in a strong and secure nation. In a society where
everyone is "innocent until proven guilty," we hope that our fellow
Americans will stand with us as we seek to protect the constitutional
freedoms that make the United States what it is today.
How can I help?
It is critical that all eligible American Muslims are registered to
vote. CAIR is leading the drive to ensure that all Muslim citizens of
the US over the age of 18 know their rights as a voter and exercise
those rights to their fullest come November 5th, 2004.
Why should I vote?
The Muslim community must work to enjoin the good and forbid the evil.
Voting plays an essential role in doing this. Deciding to support or
oppose a candidate based upon his or her opinions or actions can have a
tremendous impact on the formulation of government policy at all
levels.
Subscribe
to this newsletter
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Contact Information
Council on American-Islamic Relations
453 New Jersey Avenue, SE
Washington, DC 20003
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
AMERICAN MUSLIM NEWS BRIEFS - 1/5/04
* HADITH OF THE DAY: THERE IS GOOD IN ALL THINGS
* CAIR LIBRARY PROJECT: 7152 SPONSORSHIPS
* N.J. MUSLIMS STRESSING POLITICAL PARTICIPATION (AP)
- CAIR ELECTION UPDATE: Pres. Candidates and Profiling
- Dean Says 'Inshallah' (New York Times)
* CAIR-OHIO: VIGIL TONIGHT FOR MUSLIM REFUGEE FAMILY
- OH: Mom Facing Deportation Gets Break (Plain Dealer)
* A TABLOID VISION OF ISLAM (Boston Globe)
* IT'S JUST FOOTBALL, NOT JIHAD (Wash. Post)
- Muslim Football Teams Sack Names, Play Games (AP)
* FRENCH MUSLIMS LASH OUT AT HEADSCARF BAN (Reuters)
- France's Hijab Reaction Goes Too Far (Chicago Trib)
- Hijab FAQ
* IRAN QUAKE SURVIVORS AWAIT ADOPTION (Chicago Trib)
* MISSTEPS SEEN IN MUSLIM CHAPLAIN'S SPY CASE (NY Times)
* FRIEND OF MALCOLM X IS MUSLIM OF THE YEAR (Post-Gazette)
- Black Muslim Voices Not Heard (SJ Mercury)
* CA: IMAM SAYS MUSLIMS NEED TO STOP APOLOGIZING (Sac Bee)
- Muslims Have Suffered Because Of 9/11 Attacks (CP)
* BRITISH SOLDIERS 'KICKED IRAQI PRISONER TO DEATH'(Indep.)
- Police Chief Says Army Gunned Down Family (Reuters)
- US soldiers Discharged for Abusing POWs (Reuters)
-----
HADITH OF THE DAY: THERE IS GOOD IN ALL THINGS
The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: "Strange are the ways of
a
believer, for there is good in all his affairs...If he has occasion to
feel
delight, he thanks (God), and there is good for him in that...And if he
experiences troubles (and endures them patiently), there is (good for
him
in that as well)."
Sahih Muslim, Hadith 1400
-----
CAIR LIBRARY PROJECT: 7152 SPONSORSHIPS
The goal of CAIR's library project is to send accurate and objective
information about Islam to America's 16,000 public libraries.
For only $150, Muslim individuals and groups may sponsor 18-item
packages
about Islam and Muslims, which are then distributed to the library of
their
choice.
To sponsor a library call, 1-800-392-7876, ext. 320, or visit:
www.libraryproject.org.
-----
N.J. MUSLIMS STRESSING POLITICAL PARTICIPATION
Wayne Parry, Associated Press, 1/5/04
http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/ny-bc-nj--muslimpriorities0105jan05,0,3328837.story
NEWARK, N.J. - Registering more Muslims to vote in the coming
presidential
election and hosting radio programming about issues of importance to
the
Muslim community are among the top priorities of New Jersey's mosques
for 2004.
The Majlis Ash-Shura of New Jersey, the state's council of mosques,
adopted
goals at its annual meeting Jan. 1 that also call for economic
development
and public school education initiatives.
Yaser El-Menshawy, the council's chairman, said getting more New Jersey
Muslims to vote in this year's election was identified as a top
priority.
"The goal is to get the Muslim community to have more of a voice in the
coming election," he said.
There are no reliable estimates on how many New Jersey Muslims voted in
the
last presidential election, and even the size of the state's Muslim
population is at issue, with estimates ranging from about 300,000 to
several times that number.
Nationwide, a significant portion of Muslim votes went to George W.
Bush in
2000. But in the aftermath of the post-Sept. 11 investigation, many
Muslims
have chafed under strict security measures imposed under his
administration...
ALSO SEE:
CAIR ELECTION UPDATE: Presidential Candidates and Profiling
http://www.cair-net.org/muslimvote2004/issue3.html
---
DEAN NARROWING HIS SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STUMP
Jodi Wilgoren, New York Times, 1/3/04
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/01/04/politics/campaigns/04DEAN.html
STORM LAKE, Iowa - Little by little, the Lord is seeping into Howard
Dean's
presidential campaign.
In South Carolina the other day, an invocation preceded the political
speeches, and David Mack, a state legislator, closed the rally with
"God
bless you and keep you." In Iowa last weekend, Dr. Dean referred to the
New
Testament. On Friday in New Hampshire, he invoked a Muslim phrase,
"inshallah," God willing, to make a point about Americans believing
they
control their destiny.
"I'm still learning a lot about faith and the South and how important
it
is," Dr. Dean, the former governor of Vermont, said as he flew here,
150
miles northwest of Des Moines, Friday night on his chartered jet,
predicting he would mention God more and more in the coming weeks. "It
doesn't make me more religious or less religious than I was before, but
it
means that I'm willing to talk about it in different ways."
Dr. Dean recently told an audience in Iowa that he prayed daily. On the
plane he declined to detail his prayer ritual but described how a 2002
trip
to Israel deepened his understanding of the connections between Judaism
and
Christianity. He named Job as his favorite New Testament book, then
later
corrected himself, noting that it is in the Old Testament...
-----
OHIO VIGIL TONIGHT FOR MUSLIM REFUGEE FAMILY
(WASHINGTON, D.C. 1/5/04) - A vigil will be held tonight to show
support
for Amina Silmi, a Palestinian Muslim woman in Cleveland who was
granted a
temporary reprieve after presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich wrote a
letter to the Director of Homeland Security regarding her case. Silmi
has
three US-Citizen children.
WHEN: 5-6 P.M., Monday, January 5
WHERE: Trinity Lutheran Church 16400 Detroit Avenue, Lakewood, Ohio
44107
CONTACT: CAIR-OHIO, Cleveland office, Julia A. Shearson, Director,
216-440-2247
The Muslim mother, her children, the family's attorneys,
representatives of
the Cleveland Office of the Council on America-Islamic Relations
(CAIR-OHIO) will attend, along with members of the Greater Cleveland
Immigrant Support Network and members of the Muslim Community.
ALSO SEE:
MOM FACING DEPORTATION GETS BREAK FROM OFFICIAL
Donna Iacoboni, Plain Dealer, 1/3/04
http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/cuyahoga/107312607414790.xml
A 35-year-old mother faced with leaving the United States - and
possibly
her three American-born children behind - has won a reprieve.
Her story caught the attention of a high-ranking immigration official
who,
despite being on vacation, overruled the order that would have sent
Amina
Silmi back to Venezuela on Tuesday.
"Thank God," Silmi said, after learning of the decision.
Her deportation was halted Friday by Roy Bailey, who oversees detention
and
deportation cases in Ohio and Michigan for the U.S. Bureau of Immigrant
and
Customs Enforcement.
"Nobody gets removed without me saying so, and she's not going
anywhere,"
he said.
At least for two weeks, while Bailey reviews the facts.
Silmi has been living in Lakewood for a decade, on an expired visitor's
visa.
She bore three children - now ages 11, 6 and 5 - to two husbands. The
father of the youngest children was deported to Jordan last month after
being convicted of trafficking in food stamps.
Government lawyers argued that Silmi has been milking the system,
living on
food stamps and Social Security benefits since the children were born.
One
child needs speech therapy and another is mildly autistic...
She sought help from the Cleveland office of the Council on
American-Islamic Relations, who publicized her story. U.S. Rep. Dennis
Kucinich read it and got involved. He talked to Bailey Friday.
Julia Shearson, the American-Islamic council's Cleveland
representative,
said she hopes the reprieve signals something more.
"By listening to Amina's story, the government can begin to dispel the
perception in the Muslim community that they are being targeted for
deportation," she said...
-----
A TABLOID VISION OF ISLAM
Qamar-ul Huda, Boston Globe, 1/5/04
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/letters/articles/2004/01/05/a_tabloid_vision_of_islam/
It was disturbing to read baseless claims and simplistic ideas about
Islam
in William Pfaff's Dec. 29 column, "West is an interloper in Islamic
Struggle." Pfaff's presentation of Islam as either militant or
fundamentalist, two forces that are interloping Europe and American
affairs, is inevitably part of a tabloidization of Islam.
Like many new pundits on Islam, he creates a fictitious vision of
Muslims
and of Islam, where it is antihuman, uncreative, authoritarian, and
intrinsically against Western societies. It is an ethnocentric view of
Islam that dominates current representations of Islam that are
reductive,
predominantly negative, and encouraging a culture of Islamophobia, the
accepted anti-Semitism of the 21st century.
The complexities of fundamentalism in the past 100 years, whether it be
Hindu, Muslim, Christian, or Jewish, need to be understood in a context
of
modernization, the process of secularization, the changing nature of
religious institutions, the post-colonial experience in developing
countries, globalization, the divide between wealthy and poor,
contesting
political power, and the impact of totalitarian regimes on civil
society...
The writer is assistant professor of Islamic studies and comparative
theology at Boston College.
-----
IT'S JUST FOOTBALL, NOT JIHAD
Ruben Navarrette Jr., Washington Post, 1/3/04
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A50825-2004Jan2.html
The latest eruption of political correctness run amok involves, of all
things, Muslim football teams.
You heard right. A group of young Muslim men in Southern California
organized what were basically a series of pickup football games for the
New
Year's holiday. The trouble began after the young men chose names for
the
teams. Some of the suggestions ("Muslim Football All-Stars," "4th and
Goal") were harmless enough. But others were, to critics, clearly out
of
bounds.
There was Intifada, the term Palestinians use to describe revolts
against
Israeli occupation. And Soldiers of Allah. And Mujaheddin, a term that
means "holy warrior" and has been used in reference to Islamic
terrorist
groups. Totally unacceptable, said Rabbi Abraham Cooper of the Southern
California-based Simon Wiesenthal Center. Cooper told the Associated
Press
that such words are "linked to real terrorists, real threats, real
murders." And using them only glorifies terrorism.
With all due respect, Rabbi, that's a real stretch. We're talking about
football teams, remember? A little perspective wouldn't hurt.
Judging from the comments of some of the players, most of whom are in
their
twenties, there doesn't seem to have been any malicious intent. It
might be
different if all the suggested team names were as politically charged
as
the three at issue. That might have meant that the objective all along
was
to provoke non-Muslims. As it stands, it looks as though these young
men
never considered the possibility that the seemingly innocuous act of
choosing names for football teams might prompt others to declare the
equivalent of a rhetorical holy war on them. Some of the players have
even
quit the tournament because hate mail and talk-radio rants have them
fearing for their safety. Notably, the critics include some older
Muslim
leaders who have asked the young men to change the names to something
more
sensitive...
ALSO SEE:
MUSLIM FOOTBALL TEAMS SACK NAMES, PLAY GAMES
Jeremiah Marquez, Associated Press, 1/5/04
http://www.contracostatimes.com/mld/cctimes/news/7635828.htm
After objections to team names such as Soldiers of Allah and
Moujahideen
almost overshadowed a flag football tournament organized by Muslim
youths,
the players sacked most of the offending names and took to the field to
more cheers than protests.
Jewish leaders had objected to the planned names, and Muslim leaders
asked
the teams to reconsider them. One member of a team called Intifada said
a
few of his friends quit because their parents were worried for their
safety.
Organizers said none of the names were meant to offend and refused to
change some of them, including Intifada.
"We're just playing football," said Sabih Khan, 18, a tournament
organizer.
"It's just sport. There's no politics involved..."
The Jewish Defense League had faxed reporters a statement promising "a
lively and loud demonstration," but only five protesters appeared
waving
placards at the park entrance, far removed from the football field...
-----
FRENCH MUSLIMS LASH OUT AT PLANNED HEADSCARF BAN
Tom Heneghan, Reuters, 1/5/04
http://www.reuters.com/locales/newsArticle.jsp?type=worldNews&locale=en_IN&storyID=4075362
PARIS - French Muslim leaders lashed out on Monday at a planned law
that
would ban Islamic headscarves from public schools and said Muslims were
becoming the target of a growing hate campaign which police did nothing
to
stop.
In a strongly worded statement, the French Council of the Muslim Faith
(CFCM) said Muslims in France felt deeply worried that the law meant to
ban
all "noticeable religious symbols" in the name of equality and
secularism
was actually aimed at them.
The CFCM spoke out after two days of talks with regional Muslim leaders
alarmed by a government plan to rush through a ban on religious symbols
in
public schools and hospitals. One major Muslim group called for
protests
and petitions against it.
President Jacques Chirac said last month the law would also apply to
Jewish
scullcaps and large Christian crosses. But few of them are seen in
French
public schools, leaving the more numerous scarf-wearing schoolgirls as
the
law's main target.
"The CFCM expresses the Muslim community's profound concern that the
only
concrete act the government plans...is a draft law that makes them feel
stigmatised," declared the statement signed by the CFCM's moderate
chairman
Dalal Boubakeur.
It noted with disappointment that Chirac announced this in a speech
devoted
mostly to "recognising Islam as France's second-largest religion and
fighting against discrimination..."
SEE ALSO:
FRANCE'S HEAD SCARF REACTION GOES TOO FAR
Geneive Abdo, Chicago Tribune, 1/4/04
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/perspective/chi-0401040204jan04,1,4049424.story
An increasing number of American Muslim women and schoolgirls are
deciding
to wear the head scarf, called a hijab, in schools, government offices,
shopping malls, universities and restaurants. And the frequency of
hijab
sightings could spark a similar public debate here over the issue of
the
separation of church and state, as it has in Europe.
For many Muslims, the head scarf is not simply a matter of religious
symbolism; it is a religious obligation. While there is intense debate
among Muslims worldwide over whether veiling is prescribed in Islam
and,
therefore, whether it should be mandatory or voluntary, those who do
wear
the hijab cite verses in the Koran and the hadiths, the sayings of the
Prophet Muhammad, for reasons to veil…
The head of a national Islamic organization posted his response to
Chirac's
call, a response apparently issued in the spirit of the French
revolutionary motto "Liberty, equality and fraternity" on the group's
Web site.
"A nation cannot claim to uphold the principles of liberty and equality
while denying the religious rights of its citizens," said Nihad Awad,
executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations in
Washington…
Doctrine aside, there is another factor fueling Muslim outrage over the
French ban that touches the heart of the East-West schism: Once again,
the
West, threatened by a sense that Islam is becoming too powerful, is
defining the rights of its Muslim citizens based on its notions of
liberal
secularism and modernity.
"Secularism is not negotiable," Chirac declared, when calling for the
head
scarf ban.
But is French secularism so fragile that it is threatened by the sight
of a
schoolgirl wearing a head scarf? One recent news report said French
schools
had experienced only a handful of disputes over the hijab; all were
apparently resolved quietly between parents and school officials…
But for many pious Muslims, the head scarf is neither a religious
symbol
nor a political tool. To deny them this right, in their view, is to
stand
in the way of their religious salvation.
---
HIJAB FAQ
Q: WHAT ARE THE REQUIREMENTS FOR MUSLIM WOMEN'S DRESS?
A: Rules regarding Muslim women's (and men's) attire are derived from
the
Quran, Islam's revealed text, and the traditions (hadith) of the
Prophet
Muhammad (peace be upon him). In the Quran, God states: "Say to the
believing men that they should lower their gaze and guard their
modesty...And say to the believing women that they should lower their
gaze
and guard their modesty; that they should not display their beauty and
adornments except what (must ordinarily) appear thereof; that they
should
draw their veils over their bosoms and not display their beauty except
to
their husbands, their fathers...(a list of exceptions)" [Chapter 24,
verses
30-31]
Also, "O Prophet! Tell thy wives and daughters, and the believing
women,
that they should cast their outer garments over their persons...that
they
should be known and not molested." [Chapter 33, verse 59]
A wife of the Prophet Muhammad narrated: "When the verse 'That they
should
draw their veils over their bosoms' was revealed, (the women) tore
their
thick outer garments and made veils from them." [Sunan of Abu-Dawood,
Hadith 1901]
In another tradition, the Prophet is quoted as saying: "...If the woman
reaches the age of puberty, no part of her body should be seen but this
---
and he pointed to his face and hands." [Sunan of Abu-Dawood, Hadith
1902]
From these and other references, the vast majority of Muslim scholars
and
jurists, past and present, have determined the minimum requirements for
Muslim women's dress: 1) Clothing must cover the entire body, with the
exception of the face and the hands. 2) The attire should not be form
fitting, sheer or so eye-catching as to attract undue attention or
reveal
the shape of the body.
There are similar, yet less obvious requirements for a Muslim male's
attire. 1) A Muslim man must always be covered from the navel to the
knees.
2) A Muslim man should similarly not wear tight, sheer, revealing, or
eye-catching clothing. In addition, a Muslim man is prohibited from
wearing
silk clothing (except for medical reasons) or gold jewelry. A Muslim
woman
may wear silk or gold.
Q: IS ISLAMIC DRESS APPROPRIATE FOR MODERN TIMES?
A: Islamic dress is modern and practical. Muslim women wearing Islamic
dress work and study without any problems or constraints.
Q: DOES ISLAMIC DRESS IMPLY THAT WOMEN ARE SUBMISSIVE OR INFERIOR TO
MEN?
A: Islamic dress is one of many rights granted to Islamic women. Modest
clothing is worn in obedience to God and has nothing to do with
submissiveness to men. Muslim men and women have similar rights and
obligations and both submit to God.
Q: BUT AREN'T THERE MUSLIM WOMEN WHO DO NOT WEAR ISLAMIC DRESS, OR
HIJAB?
A: Some Muslim women choose not to wear hijab. Some may want to wear it
but
believe they cannot get a job or may face discrimination wearing a head
scarf. Others may not be aware of the requirement or are under the
mistaken
impression that wearing hijab is an indication of inferior status.
-----
HUNDREDS OF YOUNG SURVIVORS AWAIT RELATIVES, ADOPTION
Kim Barker, Chicago Tribune, 1/5/04
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-0401050163jan05,1,5792171.story
KERMAN, Iran - The babies have no one now. There is no one for the boy
found cradled in his dead mother's arms. Or the boy rescued a week
later,
alive in the rubble of the Bam earthquake. Or the newborn delivered
after
his mother died.
Iran has been flooded with offers to adopt such orphans, but
authorities
announced Sunday that they needed more time.
Officials want to be sure that the children's parents are dead. They
want
to be sure that relatives from other provinces and countries have time
to
search for their loved ones. They want to wait at least three months
before
allowing any of the children to be released for adoption.
"Not yet," said Reza Khoshnood, the deputy of social affairs for the
government's Better Life Organization, which runs the orphanage helping
most of the surviving children. "We have to be certain."
As many as 35,000 people died in the earthquake that hit Bam early Dec.
26,
destroying much of the Silk Road city famous for its ancient mud-brick
citadel. More than one-third of the town's population is dead.
Many of those killed were children, as are many of those left behind...
Officials estimate that 2,000 children lost their parents in the quake.
Among those offering to adopt them are a government official in Tehran
and
strangers from the United States and Canada...
-----
MISSTEPS SEEN IN MUSLIM CHAPLAIN'S SPY CASE
Neil Lewis and Tom Shanker, New York Times, 1/4/04
http://www.theledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040104/ZNYT02/401040488
WASHINGTON - As the Muslim chaplain at the military base at Guant�namo
Bay
in Cuba, Capt. James J. Yee often invited some of the Islamic members
of
the garrison to his quarters for dinner on Friday after he conducted
weekly
services.
On at least two occasions, his guest was Senior Airman Ahmad I. al-
Halabi,
an Air Force translator at the camp, where hundreds of captives from
the
Afghan war have been held and interrogated for the last two years.
Airman al-Halabi was later arrested on several charges, including
suspicion
of trying to pass secrets to Syria or some other foreign government, a
charge that has since been dropped.
Military officials now say the dinners with Airman al-Halabi, as well
as
Captain Yee's own connections to Syria, set in motion the arrest,
lengthy
detention and possible court-martial of Captain Yee, a tangled legal
episode that has proved awkward for the military.
First held on suspicion of being part of an espionage ring, Captain
Yee,
35, was in the end charged with the far less serious crime of
mishandling
classified information. He was also eventually charged with adultery
and
keeping pornography on his government computer, both violations of
military
law.
As arguments over the merits of those charges play out at a preliminary
hearing in Fort Benning, Ga., some military officials continue to
defend
the prosecution, saying that even technical violations of regulations
that
fall short of espionage should not be ignored. Senior commanders in
charge
of the case have declined to discuss it, saying that doing so might
jeopardize the prosecution.
But others have come to shake their heads over the case...
-----
FRIEND OF MALCOLM X, FORMER NEGRO LEAGUE PLAYER IS MUSLIM OF THE YEAR
Ervin Dyer, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 1/3/04
http://www.post-gazette.com/localnews/20040103muslimlocal4p4.asp
His roster of famous friends alone would be enough to have Mustafa
Hassain
named Muslim of the Year.
As an apostle of Islam in 1950s Detroit, Hassain met and befriended
Malcolm
X and Muhammad Ali.
Now 83, Hassain, of Verona, a former professional boxer and Negro
League
baseball player, has for more than 54 years worked to dispel the
mystery of
Islam.
Raised by Christian parents in LaGrange, Ga., Hassain was known as
Robert
Davenport when he moved to Detroit in 1931.
He was 30 when introduced to the messages of Elijah Muhammad and the
Nation
of Islam, at the time a small but growing nationalist movement of black
Muslims.
Part of what attracted Hassain were the rumblings against racism, which
reminded him of the laments of his grandmother, a former slave in
Georgia.
As a Muslim, Hassain gave up gambling, boxing and playing secular
music.
"I've been everywhere except beer gardens," he said, "not inside a bar
or
nightclub..."
Observing his devotion, Elijah Muhammad dispatched him to Pittsburgh in
1956 to establish a mosque. As an imam, or Islamic spiritual leader,
Hassain built the mosque in Homewood. At its height, it had more than
300
worshippers and operated a string of five businesses.
In honor of his years of service, Hassain was named Muslim of the Year
in
September by the American Society of Muslims, a Chicago-based
organization
of mostly African Americans...
ALSO SEE:
BLACK MUSLIM VOICES NOT HEARD
Matthai Chakko Kuruvila, San Jose Mercury News, 1/3/03
http://www.contracostatimes.com/mld/cctimes/news/7625588.htm
SAN JOSE. - In the midst of an impoverished East Oakland neighborhood
as
concerned with the war on drugs as the war in Iraq lie answers to a
question roiling the country since Sept. 11, 2001: Can Islam and the
United
States co-exist?
They can, say members of a largely black mosque there, offering their
decades-old history as proof. But that history is often ignored and
misconstrued.
Perhaps no group of Americans can speak about Islam and the United
States
with the same intimacy or authority as black Muslims. But their voice
--
and story -- frequently is missing in the national conversation about
Islam
after Sept. 11, 2001.
In some ways, it is a question about what is Islam, and what is Middle
East
politics, says Faheem Shuaibe, the imam, or spiritual leader, of the
East
Oakland mosque, Masjidul Waritheen.
"What role do black American Muslims play in terms of America and
Muslim
countries?" asks Shuaibe, whose 1,500-member congregation is the
largest
mostly African-American mosque in Northern California. "They're not a
factor. As long as the conversation is about geopolitics, that's fine.
But
when you talk about Islam in America, I'm the one to talk to..."
-----
IMAM LUQMAN AHMAD SAYS MUSLIMS NEED TO STOP APOLOGIZING AND START
REACHING
OUT TO THE COMMUNITY
Jennifer Garza, Sacramento Bee, 1/3/04
http://www.sacbee.com/content/news/religion/story/8039165p-8974829c.html
Last Saturday, the man known as the Islamic comic, Azhar Usnan, spoke
to
about 200 people gathered at a Sacramento conference on Muslim life in
this
country.
He talked about some of the everyday challenges people of their faith
have
dealt with over the past couple of years. About halfway into his
routine,
he told this joke:
"Everywhere I go, people look at me as if I'm responsible for 9/11. I
want
to make something clear right now. I had nothing to do with 9/11.
The line gets big laughs from the crowd at the Sacramento Convention
Center. No one laughs harder than Luqman Ahmad, a bear of a man in
traditional Muslim attire sitting up front.
Ahmad is imam of the Masjid Ibrahim Islamic Center in Sacramento, the
spiritual leader to about 250 members. At his urging, mosque members
spent
four months and about $18,000 organizing the family conference called
"Normalizing Islam in America," the first of its kind in the Sacramento
area.
The conference was a large undertaking for a relatively small mosque.
But
Ahmad says there is a need to address issues that he says are hurting
U.S.
Muslims in the post-Sept. 11 world.
Specifically, he believes Muslims in America should stop living with
fear
and anxiety. They should stop worrying and talking so much about
international affairs. Instead, they should focus on their faith and
issues
within the local Muslim community...
ALSO SEE:
RCMP: MUSLIMS HAVE SUFFERED BECAUSE OF SEPT. 11 ATTACKS
Canoe, 1/2/04
http://www.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2004/01/02/302665-cp.html
TORONTO - Canada's top Mountie acknowledged Friday that Muslims across
Canada have faced blunt discrimination since the attacks of Sept. 11,
2001.
Speaking to a crowd of 7,000 gathered for a conference on reviving the
spirit of Islam, RCMP commissioner Giuliano Zaccardelli said the
terrorist
attacks shook the country to its core, but should not shake Canadians
from
their course of rooting out racism...
He said no one should forget the Muslim victims of the Sept. 11
attacks, in
which hijacked airplanes slammed into the World Trade Center in New
York,
the Pentagon and a field in Pennsylvania, killing thousands.
"We should never forget that among those killed on Sept. 11 were
hundreds
of Muslims, and their families deserve more than suspicion and
prejudice,"
Zaccardelli said.
Mayor David Miller also addressed the crowd, saying Toronto remains
committed to eradicating racial stereotypes.
The weekend conference has drawn people from across Canada and the
world to
discuss issues of Islamic spirituality, politics and living securely as
a
Muslim-Canadian in a post-Sept. 11 society.
-----
BRITISH SOLDIERS 'KICKED IRAQI PRISONER TO DEATH'
Robert Fisk, Independent, 1/7/04
http://www.independent.co.uk/
Eight young Iraqis arrested in Basra were kicked and assaulted by
British
soldiers, one of them so badly that he died in British custody,
according
to military and medical records seen by The Independent on Sunday.
Amnesty International has urged its members to protest directly to Tony
Blair about the death of Baha Mousa, the son of an Iraqi police
colonel,
and to demand an impartial and independent investigation into the
apparent
torture of the Basra prisoners. A major at 33 Field Hospital outside
the
southern Iraqi city said that one of the survivors suffered "acute
renal
failure" after "he was assaulted ... and sustained severe bruising to
his
upper abdomen, right side of chest, left forearms and left upper inner
thigh".
British military authorities have offered Mr Mousa's relatives $8,000
(�4,500) in compensation, providing they are not held responsible for
his
death, but the young hotel receptionist's family plans to take the
Ministry
of Defence to court. His body was returned to them, covered in bruises
and
with his nose broken, after he and seven colleagues were arrested by
British forces in Basra last September and held in military custody for
three days.
One of the other workers has given a frightening account of their
ordeal.
Baha Mousa, he says, was tied and hooded and then repeatedly kicked and
assaulted by British troops, begging all the while to have the hood
removed
because he could no longer breathe.
A death certificate provided by the British Army states that Baha Mousa
had
died of "asphyxia". A restricted medical document from a British
hospital
says a surviving prisoner, Kifah Taha, suffered his injuries "due to a
severe beating". The IoS has copies of both documents...
ALSO SEE:
IRAQ POLICE CHIEF SAYS US ARMY GUNNED DOWN FAMILY
Robin Pomeroy, Reuters, 1/5/04
http://wireservice.wired.com/wired/story.asp?section=Breaking&storyId=811282&tw=wn_wire_story
TIKRIT, Iraq - The police chief investigating the deaths of an Iraqi
family
gunned down in their car in northern Iraq said Monday he was convinced
U.S.
troops were responsible, although the army has denied involvement.
Tensions have been rising in Tikrit, the hometown of Saddam Hussein,
since
the bodies of the family were found on a nearby highway Saturday.
Coalition
forces said the bodies were of a man, a woman and a child.
General Mazhar Taha al-Ganaim, police chief of Salahaddin province,
said
four people were killed -- two men, a woman and a nine-year-old boy.
A fifth man who survived and was taken to Tikrit hospital has told
local
soldiers the car was fired on by a U.S. Army convoy. Mazhar said he had
interviewed other witnesses and was "100 percent" sure this was true.
"The civilian car tried to by-pass the convoy. Because they tried to
by-pass, they (the army) opened fire," Mazhar said, through an
interpreter.
The machine gunner on the rear vehicle of the convoy must have
suspected
the car posed a threat, he said...
---
THREE US SOLDIERS DISCHARGED FOR ABUSING IRAQ POWS
REUTERS, 1/5/04
KUWAIT (Reuters) - The U.S. Army has discharged three soldiers for
abusing
Iraqi prisoners of war in southern Iraq, a U.S. military spokesman said
Monday.
The three were found guilty of beating and harassing prisoners at Camp
Bucca during the U.S.-led war against Iraq, spokesman
Lieutenant-Colonel
Vic Harris told Reuters.
The three soldiers, all from Pennsylvania, have been sent back to the
United States after months of investigations led to their
administrative
discharge by Brigadier-General Ennis Whitehead III, the acting
commander of
the 143rd Transportation Command, Harris said.
Whitehead indicted the soldiers under non-judicial punishment. This
means a
jury does not try the case and the defendants do not have to serve time
in
jail, Harris said.
"The biggest consequence is that the soldiers have been separated from
service and can no longer represent America in uniform," he said…
"The charges stem from an incident last year when prisoners were being
moved. Master Sergeant Girman, who was the senior person and in charge,
was
charged with physical abuse of Iraqi detainees," Harris said…
In Atlanta, U.S. Army spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Gregory Julian said
Girman was found guilty of knocking a prisoner to the ground,
repeatedly
kicking him in the groin, abdomen and head and encouraging her
subordinate
soldiers to do the same.
He said McKenzie was found guilty of dragging a prisoner by his armpits
across the ground, holding his legs apart and encouraging others to
kick
him in the groin while other U.S. soldiers kicked him in the abdomen
and
head, and throwing the prisoner to the ground and stepping on his
injured arm.
Canjar was found guilty of maltreatment of a prisoner by holding his
legs
apart while others kicked him in the groin and violently twisting his
already injured arm, Julian said…
-----
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CAIR
Council on American-Islamic Relations
453 New Jersey Avenue, S.E.
Washington, D.C. 20003
Tel: 202-488-8787, 202-744-7726
Fax: 202-488-0833
E-mail: cair@cair-net.org
URL: http://www.cair-net.org
-----
Forwarded Message
Date:
Tue, 06 Jan 2004 15:23:42 -0500
To:
cair-net@cair.biglist.com
From:
"CAIR" <cair@cair-net.org>
Subject:
CAIR-NET: Diallo Death Suit Settled/Torture and the Courts
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
AMERICAN MUSLIM NEWS BRIEFS - 1/6/04
* HADITH OF THE DAY: GOD IS WITH YOU
* CAIR LIBRARY PROJECT: 7158 SPONSORSHIPS
- CAIR Election Update: Profiling
* DIALLO DEATH SUIT SETTLED FOR $3 MILLION (ABC)
* TORTURE, THE CONSTITUTION AND THE COURTS (Findlaw)
- National Security Letters: Too Much Power (Wash. Post)
- Combatant's Case before High Court (Wash. Post)
- Algerian Man Protesting Detention After 9/11 (CNN)
* PHOTOS, FINGERPRINTS TAKEN AT U.S. BORDERS (SF Gate)
- Program Launches Across U.S. (Orlando Sentinel)
* SCARF CHOICE IS NOT A BIG DEAL (Lansing State Journal)
- Muslim Women, Exercising Modesty (Wash. Post)
* MI ISLAMIC CENTER PUTS FINISHING TOUCHES ON MOSQUE (AP)
* DAILY DEHUMANIZATION (Washington Times)
- Israeli Col. Resigns Over 'Immoral' Actions (Indep.)
- Christian Zionists Take Israel by Storm (Statesman)
- Checkpoints: Breeding Grounds for Hatred (Haaretz)
-----
HADITH OF THE DAY: GOD IS WITH YOU
The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) once told people who were
making
loud supplications to God: "Be easy on yourselves. You are not calling
on
someone deaf or absent, but on One who is with you."
Sahih Al-Bukhari, Volume 4, Hadith 235
-----
CAIR LIBRARY PROJECT: 7158 SPONSORSHIPS
The goal of CAIR's library project is to send accurate and objective
information about Islam to America's 16,000 public libraries.
For only $150, Muslim individuals and groups may sponsor 18-item
packages
about Islam and Muslims, which are then distributed to the library of
their
choice.
To sponsor a library call, 1-800-392-7876, ext. 320, or visit:
www.libraryproject.org.
-----
CAIR ELECTION UPDATE: PROFILING
http://www.cair-net.org/muslimvote2004/issue3.html
-----
DIALLO DEATH SUIT SETTLED FOR $3 MILLION
ABC, 1/5/04
http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/news/print_wabc_010604_diallo.html
The city has reached a $3-million settlement with the family of Amadou
Diallo, who was killed in a hail of 41 bullets fired by police in the
Bronx
four years ago.
The city's law department announced the settlement this morning.
Four police officers searching for a serial rapist shot the 24-year-old
African immigrant in the vestibule of his apartment building in
February
1999. Diallo was unarmed, but the officers said that he did not heed
orders
to stop and that they mistook his wallet for a gun…
-----
INTERROGATION, TORTURE, THE CONSTITUTION, AND THE COURTS
Joanne Mariner, Find Law, 1/5/04
http://writ.news.findlaw.com/mariner/20040105.html
In concluding last month that prisoners held on the Guantanamo naval
base
in Cuba have the right to challenge their detention in federal court,
the
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit focused on the question of
Guantanamo's legal status. Much of the court's long and scholarly
opinion
is taken up by a close examination of the terms of the 1903 lease
agreement
between the U.S. and Cuba, their meaning in Spanish, their
interpretation
in analogous treaties, and other fairly technical minutiae.
But a few phrases that lie near the end of the majority opinion grab
the
reader's attention. According to the government's stated position in
the
case, the detainees have absolutely no legal right to question U.S.
actions
on Guantanamo. Federal court jurisdiction should be foreclosed,
government
counsel insisted during oral argument before the Ninth Circuit, even if
the
plaintiffs were to claim that their captors were committing "acts of
torture" on Guantanamo or were "summarily executing the detainees."
The government's assertion that torture and summary executions might be
carried out without recourse to the law clearly shocked the court.
Reminiscent of Argentina's "dirty war" or the Soviet Gulag, the notion
of a
legal vacuum in which abuses can be freely committed hardly squares
with
American constitutional traditions. Indeed, the court emphasized, "to
our
knowledge, prior to the current detention of prisoners at Guantanamo,
the
U.S. government has never before asserted such a grave and startling
proposition..."
SEE ALSO:
NATIONAL SECURITY LETTERS: TOO MUCH POWER
Washington Post, 1/4/04
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A50806-2004Jan2.html
THIS YEAR'S intelligence authorization bill provided a little-noticed
and
dangerous expansion of a peculiar and unaccountable FBI investigative
power. Last-minute efforts to modify the provision in conference
committee
failed, unfortunately, so the bureau now has more power to compel the
production of certain business records in national security
investigations,
with no court oversight and in nearly total secrecy. The use of
"national
security letters" is not new, but in light of new authorities provided
the
FBI in the USA Patriot Act, Congress should be finding ways to curtail
their use, not expand it.
National security letters are a form of administrative subpoena that
permit
the FBI to request from businesses records of, among other things,
telephone and Internet activity or financial data from banks and other
financial institutions bearing on investigative targets in
counterintelligence or terrorism cases. These subpoenas are secret; the
recipient cannot disclose having received one. And the letters can be
issued by relatively low-level bureau officials without going to any
court.
In the Patriot Act, Congress made this process easier, removing the
requirement that the FBI have specific facts linking the subject to a
foreign power to justify each letter. Now, to issue a national security
letter, the FBI merely has to certify that the information is
"relevant" to
a national security investigation. The only reason national security
letters have not posed a significant threat to civil liberties is that
they
have applied only to relatively narrow categories of records.
That will now begin to change. The definition of "financial
institution" in
the new law is expanded to include insurance companies, pawnbrokers,
dealers in precious metals, the Postal Service, casinos, travel
agencies
and more. The FBI, on the authority of individual supervisory agents,
can
now get any of these businesses to disclose its dealings with anyone if
the
bureau deems those records relevant to counterterrorism. This is more
unchecked power than the agency ought to have...
---
COMBATANT'S CASE BEFORE HIGH COURT
Patricia Davis, Washington Post, 1/6/04
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A57328-2004Jan5.html
A recent federal appellate ruling bolsters the case for a U.S. Supreme
Court review of "enemy combatant" Yaser Esam Hamdi's indefinite
detention,
his attorney argued in a brief filed with the court yesterday.
The Dec. 18 decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit
in
New York "clearly conflicts" with the reasoning of the U.S. Court of
Appeals for the 4th Circuit in Richmond concerning Hamdi's detention,
Frank
W. Dunham Jr., a Virginia public defender, wrote in the brief.
The 2 to 1 ruling by the 2nd Circuit in the case of Jose Padilla said
President Bush does not have the power to declare an American citizen
seized on U.S. soil an enemy combatant and hold him indefinitely in
military custody. The administration was given 30 days to release
Padilla,
who allegedly plotted to explode a radioactive "dirty bomb" and has
been
confined to a South Carolina brig without access to an attorney for
more
than 19 months.
In Hamdi's case, a federal judge twice ordered the military to grant
Dunham
access to the prisoner, but a three-judge panel of the 4th Circuit
ruled
last January that the Constitution gives the executive branch the
responsibility to wage war and that the judiciary must yield to the
military. The full slate of active 4th Circuit judges let the decision
stand, which enabled Dunham to seek a Supreme Court review...
---
ALGERIAN MAN PROTESTING DETENTION AFTER 9/11
Bill Mears, CNN, 1/5/04
http://www.cnn.com/2004/LAW/01/05/scotus.detainee.secrecy/
WASHINGTON - The Justice Department has taken the unusual step of
asking
the U.S. Supreme Court to preserve the secrecy surrounding the
detention of
an Algerian man shortly after the terrorist attacks of September 11,
2001.
In a one-paragraph note sent to the high court, Solicitor General Ted
Olson
requested that the justices keep the paperwork and their deliberations
secret while the case is under appeal.
Olson wrote: "This matter pertains to information that is required to
be
kept under seal."
The high court has occasionally kept parts of cases secret for reasons
of
privacy or national security, but it is extremely rare for the entire
proceedings to be kept secret.
In November, the justices asked the Bush administration to justify the
secrecy surrounding the case.
Mohamed Kamel Bellahouel, 34, is protesting his secret detention and
the
government's efforts to block the release of any information about the
case...
-----
PHOTOS, FINGERPRINTS TAKEN AT U.S. BORDERS
Alan Gathright, Zachary Coile, Vanessa Hua, San Francisco Gate, 1/6/04
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2004/01/06/SECURITY.TMP
U.S. authorities began fingerprinting and photographing international
travelers at 115 airports and 14 cruise-ship ports Monday, including
the
three major Bay Area airports, in an effort to stop terrorists from
infiltrating the nation's borders.
The new US-VISIT program will fingerprint and photograph about
one-fourth
of the travelers who enter the country by air or sea, or about 24
million
people annually. It will let customs and border officials "focus on
'at-risk' travelers while speeding the entry of everyone else,''
Homeland
Security Secretary Tom Ridge said Monday at Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson
International Airport.
During a test of the program there, more than 20,000 passengers were
fingerprinted and photographed. Authorities checking the FBI's criminal
watch list found that 21 of them were possible matches for people with
previous felony convictions for crimes including statutory rape, drugs
and
visa fraud, Ridge said.
US-VISIT -- formally the U.S. Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator
Technology -- will cost $380 million this year. It will be expanded to
the
50 busiest U.S. border entries by year's end and to all land entries by
the
end of 2005.
Advocates for immigrants and civil liberties groups, as well as some
security analysts, questioned whether the effort would be effective or
fair...
"We're cautiously optimistic that this will not be based on religion or
ethnicity," said Ibrahim Hooper, a spokesman for the Council on
American-Islamic Relations, a civil rights and advocacy group in
Washington, D.C. "At least it extends beyond Muslim countries."
The ACLU, however, is concerned the US-VISIT program may lead Arab and
Muslim men to conclude, incorrectly, that they're no longer required to
register when entering or leaving the country under the National
Security
Entry-Exit Registration System…
ALSO SEE:
VISITOR ID PROGRAM LAUNCHES ACROSS U.S.
Henry Pierson Curtis, Orlando Sentinel, 1/6/04
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/nationworld/orl-asecsecurity06010604jan06,1,6115719.story
Thousands of foreigners from all but 27 countries were fingerprinted
and
photographed before they were allowed into the United States on Monday
as
tough antiterrorism measures went into effect at all major ports of
entry.
"I think if you're fighting global terrorism, you need to do it to
everyone," Dr. Kevin Naidoo said after clearing customs at Orlando
International Airport on a Virgin Atlantic flight from London's Gatwick
Airport.
Naidoo's digital photograph and scanned fingerprints were downloaded
instantly into a nationwide database that allowed customs officers to
check
him against a watch list for terrorists and other criminals.
The program, called US-VISIT, or U.S. Visitor and Immigrant Status
Indicator Technology, covers 115 U.S. airports and 14 major seaports.
It
will collect 24 million sets of traveler information this year,
according
to the Department of Homeland Security...
Rabiah Ahmed, a spokeswoman for the Council on American-Islamic
Relations
in Washington, said her organization is cautiously optimistic that the
program will be less discriminatory than singling out Muslims from
certain
countries but also wondered about access to the database. She also said
those who raise concerns are often criticized.
"It's almost like if you support privacy, you're against security," she
said…
-----
SCARF CHOICE IS NOT A BIG DEAL
Karen Pine, Lansing State Journal, 1/4/04
http://www.lsj.com/opinions/letters/040104_pineptv_(scarves).html#
Why is the world so intent on telling Muslim women how to dress?
On the one side, we have the likes of the Taliban wanting to impose the
burqa. On the other side, we have countries such as Turkey and France
trying to force Muslim women not to cover their hair.
Here in America, most of us condemn the first type of oppression, yet
few
speak up in the face of the other scenario. In fact, many Americans
support
calls to ban the veil, or hijab.
In her Dec. 25 column "Head scarf 'right' a male ruse," Georgie Anne
Geyer
declared that the head scarf is not about modesty, but "instead about
men's
obsession with controlling their women". She agrees with the French
campaign to ban "ostentatious religious symbols" such as Islamic
hijabs,
large crosses and Jewish skullcaps from school...
First, hijab is not a symbol. The majority of Muslim women believe that
it
is a religious obligation to dress modestly...
ALSO SEE:
MUSLIM WOMEN, EXERCISING MODESTY
Eman Quotah, Washington Post, 1/6/04
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A57540-2004Jan5.html
Not all Muslim women cover their hair. And many women who do follow
their
religion's dress requirements don't let that stop them from running in
public, learning judo or playing soccer.
Shaza Fadel, 27, a graduate student at Duke University, ran the Kiawah
Island Marathon in South Carolina in 1999. She says the secret to
running
while staying modest is "CoolMax, lots of CoolMax...especially in
summer,"
and a non-cotton scarf with something to keep it in place. CoolMax
works
well for Fadel because athletic wear made from the breathable synthetic
fabric carries perspiration away from skin and causes moisture to
evaporate
more quickly than it would from, say, cotton sweat pants.
Training for the marathon in a North Carolina summer, Fadel
experimented
with different fabrics to find a scarf with the best ventilation. "I do
try
to be careful not to wear something very tight, like a ski cap, around
my
head in warm weather," she says. "That would be dangerous."
Americans used to running shorts, tank tops and tennis skirts might
find
strange the idea of a woman covering her entire body while working out.
But
Tayyibah Taylor, founder and editor of Azizah, a Muslim women's
lifestyle
magazine based in Atlanta, says, "It's not true that in order to get a
good
workout you have to wear skimpy clothes...You don't see anybody in a
halter
top and shorts doing kung fu…"
-----
ISLAMIC CENTER OF AMERICA PUTS FINISHING TOUCHES ON $12 MILLION MOSQUE
Associated Press, 1/6/04
http://www.mlive.com/newsflash/michigan/index.ssf?/base/news-10/1073373240242930.xml
DEARBORN, Mich. - The Islamic Center of America will complete its new
$12
million mosque this summer, a centerpiece in what members say will
become
the largest Arab American religious and cultural facility in North
America.
"Our community has grown nearly tenfold since the beginning of the
original
Islamic Center," Dan Mekled, the technology administrator for the
3,000-member center, told The Detroit News for a Tuesday story. "We've
planned to move and fit the community with a larger building."
He said the original 17,000-square-foot center, which the Islamic
Center
plans to sell, was projected to last 30 years and made it to 40.
In addition to the new mosque, the center's 120,000-square-foot complex
will feature an auditorium, library and community center. It also will
retain the Muslim American Youth Academy, which opened with 35 students
in
1997 at the site.
About 170 students now are enrolled in kindergarten through fifth
grade.
The new mosque will provide additional space as well as heightened
exposure
from its new location, but officials said they still expect some
overcrowding.
"Like any other religion, you get a big holiday and you can never dream
of
building enough room (to accommodate everyone)," said Ed Bedoun,
chairman
of the group's construction committee.
At least 300,000 people of Middle Eastern descent are estimated to live
in
the Detroit area. Nearly 30,000, or 30 percent, of Dearborn's
population
claimed Arab ancestry in the latest census…
-----
DAILY DEHUMANIZATION
Arnaud de Borchgrave, Washington Times, 1/5/04
http://www.washingtontimes.com/commentary/20040105-083721-3675r.htm
Next to Benjamin Netanyahu, Ariel Sharon is a political softy. The
super
hawk and former Israeli prime minister, who is finance minister in the
Sharon government, is slowly but surely working his way back to the
top.
Universally known by both friend and foe as "Bibi," the 54-year-old
combat
veteran of two wars (1967 and 1973) does not believe the lack of a
Middle
Eastern peace settlement is Israel's main problem.
Speaking at a recent conference in Herzliyah, Mr. Netanyahu blamed
Israel's
economic morass on the country's original socialist structures,
established
at its birth 55 years ago. The social contract is tantamount to
immutable
Mosaic Law, and Histadrut - the all-powerful labor council - clings to
the
foggy notion that a rising tide will sink all boats.
Israel's debates about the egalitarian principles of founding father
David
Ben-Gurion deftly sidestep the principal cause of the economic
predicament
- the growing financial drain of Israel's war of occupation in the West
Bank and Gaza; the $2 billion barrier going up to separate Palestinians
and
Israelis; and the fraying social fabric of Israel's compact with 1
million-plus Israeli-Arabs.
Now a growing number of Israelis are more concerned about the day when
Arabs on both sides of the divide will decide that one-person-one-vote
is
more toxic for the Jewish state than weapons and suicide bombers...
ALSO SEE:
ISRAELI COLONEL RESIGNS OVER ARMY'S 'IMMORAL' ACTIONS
Justin Huggler, Independent, 1/5/04
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/story.jsp?story=478389
A reservist colonel in the Israeli army has resigned his commission in
protest at his army's "immoral conduct" in the occupied territories. In
a
searing open letter to the army's chief of staff, Lt-Col Eitan Ronel, a
veteran of 1973's Yom Kippur War, the invasion of Lebanon, and the
first
Palestinian Intifada, returned his officer's commission.
His resignation came even as five teenage conscripts were yesterday
sentenced to a year in prison each for refusing to serve in the Israeli
army "as long as it acts as an army of occupation". Scores of
reservists
have refused to report for duty for similar reasons, and many of them
have
been sentenced to prison terms, but Lt-Col Ronel, 51, is believed to be
the
first Israeli officer to resign his commission in protest.
In his letter to the chief of staff, Lt-Col Ronel, who was released
from
active reserve duty two years ago, wrote that for him, the final straw
had
been when Israeli soldiers opened fire last week on unarmed protestors
demonstrating against the "separation fence" Israel is building in the
West
Bank. Among the injured was an Israeli civilian, Gil Naamati, whose
case
provoked a storm of controversy in Israel.
"A country in which the army disperses demonstrations of its citizens
with
live gunfire is not a democratic country," Lt-Col Ronel wrote. "An army
that educates its soldiers that such a crime is conceivable has lost
all
its borders...
---
AMERICA'S CHRISTIAN ZIONISTS TAKE ISRAEL BY STORM
Craig Nelson, Statesman, 1/4/04
http://www.statesman.com/nation/content/auto/epaper/editions/sunday/news_f37faba0a54c70d5006d.html
HERZLIYA, Israel -- Christian evangelist Pat Robertson had them in the
palm
of his hand.
No matter that his audience wasn't predominantly Christian. When the
founder of the Christian Broadcasting Network culminated his
give-no-ground
speech to the elite of Israel's political and military establishment
with
the ringing declaration, "Be strong! Be strong!" many of his listeners
jumped to their feet to give him a boisterous round of applause.
The rapturous response to Robertson in Israel last month is just one
example of how a large and growing group of conservative American
Christians has entered the Jewish state's political scene with
startling
vigor, even as the Holy Land's indigenous Arab Christian communities
wither
because of violence and a dying economy.
Calling themselves Christian Zionists, the evangelicals are
increasingly
viewed as a political lifeline by influential Israelis who are eager
for
allies to fight what they see as a rising global tide of enmity aimed
at
Israel and to blunt suggestions that Israel is the main culprit in the
Israeli-Palestinian morass.
They provide not only moral support but also substantial funds to
Israel's
sputtering economy, and they've proven their political clout in the
Bush
White House.
Fueling the movement's growth is the belief that a great religious
struggle
is convulsing the world, one in which the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
is
the main, but not only, battleground.
At stake, Robertson and other Christian Zionists have said, is who has
the
greater god: Jews and Christians on the one hand, or Muslims on the
other...
---
BREEDING GROUNDS FOR HATRED
Shlomo Lahat, Haaretz, 1/5/04
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/379379.html
Two weeks ago, together with my friend Brigadier General (res.) Yitzhak
Elron, I visited 13 Israel Defense Forces checkpoints in Judea and
Samaria,
near the cities of Nablus, Tul Karm and Qalqilyah.
The visit was conducted at the initiative of B'Tselem, and I must point
out
that the two people from B'Tselem who accompanied us throughout the
visit
did not try to influence us in any way. We saw and we formed
impressions.
And the impressions were very harsh.
The Palestinians arrive at one checkpoint by car, and there they have
to
get out in order to cross over by foot to the next checkpoint on the
road.
The distances are not small, sometimes several kilometers.
At one checkpoint we met four mothers with eight blind children aged
4-5
who were walking to Nablus for medical treatment. It was a hair-raising
sight to see the little blind children marching along led by the women.
Some of the drivers of trucks or taxis commit crimes such as the
attempt to
bypass a route or a path. They are punished by the commander of the
checkpoint, some 18-year-old soldier, who decides for how long to delay
the
vehicle. The wait can continue from four to 24 hours, or more. It's up
to
the checkpoint commander...
We must change the treatment of the Palestinian population. We must
invest
as much as possible in briefing the soldiers. They also look sloppy,
dressed in overalls without insignia and wearing shoes that haven't
been
polished for a long time...
-----
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-----
CAIR
Council on American-Islamic Relations
453 New Jersey Avenue, S.E.
Washington, D.C. 20003
Tel: 202-488-8787, 202-744-7726
Fax: 202-488-0833
E-mail: cair@cair-net.org
URL: http://www.cair-net.org
-----
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
HAJJ PUBLICITY RESOURCE KIT
The following publicity materials may be modified and used by local
communities to publicize Hajj. When modifying the news releases,
include
references to local Hajj activities and contact information for local
spokespeople. Send to the newspaper "city editor," television station
"assignment editors" and radio station "news directors." Just call each
media outlet to get the contact information. Also send to the "daybook
editor" at the nearest Associated Press bureau.
CONTENTS:
* U.S. MUSLIMS LEAVE FOR PILGRIMAGE TO MECCA
* HAJJ Q&A
* SAMPLE EID MOSQUE OPEN HOUSE MEDIA ADVISORY
* STEPS NECESSARY TO HOLD A MOSQUE OPEN HOUSE
* WELCOME TO OUR MOSQUE BROCHURE
-----
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
U.S. MUSLIMS LEAVE FOR PILGRIMAGE TO MECCA
(WASHINGTON, D.C., 1/7/2004) - Thousands of American Muslims will soon
take
part in religious observances associated with the annual Hajj, or
pilgrimage to Mecca. Hajj is one of the "five pillars" of the Islamic
faith. (The other pillars include a declaration of faith, daily
prayers,
offering regular charity, and fasting during the month of Ramadan.)
Pilgrimage is a once-in-a-lifetime obligation for those who have the
physical and financial ability to undertake the journey.
When the main portion of the pilgrimage is completed, Muslims worldwide
gather for communal prayers on the first day (February 1*) of Eid
ul-Adha
(EED-al-ODD-ha), the second of the two major Muslim holidays.
"Participating in the Hajj, perhaps the world's most ethnically and
racially diverse religious event, is a high point of any Muslim's
life,"
said Nihad Awad, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic
Relations (CAIR), a Washington-based Islamic civil rights and advocacy
group.
The obligatory and optional activities of Hajj include:
* Entrance into a state of self-control called ihram, during which
pilgrims
are forbidden to harm living creatures, even insects or plants, or
raise
the voice in anger. The state of ihram is signified (for men) by the
wearing of two pieces of unsewn white cloth. This clothing signifies
the
equality of all before God. No specific clothing is prescribed for
female
pilgrims.
* Circling of the Ka'aba (Tawaf), the stone building Muslims believe
was
originally built by Abraham and his son Ishmael. The Ka'aba is viewed
as
the first sanctuary on earth dedicated to the worship of the One God.
It is
a symbol of unity for Muslims because all prayers, wherever they are
performed, are oriented in the direction of the Ka'aba.
* The Sa'i, or "hastening" between two small hills near the Ka'aba, to
commemorate Hagar's search for water to offer her son Ishmael.
* The "Day of Arafah" on January 31.* Arafah is a mountain and its
surrounding empty plain near Mecca. On this day, the climax of the Hajj
season, pilgrims assemble for supplication to God.
* The stoning of three pillars representing Satan's temptation of
Abraham.
The stoning indicates the pilgrim's rejection of evil deeds.
* Cutting the hair to symbolize the completion of Hajj.
* Sacrifice of an animal to help the poor, and in remembrance of
Abraham's
willingness to sacrifice his son Ishmael at God's command. The meat is
distributed to relatives and to the needy.
CAIR, America's largest Islamic civil liberties group, is headquartered
in
Washington, D.C., and has 25 regional offices and chapters nationwide
and
in Canada.
(* Because the beginning of Islamic lunar months depends on the actual
sighting of the new moon, the start date for Hajj and Eid ul-Adha may
vary.)
- END -
CONTACT: Ibrahim Hooper, 202-488-8787 or 202-744-7726, E-Mail:
cair@cair-net.org; Rabiah Ahmed, 202-488-8787 or 202-439-1441, E-Mail:
rahmed@cair-net.org
---
HAJJ Q&A
Q: WHAT DOES THE QURAN SAY ABOUT HAJJ?
A: In the Quran, Islam's revealed text, God says: "Thus We settled
Abraham
at the site of the House (the Ka'aba) [saying]: 'Do not associate
anything
with Me, and purify My house for those who walk around it, and those
who
stand there (praying), and those who bow down on their knees in
worship.
Proclaim the pilgrimage among mankind: they will come to you on foot
and on
every lean (beast of burden); Let them come from every deep ravine, to
bear
witness to the advantages they have, and to mention God's name on
appointed
days..." Chapter 22, verses 26-28
Q: WHAT DO MUSLIMS BELIEVE THEY GAIN FROM HAJJ?
A: The main benefit of Hajj for many people is the sense of
purification,
repentance and spiritual renewal it instills. After his Hajj, Malcolm X
wrote in his autobiography: "...I have eaten from the same plate, drank
from the same glass, and slept in the same bed (or on the same rug) -
while
praying to the same God - with fellow Muslims whose eyes were bluest of
the
blue, whose hair was blondest of the blonde and whose skin was whitest
of
the white. And in the words and in the actions and in the deeds of the
white Muslims, I felt the same sincerity that I felt among black
African
Muslims of Nigeria, Sudan and Ghana...In the past I permitted myself to
be
used to make sweeping indictments of...the entire white race...Because
of
the spiritual enlightenment which I was blessed to receive as a result
of
my recent pilgrimage to the Holy City of Mecca, I no longer subscribe
to
the sweeping indictments of any one race. I am now striving to live the
life of a true Muslim."
Q: WHY DOES HAJJ BEGIN ON A DIFFERENT DAY EACH YEAR?
A: Because Dhul-Hijjah is a lunar month, it begins about eleven days
earlier each year.
Q: WHY DO MUSLIMS SACRIFICE A LAMB OR OTHER ANIMAL DURING THE FESTIVAL
OF
EID UL-ADHA?
A: The sacrifice commemorates the Prophet Abraham's readiness to
sacrifice
his son, identified in Islam as Ishmael, at God's request. This is not
a
blood offering. In the Quran God states: "Neither their meat nor their
blood ever reaches God, but heedfulness on your part does reach Him."
(Chapter 22, verse 37) The meat is distributed to relatives and to the
needy.
Q: IS HAJJ AN OBLIGATION ON ALL MUSLIMS?
A: Yes, but only for those who are physically and financially able to
make
the trip.
Q: WHAT ARE THE MOST VISUALLY STRIKING ASPECTS OF HAJJ?
A: All pilgrims must do tawaf, or circling the Ka'aba. This obligation
creates a stunning scene as thousands of people circle the building at
all
times of the day and night. Also, the standing at Arafah on the 9th day
of
the Islamic month of Dhul-Hijjah presents a scene in which several
million
people all dressed alike and with the same intention to worship God,
gather
on a barren plain.
Q: HOW SHOULD NON-MUSLIM FRIENDS AND CO-WORKERS INTERACT WITH SOMEONE
WHO
IS GOING ON HAJJ OR CELEBRATING AT HOME?
A: Hajj is a high point in a Muslim's life. Questions are welcome and
congratulations are in order. Most communities welcome visitors at Eid
ul-Adha prayers. Just ask a Muslim friend to act as an escort and
guide.
---
- MEDIA ADVISORY -
LOCAL MUSLIMS TO HOLD MOSQUE OPEN HOUSE
Event to feature food, tours and exhibits for people of all faiths
WHAT: On February ___, the Muslim community in [name of local
community]
will celebrate the end of the yearly pilgrimage to Mecca, or Hajj, with
a
mosque open house. The open house is scheduled to coincide with the
Islamic
holiday of Eid ul-Adha (EED-al-ODD-ha), or "festival of the sacrifice,"
which comes at the end of the pilgrimage. At the evening event, people
of
all faiths will be able to sample foods from around the Muslim world,
take
a guided tour of the mosque and browse through informational displays
of
books and other items explaining the basics of Islam.
Eid ul-Adha commemorates the Prophet Abraham's willingness to sacrifice
his
son Ishmael at God's command. The holiday is celebrated with the
prayers,
small gifts for children, distribution of meat to the needy and social
gatherings. During this holiday, Muslims exchange the greeting "Eid
Mubarak" or "blessed Eid."
(Each year, more than two million Muslims go on Hajj. There are
[number] of
Muslims in [local community], an estimated seven million in America and
some 1.2 billion worldwide.)
WHEN: February___, [Time Period]
WHERE: [Address and Directions]
COST: Free of Charge
CONTACT: For information, call [local contact].
NOTE: Because this is a house of worship, reporters and photographers
of
both sexes should dress modestly. That means no shorts for men or short
skirts for women. Female reporters and photographers may be asked to
put a
scarf over their hair while in the actual prayer area. Photographers
are
advised not to step directly in front of worshipers and to ask
permission
for close-up shots.
-END-
---
STEPS NECESSARY TO HOLD A MOSQUE OPEN HOUSE
1. PREPARE the members of your local community by explaining the
necessity
of building a positive image of the mosque in the surrounding area. Let
them know that experience of other communities has shown that a
positive
neighborhood image offers many benefits. Ask for input concerning the
details of when and at what time the open house should be held. There
are
no hard and fast rules for such things.
2. INVITE local community leaders, clergy, law enforcement officials,
activists, and government officials. Remember to invite the mayor,
congressional representatives, the chief of police and members of the
city
council. These people should all receive written invitations. Follow up
with a personal phone call. Letters are not enough.
3. PUBLICIZE the event by sending a well-written news release (see
sample)
to the local media. You may also place paid advertisements in the local
newspaper. Send the news release to the religion calendar editor, the
city
editor and the feature editor at the newspaper. Send a release to the
assignment editor at the local television stations. Also send copies to
news directors at the local radio stations. Send announcements to local
churches.
4. INFORM your guests of mosque etiquette before they arrive (see
"Welcome
to Our Mosque" brochure). This will make them feel at ease and avoid
embarrassment. Be ready to answer questions about prayer, separation of
men
and women and other common issues.
5. CLEAN the mosque. The first impression is one that will last. Make
sure
bathrooms are spotless. Have a mosque clean up day prior to the open
house.
6. SET UP a reception area where guests can be received, told about
mosque
etiquette and served refreshments. Have greeters at the door to direct
arriving guests. Have knowledgeable people conduct tours of the
facility.
Do not leave guests alone to wander about the mosque. Give each guest a
name tag. Make sure sisters are available to make female guests feel
welcome.
7. SELECT literature to be given to the guests. Do not push materials
on
guests. Let them select what they wish to read.
8. POST signs at appropriate locations in the facility.
9. PRAY that your efforts will open the hearts of your guests.
-----
WELCOME TO OUR MOSQUE
We hope you enjoy your visit.
Q: WHAT IS A MOSQUE?
A: A mosque is a place of worship used by Muslims. The English word
"mosque" is derived from its Arabic equivalent, masjid, which means
"place
of prostration." It is in the mosque that Muslims perform their
prayers, a
part of which includes placing the forehead on the floor.
Q: HOW IS A MOSQUE USED?
A: Mosques play a vital role in the lives of Muslims in North America.
The
primary function of the mosque is to provide a place where Muslims may
perform Islam's obligatory five daily prayers as a congregation. A
mosque
also provides sufficient space in which to hold prayers on Fridays, the
Muslim day of communal prayer, and on the two Muslim holidays, called
Eids,
or "festivals."
Q: IS A MOSQUE A HOLY PLACE?
A: A mosque is a place that is specifically dedicated as a place of
prayer.
However, there is nothing sacred about the building or the place
itself.
There is no equivalent of an altar in a mosque. A Muslim may pray on
any
clean surface. Muslims often pray in public places.
Q: HOW BIG ARE MOSQUES?
A: In North America, mosques vary in size from tiny storefronts serving
a
handful of worshippers, to large Islamic centers that can accommodate
thousands.
Q: DO MOSQUES WELCOME VISITORS?
A: Mosques in North America welcome visitors. Tours can be arranged at
most
facilities. It is always best to call mosque administrators before
arrival.
They will want to make sure your visit is enjoyable.
Q: WHAT ARE THE DISTINCTIVE FEATURES OF A MOSQUE?
A: The musalla, or prayer hall, in each mosque is oriented in the
direction of Mecca, toward which Muslims face during prayers. In North
America, Muslim worshippers face northeast. Prayer halls are open and
uncluttered to accommodate lines of worshippers who stand and bow in
unison. There are no pews or chairs. Members of the congregation sit on
the
floor.
Because Muslim men and women form separate lines when they stand in
prayers, some mosques will have a balcony reserved for the use of
women.
Other mosques will accommodate men and women in the same musalla, or
they
may have two separate areas for men and women.
Q: WHAT ELSE IS IN THE PRAYER AREA?
A: All mosques have some sort of mihrab, or niche, that indicates which
wall of the mosque faces Mecca. The mihrab is often decorated with
Arabic
calligraphy. Its curved shape helps reflect the voice of the imam, or
prayer leader, back toward the congregation. Many mosques also have a
minbar, or pulpit, to the right of the mihrab. During the Friday prayer
service, the imam delivers a sermon from the minbar.
Q: WHAT ABOUT CHILDREN IN THE PRAYER AREA?
A: Children will often be present during prayers, whether
participating,
watching or imitating the movements of their elders. Their presence
continues the tradition of the Prophet Muhammad, who behaved tenderly
toward children. The Prophet sometimes carried one of his grandchildren
on
his shoulder while leading the prayer and was also known to shorten the
prayer if he heard a baby cry.
Q: WHAT MIGHT I HEAR DURING MY VISIT?
A: You might hear Muslims exchanging the Islamic greeting, the Arabic
phrase "as-salaam alaykum" ("peace be with you"). Muslims return this
greeting by saying, "wa alaykum as-salaam" ("and with you be peace").
You might also hear the call to prayer. The call, or adhan, contains
the
following phrases (in Arabic):
God is most great, God is most great.
God is most great, God is most great.
I bear witness that there is no god but God.
I bear witness that there is no god but God.
I bear witness that Muhammad is a messenger of God.
I bear witness that Muhammad is a messenger of God.
Hasten to prayer, Hasten to prayer.
Hasten to success, Hasten to success.
God is most great, God is most great.
There is no god but [the One] God.
All Muslim prayers begin with recitation of Al-Fatihah, the opening
chapter
of the Qur'an:
In the name of God, Most Compassionate, Most Merciful.
Praise be to God, Lord of the Worlds.
The Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful.
Ruler of the Day of Judgment.
Only You do we worship, Only You we ask for help.
Show us the straight path.
The path of those whom You have favored,
not that of those who earn Your anger, nor those who go astray.
Q: WHAT ABOUT THE REST OF THE BUILDING?
A: Many mosques have a minaret, the large tower used to issue the call
to
prayer five times each day. In North America, the minaret is largely
decorative. Facilities to perform wudu, or ablutions, can be found in
all
mosques. Muslims wash their hands, faces and feet before prayers as a
way
to purify and prepare themselves to stand before God. Wudu facilities
range
from wash basins to specially designed areas with built-in benches,
floor
drains and faucets.
Bookshelves are found in most mosques. They contain works of Islamic
philosophy, theology and law, as well as collections of the traditions
and
sayings of the Prophet Muhammad. Copies of the Quran, Islam's revealed
text, are always available to worshippers.
Calligraphy is used to decorate nearly every mosque. Arabic quotations
from
the Quran invite contemplation of the revealed Word of God. Other
common
features found in the mosque are clocks or schedules displaying the
times
of the five daily prayers and large rugs or carpets covering the
musalla
floor. Many American mosques also have administrative offices.
Q: IS A MOSQUE USED EXCLUSIVELY FOR PRAYER?
A: Though its main function is as a place of prayer, the mosque plays a
variety of roles, especially in North America. Many mosques are
associated
with Islamic schools and day care centers. Mosques also provide diverse
services such as Sunday schools, Arabic classes, Quranic instruction,
and
youth activities.
Marriages and funerals, potluck dinners during the fasting month of
Ramadan, and Eid prayers and carnivals are all to be found in North
American mosques. They are also sites for interfaith dialogues and
community activism.
Many mosques serve as recreational centers for the Muslim community and
may
have a gymnasium, game room and weight equipment, as well as a library
and
classrooms.
Q: DO MOSQUES HAVE SPECIAL RULES?
A: Men and women should always dress conservatively when visiting a
mosque,
covering their arms and legs. Examples of inappropriate clothing would
be
shorts for men and short skirts for women.
Shoes are always left at the entrance to the prayer area so as not to
soil
the rugs or carpets. Shelves are usually provided to hold shoes. Women
may
be asked to cover their hair when visiting a mosque. Many mosques have
scarves on hand for visitors to borrow, but it is better to bring a
head
covering in case none are available.
Visitors to mosques should behave as they would when visiting any
religious
institution, but they should feel free to ask questions about the
mosque,
its architecture, furnishings, and activities. Muslims are happy to
answer
questions about their religion.
-----
NOTE: CAIR offers an e-mail list designed to be a window to the
American
Muslim community. Subscribers to the list, called CAIR-NET, receive
news
releases and other materials dealing with American Muslim positions on
issues of importance to our society.
To SUBSCRIBE to or UNSUBSCRIBE from this list, go to:
http://cair.biglist.com/cair-net/
To reach the list moderator, send a message to: cair@cair-net.org
-----
CAIR
Council on American-Islamic Relations
453 New Jersey Avenue, S.E.
Washington, D.C. 20003
Tel: 202-488-8787, 202-744-7726
Fax: 202-488-0833
E-mail: cair@cair-net.org
URL: http://www.cair-net.org
-----
Forwarded Message
Date:
Wed, 07 Jan 2004 16:22:52 -0500
To:
cair-net@cair.biglist.com
From:
"CAIR" <cair@cair-net.org>
Subject:
CAIR-NET: U.S. Muslims Meet French Ambassador on Hijab Ban
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
AMERICAN MUSLIM NEWS BRIEFS - 1/7/04
* VERSE OF THE DAY: THE STEEP PATH
* CAIR LIBRARY PROJECT: 7158 SPONSORSHIPS
- CAIR Election Update: Profiling
* U.S. MUSLIMS MEET FRENCH AMBASSADOR ON HIJAB BAN
- Chirac Opposes Hijab in Civil Service (Reuters)
- Cleric Threatens Legal Action Against Hijab Ban (AFP)
* CANADIAN MUSLIMS CONDEMN ANTI-JEWISH ARTICLE
* NO MUSLIM CLERICS FOR DETAINEES (CNN)
- Guantanamo Detainee Attempts Suicide (AP)
- Canadian Military Welcomes First Muslim Chaplain (CBC)
* IS THE U.S. READY FOR DEMOCRACY? (CS Monitor)
* CANADIAN MUSLIMS WARNED OF U.S. TRAVEL (Leader-Post)
* TX CASE YIELDS SIGNS OF DOMESTIC TERROR (LA Times)
* U.S. TO HOST CONFERENCE ON USS LIBERTY (AP)
* BUSH WOULD GIVE ILLEGALS NEW RIGHTS (NY Times)
-----
VERSE OF THE DAY: THE STEEP PATH
And what will explain to thee the path (of virtue) that is steep? (It
is)
freeing the slave, or the giving of food in a day of privation to the
orphan with claims of kinship, or to the indigent (down) in the dust.
Then will he be of those who believe and enjoin patience (constancy and
self-restraint) and encourage deeds of kindness and compassion.
The Holy Quran, 90:12-17
-----
CAIR LIBRARY PROJECT: 7158 SPONSORSHIPS
The goal of CAIR's library project is to send accurate and objective
information about Islam to America's 16,000 public libraries.
For only $150, Muslim individuals and groups may sponsor 18-item
packages
about Islam and Muslims, which are then distributed to the library of
their
choice.
To sponsor a library call, 1-800-392-7876, ext. 320, or visit:
www.libraryproject.org.
SEE ALSO:
CAIR ELECTION UPDATE: PROFILING
http://www.cair-net.org/muslimvote2004/issue3.html
------
U.S. MUSLIMS MEET FRENCH AMBASSADOR ON HIJAB BAN
(WASHINGTON, D.C., 1/7/2004) - Representatives of the Council on
American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) met yesterday with French Ambassador
Jean-David Levitte to deliver a letter for French President Jacques
Chirac
opposing his call to ban Islamic head scarves, or hijab, in public
schools.
CAIR's letter read in part:
"Unlike a cross, which is not an obligation for Christians to wear,
hijabs,
yarmulkes and turbans are not "symbols" that can be removed without
abandoning religious responsibilities. Rather, hijab is a religious
obligation and for many French women, any ban on a woman's right to
freely
exercise her faith by wearing hijab may be seen as an indirect
prohibition
on Islam in France...
The European Convention on Human Rights, a hallmark treaty for the
protection of human rights in Europe, states that '...Everyone has the
right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion....' The
convention
continues to say that, 'this right includes, [whether] alone or in a
community with others and in public or private...freedom to...manifest
his
religion or belief, in worship, teaching, practice and observance.'
Unfortunately, it seems as though the proposed legislation would be in
violation of the Convention as well...
We hope that you will reconsider the proposed legislation, in light of
the
concerns enumerated above and with a continued goal of strengthening
the
ideals of democracy, religious freedom, and interfaith harmony in
France
and around the world."
"Our meeting with the Ambassador was frank and constructive," said
Nihad
Awad, CAIR executive director. "It marked the beginning of what we hope
to
be an on-going dialogue with France."
The 90-minute meeting took place at the French embassy in Washington,
D.C.
Attendees included CAIR officials and a representative from the Muslim
Student Association of the United States and Canada (MSA).
CAIR, America's largest Islamic civil liberties group, is headquartered
in
Washington, D.C., and has 25 regional offices and chapters nationwide
and
in Canada.
- END -
CONTACTS: Ibrahim Hooper, 202-488-8787 or 202-744-7726, E-MAIL:
cair@cair-net.org; Rabiah Ahmed, 202-488-8787 or 202-439-1441, E-Mail:
rahmed@cair-net.org
SEE ALSO:
CHIRAC OPPOSES RELIGIOUS SYMBOLS IN CIVIL SERVICE
Reuters, 1/7/04
PARIS (Reuters) - French President Jacques Chirac said Wednesday civil
servants should not display religious symbols at work, widening a
heated
debate as France prepares to ban Islamic headscarves in public schools.
It was the first time Chirac specifically addressed the issue of
religious
symbols in the civil service though he has made similar comments on
schools
and hospitals. He said workers in public services had to adhere to
principles of neutrality.
"It is evident that no civil servant should display his religious
beliefs
while carrying out his job," Chirac said in a speech to civil
servants...
---
TOP MUSLIM CLERIC THREATENS LEGAL ACTION AGAINST FRENCH HEADSCARF BAN
AFP, 1/7/04
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_world/view/65199/1/.html
DOHA: Leading Muslim cleric Yussef al-Qaradawi has threatened legal
action
if France adopts a law banning the Islamic headscarf in schools,
warning
such measures only breed extremism.
"If the law is passed, we will seek to file a legal complaint because
this
law will be in contradiction with the French constitution," Qaradawi
told
AFP in an interview on Tuesday.
Qaradawi, an Egyptian who has lived in Qatar for several years and is
known
across the Arab world for his controversial fatwas or religious
rulings,
said "measures like banning the headscarf will feed extremism."
He said the European council for fatwas (religious rulings) and
research,
which he chairs, has called on France to revise its position on the
Islamic
headscarf and has decided to send a delegation to Paris, led by
Mauritania's former justice minister Abdullah bin Baya.
French President Jacques Chirac on December 17 came out in favor of a
ban
on the Islamic headscarf and other "conspicuous" religious symbols in
state
schools. He wants the rules written into law by the start of the next
academic year.
The decision, intended to reflect France's strict separation of
religion
and state, has set off a storm of protest by Muslim leaders around the
world...
-----
CANADIAN MUSLIMS CONDEMN ANTI-JEWISH ARTICLE
CAIR-CAN: Article "hateful and malicious"
(OTTAWA, CANADA - 7/1/2003) - The Canadian Council on American-Islamic
Relations (CAIR-CAN) today condemned a recent article published in a
British Columbia Muslim newsletter that blamed Jews for faking the
Holocaust, causing the Great Depression, beginning both the First and
Second World Wars, and planning the 9/11 terror attacks.
(The Dec. 19 article was written by Idaho resident Edgar Steele, who
the
Southern Poverty Law Center identifies as an anti-Semite and anti-black
racist.)
In a statement issued today, CAIR-CAN wrote:
"We stand with other Canadians in denouncing the contents of this
hateful
and malicious article.
"Such commentary is completely at odds with both the letter and spirit
of
Islamic teaching and merely hinders efforts at interfaith understanding
and
tolerance."
- END -
Contact: Naeem Saloojee at 613-254-9704; E-mail: Canada@cair-net.org
CAIR-CAN
Council on American-Islamic Relations CANADA
P.O. Box 13219, Ottawa, ONT, K2K 1X4
Tel: 1-866-524-0004
Fax: 613-254-9810
URL: www.caircan.ca
-----
PENTAGON OFFICIAL: NO MUSLIM CLERICS FOR DETAINEES
Barbara Starr, CNN, 1/6/04
http://edition.cnn.com/2004/US/01/06/gitmo/
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The U.S. military no longer has a Muslim cleric at
Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, ministering to the religious needs of the more
than
600 detainees there, and has no plans to provide a new cleric of any
faith,
a Pentagon official said Tuesday.
The official said there has been no cleric for the detainees in nearly
four
months, since the September 10 arrest of Muslim chaplain Army Capt.
James
Yee on a variety of charges stemming from his work with the detainees.
(Full story)
"There was never an intent to provide a designated spiritual leader to
the
detainees," the official said. However, there was no direct explanation
as
to why Yee was allowed to meet with detainees and no Muslim cleric has
been
assigned to fill any similar role.
Prior to the Yee controversy the U.S. military had touted the presence
of a
Muslim cleric as a humanitarian gesture to help detainees follow
traditions
of their faith.
The official said a joint task force at the U.S. base continues to
provide
religious items to the detainees such as the Koran, prayer beads and
head
coverings. "The dynamics of the camp help them pray together, enabling
them
to provide each other with spiritual support and guidance," the
official
said...
ALSO SEE:
GUANTANAMO DETAINEE ATTEMPTS SUICIDE
Associated Press, 1/6/04
http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/world/wire/sns-ap-guantanamo-suicide-attempt,0,4732849.story
GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL STATION, Cuba -- A detainee attempted suicide at
the
U.S. detention center for suspected terrorists at the military base and
he
was recovering at a hospital, a military spokeswoman said Tuesday.
It was the 34th attempt since the detention mission received its first
group of detainees on Jan. 11, 2002, Army Lt. Col. Pamela Hart said.
She said that the attempt occurred "in the last few days" and the
inmate
was in stable condition.
Some 660 detainees from 43 countries are being held on suspicion of
links
to the al-Qaida terrorist network and the fallen Afghan Taliban regime.
None have been formally charged and all but two have been denied access
to
lawyers as the Pentagon prepares for military trials.
Human rights groups have decried the prisoners' indefinite detention
and
raised concerns about whether conditions or interrogations are driving
some
to attempt suicide...
---
MILITARY WELCOMES ITS FIRST MUSLIM CHAPLAIN
CBC, 1/6/04
http://www.cbc.ca/stories/2004/01/06/muslim_chaplain040106
EDMONTON - The Canadian Forces' first Muslim chaplain began work this
week
at the Edmonton Garrison, bringing a little more religious diversity to
the
military.
Capt. Suleyman Demiray, 37, is a Turkish-born Muslim cleric, or imam,
who
came to Canada 10 years ago and pursued a Masters degree from Carleton
University in Ottawa.
While he's happy to finally be on the job, he is also feeling the
weight of
his new role, calling it a "big responsibility to represent a faith and
you
know … be (a) good model."
Two years ago, Demiray was invited to a dinner for the National
Cemetery
Project in Ottawa. "I met a couple of padres and they recommended me …
I
learned there was an openness there and I put in my application."
Officials estimate there are about 200 Muslim soldiers in the Canadian
forces...
---
IS THE US READY FOR DEMOCRACY?
David Newsom, Christian Science Monitor, 1/7/04
http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0107/p09s02-coop.html
CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA. - Today's debate over bringing democracy to the
Muslim
Middle East often centers on whether the region is "ready for
democracy."
Another question is equally valid: "Is the United States ready to
tolerate
democracy?"
Systems based on guaranteed freedoms, the rule of law, and peaceful
electoral transitions are obviously desirable for all. But democratic
systems are often unpredictable.
In a recent discussion of democracy with Egyptian journalists, the US
ambassador to Cairo, David Welch, was asked: "If we eventually end up
with
democracy and the regimes to be elected are not compliant with US
interests, what would the US do?"
He answered: "But we've had this situation all over the world. There
are
democratic and elected governments who disagree with us on anything
from
genetically modified food to Guantanamo. We don't do anything about
that
except discuss it with them."
The ambassador may be right that the US tolerates dissenting voices
from
abroad - particularly on issues, such as the detainees classified as
enemy
combatants at the US Naval Base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in which there
are
open differences within the US. But the dilemma in the Middle East
could be
different...
-----
'DON'T GO TO THE U.S': ISLAMIC GROUPS WARN SASKATCHEWAN MUSLIMS
Andrew Ehrkamp, Leader-Post, 1/7/04
http://www.canada.com/regina/leaderpost/
Saskatchewan Muslims are being advised to avoid travel to the U.S. to
protest what one group calls racial profiling at border crossings.
Regina-based Muslims for Peace and Justice says new border control
measures
-- announced by the U.S. government this week -- are unfairly targeting
people from the Middle East, Muslims in particular.
"Unless we really have something which we cannot avoid, we have said to
our
friends: 'Unless you are willing to go through this humiliation, don't
go
to the U.S.'," said the group's spokesman Riazuddin Ahmed.
A similar warning has been issued by the Canadian Islamic Congress.
Ahmed said too often Muslims are singled out at U.S. border crossings,
and
the launch of a tighter border-control policy Monday will only make it
worse.
The U.S. launched a new security program, US-VISIT, which will mean
travellers entering the U.S. will be randomly photographed and
fingerprinted.
In Canada, landed immigrants from certain countries may be asked to
submit
to a personal interview with U.S. immigration officials -- for
Saskatchewan
people the nearest site is in Calgary -- and even then there is no
guarantee they will be allowed to travel to the U.S...
-----
CASE YIELDS CHILLING SIGNS OF DOMESTIC TERROR PLOT
Scott Gold, Los Angeles Times, 1/7/04
http://www.latimes.com/la-na-terror7jan07,1,7064889.story
HOUSTON - One evening two winters ago, a man in Staten Island, N.Y.,
absent-mindedly flipped through his mail. Inside one envelope was a
stack
of fake documents, including United Nations and Defense Department
identification cards, and a note: "We would hate to have this fall into
the
wrong hands."
It had. The package, intended for a member of a self-styled militia in
New
Jersey, had been delivered to the wrong address.
From that lucky break, federal officials believe they may have
uncovered
one of the most audacious domestic terrorism plots since the 1995
Oklahoma
City bombing that killed 168 people. Starting with a single piece of
mail,
investigators discovered an enormous cache of weapons in Noonday, in
East
Texas, including the makings of a sophisticated sodium cyanide bomb
capable
of killing thousands of people.
Three people -- William Krar, a small-time arms dealer with connections
to
white supremacists; Krar's common-law wife, Judith L. Bruey; and Edward
S.
Feltus, the man who was supposed to have received the forged documents
--
pleaded guilty in the case in November. They are being held in a Tyler,
Texas, detention facility and are scheduled to appear before a federal
judge for sentencing next month.
But what is typically the end of a criminal case may be only the
beginning
in this one. Some government investigators believe other conspirators
may
be on the loose. And they readily acknowledge that they have no idea
what
the stash of weapons was for -- though they have tantalizing and
alarming
clues of a "covert operation or plan," according to an FBI affidavit...
-----
U.S. TO HOST CONFERENCE ON USS LIBERTY
Associated Press, 1/7/04
http://www.mlive.com/newsflash/lateststories/index.ssf?/base/politics-2/1073443444274031.xml
WASHINGTON - The State Department will cast a spotlight next week on
the
1967 Israeli attack on the U.S. spy ship Liberty where 34 American
servicemen were killed.
Israeli, Arab, British and Canadian diplomats have been invited to
attend a
conference Monday and Tuesday at the department's Henderson auditorium.
A. Jay Cristol, a former U.S. bankruptcy court judge who has written
about
the incident, will be a featured speaker.
The two-day conference involves the release of historical research on
the
1967 Arab-Israeli war.
David Saterfield, a deputy assistant secretary of state, will deliver
the
keynote address.
Critics of Israel have cited the attack on the Liberty in questioning
strong U.S. support of Israel and Israel's allegiance to the United
States...
-----
BUSH WOULD GIVE ILLEGAL WORKERS BROAD NEW RIGHTS
Elisabeth Bumiller, New York Times, 1/7/04
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/01/07/politics/07IMMI.html
WASHINGTON - President Bush will propose a sweeping overhaul of the
nation's immigration laws on Wednesday that could give legal status to
millions of undocumented workers in the United States, senior
administration officials said Tuesday night.
Under Mr. Bush's proposal, which effectively amounts to an amnesty
program
for illegal immigrants with jobs in the United States, an undocumented
worker could apply for temporary worker status here for an unspecified
number of years, with all the employee benefits, like minimum wage and
due
process, accorded to those legally employed.
Workers who are approved would be permitted to travel freely between
the
United States and their home countries, the officials said, and would
also
be permitted to apply for a green card granting permanent residency in
the
United States.
Administration officials said that Mr. Bush would also propose
increasing
the number of green cards issued each year, which is now about 140,000,
but
they did not provide a specific number. The administration officials,
who
briefed reporters in a conference call on Tuesday night, said only that
Mr.
Bush would ask for a "reasonable increase."
Mr. Bush's proposal, one administration official said, would "match
willing
workers with willing employers" and would "promote compassion" by
fixing
what one called "a broken system." The officials declined to call it an
amnesty program...
-----
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CAIR
Council on American-Islamic Relations
453 New Jersey Avenue, S.E.
Washington, D.C. 20003
Tel: 202-488-8787, 202-744-7726
Fax: 202-488-0833
E-mail: cair@cair-net.org
URL: http://www.cair-net.org
-----
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
AMERICAN MUSLIM NEWS BRIEFS - 1/8/04
* HADITH OF THE DAY: GIVE CHARITY EVERY DAY
* CAIR LIBRARY PROJECT: 100% OF TENN. SPONSORED
* CON ARTIST TARGETS FLORIDA MUSLIMS
- Backgrounder: Con Artist First Caught in 2002
* SMEARING THE REPUTATIONS OF MUSLIMS (Wash. Post)
- Stereotyping Muslims Generates Islamophobia (WSJ)
* NB MUSLIM CLAIMS MISTREATMENT BY STATE OFFICIAL (AP)
* CAMERAS USED TO SHOW PROFILING EXPERIENCE (Wash. Post)
* TERROR PLOT IN TEXAS? (CBS)
- Iraq WMD Not Imminent Threat (Reuters)
- Neocons Outline Strategy to 'End Evil'(Forward)
* ADMIN. SEEKS FAST TRACK FOR HIGH COURT APPEAL (Wash. Post)
* GERMAN CATHOLICS: MUSLIM SCARF POLITICAL (AP)
- Headscarf Debate Divides the Nation (DW World)
- MSA Sponsors U.S. Hijab Protest Jan. 17
-----
HADITH OF THE DAY: GIVE CHARITY EVERY DAY
The Prophet Muhammad (peace by upon him) said: "Charity is prescribed
for
each descendant of Adam on every day the sun rises." He was then asked:
"From what do we give charity every day?" The Prophet Replied: "The
doors
of goodness are many...enjoining good, forbidding evil, removing harm
from
the road, listening to the deaf (until you understand them), leading
the
blind, guiding one to the object of his need, hurrying with the
strength of
one's legs to one in sorrow who is asking for help, and supporting the
feeble with the strength of one's arms -- all of these are charity
prescribed for you."
Fiqh-us-Sunnah, Volume 3, Number 98
-----
CAIR LIBRARY PROJECT UPDATE: 100% OF TENN. SPONSORED
CONGRATULATIONS to the citizens of Tennessee who sponsored 100% of
their
312 public libraries.
Now, let's help the state of Louisiana: 326 sponsored, 2 more libraries
to go!
Terrebonne Parish Library
Washington Parish Library
The goal of CAIR's library project is to send accurate and objective
information about Islam to America's 16,000 public libraries.
For only $150, you may sponsor an 18-item package about Islam and
Muslims,
which are then distributed to the library of their choice.
To sponsor a library call, 1-800-392-7876, ext. 320, or visit:
www.libraryproject.org.
-----
CON ARTIST TARGETS FLORIDA MUSLIMS
(MIAMI FL., 1/8/2004) - The Florida office of the Council on
American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-FL) is warning Muslims in that state
about
a con artist who seeks money by impersonating well-known personalities
in
the Muslim world.
The con artist calls Muslim individuals and groups pretending to be
with a
respected Islamic institution. He claims that he and others are coming
to
visit the United States. Later, he calls back, claiming to have lost
his
money, tickets or passport and asks for emergency cash to be wired to
him
at Western Union or a similar facility.
A person using this same con game was arrested in Canada two years ago
(see
article and alert below), but was later released. NOTE: The impostor
may
use many variations of this scam.
CONTACT: Altaf Ali (CAIR-FL Executive Director); 954-298-8214 EMAIL:
altaf@cair-florida.org, Ahmed Bedier (CAIR-FL Communications Director);
813-731-9506, EMAIL: abedier@cair-florida.org.
IMMEDIATE ACTIONS REQUESTED:
1. Please ANNOUNCE AT JUMA'A and other functions - several hundred
Muslims
have been targeted in the past.
2. DO NOT wire money to anyone claiming to be stranded in an airport.
3. REPORT requests for money to CAIR, the local office of the FBI (ask
for
a fraud investigator) and to local police. Obtain a copy of the
complaint.
4. If you have already been a victim, send copies of wire transfer
documents to CAIR so that a case can be built against this man. (FAX:
202-488-0833)
FOR BACKGROUND, SEE THE FOLLOWING 2002 ARTICLE AND CAIR ALERT:
CON-ARTIST WHO DEFRAUDED MUSLIMS CAUGHT
http://www.cair-net.org/asp/article.asp?id=125&page=AA
---
ARREST OF ALLEGED CON MAN IN ONTARIO A RELIEF TO MUSLIM COMMUNITIES
The Canadian Press, 12/12/2002
TORONTO (CP) _ The arrest of an alleged international con man has
sparked
relief in Muslim communities worldwide, a North American Islamic leader
said Thursday.
The con artist allegedly made phone calls claiming to be a well-known
Muslim leader, official or scholar stranded at an airport after his
money,
passport and tickets had been stolen or lost, according to victims.
He would then ask the intended victim, typically a leader or activist
in a
local Muslim community, to wire cash to help him out of the crisis.
After
receiving the funds, he would disappear. "This is wonderful. This
wicked
person has been preying on Muslim communities for more than a decade,"
said
Nihad Awad, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic
Relations, in a phone interview from Washington.
"I estimate he was conning between $1,000 and $3,000 a day. He has
stolen
millions of dollars in his more than a decade of preying on our
communities.''
Since the arrest was made by Orangeville, Ont., police, there have been
jubilant calls from as far away as Australia, Denmark, Saudi Arabia,
Latin
America and all over North America, Awad said…
Mohammed Mustafa Agbaria, 37, a Brampton, Ont., resident, was arrested
on
Dec. 5. He faces 14 fraud-related criminal charges and is to appear
again
in court next Tuesday.
-----
SMEARING THE REPUTATIONS OF MUSLIMS
Irfan Mirza, Washington Post, 1/8/04
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A63762-2004Jan7.html
Robert E. Pierre's article on the legal aftermath of the Detroit
"sleeper
cell" case ["Terrorism Case Thrown Into Turmoil," Dec. 31] speaks
volumes
about the failure of American Muslims to effectively articulate Islam's
unequivocal rejection of terrorism to the rest of the country.
As a practicing Muslim, I was troubled to discover that Leroy T. Soles,
a
federal defender in the case, tried to portray his clients as
non-practicing Muslims to clear them of guilt in the eyes of U.S.
District
Judge Gerald E. Rosen. Mr. Soles was not shy in admitting that the
demonstration of the accused's religious laxity was his underlying
litigation strategy and "the heart of [his] case."
Conventional thinking would suggest strong adherence to a religious
faith
such as Islam, whose sacred texts promote piety and morality, would be
a
boon to its followers on trial for a crime. Yet clearly this is not the
case in our courtrooms.
I do not fault Mr. Soles; he was just trying to clear his clients'
names.
However, it is a sad state of affairs when the unconscionable actions
of a
few lunatics can smear the reputations of 7 million American Muslims.
ALSO SEE:
STEREOTYPING MUSLIMS GENERATES ISLAMOPHOBIA
Zaid Mohiuddin, Wall Street Journal, 1/8/04
http://online.wsj.com/public/us
Your Dec. 23 article "A Student Journeys into a Secret Circle of
Extremism"
adequately presents the struggles that a minority of Muslims in America
have to deal with in regard to understanding how Islam and being
American
can complement, not contradict, each other. However, it also presents
stereotypical images of Muslims and perpetuates the growing phenomenon
of
Islamophobia.
Through pictures, captions and text, the article links Islamic
radicalism
with any Muslim with a headdress, long beard, long gown, and a
head-scarf-wearing wife. This image was captioned with the following,
"Mr.
Saied with his wife, Sadaf, at the height of his radicalism." Compared
with
his pre-radical days, Mr. Saied is seen clean-shaven and wearing a full
suit at Disney World. Compared with his post-radical, progressive
Muslim
days, Mustafa Saied has his beard trimmed short and his headdress gone.
What are the "not-so-subtle" messages within this? I know hundreds of
Muslims who can be called "progressive Muslims" who have long beards,
wear
traditional Arab, African, Pakistani or other ethnic attire, and have
wives
who cover their hair. They are law-abiding, contributing citizens who
value
diversity and equality for all. They are well-educated and are not the
enemy.
The messages in this article, combined with the recent Code Orange
security
alert, will only encourage the American people to stereotype their
fellow
"progressive Muslims" with beards and head-scarves as anti-American
radicals.
(Mr. Mohiuddin is a student at the University of Pennsylvania and
president
of the Philadelphia Islamic Speakers Bureau.)
-----
NB MUSLIM CLAIMS MISTREATMENT BY STATE OFFICIAL
POTENTIAL FOR LAWSUITS AGAINST BYRD EXIST, CRITICS SAY
Scott Bauer, Associated Press, 1/8/04
LINCOLN, Neb. - Lorelee Byrd's unpredictable and volatile management
style
described by employees in an investigation report makes her and the
state
vulnerable for lawsuits, those close to the case said Wednesday…
Asgher "Oscar" Mohiuddin, who worked for the treasurer's office since
September 2002, said he was treated badly because he is Muslim.
He said his supervisors at the child support disbursement unit were not
pleased with him praying in a conference room during his breaks and
lunch
hour. He said the room was later locked after his supervisors found out
what he was doing.
"It's kind of discrimination," Mohiuddin told investigators.
Mohiuddin said Wednesday that he is allowed to use the room to pray
now,
but he is considering filing a lawsuit.
"We got a new boss and everything is working out," he said, declining
to
comment further.
-----
ARTIST'S INSTALLATION USES VIDEO CAMERAS TO SHOW NON-ARABS WHAT IT'S
LIKE
TO BE PROFILED, FOLLOWED SINCE 9/11 ATTACKS
Sara Gebhardt, Washington Post, 1/8/04
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A63744-2004Jan7.html
Video cameras are part of the modern landscape. They are seemingly
everywhere: on the street, in the workplace, at airports and retail
stores
-- even in art galleries.
At a time when more than just conspiracy theorists believe that Big
Brother
is keeping constant tabs on them, Ann Stoddard has turned the idea of
surveillance and profiling in the post-Sept.11 era into art.
The Adelphi artist created an interactive multimedia installation at
Harmony Hall Regional Center in Fort Washington in which viewers are
confronted with their own images as seven video cameras follow them
around
the gallery.
"Random Subjects," which runs through Jan. 17, combines images of
viewers
with sound and video projections that represent Arab American culture
and
how Arab Americans have been treated since Sept. 11, 2001. Stoddard
describes the installation as a fusion of layers of words, narrative
and
photography that explores "free speech, the First Amendment and
assumptions
about democracy."
"People have gotten accustomed to surveillance and hadn't questioned
it.
How can you have a multicultural democracy with this profiling?" she
asked.
So she profiles the viewers, who are confronted by multiple images of
themselves on television monitors, a computer screen and large walls
scattered about the gallery. Many of the monitors operate on taped
delay so
that a person may see themselves entering the gallery when they are
already
immersed in the middle of the show.
At the same time, there are several different backdrops for the viewer
to
look at, including white lace curtains projecting the image of Raef
Haggag,
an Egyptian American student at the University of Maryland in College
Park
who plays the part of "the Agent." Dressed in a suit and tie, the Arab
American college senior becomes the profiler and questions the viewers,
asking where they are coming from, what their destination is, their
nationality, their religion, Social Security number, if they traveled
outside of the United States after Sept. 11, 2001, and other personal
information...
-----
TERROR PLOT IN TEXAS?
CBS News, 1/7/04
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/01/07/eveningnews/main592012.shtml
In the East Texas hamlet of Noonday -- known for onions, not anarchy --
federal agents arrested a common-law couple last April. They were
hiding a
weapons cache, including, as CBS News Correspondent Bob McNamara
reports,
the makings of a sophisticated sodium cyanide bomb capable of killing
thousands.
William Krar, 62, with ties to white supremacist groups, pleaded guilty
to
possessing a chemical weapon and faces life in prison, while
54-year-old
Judith Bruey could get five years. She pleaded guilty to conspiracy to
possess illegal weapons.
"They certainly had the capacity to be extremely dangerous," says U.S.
assistant attorney Wes Rivers.
What agents found at a storage facility shocked them.
Photographs obtained by Dallas CBS station KTVT show illegal machine
guns,
boxes filled with 500,000 rounds of ammunition, homemade bombs,
bomb-making
instructions, antidotes for nerve agents and a Ku Klux Klan calling
card...
ALSO SEE:
THINK TANK REPORT: IRAQ WMD NOT IMMINENT THREAT
Tabassum Zakaria, Reuters, 1/8/04
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=4091219&fromEmail=true
WASHINGTON - Bush administration officials "systematically"
misrepresented
the danger of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction programs, which were
not
an immediate threat to the United States and the Middle East, a report
from
a U.S. think tank said on Wednesday.
The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace said in its study, "WMD
IN
IRAQ: Evidence and Implications," that there was "no convincing
evidence"
Iraq had reconstituted its nuclear program and that U.N. weapons
inspectors
had discovered that nerve agents in Iraq's chemical weapons program had
lost most of their lethal capability as early as 1991.
There was greater uncertainty about Iraq's biological weapons, but that
threat was related to what could be developed in the future rather than
what Iraq already had, the study by the liberal-leaning think tank
said.
The missile program appeared to have been in active development in 2002
and
Iraq was expanding its capability to build missiles with ranges that
exceeded U.N. limits, it said.
The United States justified going to war against Iraq last year citing
a
threat from Baghdad's weapons of mass destruction...
---
NEOCON PAIR OUTLINES A STRATEGY TO 'END EVIL'
Nathaniel Popper, Forward, 1/8/04
http://www.forward.com/issues/2004/04.01.09/news3.html
Two of Washington's most famed neoconservatives - David Frum and
Richard
Perle - have issued a stinging critique of America's fight against
terrorism and are urging more aggressive action.
In their new book, "An End to Evil: How to Win the War on Terror"
(Random
House), Frum and Perle call for universal biometric fingerprinting,
immediate steps to bring about regime change in Iran and Syria, a
military
blockade of North Korea, a diplomatic approach that treats Saudi Arabia
and
France as rivals if not "enemies" and a decreasing American involvement
in
the United Nations. They describe their manifesto as an attempt to
present
a unifying "conservative point of view."
Often blunt and unyielding, the book succeeds in providing what some
political observers describe as the most comprehensive and coherent
summary
of the core positions held by various neoconservative camps in the wake
of
the Iraq invasion...
-----
ADMINISTRATION SEEKS FAST TRACK FOR HIGH COURT APPEAL
Charles Lane, Washington Post, 1/8/07
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A63262-2004Jan7.html
The Bush administration announced yesterday that it will ask the
Supreme
Court to put its appeal of a key terrorism case on a fast track -- a
proposal that, if accepted by the court, would enable the justices to
decide on almost all the major pending civil liberties cases related to
the
war against al Qaeda and the Taliban by summer.
In a brief filed with the court and simultaneously released to the
media,
Solicitor General Theodore B. Olson informed the justices that by Jan.
20
he will file his appeal of a New York-based federal appeals court's
ruling
last month ordering the government to either charge or free Jose
Padilla, a
U.S. citizen allegedly linked to al Qaeda who has been held
incommunicado
as an "enemy combatant" since shortly after his arrest in Chicago 19
months
ago.
Olson added that he will contact Padilla's lawyers to reach agreement
on a
schedule that would let the Supreme Court hear the oral argument by the
end
of April and issue a ruling before its recess in early July.
The administration made its request, which skips a possible appeal to
the
full membership of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit, Olson
wrote, because that court's "decision . . . incorrectly resolves issues
of
extraordinary public significance."
The request comes in the wake of lower courts' rulings rejecting the
Bush
administration's assertions of executive authority in the war on
terrorism,
on the grounds that they threaten civil liberties. The Supreme Court
itself
recently rebuffed the administration by agreeing to hear an appeal by
foreign terrorism suspects detained on the U.S. naval base at
Guantanamo
Bay, Cuba.
Thus, the administration may believe that its best hope of legal
vindication lies in quickly concentrating terrorism-related issues at a
right-of-center Supreme Court, where it is at least likely to win more
cases than it will lose, legal analysts said...
-----
GERMAN CATHOLICS: MUSLIM SCARF POLITICAL
David Rising, Associated Press, 1/7/04
BERLIN - The Muslim headscarf should be considered a political symbol
and
legislation banning public school teachers from wearing it should not
extend to religious symbols that are part of the country's ``Christian
tradition,'' a German Catholic organization said Wednesday.
The statement was the latest development in a nationwide debate that
began
in September after Germany's highest court ruled veils are allowed
unless
existing legislation outlaws them. The Federal Constitutional Court
further
said any new laws must treat all religions equally.
The Central Committee of German Catholics said banning all religious
symbols "would ignore the meaning of the Christian tradition of this
country."
The headscarf should be seen as a ``symbol against the equal rights of
women, and thus against our free democratic constitutional structure as
well as the values of our society,'' the group said.
Along those lines, the state of Lower Saxony announced Wednesday that
it
would introduce legislation next week to ban the headscarf for
schoolteachers, joining Bavaria and Baden-Wuerttemberg...
ALSO SEE:
HEADSCARF DEBATE DIVIDES THE NATION
Dilek Zaptcioglu, DW-World, 1/7/04
http://www.dw-world.de/english/0,3367,1441_A_1080238_1_A,00.html
In Turkey, there's an ongoing debate over the headscarf.
The discussion on the Muslim headscarf is becoming increasingly tainted
by
ideology, and not only in Germany and France. In Turkey, too, the
controversy increasingly threatens to divide public opinion.
It's an everyday sight in Istanbul: Fashionably coiffeured women
sitting in
the bus alongside others wearing the Muslim headscarf. In big shopping
centers, women with their heads covered stand at the sales tables next
to
others with their hair worn free.
Yet this peaceful coexistence is deceptive. In Turkey, no other topic
gets
people so worked up as the Muslim headscarf. For some, it's a symbol of
religious fanaticism and the oppression of women that ultimately has to
be
banished from public life. Others are convinced that the veiling of
women
is commanded by the Koran, and they argue that a ban would infringe
their
right to practice their religion freely - something that is anchored in
the
country's democratic constitution.
So far, the state of affairs in Turkey may sound very similar to the
situation in Germany or France; and indeed, in all these countries, the
same kind of arguments are marshalled by both sides. In Turkey, too,
the
debate is being conducted with increasingly passionate intensity
through
the various channels of the mass media. But there is one significant
difference: in contrast to the Western European countries, Turkey is
populated mainly by Muslims...
---
MSA SPONSORS U.S. HIJAB PROTEST JAN. 17
The Muslim Student Association of USA and Canada (MSA) and its
co-sponsors
are calling on President Chirac to rescind the law that is only two
weeks
away from having the power to jeopardize unduly, the right of any
Muslim
woman or schoolchild committed to devoutly practicing their religion,
from
wearing their headscarves in state schools, without fear of legal
prosecution.
MSA will hold the INTERNATIONAL DAY OF PROTEST in conjunction with
human
rights, civil rights and interfaith organizations around the world on
January 17, 2004. The protest will take place in cities where French
consulates reside including Washington, DC; San Francisco, CA; Los
Angeles,
CA; Montreal, Canada.
A 48-hour call-in and email campaign will precede the protest, as all
participating organizations will ask their members to call or email the
French consulates to vocalize their opposition to the ban on religious
wear
in schools.
WHAT: International Day of Protest Against Hijab Ban
WHERE: French Consulates in the United States
WHEN: Saturday, January 17, 2004, 11:00 A.M. - 2:00 P.M.
Contact: Shaheen Kazi, MSA National Manager: (703) 820-7900; Hadia
Mubarak, Political Action Task Force Vice-Chair: (202) 213-7608;
Ismail
Kamal, MSA Outreach Director: (202) 431-1505; Amna Arshad, DC Council
of
MSA: (703) 431-9165
-----
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-----
CAIR
Council on American-Islamic Relations
453 New Jersey Avenue, S.E.
Washington, D.C. 20003
Tel: 202-488-8787, 202-744-7726
Fax: 202-488-0833
E-mail: cair@cair-net.org
URL: http://www.cair-net.org
-----
Forwarded Message
Date:
Fri, 09 Jan 2004 16:14:47 -0500
To:
cair-net@cair.biglist.com
From:
"CAIR" <cair@cair-net.org>
Subject:
CAIR-NET: Florida Court Has 'Secret Docket' of Hidden Cases
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
AMERICAN MUSLIM NEWS BRIEFS - 1/9/04
* HADITH OF THE DAY: SEEK WHAT IS GOOD
* CAIR LIBRARY PROJECT: 100% OF D.C. SPONSORED
* CAIR-NY CONGRATULATES OMAR MOHAMMEDI ON DIALLO CASE
- CAIR-DFW Discusses Race and Ethnicity
- CAIR-Sacramento Seeks Executive Director
* FL COURT HAS 'SECRET DOCKET' OF HIDDEN CASES (Sun Sentinel)
- US Top Court to Rule on Enemy Combatant (Reuters)
- NY: Pakistani Man Bids for Freedom (Democrat & Chronicle)
* AZ: 9/11 SPARKED CHRISTIAN-MUSLIM FRIENDSHIP (E. Valley Trib.)
- Calgary Muslims Celebrate New Muslims
* DISHONEST REPLIES TO CRITICISM OF THE 'NEOCONS' (Star Tribune)
* KHAN WANTS AREA TO GET ITS SHARE (Houston Chronicle)
* BAY AREA HIJAB PROTEST JAN. 17
- Los Angeles Rally in Support of Hijab
* MI: RELIGIOUS CLOTHING CAN PROVOKE REACTION (Citizen Patriot)
- Danish Muslims Demonstrate Against French Ban (AP)
- Sikhs Ask Chirac to Spare Turbans from Ban (Reuters)
* TWIN NEWBORNS DIE AT ISRAELI CHECKPOINT (Haaretz)
* THE WEAPONS THAT WEREN'T (St. Louis Today)
- US Frees Iraqis after British Protest (Guardian)
- Is the US Military Torturing Iraqis? (Electronic Iraq)
- Confusion Marks Release of Prisoners in Iraq (Wash. Post)
* CA: CHAPLAIN JAMES YEE DEFENSE FUND CAMPAIGN KICK-OFF
* DC-AREA MUSLIM YOUTH POLITICAL AWARENESS CONFERENCE
-----
HADITH OF THE DAY: SEEK WHAT IS GOOD
The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: "There will be people
who
exaggerate in offering supplications (to God)...It is sufficient to
say, 'O
God, I seek from You all that is good, whether or not I know it (is
good),
and I seek Your refuge from all that is evil, whether or not I know (it
is
evil).'"
Fiqh-us-Sunnah, Volume 4, Number 133a
-----
CAIR LIBRARY PROJECT UPDATE: 100% OF D.C. SPONSORED
CONGRATULATIONS to the residents of the District of Columbia who
sponsored
100 percent of their 44 public libraries.
Now, let's help the state of Alabama: 293 covered, 5 more libraries to
go!
WEATHERFORD LIBRARY
WOODVILLE PUBLIC LIBRARY
WESTSIDE PUBLIC LIBRARY
UNION SPRINGS LIBRARY
WILCOX COUNTY LIBRARY
The goal of CAIR's library project is to send accurate and objective
information about Islam to America's 16,000 public libraries. Total
sponsored: 7,174.
For only $150, you may sponsor an 18-item package about Islam and
Muslims,
which are then distributed to the library of their choice.
To sponsor a library call, 1-800-392-7876, ext. 320, or visit:
www.libraryproject.org.
-----
CAIR-NY CONGRATULATES OMAR MOHAMMEDI ON DIALLO CASE SETTLEMENT
Earlier this week, a $3 million settlement was reached in the case of
Amadou Diallo, who was shot 41 times by officers of the New York Police
Department five years ago in Bronx, NY.
CAIR-NY congratulates Attorney Omar T. Mohammedi, co-counsel on the
Diallo
case, for achieving this historic settlement. The Diallo case
represents
one of the largest Civil and Human Rights cases in the history of the
United States.
Mohammedi is a commissioner on the New York City Commission on Human
Rights, the President of the New York Area Muslim Bar Association and
serves as a legal advisor to the New York Chapter of the Council on
American-Islamic Relations.
---
CAIR-DFW DISCUSSES RACE AND ETHNICITY
The Council on American Islamic Relations DFW chapter would like to
urge
members of the Muslim Community to attend and show their support at St.
Philip's School and Community Center on Jan 16th and be part of Matters
of
Race.
Matters of Race is a series that addresses our views as a society on
race
and ethnicity will be screened on Friday, January 9 and Friday, January
16
at St. Philip's School and Community Center.
On Friday, January 16, an adult panel (Mohamed Elmougy, Chairman
CAIR-DFW
will be one of the panelist) discussion and screening of Part II of the
series will begin at 6:30 p.m. This effort is a collaborative
partnership
between St. Philip's School and Community Center and KERA to assist in
creating tangible solutions with the goal of making our communities
better.
CAIR-DFW
3010 LBJ FRWY
SUITE 100
DALLAS, TX 75234
Ph: 972-241-7233
Fax: 972-241-7466
Email: info@cairdfw.org
www.cairdfw.org
---
CAIR-SACRAMENTO SEEKS EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
This position will entail being the focal point for communications,
activities, and programs in the Sacramento area. This shall include but
not
limited to:
- Day to day operation of the office including supervising the staff
- Interaction with the local Muslim community on regular basis
- Media watch and dealing with the media on an ongoing basis
- Being responsible for fund raising for the chapter and maintenance of
adequate accounting system
- Meetings with corporate and government officials as the need arises.
- Special projects and special events for the chapter
- Organize Executive Committee meetings
- Communicate with other CAIR chapters
- Any other assignment given by the Executive Committee of the Chapter
The ideal candidate will have:
- A college degree. (Humanities, Law, Business or related field is
preferred)
- Superior, verbal and written communication skills.
- Ability to raise funds and motivate the Muslim community
- Strategic planning and organizing skills
- A solid understanding of issues relating to Islam
- An outgoing and proactive disposition
A legal background and previous experience in public relations or
non-profit environment is desired but not mandatory. CAIR will provide
some
on-the-job training.
NOTES: Interested candidates should send a comprehensive resume stating
education, work history, references, along with copies of relevant
academic
certificates to:
E-mail: sacval@cair.com
Or mail to:
CAIR - Sacramento Valley
717 K Street, Suite 306
Sacramento, CA 95814
(916) 441-6269
-----
MIAMI FEDERAL COURT HAS 'SECRET DOCKET' TO KEEP SOME CASES HIDDEN FROM
PUBLIC
Ann W. O'Neill, Sun Sentinel, 1/8/04
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/southflorida/sfl-csecret08jan08,0,2167647.story
A secret docketing system hiding some sensitive Miami federal court
cases
from public view has been exposed and is being challenged in two higher
courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court.
"We don't have secret justice in this country," said Lucy Dalglish,
executive director of The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press.
The
Washington-based journalists watchdog group is asking the appellate
courts
to open up two Miami federal cases it says were litigated in secret.
The group has filed briefs in the Supreme Court and in the 11th U.S.
Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta. Representing two dozen media and
legal
organizations, it is mounting the stiffest challenge yet to a practice
legal experts say violates free speech rights and ignores established
court
decisions favoring open records and courtrooms.
The legal challenges are emerging as the higher courts are taking a
long
look at the government secrecy surrounding the detention of more than
1,000
Muslim and Middle Eastern men in the days after the Sept. 11, 2001,
terror
attacks...
SEE ALSO:
US TOP COURT TO DECIDE ENEMY COMBATANT DETENTION
James Vicini, Reuters, 1/9/04
WASHINGTON,(Reuters) - The Supreme Court agreed Friday to decide
whether a
U.S. citizen seized abroad can be kept indefinitely in a military jail,
the
latest in a series of challenges to how President Bush has conducted
the
war on terror.
The high court agreed to hear an appeal by Yaser Esam Hamdi challenging
whether U.S. officials have the power to detain him indefinitely as an
"enemy combatant" in a Navy jail in Charleston, South Carolina.
The case goes to the heart of the U.S. president's powers to detain
individuals in the war on terror. Human rights groups have denounced
the
Bush administration for detaining hundreds of prisoners without charge
--
some for up to two years -- and denying them access to lawyers.
---
PAKISTANI MAN BIDS FOR FREEDOM
Steve Orr, Democrat and Chronicle, 1/8/04
http://www.democratandchronicle.com/news/01083E2SLJJ_news.shtml
A Pakistani pizza-deliveryman, who has been held in the federal lockup
in
Batavia for two years for a seemingly minor immigration offense, is
throwing himself on the mercy of federal officials in a last-ditch bid
for
freedom.
Ansar Mahmood, who lived in Hudson, Columbia County, with a valid work
visa, was taken into custody not long after the September 2001
terrorist
attacks when he inadvertently photographed the local water-treatment
plant.
He was quickly cleared of any terrorist connections, but later was
found to
have violated an immigration law and was ordered deported.
National and international media attention and citizen protests have
given
Mahmood, 26, the highest profile of any of the immigrants at the
Federal
Detention Facility in Genesee County.
Now, however, Mahmood has withdrawn his final legal appeal of the
deportation order. Instead, in a letter dated Tuesday, his lawyer is
asking
that the Department of Homeland Security exercise its discretion and
simply
release him under a form of probation.
Homeland Security will begin a review of Mahmood's request after it
receives verification that his court challenge has been withdrawn, said
Amy
Otten, a spokeswoman for the department's Bureau of Immigration and
Customs
Enforcement. She said the review could take several weeks...
-----
9/11 HAS SPARKED FRIENDSHIP BETWEEN CHRISTIANS AND MUSLIMS
Lawn Griffits, East Valley Life, 1/7/04
http://rd.bcentral.com/?ID=1406180&s=13352782
The interfaith movement got one of its biggest boosts and probably its
most
daunting challenge oddly on Sept. 11, 2001, when four hijacked planes
became weapons for massive death in New York City, at the Pentagon and
in
Pennsylvania.
Though polarization followed and some grew wary of Muslims, some
Americans
especially the faith community rallied around Islamic communities to
confront hatred. Many set about trying to better understand Islam.
It became a crash course in Islam. Imams, spiritual leaders of mosques,
found themselves on speaking circuits and in demand to talk about the
teachings, history and culture of Islam.
The Rev. David Hodgson, pastor of the Congregational Church of the
Valley
in Scottsdale, found himself wanting to come to the defense of Muslims
in
that time two years ago.
"I got involved after Sept. 11 with the Muslims in my neighborhood," he
said. "They had applied for permission to build a mosque before Sept.
11,
and after Sept. 11, they were turned down for rather ridiculous reasons
like architecture of the mosque or that it doesn't belong in a desert
climate silly things like that..."
ALSO SEE:
CALGARY MUSLIMS TO CELEBRATE NEW MUSLIMS ON JANUARY 10
Calgary, Alberta - January 9, 2004 - The Muslim community in Calgary as
represented by the Muslim Council of Calgary announced today that it is
hosting a celebration of the individuals who have become joined the
Muslim
community in Calgary over the past few years.
The event will take place in the Strathcona community centre in SW
Calgary
at 5:30pm on Saturday January 10th, 2004. The event which is called
Salam,
or peace which is also the Muslim greeting, will include a dinner,
speeches
by prominent leaders of the community, talks by new converts and a
question
and answer session.
The program will start at 5:30 pm at the Strathcona Community Centre at
277
Strathcona Dr. SW, Calgary. More information is available at
www.calgarymuslims.com or www.abbykhalil.com. Free childcare will be
provided.
For More information, please contact:
Dr. Hatim Zaghloul
Chairman, Muslim Council of Calgary
(403) 680 1906
hzaghloul@shaw.ca
-----
DISHONEST REPLIES TO ANY CRITICISM OF THE 'NEOCONS'
Josh Marshall, Star Tribune, 1/9/04
http://www.startribune.com/stories/1519/4308758.html
One of the greatest rhetorical and moral challenges of opinion writing
is
how to respond to or critique aggressively dishonest or tendentious
arguments. One part of you wants to discuss the underlying issue with
its
complexities and ambiguities intact -- and every issue has complexities
and
ambiguities. But the niceties of conflict resolution are hardly
appropriate
or sensible if you're trapped in a dark alley with a couple of Mafia
goons.
A case in point is the increasingly brazen tendency for conservative
columnists to label any critical discussion of neoconservatism as a
form of
anti-Semitic diatribe.
A Dec. 31 column by Joel Mowbray, syndicated columnist distributed by
Knight-Ridder/Tribune, provides an example (Mowbray does not appear in
the
Star Tribune). Here are the first three paragraphs from his Dec. 31
column:
"Discussing the Iraq war with the Washington Post last week, former
General
Anthony Zinni took the path chosen by so many anti-Semites: he blamed
it on
the Jews.
"Neither President Bush nor Vice President Cheney -- nor for that
matter
Zinni's old friend, Secretary of State Colin Powell -- was to blame. It
was
the Jews. They 'captured' both Bush and Cheney, and Powell was merely
being
a 'good soldier...'
-----
KHAN WANTS AREA TO GET ITS SHARE
Betty L. Martin, Houston Chronicle, 1/6/04
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/story.hts/thisweek/zone13/news/2338218
As a child growing up in Karachi, Pakistan, M.J. Khan couldn't say no
when
his mother asked him to carry to the local mosque food she had cooked
or
garments she sewed by hand for poor neighborhood families.
It was their duty, she told him, to give something back to their
community.
Khan never forgot that lesson he underscored again last Friday, when he
became Houston's first city councilman from the Middle East. Khan said
he
plans to see Alief, Sharpstown and Gulfton projects in District F get a
larger share of city funds.
"I look at my life and I consider myself so blessed, and I owe a lot to
this society," said Khan, 53. "I love this city, I love this community
and
I love this country."
He doesn't think it's fair, though, that District F gets the least
amount
of city funds of any district. The area is scheduled to receive less
than
$55 million during the next five years out of a Capitol Improvement
Program
budget that allots the top-dollar district more than $650 million.
"District F needs a lot of attention -- our park space, our traffic and
our
flooding problems receive the least amount," Khan said...
-----
BAY AREA INTERFAITH GROUPS TO RALLY IN SUPPORT OF FRENCH SISTERS
WHAT: Show your opposition to Chirac's religiously intolerant proposal
http://www.msa.berkeley.edu%20
WHERE: San Francisco City Hall (1 Dr. Carlton B. Place). March will
continue to French Consulate building
WHEN: Saturday, January 17th, 2004 TIME: 11 AM SHARP!
WHAT: Protest in unity with the WORLD & tell France that Americans do
not
support religious-intolerance.
We encourage sisters to come out in large numbers to this rally. Wear
WHITE
HIJABS to show solidarity.
Sponsored by MSA West, MSA National, CAIR-SFBA, MAS Freedom Foundation,
Sacred Roots, among others.
If you have any questions/comments, please write to:
msawest_officers@yahoogroups.com or call the CAIR SFBA office at
408-986-9874. Visit http://www.msa.berkeley.edu for more information.
SEE ALSO:
LA RALLY IN SUPPORT OF HIJAB AND RELIGIOUS FREEDOM IN FRANCE
Show your opposition to Chirac's religiously intolerant proposal. Join
in
an effort to stop Islamophobia in France.
WHAT: Support religious freedom in France! Protest against the proposed
ban
on hijab!
WHERE: Westwood Federal Building, 11000 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, CA
WHEN: Saturday, January 17th, 2004
TIME: 12 noon to 3 pm
Sponsored by CAIR-LA, MSA-West, MSA National, Project Islamic H.O.P.E.,
Islamic Shura Council of So. Cal., ICNA, MAS
To add your name as co-sponsor, contact CAIR-LA or MSA-West
CONTACT: CAIR-LA (714) 776-1847 or socal@cair.com; MSA-West
www.msawest.org
-----
RELIGIOUS CLOTHING CAN PROVOKE REACTION, BUT THOSE WHO WEAR IT SEE IT
AS A
RIGHT
Caryn Meyers Fliegler, Jackson Citizen Patriot, 1/9/04
http://www.mlive.com/news/jacitpat/index.ssf?/base/features-0/1073667961192700.xml
Less than a month ago, French President Jacques Chirac proposed a ban
in
French public schools on conspicuous religious clothing such as Muslim
headscarves, Jewish skullcaps and large Christian crosses.
He also opened the door for French businesses to ban such clothing,
saying
it detracts from the country's secular tradition (although many
residents
said the ban's real goal was to defend French culture against the
influence
of a growing Muslim population).
Kathy Glick, president of Temple Beth Israel synagogue in Jackson, does
not
wear religious garb. But as a Jewish woman and active member of her
synagogue, she read the news and worried about the message it might
send.
"I think it would be appalling to ask an Orthodox (Jewish) man to not
wear
a yarmulke," Glick said, referring to the Jewish skullcap that men wear
to
show deference to God. "It shows so little respect for people's
religions."
While the ban was proposed in France, it has struck a chord here at
home.
Religious clergy and Jackson-area residents have expressed concern
about
placing limits on religious expression...
In a statement issued following Chirac's proposal, the Michigan Council
for
American-Islamic Relations called for Americans to protest France's
actions. MCAIR stated that "to Muslim women and men, wearing modest
attire
is not a political statement or a cultural practice imposed by others.
It
is the fulfillment of a religious requirement..."
SEE ALSO:
DANISH MUSLIMS DEMONSTRATE AGAINST PROPOSED FRENCH BAN OF HEAD SCARVES
Associated Press, 1/9/04
COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) - Some 700 Muslims marched through Copenhagen
Friday to protest France's proposed law to ban conspicuous religious
garments from schools, including traditional Islamic head scarves.
"France has always been a model of democracy and civil liberties for
the
whole world, and now they want to ban head scarves; that doesn't make
sense," said imam Mohammad al Barazi, leader of Denmark's Islamic
Association.
The march ended in front of the French Embassy, where al Barazi and
Dina
Dkeidik, a young woman wearing a head scarf, gave a letter addressed to
French President Jacques Chirac to Regis de Belenet, the ambassador.
On Wednesday, the French government made public a bill promoting
secularism
in schools. The ban would include wearing head scarves and other
conspicuous religious symbols, such as Jewish skullcaps and large
crosses,
in public schools.
Muslims who follow a strict interpretation of Islam consider it
obligatory
for women to cover their heads.
---
FRENCH SIKHS ASK CHIRAC TO SPARE TURBANS FROM BAN
Reuters, 1/9/04
PARIS - France's Sikhs, recalling their ancestors died for this country
with their turbans on, urged President Jacques Chirac on Friday to
exempt
them from a planned law banning religious symbols from public schools.
Chain Singh, spokesman for the community, wrote to Chirac that Sikhs in
Britain, Canada and the United States had been granted exemptions to
work
in the police and the military with their trademark turbans "without
any
problems".
"We invite the French government to grant the same freedom to Sikhs in
this
country so the Sikh religion can be properly respected and protected,"
he said.
Singh said including Sikh turbans in the planned law, which bans all
religious symbols in a move mostly aimed at stopping Muslim schoolgirls
from wearing Islamic headscarves, would mean a setback in the
community's
relations with the French.
"During the (first) world war, our Sikh ancestors died for France -
with
their turbans on," he recalled. Thousands of Sikhs fought in France
then as
part of the British army.
-----
AND THE TWINS DIED
Gideon Levy, Haaretz, 1/8/04
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/380975.html
The twin girls died one after the other. The first to die was the one
who
was born first, at the checkpoint. Several hours later came the death
of
her sister, who was born a few minutes after they finally left the
checkpoint, and who managed to reach the hospital alive. One lived for
less
than an hour, the other for less than a day. The death certificate
lists
their ages as one day old and zero. One died in the arms of her
grandmother, the other was carried in the arms of her aunt, while their
mother was lying in an ambulance, freezing, trembling, exhausted and
humiliated after what she had gone through at the IDF checkpoint near
her
village.
This past Sunday, the two bespectacled soldiers at the checkpoint at
the
entrance to Deir Balut direct us with unusual politeness to the path
through the fields that leads to the village. The asphalt road to the
village is regularly closed off with cement blocks and barbed wire,
despite
the fact that there is a manned checkpoint at the other end. Why is
travel
forbidden on the main road, and allowed only on the rocky path? Only in
order to subject the 4,000 residents of this attractive village to
further
mistreatment, and to pacify the settlers in the area, residents of
Paduel,
Alei Zahav and Beit Aryeh, who whiz past on the well-paved Jewish
roads.
Lamis, 25, Raad, 36, and Sabaa, 15 months old. A young and attractive
couple with a daughter, a house in the village and horses in the yard.
They
married five years ago. Raad studied accounting for four years in
Bombay,
India, worked as a croupier in the casino in Jericho and is now
unemployed,
and makes a little money from agriculture, in his family's olive grove.
A
tattered black leather jacket and gel in his hair. The couple was
eagerly
awaiting the birth of the twins that Lamis was carrying. She was in her
seventh month, and they knew that she was about to give birth...
-----
THE WEAPONS THAT WEREN'T
St. Louis Today, 1/8/04
http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/News/Editorial%2B/%2BCommentary/B4793E46BEFAC4A786256E15003E074D?OpenDocument&Headline=The%2Bweapons%2Bthat%2Bweren
The U.S. search for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq is winding down
without finding any weapons. U.S. investigators have closed their files
on
Iraq's chemical and nuclear program. Military forces assigned to the
Iraq
Survey Group are being diverted to other tasks. And David Kay, head of
the
Survey Group, is reportedly considering resigning.
Still, U.S. and British officials refuse to concede what is becoming
increasingly obvious: All of the evidence to date indicates that the
prewar
assessments were way off.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair told British troops last month that
Mr.
Kay's group had produced "massive evidence of a huge system of
clandestine
laboratories, (and) workings by scientists." But when a British
reporter
read Mr. Blair's assessment to L. Paul Bremer - minus Mr. Blair's name
-
the U.S. administrator in Baghdad said, "I don't know where those words
come from, but that is not what David Kay has said." After Mr. Bremer
was
told the source of the quote, he added in embarrassment, "There is
actually
a lot of evidence."
Meanwhile, back in the states, Stuart Cohen, vice chairman of the
National
Intelligence Council, appeared Tuesday night on ABC's "Nightline" to
insist
that it is "nonsense" to suggest that intelligence officials shaded
their
judgments to gin up support for the war. Yet Mr. Kay has said quite
clearly, "We have not found, at this point, actual weapons..."
ALSO SEE:
US FREES IRAQIS AFTER BRITISH PROTEST
Guardian, 1/8/04
http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,1118243,00.html
The most senior US official in Iraq, Paul Bremer, announced that more
than
500 Iraqi prisoners held without charge would be released from prison
today
in what he described as a gesture of goodwill.
The move follows pressure behind the scenes from British officials in
Baghdad who have been alarmed at the large numbers of Iraqis scooped up
by
the American military during routine operations.
In a move apparently designed to deflect growing criticism of America's
human rights record in Iraq, Mr Bremer said today's release of
prisoners
was in the interests of "reconciliation".
"It is time for Iraqis to make common cause in building the new Iraq,"
he
said.
Meanwhile yesterday a British soldier died following what the Ministry
of
Defence called a "tragic incident" on a training range near Basra and
35
American soldiers were wounded in a mortar attack on a US base west of
Baghdad, the US military said...
---
IS THE US MILITARY TORTURING IRAQIS WITH ELECTRICITY?
Dahr Jamail, Electronic Iraq, 1/8/04
http://electroniciraq.net/news/1313.shtml
Sadiq Zoman Abrahim, 55 years old, was detained this past August in
Kirkuk
by US Soldiers during a home raid which produced no weapons. He was
taken
to the police office in Kirkuk, questioned by the Americans there, then
transferred to Kirkuk Airport Detention Center.
It was from this detention center he was transferred to Tikrit Airport
Detention Center. While in this detention center Mr. Abrahim managed to
find a man who was about to be released, and have him pass on to his
family
information about where he was.
It was from this place that the Americans transferred him, comatose, to
the
hospital in Tikrit.
Acting on this information the family searched the hospital, but was
unable
to find him. While there, hospital staff (who wish to remain anonymous)
informed them they had someone in a coma by the name of Abrahim Sadiq
Zoman, who was dropped off two days prior by the Americans.
According to staff at the hospital, the only information provided by
the
Americans was the incorrect name and a medical report which said Mr.
Abrahim had suffered a heart attack. They provided no information as to
where he had been picked up, no address and no other personal
information...
---
CONFUSION MARKS RELEASE OF PRISONERS IN IRAQ
Pamela Constable, Washington Post, 1/9/04
http://www.thesunlink.com/redesign/2004-01-09/nationworld/372235.shtml
BAGHDAD - Two U.S. military trucks rumbled out of Baghdad's central
prison
Thursday afternoon, with dozens of waving hands visible above the sides
of
the truck beds. A mile down the highway, they suddenly halted. Military
police lowered the tailgates, and 66 men tumbled out to the pavement,
disheveled and bewildered.
The prisoners' release came after U.S. officials announced they would
begin
freeing as many as 500 nonviolent detainees as part of an amnesty
program
designed to encourage public support, thus arousing hopes among
families of
an estimated 9,000 prisoners currently in military custody. A U.S.
official, however, would not say whether the group freed Thursday was
part
of that program.
Within moments, the men were surrounded by camera crews and mobbed by
Iraqis who had waited all day outside the Abu Ghraib prison for news of
their detained relatives. But there were no shrieks of recognition or
tearful embraces. Instead, strangers thrust snapshots into the men's
faces,
demanding to know if the freed prisoners had seen their sons or
brothers...
The newly released prisoners peered at the photos and shook their
heads.
"No, I'm sorry, I haven't seen him," they replied again and again,
glancing
at the military police with assault rifles standing guard. Within a few
minutes, most of the freed Iraqis had been offered rides and vanished
into
the traffic.
It was a bizarre and inconclusive ending to a day that had begun with
intense anticipation among prisoners' families following the
announcement
Tuesday of the conditional amnesty program by U.S. officials, who said
they
would begin by releasing the first 100 detainees on Thursday...
-----
CHAPLAIN JAMES YEE DEFENSE FUND CAMPAIGN KICK-OFF
What: Chaplain James Yee Defense Fund Campaign Kick-off
When: Saturday, January 10, 2004
Time: 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm
Where: Crowne Plaza, 1221 Chess Drive, Foster City, Ca 94404, (near
Freeway 101 and Highway 92, San Mateo Bridge)
Who: Mr. Eugene Fidell, Captain James Yee's civilian defense lawyer,
expert in military law and Mr. & Mrs. Joseph Yee, Captain Yee's parents
Admission: $25 per person, $15 per student
Checks payable to Justice for New Americans
-----
DC-AREA MUSLIM YOUTH POLITICAL AWARENESS CONFERENCE
WHAT: The Shia Muslim youth in the Washington D.C. Metropolitan area
will
hold their second annual youth conference, titled "Current Awareness."
The
theme's purpose is to promote a more prominent voice in the American
political arena.
WHEN: Saturday, January 10, 2004 from noon to 7 p.m.
WHERE: Idara-e-Jaferia Islamic Center, 3140 Spencerville Rd.,
Burtonsville,
MD, 20866
CONTACT: For more information, call Azmat Husain at 240-475-1814,
Moulana
Syed Naqvi at 301-840-3744, or email azmathusain@jaferiayouth.org.
-----
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-----
CAIR
Council on American-Islamic Relations
453 New Jersey Avenue, S.E.
Washington, D.C. 20003
Tel: 202-488-8787, 202-744-7726
Fax: 202-488-0833
E-mail: cair@cair-net.org
URL: http://www.cair-net.org
-----
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
AMERICAN MUSLIM NEWS BRIEFS - 1/11/04
* HADITH OF THE DAY: BRIEF ADVICE
* CAIR-CAN: MUSLIM GROUP CONDEMNS ANTI-JEWISH ARTICLE (CP)
- Ottawa Program Builds Ties Between Jews, Somalis (JTA)
* U.S. MUSLIMS MOBILIZE POLITICALLY (Baltimore Sun)
- Muslim Vote May be Shifting (Religion News Service)
* MUSLIMS FOUND TERRORISM ALERT HARD TO BEAR (AP)
* REPORT: BUSH PLANNED IRAQI INVASION PRE-9/11 (Reuters)
- Bush Sought 'Way' To Invade Iraq? (60 Minutes)
* KS MUSLIMS BREAKS WITH TRADITION TO HONOR TEEN (Journal-World)
* FREEDOM CHERISHED IN ISLAM (Erie Times-News)
-----
HADITH OF THE DAY: BRIEF ADVICE
A man once asked the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) to offer some
advice, but to make it brief. The Prophet replied: "When you stand up
to
pray, perform your prayer as if it were your last, do not say anything
you
will have to make an excuse for tomorrow and resolve to give up all
hopes
of what men possess."
Al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 1373
-----
MUSLIM ANTI-DISCRIMINATION GROUP CONDEMNS ARTICLE RACIST AGAINST JEWS
Canadian Press, 1/9/04
http://www.canada.com/vancouver/news/story.asp?id=AA79D4EF-7809-4C52-A3F0-6EE76D4AE8F6
VANCOUVER (CP) - Muslims with an anti-discrimination group on Friday
condemned an article in a B.C. newspaper that accused Jews of faking
the
Holocaust and staging the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
"I think the article is just atrocious, it's certainly hateful. I would
certainly call it vile and malicious and serves only to scapegoat the
Jewish community," said Riad Saloojee, executive director of the
Council on
American-Islamic Relations Canada.
"I think it's particularly disheartening that it's in a Muslim
newspaper.
This sort of hateful diatribe is really at odds with Islam…"
"Islam is very categorical about the fact that everybody is to be
treated
equally, no one should be discriminated against," Saloojee explained...
SEE ALSO:
IN OTTAWA, PROGRAM HELPS BUILD TIES BETWEEN JEWS AND SOMALIS
Balint Molnar, JTA, 1/11/04
http://www.jta.org/page_view_story.asp?intarticleid=13643&intcategoryid=2
OTTAWA, Canada, Jan. 9 (JTA) - Ottawa's Jewish Family Services is
helping
improve Muslim-Jewish relations in Canada's capital by mentoring a
Somali
community organization.
The partnership - which recently won an award from the Canadian Race
Relations Foundation - also is helping to shape Ottawa's emerging
ethnic
mosaic…
Ottawa's 18,000 Somalis constitute the city's largest Muslim group from
a
single country. There are about 60,000 Muslims in Ottawa - roughly
one-tenth of the country's total Muslim population - according to the
Ottawa Muslim Network, a non-profit information center…
Riad Saloojee, executive director of the Canadian chapter of the
Council on
American-Islamic Relations, agrees that the community-to-community
partnership is very significant.
"There have been some important contacts between the Muslim and Jewish
communities on the leadership level," says Saloojee, referring to the
regular meetings between Rabbi Reuven Bulka of Ottawa and the city's
main
imam. "This cooperation, however, is possibly even more important as it
operates on the community level, directly benefiting members..."
-----
PROGRAM SEEKS TO MOBILIZE MUSLIMS POLITICALLY
Event part of effort to build a voting bloc
Frank Langfitt, Baltimore Sun, 1/11/04
http://www.sunspot.net/news/local/bal-md.muslim11jan11,0,3506779.story
BURTONSVILLE - In the nearly quarter-century since Zainab Husain came
to
the United States, voting never seemed to matter. Born in India, Husain
raised a family in Perry Hall, worked as a medical lab technician at
Johns
Hopkins Hospital and never registered to vote.
"Now, things have changed," said Husain, 46, as she filled out a voter
registration form yesterday at a Montgomery County mosque. "I think
every
vote counts."
Husain joined hundreds of other Muslims yesterday at the
Idara-e-Jaferia
Islamic Center in Burtonsville for a daylong "Current Awareness"
program to
mobilize Muslim political participation in post-9/11 America. In
addition
to the voter drive, the program included seminars on building
relationships
with non-Muslims, improving the image of Muslims in the news media and
balancing Islamic faith with American identity.
By day's end, organizers said they had registered 275 voters.
Yesterday's event is part of a growing effort around the country to
build a
Muslim voting bloc, which many Muslims hope might help unseat President
Bush. Worried by what they see as attacks on their civil liberties
under
the Bush administration, Muslims are trying to build political
consciousness.
As the election season approaches, the Arab American Institute plans
voter
drives and rallies in Iowa before the Jan. 19 caucus and in Michigan
before
its Feb. 7 primary. The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) is
coordinating a nationwide voter drive at mosques in early February...
The United States has a long tradition of political organizing among
immigrant groups, most prominently Irish and Italians. Because of their
relatively recent arrival and relatively small numbers, Muslims are
still
in the early stages.
Muslims began arriving in the United States in significant numbers
after
the passage of the 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act, which removed
strict immigration quotas. Most Muslims spent the next couple of
decades
focusing on family life and building community infrastructure -
including
mosques, schools and social service organizations - said Mohamed Nimer,
research director at CAIR…
Many Muslims were jolted into political consciousness in 1995 with the
bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City.
Suspicion fell on Middle Easterners until authorities arrested a pair
of
Americans.
"People felt, 'Look, we're easy prey," Nimer said in a phone interview
last
week. "Anybody can say anything about us, and we can easily fall
through
the cracks of any political crisis."
The fallout from 9/11 has exacerbated fears stirred in 1995. After the
Sept. 11 attacks, the work of 19 Muslims, thousands of Arabs and
Muslims
were registered and detained in the United States…
SEE ALSO:
MUSLIM VOTE MAY BE SHIFTING
Religion News Service
http://www.dallasnews.com/religion/stories/011004dnrelwiremuslim.667e9.html
The result was hardly a surprise, noted Salam Al-Marayati, director of
the
Muslim Public Affairs Council. A 2004 presidential straw poll conducted
at
MPAC's annual convention showed President George W. Bush trailing four
Democratic contenders, led by Howard Dean, largely because of the
former
Vermont governor's staunch criticism of the war in Iraq.
Dr. Dean polled 67 percent, followed by Rep. Dennis Kucinich with 17
percent, retired Gen. Wesley Clark with 8 percent, and Sen. John Kerry
with
4 percent. Mr. Bush garnered a meager 2 percent of the straw ballots
cast
by the 800 Muslims at the late December convention held in Long Beach,
Calif. Not even a convention appearance by the White House's Muslim
liaison, Ali Tulbah, appeared to help.
Mr. Bush's dismal showing came less than four years after MPAC joined
other
leading American Muslim groups in issuing their first-ever presidential
endorsement: the Republican Bush. But then came the Sept. 11, 2001,
terrorist attacks, and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, all of which
has
impacted immensely the political fortunes, and thinking, of American
Muslims.
In the current climate, "90 percent of the community is now dead set
against the Republican Party, not to mention Bush," said the Los
Angeles-based Al-Marayati, who backed Bill Clinton before switching
parties
in 2000.
Even Muslim Republican activists say Mr. Bush has little hope of
repeating
his 2000 success among Muslims.
"I hate to say it," said Khalid Saffuri, who runs the Islamic
Institute, a
Republican support group in Washington, "but right now very few Muslims
will vote for George Bush again, or support the Republican Party.
They're
that angry."
The anger stems from the prevailing Muslim perception that the Bush
administration's war on terrorism has unwarrantedly cast suspicion on
the
entire American Muslim community, and has illegally curtailed their
constitutional rights. It has also led Muslim leaders to realize that
they
have little real influence on White House policies. That, plus concerns
over recent polls showing a marked jump in the number of Americans
holding
negative views of Islam, has convinced some Muslim activists that the
Washington-centered, top-down political approach previously favored has
gained them little.
Increasingly, they say the focus must be on building grassroots
political
bases if their issues are to receive fair hearings, and their futures
in
America to be secured. Another shift is also evident among some
non-Middle
East Muslims, who say that given the current situation they are no
longer
willing to let Arab-American Muslims keep the community's primary
public
focus on the Middle East, particularly the Israeli-Palestinian
conflict...
-----
MUSLIMS FOUND TERRORISM ALERT HARD TO BEAR
WAYNE PARRY, Associated Press, 1/11/04
http://www.oaklandtribune.com/Stories/0,1413,82~1865~1884695,00.html
BUTLER, N.J. (AP) - Rehab Elmoslemany had been at Newark Liberty
International Airport for more than seven hours, waiting for a
much-delayed
flight to Egypt while security officials questioned her about who she
was,
where she was going and why.
It was after midnight on Christmas by the time she, her husband and
their
two children were allowed to board their flight to Alexandria for a
family
wedding. The kids kicked off their shoes, and 6-year-old Kareem
Abdel-Kader
whined that he was hungry.
Then two men walked up the aisle and ordered the family off the plane,
refusing to say why or where they would be taken, she said.
"I was in my husband's arms, crying hysterically," said Elmoslemany, an
Egyptian native who became an American citizen two years ago. "My son
said,
`What did we do? Are they taking you to jail?'"…
Similar scenes played out across the nation during the three weeks that
that the color-coded terrorism alert was at orange, the second-highest
level, indicating a high risk of a terrorist attack. The alert was
lowered
to yellow on Friday, but airports remain on high alert.
Authorities have said they believe terrorists will try to use an
airliner
in another attack on the U.S. About two dozen flights were canceled due
to
security fears during that period.
Many of those being scrutinized are Muslim, adding to a feeling of
persecution reported by many Muslims since the Sept. 11 terror attacks…
Muslims are getting used to the scrutiny - and fed up with it, said
immigration lawyer Sohail Mohammed. "Now we're about ready to say it's
not
worth flying every time there's one of these heightened security
alerts...
-----
REPORT: BUSH PLANNED IRAQI INVASION PRE-SEPT. 11
Reuters, 1/10/04
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=4105391
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Former Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill charges in
a
new book that President Bush entered office in January 2001 intent on
invading Iraq and was in search of a way to go about it…
To go to war, Bush used the argument that Iraq possessed weapons of
mass
destruction and had to be stopped in the post-Sept. 11, 2001, world.
The
weapons have never been found.
"From the very beginning, there was a conviction that Saddam Hussein
was a
bad person and that he needed to go," O'Neill said in the "60 Minutes"
interview scheduled to air on Sunday. "For me, the notion of
pre-emption,
that the U.S. has the unilateral right to do whatever we decide to do,
is a
really huge leap."
CBS released excerpts from the interview on Friday and Saturday.
The former treasury secretary and other White House insiders gave
Suskind
documents that in the first three months of 2001 revealed the Bush
administration was examining military options for removing Saddam
Hussein,
CBS said.
"There are memos," Suskind told CBS. "One of them marked 'secret' says
'Plan for Post-Saddam Iraq."'
Another Pentagon document entitled "Foreign suitors for Iraqi Oil Field
Contracts" talks about contractors from 40 countries and which ones
have
interest in Iraq, Suskind said.
O'Neill was also quoted in the book as saying the president was
determined
to find a reason to go to war and he was surprised nobody on the
National
Security Council questioned why Iraq should be invaded.
"It was all about finding a way to do it. That was the tone of it,"
said
O'Neill. "The president saying 'Go find me a way to do this…"'
SEE ALSO:
BUSH SOUGHT 'WAY' TO INVADE IRAQ?
CBS News "60 Minutes," 1/11/04
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/01/09/60minutes/main592330.shtml
And what happened at President Bush's very first National Security
Council
meeting is one of O'Neill's most startling revelations.
"From the very beginning, there was a conviction, that Saddam Hussein
was a
bad person and that he needed to go," says O'Neill, who adds that going
after Saddam was topic "A" 10 days after the inauguration - eight
months
before Sept. 11.
"From the very first instance, it was about Iraq. It was about what we
can
do to change this regime," says Suskind. "Day one, these things were
laid
and sealed."
As treasury secretary, O'Neill was a permanent member of the National
Security Council. He says in the book he was surprised at the meeting
that
questions such as "Why Saddam?" and "Why now?" were never asked.
"It was all about finding a way to do it. That was the tone of it. The
president saying 'Go find me a way to do this,'" says O'Neill. "For me,
the
notion of pre-emption, that the U.S. has the unilateral right to do
whatever we decide to do, is a really huge leap."
And that came up at this first meeting, says O'Neill, who adds that the
discussion of Iraq continued at the next National Security Council
meeting
two days later.
He got briefing materials under this cover sheet. "There are memos. One
of
them marked, secret, says, 'Plan for post-Saddam Iraq,'" adds Suskind,
who
says that they discussed an occupation of Iraq in January and February
of
2001.
Based on his interviews with O'Neill and several other officials at the
meetings, Suskind writes that the planning envisioned peacekeeping
troops,
war crimes tribunals, and even divvying up Iraq's oil wealth…
-----
MUSLIM COMMUNITY BREAKS WITH TRADITION TO HONOR TEEN'S LIFE
Eric Weslander, Journal-World, 1/9/04
http://www.ljworld.com/section/citynews/story/157494
She replied without hesitation that she would give it all to the
Islamic
Center of Lawrence, 1917 Naismith Drive.
But the 16-year-old Free State High School scholar -- who died Dec. 28
in a
car wreck near Columbia, Mo. -- ended up leaving a different gift for
the
Islamic Center. On Thursday, there was no room to sit and barely room
to
stand inside the building as about 300 people from throughout Lawrence
crowded in to celebrate Sarah's unusual, exemplary life.
Memorial services are not part of the Muslim tradition, and there had
never
been one at the local Islamic Center until Thursday. The center's board
made an exception because of the flood of community support in the wake
of
Sarah's death, said her father, Moussa Elbayoumy, the center's
director.
"Part of her gift to us is that she, for the last few years, has been
trying to work as a living bridge between the Muslim community and the
Lawrence community," Moussa Elbayoumy said. "A lot of these people had
never ... heard a call to prayer or a reading from the Quran. She
brought
all these people to the Islamic center in a good context."
Sarah had a deep faith, her father said, but she didn't preach.
Instead,
she tried to live her life as "a beacon," Moussa Elbayoumy said…
-----
FREEDOM CHERISHED IN ISLAM
Erie Times-News, 11/10/04
http://goerie.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040110/LIFESTYLES03/101100292
Islam indeed is a religion of freedom in every sense of the word.
The famous rule in the books of jurisprudence, extracted from the
Quran, is
"people are given charge over themselves and what they own."
Therefore, anyone can do as he wishes with regard to his own body or
his
own possessions, on the condition that what he does is not forbidden by
the
Islamic laws. And the Holy prophet Muhammad said, "Do not be slave to
anyone and God created you free."
Freedom, both as a concept and as a value, has been denied to many
individuals, groups and nations. It has often been misunderstood and
abused...
The Islamic concept of freedom applies to all voluntary activities in
all
walks of life. As already stated, every man is born free on the fitrah
- in
a pure state of nature. This means that man is born free from
subjugation,
sin, inherited inferiority and ancestral hindrance. His right of
freedom is
sacred as long as he does not deliberately violate the law of God or
violate the rights of others.
One of the main objectives of Islam is to emancipate the mind from
superstition and uncertainties, the soul from sin and corruption, the
conscience from oppression and fear, and the body from disorder and
degeneration…
In the words of the Quran, Allah says: "Let there be no compulsion in
religion. Truth stands out clear from error. Whoever rejects evil and
believes in God has grasped the strongest bond that never breaks. And
God
knows and hears all things." (Quran, 2:256)
"The Truth is from your Lord. Let him who will, believe, and let him
who
will, disbelieve." (Quran, 18:29)
The Islamic concept of freedom is an article of faith, a solemn command
from the Supreme Creator. There is no room for religious persecutions,
class conflict, or racial prejudice. The individual's right of freedom
is
as sacred as his right of life; freedom is the equivalent of life
itself.
-----
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-----
CAIR
Council on American-Islamic Relations
453 New Jersey Avenue, S.E.
Washington, D.C. 20003
Tel: 202-488-8787, 202-744-7726
Fax: 202-488-0833
E-mail: cair@cair-net.org
URL: http://www.cair-net.org
-----
In the Name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful
CAIR ACTION ALERT #410
CAIR LAUNCHES EID UL-ADHA VOTER REGISTRATION DRIVE
- Step-by-Step Guide to Voter Registration
- Sample Eid Voter Drive Media Advisory
(WASHINGTON, D.C., 1/12/2004) - CAIR today announced plans for a major
voter registration drive designed to coincide with Eid ul-Adha. Eid
ul-Adha
will occur on February 1 or 2, depending on the sighting of the new
moon.
CAIR is calling on Islamic communities nationwide to register Muslim
voters
at the festivals commonly held following Eid prayers. These festivals
draw
thousands of Muslims in each community and offer an excellent
opportunity
to distribute voter registration materials.
To facilitate the registration effort, CAIR is distributing a
step-by-step
guide, "How to Conduct a Voter Registration Guide," (see below)
containing
an explanation of why Muslims should participate in the political
process,
requirements for voting eligibility and instructions on how to conduct
a
voter registration drive. The guide also contains a sample Eid voter
registration news release for local communities.
"Active political participation by American Muslims is no longer an
option,
it is a necessity," said CAIR Board Chairman Omar Ahmad. "It is only
through the power of the vote that Muslims will have their concerns
addressed by political candidates and elected representatives."
CAIR is asking khatibs nationwide to encourage voting in their khutbas
on
Eid ul-Adha. Eid festival organizers should also set up voter
registration
tables in bazaars.
Reasons why Muslims should vote:
* Supporting accommodation of Islamic religious requirements in the
workplace and in schools
* Creating a safe and drug-free environment for families
* Challenging discrimination and stereotyping
* Encouraging foreign and domestic policies that are based on justice
* Deciding how your tax dollars are used
Who may register to vote?
To be eligible to vote, a person:
a) Must be a citizen of the United States
b) Must live in the state where he/she is registering
c) Must be at least 18 years old by the date of the next general
election
d) Must not claim the right to vote in any other state
IMMEDIATE ACTION REQUESTED:
1. Plan and conduct an Eid voter registration drive using the guide
below.
NOTE: INFORM CAIR OF ANY VOTER REGISTRATION PLANS.
2. Make lists of newly-registered voters. (Mail a copy to CAIR.) If
your
community volunteers to hold a registration drive, please contact:
Hasan
Mansori, 202-488-8787, hmansori@cair-net.org
3. Invite local candidates to Eid activities. Offer to let them say a
few
words to the community.
4. Imams should use part of their Eid khutba to encourage community
members
to register.
5. Inform CAIR about all those who have registered or who are already
registered. We are building a national Muslim voter database.
-----
HOW TO CONDUCT A VOTER REGISTRATION DRIVE
1. Gather 2 to 4 members of the community to coordinate the drive.
2. Choose the location of the event - a local mosque, community center
or
school are ideal.
3. Choose the date and time for the event - make sure that the timing
is
convenient, and fits into the normal schedule of the community. Eid
ul-Adha
festivals and prayers are the best opportunity in the near future.
4. Call or visit your state election office for materials to be used in
your voter drive. Call your county government administration for
registration information. You can also do a www.google.com search using
the
term "voter registration in [your state]."
SEE ALSO:
Federal Election Commission, (800) 424-9530
Frequently Asked Questions About Voter Registration and Voting
http://www.fec.gov/pages/faqs.htm
State Voter Registration Requirements
http://www.fec.gov/pages/Voteinst.htm
5. Consider making the drive an event. Invite local and national
candidates
from all parties to participate in a forum at your mosque or facility
to
discuss the issues. At minimum, set up a voter registration booth after
Jumah prayer or other community events.
6. Inform the community about the drive. Announce the event at Jumah
and
other community activities. Distribute a flyer to advertise the
registration drive.
7. Contact the media in advance and let them know about the drive.
Events
of this nature are an excellent opportunity to obtain positive press
coverage of the Muslim community. Contact CAIR for advice on holding a
media event.
8. Make sure you have enough registration materials. Keep track of how
many
voters you have registered.
9. Conduct the drive. Make sure you have read all the instructions
carefully, and help people in filling out the form.
10. Follow up. Completed voter registration forms should be sent or
dropped
off at your state election office within a specified time period. Make
sure
to contact them afterwards to confirm that the registration forms were
accepted.
11. Be sure to write and thank speakers for attending. Thank the
community
for participating.
12. Inform CAIR of the number of voters your organization registered.
What method can be used to return completed application(s)?
a) Delivery through the postal system. The applicant can deliver the
voter
registration application through the postal system.
b) Delivery in person. The applicant can deliver the voter registration
application form in person to their local registration office.
c) Delivery by a third party. See:
http://www.fec.gov/votregis/pdf/nvra.pdf
and select your state to find appropriate mailing address.
-----
PUBLICIZE YOUR VOTER REGISTRATION DRIVE
The following media advisory may be modified and used by local
communities
to publicize a voter registration drive. Send to the newspaper "city
editor," television station "assignment editors" and radio station
"news
directors." Just call each media outlet to get the contact information.
Also send to the "daybook editor" at the nearest Associated Press
bureau.
---
[Insert Your Local Organization Name and Address Here]
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
- MEDIA ADVISORY -
LOCAL MUSLIMS TO HOLD VOTER REGISTRATION DRIVE
Effort designed to coincide with end-of-pilgrimage festival
WHAT: On [date in bold], the [location] Muslim community will hold a
voter
registration drive following Eid ul-Adha (EED-al-ODD-ha) prayers
marking
the end of the Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, or Hajj.
Eid ul-Adha, or the "feast of sacrifice," commemorates the Prophet
Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his son Ishmael at God's command.
The
holiday is celebrated with the prayers, small gifts for children,
distribution of meat to the needy and social gatherings.
Festivals following Eid ul-Adha prayers draw thousands of Muslims in
local
communities and offer an excellent opportunity to distribute voter
registration materials.
The voter drive is part of an effort coordinated by the
Washington-based
Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR).
There are more than [number] of Muslims in the [city name] metro area,
an
estimated seven million in America and some 1.2 billion worldwide.
Demographers say Islam is one of the fastest growing religions in this
country and around the world.
WHEN: [ Insert date in bold here ]
WHERE: [Name of mosque and street address]
CONTACT: [Group name or person, phone, fax, cell phone]
NOTE: Because the prayer portion of the Eid festival is a religious
service, reporters and photographers of both sexes should dress
modestly.
That means no shorts for men or short skirts for women. Some
communities
may ask female reporters and photographers to put a scarf over their
hair
while in the actual prayer area. Photographers should arrive early to
get
into position for the best shots. Photographers are also advised not to
step directly in front of worshipers and to seek permission for
close-up shots.
- END -
- PLEASE ANNOUNCE, POST AND DISTRIBUTE -
-----
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-----
CAIR
Council on American-Islamic Relations
453 New Jersey Avenue, S.E.
Washington, D.C. 20003
Tel: 202-488-8787, 202-744-7726
Fax: 202-488-0833
E-mail: cair@cair-net.org
URL: http://www.cair-net.org
-----
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
AMERICAN MUSLIM NEWS BRIEFS - 1/12/04
* HADITH OF THE DAY: PARADISE IS AT A MOTHER'S FEET
* LIBRARY PROJECT: 100% OF LA SPONSORED
- CAIR-Houston: Volunteers Needed for Home Building
* U.S. TO PUSH AIRLINES FOR PASSENGER RECORDS (Wash. Post)
- Court Nixes Appeal Over 9-11 Detentions (AP)
- Feds Seek Wiretap Access Via VoIP (CNet.News)
* ARAB-AMERICANS TAKE SECOND LOOK AT BUSH (Wash. Times)
- Cynthia McKinney Wants Rematch (Atlanta Journal)
* AZ MOSQUE WORRIES HOMEOWNERS (Arizona Republic)
* ISLAMOPHOBIA AS UNACCEPTABLE AS RACISM (Guardian)
- Islam Had Answers for Christian Doctor (Calgary Herald)
- Qatar: CAIR Participates in US-Islamic Forum
* DEAN CHOOSES FUERTH AS POLICY ADVISER (JTA)
- Israel Building Wall in Jerusalem Suburb (AP)
- Israel to Request Billions for Plan (Israelnn.com)
* FRENCH SIKHS DEFEND THEIR TURBANS (NY Times)
- Belgium Jumps into Debate over Headscarves (Reuters)
-----
HADITH OF THE DAY: PARADISE IS AT A MOTHER'S FEET
A man once came to the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and
requested
to take part in a military campaign. The Prophet asked the man if his
mother was still alive. When the man said that she was still living,
the
Prophet said: "(Then) stay with her, for Paradise is at her feet."
Al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 1275
-----
CAIR LIBRARY PROJECT UPDATE: 100% OF LA. SPONSORED
CONGRATULATIONS to citizens of Louisiana who sponsored 100% of their
328
public libraries.
Now, let's help the state of Mississippi: 236 covered, 10 more
libraries to go!
Sturgis Public Library
Tallahatchie County Library
Terry Public Library
Torrey Wood Memorial Library
Walthall County Library
Waynesboro Memorial Library
Wesson Public Library
West Public Library
White Rock Library
Winston County Library
The goal of CAIR's library project is to send accurate and objective
information about Islam to America's 16,000 public libraries. Total
number
sponsored: 7,177.
For only $150, you may sponsor an 18-item package about Islam and
Muslims,
which are then distributed to the library of their choice.
To sponsor a library call, 1-800-392-7876, ext. 320, or visit:
www.libraryproject.org.
SEE ALSO:
VOLUNTEERS NEEDED FOR INTERFAITH HOME BUILDING
CAIR-Houston seeks 30 Muslim volunteers to have fun, build homes and
have
Jum'ah on Jan. 16. Houston-area Muslims will work along side interfaith
volunteers for a day or more on the Interfaith Ministries Habitat for
Humanity Super BUILD home.
Houston Habitat will build 38 homes in 38 days in honor of the 38th
Super
Bowl. Next week will be a really special week for folks from all faith
backgrounds to work side by side on a common goal while making an
impact on
a family who will have a new home. Seven of the 38 homes will be given
to
Muslim Families.
Volunteers will work from 8-4 each day and need no experience or
supplies.
There is a shuttle near the project where folks will get their
instructions
and be taken to the building site.
CAR POOLING IS HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
Lakewood Church
7317 E. Houston Rd.
713-635-4154
The Immediate Action Requested:
Be among the first to contact CAIR-Houston to participate on Fridays
event.
We need 30 volunteers.
CAIR-Houston
Council on American-Islamic Relations
5821 South West Freeway Suite 304
Houston, TX 77057
Tel: 713-838-CAIR-(2247)
Fax: 713-838-2250
E-mail: info@cairhouston.org
-----
U.S. TO PUSH AIRLINES FOR PASSENGER RECORDS
Sara Kehaulani Goo, Washington Post, 1/12/04
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A8504-2004Jan11
Despite stiff resistance from airlines and privacy advocates, the U.S.
government plans to push ahead this year with a vast computerized
system to
probe the backgrounds of all passengers boarding flights in the United
States.
The government will compel airlines and airline reservations companies
to
hand over all passenger records for scrutiny by U.S. officials, after
failing to win cooperation in the program's testing phase. The order
could
be issued as soon as next month. Under the system, all travelers
passing
through a U.S. airport are to be scored with a number and a color that
ranks their perceived threat to the aircraft.
Another program that is to be introduced this year that seeks to speed
frequent fliers through security lines in exchange for volunteering
personal information to the government.
The two new initiatives will augment a system introduced last week to
fingerprint and photograph millions of foreign visitors on arrival in
the
United States...
ALSO SEE:
COURT NIXES APPEAL OVER 9-11 DETENTIONS
Anne Gearan, Associated Press,
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/breaking_news/7691472.htm
WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court refused Monday to consider whether the
government properly withheld names and other details about hundreds of
foreigners detained in the weeks and months after the Sept. 11 terror
attacks.
The high court turned down a request to review the secrecy surrounding
detainees, nearly all Arabs or Muslims, who were picked up in the
United
States following the attacks on the World Trade Center and the
Pentagon.
Most of the more than 700 detainees at issue in the case have since
been
deported. Some picked up after Sept. 11 were charged with crimes, and
others were held as material witnesses. Only Zacarias Moussaoui, who
was
detained before the Sept. 11 attacks, is being prosecuted in connection
with the Sept. 11 attacks.
A Washington study center critical of the Bush administration responses
after Sept. 11 sued to learn names and other basic information about
the
detainees. The appeal raises constitutional questions under the First
Amendment right to freedom of speech and freedom of the press, and
legal
questions under the federal Freedom of Information Act...
---
FEDS SEEK WIRETAP ACCESS VIA VOIP
Declan McCullagh, 1/8/04, CNET News.com
http://news.com.com/2100-7352_3-5137344.html?tag=nefd_top
The FBI and the Justice Department have renewed their efforts to
wiretap
voice conversations carried across the Internet.
The agencies have asked the Federal Communications Commission to order
companies offering voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) service to
rewire
their networks to guarantee police the ability to eavesdrop on
subscribers'
conversations.
Without such mandatory rules, the two agencies predicted in a letter to
the
FCC last month that "criminals, terrorists, and spies (could) use VoIP
services to avoid lawfully authorized surveillance." The letter also
was
signed by the Drug Enforcement Administration.
This is not the first time the Bush administration has expressed
concern
about terrorists and other lawbreakers using VoIP to evade wiretaps. As
previously reported by CNET News.com, a proposal presented quietly to
the
FCC in July sought guaranteed surveillance access to broadband
providers.
But the latest submission, which follows a recent FCC forum on Internet
telephony, is more detailed than before and specifically targets VoIP
providers as a regulatory focus.
In general, VoIP providers have pledged to work with police, and some,
like
Level 3 Communications, do not oppose the regulations the FBI is
seeking.
Others, like a coalition of 12 smaller VoIP providers including BullDog
Teleworks and PingTone Communications, have told the FCC that "there
are
various industry initatives under way and the commission should allow
those
initiatives time to succeed before preemptively regulating."
Federal and local police rely heavily on wiretaps. In 2002, the most
recent
year for which information is available, police intercepted nearly 2.2
million conversations with court approval, according to the
Administrative
Office of the U.S. Courts. Wiretaps for that year cost taxpayers $69.5
million, and approximately 80 percent were related to drug
investigations.
Those statistics do not include approximately the same number of
additional
wiretaps authorized by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act...
-----
ARAB-AMERICANS TAKE SECOND LOOK AT BUSH SUPPORT
Steve Miller, WASHINGTON TIMES, 1/12/04
http://washingtontimes.com/national/20040112-123550-8845r.htm
DEARBORN, Mich. - In 2000, President Bush won over the Arab-American
community here by criticizing the Clinton administration for using
ethnic
profiling at airports, but September 11 means things will not go so
smoothly for the president with Arab-Americans in 2004.
Back then, Mr. Bush had a one-hour private meeting with 26 community
leaders at a Hyatt hotel and handed out a two-page statement in English
and
Arabic, castigating the White House for its treatment of Arabs…
It is almost a certainty that things will be different this year, as
Democrats seek to exploit post-September 11 security measures that they
say
have marginalized the nation's 3.5 million persons of Arab descent.
In Dearborn, the heart of the country's ethnic Arab population,
Democrats
already are lining up phone banks and other recruitment efforts to get
out
the vote among Michigan's 500,000 Arab-Americans for the Feb. 7
Democratic
caucus.
"I will vote for Bush again, but I think many others have some
reservations," said Tim Attalla, a first-generation Palestinian
American
and a well-known Republican activist and lawyer here.
"Already, I have gotten calls from the Democratic Party here, asking me
if
I am ready to join them," said Mr. Attalla, adding that he is not
tempted
to switch his vote, but isn't convinced that others won't…
The stakes are high. For the president to win a majority of the
nation's
1.2 million Arab-American voters will be something to tout even
internationally, because many see the administration and America in
general
as anti-Arab...
The president still carries considerable heft among the Republican
faithful
in the Arab community. His most productive fund-raiser in the state is
a
Lebanese immigrant, Yousif B. Ghafari, who heads an engineering firm in
Dearborn.
Still, the John Ashcroft-led Justice Department is widely disliked
among
Arab-Americans, and statements from other Republicans, such as House
Majority Leader Tom DeLay's remark that a Palestinian state would be "a
terrorist state," have been taken personally by many Muslims in the
Arab
community...
SEE ALSO:
DAD: MCKINNEY WANTS REMATCH AGAINST MAJETTE
BEN SMITH, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 1/12/04
http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/dekalb/0104/12mckinney.html
Former Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney, ousted from office in a hostile
2002
Democratic primary, wants a rematch against the woman who beat her:
U.S.
Rep. Denise Majette (D-Ga.).
On Sunday, McKinney's father, Billy McKinney, a former state
representative, confirmed his daughter's planned entry into the 2004
4th
District Democratic Party primary.
"Absolutely, she's running," the elder McKinney said. "We're going to
make
it exciting."
He said his daughter was in Barbados for a speaking engagement and
could
not be reached for comment. Attempts to reach Majette were
unsuccessful.
McKinney's apparent return ends months of speculation about her future.
The outspoken former congresswoman had been courted by the Green Party
to
run for president, but she issued a statement Saturday turning down the
third-party invitation to run…
As the challenger this time around, McKinney would not command the same
fund-raising power she held as an incumbent. Her most recent campaign
disclosure report, filed Dec. 18, showed that she was $32,000 in debt.
McKinney also provokes as much revulsion from conservative voters who
consider her unpatriotic and even unstable as she does passionate
support
from many African-Americans and liberals, who view her as a lone voice
in
Congress against the Bush administration's Middle East policies.
Billy McKinney said resentment over the war in Iraq will bring out a
flood
of 4th District voters angry over the war who will put her back in
office.
"Everything Cynthia has said has proven to be true," Billy McKinney
said,
referring to probes of intelligence failures that contributed to the
Sept.
11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
-----
MOSQUE WORRIES HOMEOWNERS
Diana Balazs, Arizona Republic, 1/12/04
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/0112nemosque12.html
SCOTTSDALE - Excitement mixed with resignation this past weekend as
neighbors and members of Scottsdale's first Islamic mosque and cultural
center discussed the start of the mosque's construction.
About 25 people gathered Saturday morning at the site of the project, a
3.5-acre parcel at the southwestern corner of 122nd Street and Via
Linda.
Before construction can begin, native trees already on the site must be
salvaged for later replanting. That will begin in March.
Grading of the now rock-strewn site will follow with construction
expected
to take at least six months…
Several neighbors opposed the project, which includes a prayer hall,
multipurpose room, library and, eventually, a school. They said it is
too
much for such a small site. They also bought their homes for the views
of
the McDowell Mountains and believed custom homes would be built on the
empty lot. Although the land is zoned for residential, houses of
worship
are permitted uses.
Sharon Papez has lived in her home four years. She is worried about
traffic, noise, lighting and other potential problems with the mosque.
"I would be upset if a U.S. Postal Service were here, or a Catholic
church,
a Jewish temple, a Christian church, a school, anything other than a
custom
home because that's why I chose to be here," she said…
-----
ISLAMOPHOBIA SHOULD BE AS UNACCEPTABLE AS RACISM
Faisal Bodi, Guardian, 1/12/04
http://politics.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,9115,1120983,00.html
Finally, it's safe to turn on your TV. Britain's minority communities
can
rise this morning in the knowledge that they will no longer be assailed
by
a vainglorious hatemonger affecting social concern on their screens. It
won't just be Arabs, the objects of Robert Kilroy-Silk's latest
ignorant
philippic, breathing a sigh of relief. The BBC's decision to
discontinue
his daily talkshow pending an investigation into his article for last
week's Sunday Express, in which he vilified the whole Arab world as a
bunch
of "suicide bombers, limb amputators and women oppressors", will be
welcomed in all communities where his bigoted pen has drawn ire.
Ireland is justified in some schadenfreude for his caricature of it as
"a
country peopled by peasants, priests and pixies". As are young black
people, for his recommendation that they be targeted by police since
they
show up disproportionately as offenders in gun and street crime
statistics.
As too are asylum seekers and visitors from Africa, eastern Europe and
Asia, whom he accuses of being largely responsible for poisoning our
green
and pleasant land with Aids.
But it will be the nation's Muslims who have most to celebrate. For
over a
decade, it is they who have borne the brunt of the presenter's rabid
rants.
During the Salman Rushdie affair in 1989, he wrote that if Britain's
"resident ayatollahs" could not "accept British values and laws then
there
is no reason at all why the British should feel any need, still less
compulsion, to accommodate theirs". Buoyed by the support of liberals
in a
debate that was wrongly characterised as free speech versus censorship
he
went much further. "Muslims everywhere behave with equal savagery. They
behead criminals, stone to death female - only female - adulteresses,
throw
acid in the faces of women who refuse to wear the chador, mutilate the
genitals of young girls and ritually abuse animals," he wrote for the
Daily
Express in 1995...
ALSO SEE:
ISLAM HAD ANSWERS FOR CHRISTIAN DOCTOR
Colette Derworiz, Calgary Herald, 1/11/04
http://www.canada.com/calgary/calgaryherald/story.asp?id=E237ED9F-46BB-45C2-A8F2-216EBE7A898A
Nine years ago, Dr. David Liepert was a Christian who had a lot of
questions about religion.
Liepert, an anesthesiologist at Foothills Hospital, says he turned to
Islam
when the Qur'an provided the answers he was looking for.
"The Holy Qur'an asked questions," he said. "When I went to answer
them,
they were what the Holy Qur'an said, not what the Bible said.
"It's the text that is important."
Liepert, 42, is just one of a number of people turning to Islam in
recent
years.
The local Muslim community hosted an event Saturday to celebrate those
240
or so Calgarians who have converted in the past few years. Nearly 300
people were expected to attend the first-of-its-kind event...
-----
CAIR PARTICIPATES IN US-ISLAMIC FORUM
NOTE: CAIR Executive Director Nihad Awad is taking part in the
US-Islamic
Forum. He presented in a session titled: "Bridging the Divide: The Role
of
the American Muslim Community"
CLINTON URGES MUSLIMS NOT TO JUDGE US ON MIDEAST PEACE PROCESS
FIONA MACDONALD, Agence France Presse, 1/12/04
DOHA, Jan 12 - Islam is the fastest growing religion in the United
States
and while the Muslim faith should be better understood by the US, the
Arab
world should not judge America through the state of the Middle East
peace
process, former US president Bill Clinton said here Monday.
Addressing the closing session of the second US-Islamic Forum, Clinton
said
that while "those in the West only see Islam through the spectre of
terror," Muslims were basing their judgement of the United States on
its
role in finding a solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict.
"Islam is the fastest growing religion in America, we have now six
million
plus Muslims in the United States," he said, recalling that hundreds of
Muslims were among the victims of the September 11, 2001 attacks.
"I think it is important that the Muslim world try to understand the
United
States... our country is judged by many Muslims based on how they think
the
Middle East peace process is going and whether they think we're doing
enough to give the Palestinians a state and a decent future," said the
ex-president.
"It is not the only standard," said Clinton who presided over the
failed
Israeli-Palestinian talks at Camp David in 2000, shortly before the
outbreak of the Palestinian intifada or uprising against Israeli
occupation.
But the three-day gathering, which grouped top American and Muslim
leaders
and thinkers to discuss ways to improve dialogue post 9/11, was
hijacked by
the Palestinian-Israeli issue.
While debating other controversial issues, such as Iraq, America's
future
role in the Gulf and free trade, open sessions were overrun by the
Middle
East conflict, which Muslim participants described as the root of
US-Islamic tensions that were merely exacerbated by the events of
September 11…
Clinton offered four observations: "We need to do more to understand
how
the two major players here understand each other. We need, secondly, to
improve our capacity for self-criticism.
"Third, we need to identify our common interests, and fourth, we need
to
build the habits of mind and heart necessary to end the habits of
demonising those who are different from us."
But the common ground, though ostensibly in abundance, was harder to
see
while the differences were transparent.
"Too many Americans know too little about the Islamic world. And much
of
what they know, they learned after September 11 through the narrow
lense of
terror. It is important but not sufficient because what people do out
of
anger, pain and fear both darkens and distorts reality," said
Clinton...
Leading Muslim cleric Sheikh Yussef Qaradawi told AFP he remained
"optimistic" the two sides "might find ourselves closer to each other.
The
good intentions will open the road to understanding."
But he, and other Muslims in attendance, maintained that Washington's
"extreme bias" in favour of Israel "poisons" US-Muslim relations...
-----
SEEKING TO QUIET CRITICS, DEAN CHOOSES FUERTH AS POLICY ADVISER
Matthew E. Berger, JTA, 1/11/04
http://www.jta.org/page_view_story.asp?strwebhead=Fuerth+to+advise+Dean&intcategoryid=3
WASHINGTON - For a presidential campaign eager to dispel questions
about a
candidate's commitment to Israel, hiring Leon Fuerth could be just what
the
doctor ordered.
Last week, Howard Dean's campaign named Fuerth chairman of Dean's
foreign
policy team.
Fuerth, who served as Al Gore's national security adviser both when
Gore
was a senator and when he was vice president, was a leading architect
of
Gore's policy positions on Middle Eastern issues, including his vote
for
the Persian Gulf War in 1991.
Fuerth's appointment is expected to go a long way toward
counterbalancing
the negative reception Dean has had among some Jews because of his
missteps.
"Those in the pro-Israel community who know Leon Fuerth and the role he
played with Vice President Gore will be pleased," said David Harris,
executive director of the American Jewish Committee. "He has a long
record
of involvement and there have been any number of encounters that
demonstrate his understanding of the region and his support for a
robust
U.S.-Israel relationship."
The primary value of the new hire is the foreign policy gravitas Fuerth
brings to a campaign trying to quiet concerns about the
international-affairs savvy of a physician who became governor of
Vermont,
the nation's second-smallest state...
ALSO SEE:
ISRAEL BUILDING WALL IN JERUSALEM SUBURB
RAVI NESSMAN, Associated Press, 1/12/04
ABU DIS, West Bank (AP) - Israeli construction crews hoisted
26-foot-high
concrete slabs into the middle of a main road in this Palestinian
suburb of
Jerusalem on Monday, cutting off thousands of Palestinians from the
city
they consider their home.
The impenetrable wall is part of a series of barriers Israel is
building
around much of the West Bank with the stated aim of keeping out
Palestinian
suicide bombers.
Palestinians see it as an effort to take land they claim for a future
state. Along its path, the barrier has cut Palestinians off from their
fields and schools, their hospitals and businesses.
Parts of the wall have been put up elsewhere around east Jerusalem -
which
Israel seized in 1967 along with the West Bank - but the sections put
up in
Abu Dis were the most intrusive yet, signaling that Israel's
encirclement
of the city is becoming more permanent.
There had already been a 6-foot-high divider that slowed but did not
stop
the flow of people and goods between the West Bank and Jerusalem.
Residents
have been able to crawl over that barrier or pass goods over it.
But the new construction replaces that with a stark, impenetrable wall,
more than four times as high, running down the center of Shayah St.
Work began Saturday night and continued Monday morning. Earth movers
ripped
down the old barrier, which was covered with graffiti declaring: ``The
wall
is wrong,'' and ``Apartheid wall.'' Bulldozers dug out a long pit that
cranes filled in with the slabs of the new wall.
The barrier in Abu Dis also has symbolic significance. Palestinian
Prime
Minister Ahmed Qureia lives in the suburb, and the building set aside
for
the future Palestinian parliament is located there...
---
ISRAEL TO REQUEST BILLIONS FROM THE U.S. TO ACTUALIZE UNILATERAL
SEPARATION PLAN
Israelnn.com, 1/8/04
http://www.israelnn.com/news.php3?id=55860
A "senior Jerusalem source" quoted by Israel Radio this morning stated
Israel will be seeking billions of dollars in U.S. assistance to
actualize
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's unilateral separation plan to cut ties
with
the PA.
Funds would be required to pay for the logistical separation of
forces/persons from the PA, as well as making compensatory payment to
the
tens of thousands of families residing in Yesha (Judea, Samaria & Gaza)
communities.
-----
FRENCH SIKHS DEFEND THEIR TURBANS AND FIND THEIR VOICE
Elaine Sciolino, New York Times, 1/12/04
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/01/12/international/europe/12FRAN.html
BOBIGNY, France = No one, it seems, thought about the Sikhs and their
turbans.
As part of a struggle to separate religion from the state, France is
poised
to pass a law banning religious symbols like Muslim veils, Jewish
skullcaps
and large Christian crosses from public schools.
But a report by an official commission of experts and a speech by
President
Jacques Chirac last month recommending passage of a legal ban said
nothing
about the head coverings worn by Sikhs.
After all, France is home to only several thousand Sikhs, compared with
about 600,000 Jews and 5 million Muslims. Historically, the Sikh
population
is quiet, law-abiding, apolitical and almost invisible -- living,
working
and worshiping mainly in a few isolated pockets of suburban Paris. Now
they
have found their voice, demanding that they be exempted from the
anticipated prohibition.
Sitting barefooted and cross-legged in a large worship room in the
Gurdwara
Singh Sabha temple in the working-class Paris suburb of Bobigny, two
dozen
Sikhs sounded a chorus of protest...
ALSO SEE:
BELGIUM JUMPS INTO DEBATE OVER HEADSCARVES
Bart Crols, Reuters, 1/12/04
BRUSSELS - A senior Belgian minister has called for a law similar to
the
draft French legislation banning Islamic headscarves in public schools,
in
a move bound to strain relations in the coalition government.
The planned French law on overt religious symbols, due to be debated in
parliament next month, has sparked heated debate in that country and
split
the leaders of France's five million Muslims.
The controversy in neighbouring France did not put off Belgian Interior
Minister Patrick Dewael, a Dutch-speaking Liberal, from calling on his
government to follow suit.
"It is...clear that pupils in a public school cannot wear a veil or a
distinctive religious symbol," he said in a letter published in local
newspapers on Saturday.
"The government should remain neutral in all circumstances and be
represented as such," he added. "That means no distinctive religious
symbols or veils for police officers, judges, clerks or teachers at
public
schools..."
-----
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-----
CAIR
Council on American-Islamic Relations
453 New Jersey Avenue, S.E.
Washington, D.C. 20003
Tel: 202-488-8787, 202-744-7726
Fax: 202-488-0833
E-mail: cair@cair-net.org
URL: http://www.cair-net.org
-----
Forwarded Message
Date:
Tue, 13 Jan 2004 16:07:43 -0500
To:
cair-net@cair.biglist.com
From:
"CAIR" <cair@cair-net.org>
Subject:
CAIR-NET: U.S. Muslims to Protest French Hijab Ban on 1/17
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
AMERICAN MUSLIM NEWS BRIEFS - 1/13/04
* HADITH OF THE DAY: THE IMPORTANCE OF CHARITY
* LIBRARY PROJECT: 7,177 SPONSORSHIPS
* CAIR-CAN: US CONSULAR UNDERSTANDING "DISAPPOINTING"
- Muslims Going to Hajj Avoid the US (Ottawa Citizen)
- Better to Condemn, Than Ban Hate (Ottawa Citizen)
* CAIR-FL: FAILED ATTEMPT TO DISCREDIT MUSLIMS (SP Times)
* U.S. MUSLIMS TO PROTEST FRENCH HIJAB BAN (Chicago Trib)
* MIDEAST STUDIES UNDER SCRUTINY IN U.S. (Wash. Post)
- Antiwar Group Exposes Activist (Harvard Crimson)
* NEW STUDY EXAMINES RACIAL PROFILING (Columbia Chronicle)
* TEENS FIND LIFE LESSONS IN RELIGION (Sun-Herald)
* MR. HAMDI AND THE COURT (Wash. Post)
- Justices Allow Silence on 9/11 Detainees (NY Times)
* US MILITARY 'BRUTALISED' JOURNALISTS (Guardian)
- Camp Delta Briton Claims Racial Abuse (Guardian)
* U.S. TROOPS KILL DRIVER, CHILD IN IRAQ (AP)
- Officer Says Troops Likely Shot Iraqis (Reuters)
- Hundreds Protest Woman's Arrest in Iraq (AP)
- Shiite Goodwill May Be Eroding In Iraq (AP)
- US War In Iraq 'Strategic Error' (BBC)
- US Troops Kill Four in Iraqi Town (Reuters)
* ISRAEL BLAMED FOR USS LIBERTY ATTACK (Wash. Times)
- Tears Run as Barrier Rises (Reuters)
* COALITION FOR JUSTICE FUNDRAISING BANQUET
-----
HADITH OF THE DAY: THE IMPORTANCE OF CHARITY
During the Prophet Muhammad's (peace be upon him) final illness, his
wife
Ayesha told him she had been too busy to distribute some coins he asked
her
to give in charity. Ayesha said she was unable to distribute the coins
because she had been kept busy ministering to his suffering. The
Prophet
then called for the coins, and placing them in his hand, he said: "What
would God's Prophet think if he were to meet God, who is Great and
Glorious, while possessing these?"
Al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 586
-----
CAIR LIBRARY PROJECT UPDATE: 7,177 SPONSORSHIPS
Let's help the state of Delaware: 21 covered, 8 more libraries to go!
Milton Library
Kent Library
Frankford Public Library
Millsboro Public Library
Kirkwood Highway Library
Delaware City Library
Elsmere Library
Woodlawn Branch Library
The goal of CAIR's library project is to send accurate and objective
information about Islam to America's 16,000 public libraries.
For only $150, you may sponsor an 18-item package about Islam and
Muslims,
which are then distributed to the library of their choice.
To sponsor a library call, 1-800-392-7876, ext. 320, or visit:
www.libraryproject.org
-----
CANADA-US CONSULAR UNDERSTANDING "DISAPPOINTING"
Canadians still not protected from profiling, legal abuses, deportation
(Ottawa, Canada - 1/13/2004) - The Canadian Council on American-Islamic
Relations (CAIR-CAN) today expressed its disappointment with the new
consular understanding between Canada and United States.
The understanding, meant to ensure mutual respect for passports, was
announced by Foreign Minister Bill Graham. Under the terms of the
understanding, Canada and the US have agreed to "formal notification
and
expeditious consultation with one another" on cases of detained
Canadians.
In a statement issued today, CAIR-CAN stated:
"No diplomatic sleight-of-hand can obscure the fact that this new
Canada-US
understanding does little to resolve the pressing issues regarding the
safety and security of Canadians raised by the Maher Arar case.
"The agreement merely amounts to an undertaking by the US that it will
not
turn a blind eye or give Canada the cold shoulder when the US detains a
Canadian citizen. The understanding does little to protect Canadian
citizens from racial profiling, abuses of the rule of law, deportation
to
third countries, or torture. In fact, "notification" and "expeditious
consultation" does not even guarantee consular access.
"If our government is truly serious about protecting the Canadian
passport,
it must actively address these core issues and must move swiftly to
ensure
that the fundamental rights of Canadians detained abroad without charge
-
Abdullah AlMalki, Arwad Al-Bouchi, Ahmad Abou El-Maati and Muayyed
Nureddin
- are protected."
-END-
Contact: Naeem Saloojee at 613-254-9704; E-mail: Canada@cair-net.org
ALSO SEE:
MUSLIMS GOING TO MECCA AVOID THE U.S.
Bob Harvey, Ottawa Citizen, 1/13/04
http://www.canada.com/ottawa/ottawacitizen/news/archives/story.html?id=4ab66bbf-8ff4-4f3d-a8cf-ae166724cae3
The Canadian Islamic Congress says U.S. security regulations could cost
American airlines $10 million during this month's religious pilgrimages
to
Mecca.
Last week, the U.S. launched a new security program requiring foreign
travellers landing in the country to be fingerprinted and photographed,
and
although Canadians are exempt, the Islamic Congress's president,
Mohamed
Elmasry, said Canadians who were born in Muslim countries or have
Muslim-sounding names will likely be fingerprinted.
"Canadians preparing to leave for the Hajj next week do not need the
added
stress of American security and border officials treating them like
criminals," he said.
The Congress has done an informal survey of Canadian Muslims who are
going
to Saudi Arabia for Eid ul-Adha, the feast of sacrifice on Feb. 1, and
Mr.
Elmasry said they are using Canadian, European or Middle and Far East
air
carriers to avoid going through the U.S.
"It is usually less expensive to travel to the U.S. and fly from
there,"
said the congress's vice-president, Wahida Valiante. "But in today's
climate of heightened suspicion and security alerts, we advise that it
is
better to spend a little more money to avoid crossing the U.S.-Canada
border. Peace of mind is worth paying for."
The Saudi Arabian consulate in Ottawa says 2,839 Canadian Muslims have
already obtained visas for the Hajj, and there could be more
applications
to come.
They will be part of the millions of Muslims expected to converge on
Mecca
and Medina for the annual Hajj.
Mr. Elmasry estimates 5,000 Canadians will go on the Hajj, and will
spend
$2,000 each on airfares and money on other items as well, such as
purchases
in duty-free shops. A total boycott of American airlines would cost the
industry up to $10 million in lost revenues, he estimates.
Riad Saloojee, executive director of the Council of American Islamic
Relations Canada, said his group has received complaints from Canadian
Muslims who say they have been harassed by American security officials.
"If Canadian Muslims don't have to travel to the U.S., they won't," he
said.
Ibrahim Hooper, spokesman for the Council of American Islamic Relations
in
Washington, D.C., said American Muslims also tend to be
disproportionately
singled out when returning to the U.S.
He said his organization is urging American Muslims to register to vote
in
the upcoming elections.
"Some Americans have problems with Muslims," Mr. Hooper said. "The only
way
that can be addressed is by political participation."
---
IT WASN'T FREE SPEECH: BUT IT'S BETTER TO CONDEMN HATEFUL ARTICLES THAN
TO
BAN THEM
Ottawa Citizen, 1/12/04
http://www.canada.com/ottawa/ottawacitizen/news/editorials/story.html?id=228841fe-ea95-4a46-a2ff-98fa5f458e8d
Muslim groups in Canada have rightly condemned the editor of a B.C.
newspaper for publishing a virulently anti-Semitic article. Nusrat
Hussain,
the editor of The Miracle, a weekly paper in Delta, B.C. distributed to
local mosques, professes bewilderment at the hate-crime complaints
levelled
against him after he reprinted an article that blames Jews for most of
the
world's ills. Canadians can be gratified, however, that so many in the
Muslim community were themselves bewildered -- and upset -- at Mr.
Hussain's claim that all he was doing was exercising his right to free
speech.
"I think the article is just atrocious, it's certainly hateful," says
Riad
Saloojee, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic
Relations
of Canada. "This sort of hateful diatribe is really at odds with
Islam."
Others concur, including the 50,000-member B.C. Muslim Association,
which
says it does not tolerate any form of racism or anti-Semitism. B.C.
Liberal
Senator Mobina Jaffer, a Muslim, denounced The Miracle article as
"sick."
No Canadian, regardless of their religious or political beliefs, should
dismiss this incident as insignificant just because the The Miracle's
circulation among Muslims is a modest 2,500. The fact is, anti-Semitism
--
the longest hatred, it's been called -- is on the rise around the
world,
including in Canada.
A recent study on anti-Semitism was withheld by the European Monitoring
Centre on Racism and Xenophobia, reportedly because its conclusion --
that
Muslims were behind many of the street attacks on Jews and the
desecration
of synagogues -- was politically unpopular. Canada, too, is seeing more
incidents of anti-Semitism, from harassment and vandalism to
anti-Israeli
extremism on campuses. And last week in Toronto, a conference on
"Reviving
the Islamic Spirit" included an American neo-Nazi, William W. Baker, as
a
keynote speaker.
The article in the Dec. 19 edition of The Miracle was particularly
offensive. Written by American white supremacist Edgar J. Steele, and
entitled "It Wasn't Arabs," the piece blamed Jews for everything from
the
world wars and the Great Depression to the terrorist attacks on the
World
Trade Center. It even blamed Jews for the Holocaust...
-----
A FAILED ATTEMPT TO DISCREDIT MUSLIMS
Ahmed Bedier, St. Petersburg Times, 1/13/04
http://www.stpetetimes.com/2004/01/13/Opinion/Space_projects_don_t_.shtml
Re: Wrong message, wrong audience, Jan. 8.
Bigotry and hate are the only words that come to mind after reading
this
disturbing letter.
The letter writer, Norman N. Gross, portrays presidential candidate
Dennis
Kucinich as desperate and condemns his recent visit to the Islamic
Society
of Tampa Bay Area. However, Kucinich, from the beginning of his
campaign,
reached out to all segments of our society while carrying with him the
flag
of true patriotism and the message of inclusiveness and peace.
Mr. Gross makes a failed attempt to discredit Muslims by questioning
the
credibility of the Islamic Center which hosted Kucinich. The same
Islamic
center has received much praise for its humanitarian and social work.
The
center manages a full-time free health clinic and food pantry, which is
accessible to anyone regardless of their faith. In addition, the
Islamic
center has worked with local, state and federal law enforcement to
foster
understanding in our community and has hosted a number of open houses
to
inform the public.
Mr. Gross ended his letter by defaming Muslims and suggesting they are
"evil doers." To the contrary, the Muslim community has repeatedly
condemned all forms of terrorism, is actively involved in numerous
interfaith initiatives, has provided assistance to the needy, and
proudly
claims hundreds of local affluent professionals and businesses people
who
add to the economic vitality of the area.
As a Muslim from the Tampa Bay area, I do not consider myself, my
family,
or my community to be "evil-doers." An "evil-doer" is Dr. Robert
Goldstein
and his co-conspirators, who were caught, charged and convicted in a
plot
to destroy Islamic centers in this area.
Ahmed Bedier, communications director, Florida Chapter of the Council
on
American-Islamic Relations, Tampa
-----
U.S. MUSLIMS TO PROTEST FRENCH HIJAB BAN JAN. 17
PROTESTS AIMED AT EUROPE, FUTURE
Geneive Abdo, Chicago Tribune, 1/13/04
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0401130273jan13,1,6251149.story
When 11-year-old Nashala Hearn was suspended twice from her Oklahoma
public
school for wearing a head scarf, an act she believes is demanded by
God,
officials vowed she would not return until she complied with the dress
code, which forbade hats.
But after several religious groups complained, Nashala was allowed into
her
Muskogee elementary class in October, said her father, Eyvine Hearn.
"She had been studying Islam for a year and we ran across in the holy
Koran
that women should wear a head scarf. That's why she starting wearing
it. We
believe it is her religious right," Hearn said this week.
Nashala is only one of a handful of American Muslim girls or women who
have
faced resistance to their wearing a head scarf in public institutions.
But
as more Muslim women choose to wear head scarves across the United
States,
Islamic groups fear they will face the same obstacles as Muslims in
Europe,
where a campaign is under way in France, parts of Germany and Belgium
to
ban all forms of veiling in some public institutions. The French
parliament
is likely to pass a law banning head scarves in primary and secondary
schools in February.
That is why Muslims plan to stage protests at French embassies and
consulates Saturday in Chicago, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., and San
Francisco in opposition to the proposed French ban. The protests will
coincide with demonstrations in Canada and France. Many of the
demonstrations are organized by the Muslim Students' Association, a
national group with an estimated 2,000 chapters on college campuses in
the U.S.
"The idea is if a religious practice is prohibited in Europe, America
might
be next," said Ibrahim Hooper, spokesman for the Washington-based
Council
on American Islamic Relations...
Islamic groups here and abroad were hoping the protests would put
pressure
on Chirac to reconsider his proposal. Representatives from the Council
on
American Islamic Relations met the French ambassador to the United
States
last week in Washington to voice their views.
"We emphasized to the French ambassador that people should have a right
to
practice their religion and that this is not incompatible with
secularism,"
said Rabiah Ahmed, an Islamic activist who attended the meeting.
"Veiling
is something close to my heart, and I can't imagine such a ban in a
democratic society."
For more information on the protests, contact Shaheen Kazi, MSA
National
Manager, at 703-820-7900.
-----
MIDDLE EAST STUDIES UNDER SCRUTINY IN U.S.
Michael Dobbs, Washington Post, 1/13/04
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A11400-2004Jan12.html
When Rashid Khalidi took over the newly established Edward Said Chair
of
Middle East Studies at Columbia University last fall, the appointment
was
generally viewed as an academic coup for the school, which had
succeeded in
wooing away a prominent Middle East expert from the University of
Chicago,
a longtime rival.
But Khalidi soon became the target of an Internet campaign that
questioned
his patriotism. Conservative critics zeroed in on his outspoken
opposition
to the war in Iraq and his public expressions of sympathy for the
Palestinian cause.
"Columbia vs. America," declared a story on Campus Watch, a Web site
dedicated to revealing the alleged bias of mainstream Middle East
studies
programs at U.S. colleges and universities. The New York Sun dubbed
Khalidi
"the professor of hate."
These are the best of times and the worst of times for the
once-neglected
field of Middle East studies. Enrollments in Arabic-language courses
and
area studies programs have boomed in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001,
terrorist attacks and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Government
funding
is up. Universities and colleges are recruiting Middle East experts as
fast
as they can.
At the same time, academics who specialize in the region complain that
they
are under siege from conservative think tanks and self-appointed campus
watchdog organizations. They say these efforts have resulted in a flood
of
abusive e-mail and calls for tightening congressional control over the
funding of Middle East studies programs, which, they contend, could
undermine academic freedoms...
ALSO SEE:
ANTIWAR GROUP EXPOSES UNDERCOVER ACTIVIST
Daniel J. Hemel, Harvard Crimson, 1/12/04
http://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=357014
An outspoken member of Harvard Students for Israel went undercover in
what
he says was a quest to gauge anti-Semitism in a campus anti-war group.
Members of the Harvard Initiative for Peace and Justice (HIPJ)
discovered
last week that mysterious anti-Semitic posts on the group’s web log
were
written by Eric R. Trager ’05, who posted them under an assumed name.
Trager said yesterday that he was responsible for the posts in
question,
but said they were part of his larger effort to monitor anti-Semitism
on
campus.
Trager, who is secretary of Harvard Students for Israel (HSI), had
previously accused HIPJ of being too tolerant of anti-Semitic
sentiments
expressed over its e-mail lists.
In a November interview, Trager said that anti-Semitic e-mails sent
last
spring over the now-defunct HIPJ-Open list “came without any rebuke or
organizational distancing from HIPJ.”
To determine whether HIPJ would still tolerate anti-Semitism in its
midst,
Trager said he created the persona of Fabian Cooper, who identified
himself
as a Boston University graduate student who had taken a year off from
his
studies to work as a substitute teacher and get involved with local
Marxist
groups...
-----
NEW STUDY EXAMINES RACIAL PROFILING
Jennifer Golz, Columbia Chronicle, 1/12/04
http://www.ccchronicle.com/back/2004-01-12/citybeat1.html
Chicago - A new Senate bill requiring Illinois police to take a
driver's
race into consideration when making traffic stops took effect Jan. 1.
The Illinois Department of Transportation will collect data over the
next
four years to determine if decisions regarding traffic stops are based
on
police officers' perception of the driver's race.
The four-year study is believed to be a knee-jerk reaction to the
actions
of Highland Park and Mount Prospect Police Departments, which have both
been sued for racial profiling in the past.
Vehicles that are stopped for statute or ordinance violations are
subject
to the new study. Whether a citation is given or not, officers are now
required to take note of the driver's race.
The bill requires that the driver be put into one of the following
categories: Caucasian, African-American, Native American/Alaskan,
Hispanic
or Asian/Pacific Islander.
However, the police officers are not allowed to ask the race of the
individual...
But Safaa Zarzour, chairman for the Chicago chapter of the Council on
American-Islamic Relations, a nonprofit organization that promotes the
positive image of Muslims and Islam in America, said the organization's
goal is for a color-blind society.
-----
TEENS FIND LIFE LESSONS IN RELIGION
Abe Levy, Knight Ridder, Sun-Herald, 1/12/04
http://www.sunherald.com/mld/sunherald/living/7696152.htm
They're only 13, but they've made their religions a central part of
their
lives. Three 13-year-olds from Wichita have studied their faiths -
Jewish,
Christian and Muslim - and say they now have a greater sense of duty to
God.
And when they are adults, they say, they likely still will be active
followers.
The three talked about how faith matters to them from the perspective
of
each one's religion…
Ibrahim Shah - Muslim
Until he was in second grade, Ibrahim Shah laughed at times when he saw
his
father kneel and bow in prayer at mosques.
He didn't understand the Arabic spoken, the language that observant
Muslims
use for prayer and for reciting the Quran.
"I thought it was a big joke," Ibrahim said. "I was younger and thought
they were speaking a weird language."
But by age 7, he began to change. He mimicked his father and other
Muslims
when they prayed. He learned about the revered prophets of the Islamic
faith, including Abraham, his namesake.
Teased sometimes at school by students calling him "Abraham Lincoln,"
Ibrahim said he now finds practical lessons in the experiences of the
biblical Abraham.
"He listened to God and then obeyed," Ibrahim said of the ancient
patriarch. It's a lesson he takes to heart.
For Ibrahim, the Islamic faith has motivated him to clean up trash
after
events at the Muslim Community Center. And it has reminded him to pause
between video games to say one of the five daily prayers required by
Islam.
"After I pray, my soul just empties," he said. "I feel my mind clear. I
just feel happy I'm alive, and that (God) has put a roof over my head."
-----
MR. HAMDI AND THE COURT
Washington Post, 1/13/04
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A11585-2004Jan12.html
WITH ITS DECISION last week to hear the case of Yaser Esam Hamdi, the
Supreme Court has positioned itself to confront one of the central
legal
challenges of the war on terrorism. Yesterday, the court refused to
take up
still another important case; unfortunately, it let stand a lower court
opinion allowing the Bush administration to keep secret the names of
those
rounded up after Sept. 11, 2001. But even without this addition to this
term's docket, the justices will confront a raft of critical issues
related
to terrorism and human rights. They will rule on detainees at
Guantanamo
Bay, Cuba. They will decide whether a two-century-old law authorizes
federal courts to hear human rights suits by non-Americans over abuses
committed overseas. And most fatefully, in Mr. Hamdi's case and
possibly
that of Jose Padilla as well, they will decide whether the president
can
hold an American citizen as an "enemy combatant" -- incommunicado and
without charge, access to counsel, or any promise of a trial or
meaningful
court process. The high court's intervention is welcome. At stake is
the
balance between traditional American liberties and a president's
ability to
wage war.
Mr. Hamdi, a Saudi national who was born in Louisiana and was captured
with
a Taliban unit in Afghanistan, has been held in a military brig since
being
brought to the United States when the Pentagon learned of his apparent
American citizenship. Though the military declared a few weeks ago that
he
could finally see a lawyer, that still has not happened. Mr. Hamdi has
had
no chance to contest in court the basis of his detention: a two-page
affidavit by a Defense Department official. In other words, the
government
contends that it can lock up an American citizen and that the courts
cannot
look behind the most cursory of justifications before signing off.
Remarkably, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit in Richmond
approved this dangerous position. Because Mr. Hamdi was captured in a
zone
of combat abroad, it reasoned, the executive branch's judgment that he
is a
foreign fighter deserves deference and he may be detained as long as
the
war on terrorism goes on.
This cannot be right. Indeed, the court's holding rests on something of
a
sleight of hand...
ALSO SEE:
JUSTICES ALLOW POLICY OF SILENCE ON 9/11 DETAINEES
Linda Greenhouse, New York Times, 1/13/04
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/01/13/politics/13SCOT.html
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Monday turned down an appeal
challenging
the secrecy surrounding the arrest and detention of hundreds of people,
nearly all Muslim men, in the weeks after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist
attacks.
Without comment, the court let stand a ruling by a federal appeals
court
here that had accepted the Bush administration's rationale for refusing
to
disclose either the identities of those it arrested, most of whom have
since been deported for immigration violations unrelated to terrorism,
or
the circumstances of the arrests...
The dissenting judge, David S. Tatel, said the majority had "converted
deference into acquiescence" by accepting a categorical secrecy policy
without requiring the government to show why the names of those who had
been cleared of terrorist connections could not be made public. Of the
nearly 1,000 people arrested, the government eventually released the
names
of 129 against whom it brought criminal charges.
The Supreme Court's action on Monday brought an end to one of the
biggest
court cases related to the Sept. 11 attacks. Even though the justices
gave
no reason for declining to take the appeal, the development was
undoubtedly
a welcome one for the administration after several recent judicial
setbacks...
The case the court turned down on Monday had in fact been the occasion
for
one of those judicial setbacks when a federal district judge, Gladys
Kessler, ruled in August 2002 in response to a Freedom of Information
Act
suit brought by a coalition of civil liberties groups that the
government
had to disclose most of the names. This was the ruling that the appeals
court overturned nearly a year later.
The lawsuit filed in October 2001 by the 22-member coalition, which
included the Center for National Security Studies, the American Civil
Liberties Union, Amnesty International USA and the Council of American
Islamic Relations, cited the Freedom of Information Act as well as the
First Amendment. The group sought the names of the people and those of
the
lawyers representing them, the dates and circumstances of each arrest,
any
criminal charges filed and the basis for keeping the records of each
case
under seal…
-----
US MILITARY 'BRUTALISED' JOURNALISTS
Luke Harding, Guardian, 1/13/04
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1121981,00.html
The international news agency Reuters has made a formal complaint to
the
Pentagon following the "wrongful" arrest and apparent "brutalisation"
of
three of its staff this month by US troops in Iraq.
The complaint followed an incident in the town of Falluja when American
soldiers fired at two Iraqi cameramen and a driver from the agency
while
they were filming the scene of a helicopter crash.
The US military initially claimed that the Reuters journalists were
"enemy
personnel" who had opened fire on US troops and refused to release them
for
72 hours.
Although Reuters has not commented publicly, it is understood that the
journalists were "brutalised and intimidated" by US soldiers, who put
bags
over their heads, told them they would be sent to Guantanamo Bay, and
whispered: "Let's have sex."
At one point during the interrogation, according to the family of one
of
the staff members, a US soldier shoved a shoe into the mouth one of the
Iraqis.
The US troops, from the 82nd Airborne Division, based in Falluja, also
made
the blindfolded journalists stand for hours with their arms raised and
their palms pressed against the cell wall...
ALSO SEE:
CAMP DELTA BRITON CLAIMS RACIAL ABUSE
Tania Branigan, Guardian, 1/12/04
http://www.guardian.co.uk/guantanamo/story/0,13743,1121046,00.html
Guards at Guantanamo Bay are racially abusing inmates by calling them
"ragheads" and "camel-riders", the family of a British detainee claims.
Shafiq Rasul, who has been held at the base since spring 2002, alleged
the
abuse in a letter to his family.
According to his elder brother Habib, he wrote: "Everything's OK in
Guantanamo. It's just that sometimes some of the guards are OK with us,
and
some are saying things to us, calling us names like camel-rider and
raghead."
Mr Rasul said: "It's blatantly racist and Islamophobic. Shafiq's from
Tipton - he's never seen a camel in his life."
Amnesty International said that such abuse, if true, would be "totally
unacceptable and alarming".
"It's important that the American authorities do a thorough
investigation
of these alleged comments."
A spokeswoman for the base said she could not verify the comments, but
would raise the matter with the camp's commanders. She added that
soldiers
received sensitivity training to help them work with Muslim
detainees...
-----
U.S. TROOPS KILL DRIVER, CHILD IN IRAQ
Nadia Abou El-Magd, Associated Press, 1/13/04
http://www.abcnews.go.com/wire/World/ap20040113_290.html
BAGHDAD, Iraq - U.S. soldiers opened fire at a car in the Iraqi
capital,
killing the driver and a 10-year-old boy, moments after an Army vehicle
was
hit by a roadside bomb, relatives said Tuesday.
One soldier was killed in the Monday bombing, the U.S. military said.
Brig. Gen. Mark Hertling, a deputy commander of the division
responsible
for security in the Iraqi capital, said the shooting ``has not been
confirmed'' and the Army is investigating.
The shooting occurred near the Oil Ministry when the car passed two
Humvees
on patrol, said Wijdan Abdel Wahab, whose two sisters, two nephews and
a
niece were in the car.
The family was coming back from the hospital, where an aunt was
undergoing
treatment for asthma.
As the vehicle passed the convoy, one Humvee was hit by the roadside
bomb
and the other Humvee started shooting indiscriminately, Wijdan told The
Associated Press...
ALSO SEE:
US OFFICER SAYS AMERICAN TROOPS LIKELY SHOT IRAQIS
Reuters, 1/13/04
http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsPackageArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=437988§ion=news
TIKRIT, Iraq - A U.S. Army commander on Tuesday said it appeared likely
American troops were responsible for killing an Iraqi family driving in
northern Iraq earlier this month, an incident that has fuelled local
tensions.
Lieutenant Colonel Steve Russell, commander of the 4th Infantry
Division's
1/22 battalion, had earlier said it was possible U.S. forces were
involved
in the January 3 incident in which at least three people died in a hail
of
heavy gunfire.
In comments to reporters on Tuesday, Russell said the evidence pointed
more
directly to American involvement.
"I think it is likely coalition forces were involved given the fact
that a
heavy-calibre machine gun was used," Russell, whose unit patrols the
area
around Tikrit, said.
Russell said the size of the weapon used -- around a 50 calibre -- made
it
unlikely to be anyone other than U.S. troops. Such guns are generally
around two metres long and have to be mounted on a vehicle, which makes
them easy for U.S. patrols to spot if Iraqis have them, he said.
The U.S. military says a man, woman and child were killed in the
shootings,
while Iraqi police say the death toll included two men, a woman and
nine-year-old boy. A survivor told Iraqi police an American convoy had
opened fire on their vehicle...
---
HUNDREDS PROTEST WOMAN'S ARREST IN IRAQ
Sarah El Deeb, Associated Press, 1/13/04
http://www.abcnews.go.com/wire/World/ap20040113_250.html
FALLUJAH, Iraq - Chanting anti-American slogans, hundreds of people
demonstrated Tuesday to protest the arrest of a young woman in
Fallujah,
the third Iraqi city to explode in public anger against the U.S.-led
occupation in as many days.
In the capital Baghdad, mortar shells exploded late Monday, shattering
windows and causing minor damage to homes in the east of the city. At
least
two projectiles exploded near center city hotels favored by Westerners
but
caused no casualties.
Relatives said a 17-year-old newlywed, who was married six days ago,
was
alone at home Monday when she was taken away by U.S. troops and kept in
custody for five hours before being freed unharmed.
The arrest inflamed passions in Fallujah, a stridently anti-American
city
in a deeply religious country where women's dignity is equated with
family
honor.
Hundreds of people poured into the streets of Fallujah on Monday night
after hearing the news and continued demonstrating Tuesday, shouting
``Bush, you coward!'' and ``Release our woman!'' They dispersed without
incident by noon.
The U.S. Army did not immediately confirm the arrest or her release...
---
SHIITE GOODWILL MAY BE ERODING IN IRAQ
Hamza Hendawi, Associated Press, 1/13/04
http://www.abcnews.go.com/wire/World/ap20040113_125.html
BAGHDAD, Iraq - The goodwill of Iraq's Shiite majority, so crucial to
the
success of U.S. policy, may be eroding. Strong opposition by a top
Shiite
cleric to key parts of a U.S. political blueprint for Iraq and the
spread
of violent protests in Shiite areas suggest a dangerous trend.
The U.S.-led coalition, which has already dropped one political plan
for
Iraq in the face of opposition by Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Husseini
al-Sistani, sought to downplay the significance of the cleric's latest
objections, saying they were part of a healthy democratic climate in
which
political and religious leaders freely express their views.
On Monday, L. Paul Bremer, chief U.S. administrator in Iraq, renewed
his
commitment to a Nov. 15 political agreement he signed with the
U.S.-selected Iraqi Governing Council.
``We have said all along that it is important to implement the November
15
agreement ... as the best way forward to return sovereignty to the
Iraqi
people,'' Bremer said.
``The Governing Council is in discussions with the grand ayatollah for
whom
we have the greatest respect.''
Al-Sistani, who refuses to meet Bremer, hardened his opposition to the
plan
in comments issued by his office Sunday and repeated in a newspaper
advertisement Monday. A provisional national assembly due to be formed
by
the end of May must be elected, not selected from regional caucuses as
provided for in the Nov. 15 accord, al-Sistani said.
And he said security accords governing the continued presence of
U.S.-led
coalition troops in Iraq beyond July 1, the designated day for the
occupation's formal end and the coming to office of a sovereign Iraqi
government, must be ratified by an elected legislature.
A ``basic law,'' or interim constitution, being drafted by the
Governing
Council and due to come into effect by the end of February, must also
be
approved by an elected chamber...
---
US WAR IN IRAQ 'STRATEGIC ERROR'
BBC, 1/13/04
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3391583.stm
A report published by the US Army War College has criticised the war
against Iraq as a strategic error.
It also suggests that the Bush administration's global war on terror
may be
unsustainable.
The report, by academic Jeffrey Record, has been dismissed by US
defence
officials, who say it does not represent the view of the US Army.
But BBC Pentagon correspondent Nick Childs says the report could be an
embarrassment for the Pentagon.
The author of the report is a visiting professor at the prestigious
college
in Pennsylvania and his conclusions about the Bush administration's
conduct
of its war on terrorism appear quite damning.
He calls the invasion of Iraq "an unnecessary war of choice" and a
"detour"...
---
U.S. TROOPS KILL FOUR IN IRAQI TOWN - WITNESSES
Reuters, 1/13/04
http://www.reuters.com/locales/newsArticle.jsp;:40041a01:a5412d9aae6e24?type=worldNews&locale=en_IN&storyID=4118383
FALLUJA, Iraq - U.S. soldiers killed at least four Iraqi civilians
Tuesday
in the center of the town of Falluja when they opened fire after coming
under rocket attack, witnesses said.
They said the troops were patrolling the town west of the capital
Baghdad
after a noisy anti-U.S. protest when two rockets were fired at them. An
elderly woman in a nearby house and three men in a car were killed when
the
soldiers returned fire, the witnesses said.
"Two rockets were fired at them," said Khalas Ahmed, a 15-year-old boy
selling cigarettes from a nearby kiosk. "The Americans started firing
back.
The bullets hit my kiosk and I dived to the ground."
The woman who was killed was on a balcony of a nearby house while a car
which was passing was caught in a hail of bullets, other witnesses
said.
All three men inside were killed.
A U.S. military spokeswoman in Baghdad said she had no immediate
information on the incident.
-----
ISRAEL BLAMED FOR USS LIBERTY ATTACK
Nicholas Kralev, Washington Times, 1/12/04
http://www.washingtontimes.com/world/20040112-093728-6027r.htm
The U.S. government has not reached a definitive conclusion on whether
Israel deliberately attacked the USS Liberty in 1967, but it appears
that
the Jewish state is guilty of "gross negligence," a State Department
official said yesterday.
The United States was negligent, too, the official noted, for failing
to
inform Israel that the Navy spy ship was in international waters off
the
Egyptian coast and for keeping the vessel in the region, even though
the
six-day Arab-Israeli war had just broken out.
The incident, in which 34 Americans were killed and more than 170
wounded,
has been veiled in secrecy for nearly 37 years, giving impetus to
numerous
conspiracy theories.
"The conclusion we reached is that the attack constituted a flagrant
act of
gross negligence, for which the Israeli government should be solely
responsible," the official told reporters at the State Department.
But he said many questions have not been — and may never be — answered,
mainly because the United States did not intercept any communication
during
the attack but only after it had happened...
ALSO SEE:
TEARS RUN AS ISRAELI BARRIER RISES NEAR JERUSALEM
Gwen Ackerman, Reuters, 1/13/04
http://www.reuters.com/locales/newsArticle.jsp;:40042f13:57d52cc6d94c168?type=worldNews&locale=en_IN&storyID=4119419
ABU DIS, West Bank - Tearful Palestinians watched cranes lower huge
concrete slabs into place at the edge of Arab East Jerusalem Tuesday as
the
latest sections of a disputed Israeli barrier cut them off from the
city.
Work has been stepped up on the barrier in the past three days,
separating
the suburb of Abu Dis from Arab East Jerusalem, which Palestinians want
as
capital of an independent state and Israelis see as part of their own
indivisible capital...
The barrier of concrete and razor wire is eventually designed to
separate
Jerusalem, holy to Jews, Muslims and Christians, from the Palestinian
areas
of the West Bank.
Thousands of Palestinians complain that they will now be cut off from
jobs,
family and places of worship on the other side.
At his besieged headquarters of Ramallah, Palestinian President Yasser
Arafat called the barrier the biggest catastrophe to befall the
Palestinians since the creation of the Jewish State, but he came up
with no
new ideas to confront it...
-----
COALITION FOR JUSTICE FUNDRAISING BANQUET
WHAT: The Coalition for Justice will be hosting a fundraising banner,
“Standing for Justice.” Local and national leaders and respected
attorneys
will be present.
WHEN: Saturday, January 17, 2004 at 6:00 pm.
WHERE: Sheraton Premier
8661 Leesburg Pike
Vienna, VA 22182
703-448-1234
Tickets - $45 Single - $75 per couple
For tickets call 240-461-1142.
You can send check or money order to: CAIR-MAC, PO BOX 970, Germantown,
MD 20875
Make Checks Payable to: CAIR-MAC
-----
To SUBSCRIBE to or UNSUBSCRIBE from this list, go
to: http://cair.biglist.com/cair-net/
To reach the list moderator, send a message to: cair@cair-net.org
-----
CAIR
Council on American-Islamic Relations
453 New Jersey Avenue, S.E.
Washington, D.C. 20003
Tel: 202-488-8787, 202-744-7726
Fax: 202-488-0833
E-mail: cair@cair-net.org
URL: http://www.cair-net.org
-----
Forwarded Message
Date:
Wed, 14 Jan 2004 15:58:22 -0500
To:
cair-net@cair.biglist.com
From:
"CAIR" <cair@cair-net.org>
Subject:
CAIR-NET: Senate Engaged in 'McCarthyite Witch Hunt' Say
Muslims
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
SENATE ENGAGED IN 'MCCARTHYITE WITCH HUNT' SAY MUSLIMS
24 U.S. Islamic groups targeted for IRS tax, donor records
(WASHINGTON, D.C., 1/14/2004) - The Council on American-Islamic
Relations
(CAIR) today accused a Senate committee of engaging in a "McCarthyite
witch
hunt" by seeking the IRS tax and donor records of 24 American Muslim
charitable, youth and civic organizations. The Washington Post reports
that
the request "marks a rare and unusually broad use of the Finance
Committee's (http://www.finance.senate.gov/) power to obtain private
financial records held by the government."
SEE: "MUSLIM GROUPS' IRS FILES SOUGHT"
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A14205-2004Jan13.html
In a statement, the Washington-based civil rights and advocacy group
said:
"The Senate Finance Committee's investigative net has been cast so wide
that it seems to target all American Muslims as terrorism suspects. Its
indiscriminate scope smacks of a McCarthyite witch hunt and creates the
impression that the presumption of innocence no longer applies to
Muslims.
"As in the past, the real test of America's commitment to equality
before
the law comes at times of national insecurity. We will pass that test
if we
reject demands, from any source, to single out Americans based on their
race, religion or national origin."
CAIR, America's largest Islamic civil liberties group, is headquartered
in
Washington, D.C., and has 25 regional offices and chapters nationwide
and
in Canada.
- END -
CONTACT: Ibrahim Hooper, 202-488-8787 or 202-744-7726, E-Mail:
cair@cair-net.org; Rabiah Ahmed, 202-488-8787 or 202-439-1441, E-Mail:
rahmed@cair-net.org
NOTE: CAIR offers an e-mail list designed to be a window to the
American
Muslim community. Subscribers to the list, called CAIR-NET, receive
news
releases and other materials dealing with American Muslim positions on
issues of importance to our society.
To SUBSCRIBE to or UNSUBSCRIBE from this list, go to:
http://cair.biglist.com/cair-net/
To reach the list moderator, send a message to: cair@cair-net.org
-----
CAIR
Council on American-Islamic Relations
453 New Jersey Avenue, S.E.
Washington, D.C. 20003
Tel: 202-488-8787, 202-744-7726
Fax: 202-488-0833
E-mail: cair@cair-net.org
URL: http://www.cair-net.org
-----
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
AMERICAN MUSLIM NEWS BRIEFS - 1/14/04
* HADITH OF THE DAY: TRIALS LEAD TO GOOD
* LIBRARY PROJECT: 7,177 SPONSORSHIPS
* CARTOON: 'OK. ARABS. THERE, WE SAID IT'
* QUOTE OF THE DAY: ANNAN ON ISLAMOPHOBIA
* CAIR-OHIO: MUSLIMS PROTEST AGAINST FRENCH HIJAB BAN
- CAIR-LA: Muslims to Protest French Hijab Ban
* MILITARY ORDERED TO HURRY GUANTANAMO TRIAL (Reuters)
- Court-Martial for Translator Begins (AP)
- Keeping Detentions Secret (NY Times)
- Inviting Abuses (Orlando Sentinel)
* IL: MAN'S VENDETTA LED TO TERROR HOAX CALLS (Reuters)
- MI/NC: Fake Arabic Accent Used in Bomb Threat (NBC 17)
* MISSOURI MUSLIM ASKED TO INFILTRATE MOSQUE (KMOX)
* VA: JUDGE REJECTS EGYPTIAN'S ALLEGED TERROR LINK (CNN)
- James Yee: Defending an Embattled Son (Star-Ledger)
- Al-Arian Spends 46th Birthday in Captivity (TBCJP)
* ARAR: DEAL WON'T PREVENT CASES LIKE MINE (Ottawa Citizen)
- Take Steps to Avoid 'Torture-By-Proxy' Again (CSM)
* CHURCH MUST AFFIRM ISLAM (National Catholic Reporter)
- Islam Studies Group (Pitt News)
* RABBI HOPES ISRAELI POLICY WILL BE ON TRIAL (JTA)
- American-born Rabbi Impedes Israeli bulldozers (AP)
- Armenian Patriarch Bemoans `Harassment' (Haaretz)
* SEATTLE MUSLIMS RAISE FUNDS FOR IRAN QUAKE VICTIMS
-----
HADITH OF THE DAY: TRIALS LEAD TO GOOD
The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: "If God wants to do good
for
somebody, He afflicts him with trials."
Sahih Al-Bukhari, Volume 7, Hadith 548
-----
CAIR LIBRARY PROJECT UPDATE: 7,178 SPONSORSHIPS
Let's help Rhode Island! 42 covered, 32 libraries left to go!
The goal of CAIR's library project is to send accurate and objective
information about Islam to America's 16,000 public libraries.
For only $150, you may sponsor an 18-item package about Islam and
Muslims,
which are then distributed to the library of their choice.
To sponsor a library call, 1-800-392-7876, ext. 320, or visit:
www.libraryproject.org.
-----
CARTOON: OK. ARABS. THERE, WE SAID IT.
http://www.ucomics.com/boondocks/index.phtml
-----
QUOTE OF THE DAY: ANNAN ON ISLAMOPHOBIA
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20040114/ap_on_re_mi_ea/un_annan_bigotry
United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan: "One of the most
disturbing
manifestations of bigotry today is Islamophobia - a new word for an old
phenomenon."
-----
OHIO MUSLIMS PROTEST AGAINST FRENCH HIJAB BAN
(COLUMBUS, OH) The Ohio Chapter of the Council on American-Islamic
Relations is calling for a silent protest on Wednesday January 14, at
11:30
a.m. outside the Columbus Athletic Club to protest French President
Chirac's move to ban the Hijab, the Islamic headscarf, in France's
public
schools. The French Ambassador will be speaking in the club.
"We will emphasize to the Ambassador that women must have the right to
wear
Hijab if they choose to do so," said CAIR-Ohio Vice President Dr. Asma
Mobin-Uddin. "The State should not prevent people from practicing their
religion."
WHAT: SILENT PROTEST
WHERE: Columbus Athletic Club, 136 E. Broad Street, Columbus, Ohio
WHEN: 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., Wednesday, January 14, 2004
CONTACT: Dr. Asma Mobin-Uddin, CAIR-Ohio Vice President, 614-560-0272
or
Jad Humeidan, CAIR-Ohio Executive Director, 614-571-2770,
jad@cair-ohio.com
ALSO SEE:
CALIF. MUSLIMS TO PROTEST FRENCH HIJAB BAN
(ANAHEIM ,CA) - On Saturday, January 17, the Southern California
chapter of
the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-LA) will join other
groups
in a nationwide campaign protesting President Jacques Chirac's plan to
ban
religiously-mandated head scarves, or hijab, in public schools
WHEN: Saturday, January 17, 2003, 12 noon
WHERE: Westwood Federal Building, 11000 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, CA
The Washington-based Islamic civil rights and advocacy group says the
ban
on head scarves in schools proposed by President Chirac would restrict
the
ability of French Muslims to freely exercise their religious beliefs.
CAIR
said the move contravenes the French constitution and the European
Convention on Human Rights. (The proposed ban would also prohibit
Jewish
yarmulkes and large Christian crosses, but it is widely regarded as
being
designed solely to restrict Islamic religious practices.)
SPONSORS: CAIR-LA, Muslim Students Association-West (MSA-West),
MSA-National, Project Islamic H.O.P.E., Islamic Shura Council of So.
Cal.,
Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA), Muslim American Society (MAS),
The
Greater Huntington Beach Interfaith Council, Islamic Center of Irvine
(ICOI), Orange County Islamic Foundation (OCIF), Islamic Society of
Orange
County (ISOC)
CONTACTS: CAIR-LA: 714-776-1847, E-MAIL: socal@cair.com; MSA-West:
msawest_officers@yahoogroups.com
-----
U.S. MILITARY ORDERED TO HURRY GUANTANAMO TRIAL
Adam Tanner, Reuters, 1/13/04
http://wireservice.wired.com/wired/story.asp?section=Breaking&storyId=813707&tw=wn_wire_story
TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. - Amid defense complaints that no case
had
been made against their client, a judge on Tuesday gave prosecutors a
Feb.
25 deadline to present key evidence against a Syrian-American airman
accused of spying while working as a translator in Guantanamo, Cuba.
Senior Airman Ahmad al Halabi, who faces life in prison if convicted,
has
been charged with espionage related to his work at the base where the
United States maintains a prison camp for suspected al Qaeda and
Taliban
members.
Halabi, who has denied the charges, was arrested in Florida in July and
accused of carrying jail maps, letters and other sensitive documents
from
Guantanamo.
His lawyers complained after the arraignment hearing at Travis Air
Force
base north of San Francisco that the prosecutor has hidden a weak case
by
classifying the evidence...
ALSO SEE:
COURT-MARTIAL FOR SYRIAN-BORN TRANSLATOR BEGINS
Kim Curtis, Associated Press, 1/14/04
http://www.heraldtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040114/APN/401140606
TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. - A U.S. Air Force Arabic translator
accused
of spying at the Guantanamo Bay military prison camp was arraigned
Tuesday
in a court-martial on espionage and other charges that could send him
to
prison for life.
Senior Airman Ahmad I. Al Halabi, 24, is accused of trying to deliver
more
than 180 written and e-mail messages from detainees at Guantanamo Bay
to
Syria. The government says he stored the messages on his laptop and
planned
to carry them overseas.
He's also accused of trying to deliver secret documents about prison
camp
operations and names and other personal information about detainees to
Syria with "reason to believe it would be used to the injury of the
United
States or to the advantage of Syria," according to charging documents.
Al Halabi, who wore his dress uniform and said little during the
proceeding, was arraigned on 17 counts of espionage, lying and
disobeying
orders. He's also accused of failing to report his contacts with the
Syrian
Embassy to his superiors and of repeatedly lying to Air Force
investigators.
If convicted of the most serious attempted espionage counts, he could
face
life in prison without parole, his lawyer, Maj. James Key, said outside
court after the hearing.
While Al Halabi chose not to enter a plea Tuesday, Key said he
"anticipates
he'll be pleading not guilty to all the charges..."
---
KEEPING DETENTIONS SECRET
New York Times, 1/14/04
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/01/14/opinion/14WED1.html
The Supreme Court made it easier this week for the government to drape
a
cloak of secrecy over the imprisonment of people accused of crimes when
it
rejected an appeal seeking the identity of hundreds of men rounded up
after
the Sept. 11 attacks. The freedom of all Americans is diminished.
In the days after the terrorist attacks, nearly 1,000 suspects, most of
them Muslim men, were detained. A vast majority proved to have no
connection to terrorism. Many were deported for immigration violations.
The
government released the names of the 129 who were accused of crimes,
but it
refused to identify the hundreds who were not charged.
The Center for National Security Studies and other groups sued under
the
Freedom of Information Act to learn their names and the circumstances
of
their arrests. The government invoked an exemption to the act. But the
plaintiffs, backed by news organizations, including The New York Times,
contended that the exemption did not apply because this sort of
information
was given out in ordinary police investigations. They argued that the
public needs to monitor detentions to ensure that the government is not
trampling on constitutional rights.
The trial court agreed, and ordered most names released. But an appeals
court reversed that decision, 2 to 1. In dissent, Judge David Tatel
warned
that the court was ignoring the public's interest in knowing whether
detainees' rights had been denied by "detaining them mainly because of
their religion or ethnicity, holding them in custody for extended
periods
without charge, or preventing them from seeking or communicating with
legal
counsel..."
---
INVITING ABUSES
Orlando Sentinel, 1/14/04
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/opinion/orl-edped142011404jan14,1,1856834.story
Our position: The Justice Department's policy of secret arrests
shouldn't
be allowed to stand.
The U.S. Supreme Court struck a blow against government openness and
accountability this week by refusing to review the Justice Department's
secret arrest and detention of hundreds of foreigners.
The high court let stand a lower-court decision allowing the Justice
Department to hide names and basic details in the cases of 762
foreigners
-- almost all of them Muslims -- rounded up for immigration-law
violations
after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. While the department claimed the
blanket secrecy was needed to conceal information from terrorist
groups,
none of the detainees ended up being charged with terrorism.
And under the cover of secrecy, the detainees were mistreated,
according to
a 2003 report from the Justice Department's own inspector general. The
report found that some detainees weren't told of the charges they faced
for
more than a month; some weren't told of their right to contact a
lawyer;
and some were physically abused...
-----
US MAN'S VENDETTA LED TO TERROR HOAX CALLS - FBI
Reuters, 1/13/04
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=domesticNews&storyID=4120811
CHICAGO - A man with a grudge called authorities to falsely accuse
relatives of being al Qaeda members and planning attacks on Chicago
landmarks, the FBI said on Tuesday.
Abdul Rauf Noormohamed, a U.S. citizen born in India, was charged with
making false statements to the government in anonymous telephone calls
the
FBI says were motivated by a family dispute. He faces up to five years
in
prison.
Noormohamed, 59, was released on $100,000 bond on Tuesday following his
arrest on Monday at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport as he was
preparing to fly to Egypt.
Investigators do not know the nature of the family argument or why the
Chicago resident was traveling to Egypt, an FBI spokesman said.
The anonymous caller warned that bombs were being assembled to blow up
landmarks including the Sears Tower and O'Hare, the FBI said.
The calls began four weeks ago and prompted officials to waste hours
looking into whether the family members belonged to Osama bin Laden's
extremist group, the agency said. He also accused some of his relatives
of
belonging to Islamic Jihad...
ALSO SEE:
MEN ALLEGEDLY USE ONSTAR TO PHONE IN BOMB THREAT
Threat Evacuates Detroit Institute of Arts
NBC 17, 1/14/04
http://www.nbc17.com/news/2760305/detail.html
Two local men could face prison time after they allegedly phoned in a
bomb
threat to the Detroit Institute of Arts late Friday morning.
Thomas King, 20, and Jason German, 26, apparently used the OnStar
service
on a vehicle they were repairing to phone in the threat, according to
police.
Police say German talked King into making the call from a car at the
auto
auction shop where they work.
When an advisor answered, King reportedly disguised his voice in what
investigators say was an Arabic-like accent.
King then said he was a terrorist and that there was a bomb en route to
the
DIA, according to police.
Detroit police were eventually notified and the Art Institute was
evacuated, according to local television reports.
Police say the OnStar call was eventually tracked to the repair shop
and
King and German were arrested
A reported $100,000 in resources was wasted to react to the threat.
German and King were arraigned Monday on charges of threatening to
commit
an act of terrorism.
A judge set the bond for the men at $10,000 each.
If convicted, both could spend up to 20 years in prison.
-----
MUSLIM MAN CLAIMS FEDERAL OFFICIALS WANTED HIM TO INFILTRATE ISLAMIC
CENTER
Megan Lynch, KMOX News, 1/14/04
http://www.kmox.com/news/article.php?id=12015
The U.S. Attorney's Office Wednesday dismissed weapons charges against
a
St. Louis man who claimed he was set up by police so federal officials
would have an informant in the Islamic community.
Last fall, Abu Bakr Ladd was arrested as a felon in possession of a
firearm
when a police raid turned up a pistol and two .22 rifles inside his
North
St. Louis home. But Ladd, who said he was only trying to protect his
family
in one of the city's toughest neighborhoods, also argued that the
search
warrant was based on a fabricated police report, which said a patrol
officer had spotted Ladd dealing drugs on September 19th...
When he produced travel receipts confirming his alibi, Ladd says the
U.S.
Attorney's office offered to drop the gun charge, which carries a
penalty
of up to 10 years in prison, if Ladd would infiltrate the St. Louis
Islamic
Center. Ladd refused.
The U.S. Attorney's office is limiting comment on Ladd's case to the
facts
contained in court filings. The St. Louis Police Department has not yet
responded to KMOX's request for comment on Ladd's claim a detective
falsified a report.
-----
JUDGE REJECTS EGYPTIAN'S ALLEGED TERROR LINK
Terry Frieden, CNN Washington, 1/12/04
http://www.cnn.com/2004/LAW/01/12/egyptian.sentence/
ALEXANDRIA, Virginia - An Egyptian national living in the United States
was
sentenced Monday to a year in prison after a federal judge determined
there
was not enough evidence to tie him to charges of financially supporting
terrorism.
Soliman Biheiri will serve at least 10 months in jail and upon his
release
will be deported to his native country.
He was convicted in October of fraudulently trying to obtain U.S.
citizenship. The government had argued Biheiri should serve as much as
10
years because of alleged dealings with the Palestinian Islamic
fundamentalist group Hamas.
Biheiri acknowledged personal ties to Mousa Abu Marzook, a Hamas leader
who
lived in the United States until being deported after the group was
designated a terrorist entity in 1995.
The group's military wing has admitted responsibility for terrorist
attacks
against Israeli civilians attacks against the Israeli military...
ALSO SEE:
DEFENDING AN EMBATTLED SON
Brian Donahue, Star- Ledger, 1/14/04
http://www.nj.com/news/ledger/index.ssf?/base/news-12/107406194831850.xml
Having served two years in the U.S. Army at the end of World War II,
Joseph
Yee felt a swell of pride when his oldest son, James, graduated from
West
Point and became an officer. That pride grew when his second, and then
a
third son, followed his footsteps and donned the uniform.
But in September, when Yee saw his son sitting in a military brig
flanked
by armed guards, the 76-year old Springfield resident began doubting
the
Army he once knew.
Since September, his oldest son, Capt. James Yee, has been the focus of
an
investigation that began with his arrest on suspicion of espionage at a
prison for suspected terrorists. The investigation later widened to
include
charges of adultery and possessing pornography.
As the case against his son has slowly unfolded, Joseph Yee said he has
recognized little of the Army in which he remembers men willing to put
themselves at risk to make sure the right thing was done...
---
DR. AL-ARIAN SPENDS 46TH BIRTHDAY IN CAPTIVITY
Tampa Bay Coalition for Justice and Peace
(Tampa, Fla., - 1/14/04) Today Dr. Sami Al-Arian will spend his 46th
birthday as a political prisoner in the maximum-security wing of
Coleman
Federal Penitentiary, a facility designed to hold convicted felons, not
pre- trial detainees.
Dr. Al-Arian has been held in Coleman under atrocious conditions since
March 27, 2003, where he is not permitted to make telephone calls or
have
contact visits with family, rights that are granted to other inmates.
The respected international human rights monitor Amnesty International
sent
a letter to the Federal Bureau of Prisons describing Dr. Al-Arian's
detention as "gratuitously punitive." The group cited the 23-hour
lockdown, strip searches, use of chains and shackles, severely limited
recreation, lack of access to any religious service and denial of a
watch
or clock in a windowless cell where the artificial light is never
turned off.
The Tampa Bay Coalition for Justice and Peace asks the local and
national
media to assume their responsibility in bringing facts to the public
and
request from the government and Judge Thomas McCoun an explanation for
Dr.
Al-Arian's appalling conditions.
We ask supporters and justice-seeking individuals to remember Dr.
Al-Arian
today, a prisoner of conscience spending his birthday in isolation from
his
family and friends.
CONTACT: tampabayjustice@yahoo.com
-----
DEAL WITH U.S. WON'T PREVENT MORE CASES LIKE MINE, MAHER ARAR INSISTS
Mike Blachfield, Ottawa Citizen, 1/14/04
http://www.canada.com/ottawa/ottawacitizen/news/archives/index.html
Maher Arar and a chorus of critics dismissed the consular agreement
reached
yesterday between Prime Minister Paul Martin and President George W.
Bush
designed to prevent a repeat of his deportation to Syria.
"Nothing in this agreement would have changed what happened to me, and
I am
left with the same questions now that I had yesterday," Mr. Arar said.
"Why did this happen to me? Why did Canadian agencies tell the United
States I was a suspect? How do I clear my name? These are the questions
that all Canadians need answers to if we are really going to feel
safe."
Mr. Arar's lawyer, Amnesty International and opposition MPs roundly
criticized the deal, which was lauded by Mr. Martin and Foreign Affairs
Minister Bill Graham as "unprecedented."
Speaking to reporters in Monterrey, Mexico, with Mr. Bush at his side,
Mr.
Martin said he was pleased the U.S. had agreed to notify Canada of any
pending deportations of its citizens.
Mr. Bush said he promised Mr. Martin "there will be prior notification
prior to any consideration of deportation. We owe it to the government
to
be forthcoming and forthright..."
ALSO SEE:
THE US AND CANADA TAKE STEPS TO ENSURE 'TORTURE-BY-PROXY' DOESN'T
HAPPEN AGAIN
Matthew Clark, Christian Science Monitor, 11/13/04
http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0113/dailyUpdate.html?s=entt
The war on terror since 9/11 has forced law enforcement agencies in
many
countries to tighten security, sometimes, critics say, at the expense
of
existing civil liberties. But would the US purposefully send suspected
terrorists to their countries of origin so that they could be tortured
in
ways they would never be inside the United States?
In a recent San Francisco Chronicle opinion piece, Christopher Pyle
cites
an unnamed intelligence official as saying: "We don't kick the
[expletive]
out of them. We send them to other countries so they can kick the
[expletive] out of them." According to Mr. Pyle, "[US] intelligence
agencies have a name for this torture-by-proxy. They call it
'extraordinary
rendition.'"
In an article last week on how the Egyptian government stifles
democracy,
the Washington Post reports that "several" independent analysts,
government
officials, lawyers, and journalists interviewed in Egypt in December
"pointed to the US practice of 'rendition' - the surreptitious shipment
of
an unknown number of suspected Arab terrorists to Egypt and other
countries
where police routinely practice torture - as proof of US bad faith on
human
rights issues."
The most famous case of rendition is the case of Syrian-born Canadian
software engineer Maher Arar. Mr. Arar was traveling on a Canadian
passport
when he was detained for alleged ties to Al Qaeda on Sept. 26, 2002 at
New
York's JFK Airport. He spent more than 10 months in a Syrian jail after
US
authorities deported him to the country of his birth in October. Arar
says
he was tortured and abused repeatedly throughout that time.
The US government says they had assurances from Syria that he would not
be
mistreated. According to a Canadian Broadcasting Corporation news
report,
US Attorney General John Ashcroft has refused to explain why the dual
citizen was sent to Syria instead of to Canada, but stated that the
deportation was legal and done for reasons of "national security..."
-----
CHURCH MUST AFFIRM ISLAM AS WELL AS JUDAISM
John Schmitt, National Catholic Reporter, 1/16/04
http://ncronline.org/NCR_Online/archives2/2004a/011604/011604l.php
Pope John Paul II and various Vatican congregations spoke out against
an
invasion of Iraq before the United States and Britain acted. Their
fear?
Not only would countless lives be lost, not only would it violate
international law, but this action would cause irreparable harm to the
interfaith relations that have been nurtured for years.
The attempt to change Catholic attitudes toward Jews began with the
Second
Vatican Council and Nostra Aetate (1965). Then followed "Guidelines and
Suggestions for Implementing the Conciliar Document" (1974), "Notes on
the
Correct Way to Present the Jews and Judaism in Preaching and
Catechesis"
(1985) and "We Remember: A Reflection on the Shoah" (1998).
Acknowledging
the need to correct past attitudes and hurtful actions bodes well for
good
Jewish-Christian relations now and into future generations.
But Judaism is not the only monotheistic religion that Christianity has
suspected and persecuted. Logic and charity seem to demand that such
openness be extended to another Abrahamic faith: Islam.
Islam has been the subject of some statements issued by the pope and
the
congregations, but there is no major text that asserts the essential
ties
among Judaism, Christianity and Islam...
ALSO SEE:
ISLAM STUDIES GROUP
Nick Keppler, Pitt News, 1/14/04
http://www.pittnews.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2004/01/14/4004ed2d01e7d
If the Islamic Studies Group could teach you only three things about
Islam,
it would be these:
- Islam is not oppressive to women.
"Islam was one of the first religions or teachings that gave the
highest
privileges to women," said ISG President Cem Karaman. Karaman noted
that
women in the United States were granted inheritance rights in the early
20th century, while women in early Muslim societies were granted those
rights in the seventh century.
- Islam is not limited to the Middle East.
"There are Muslims in the West, in the Middle East, in Asia, in Europe
and
in Africa," Karaman said. "[For] someone who is only watching the TV,
the
only Muslims he will see are from the Middle East, in very problematic
regions."
- Islam does not condone terrorism.
"There is no such kind of concept in Islam," Karaman said of the idea
that
the Islamic notion of jihad means violence against non-Muslims. "Jihad
means struggle, and the main part of this struggle is inner struggle."
To teach these and other basic truths about Islam, Karaman and other
Muslim
students created the ISG in the spring of 2002.
The group considers itself more of an educational group than a
ministry,
and it hosts lectures and discussions about Islamic beliefs, practices
and
history. Its mission is to "contribute to intercultural, interfaith
friendship; contribute to the dialogue and mutual understanding between
Islam and other religions; and educate people about Islam..."
-----
ACTIVIST RABBI IN THE DOCK, BUT HE HOPES ISRAELI POLICY WILL BE ON
TRIAL
Joe Berkofsky, JTA, 1/13/04
http://www.jta.org/page_view_story.asp?strwebhead=Rabbi+to+court+in+demolition+case&intcategoryid=5
NEW YORK - As the Israeli bulldozer rumbled toward him, Rabbi Arik
Ascherman says, he thought of Rachel Corrie.
Ascherman, 44, a U.S.-born Reform rabbi who now lives in Jerusalem, was
trying last April to block the demolition of the Maswadeh family's home
in
Beit Hanina, an Arab village on the outskirts of Jerusalem. The house
violated municipal zoning regulations.
Corrie, 23, an American activist with the pro-Palestinian International
Solidarity Movement, had been crushed to death a month earlier by an
Israeli bulldozer demolishing a Gaza Strip home that allegedly
concealed
the exit of an arms-smuggling tunnel.
"I don't think we'll ever know whether she fell, whether the bulldozer
saw
her or whether it was a game of chicken that went too far," Ascherman
says.
"If it was an accident, it drives home that when you're in front of a
bulldozer knocking down a home, accidents can happen."
Ascherman was luckier. He lost only his skullcap in the rubble of the
Maswadeh home.
On Wednesday, Ascherman, the executive director of Rabbis for Human
Rights
Israel, is due to appear in court to face charges of interfering with a
police action in Beit Hanina and in the village of Issawiyah, north of
Jerusalem. If convicted, he could face three years in jail and fines.
But Rabbis for Human Rights is hoping that it will be Israel's policy
of
demolishing illegally built Arab homes that really will be on trial...
ALSO SEE:
AMERICAN-BORN RABBI ACCUSED OF IMPEDING ISRAELI BULLDOZERS
JOSEF FEDERMAN, Associated Press, 1/14/04
JERUSALEM (AP) - Arik Ascherman is no stranger to the Israeli police.
The
American-born rabbi reckons he has been arrested at least 10 times
while
protesting what he says are injustices against Palestinians.
On Wednesday, the human-rights activist made his first-ever court
appearance, in a case drawing attention to the issue at the core of the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict: the battle for Jerusalem.
Ascherman, head of the local group Rabbis for Human Rights, went on
trial
along with two Israeli activists for allegedly blocking Israeli
bulldozers
from demolishing Palestinian homes built without permits.
Ascherman didn't deny blocking the bulldozers, instead arguing he had a
moral responsibility to stop them.
"Our defense is basically that because the policy is illegal and
immoral,
that it's a civic, Jewish and Zionist duty to stand in front of the
bulldozers," Ascherman said...
---
ARMENIAN PATRIARCH BEMOANS `HARASSMENT' BY EXTREMIST JEWS
Amiram Barkat, Haaretz, 1/13/04
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/382294.html
The Armenian patriarch of Israel, Archbishop Torkom Manoogian,
yesterday
complained to Interior Minister Avraham Poraz of harassment by
`extremist'
Jews.
"They [the Jews] spit on us and swear at us when I or our people walk
down
the street," Manoogian told Poraz.
He made the complaint during a round of meetings that the minister was
holding with leaders of Israel's Christian communities, following the
transfer of the department for non-Jewish communities from the defunct
Religious Affairs Ministry to the Interior Ministry.
Poraz asked police officers at the meeting why the police were not
making
efforts to arrest those who torment the archbishop and his people. The
officers replied that the police safeguard religious processions, but
lack
the means to guard every monk.
All the community leaders asked Poraz to facilitate the procedures for
obtaining entrance visas to Israel for religious figures. Some
religious
leaders also complained that they were forced to undergo humiliating
physical examinations on entering Israel via the Allenby Bridge border
terminal. The Coptic archbishop, Anba Abraham, said that he was forced
to
take his shoes off for the examination and that the cross he wears on
his
chest was taken by the guards for inspection...
-----
SEATTLE MUSLIMS RAISE FUNDS FOR IRAN QUAKE VICTIMS
WHAT: The devastating earthquake that hit the historical city of Bam in
Iran on Friday December 26th resulted in more than 30,000 deaths,
50,000
injuries, 100,000 homeless, including More than 1500 orphans. There is
a
dire need for immediate relief and for long term reconstruction of
homes,
schools, orphanages, and hospitals.
A few local organizations will hold a community fundraiser to help the
Iran
earthquake victims. This has been scheduled as follows:
WHEN: Saturday; January 17th from 7- 10 PM
Dinner will be provided
WHERE: Doubletree Hotel Bellevue
300 112th Avenue SE
Bellevue, Washington, 98004-
A flier of the event is available at
http://www.ershad.org/IranEarthquakeBellevueFlier.htm
For tickets ($20 per person) and more information, please contact:
Fatemeh Bannazadeh: (425) 891 9737 or fmbannaz@yahoo.com
Yaghoob Ebrahimi: (206) 524 5129,
Hameed Afssari: (206) 372 2112 or hafssari@yahoo.com
-----
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-----
CAIR
Council on American-Islamic Relations
453 New Jersey Avenue, S.E.
Washington, D.C. 20003
Tel: 202-488-8787, 202-744-7726
Fax: 202-488-0833
E-mail: cair@cair-net.org
URL: http://www.cair-net.org
-----
Forwarded Message
Date:
Thu, 15 Jan 2004 12:46:14 -0500
To:
cair-net@cair.biglist.com
From:
"CAIR" <cair@cair-net.org>
Subject:
CAIR-NET: Action Alert - Alabama Muslims Denied Right to Hijab
In the Name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful
CAIR ACTION ALERT #411
ALABAMA MUSLIMS DENIED RIGHT TO ISLAMIC ATTIRE
Contact state officials to protest prohibition of hijab in license
photos
(WASHINGTON, D.C., 1/15/2004) - CAIR is urging American Muslims and
other
people of conscience to contact state officials in Alabama and request
that
they allow Islamic heads scarves in driver's license photographs.
A number of Muslim women in that state have reported to CAIR that they
were
prevented from obtaining or renewing licenses because they refused to
take
off their hijab.
In a letter to Colonel W. M. Coppage, Director of the Alabama
Department of
Public Safety (DPS), CAIR requested an investigation of the women's
complaints and a review of department policies banning head coverings
in
driver's license photographs.
The letter noted that CAIR helped resolve similar complaints against
the
Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services (BCIS) of the U.S.
Department of Homeland Security. The new BCIS guidelines say that
religious
head coverings will be allowed "provided the subject of the photograph
otherwise remains clearly identifiable."
A recent survey by CAIR's Civil Rights Department indicated that most
other
states allow a religious exemption to prohibitions against head
coverings
in driver's license photographs.
"Alabama's existing policy actually hinders proper identification by
law
enforcement authorities in the field because the Muslim women drivers
would
appear one way in the license photograph and look quite different in
person," said CAIR Civil Rights Coordinator Rizwan Qureshi. "Islamic
headscarves are not equivalent to baseball caps or head bands that will
not
necessarily be worn when a driver is stopped by police."
Qureshi noted that the Bush administration recently criticized France
for
proposing a law that would prohibit Muslim girls from wearing Islamic
scarves in public schools. An administration official said wearing
religious attire is "a basic right that should be protected." Protests
in
defense of religious rights for French Muslims are scheduled at that
country's U.S. diplomatic offices nationwide on Saturday.
IMMEDIATE ACTION REQUESTED: (As always, be POLITE and RESPECTFUL.)
Contact the Alabama Department of Public Safety to request that they
join
other states in allowing a religious exemption to the policy
prohibiting
head coverings in driver's license photographs.
CONTACT:
Colonel W. M. Coppage
Director
Alabama Department of Public Safety
500 Dexter Ave.
Montgomery, Alabama 36130
SEE: http://www.dps.state.al.us/
TEL: 334-242-4371
E-MAIL: wmcoppage@dps.state.al.us
COPT TO: gdeese@dps.state.al.us, smclure@ago.state.al.us,
governor@governor.state.al.us, info@dps.state.al.us, cair@cair-net.org
- PLEASE ANNOUNCE, POST AND DISTRIBUTE -
--- CLIP AND MAIL/FAX/E-MAIL ---
YES, I would like to support CAIR's important work by donating
$___________. Enclosed is my check, payable to CAIR. Basic CAIR
membership
is just $10 per year.
Name:
Address:
City:
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Payment: ___Check ___VISA ___MasterCard ___Discover ___Money Order
Credit Card Number:
Exp. Date:
Name as on Card:
Signature: ________________________________________________
SEND TO: CAIR, 453 New Jersey Ave., S.E., Washington, D.C. 20003
FAX: 202-488-0833 E-MAIL: membership@cair-net.org
-----
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-----
CAIR
Council on American-Islamic Relations
453 New Jersey Avenue, S.E.
Washington, D.C. 20003
Tel: 202-488-8787, 202-744-7726
Fax: 202-488-0833
E-mail: cair@cair-net.org
URL: http://www.cair-net.org
-----
Forwarded Message
Date:
Thu, 15 Jan 2004 18:49:21 -0500
To:
cair-net@cair.biglist.com
From:
"CAIR" <cair@cair-net.org>
Subject:
CAIR-NET: Muslim Players Set Interfaith Football Tournament
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
AMERICAN MUSLIM NEWS BRIEFS - 1/15/04
* HADITH OF THE DAY: MODESTY
* LIBRARY PROJECT: 7,179 SPONSORSHIPS
* MUSLIM PLAYERS SET INTERFAITH FOOTBALL TOURNAMENT (LA Times)
* MUSLIMS UPSET ABOUT REMOVING SCARVES FOR AL LICENSES (AP)
- Diplomat Takes Flak for Scarf Ban (Columbus Dispatch)
- CA: Residents to Protest French Ban (Argus Online)
- Lists of Hijab Ban Protests in U.S. and Canada
* SENATE REQUESTS RECORDS FOR MUSLIM CHARITIES (NY Times)
* OH: DEFENSE CONCERNED ABOUT FAIR TRIAL FOR CLERIC (AP)
* ISRAEL PRESSES WHITE HOUSE TO REWORD RIGHTS REPORT (Forward)
* MUSLIM AUTHOR TAKES ON ISLAM, IGNITES FIRESTORM (Chicago Trib)
* ANOTHER OKLAHOMA CITY IN TX? (Times Picayune)
* MONTREAL MUSLIMS JOIN INTERNATIONAL PROTEST OF HIJAB BAN
- Chirac's Attack on Religious Symbols (Providence Journal)
- Catholics Feel Heat from Muslim Veil Dispute (Reuters)
* IMC WELCOMES SCRUTINY OF CONDITIONS IN GUJARAT
* VA: STANDING FOR JUSTICE FUNDRAISING AND AWARDS DINNER
-----
HADITH OF THE DAY: MODESTY
The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: "Every faith has an
innate
character. The character of Islam is modesty."
Al-Muwatta, Volume 47, Number 9
VERSE OF THE DAY
For believing men and women, for devout men and women, for true men and
women, for men and women who are patient and constant, for men and
women
who humble themselves, for men and women who give in charity, for men
and
women who fast (and deny themselves), for men and women who guard their
modesty, and for men and women who engage much in God's praise - for
them
has God prepared forgiveness and great reward.
The Holy Quran, 33:35
-----
CAIR LIBRARY PROJECT UPDATE: 7,179 SPONSORSHIPS
Now, let's help the state of Florida: 357 covered, 137 more libraries
to go!
The goal of CAIR's library project is to send accurate and objective
information about Islam to America's 16,000 public libraries.
For only $150, you may sponsor an 18-item package about Islam and
Muslims,
which are then distributed to the library of their choice.
To sponsor a library call, 1-800-392-7876, ext. 320, or visit:
www.libraryproject.org.
-----
MUSLIM PLAYERS SET INTERFAITH FOOTBALL TOURNAMENT
Mike Anton, Los Angeles Times, 1/15/04
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/orange/la-me-muslimfb15jan15,1,5238553.story
Muslim flag football players in Orange County, some of whose team names
sparked protest, plan to hold a second tournament this summer - in
which
Christians, Jews and those of other religions will be invited to play.
The group's Interfaith Tournament, which will be put on with the help
of
the Southern California chapter of the Council on American-Islamic
Relations, is intended to leave the politics of the first event on the
sidelines.
"They want to turn it into an opportunity to interact with others,
socialize and do their favorite thing: play football," said Hussam
Ayloush,
the chapter's executive director. "In addition, they'll be sending a
message and making a statement to everybody in the community who had
doubts
about them."
The players - U.S. Muslim men in their teens and 20s - made world
headlines
in December when some of them adopted team names associated in recent
years
with violence and terrorism: Soldiers of Allah, Moujahedeen and
Intifada.
The players said the monikers were nothing more than signs of football
toughness and a show of support for Middle Eastern Muslims. The Arabic
terms, they pointed out, have historically honorable meanings -
moujahedeen, for instance, means "holy warrior" - that had been
corrupted
by extremists.
But the names angered Jewish groups. Even some local Islamic leaders,
including Ayloush, advised the players to change them, saying the
exercise
in free speech was, in fact, sending the wrong message. All but one
team
did, and the advice to minimize such controversy continues.
"That will be my advice again: Keep this about football," Ayloush said.
He said the council decided to play a more active role in the next
tournament and reach out to other religious groups, but also to help
the
Muslim players understand the power of words and images. "We want to
sensitize our youth without undermining their freedom of speech,"
Ayloush said.
He said details of the next tournament, to be held this summer, have
yet to
be worked out, but that churches and synagogues would be formally
invited
to field teams...
-----
MUSLIMS UPSET ABOUT REMOVING SCARVES TO GET ALABAMA LICENSES
PHILLIP RAWLS, Associated Press, 1/15/03
MONTGOMERY, Ala. - Some Muslim women in Alabama are upset because state
driver's license officials are requiring them to remove their head
scarves
if they want to get a license.
"I wear this for religious reasons. I'm not taking it off," La Tonya
Floyd
of Mobile said Thursday.
Floyd said she left a driver's license office in Mobile on Dec. 19
after
being told state rules require her hair to be visible in her license
photograph. She appealed to the state Department of Public Safety in
Montgomery for an exemption for religious reasons, but was turned down,
she
said.
She is one of more than 10 Muslim women from Mobile and Birmingham who
complained to the Council on American-Islamic Relations. The
Washington-based group wrote to Alabama Public Safety Director Mike
Coppage
asking the state to end its requirement for women to remove their head
scarf, or hijab.
Department spokeswoman Dorris Teague said department officials were
reviewing the matter.
Ibrahim Hooper, spokesman for the Washington-based Council on
American-Islamic Relations, said most states - including Florida,
Mississippi and Tennessee - have policies that allow people to wear
head
coverings for religious and medical reasons, such as cancer patients
who
have lost their hair. The rules provide that the coverings can't
obscure
the person's face…
The scarves at issue in Alabama cover the hair, ears and neck, but not
the
face, Hooper said.
Boyd Campbell, a Montgomery attorney who specializes in immigration
law,
said banning head scarves makes no sense when Alabama allows men to
wear
hair pieces and women to wear wigs in their driver's license photos.
"What's the difference?" Campbell asked.
Floyd maintains that a photo in a scarf would be better because it
would
represent the way she should would look if stopped by a law enforcement
officer or going through a security checkpoint...
Floyd, who moved to Mobile from Dallas last year, said she had no
problem
getting a license in Texas while wearing a scarf.
SEE ALSO:
FRENCH DIPLOMAT TAKES FLAK FOR POSSIBLE HEAD-SCARF BAN
Dean Narciso, Columbus Dispatch, 1/15/04
http://www.dispatch.com/national-story.php?story=dispatch/2004/01/15/20040115-C6-00.html
Warming Franco-American ties was the mission the French ambassador to
the
United States brought to Columbus yesterday.
But a gathering of mostly young Muslim women wearing traditional
religious
head scarves called hijabs gave Jean-David Levitte a chilly reception
outside the Athletic Club of Columbus.
Signs such as "Is French Liberty for some and not for all?'' and "My
Hijab
My Choice'' were carried by many in the crowd of about 50.
The protesters object to a campaign in France to ban all forms of
prominent
religious symbols such as hijabs, Jewish yarmulkes and large Christian
crosses in its public schools.
The French government considers the symbols in the schools a violation
of
the separation of religion and state. Its parliament is expected to
pass a
law next month imposing the ban in primary and secondary schools. The
ban
would not apply to colleges.
Muslims plan to protest this weekend at French embassies and consulates
across the country, organizers of yesterday's protest said.
"We wanted to send a message to our Muslim brothers in France that
Muslims
around the world will stand in solidarity . . . and that religious
intolerance will not be tolerated in this world,'' said Jad Humeidan,
director of the Ohio chapter of the Council on American-Islamic
Relations...
---
LOCAL RESIDENTS TO PROTEST FRENCH BAN ON RELIGIOUS GARB
Melissa Evans, Argus Online, 1/15/04
http://www.theargusonline.com/Stories/0,1413,83~1971~1892436,00.html
Even though she was raised Muslim, Fatima Haque wasn't brought up in a
family that mandated she wear a head scarf.
During her freshman year of high school, however, she decided it was
the
right thing to do.
"When you go out into society, people recognize right away you're a
Muslim
woman," the Fremont resident said.
"You walk out onto the street and more respect is given to you. It's a
constant reminder that you're a Muslim."
The right -- and, for some, the obligation -- to wear a head scarf may
be
denied to Haque's peers in France, where the president has endorsed a
law
banning overtly religious symbols in public places.
Muslims, including Haque, will express their outrage Saturday in a show
of
solidarity at French consulate offices around the globe.
The protest at the San Francisco consulate will begin at 11 a.m.
Because the ban, endorsed by French President Jacques Chirac, also
includes
Jewish skull caps and large Christian crosses, Muslim leaders are
expecting
a large interfaith turnout.
The protests "have created quite a buzz," said Helal Omeira, spokesman
for
the local chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations. "The
crowd
should be very diverse."
CAIR, a Muslim advocacy group, did not spearhead the protests, Omeira
said.
The organization became involved only after numerous calls from the
community urging action, he said.
With roughly 5 million Muslims, France has the largest Islamic
population
in the European Union. Several thousand teenage girls wear head scarves
to
classes, and the issue has led to a number of cases where girls have
been
suspended or expelled for wearing them.
"Potentially this could have a negative effect on a lot of people
around
the world," Omeira said, adding that other countries, such as Germany
and
Belgium, have begun looking at similar legislation.
"It really flies in the face of international common sense," Omeira
said.
Head scarves should not be considered a religious symbol, said Adeel
Iqbal,
a Fremont resident and spokesman for the South Bay Islamic Association.
Many Muslim women consider them mandatory as a sign of chastity,
religious
reverence and modesty
-----
LISTS OF HIJAB BAN PROTESTS IN U.S. AND CANADA
ATLANTA
WHAT: Atlanta Rally Against France's Ban On Hijab
WHEN: Saturday January 17, 2004 11:00 Am -2:00 Pm
WHERE: Consulate Of France, Atlanta
3475 Piedmont Road NE
Suite 1840-Atlanta, Ga 30305
Meeting at 10:30 am at Buckhead Station (corner of Lenox and Piedmont
Road)
and marching to the French consulate (short distance away)
Atlanta Coordinator - Sofia Chaudhary, 678-687-0488
---
CALIFORNIA
WHAT: CAIR, MPAC, MAS, interfaith groups Protest Hijab
WHEN: January 17, from noon-2p.m., peak at 1 p.m.
WHERE: Federal Building
Los Angeles Coordinator - Mohammad Mertban, 310 351 2732
WHAT: San Francisco protests
WHEN: Saturday 17, 2004 starting 11 a.m.
WHERE: March from the City Hall to the French consulate
San Francisco Coordinator - Basim ElKarra, 415 407 6925 or Nadia Aziz,
408-832-0741
---
CANADA
WHAT: MSAs of Carleton and Univ of Ottawa, Ottawa Muslim Association
(OMA),
Muslim Association of Canada (MAC), Global Peace Coalition (GPC),
University of Ottawa and Carleton University KAIROS, Ontario Public
Interest Research Group OPIRG), Islamic Information Centre, Ottawa
Raging
Grannies, International Socialists Group
WHEN: January 17, from 1-2 p.m.
WHERE: French embassy, 42 Sussex Dr
Ottawa Coordinator - Hadeel Al-Shalchi, 613-262-6619
WHAT: UMSA
WHEN: January 17, at noon
WHERE: French Consulate, 1 Place Ville Marie (corner University, Rene
Levesque)
Montreal Coordinator - Sameer Zubeiri, 514-814-0812
WHAT: MSA Protests
WHEN: January 17, at 1 pm
WHERE: French consulate in Toronto
Toronto Coordinator - Naila Kibria [nailakibria@hotmail.com]
WHAT: Teach-in organized by Muslim women of Winnipeg
WHEN: Saturday 17 from 1-4 p.m.
WHERE: Knox United Church, 400 Edmonton St., Winnipeg, Manitoba
-----
SENATE COMMITTEE REQUESTS TAX AND FUND-RAISING RECORDS FOR 27 MUSLIM
CHARITIES
Philip Shenon, New York Times, 1/15/04
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/01/15/politics/15CHAR.html
WASHINGTON - The Senate Finance Committee said Wednesday that it had
called
on the Internal Revenue Service to turn over private tax and
fund-raising
records for major Muslim charities as part of an investigation into
possible links between the charities and terrorist groups.
The committee released a copy of a letter sent to the I.R.S. last month
requesting "all I.R.S. materials," including donor records, for 27
Muslim
charities, including several that have been under scrutiny by the
Justice
Department and the Treasury Department for possible ties to Al Qaeda
and
Palestinian terrorists.
The I.R.S. had no immediate comment on the request, although Bush
administration and Senate aides agreed that it was almost certain to
comply
because of the Finance Committee's broad jurisdiction to review
otherwise
confidential tax records.
The Dec. 22 letter was signed by the committee's Republican chairman,
Senator Charles E. Grassley of Iowa, and its ranking Democrat, Senator
Max
Baucus of Montana...
The Treasury Department announced in November that three groups on the
committee's list - Benevolence International Foundation of Palos Hills,
Ill.; Global Relief Foundation of Bridgeview, Ill.; and Holy Land
Foundation for Relief and Development of Richardson, Tex. - had lost
their
tax-exempt status. Previously, the government had frozen their assets.
The request, first reported by The Washington Post, drew criticism from
other Muslim and Arab-American organizations.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations, an advocacy group for
American
Muslims, said in a statement that the "Finance Committee's
investigative
net has been cast so wide that it seems to target all American Muslims
as
terrorism suspects - its indiscriminate scope smacks of a McCarthyite
witch
hunt..."
-----
DEFENSE CONCERNED ABOUT FAIR TRIAL PROSPECTS IN ISLAMIC CLERIC'S
INDICTMENT
Thomas J. Sheeran, Associated Press, 1/15/04
CLEVELAND - Getting a fair trial is on the mind of the defense attorney
representing an Islamic cleric charged with concealing alleged ties to
terrorist groups when he applied for U.S. citizenship.
"It becomes a tremendous problem," said Joseph T. McGinness, attorney
for
Imam Fawaz Mohammed Damrah, 41, of Strongsville, who also uses the name
Fawaz Damra as leader of the Islamic Center of Cleveland.
"The man's found guilty before he's had a chance to come to trial. It
presents a terrible problem for me," McGinness said.
Jonathan Entin, a law professor at Case Western Reserve University in
Cleveland, said the issue of a fair trial for Damrah could be resolved
by
careful jury selection.
"The judge and the lawyers will ask (prospective jurors) a lot of
questions
designed to get at prejudice," Entin said. "You may have to work extra
hard
to find a fair jury in this kind of a high profile case that has
implied
connections to terrorism."
If convicted, Damrah could face loss of his citizenship, up to five
years
in prison, a $5,000 fine and deportation.
In Columbus, Jad Humeidan, executive director of the Ohio chapter of
the
Council on American-Islamic Relations, said he shared the fair-trial
concerns, given the environment after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist
attacks.
"It is going to be very hard for him to get a fair trial. I've been
watching the media yesterday and today and it seems as if he's almost
been
convicted," Humeidan said...
-----
ISRAEL PRESSES WHITE HOUSE TO REWORD RIGHTS REPORT
Ori Nir, Forward, 1/16/04
http://www.forward.com/issues/2004/04.01.16/news5.fence.html
WASHINGTON - Israel is pressuring the Bush administration to omit
references to the West Bank security fence from the State Department's
annual human rights report.
American diplomats in Tel Aviv recently told Israeli officials that the
administration planned to refer to the fence in the report's chapter
that
scrutinizes Israeli violations of Palestinians' human rights. But,
sources
said, the administration has not yet made a final decision on the
issue.
The report is scheduled to be released in March, the same time that the
International Court of Justice is expected to take up the Israeli fence
issue. Aides to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon are worried that a
negative citation in the report will weaken Israel's case at the Hague,
according to Israeli diplomats and pro-Israel activists in
Washington-who
also are increasingly concerned that any mention will be used as
ammunition
against Jerusalem in front of the court.
The administration is still considering whether it will support
Israel's
position in front of the court. Briefs to the court have to be filed by
January 30. The court is expected to start discussing the case three
weeks
later...
-----
MUSLIM AUTHOR TAKES ON ISLAM, IGNITES FIRESTORM
Geneive Abdo, Chicago Tribune, 1/15/04
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0401150351jan15,1,6513294.story
Irshad Manji is bringing along a bodyguard on her American book tour.
She
must, she says: There are threats calling for her head.
A best-seller in Canada, Manji's controversial tome "The Trouble With
Islam" was published in the United States this week. The book plays on
increasing fears that the social, political and religious values of the
West are threatened by the growth of Islam worldwide.
This thesis, plus the threats she said she has gotten, are enough for
her
enthusiastic supporters to peg her as the next Salman Rushdie, the
British
author elevated to worldwide fame after Ayatollah Khomeini issued a
death
threat against him. Already, she's become a darling of talk show hosts
and
book reviewers from Canada and the U.S. to Europe.
But Islamic scholars and activists dismiss Manji as "Rushdie lite." The
35-year-old Canadian TV talk show host, they say, lacks the
intellectual
firepower and religious knowledge to inspire a reformation within
Islam--the reason Manji says she wrote her provocative polemic.
"One main difference between Irshad and Salman Rushdie is that Rushdie
had
a scholarly background in Islam, and this is lacking in her book," said
Sheema Khan, a Canadian Islamic activist and intellectual...
For a review of CAIR-CAN review of Manji's book, visit:
http://www.caircan.ca/downloads/LRCKhan_0312.pdf
-----
ANOTHER OKLAHOMA CITY?
Times Picayune, 1/12/04
http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/index.ssf?/base/news1/1073890754302170.xml
Were it not for an envelope that was misdirected by the U.S. Postal
Service, the federal government may never have discovered the cache of
illegal weapons that white-supremacist William Krar had stockpiled in
Texas.
Fortunately, the envelope was misdirected to a Staten Island, N.Y., man
who
opened it and found a stack of fake U.N. and Defense Department
identification cards and a note that read, "We would hate to have this
fall
into the wrong hands."
The sender of that note would have considered the U.S. government "the
wrong hands," but it's a good thing that it's in those hands that the
note
finally landed. For it helped spark the discovery in Noonday, Texas, of
materials Mr. Krar had collected to build a sodium cyanide bomb that
could
have been used to kill thousands of people. Investigators also found
500,000 rounds of ammunition, 65 pipe bombs and briefcases that could
be
detonated via remote control.
Although Mr. Krar has pleaded guilty to possession of a chemical
weapon,
and two others have pleaded guilty as accomplices, government officials
have yet to determine what they were plotting to do with the illegal
arsenal. With the stash of weapons they had, it's impossible to imagine
that they had anything but nefarious motives in mind. Officials say
it's
the most significant domestic terrorism threat they've discovered since
1995's Oklahoma City bombing...
-----
MONTREAL MUSLIMS JOIN INTERNATIONAL PROTEST OF FRENCH HIJAB BAN -
SIMILAR
ACTIONS PLANNED ACROSS CANADA AND WORLDWIDE
Canada Newswire, 1/15/04
MONTREAL - The United Muslim Students Association (UMSA) will be
uniting
with Muslim students worldwide on Saturday January 17th, 2004, in an
international day of protest against the recent proposal of the French
government to ban the hijab from all French public schools.
UMSA members will be picketing outside the offices of the French
Consulate
at 1 Place Ville Marie (RenDe-LDevesque/UniversitDe) at 12 pm. They
will be
handing out green ribbons, in solidarity with the Muslims of France.
"The ban, wrought out of social engineering, is both discriminatory and
insolent," said Sarah Elgazzar, UMSA spokesperson. "We stand in
solidarity
with the French Muslims in opposition to this ill-informed decision."
Similar demonstrations are also planned in Paris, London, Ottawa,
Toronto,
Washington, Houston, Miami, San Francisco and New York City.
UMSA is an umbrella group of 10 MontrDeal situated CEGEP and University
Muslim Student Associations.
ALSO SEE:
CHIRAC'S ATTACK ON RELIGIOUS SYMBOLS
Arsalan Iftikhar and Sabiha Khan, Providence Journal, 1/15/04
http://www.projo.com/opinion/contributors/content/projo_20040115_15ctscarf.2300b1.html
THE INFLUENCE of France on international relations in modern history is
undeniable. To many, France showed moral strength by opposing the
recent
war in Iraq. Because of the stature that France enjoys in most of the
world, it is unsettling to see that President Jacques Chirac has
recently
proposed legislation that would ultimately ban Muslim women from
wearing
hijab (head scarf), Jewish men from wearing yarmulkes and Christians
from
wearing crosses in state institutions.
Chirac's proposed legislation would ban the use of "religious symbols"
in
French state schools and hospitals. In Islam, hijab is a religious
obligation to which many Muslim women choose to adhere. Unlike a cross
worn
around the neck, which is not a religious mandate for Christians, hijab
is
not merely a "symbol" that can be removed at will by those who decide
to
wear it. Rather, it is a religious obligation for Muslim women who
choose
to observe it; any ban on a woman's right to fulfill what she sincerely
believes is her religious obligation is a direct legislative assault on
her
freedom to exercise her religion.
Proponents of the legislation say that the law applies equally to all
religions. However, the use of the word "symbols" should not apply to
hijab
and probably yarmulkes. Therefore, it unequally legislates against
Muslim
women and, arguably, Jewish men. Since hijab is considered an
obligation by
those who wear it, legally speaking, it cannot be termed merely a
"symbol..."
---
CATHOLICS FEEL HEAT FROM MUSLIM VEIL DISPUTE -CARDINAL
Reuters, 1/15/04
PARIS - A French cardinal said Thursday Roman Catholics were feeling
the
heat from anti-religious militants in France as politicians stir up old
passions by debating a planned ban on the Muslim veil in public
schools,
Cardinal Jean-Marie Lustiger, archbishop of Paris, said bishops across
the
country had reported dozens of cases in which Catholic girls had been
harassed for wearing a cross, or nuns criticized for appearing in
public in
their habits.
The law, which a wide spectrum of French politicians and voters support
as
a bulwark against rising Islamist influence among Muslim immigrants,
would
be "just the beginning of a long crisis," he told France-Inter radio.
Leaders of France's 5-million-member Muslim community have also
reported
recent cases of harassment, such as banks and municipal offices
refusing to
serve veiled women, since President Jacques Chirac announced the
planned
ban last month.
"At a university in Paris, a woman wearing a small cross had it torn
off by
other students," Lustiger said. "A nun who was crossing a street in the
garb of her religious order was told by passersby, 'You shouldn't go
out in
your habit.'
"I could tell you dozens of other cases the bishops have reported," he
added.
Lustiger said France's strict separation of church and state in 1905
had
calmed tensions after the sometimes violent struggle of anti-clerical
politicians who curbed the privileges of the once-mighty Catholic
Church.
To many French, that struggle ranks second only to the 1789 revolution
as a
milestone in the creation of modern France -- one reason why so many
refuse
to make concessions to Islam.
-----
INDIAN MUSLIM COUNCIL-USA WELCOMES CONGRESSIONAL SCRUTINY OF THE
CONDITION
OF MINORITIES IN GUJARAT
1/13/04
Indian Muslim Council-USA, an advocacy group working towards
safeguarding
India's pluralist and tolerant ethos, welcomes the efforts of members
of
Congress to draw attention to the dire situation of minorities in the
Indian state of Gujarat.
Dr. Shaik Ubaid, President of IMC-USA, expressed gratitude to members
of US
Congress who met with the victims of Gujarat genocide and spoke out
against
the rise of Hindutva-fascism. He further added that, "We also wish to
thank
the delegation members who raised these issues in their meetings with
the
Indian government officials and business representatives."
IMC-USA had launched a campaign to educate the delegation members on
the
growing persecution of minorities and Dalits in India. In meetings with
delegation members and their staff, IMC-USA emphasized that the rise of
Hindutva-fascism and attempts by the proponents of Hindutva to instill
hatred in the coming generations of Indians does not bode well for
India's
secular democracy and economic prosperity. The delegation members were
also
made aware of media reports that have tracked the transfer of funds
from
the United States to Hindutva "hate groups" responsible for the
recurring
anti-minority violence in India.
IMC-USA expresses satisfaction that its campaign was successful and
praises
the efforts of the representatives of Christian, Dalit, and secular
groups
who were partners in this campaign.
Contact: Rasheed Ahmed (708) 466 0244
-----
STANDING FOR JUSTICE FUNDRAISING AND AWARDS DINNER
WHAT: Coalition For Justice: Muslim Organizations and Islamic Centers
have
come together to set up a Legal Defense for MD, VA, and DC
WHERE: Sheraton Premiere, Tyson's Corner, 8661 Leesburg Pike, Vienna,
VA 22182
WHEN: Saturday, January 17th, 2004 at 6PM
SPEAKERS: Former Presidential Candidate Ralph Nader
Former Congressman Walter Fauntroy
Cindy Corrie; Mother of Rachel Corrie who sacrificed her life for the
cause
of Muslims will accept the STANDING FOR JUSTICE AWARD
(Posthumous).
Sponsored by Muslim Legal Affairs Council and the Coalition for Justice
Contact: Seyed Rizwan Mowlana 301.672.9355, Ibrahim Moiz 301.343.2924,
or
Wael Elkoshairi 240.461.1142
LIMITED SEATS AVAILABLE. CALL NOW TO PURCHASE OR RESERVE YOUR SEATS.
-----
To SUBSCRIBE to or UNSUBSCRIBE from this list, go to:
http://cair.biglist.com/cair-net/
To reach the list moderator, send a message to: cair@cair-net.org
-----
CAIR
Council on American-Islamic Relations
453 New Jersey Avenue, S.E.
Washington, D.C. 20003
Tel: 202-488-8787, 202-744-7726
Fax: 202-488-0833
E-mail: cair@cair-net.org
URL: http://www.cair-net.org
-----
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
AMERICAN MUSLIM NEWS BRIEFS - 1/16/04
* HADITH OF THE DAY: MODESTY IS PART OF FAITH
* INCITEMENT WATCH: HIJAB A SYMBOL OF REPRESSION?
- Head Scarf is a Symbol of Freedom (The State)
* GOOD NEWS: MD COMPANY AGREES TO ALLOW HIJAB
* CAIR-FL TO ADDRESS INTERFAITH CONFERENCE ON HATE CRIMES
- CAIR-Seattle Hosts Interdenominational Discussion
- CAIR-FL: Scam Targets Muslims (Miami Herald)
* AL: DRIVER'S LICENSE DISCRIMINATION (News 5)
- Rule Discriminates Against Women (Birmingham News)
* HIJAB CAN MAKE SOMEONE A TARGET IN AMERICA (Dallas News)
- Thousands Due at Paris Demo Against Headscarf Law (AFP)
* BRAZIL JAILS U.S. PILOT OVER FINGERPRINTING SNUB (NYT)
* LIBRARIAN STANDS UP TO THE PATRIOT ACT (Mother Jones)
- Pentagon Lawyers Challenge Administration (The Age)
- Dangerous Veil of Secrecy (Los Angeles Times)
* PREJUDICE AGAINST ISLAM BECOMES A DISEASE (New Statesman)
* VA: STANDING FOR JUSTICE FUNDRAISING AND AWARDS DINNER
* KUCINICH TO VISIT SEATTLE MOSQUE
-----
HADITH OF THE DAY: MODESTY IS PART OF FAITH
The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) once passed by a man who was
scolding his brother about being too modest. The Prophet said to the
man:
"Leave him alone. Modesty is part of faith."
Al-Muwatta, Volume 47, Number 10
-----
INCITEMENT WATCH: HIJAB A SYMBOL OF REPRESSION?
http://www.washingtontimes.com/op-ed/20040115-084955-1698r.htm
French fashion?
Diana West, Washington Times, 1/16/04
Meanwhile, does banning Muslim head scarves in French public schools
infringe on freedom of religion? Most clergy, along with such watchdog
groups as Freedom House and the U.S. Commission on International
Religious
Freedom, have already said yes, huffily. But here's where things get
intellectually gooey. If the head scarf is a feature of Islam, and
Islam
has a history of repressing non-Muslims, then is the head scarf a
symbol of
religious repression? If so, how can Mr. Chirac be curtailing religious
liberty by restricting a symbol of religious repression?...
While most Westerners wince at the dowdy uniformity of the hijab, all
the
while hoping to convince themselves to accept it as a symbol of
feminine
modesty, Muslims regard it as a functional means of safeguarding young
girls and women from the untrammeled sexual impulses of men. This
belies a
fairly unevolved set of manners and mores (not to mention an almost
literal
state of war between the sexes) that reflects the culturally entrenched
repression and abuse of women in Islamic society…
All of which may help explain why, despite my own hankering for a
little
more modesty (and a lot more style) across the board, the hijab remains
a
symbol of repression and extremism - a definite fashion-don't.
ACTION REQUESTED: (As always, be POLITE. This writer has a long history
of
anti-Muslim bias and would like to use any hostile message to further
defame Islam and Muslims.)
E-MAIL POLITE COMMENTS TO: letters@washingtontimes.com
COPY TO: dwest@washingtontimes.com, tblankley@washingtontimes.com,
cair@cair-net.org
NOTE: Include your contact information if you want your comments to be
considered for publication.
SEE ALSO:
A HEAD SCARF AS A SYMBOL OF FREEDOM, NOT OPPRESSION
SHOEBA HASSAN, The State (Columbia, SC), 1/16/04
http://www.thestate.com/mld/thestate/news/columnists/7723138.htm
The ban that France has proposed against religious symbolism is
outrageous.
This extreme form of separation of church and state infringes upon the
personal freedoms of individuals. A closer look will reveal the true
intentions: all politics. The increase of religious practice has made
France's secular government nervous. This new trend may be redefining
France's liberal history.
What kind of future can be expected for the new generation when
countries
that have previously spoken in favor of maintaining international law
move
in opposition to the United Nations Declaration for Human Rights?
Article
18 states: "Everyone has the right to freedom of... religion;... and
freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or
private,
to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and
observance…"
There are many misconceptions about Islam that have entered the
American
media and have been imprinted in the minds of the American people as
the
truth. The horrific practices she mentioned, such as gang rapes and
female
circumcision, can be attributed only to certain peoples or cultural
traditions. Just like other actions - sects of Jews who do not cut
their
hair, or Christian Samaritans who do not allow women to marry out of
their
group - these wrongdoings of some people cannot be used to characterize
an
entire religion.
I cannot express how frustrating it is to read articles that make
derogatory remarks about Islam and base their stories on
misconceptions. I
have never viewed Christianity or Judaism as being bad because of what
some
people do…
I started wearing the hijab, or head scarf, out of my own will. My
older
sister started wearing it in 11th grade out of her own will, so I
decided
to follow her - out of my own will.
Oddly enough, I started wearing hijab less than a year after 9/11. My
classmates and teachers asked why I wore the hijab. By educating them
on
this, I am blessed to say that they respect me for who I am. And it is
because I wear the hijab that I am free. This is to say that besides
obeying my parents and God, no one - and I repeat no one - controls me.
Wearing the hijab allows women to be viewed with respect, and not as
the
sex objects the Western woman has come to symbolize. To understand the
concept of the hijab we must understand why Muslim women wear it. Mary,
mother of Jesus (peace be upon her), is considered one of the perfect
women
in Islam. Any person will see that in every picture of Mary, her hair
is
covered. In fact, it is Mary's values of modesty and courage, and not
the
shameless behaviors of divas such as Britney Spears, that Muslim women
look
up to...
Anyone who dares to impede on rights, especially those recognized by
international law, must understand that infringing on personal freedoms
does not promote a free society.
I applaud all the courageous women who have marched in France and have
spread the importance of this issue across other nations. And let it be
known that regardless of where I live, I will defend my rights and wear
my
hijab - because I am free.
Miss Hassan is a senior at Irmo High School.
-----
GOOD NEWS ALERT
MD COMPANY AGREES TO ALLOW ISLAMIC ATTIRE
(BETHESDA, MD, 1/16/04) - The Maryland office of the Council on
American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-MD) today announced a settlement in a
case
involving a Muslim woman prevented from wearing an Islamic head scarf,
or
hijab, while roller-skating.
Skateland Inc., located in Baltimore, Md., has agreed to amend its
policy
to allow skaters to wear religiously-mandated head coverings. The
company
also agreed to a monetary settlement, to institute CAIR-MD's Diversity
and
Sensitivity Training program for its employees and to host a CAIR-MD
event
at Skateland for the Muslim community, free of charge.
CAIR-MD stepped in to mediate at the request of the Muslim woman, after
a
Skateland manager allegedly told her that she could not skate with the
hijab because of a policy that banned head coverings. CAIR-MD informed
the
administration that such a policy discriminates against Muslim women.
"We commend Skateland for its willingness to ensure that the skating
rink
is a prejudice-free zone, where people of all faiths can enjoy
themselves
without suffering discrimination on religious grounds," said CAIR-MD
Executive Director Rizwan Mowlana.
CONTACT: Seyed Rizwan Mowlana 301.672.9355 or Ibrahim Moiz 301.343.2924
-----
CAIR-FL TO ADDRESS INTERFAITH CONFERENCE ON HATE CRIMES
(ST. PETERSBURG, FL 1/16/04) - The Florida office of the Council on
American-Islamic relations (CAIR-FL) announced today it will join The
National Conference for Community and Justice (NCCJ), the FBI Hate
Crime
unit and local law enforcement officials in a panel discussion on hate
crimes addressing interfaith clergy. The hate crimes panel is part of a
3-day interfaith conference titled, "Under Siege: Religious Freedom in
a
Post 9/11 World," being held in Pinellas County.
WHAT: Hate Crimes Seminar/panel
Under Siege: Religious Freedom in a Post 9/11 World
WHEN: TODAY: Friday, January 16, 2:15 PM
WHERE: Florida Holocaust Museum, Downtown St. Petersburg, Florida
55 Fifth Street South, St. Petersburg, FL
- END -
CONTACT: Ahmed Bedier (CAIR) 813-731-9506, abedier@cair-florida.org, H.
Roy
Kaplan (NCCJ) 727-568-9333
SEE ALSO:
CAIR-SEATTLE HOSTS INTERDENOMINATIONAL DISCUSSION
WHAT: On Wednesday, January 21, the Seattle chapter of the Council on
American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-Seattle), will host a panel discussion
by
four representatives of Christian traditions. This community-wide
event,
called Voices of Christianity, will be the third in a series of
interfaith
dialogues: Voices.
Voices is an outgrowth of the tragedy of September 11th, with local
Christians, Jews and Muslims attempting to create understanding,
respect
and cooperation among their respective communities as fellow "children
of
Abraham." In 2002, Voices held a series of public interfaith dialogues
with
Muslim and Jewish panelists sharing their beliefs and faith traditions
with
Christians and each other.
Voices of Christianity will feature the Rev. Dr. Frank Spina and Dr.
Stamatis Vokos of Seattle Pacific University, and Dr. Loretta Jancoski
and
the Rev. Flora Wilson-Bridges of Seattle University's School of
Theology. They will offer perspectives from the Episcopal, Orthodox,
Catholic and Evangelical traditions.
A question and answer period will follow the formal presentations.
WHEN: Wednesday, January 21, at 7PM.
WHERE: Moore Theater, Sacred Heart School, 9460 NE 14th St, Clyde Hill.
- END -
CONTACT: CAIR-Seattle, Mubarak Elamin, 425-417-0138, E-MAIL:
mubarak@cair-seattle.org. Michaela Corning, 206-419-4847/206-465-0977,
E-MAIL: mcorning@cair-seattle.org
---
BEWARE OF SCAM THAT TARGETS MUSLIMS
Miami Herald, 1/16/04
The Florida office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations is
warning
Muslims about a con artist who seeks money by impersonating well-known
personalities in the Muslim world.
The way this particular guy works is this: He calls Muslims -- groups
or
individuals -- and pretends to be with a respected institution. He
claims
that he and others will soon be arriving on a visit to the United
States.
Later, he calls back and claims to have lost his passport, air tickets
and
money and asks that emergency cash be wired to him at a Western Union
facility.
If you receive such a call, contact your local police department.
-----
DRIVER'S LICENSE DISCRIMINATION
Rose Ann Haven, News 5, 1/15/04
http://www.wkrg.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=WKRG%2FMGArticle%2FKRG_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1031773133759&path=!frontpage
Check your driver's license. Are you wearing a hat? A group of Muslims
in
the Port City says the state is discriminating against them. They
believe
they're victims of selective enforcement, and say they're willing to
take
their case to the U.S. Supreme Court.
"It seems like the secular mind all of a sudden can't grasp the idea of
covering out of modesty and out of obedience to your God," says La
Tonya Floyd.
Last month La Tonya Floyd came here to the Public Safety Office on
Demotropolis to get an Alabama driver's license.
She says when they asked her to remove her head scarf for the photo she
explained she couldn't for religious reasons...she ended up leaving
without
a license.
Floyd says the department told her, head coverings aren't allowed on
driver's license photos…
Meanwhile, the Council on American Islamic Relations, based out of
Washington, is asking the state to stop making Muslim women remove
their
headscarves.
Another public safety spokesperson says they're reviewing the matter.
SEE ALSO:
MUSLIMS: DRIVER LICENSE RULE DISCRIMINATES AGAINST WOMEN
MARY ORNDORFF, Birmingham News, 1/16/04
http://www.al.com/news/birminghamnews/index.ssf?/base/news/107424835213060.xml
WASHINGTON Some Muslim women in Alabama have been told to remove their
head
scarves for their driver license pictures, a form of religious
discrimination, according to an Islamic civil rights group.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations has asked the Alabama
Department
of Public Safety to clarify its policy to allow women to wear the
religiously significant scarf, or hijab.
The Washington-based organization cited the cases of two women, both in
December, who were told by public safety employees in the Mobile Driver
License Division that the scarves were banned by department policy.
Requests to see a copy of the written policy were denied, according to
the
women's accounts.
"From the sudden reaction of Muslim-American residents in Alabama, it
seems
like it's a new phenomenon," said Rizwan Qureshi, civil rights
coordinator
for the council.
His letter about the incidents was sent to Alabama Department of Public
Safety Director Mike Coppage on Monday…
A similar issue was settled recently with the federal immigration
office.
The Department of Homeland Security now allows the scarves to be worn
in
pictures as long as the woman's face is clearly identifiable, according
to
the council. The organization's survey also found many other states
with
policies that accommodate the religious head coverings, as long as they
don't obstruct the face.
-----
MUSLIM VEIL CAN MAKE SOMEONE A TARGET IN AMERICA
SOUHEILA AL-JADDA, Dallas News, 1/16/04
http://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/viewpoints/stories/011604dnedijadda.9c621.html
"Are you a terrorist?"
"Do you have a bomb in your bag?"
"Are you going to blow up this bus?"
Those were questions that a group of laughing teenagers bombarded me
with
as I rode a bus to work the other day.
I sat silently, staring straight ahead and pretending their remarks
didn't
hurt me. But they did.
As a veiled Muslim woman, it may have been my clothing that set me
apart.
Yet I knew it really was my faith that was the object of their
ridicule.
And with nearly 7 million other Muslim Americans who may be subjected
to
similar stereotypes, I knew I wasn't alone.
During the 10-minute bus ride, I found strength by remembering Rosa
Parks,
the black woman who, despite racist jeers and taunts, took her place at
the
front of a bus to demonstrate her resolve against racism in the 1950s.
I also took solace in knowing I would be one of more than 2.5 million
Muslims from around the world, including 10,000 American Muslims, who
will
gather in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, for the annual Hajj pilgrimage this
month…
While President Bush repeatedly has declared that the war on terrorism
isn't a war against Islam, the words and actions of senior officials in
his
government say otherwise.
The USA PATRIOT Act, our country's new anti-terrorism law, allows the
government to conduct intrusive search-and-seizure raids without prior
notice. It also expands federal wiretapping capabilities, threatening
our
rights to privacy. Many Muslim immigrants and visitors have been swept
up
in the government's dragnet, detained in prisons for months without
charge,
access to an attorney or contact with family members.
Meanwhile, hate crimes continue to be committed against mosques, Muslim
homes and businesses.
I ask myself, "Will I be next?"…
Souheila Al-Jadda is a free-lance writer who serves as an Arabic
translator
for Mosaic, a Middle East news program on Link TV.
SEE ALSO:
THOUSANDS DUE AT PARIS DEMO AGAINST HEADSCARF LAW
Agence France Presse, 1/16/04
Thousands of people were expected to attend a demonstration in Paris
Saturday to protest against government plans to ban the Islamic
headscarf
and other "conspicuous" religious insignia from schools.
Organised by a small group called the Party of French Muslims (PMF),
the
afternoon rally was expected to draw large crowds from the capital's
suburbs, where many in the immigrant Muslim community see the proposed
law
as an act of discrimination.
"(Far-right leader Jean-Marie) Le Pen could have issued the call, and
the
people would still turn out in force, so great is their anger," said a
Muslim community leader who asked not to be named. Smaller
demonstrations
were planned in several other cities.
Last month President Jacques Chirac pronounced his support for a new
"secularity" law whose main provision would be make it illegal for
teenage
Muslim girls to attend classes with their heads covered. The bill is to
get
its first reading in parliament on February 3…
"These demonstrations are the chance to show all our fellow citizens
that
the Muslim population of France has faith in the republic. Defence of
our
religious freedoms does not mean we question the values upon which our
republic is built," the UOIF said.
Some Muslim leaders say that the proposed law has led to an increase in
insults and acts of aggression against veiled women and those wearing
headscarves in the street...
The Catholic church has also opposed the law, with Cardinal Jean-Marie
Lustiger saying it was encouraging an aggressive anti-religious trend.
"This clumsy law risks reopening ... a religious war," he said…
-----
BRAZIL JAILS AMERICAN AIRLINES PILOT OVER FINGERPRINTING SNUB
LARRY ROHTER, New York Times, 1/15/04
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/01/15/international/americas/15BRAZ.html
RIO DE JANEIRO, Jan. 14 - An American Airlines pilot arriving in S�o
Paulo,
Brazil's largest city, was jailed Wednesday after he protested new
procedures requiring the fingerprinting and photographing of all
incoming
United States citizens by making what Federal Police officers described
as
an obscene gesture.
Eleven other crew members on the same flight from Miami were refused
entry
to Brazil and detained after the police said that they had refused to
be
fingerprinted and behaved in a "derisive" manner. They were ordered to
return to the United States on the next available flight, which was to
leave S�o Paulo on Wednesday night.
The dispute heightened Brazilian-American tensions that started Jan. 1
when
Brazil demanded that arriving American citizens - and American citizens
alone - be photographed and fingerprinted. The policy was in
retaliation
for increased security measures in the United States that require
citizens
of all but 27 countries, mostly European, to undergo nearly identical
procedures.
At a conference of Western Hemisphere heads of government on Monday,
Brazil's president, Luiz In�cio Lula da Silva, personally asked
President
Bush that Brazilians be exempted from the requirements. He followed
that on
Tuesday with public criticism of the United States procedures, saying
to
reporters that "if the problem is to fight terrorism, this measure
makes no
sense" because "we have no culture of terrorism" in Brazil.
The police said that the American Airlines pilot, Dale Hersh, 52, had
been
charged with "disrespect for authority," an offense that carries a jail
term of six months to one year. It was unclear whether he would be
allowed
to leave the country before facing trial, and the United States
Consulate
in S�o Paulo issued a statement saying that American officials were
"working with both the Federal Police and American Airlines to resolve
the
matter…"
-----
LIBRARIAN TRINA MAGI STANDS UP TO THE PATRIOT ACT
Rob Gurwitt, Mother Jones, January/February 2004 Issue
http://motherjones.com/news/hellraiser/2004/01/12_402.html
You can ask Trina Magi anything; she's ready to help you find the
answer.
Who, exactly, was on Richard Nixon's "enemies list"? How do you create
a
cranberry bog? Where do you find the marketing data you need to write a
business plan? How can one find a photograph of Jesus Christ?
No question is foolish, she believes, though that last one -- which a
student truly did ask -- still draws a smile. In fact, it's the very
unpredictability of what's on people's minds that makes her daily stint
on
the reference desk at the University of Vermont's Bailey/Howe Library,
in
Burlington, so rewarding. "We want to nurture a love of inquiry in
others,"
she says, "not squelch it or make people afraid to ask questions."
These days, it's not people fretting about what she might think of
their
questions that worries Magi; it's their unease about what the federal
government might think. When the USA Patriot Act passed in October
2001, it
contained language in Section 215 making it easier for federal agents
to
look into the business records of, among other places, libraries and
bookstores. In particular, agents no longer need to show probable cause
before getting a judge's approval to round up private records; the act
also
makes it illegal for the keeper of those records to tell any one else
--
including the customer or patron involved -- about the investigation.
To Magi (whose last name is pronounced "Maggie") and other librarians,
all
of this strikes at the heart of free inquiry: the right to privacy.
"It's
one of the basics of librarianship, to respect privacy," says Gail
Weymouth, chair of the Intellectual Freedom Committee of the Vermont
Library Association, "to understand that what people read isn't
necessarily
what they believe, and to give them the ability to come in and find
information without any chilling effect."
The fear of that chill -- the possibility that people will not explore
questions because of how that might look to the authorities -- has
turned
Magi into an anti-Section 215 crusader. A youthful 39, with short
blondish
hair and a guileless, friendly face reminiscent of the young Debbie
Reynolds, Magi is organized, composed, and very straightforward in
public
-- which is where she has been a fair bit over the past year, toting a
large flip chart to libraries and public meetings around Vermont to
speak
about her opposition to Section 215…
SEE ALSO:
PENTAGON LAWYERS CHALLENGE ADMINISTRATION
http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/01/15/1073877963039.html
Pentagon lawyers representing prisoners at Cuba's Guantanamo Bay have
told
the US Supreme Court that the Government's plans are unconstitutional.
The lawyers challenged the Government's sole power to act as jailer,
judge
and executioner of prisoners captured overseas and held at the prison
camp,
including Australians David Hicks and Mamdouh Habib.
Meanwhile, a Los Angeles lawyer who won a ruling that US courts can
decide
if the detention at Guantanamo Bay of about 600 people is legal, has
filed
a $US1.1 billion ($A1.4 billion) class action against the Bush
Administration.
Stephen Yagman said the ruling meant that the detainees were US
"inhabitants" and could sue the Government for violations of the US
constitution.
---
DANGEROUS VEIL OF SECRECY
Los Angeles Times, 1/15/04
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-ed-detainees15jan15,1,4323264.story
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday bought the Bush administration's leaky
logic on terrorism, tacitly endorsing secret detentions of hundreds of
suspects after the 9/11 attacks. Moreover, by embracing the
ends-justify-means reasoning in this case, the justices set a dangerous
precedent as they ponder other key challenges to the administration's
anti-terror policies before them this term.
Without comment, the court let stand a federal appellate ruling that
disclosing names of any of the suspects could endanger national
security.
Federal agents swept up at least 750 men immediately after the attacks,
nearly all of them Muslims. Most were immigrants nabbed for visa
problems
or minor criminal charges. All were held for months in secret - some
for
nearly a year - before they were deported or released…
The Bush administration argues that the courts owe it deference where
national security is concerned. The president's obligation to defend
the
nation, his lawyers argue, sometimes outweighs the liberties the Bill
of
Rights guarantees individuals. Deference, perhaps, but not
acquiescence.
Other pending cases, including a challenge to the administration's
secret
detentions of U.S. citizens as enemy combatants, present the Supreme
Court
with the same tough balancing test. This week's decision should not be
the
template.
-----
PREJUDICE AGAINST ISLAM HAS BECOME A DISEASE
William Dalrymple, New Statesman, 1/19/04
http://www.newstatesman.co.uk/nscoverstory.htm
Islam has now replaced Judaism as Britain's second religion, and it
sometimes feels as if Islamophobia is replacing anti-Semitism as the
principal western statement of bigotry against 'the Other': the pre-war
Blackshirts attacked the newly arrived East End Jews, and today we have
their modern equivalents going 'Paki-bashing'…
We have had, for example, Michael Gove of the Times warning us of the
dangers of all the fanatical Muslim terrorists lurking in our midst:
'They
are already there in their thousands. And they are not going to respect
weakness any more than Lenin did.' Meanwhile, over at the Telegraph,
the
proprietor, Conrad Black, characterised Palestinians as 'vile and
primitive' while Black's wife, Barbara Amiel, concluded one of her
double-page rants by comparing Arabs to 'animals'. Such offensive
prejudices against Muslims, and the spread of idiotic stereotypes of
Muslim
behaviour and beliefs, have been developing at a frightening rate since
11
September 2001. It is especially ironic that much of the criticism of
Muslims comes from the right, given that British Islam has successfully
preserved traditional conservative values: an emphasis on the family,
chastity before marriage, respect for elders and weekly attendance of a
place of worship, as well as observance of various important religious
feasts...
-----
STANDING FOR JUSTICE FUNDRAISING AND AWARDS DINNER
WHAT: Coalition For Justice: Muslim Organizations and Islamic Centers
have
come together to set up a Legal Defense for MD, VA, and DC
WHERE: Sheraton Premiere, Tyson's Corner, 8661 Leesburg Pike, Vienna,
VA 22182
WHEN: Saturday, January 17th, 2004 at 6PM
SPEAKERS: Former Presidential Candidate Ralph Nader
Former Congressman Walter Fauntroy
Cindy Corrie; Mother of Rachel Corrie who sacrificed her life for the
cause
of Muslims will accept the STANDING FOR JUSTICE AWARD
(Posthumous).
Sponsored by Muslim Legal Affairs Council and the Coalition for Justice
Contact: Seyed Rizwan Mowlana 301.672.9355, Ibrahim Moiz 301.343.2924,
or
Wael Elkoshairi 240.461.1142
LIMITED SEATS AVAILABLE. CALL NOW TO PURCHASE OR RESERVE YOUR SEATS.
-----
KUCINICH TO VISIT SEATTLE MOSQUE
Local Muslim Event at Idriss Mosque
Wednesday, February 4th 2004 at 4:30-6:00 PM
Representative Dennis Kucinich will be in the Puget Sound area for only
two
days and he has requested to meet with the local Muslim Community.
Location: IDRISS MOSQUE (Northgate) 1420 Northgate Way, Seattle,
Washington
For more information please call Idriss Mosque (206) 363-3013
-----
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-----
CAIR
Council on American-Islamic Relations
453 New Jersey Avenue, S.E.
Washington, D.C. 20003
Tel: 202-488-8787, 202-744-7726
Fax: 202-488-0833
E-mail: cair@cair-net.org
URL: http://www.cair-net.org
-----
Forwarded Message
Date:
Fri, 16 Jan 2004 16:16:46 -0500
To:
cair-net@cair.biglist.com
From:
"CAIR" <cair@cair-net.org>
Subject:
CAIR-NET: Muslims Nationwide Urged to Protest Hijab Ban 1/17
In the Name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful
CAIR ACTION ALERT #412
MUSLIMS NATIONWIDE URGED TO PROTEST FRENCH HIJAB BAN
(WASHINGTON, D.C., 1/16/2004) - On Saturday, January 17, people of
conscience who respect religious freedom are urged to gather at French
diplomatic offices nationwide (and in Canada) to protest President
Jacques
Chirac's move to ban religiously-mandated head scarves, or hijab, in
public
schools.
WHAT: International Day of Protest Against President Chirac's Hijab Ban
WHERE: French Embassies and Consulates in the United States and Canada
WHEN: January 17, 2004
FOR MORE INFORMATION, VISIT:
http://msa-national.org/media/actionalerts/hijabban.html
The ban on head scarves in schools proposed by President Chirac would
restrict the ability of French Muslims to freely exercise their
religious
beliefs and would contravene the French constitution and the European
Convention on Human Rights.
Rallies in the United States are organized by the Muslim Students
Association of the United States and Canada; Muslim American Society
Freedom Foundation; Council on American-Islamic Relations-MD;
Solidarity
International; ANSWER; Sisters in Solidarity to End Repression, Secret
Evidence, Spying and Search & Seizures (SISTERS); Sikh Mediawatch and
Resource Task Force (SMART); DC Council of MSA, along with many other
civil
rights and religious organizations.
IMMEDIATE ACTIONS REQUESTED:
1) Plan to attend a rally.
2) Inform your friends, neighbors and colleagues about the rally and
encourage them to attend.
3) Distribute this alert to your personal e-mail list and ask that
recipients do the same.
LISTS OF HIJAB BAN PROTESTS IN U.S. AND CANADA
ATLANTA
WHAT: Atlanta Rally Against France's Ban On Hijab
WHEN: Saturday January 17, 2004 11:00 Am -2:00 Pm
WHERE: Consulate Of France, Atlanta
3475 Piedmont Road NE
Suite 1840-Atlanta, Ga 30305
Meeting at 10:30 am at Buckhead Station (corner of Lenox and Piedmont
Road)
and marching to the French consulate (short distance away)
Atlanta Coordinator - Sofia Chaudhary, 678-687-0488
---
CALIFORNIA
WHAT: Protest Hijab Ban
WHEN: January 17, from noon-2p.m., peak at 1 p.m.
WHERE: Federal Building
Los Angeles Coordinator - Mohammad Mertban, 310 351 2732
CAIR-LA, Muslim Students Association-West (MSA-West), MSA-National,
Project Islamic H.O.P.E., Islamic Shura Council of So. Cal., Islamic
Circle of North America (ICNA), Muslim American Society (MAS), The
Greater Huntington Beach Interfaith, Islamic Center of Irvine (ICOI),
Orange County Islamic Foundation (OCIF), Islamic Society of Orange
County (ISOC), Sikh Mediawatch And Resource Task Force (SMART)
WHAT: San Francisco protests
WHEN: Saturday 17, 2004 starting 11 a.m.
WHERE: March from the City Hall (1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Pl) to the
French consulate. NOTE: March will continue to French Consulate
building
and protesters will arrive there at approximately 1:30 PM.
San Francisco Coordinator - Basim ElKarra, 415 407 6925 or Nadia Aziz
408-832-0741
---
CANADA
WHAT: Muslim Students' Association of the University of Ottawa
Muslim Students' Association of Carleton University
Ottawa Muslim Association (OMA)
Muslim Association of Canada (MAC)
Islamic Information Centre
Muslim Youth Association of Canada Youth Division of Ottawa (MYDO)
Jewish Students' Association - Hillel, Ottawa
Global Peace Coalition (GPC), University of Ottawa and Carleton
University
KAIROS
Ontario Public Interest Research Group (OPIRG), University of Ottawa
and
Carleton University
Egyptian Students' Association, Carleton University
International Socialists of Carleton University
The Ottawa Raging Grannies
WHEN: January 17, from 1-2 p.m.
WHERE: French embassy, 42 Sussex Dr
Ottawa Coordinator-Hadeel Al-Shalchi, 613-262-6619
WHAT: UMSA
WHEN: January 17, at noon
WHERE: French Consulate, 1 Place Ville Marie (corner University, Rene
Levesque)
Montreal Coordinator - Sameer Zubeiri, 514-814-0812
WHAT: MSA Protests
WHEN: January 17, at 1 pm
WHERE: French consulate in Toronto
Toronto Coordinator - Naila Kibria [nailakibria@hotmail.com]
WHAT: Teach-in organized by Muslim women of Winnipeg
WHEN: Saturday 17 from 1-4 p.m.
WHERE: Knox United Church, 400 Edmonton St., Winnipeg, Manitoba
-----
MIAMI
Join International Day of Protest Against President Chirac's Hijab
Ban
WHEN: Saturday January 17, 2004 at 11 - 2 p.m.
WHERE: Miami French Consulate, One Biscayne Tower - Suite 1710, 2 South
Biscayne Boulevard, Miami, FL
-----
ILLINOIS
WHAT: MSA Protest
WHEN: Saturday, January 17, 2-4 p.m.
Chicago Coordinator - Manal El-Hrisse, 708-655-1738
---
NEW YORK
WHAT: CAIR, MAS, Women in Islam, All NY Mosques/Islamic Centers Protest
WHEN: January 17, 2004 from noon-3 p.m.
WHERE: United Nations
New York Coordinator - call 718-739-7300 OR 718-658-1199
---
TEXAS
WHAT: MSA's of Houston and CAIR-Houston Protest
WHEN: Saturday January 17 at 11 noon to 2 p.m.
WHERE: Houston French Consulate, 777 Post Oak Boulevard, Suite 600
Houston, TX 77056, USA
Houston Coordinator - Aminah, 713-526-4000
Co-Sponsors: University of Houston MSA, CAIR-Houston, Rice University
MSA, University of St. Thomas MSA, ADC, Torch (Jewish peace
organization)
---
WASHINGTON D.C.
WHAT: DC Council of MSA, CAIR- MD, Mustafa Center, Dar Al- Hijrah,
ADAMS,
SISTERS, MAS Freedom Foundation, North American Council of Muslim
Women,
Sikh Mediawatch and Resource Task Force, Solidarity USA/Solidarity
International, International ANSWER, United Sikhs, Protest.
WHEN: January, 17, from 11-2 p.m.
WHERE: Across from the French consulate, 4101 Reservoir Road
Washington DC Coordinator - Ismail Kamal, 202-431-1505
- PLEASE ANNOUNCE, POST AND DISTRIBUTE AT FRIDAY PRAYERS -
-----
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-----
CAIR
Council on American-Islamic Relations
453 New Jersey Avenue, S.E.
Washington, D.C. 20003
Tel: 202-488-8787, 202-744-7726
Fax: 202-488-0833
E-mail: cair@cair-net.org
URL: http://www.cair-net.org
-----
Forwarded Message
Date:
Mon, 19 Jan 2004 12:44:26 -0500
To:
cair-net@cair.biglist.com
From:
"CAIR" <cair@cair-net.org>
Subject:
CAIR-NET: Remembering MLK/Prayer Amid the Office Machines
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
AMERICAN MUSLIM NEWS BRIEFS - 1/19/04
* HADITH OF THE DAY: A PLACE IN PARADISE
- Verse of the Day: Righteousness
* CAIR-LA: REMEMBERING MLK AND HIS MESSAGE
- CAIR-MI Director Speaks at MLK Day Event
- CAIR-FL: Remembering Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
* DNA TEST FREES NC MUSLIM INMATE AFTER 18 YEARS (AP)
* PRAYER AMID THE OFFICE MACHINES (New York Times)
* BELGIUM EYES MUSLIM VEIL BAN (UPI)
* CA: MORE THAN 200 PROTEST HIJAB BAN IN FRANCE (AP)
- S.F. Rally Decries French Plan (Mercury News)
- Worldwide Protests Over Ban (SF Chron)
- Angry Women Protest Hijab Ban (The Star)
- French Muslim Official 'Targeted' (Reuters)
- DC: Women Protest French Law on Headscarves (AFP)
- 'An Issue of Human Rights' (Montreal Gazette)
* MUSLIMS: BUSH VOTE MAY SWING OTHER WAY (Chicago Trib)
- Muslim Seek Presidential Peacemaker (WRMEA)
* U.S. IMAM DENIES CONCEALING TERROR LINKS (AP)
- OH: Imam Draws Community Support (Plain Dealer)
* IL: ISLAMIC SCHOLAR HAS DUAL ROLE OF ACTIVIST (NY Times)
- PA: Muslim Figure to Speak (Phil. Inquirer)
- Daniel Pipes' 'Campus Watch' Criticized (Wash Post)
* AL: DPS SCARF POLICY IS WRONGHEADED (Mont. Adv)
* U.S. STILL HOLDS CHILDREN AT GUANTANAMO (Reuters)
- Court Keeps Detentions Secret (Tampa Tribune)
* TN: MUSLIMS' GROWTH BRINGS MOVE (Tenn)
- IA: Muslim Community Finds Home in Heartland (VOA)
* SEN. EJNNEDY: A DISHONEST WAR (Wash. Post)
- Other View of Iraq Grim, Too (Dallas Morning News)
* HAJJ: MUSLIMS EMBARK ON PROFOUND JOURNEY (St. Pete Times)
- Mecca trip good for their souls (Atlantic Co. News)
* FRENCH FURY OVER US TREATMENT OF AIR STAFF (Telegraph)
* AFGHANS SAY U.S. COPTER ATTACK KILLS 11 (AP)
-----
A PLACE IN PARADISE
The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: "There is a (place) in
Paradise...prepared for those who are polite in their speech, provide
food
(to the needy), fast frequently, and observe (prayer) when (other)
people
are asleep."
Al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 367
VERSE OF THE DAY: RIGHTEOUSNESS
Whoever works righteousness benefits his own soul; whoever works evil,
it
is against his own soul: nor is thy Lord ever unjust (in the least) to
His
Servants.
The Holy Quran, 41:46
-----
REMEMBERING DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. AND HIS MESSAGE
January 15, 1929 - April 4, 1968
The Council on American-Islamic Relations - Southern California
(CAIR-LA)
pays tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s vision, in which people in
America and the world could live together based on the principles of
equality and justice, without regard to their ethnicity, color or
religion.
King's commitment to truth and social justice should be held dear to
our
own hearts as we continue to pursue his vision of making America and
the
world a better place to live.
As we reflect upon the war and violence that is taking place in the
Middle
East and other parts of the world, as well as the deterioration of
civil
rights in our own country, CAIR-LA recommends that we take a moment
this
Martin Luther King's Day and reflect upon some of Dr. King's
inspirational
words:
"We as a nation must undergo a radical revolution of values. We must
rapidly begin to shift from a "thing-oriented" society to a
"person-oriented" society. When machines and computers, profit motives
and
property rights are considered more important than people, the giant
triplets of racism, materialism, and militarism are incapable of being
conquered. A nation that continues year after year to spend more money
on
military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching
spiritual
death." (A Time to Break Silence, 1967)
"All we say to America is, 'Be true to what you said on paper.' If I
lived
in China or even Russia or any totalitarian county, maybe I could
understand the denial of certain basic First Amendment privileges,
because
they hadn't committed themselves to that over there. But somewhere I
read
of the freedom of assembly. Somewhere I read of the freedom of speech.
Somewhere I read of the freedom of the press. Somewhere I read that the
greatness of America is the right to protest for right." (I See the
Promised Land, 1968)
COUNCIL ON AMERICAN-ISLAMIC RELATIONS (CAIR)
Southern California
2180 W. Crescent Ave., Suite F
Anaheim, CA 92801
Tel: (714) 776-1847
Fax: (714) 776-8340
E-mail: socal@cair.com
URL: http://www.cair-net.org
SEE ALSO:
CAIR-MI SPEAKS AT MLK DAY EVENT
SPEAKER DWELLS 'ON THE POSITIVES'
Brian McNight, Record-Eagle, 1/19/04
http://www.record-eagle.com/2004/jan/18mlk.htm
TRAVERSE CITY - Celena Khatib stood outside pumping gas into her car
downstate when someone yelled, "Arab, go back to where you came from."
"My first thought was, 'You mean Royal Oak,' " Khatib said.
A first generation Arab-American born in Royal Oak, Khatib has
first-hand
knowledge of the increase in discrimination and ethnic slurs for Arabs
and
Muslims that began after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
"But I prefer to dwell on the positives, the outpouring of love and
offers
of help that I also experienced," Khatib said.
Friends also reached out by inviting her to speak at their churches or
temples. Since Sept. 11, Khatib has done more than 150 presentations to
groups about the Arab-American community and Islam.
Her volunteer time turned into a full-time occupation. Now the
assistant
director of the Michigan Chapter of the Council on American-Islamic
Relations, she is the featured speaker at tonight's annual Martin
Luther
King Jr. Day Celebration in Traverse City.
"She has come highly recommended," said Emmy Lou Cholak of the Traverse
City Human Rights Commission, the main sponsor of the event.
Khatib will provide an overview of Islam and talk about different kinds
of
stereotypes.
"First, that all Muslims are Arabs or all Arabs are Muslims," she said.
"The largest population of Muslims in the United States is actually
African-American."
Another stereotype is the head scarf, which Khatib wears but her
mother, a
hair dresser, does not.
"Many people assume a Muslim woman is forced to wear it, or oppressed,
or a
foreigner," She said. "I once had a woman come up to me and speak very
slowly. People don't understand you can be a practicing Muslim and be
born
and raised here..."
---
FLORIDA MUSLIMS REMEMBER DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING JR.
Faced with civil rights challenges, Muslims reflect on legacy
(TAMPA, FL 1/19/04) - The Florida office of the Council on
American-Islamic
Relations (CAIR-FL) pays tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s vision
of
tolerance, peace and justice. In remembering his legacy, Muslims today
will
participate in memorials and events across the state. A CAIR-FL
representative will join local, state, and federal officials in Tampa
today
to remember Dr. King and speak about peace:
WHAT: Martin Luther King Jr., Interfaith Memorial
WHEN: Today, January 19, 2004 (6:00 p.m.)
WHERE: St. Paul AME Church, 506 E. Harrison St., Downtown Tampa
- END -
CONTACT: Ahmed Bedier 813-731-9506 abedier@cair-florida.org; Altaf Ali
954-298-8214, altaf@cair-florida.org
-----
DNA TEST FREES NC MUSLIM INMATE AFTER 18 YEARS
Hunt, supporters gather to start racial healing
Associated Press, 1/19/04
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (AP) - Supporters of a man who spent 18 years in
prison
for a slaying now blamed on someone else say they're hoping racial
reconciliation and an improved judicial system will result from the
case.
They started working toward that Sunday with a gathering of about 90
people
at Wake Forest University devoted to discussing the case.
Darryl Hunt, who was convicted twice of murder in the 1984 death of
Deborah
Sykes, also came. He has been released on bond of $250,000 until a Feb.
6
hearing where his release may become official.
His release was based on DNA from Sykes' body that matched that of
Willard
Brown, who has since said he killed and raped Sykes on his own.
Former City Alderman Larry Little said that "until people show an
intolerance and impatience" with the flaws of the justice system people
will be wrongfully convicted.
The Hunt case divided Winston-Salem along racial lines, with blacks
supporting Hunt's claims of innocence. Hunt is black. Sykes was white…
Hunt said he relied on his Muslim faith while in prison and continues
to
pray for the Sykes family.
"My prayers will always be for Mrs. Sykes' family, and I understand
that
truth is difficult to accept," Hunt said. "Over time, things will get
better."
-----
PRAYER AMID THE OFFICE MACHINES
JOSEPH BERGER, New York Times, 1/19/04
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/01/19/nyregion/19PRAY.html
In the bustle and clamor of a Manhattan workday, thousands of New
Yorkers
take time out from their jobs to pray with one another, often in
unlikely
places...
At Cuisine of Pakistan, a fast-food restaurant on Ninth Avenue, taxi
drivers, merchants and at least one uniformed traffic officer gather
every
day at lunchtime in the narrow space between the rear booths. They take
off
their shoes, spread rugs on the tile floor, turn toward Mecca and,
while
diners linger over mutton curry, recite the opening chapter of the
Koran,
then bow, kneel and prostrate themselves.
"We don't think too much about what is around us," said Altaff Shah,
53, a
civil engineer who often drops in at the restaurant. "We have a direct
meeting with the Creator."
These not-so-secret prayer places are honeycombed throughout the
canyons of
Midtown and Wall Street, offering convenient workday refuges for people
who
feel obliged to pray several times a day. They seem to have mushroomed
in
recent years as more companies have adjusted to the religious needs of
their employees and as the Internet has spread word of where these
sanctuaries are…
If Muslims want a place more tranquil than Cuisine of Pakistan, which
on
Fridays is brimming with more than 100 men led by an imam, they can try
the
prosaic office of a Muslim organization on West 44th Street. (In Islam
too,
group worship confers a greater reward, though a group can be as small
as
two.)…
But observant Muslims, who must pray five times a day, and observant
Jews,
who pray three, have a far smaller selection of houses of worship near
their jobs, and walking to those that are available might take a
prohibitive amount of time...
Still, for some prayer spots there are additional benefits to being the
host for prayer services. While profit was not the reason he invited
worshipers to his restaurant seven years ago, Umar Darr, the owner of
Cuisine of Pakistan, acknowledged that holding the daily service "gives
us
a blessing."
"Having the prayer here," he said, "my business is going good."
-----
BELGIUM EYES MUSLIM VEIL BAN
United Press International, 1/19/04
BRUSSELS, Jan. 19 (UPI) - Belgium has pending legislation that would
follow
France's lead in banning Muslim headscarves in schools, the Time of
London
reported Monday.
Inspired by the controversial French proposal, two Belgian senators
have
drafted legislation to ban the veil and other overt religious symbols
from
state schools.
Patrick Dewael, the Belgian Interior Minister, was denounced by members
of
his government last week for declaring that he supports the ban, not
just
in schools but in all state institutions, including hospitals and
government offices…
Last week, a Belgian court ruled a Muslim woman was allowed to be
photographed for her identity card wearing a veil, saying she had the
right
to appear in the photograph as she usually does in real life.
-----
MORE THAN 200 PROTEST RELIGIOUS SYMBOL BAN IN FRENCH SCHOOLS
Associated Press, 1/17/04
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/local/7736482.htm
LOS ANGELES - About 250 people lined the streets outside a federal
building
Saturday to protest the ban on religious symbols in French public
schools.
The group joined Muslims around the world and across the U.S. who
protested
a law the French Parliament is expected to pass this year that would
ban
"conspicuous" religious accessories such as headscarves, Jewish
skullcaps,
and Christian crosses in public schools.
French President Jacques Chirac announced the ban last month.
Holding signs reading "No to Islamaphobia," and "Secularism should not
mean
religious oppression," the majority of protesters were women and many
were
Muslim college students.
"What we are seeing is an attack on Muslim women," said Lena Khan, 19,
who
belongs to the Muslim Student Association at the University of
California,
Los Angeles. "We are hoping for change. Maybe people in France will see
people all over the world showing support for Muslim women."
Also at the protest were members of the Council on American-Islamic
Relations, the California Sikh Council, and Christians and Muslims for
Peace...
Spokeswoman Sabiha Khan for the Council on American-Islamic Relations
said
the headscarves are "liberating."
"People see us for who we are on the inside and not on the outside,"
she said.
ALSO SEE:
S.F. RELIGIOUS RALLY DECRIES FRENCH PLAN
Jessie Mangaliman, Mercury News, 1/18/04
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/local/7739835.htm
About 250 Muslims, Christians and Sikhs marched on the streets of San
Francisco on Saturday to protest a proposed ban of religious symbols in
French public schools, including the hijab, the Muslim head scarf that
many
of the protesting women wore.
The Bay Area protest, which started in front of City Hall and
culminated in
front of the French Consulate, is one of several similar rallies held
Saturday in the United States, Europe and the Middle East, denouncing
the
proposed French ban. There also were protests in Los Angeles and New
York City.
``This goes beyond France,'' said Dahlia Eltoumi, a spokeswoman for the
Council on American-Islamic Relations, a Santa Clara non-profit group
and
one of a number of Bay Area organizations that sponsored the protest.
``The irony here is they're saying that hijab represents the oppression
of
women,'' said Eltoumi, who wears a hijab. ``I find that it's oppressive
to
take the choice of a Muslim woman to choose to wear a hijab...''
---
WORLDWIDE PROTESTS OVER BAN ON RELIGIOUS SYMBOLS
Delfin Vigil, San Francisco Chronicle, 1/18/04
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2004/01/18/MNGCP4CJUT1.DTL
Thousands of people marched through San Francisco, Paris, London and
other
cities around the world Saturday to protest France's plan to ban head
coverings and other religious symbols from public schools.
From Civic Center down Market Street, through Union Square to the
French
Consulate office on Bush Street, hundreds of protestors, led primarily
by
Muslim women wearing head scarves, or hijabs, marched peacefully to
show
support for religious freedom in France.
A sea of scarves ranging in almost as many colors of cloth as colors of
skin covered several blocks of Market Street, with protesters chanting
"Shame on France" and "Religious Freedom for All," and carrying signs
that
read "My scarf -- my choice..."
According to Dahlia Eltoumi, public relations director with the Council
on
American-Islamic Relations, members of several Jewish organizations
expressed support for the demonstration. But most could not make it, in
observance of the Sabbath.
Eltoumi and other representatives from interfaith groups met with
French
Deputy Consul General Olivier Arribe for about 30 minutes and delivered
a
petition of more than 7,000 signatures against the bill...
---
ANGRY WOMEN PROTEST HIJAB BAN
Ho Anderson, The Star, 1/1804
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1074381008563&call_pageid=968256289824&col=968705899037
Women outraged by France's plan to ban the wearing of the hijab in
public
schools demonstrated in Toronto and around the world yesterday.
More than 100 people, mostly women, crowded outside the French
consulate on
Bloor St. W. near Avenue Rd.
"It's important to expose it as the racism it is because if people
think
it's about defending secularism in schools they might be swayed by it,
but
it's clear they're only targeting Muslims,'' local activist Michelle
Robidoux of the Toronto Coalition to Stop the War said in an interview.
The group was founded to protest last year's war in Iraq, and was one
of a
number that helped organize the protest.
"This is part of how many Muslim women dress, a part of their religious
expression," she said of the headscarf.
About a dozen police officers guided pedestrian traffic and watched the
peaceful demonstration. A parade of activists and organizers spoke out
against France's proposed ban which also includes yarmulkes and large
crosses. If passed, the ban could be extended to political symbols like
kaffiyehs and anti-war pins...
---
FRENCH MUSLIM OFFICIAL 'TARGETED'
Reuters, 1/18/04
http://edition.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/europe/01/18/france.prefect.reut/
NANTES, France - An explosion has destroyed the parked car of a newly
appointed French prefect of Algerian origin in an apparent attack -- a
high-profile blow to efforts to integrate France's minorities.
The explosion occurred at around 4:30 a.m. (0330 GMT) Sunday in Nantes,
western France, close to the home of Aissa Dermouche, 57, police
sources said.
On Wednesday, the French government appointed Dermouche prefect of the
eastern Jura area, a post that includes regional responsibility for law
and
order.
"There is no doubt that this concerns a criminal act," said Jean-Marie
Huet, state prosecutor in Nantes. "Tests have been carried out on the
shell
of the vehicle so we can conduct analyses to determine the nature of
the
explosive used."
Justice Minister Dominique Perben, speaking in Strasbourg, told
reporters
he was outraged: "Symbols of the Republic and the authority of the
state
cannot be attacked," he said.
The vehicle was empty at the time of the blast and no one was hurt, the
police sources said. Huet said the attack was well prepared...
---
MUSLIM WOMEN IN WASHINGTON PROTEST FRENCH LAW ON HEADSCARVES
Agence France Presse, 1/17/04
WASHINGTON - About 100 Muslims, mostly women, protested Saturday
outside
the French Embassy against a proposed law that would ban headscarves in
French public schools.
In freezing temperatures, the protesters stood outside the embassy
gates
with placards reading, "France, where is your democracy" and "No to the
oppression of Muslims in France."
A leading group of Muslim Americans, the Council on American-Islamic
Relations, wrote to French President Jacques Chirac in early January to
oppose the measure.
---
'AN ISSUE OF HUMAN RIGHTS': MONTREAL PROTEST LARGELY SYMBOLIC
Peggy Curran, The Gazette, 1/18/04
http://www.canada.com/montreal/montrealgazette/story.asp?id=55593D78-BD0D-4347-8931-2D9654137B14
Abdellah Ferron had bundled up in a Roots tuque and a ski jacket with
the
brand name Mecca embrodiered over his heart. Oussayma Canbarieh's
velour
hijab was just barely visible under the fur-lined hood of her parka.
About 30 Montrealers braved wind and cold yesterday to join a
lunch-hour
protest against a plan by France to outlaw the Muslim head scarf and
other
religious dress in that country's public schools.
Hoisting picket signs with slogans such as "No to Islam-phobia" and
"Hands
off my hijab," members of the United Muslim Student Association and
their
supporters staged a brief, largely symbolic demonstration outside Place
Ville Marie, where the French consulate has offices on the 26th floor.
"For us, this is an issue of human rights and freedom of religion,"
said
association president Ferron, who studies computer science at
Universite de
Montreal's Ecole Polytechnique.
"We're doing this in solidarity with French Muslims, and also as a way
of
telling the French and Canadian governments that we very strongly
condemn
this law," said Sadia Virk, who is studying journalism and political
science at Concordia University.
Protesters had also planned to hand out green lapel ribbons to
passers-by
as a "silent form of peaceful protest against discriminatory laws." But
with arctic winds whipping along University St., pedestrians weren't
exactly strolling by the office tower.
In December, the French government introduced the measures. If approved
as
expected by Parliament, they will take effect when the new school year
begins next fall...
The stated goal is to shore up the country's secular nature - and stem
what
the government fears is a rising tide of Islamic fundamentalism in
France,
where an estimated 5 million Muslims make up eight per cent of the
population.
-----
MUSLIMS, ARABS SAY KEY BUSH VOTE MAY SWING OTHER WAY
Deborah Horan, Chicago Tribune, 1/15/04
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-0401180486jan18,1,4476866.story
Four years ago, George W. Bush seemed a dream candidate to Shafic
Budron.
The Texas governor was a socially conservative, pro-business oilman
whose
campaign promises hinted he would fight racial profiling and laws that
allowed prosecutors to use secret evidence in terrorism cases.
Today, Budron has few good things to say about Bush's performance as
president. Yet the Burr Ridge man suggests Bush still has a shot--if a
slim
one--at persuading him to support the Republican ticket in the next
election...
Across Chicago, many Muslim-American voters like Budron say they remain
undecided about the presidential race, even as they blast the Bush
administration for what they say has been a dismal record on civil
liberties and a lackluster push for Middle East peace. Since the Sept.
11,
2001, terror attacks, they say, measures such as the Patriot Act and
special registration have trampled on their freedoms...
Now 83 percent of Arab-American Muslims rate Bush's overall performance
"unfavorable," according to the Zogby poll, which did not survey
non-Arab
Muslims. Only 10 percent said they planned to vote for Bush...
And although they constitute a small part of the electorate, their
numbers
are concentrated in battleground states, including Michigan, Ohio, New
Jersey, Florida and Illinois.
"These are major states where every vote counts," said Mohammed Nimer,
research director at the Council on American-Islamic Relations, known
as CAIR.
Bush re-election team aides quietly acknowledge they "have some work to
do"
to capture Muslim and Arab-American votes. Republican supporters such
as
George Salem, an Arab-American in Michigan, say they hope to sway
voters by
reminding them that Bush appointed more Arab-Americans to office than
any
other president. He has given unprecedented access to Muslim and
Arab-American leaders.
ALSO SEE:
MUSLIM AND ARAB-AMERICANS SEEK A PRESIDENTIAL PEACEMAKER TO SUPPORT IN
2004
Delinda C. Hanley, Wash. Report on M.E. Affairs, Jan./Feb. 2004
http://wrmea.com/archives/jan_feb_2004/0401024.html
After 9/11, growing numbers of Muslim Americans turned to the Council
on
American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) to safeguard their civil rights and
to
keep abreast of political issues. These days CAIR, established to
promote a
positive image of Islam and Muslims in America, finds its work more
essential than ever. In addition to its Washington, DC headquarters,
CAIR
now has 23 chapters across the country, and its membership has tripled
since the 2001 terrorist attacks.
Once a year the Muslim community and its friends gather together in the
national capital to celebrate and show support for CAIR. Each chapter
has
its own grassroots fund-raisers, but the Washington, DC banquet usually
draws a good crowd. Even so, organizers were stunned by the enormous
success of their ninth annual banquet on Nov. 30.
"Before 9/11, I never would have attended a dinner like this," Dr.
Naheed
Morrill told the Washington Report. "But now I feel so isolated and
marginalized in this country. I need to feel a part of the Muslim
community."
More than 1,000 supporters packed the sold-out, standing-room-only
ballroom
at the Sheraton Hotel in Tyson's Corner, VA. CAIR broke all records for
an
American Muslim fund-raising event, topping its Ramadan fund-raising
goal
of $1 million. Well-educated and successful doctors, lawyers, computer
specialists, business people and entrepreneurs filled the room and
reached
deep into their pockets to show their confidence and pride in CAIR's
work.
The pumped-up, well-heeled audience also came to hear from the 2004
presidential candidates. Only one showed up, however: U.S. Rep. Dennis
Kucinich (D-OH). The others missed a terrific opportunity to introduce
themselves to a vital American voting community.
According to Census Bureau figures released Dec. 3, the population of
Americans who indicated Arab ancestry has nearly doubled in the past 20
years. The approximately 1.25 million Arab Americans-a low estimate,
according to Zogby International-and an additional six million Muslim
Americans form a substantial voting bloc. Less than 20 years ago,
candidates rejected endorsements and contributions from Arab Americans.
They no longer make that mistake
There is much debate in the Muslim- and Arab-American community over
which
candidate to support with their swing voting bloc. Many in this group
are
issue voters, not wedded to a particular party. Nearly 70 percent of
Arab-
and Muslim-Americans live in eight states, seven of them key electoral
states: Michigan, Florida, California, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and
Texas. More than 60 percent actually turn out to vote, a higher
percentage
than many other groups can boast.
-----
U.S. IMAM DENIES CONCEALING TERROR LINKS
Connie Mabin, Associated Press, 1/17/04
http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/world/7730067.htm
PARMA, Ohio - An Islamic leader accused of concealing alleged links to
anti-Israel terror groups to gain U.S. citizenship said Friday the
charge
was misguided and he would be vindicated.
Surrounded by people from Christian, Muslim and Jewish faiths, Imam
Fawaz
Mohammed Damrah asked for continued support from the community.
``First and foremost, I have trust in God and then in the judicial
system
to vindicate me in the face of these misguided charges,'' said Damrah,
who
leads the Islamic Center of Cleveland.
Damrah, 41, was charged Tuesday with obtaining U.S. citizenship by
providing false information. The indictment alleges he was a member or
had
links to several groups, including the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and
concealed those affiliations on his citizenship application.
He pleaded innocent and was released on $160,000 bail for a trial Feb.
23.
Possible penalties include five years in prison, loss of citizenship
and a
$5,000 fine.
Damrah said he believes the government is blatantly targeting Muslims.
``Because of these immaterial matters the government sees to convict
me,
imprison me, take my citizenship and have me deported and destroy my
family,'' he said...
ALSO SEE:
IMAM DRAWS COMMUNITY SUPPORT
David Briggs, Plain Dealer, 1/17/04
http://www.cleveland.com/living/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/living/1074335729172181.xml
The embattled imam of the area's largest mosque received an outpouring
of
support Friday from mosque members, Muslim groups and Christian clergy.
More than 200 members of the Islamic Center of Cleveland gathered at
the
mosque community center after afternoon prayers to rally behind Fawaz
Damra, who was indicted this week on a charge that he lied on
immigration
forms.
The Cleveland chapter of the Muslim American Society issued a statement
calling on area Muslims to unite behind Damra, saying he should be
presumed
innocent. Jad Humeidan, executive director of the Ohio chapter of the
Council on American-Islamic Relations, said the Damra case "is part of
a
pattern of attacking the Muslim community, its leaders and its
institutions."
Damra received a standing ovation before he read a statement declaring
he
will be vindicated by the judicial system...
-----
AN ISLAMIC SCHOLAR WITH THE DUAL ROLE OF ACTIVIST
Felicia R. Lee, New York Times, 1/17/04
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/01/17/arts/17AMIN.html
CHICAGO - Aminah McCloud exchanged a hearty "Assalamu alaikum" ("Peace
be
upon you") with the two smiling young men guarding the entrance to
Muhammad University, which, despite its name, is a private school for
children on the South Side of Chicago run by Louis Farrakhan's Nation
of Islam.
A heavyset woman in a black leather jacket and black wire-framed
glasses,
her graying hair squashed under a black wool hat, the 56-year-old Ms.
McCloud has been a frequent visitor to the quiet, orderly school in the
last eight years. She has volunteered as an academic consultant and has
stopped by most recently as a researcher, gathering material for her
forthcoming books on the Nation of Islam and black American Muslims.
As she walked the halls, the principal, a tiny woman swathed in an
elegant
head scarf and long skirt, as well as other teachers greeted her
warmly,
like a visiting dignitary.
Ms. McCloud, a professor of Islamic studies at De Paul University here
who
helped establish an archive for American Muslims there 10 years ago,
has
been gaining national prominence since 9/11 for talking about Islam in
America. She has been quoted in newspapers from The Chicago Tribune to
The
Los Angeles Times, sparred with television talk hosts like Bill Maher
and
Bill O'Reilly and been featured on a PBS special on Islam in America.
Yet even more than her news media appearances, Ms. McCloud is known for
being an energetic activist among American Muslims. She is a fixture at
any
number of community meetings and a board member of the American Muslim
Council and of the Chicago branch of the Council on American-Islamic
Relations. She is also proud of the legal work she has done as a
consultant
for cases of capital murder, divorce and wrongful death in which Islam
is
an issue...
ALSO SEE:
MUSLIM FIGURE TO SPEAK
Philadelphia Inquirer, 1/17/04
http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/living/education/7731093.htm
Imam Earl Abdulmalik Mohammed, national emissary of U.S. Muslim leader
Imam
W.D. Mohammed, will be in Philadelphia on Friday to give a public
address
titled "Islam's Exciting Appeal to Human Nature and the Intellect."
Though W.D. Mohammed resigned in August as head of the American Society
of
Muslims, he remains a popular figure, particularly among African
American
Muslims. Friday's talk paves the way for his planned visit here Feb.
28.
The talk, which is free, is set for 6 p.m. at the Wyndham Philadelphia
at
Franklin Plaza, 17th and Vine Streets. Information: 215-275-3191.
---
BALANCE IN MIDDLE EAST STUDIES
Washington Post, 1/19/04
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A28309-2004Jan18.html
I read with interest Michael Dobbs's Jan. 13 front-page article,
"Middle
East Studies Under Scrutiny in U.S."
Although I cannot speak with any authority on the current state of
these
programs, I earned a bachelor's degree from the Georgetown University
School of Foreign Service along with a certificate in Arab studies in
1986.
Although the school is now apparently being considered one of the
centers
of the "radical Middle East Studies lobby" by Daniel Pipes of Campus
Watch,
I found Georgetown's program at that time to be remarkably balanced.
While certainly sympathetic to the plight of the Arab people, most of
the
professors, including Arab professors, were critical of Arab
governments
and the way in which they used the plight of the Palestinians to
buttress
their oppressive regimes.
I hope that sort of balanced discourse has continued and that Mr. Pipes
is
simply overreacting to what is otherwise reasonable opposition to the
Bush
administration's Middle East policy.
EARNIE PORTA
Occoquan
o
I strongly question the negative reaction by Campus Watch to Rashid
Khalidi's appointment to the Edward Said Chair of Middle East Studies
at
Columbia University.
Why should a person's patriotism be questioned because of an "outspoken
opposition to the war in Iraq" when we don't question the patriotism of
thousands of Americans with similar sentiments. Also, is it wrong to
publicly express sympathy for the Palestinian cause? I don't think so.
JIMMIE SILMAN JR.
-----
EDITORIAL: DPS SCARF POLICY IS WRONGHEADED
Montgomery Advertiser, 1/18/04
http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/NEWS/StoryOpinioneddps117w.htm
The Alabama Department of Public Safety should reconsider a department
policy that has attracted the criticism of Muslim women who do not want
to
remove head scarves they say are required by their faith.
DPS officials are defending the legality of its policy that requires
all
head coverings to be removed when a person is having a driver's license
photograph taken.
But the issue is not the legality of the policy, but its fairness and
wisdom.
Because if the policy is universally enforced, it requires not only
women
who wear scarves to remove them, but also cancer patients undergoing
treatment that causes hair loss. We find it hard to believe any person
taking a driver's license photo would be so heartless as to ask a
cancer
patient to remove a scarf or turban.
What about the thousands of Alabama women who routinely wear wigs or
men
who wear hairpieces? Are DPS employees or county employees who take
pictures routinely inquiring if anyone is wearing a hairpiece and
asking
for them to be removed? We doubt it...
A spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations said most
states
-- including Florida, Mississippi and Tennessee -- have policies that
allow
people to wear head coverings for religious and medical reasons. The
rules
provide that the coverings can't obscure the person's face...
-----
U.S. STILL HOLDS CHILDREN AT GUANTANAMO
Sue Pleming, Reuters, 1/16/04
http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsPackageArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=440269§ion=news
WASHINGTON - The United States has held three child detainees at its
military base in Guantanamo Bay for more than a year and the Pentagon
says
it has no plans to move or free them, despite international pressure.
A defence official said doctors estimated the boys were 13-15 years old
and
were deemed "enemy combatants" along with about 660 prisoners being
held at
the base in Cuba after the U.S. invasion in Afghanistan in response to
the
September 11, 2001, attacks on America.
"There has been lots of media speculation they were going to be moved
out
but that's all it has been, just speculation," the official told
Reuters on
Thursday when asked if there were plans to move or release the teenage
detainees any time soon.
A spokeswoman for the military task force holding the prisoners told
Reuters last August that prison camp commander, Brigadier-General
Geoffrey
Miller, would recommend the three boys be sent home, and this was
confirmed
by Miller a month later.
The detentions without trial at Guantanamo Bay have drawn worldwide
criticism from governments and human rights groups who have urged the
United States to file charges against the prisoners and to send the
children home to their families...
ALSO SEE:
COURT KEEPS DETENTIONS SECRET
Tampa Tribune, 1/19/04
http://www.tampatrib.com/News/MGAPB8V0JPD.html
US Shortly after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the federal government
arrested hundreds of people, most of them Muslims, and refused to say
who
they were or why they were taken.
Many of those arrested were later deported for immigration violations.
Some
were charged with crimes. Others were held as witnesses. Some were
released. Of the almost 1,000 rounded up, only the names of the 129
charged
with crimes were released by the government.
Last week the Supreme Court refused to take a case brought on behalf of
the
detainees, effectively allowing the government's secrecy to stand.
To many Muslims, to many Americans, that reality is a scary thing.
``We recognize the magnitude and the tragedy of the 9/11 attacks, and
we
also acknowledge the responsibility of our government to bring those
who
were responsible to justice,'' Ahmed Bedier, spokesman for the Council
on
American-Islamic Relations, told the Tribune.
``However, we're against the use of secrecy and the elimination of due
process in reaching these goals.''
-----
LOCAL MUSLIMS' GROWTH BRINGS MOVE TO A LARGER WORSHIP SPACE
Brain Lewis, Tennessean, 1/18/04
http://www.tennessean.com/local/archives/04/01/45639762.shtml
Facility includes cultural center
When Victor Abdullah became a Muslim, he wanted to be involved in
something
that could help black people.
It was 1975, and Abdullah saw many different organizations such as the
Black Panthers, the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and the
Congress of Racial Equality and others that were striving to make a
difference. But what drew him to Islam was a thirst for something that
would last.
''It was more than just a social movement,'' he said. ''I looked for
something spiritual.''
Abdullah joined Masjid Al-Islam, which was then part of the Nation of
Islam. It was during the year of the death of the Nation of Islam's
founder, Elijah Muhammad. His son, Warith Deen Mohammad, led the
national
group to embrace the orthodox teachings of Islam. The Nation of Islam
was
founded as a black nationalist organization, using some of the
teachings of
Islam.
The mosque that Abdullah joined 29 years ago, Masjid Al-Islam, has
recently
moved from its location on Clifton Avenue to a much larger worship
space on
Buena Vista Pike in Bordeaux.
The congregation has more than 100 members, mostly African-American,
although Muslims of many ethnic backgrounds attend.
On a recent Friday afternoon, about 50 men and more than 20 women
gathered
for worship, a crowd that would have jammed the previous facility. Now,
there is room to grow, said Imam Yusuf Abdullah. In addition, he said,
a
cultural center is open for all, and the facility has more room for the
Clara Mohammad School...
ALSO SEE:
HISTORIC MUSLIM COMMUNITY FINDS HOME IN US HEARTLAND
Carolyn Weaver, Voice of America, 1/17/04
http://www.voanews.com/article.cfm?objectID=4691E1EE-2DF2-43B7-84D6299BB8021439
On an ordinary Iowa street of small wooden houses, there's one building
that looks unique. American Muslims call it the "Mother Mosque." It
opened
in 1934, the first mosque built in the United States.
A small Muslim community was already well-established in Cedar Rapids
by
then. Muslims had been settling there since the early 1900s, beginning
with
Syrian and Lebanese peddlers. Bill Aossey's father arrived in 1907 as a
peddler and later opened a small store.
"All these people came, basically, with no formal language," Bill
Aossey
said in an interview. "They couldn't read or write English or Arabic.
Yet
they had good foresight and were very dedicated Muslims."
Nearly a century later, the family business has become Midamar, an
international food company led by Bill with his 29-year-old son Jalel.
The
Aosseys are one of Cedar Rapids' oldest Muslim families, but in the
last
twenty years, the community has grown with new immigration. About
three-quarters of Midamar's workforce, for example, are foreign-born
Muslims, from countries ranging from Morocco to Kosovo to Iraq.
Bill Aossey has also sponsored several refugees, including warehouse
manager Abdul Aziz, who fled war in Somalia. "He came here through the
Lutheran Service Resettlement Program," Bill said. "They called and
said
they had a displaced person who needed work, couldn't speak English.
He's
worked himself up from six years ago, from being basically a laborer,
to
where we've appointed him as the warehouse-freezer manager. He has a
very
keen mind." Abdul Aziz returns his employer's regard. "I started work
at
Midamar in June 1996, and I like it," he said, during a break from his
warehouse duties. "I get [to work with] very good people, and my boss
is
the best person in the world."
-----
A DISHONEST WAR
Edward M. Kennedy, Washington Post, 1/18/04
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A23717-2004Jan16.html
Of the many issues competing for attention in this new and defining
year,
one is of a unique order of magnitude: President Bush's decision to go
to
war in Iraq. The facts demonstrate how dishonest that decision was. As
former Treasury secretary Paul H. O'Neill recently confirmed, the
debate
over military action began as soon as President Bush took office. Some
felt
Saddam Hussein could be contained without war. A month after the
inauguration, Secretary of State Colin L. Powell said: "We have kept
him
contained, kept him in his box." The next day, he said tellingly that
Hussein "has not developed any significant capability with respect to
weapons of mass destruction."
The events of Sept. 11, 2001, gave advocates of war the opening they
needed. They tried immediately to tie Hussein to al Qaeda and the
terrorist
attacks.
Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld created an Office of Special
Plans
in the Pentagon to analyze the intelligence for war and bypass the
traditional screening process. Vice President Cheney relied on
intelligence
from Iraqi exiles and put pressure on intelligence agencies to produce
the
desired result.
The war in Afghanistan began in October with overwhelming support in
Congress and the country. But the focus on Iraq continued behind the
scenes, and President Bush went along. In the Rose Garden on Nov. 26,
he
said: "Afghanistan is still just the beginning."
ALSO SEE:
OTHER VIEW OF IRAQ GRIM, TOO
Steve Blow, Dallas Morning News, 1/17/04
http://www.dallasnews.com/localnews/columnists/sblow/stories/011604dnmetblow.40d67.html
In those sickening days right after Sept. 11, I went to see Mohammed
Elmougy, hoping for some insight into what had just happened to us.
And in his calm, voice-of-moderation way, he helped me understand a
little
of the horror that had engulfed us.
These days, a bit of the same, pit-of-the-stomach distress hits me as I
watch news stories from Iraq. So it occurred to me that another visit
with
Mohammed might be in order.
I wondered how events in Iraq look through the eyes of someone with his
Muslim, Middle Eastern background. Better, dare I hope?
Mohammed is a proud and patriotic American. He and his wife live in
Coppell. They have three kids. He was formerly manager of the Omni
Mandalay
Hotel in Las Colinas and now owns his own small hotel in Allen, the
Amerihost Inn.
He was born and reared in Egypt, came here in 1982 to attend graduate
school and chose to stay because he so admired what he saw. Now he
works
tirelessly to build bridges between American and Muslim cultures.
And to cut right to it, the situation in Iraq looks every bit as bad to
him
as it does to me. Probably worse, in fact.
"It's a mess, to put it politely. It's a total mess," he said.
A new Iraq was supposed to ease tensions throughout the Middle East.
For
now, it seems to be making matters worse, he said...
-----
MUSLIMS EMBARK ON PROFOUND JOURNEY
Waveney Ann Moore, St. Petersburg Times, 1/18/04
http://www.sptimes.com/2004/01/18/Neighborhoodtimes/Muslims_embark_on_pro.shtml
Local Muslims take the trip of a lifetime to meet an obligation and
stand
together with 2-million others.
PINELLAS PARK - Roxanne Issa was born a Baptist but now wears the head
covering and long robe of Islam.
She and her husband said their prayers Friday at their mosque - fenced
off
for security - and with a small group of fellow Muslims later boarded a
plane to embark on a 24-hour journey to Mecca for the event of a
lifetime,
the pilgrimage.
They will be among 2-million believers from around the world.
Because of their names, their dress and their destination, they
anticipated
some hassles while traveling - searches and stares, among them. But
it's
worth it to make the hajj, as it is known.
"In the area of the hajj, you could be a king and you could be nobody.
We're all in the house of Allah ... asking for mercy," said Tarek Issa,
a
37-year-old St. Petersburg resident who's making his second one. His
wife,
Roxanne, converted to Islam from her Baptist upbringing after their
marriage five years ago...
SEE ALSO:
MECCA TRIP GOOD FOR THEIR SOULS
ALAN RAPPEPORT, Atlantic County News, 1/19/04
http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/news/atlantic/011904HAJJ_J18.html
ATLANTIC CITY - Fourteen centuries since its inception, the annual
Islamic
pilgrimage to Mecca has become an international extravaganza, chock
full of
Internet reservation packages, five-star hotels, air-conditioned tents
and
gourmet food.
With an average total cost of $4,000 per person and an estimated 2
million
to 3 million people in attendance each year, the journey - called the
hajj
- has become a multibillion-dollar industry that many cannot afford.
But
charity and new methods of financing the trip are making it possible
for
poorer Muslims to join millions of their brethren at Islam's holiest
site.
Abdul-Saboor Musaddiq's coming trip to Saudi Arabia was too expensive
for
him to pay for on his own.
But for him, the once-in-a-lifetime trip is a commandment he must
follow.
All Muslims are required to make the trip at least once if they can
afford it.
Next week, thanks to the help of the local Muslim community, Musaddiq
will
travel along with about 20 other local Muslims to make hajj.
Musaddiq, 62, is a retired nursing home worker with diabetes and
arthritis.
Members of his mosque, Masjid Al Taqwah on Atlantic Avenue contributed
enough money to send him as their ambassador.
"I had planned to go a number of times, but finances were not right,"
said
Musaddiq, who lives with his wife in a small apartment a few blocks
from
the mosque. "I am very blessed. This is my first time, and I am being
invited to the house of Allah…"
-----
FRENCH FURY OVER US TREATMENT OF AIR STAFF
By Kim Willsher in Paris, Telegraph, 1/18/04
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;$sessionid$T1RADBHWNDS5FQFIQMGCFFWAVCBQUIV0?xml=%2Fnews%2F2004%2F01%2F18%2Fwfly18.xml&sSheet=%2Fnews%2F2004%2F01%2F18%2Fixnewstop.html)
In the latest bout of Franco-American squabbling, hundreds of Air
France
pilots and cabin crew who have French nationality but were born in
Muslim
countries are furious at being singled out for stringent security
measures
when they land in the US.
Some of the 324 affected employees complain that they were treated like
"terrorist suspects" after being separated from fellow cabin crew and
grilled for up to four hours by security agents on arrival at American
airports. The treatment, they say, was "discriminatory and insulting".
The security measures are outlined in a directive from the
Transportation
Security Agency (TSA), one of a raft of institutions created by
President
Bush in the wake of the September 11 terror attacks. It targets crew
born
in Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, Libya, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Iran,
Indonesia
and Egypt - countries which the American authorities regard as
particularly
dangerous sources of terrorists.
The directive stated that the targeted crew would be required to
undergo a
one-to-one interview with an agent from the TSA. If necessary, it
continued, they would be forced to return to France. The directive also
advises Air France not to use the foreign-born crew members on flights
to
Cincinnati because airport staff there lack the facilities needed to
conduct the security interviews.
One Moroccan-born stewardess who flew into the city was prevented from
leaving when officials could not conduct her interview. Instead, she
was
driven for eight hours to Atlanta, nearly 500 miles away, and forced to
fly
back to France as an ordinary passenger.
Guillaume Pollard, an Air France pilot, said that even crew unaffected
by
the tightened security measures were considering boycotting flights to
America in protest at the measures...
-----
AFGHANS SAY U.S. COPTER ATTACK KILLS 11
NOOR KHAN, Associated Press, 1/19/04
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (AP) - A U.S. helicopter attacked a house in a
village in southern Afghanistan, killing 11 people, four of them
children,
Afghan officials said Monday.
There was no immediate comment from the U.S. military.
The attack occurred around 4 a.m. Sunday, a day after U.S. forces
hunting
for Taliban insurgents searched Saghatho village, where the house was
located, said Abdul Rahman, chief of Char Chino district in Uruzgan
province.
``They were simple villagers, they were not Taliban. I don't know why
the
U.S. bombed this home. We have informed our authorities,'' he told The
Associated Press by telephone in the southern city of Kandahar...
-----
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-----
CAIR
Council on American-Islamic Relations
453 New Jersey Avenue, S.E.
Washington, D.C. 20003
Tel: 202-488-8787, 202-744-7726
Fax: 202-488-0833
E-mail: cair@cair-net.org
URL: http://www.cair-net.org
-----
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
AMERICAN MUSLIM NEWS BRIEFS - 1/20/04
* HADITH OF THE DAY: HAJJ REMOVES SINS
* LIBRARY PROJECT: 7,182 SPONSORSHIPS
* NEW EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR FOR CAIR-DFW
- CAIR-DFW Muslims First Annual Unity Conference
* OH: BIGOTRY'S STING LINKS BLACKS, IMMIGRANTS (Dispatch)
- FL: Prank Calls Use Fake Arabic Accent (News-Press)
* MOM'S CHOICE: LEAVE WITH, WITHOUT KIDS (Plain Dealer)
* AN AMERICAN IN MECCA (Palm Beach Post)
- US Couple Learn Koran in Iran's Holy City (CSM)
* COHEN: LAWLESS IN GUANTANAMO (Wash. Post)
- Clarify Detainees' Status (Columbus Dispatch)
- Families Wait for Iraqis Jailed By US (Reuters)
* SECRET TERROR WAR THREATENS ALL OF US (Mercury News)
* ISRAELI BULLDOZERS FLATTEN 30 GAZA HOUSES (AP)
- Pakistan Denies Inviting Israeli Minister (Reuters)
- Jewish Peace Activists Harassed (Guardian)
* CA MUSLIMS AID IRAN QUAKE VICTIMS (Press-Enterprise)
* CA: JEWISH/MUSLIM DIALOGUE PROGRAM
* FL ISLAMIC CENTER TO HOST STATE CONFERENCE
-----
HADITH OF THE DAY: HAJJ REMOVES SINS
The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said pilgrimage to Mecca, or
Hajj,
removes a person's sins "just as a blacksmith's bellows removes
impurities
from iron, gold and silver."
Al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 795
-----
CAIR LIBRARY PROJECT UPDATE: 7,182 SPONSORSHIPS
Let's help the state of New Jersey: 248 covered, 225 more libraries to
go!
The goal of CAIR's library project is to send accurate and objective
information about Islam to America's 16,000+ public libraries.
For only $150, you may sponsor an 18-item package about Islam and
Muslims,
which are then distributed to the library of their choice.
To sponsor a library call, 1-800-392-7876, ext. 320, or visit:
www.libraryproject.org.
-----
NEW EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR FOR CAIR-DFW
Amina-Marisol Rojas has been appointed to the position of Executive
Director for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, Dallas/Fort
Worth
chapter (CAIR-DFW).
Amina received her Bachelor of Arts in Bilingual Education from
Universidad
Javeriana, Colombia and her Associates Degree in Arts and Science from
Brookhaven College, Farmers Branch.
Since accepting Islam, Amina has volunteered with many local Islamic.
She
participated in events such as the IANT Hispanic open house at the
Dallas
Central Mosque in Richardson, Texas, as well as the 9/11 commemoration
ceremony held in Dallas.
Amina-Marisol Rojas
Executive Director
Council of American Islamic Relations - DFW
3010 LBJ Freeway, Suite 100
Dallas, TX 75234
Phone: 972-241-7233
Fax: 972-241-7466
E-Mail: info@cairdfw.org
ALSO SEE:
DFW MUSLIMS FIRST ANNUAL UNITY CONFERENCE
The Council on American-Islamic Relations, Dallas/Fort Worth chapter
(CAIR-DFW) is organizing a two day retreat for all area Muslim
organizations on February 14th and 15th 2004 at the Tanglewood Resort
Hotel
& Conference Center located in Pottsboro, Texas.
The retreat will focus on creating a mechanism for coordination between
all
local organizations, particularly in light of the current challenges
facing
American Muslims.
Each organization is requested to select a two-member delegation to the
conference. The registration form can be obtained by calling the
CAIR-DFW
office or by downloading it from the CAIR-DFW website. The deadline for
registration is January 31st,2004.
The outcome of the retreat will be the highlight of the CAIR-DFW Eid
fundraiser dinner at the Hilton Hotel Center.
-----
BIGOTRY'S STING LINKS BLACKS, IMMIGRANTS
Mary Mogan Edwards, Columbus Dispatch, 1/19/04
http://www.columbusdispatch.com/
Today's celebrations of Martin Luther King Jr.'s legacy might make the
civil-rights movement of the 1960s seem like a matter of history, but
people caught in a modern-day struggle feel a connection to those who
looked to King for leadership 40 years ago.
They are people routinely held up by airport authorities, glared at by
strangers or rejected by employers, in part because they are Muslim,
foreign or look like one or both.
And they have a new respect for black Americans' complaints of
racism...
Arab-Americans and others with perceived Middle Eastern ties "are
finding
out what it feels like to face racial profiling," said U.S. Rep. Jesse
L.
Jackson Jr., who spoke Thursday as part of Ohio State University's
observance of the King holiday. Jackson, an Illinois Democrat, is a son
of
the Rev. Jesse Jackson, a civil-rights leader.
King would have found common cause with today's targets of anti-Muslim
bigotry, the younger Jackson said. He added, however, that King would
have
expanded the issue -- as he did with black civil rights -- to one of
broader moral significance for all Americans.
"He would have made the case that unborn and uncounted Americans will
reap
the hostility of the whole world, brought on by these policies,"
Jackson said.
Christine Ballengee-Morris, the director of Ohio State's Multicultural
Center, spent the 2002-03 academic year talking with students about how
different cultural groups in America are getting along in the era of
homeland security and the Patriot Act.
Ballengee-Morris has seen black students and Muslims looking at one
another
in a new light...
Muslims and Arabs in America are more likely now to join blacks in the
continuing push for equality, said Asma Mobin-Uddin, vice president of
the
Ohio chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations.
"We are more aware of it now because we have become the potential
victims,"
she said. Some "feel bad that we weren't more active before."
"We might have seen discrimination, we might have been outraged by it,
but
we might not have been moved to take extra steps against it," she said.
An alliance between the black and immigrant communities would please
lawyer
Byron Potts, who has represented blacks in civil-rights cases.
"I think it should bridge the gap (between the groups)," he said.
"Historically, when people come over here, they try to distance
themselves
from African-Americans. They know how African-Americans are treated."
Blacks should return the empathy to immigrants and Arab-Americans, he
said,
because the struggle that King led continues.
"We're still on the list," he said of blacks. "We need to form an
allegiance and become partners."
Ahmad Al-Akhras, president of the Ohio chapter of the Council on
American-Islamic Relations, is urging Muslims to join the Martin Luther
King Jr. Day march from City Hall to COSI. Marchers will gather at 4:30
p.m. today at the City Hall garage and step off at 5 p.m.
SEE ALSO:
PRANK CALLS RILE RESIDENTS
Charles Runnells, News Press, 1/20/04
http://www.news-press.com/news/local_state/040120phonecalls.html
Tony DiRosario picked up the telephone Monday and heard, once again,
that
someone wanted to kill him.
DiRosario is one of about 300 Cape Coral residents who have reported
getting death threats or bomb threats by phone since Friday, according
to
Cape police.
The hundreds of apparent prank calls seem to come from a New Jersey
Phone
number, said police spokesman Angelo Bitsis. Detectives are working
with
telephone companies and New Jersey police to track the callers.
"There is no cause to be alarmed," Bitsis said. "We understand that
people
are scared, and that people are concerned, and we're trying to deal
with
that now."
DiRosario, 59, said he'd received about 30 calls since Sunday night.
The male caller speaks with what sounds like a foreign accent,
DiRosario said.
The caller often asks for "George..."
Bitsis said callers have reported Hispanic, Caribbean or Arabic
accents.
"People are telling us all sorts of different things," he said. "We're
not
sure what exactly we're dealing with."
The police department has been flooded with complaints since Friday,
and
officers have been struggling to keep up with the reports.
Bitsis said there's no evidence the apparently random calls are
anything
but pranks. "There is no credible threat," he said…
-----
MOM GIVEN CHOICE: DEPORTATION WITH, WITHOUT KIDS
Susan Jaffe, Cleveland Plain Dealer, 1/17/04
http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/news/1074335626172180.xml
Amina Silmi, a Lakewood mother fighting a deportation order, has 30
days to
decide whether she will take her three children with her to her native
Venezuela.
Silmi, 35, asked for a delay in the order, but federal immigration
officials turned her down Friday. It was her second request. She had
won a
two-week reprieve Jan. 2 from an immigration official.
As American citizens, her children - ages 11, 6 and 5 - can stay. Silmi
was
born in Venezuela to Palestinian parents and entered the United States
13
years ago as a visitor. Immigration officials ruled that she overstayed
her
visa.
Silmi said that she has "absolutely nobody" in Venezuela and that her
remaining family is in this country. Leaving her children behind is
unthinkable, she said. Silmi's husband, Ibrahim Salti, was deported
last
month on an immigration violation...
-----
AN AMERICAN IN MECCA
C.B. Hanif, Palm Beach Post, 1/18/04
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/travel/content/auto/epaper/editions/sunday/travel_0480b3a3c0c8014810e1.html
On a desert plain in southwest Saudi Arabia, more than 3 million people
soon will be in the midst of the hajj, an awe-inspiring sojourn to the
places where the prophets Abraham and Mohammed prayed.
The hajj is an age-old experience that exceeds one's ability to fully
comprehend it, yet whose lessons continue to unfold. It is considered
the
journey of a lifetime yet is one I would love to make again and again.
Around Jan. 30, amid some of the starkest scenery this side of National
Geographic, will come the high point of one of the largest annual
gatherings of people on the planet, as Muslim pilgrims descend on the
plain
of Arafat for nothing less than a day of communion with their Creator.
Three years ago, I was in that wilderness, among that vast throng of
people. And while it is impossible to articulate all its sentiments, I
can
share some of the rites, the rigors, the rewards of the hajj.
The most overwhelming physical feature of this ancient pilgrimage --
aside
from the desert and volcanic-mountain setting -- is the awesome sea of
people of almost every imaginable nationality, ethnicity, language and
dress. It is a bouquet of humanity responding to an invitation from God
--
Allah in Arabic -- to visit a part of the Earth long considered sacred;
where, according to tradition, Adam and Eve worshiped...
ALSO SEE:
A US COUPLE LEARN THE KORAN IN IRAN'S HOLY CITY
Michael Theodoulou, Christian Science Monitor, 1/20/04
http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0120/p16s01-legn.html
QOM, IRAN - People back home simply cannot understand why Wally and
Evelyn
Shellenberger have chosen to spend nearly three years in the Iranian
holy
city of Qom.
They are the only American Christians living in the 1,000-year old
desert
city, which is perched on the edge of a great salt lake 90 miles south
of
Tehran. It is a world apart from the green hills of their home in
Indiana.
The couple are Mennonite Christians who are in Qom on an exchange
program
with an Islamic institute aimed at building understanding and
friendship
between the two faiths.
Between the turquoise-and gold-domed mosques and walled seminaries,
they
share the dusty streets of this austere city - Iran's foremost Shiite
Muslim center of clerical learning and a prime destination for pilgrims
-
with bearded clerics and women swathed in black chadors. There are no
bars,
fast-food outlets, or video stores in Qom. And Westerners are
conspicuous
by their absence in the city that was the ideological epicenter of the
1979
Islamic Revolution, a cornerstone of which was anti-Americanism.
"Ordinary people back home think it's a dangerous place to be, but
actually
it's probably as safe a place as any in the world," says Dr.
Shellenberger,
a soft-spoken retired psychiatrist who wears a trim white beard without
a
mustache. "We're treated very well as guests..."
The MCC's student exchanges with Iran, aimed at building
people-to-people
contacts and encouraging dialogue between American and Iranian
citizens,
began in 1998 and was modeled after a similar program that existed in
Eastern European countries during the cold war...
-----
LAWLESS IN GUANTANAMO
Richard Cohen, Washington Post, 1/20/04
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A30721-2004Jan20.html
If you are around my age, you grew up on combat movies in which some
American POW told an enemy interrogator that he would supply only his
name,
rank and serial number. In the next breath, the American would cite the
Geneva Convention in demanding fair treatment of prisoners. To someone
like
me in the movie theater, that sounded as American as apple pie. Now
we're
getting that pie in our face.
The reason, of course, is that the United States continues to hold
hundreds
of suspected Taliban and al Qaeda fighters at a special military prison
at
the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba. I emphasize the word
"suspected,"
because more than 80 of the original 660 detainees have been released
-- a
few to be jailed in their home countries, most just to go free.
It's not clear whether the Geneva Convention applies -- or can apply --
to
detainees who are not conventional prisoners of war. After all, al
Qaeda is
a terrorist organization, not a state, and it is not likely that it
will
sign an armistice agreement ending hostilities. It's hard to believe
that
an al Qaeda fighter, freed from Guantanamo, would simply collect some
doughnuts from the Red Cross and go home. The nature of war has
changed.
But not, I would hope, the nature of the United States. Yet for more
than
two years now, the United States has been holding detainees without the
benefit of counsel when, the law of averages says, some of them are
bound
to be innocent. One of the innocent might be David Hicks, a 28-year-old
Australian who was captured in Afghanistan in December 2001. It was
only
last month that Hicks was visited by his lawyer -- the first time any
Guantanamo detainee had gotten to see a lawyer.
It could be that Hicks, like some of the other detainees, was just in
the
wrong place at the wrong time. It also could be that he's a coldblooded
killer, an Islamic militant and a zealous America-hater. Whatever the
case,
this is where lawyers prove useful -- and why defendants in the United
States are guaranteed the right to counsel. Given enough time and
enough
pressure, even the innocent will confess to something -- anything just
to
end the isolation and deprivation.
From all accounts, Guantanamo is not a particularly harsh place. U.S.
authorities don't go in for physical torture and all the Muslims are
allowed to pray. But the isolation, the sheer hopelessness of the
situation, has taken its toll. Vanity Fair magazine reported last month
that 20 percent of the detainees are on anti-depressants and that by
the
end of the year, 32 of them had attempted suicide. In the end, jail is
jail...
ALSO SEE:
FAIRNESS REQUIRES THAT STATUS OF GUANTANAMO DETAINEES BE CLARIFIED
Columbus Dispatch, 1/20/04
http://www.dispatch.com/editorials-story.php?story=dispatch/2004/01/20/20040120-A10-00.html
The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to review the status of battlefield
prisoners being held as enemy combatants at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
Clearly,
some clarification is needed, not only for the 660 or so who have been
confined for two years without charges filed against them or access to
legal counsel, but also in deference to this nation's image.
As a leading critic of authoritarian regimes, where the concepts of
civil
liberties and equal justice are lacking, the United States is being
branded
a hypocrite for its handling of these prisoners. To date, the Bush
administration has been unyielding and Congress unwilling to make any
commitment as to how or when these inmates' status will be reviewed.
Thus, the high court has to do what the other two branches have failed
to
do. Care will have to be exercised to ensure that the pendulum doesn't
swing too far in favor of those committed to harming Americans.
Wisely, the Supreme Court also has decided to take up the cases of Jose
Padilla and Yaser Esam Hamdi. Each is an American citizen. Padilla, a
former gang member, converted to Islam and is accused of conspiring
with
like-minded radicals to detonate a radioactive "dirty bomb" in the
United
States. Hamdi was arrested in Afghanistan as a suspected Taliban foot
soldier and is considered an enemy combatant by the U.S. government.
Both
have been held at length without access to lawyers.
Under existing law, enemy combatants can be tried by military
tribunals,
absent the constitutional protections typically afforded American
citizens...
Are all these men what the government says they are, and can they be
designated as such arbitrarily, without providing some factual basis
subject to judicial review? Critics say this "trust-me'' approach to
the
denial of rights is not consistent with recent precedent and
constitutional
law...
---
FAMILIES WAIT FOR WORD ON IRAQIS JAILED BY US
Suleiman al-Khalidi, Reuters, 1/19/04
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=reutersEdge&storyID=4161390
ABU GHRAIB, Iraq - At the barbed wire fence around Iraq's notorious Abu
Ghraib prison, Safia Shamri pleaded with a U.S. soldier to be allowed a
glimpse of her only remaining son, who she says has been in jail since
October.
"I come here just to cry and beg them to see my son. It's as if we are
animals, not human beings," said 45-year-old Shamri as she waited next
to
the guard house towers outside the complex. "Are these the human rights
that Bush is talking about?"
Shamri says her two sons were in a car on the way to the town of
Kerbala in
October when they were fired on by U.S. troops after a nearby
checkpoint
had been attacked. She saw the body of Haidar, 17, in the morgue,
riddled
with bullets. She has been told that 20-year-old Ali was imprisoned
after
the incident.
Shamri is one of the many Iraqis who flock to the prison -- women
clutching
scraps of paper with identification numbers and photos, fathers looking
for
their sons, wives for their husbands, robed trial chiefs inquiring
about
villagers.
Relatives wait for hours as two truck loads of new prisoners are
brought in
with their heads covered with sacks. Many have been trying for months
-- in
vain -- to see their relatives.
"I was happy when the Americans came and liberated us from Saddam but
when
we saw injustice again we said Saddam was more merciful," said Shamri,
who
lives in Baghdad...
-----
SECRET TERROR WAR THREATENS ALL OF US
Rep. Anna G. Eshoo, San Jose Mercury News, 1/20/04
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/7751682.htm
Not long ago, mass arrests and secret detentions were things we
criticized
other countries for doing. Open, democratic governments with
appropriate
checks and balances were the prescription we offered the world's less
developed and dictatorial nations. But that ethos -- and all the
achievements it has led to -- has now been pushed aside. Instead of
preaching hope, too often the United States seems to be peddling fear.
This month, the Supreme Court refused to reconsider a lower court
ruling
that said the government isn't obligated to release the names and
circumstances under which hundreds of people were rounded up and
secretly
held in detention after the Sept. 11 attacks. Although the vast
majority
were not charged with anything other than immigration violations, the
court
decided that releasing any information would compromise the war on
terror.
Two hundred years ago, Thomas Jefferson warned Americans against
concentrating too much power in the hands of a select few. "In matters
of
power," he said, "let no more be heard of confidence in men, but bind
him
down from mischief by the chains of the Constitution." These days,
however,
it seems our government is breaking those chains and essentially
telling
the American people to "just trust us."
Sadly, the court decision highlights the standard operating procedure
for
what is the most secretive administration in modern history…
The worst provisions of the Patriot Act should be repealed, including
those
that force libraries to disclose reading preferences and which allow
law
enforcement officers to detain legal residents and legal immigrants
without
probable cause. The executive order that allows monitoring of private
attorney-client conversations, a basic touchstone of our legal system,
should be overturned as well…
Another President, Abraham Lincoln, once reflected on how the nation
should
emerge from the horrors of war stronger and more committed to its
original
principles, ensuring "that government of the people, by the people, for
the
people, shall not perish from the Earth." Though many things have
changed
since Sept. 11, his wisdom and guidance remain timeless.
ANNA ESHOO, D-Palo Alto, represents California's 14th Congressional
District. She wrote this column for the Mercury News.
-----
ISRAELI BULLDOZERS FLATTEN 30 GAZA HOUSES
Tamer Ziara, Associated Press, 1/20/04
http://www.news-journal.com/news/content/news/ap_story.html/Intl/AP.V3444
RAFAH REFUGEE CAMP, Gaza Strip - Israeli army bulldozers flattened 30
houses and a mosque in this refugee camp Tuesday, Palestinian officials
said, accusing Israel of systematically razing homes to widen a
military
buffer zone.
The military said it only targeted buildings from which shots were
fired
overnight at Israeli forces, but did not know how many structures were
demolished.
Frantic residents threw mattresses and blankets from second-floor
windows
as beams and walls came crashing down around them. One woman, standing
near
a bulldozer, waved a white flag in a failed attempt to slow the
demolition
and buy time to salvage her belongings. A crying girl helped her mother
carry a mattress.
Army officials initially insisted the razed houses had been empty, but
then
said the claim was still being checked. The governor of Rafah, Majed
Agha,
said about 400 people were left homeless.
Israel has demolished hundreds of houses in Rafah, near the Egyptian
border, in more than three years of fighting, saying the buildings gave
cover to gunmen and weapons smugglers.
The Palestinians say Israel is clearing large swaths in the camp to
distance built-up areas from the narrow strip Israeli troops patrol
along
the Egyptian border. Israel has erected a tall metal barrier south of
the
camp as a shield for troops...
ALSO SEE:
PAKISTAN DENIES IT HAS INVITED ISRAELI MINISTER
Reuters, 1/20/04
ISLAMABAD, Jan 20 (Reuters) - Pakistan denied on Tuesday it had invited
an
Israeli cabinet minister to visit the country and said the U.N. meeting
he
said he planned to attend had been postponed.
Israeli Agriculture Minister Yisrael Katz told Israeli radio on Tuesday
that he received an invitation through an official of the U.N. food
agency
and would visit Pakistan with a small group of United Nations officials
in
March.
Pakistan's Foreign Ministry said it had already told the Food and
Agriculture Organisation that it could not host the delegation in March
for
"certain reasons."
"The government of Pakistan or any of its institutions has not invited
the
Israeli Agriculture Minister to Pakistan," the official APP news agency
quoted foreign ministry spokesman Masood Khan as saying.
"Pakistan (has) expressed its inability to host the visit in March due
to
certain reasons," he said…
Omar Salah Ahmed, the FAO representative in Islamabad, said the visit
of
the delegation had been postponed well before the controversy over the
visit of Israeli minister came up.
Ahmed said he was not sure if Katz had been invited to join the
delegation.
"If that has happened, that was a mistake because there is no
diplomatic
relationship between the two countries…"
---
HATE MAIL
Jewish activists opposing the Israeli government's policies face
intimidation and harassment via email and on the internet.
Brian Whitaker, Guardian, 1/19/04
http://www.guardian.co.uk/elsewhere/journalist/story/0,7792,1126294,00.html
Deborah Fink is a singer and music teacher living in London. She is
also
Jewish. Last month, out of the blue, she received a deluge of hateful
emails - more than 150 in the space of a week.
One came from a rabbi in New York, informing her: "Your soul, my dear,
is
petrified and lost." Another said, menacingly: "Hitler killed the wrong
Jews."
Yet another - ostensibly from a Jewish doctor of medicine in the US -
elaborated on the Holocaust theme. "Too bad Hitler didn't get your
family,"
it said. "With six million Jews dieing [sic] 60 year [sic] ago it's a
shame
scum like you somehow managed to survive."
What, exactly, had Ms Fink done to deserve this vitriol? The short
answer
is that she had been planning to sing.
Ms Fink is a member of Just Peace UK, a mainly, but not exclusively,
Jewish
group opposing the Israeli occupation and seeking "a viable and
sovereign
Palestinian state alongside a safe and secure Israel, with Jerusalem as
the
shared capital of both states..."
-----
INLAND MUSLIMS AID QUAKE VICTIMS
SHARYN OBSATZ, Press-Enterprise, 1/20/04
http://www.pe.com/localnews/inland/stories/PE_News_Local_iranian20.585d4.html
TO HELP IRANIAN EARTHQUAKE VICTIMS, CONTACT:
Islamic Relief USA: (888) 479-4968 toll free or www.irw.org
Life for Relief and Development: (800) 827-3543 or www.lifeusa.org
American Red Cross: (800) HELP NOW or (800) 453-7669 or
www.redcross.org
Local Islamic societies or mosques
Inland area Muslims say they're living up to their beliefs by donating
thousands of dollars to help injured and homeless victims of the recent
Iranian earthquake.
"Many individuals, their income is good and they have a good heart....
Charity is the third pillar of Islam," said Dr. Mohammad Hossain,
director
of the Islamic Society of California in Redlands. "God says, 'I have
given
you the wealth and given you the opportunity to help the poor.' It is
simply a test of giving."
Mosques in Redlands, Riverside and Corona have taken up collections to
benefit victims of the Dec. 26 earthquake in the Iranian city of Bam.
-----
CA: JEWISH/MUSLIM DIALOGUE PROGRAM
WHAT: University Synagogue, a Jewish Temple in Irvine, has invited
Muslims
to introduce their Jewish community to the first-hand experiences of
American-Muslims.
Rabbi Arnold Rachlis and Reverend Fred Plumer of IUCC will moderate a
panel
discussion on "The American-Muslim Experience." Five distinguished
panelists from the local American-Muslim community will be our guests.
There will also be an audience question and answer period followed by
adjournment at 9 PM to the small dome for refreshments.
The panelists will be: Imam Ali Siddiqui, a community leader for 32
years
as well as an activist, inter-faith coordinator, Islamic teacher,
Muslim
chaplain, youth advisor, family/marriage counselor, and curriculum
advisor;
Maria Khani, a member of the Greater Huntington Beach Interfaith
Council
and of its Walking Together; Magdy Eletreby, a software engineer and
company owner who is associated with the Islamic Center of Southern
California in Los Angeles and co-founder of the New Horizon School
System,
which operates 4 campuses in Southern California; Ghada Wadi, a partner
in
a software consulting company located in Irvine and a member of the
Mission
Viejo Mosque Outreach Committee; and finally, Ibrahim Ali, who has
worked
in engineering, sales and management capacities for local hi-tech
communications companies for the last 25 years. As a member of the
Muslim
community he is in charge of interfaith relations in the Outreach
Committee
of the Mission Viejo Mosque.
WHEN: Tuesday, January 20, 2004 at 7:30-9:00 PM
WHERE: University Synagogue, Sanctuary, 4915 Alton Parkway, Irvine, CA
92604 (949-553-3535)
-----
ST. PETERSBURG TO HOST STATE CONFERENCE
WHAT: The St. Petersburg Islamic Center will host the 7th Florida State
Conference January 23-25 at the Ramada Inn, Mirage, 5001-34th Street
North.
Participants will participate in workshops and for children, youth and
families.
WHEN and WHERE: The weekend will begin with jummah at the St.
Petersburg
Islamic Center (3762-18th Avenue South) at 1:00 p.m. The banquet
scheduled
for Saturday, January 24, will feature Imam Faheem Shuaibe from
Oakland, CA.
Everyone is encouraged to attend. For more information contact us at
(727)
327-8483 or 542-2278.
-----
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-----
CAIR
Council on American-Islamic Relations
453 New Jersey Avenue, S.E.
Washington, D.C. 20003
Tel: 202-488-8787, 202-744-7726
Fax: 202-488-0833
E-mail: cair@cair-net.org
URL: http://www.cair-net.org
-----
Forwarded Message
From:
"CAIR" <cair@cair-net.org>
To:
cair-net@cair.biglist.com
Subject:
CAIR ELECTION UPDATE: Presidential Candidates on the War in Iraq
General Wesley Clark
(D) Opposed invasion of Iraq without UN
backing; Would allow US Commander Abizaid to stay in charge,
but report to the NATO Council Proposes interim Iraqi government with
representatives from EU, US, and neighboring countries to
quickly help turn the country over to legitimate elected Iraqi
authorities Seeks to establish a sovereign government
in Iraq right away Official Site: http://www.clark04.com/ Also Visit: The Wesley Clark
Weblog
Governor Howard Dean
(D) Opposed preemptive War in Iraq Proposes calling on NATO to maintain
order; seeks to have Arab and Muslim countries and other
allies share costs in stabilizing Iraq Proposes transforming UN Oil for Food
program into Oil for Recovery program to pay part of
reconstruction and transition costs; democratic transition to
take place within 18 to 24 months, keeping troops in for a
longer period. Official Site: http://www.deanforamerica.com/ Also Visit: Howard Dean Weblog
Senator John Edwards
(D) Co-sponsored resolution authorizing
President to use military force against Iraq; Opposed and petitioned against President
Bush's $87 billion request to rebuild Iraq because it lacked a
clear plan Proposes establishing timetable to
transfer economic, civilian, and security powers to Iraqis and
creating an independent commission to oversee reconstruction
expenditures Promises to ensure a representative
government and not some "puppet government" to lead Iraq and
Iraqi oil reserves are not exploited by US and others Official Website: http://www.johnedwards2004.com/ Also Visit: John Edwards Official
Blog
Senator John Kerry
(D) Voted to authorize President Bush's use
of military force against Iraq; Voted against President's $87 billion
request to rebuild Iraq; Promises to obtain UN Resolution to give
UN authority to rebuild Iraq and replace Coalition Provisional
Authority with UN Special Representative Complete security and democratic reform
tasks and transfer political power and responsibility to
people of Iraq Official Website: http://www.johnkerry.com/ Also Visit: John Kerry For President
Blog
Rep. Dennis Kucinich
(D) Led opposition to and voted against House
resolution authorizing force against Iraq; Proposes ten-point plan to bring troops
home from Iraq that involves UN troops rotating in
Iraq Calls on UN to manage oil assets until
Iraqi government in place, handle all reconstruction contracts
and transition to Iraqi self-governance Make US pay for what we destroyed in Iraq
and pay reparations to families of innocent Iraqi civilians
noncombatants killed and injured during conflict Official Website: http://www.kucinich.us/ Also Visit: Kucinich Blog &
News
Senator Joseph Lieberman
(D) Introduced SJ.Res 46 authorizing the use
of military action against Iraq; Voted in favor of additional $87 Billion
for Iraq war Plans to commit more U.S. troops to Iraq
and ask NATO to assume command of the forces Immediately release a plan and timetable
for creating an Iraqi interim authority Official Website: http://www.joe2004.com/
Reverend Al Sharpton
(D) Opposed War in Iraq Would not support President Bush's $87
Billion plan for Iraq reconstruction. Would go to UN and submit to a
multilateral redevelopment plan Official Website: http://www.sharpton2004.org/
President George W. Bush
(R) Made the case for war using intelligence
reports of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and portraying
Iraq as part of an "axis of evil;" led US into uniliateral war
with Iraq Obtained $87 Billion from Congress to
fund military and reconstruction operations in Iraq; Banned
Germany, France, Russia, and Canada from bidding on
reconstruction contracts in Iraq Controls Iraq through Coalition
Provisional Authority; Plans Iraqi elections by summer 2004
and to hand power back to Iraqis by the summer Official Site: http://www.georgewbush.com Also Visit: Bush Cheney 04’
Official Blog
War in Iraq
In a February 27,
2003 news release, CAIR stated "an American attack on Iraq would
almost certainly lead to the death of many innocent civilians,
further destabilize an already unstable region, harm international
efforts to combat terrorism, drain much-needed financial resources
from our struggling economy, and set a danger precedent for
unilateral intervention in the affairs of other nations. Any
American invasion and occupation of Iraq will fuel anti-American
sentiment and would thereby harm our nation's image and interests in
the Middle East and throughout the Muslim world."
How can I
help? It is
critical that all eligible American Muslims are registered to vote.
CAIR is leading the drive to ensure that all Muslim citizens of the
US over the age of 18 know their rights as a voter and exercise
those rights to their fullest come November 5th, 2004.
Why
should I vote? The Muslim community must work to enjoin the good and forbid
the evil. Voting plays an essential role in doing this. Deciding to
support or oppose a candidate based upon his or her opinions or
actions can have a tremendous impact on the formulation of
government policy at all levels.
Subscribe to this newsletter If you have been forwarded this email and wish to
receive it regularly then click here to
subscribe.
Unsubscribe If you would like to be removed from this Newsletter
please click here.
Contact Information Council on American-Islamic Relations 453 New
Jersey Avenue, SE Washington, DC
20003
Four years ago, George W. Bush seemed a dream
candidate to Shafic Budron. The Texas governor was a socially
conservative, pro-business oilman whose campaign promises hinted he
would fight racial profiling and laws that allowed prosecutors to
use secret evidence in terrorism cases.
Today, Budron has few
good things to say about Bush's performance as president. Yet the
Burr Ridge man suggests Bush still has a shot--if a slim one--at
persuading him to support the Republican ticket in the next
election.
"I have not made up my mind," said Budron, a
Lebanese-born real estate developer. "We are still some time from
the 11th hour. Things could change."
Across Chicago, many
Muslim-American voters like Budron say they remain undecided about
the presidential race, even as they blast the Bush administration
for what they say has been a dismal record on civil liberties and a
lackluster push for Middle East peace. Since the Sept. 11, 2001,
terror attacks, they say, measures such as the Patriot Act and
special registration have trampled on their
freedoms.
Nationally, as many as 30 percent of Arab-American
Muslim voters have not made up their minds whom they will support
for president, according to a poll released Friday by Zogby
International, a New York-based polling organization. The poll was
commissioned by the Arab American Institute, a bipartisan
organization based in Washington, and has a margin of error of 4.5
percent.
Muslim and Arab leaders in Chicago and elsewhere say
Bush will have to work a miracle to woo their undecided constituents
into backing him to the extent they did in the 2000 elections. Then,
Muslim organizations openly endorsed Bush, and Muslim and Arab swing
voters trended Republican.
Now 83 percent of Arab-American
Muslims rate Bush's overall performance "unfavorable," according to
the Zogby poll, which did not survey non-Arab Muslims. Only 10
percent said they planned to vote for Bush.
John Kerry's resurgence in the Democratic race for
the White House could force President Bush's campaign to reassess
its strategy to face a potential challenge by the war hero on
national security, Republican strategists and analysts said.
After months of preparing for a likely match-up with leading
anti-Iraq war candidate Howard Dean in the November U.S. election,
Republican strategists say the focus of the Bush campaign's
opposition research may shift more to Kerry, a decorated veteran of
the Vietnam War.
Kerry's victory in Monday's Iowa's
caucuses, the first test in the state-by-state process to pick a
Democratic challenger, knocked Dean off stride after he had long
enjoyed the mantle of front-runner.
Bush's Republican allies
have been poring over Kerry's nearly 20-year voting record in the
Senate and say they are prepared to step up the attack if asked by
campaign managers. But until a clear Democratic challenger emerges,
aides say, Bush will try to stay out of the political fray.
Representative Richard A. Gephardt of Missouri, whose
fourth-place finish in the Iowa caucuses sucked the air out of his
presidential bid, withdrew from the race for the Democratic
nomination today.
"Today, my pursuit of the presidency has
reached its end," he declared in a televised address in St. Louis,
Mo., the city where his political career was born. "I'm withdrawing
my candidacy and returning to private life after a long time in the
warm light of public service."
Democratic
presidential candidates John Edwards and Dennis Kucinich have struck
a deal to support each other should one candidate fail to draw the
minimum support needed to compete in Monday night's Iowa caucuses,
Edwards campaign sources said.
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
AMERICAN MUSLIM NEWS BRIEFS - 1/21/04
* HADITH OF THE DAY: FEAR AND FAITH
* LIBRARY PROJECT: 7182 SPONSORSHIPS
* QUOTE OF THE DAY: UNDERSTANDING HIJAB
- SOTU: End of Patriot Act Provisions Applauded
* MUSLIM LEADER OPENS OHIO SENATE WITH PRAYER
* MI: FAITHFUL HELP MAKE WORLD BETTER (Free Press)
- GA: Program Focuses on Understanding (Ledger-Enq)
* STAR CASTIGATED FOR ATTACKING MUSLIMS (Islamonline)
* DETAINING THE 'ENEMY,' DILUTING THE LAW (Wash. Post)
- 5 Million on Terrorism List (Toronto Sun)
* TERRORISTS PLAN D.C. FUNDRAISER (The Hill)
- Daniel Pipes Says MEK No Terrorists
* SECRECY LIFTS MAN DETAINED POST 9-11 (Daily Bus. Rev)
- Damra Is Forced To Take Paid Leave (Plain Dealer)
* LAWYER: JAMIL AL-AMIN UNFAIRLY QUESTIONED (AP)
* CANADIAN TO SUE U.S. FOR EXPULSION TO SYRIA (Reuters)
* ISRAELI MAN CHARGED WITH BRIBING SHARON (AP)
- Israeli Prosecutors May Charge Sharon (Reuters)
* FRANCE ADDS BEARDS TO LIST OF TABOOS (Reuters)
- Bandanna Can Be Religious (NY Times)
- Merve Kavakci: Fashion 'Do' (Wash. Times)
- Growing Doubts Over Headscarf Law (AFP)
-----
HADITH OF THE DAY: FEAR AND FAITH
When the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) departed from a group of
people, he would often say: “O God! Grant us enough fear (of
displeasing
Thee) that it may serve as a barrier between us and our sins…and grant
us
enough faith that it may help us to face the misfortunes of this world
easily.”
Al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 265
-----
CAIR LIBRARY PROJECT UPDATE: 7182 SPONSORSHIPS
Now, let's help the state of Texas: 452 covered, 419 more libraries to
go!
The goal of CAIR's library project is to send accurate and objective
information about Islam to America's 16,000 public libraries.
For only $150, you may sponsor an 18-item package about Islam and
Muslims,
which are then distributed to the library of their choice.
To sponsor a library call, 1-800-392-7876, ext. 320, or visit:
www.libraryproject.org.
-----
QUOTE OF THE DAY: UNDERSTANDING HIJAB
http://washingtontimes.com/world/20040120-085111-2989r.htm
Spc. Kelly Leonard of Northfield, N.H., said her time in Iraq has given
her
a new understanding of Islam and Muslim women.
"I thought that they were controlled by their men, that they couldn't
do
what they wanted," she said. "But when I asked a woman why she wore a
veil,
she said her beauty was just for her husband and her family, and I
really
appreciated that."
----
SOTU: END OF PATRIOT ACT PROVISIONS APPLAUDED
http://www.whitehouse.gov/stateoftheunion/2004/index.html
“Key provisions of the Patriot Act are set to expire next year.
(Applause.)”
President George W. Bush
State of the Union Address, 1/20/04
------
MUSLIM LEADER OPENS OHIO SENATE WITH PRAYER
CAIR-Ohio president calls for tolerance and justice
(COLUMBUS, OH, 1/21/04) - A leader of the Ohio Muslim community today
opened a session of that state's Senate in Columbus with a prayer for
tolerance and justice. (SEE: http://www.senate.state.oh.us/)
Dr. Ahmad Al-Akhras, president of the Council on American-Islamic
Relation's Ohio office (CAIR-Ohio), first recited the opening chapter
(Al-Fatihah) of the Quran, Islam's revealed text, and then said:
"Today we give thanks to God for the blessings that have been bestowed
upon
us, both individually and collectively. We also thank God for the
bounties
provided to us in our beautiful state of Ohio.
"We come together appreciating the word of God when He said: 'O
mankind! We
created you from a single (pair) of a male and a female, and made you
into
nations and tribes (so) that you might come to know one another. Verily
the
most honored of you in the sight of God is (he who is) the most
righteous.'
[Quran, 49:13] So, let us be among the most righteous.
"We ask Almighty God to guide us and to show us the path of tolerance
and
justice. We ask God to help us see what we all have in common, and to
set
aside what may separate us.
"We pray that God may guide this body in making decisions that are
beneficial for the people of our great state and for our nation.
"We ask Almighty God to bless Ohio so it may continue to prosper and
become
a symbol of peace and tranquility for people of all faiths and
backgrounds."
Dr. Al-Akhras was part of an Islamic delegation that took part in
today's
event as a demonstration of the desire for greater Muslim participation
in
the political process. There are an estimated 185,000 Muslims in the
state
of Ohio.
CAIR, America's largest Islamic civil liberties group, is headquartered
in
Washington, D.C., and has 25 regional offices and chapters nationwide
and
in Canada.
- END -
CONTACT: Jad Humeidan, Executive Director, CAIR-Ohio 614-451-3232 or
614-571-2770
-----
EVERYDAY LIVES OF THE FAITHFUL HELPING TO MAKE WORLD BETTER
David Crumm, Detroit Free Press, 1/21/04
http://www.freep.com/news/religion/crumm21_20040121.htm
The malignant corners of the religious world -- from terrorists to
corrupt
clergy -- make headlines that sometimes eclipse the millions of
faithful
lives contributing to our community.
So, the flurry of religious activity across metro Detroit this week is
a
refreshing sign of the healthy spirit trying to knit us together. Right
now, preparations are under way for two major interfaith events -- in
Dearborn on Jan. 28 and in Bloomfield Hills on Jan. 31 -- that
demonstrate
why metro Detroit is known nationwide for cross-cultural relationships.
Ford Motor Co. engineer Kamal Shenaq called me to describe the Jan. 28
festival of diversity that the Ford Interfaith Network, a group of
employees who promote religious understanding, is organizing at the
Ford
Community and Performing Arts Center, 15801 Michigan Ave.
The 5-10 p.m. event will focus on Islam, because hundreds of local
Muslims
will be on the hajj, a pilgrimage to Mecca, next week. But Christians,
Jews, Hindus and Buddhists also will offer brief talks and exhibits.
The
festival, cosponsored by the National Conference for Community and
Justice,
is free.
What impressed me about Shenaq's call was his overwhelming enthusiasm.
Like
most of us, he's constantly juggling a hectic schedule of work and
family
life. Nevertheless, Shenaq and coworkers from several faiths found time
to
organize this event.
They want to offer an alternative to the violence convulsing our world,
Shenaq told me.
"I want to show that the real meaning of my Muslim faith is to build a
solid, safe, happy, secure community," he said. "Religion can be a very
good thing. If only we will join our hands together, we can make a
clean,
lovely, peaceful and just community..."
ALSO SEE:
PROGRAM ON ISLAM THURSDAY FOCUSES ON UNDERSTANDING
Columbus Ledger-Enquirer, 1/21/04
http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/mld/ledgerenquirer/news/local/7757461.htm
Georgia Southwestern State University's Third World in Perspective
Program
will host a seminar titled "Understanding Islam: Bridging the Gap" at 6
p.m. Thursday in the Education Center, Room 100, in Americus.
Alan Godlas will lead off the program. He is associate professor of
religion at the University of Georgia and received his master's and
Ph.D.
degrees in Near Eastern Studies, specializing in Islam, from the
University
of California at Berkeley. He teaches Islamic studies and Arabic
courses,
and is a member of the linguistics faculty, the Medieval Studies
Program
and the African Studies Program. A Fulbright scholar, he is best known
for
his Islamic Studies and Sufism Web sites.
Sylvia Safiya Godlas, an artist, teacher and author who specializes in
traditional Islamic art, will speak on "Islamic Art as a Reflection of
Culture: Pointing to Allah." She has traveled extensively in the Middle
East and is president of the International Muslimah Artists Network.
She
began working on ceramics in 1976, producing and selling sculptural
works
and pottery, and has exhibited her work throughout the U.S. She
maintains a
ceramics studio and produces Islamic-style ceramics for show and sale.
She was a member of the team that designed ornamentation for the 1990
addition of 27 domes to the Prophet's Mosque in Medina.
The seminar is open to the public and will be moderated by Harold
Isaacs,
Georgia Southwestern professor of history.
-----
HOLLYWOOD STAR CASTIGATED FOR ATTACKING MUSLIMS
IslamOnline.net, 1/20/04
http://www.islamonline.net/English/News/2004-01/20/article08.shtml
WALES – A Welsh Hollywood movie star was castigated Monday, January 19,
by
his local community, Muslims and non-Muslims, for his "racist and
ill-informed" statements he made about Islam.
John Rhys-Davies, a lead actor in the blockbuster Lord Of The Rings,
drew
flack after he warned of a "demographic catastrophe" in Europe by 2020
that
around 50 percent of the children under 18 in Holland, for instance,
will
be of Muslim descent, according to the national website of Wales
Sunday.
"I condemn these comments as being racist and ill-informed," said Adam
Price, the MP for Rhys-Davies' former home town, Ammanford.
"It is obvious that this man who now lives in the lap of luxury in
Hollywood is out of touch with realities of the nature of present day
European society.
"His attack on Muslims and comments about the threat that they pose to
Western society shows his ignorance of world events and the true
teachings
of Islam," he added.
He told the website that the people of Ammanford "will feel very let
down
by a man with such close connections to the town..."
-----
DETAINING THE 'ENEMY,' DILUTING THE LAW
D. Mark Jackson, Washington Post, 1/21/04
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A33916-2004Jan21.html
The Supreme Court has agreed to review the case of Yaser Esam Hamdi, a
U.S.
citizen captured during the war in Afghanistan. The Bush administration
designated Hamdi an "enemy combatant." Enemy combatant status,
according to
the administration, allows it to hold Hamdi in solitary confinement
indefinitely and without the procedural protections afforded to
criminal
suspects and prisoners of war.
It's time for the high court to set this straight. Based on an overly
broad
understanding of executive war powers, the enemy combatant label is an
attempt to evade the clear constitutional mandate that Hamdi be tried
for
treason.
The Constitution empowers the president to act as commander in chief of
the
military, but few cases have defined the limits of the president's
role. In
the Prize Cases, a Civil War-era Supreme Court upheld the power of the
president to impose a blockade on the Southern states without a formal
declaration of war from Congress. In Ex Parte Quirin, a World War
II-era
court upheld the use of a military commission to try a group of accused
Nazi saboteurs, two of whom were U.S. citizens. A rather grim history
surrounds this case, however, involving dubious communications between
President Franklin D. Roosevelt and the court, and a full opinion
written
only after six of the accused had been executed.
These cases, according to the Bush administration, establish an
executive
branch power to lawfully treat Hamdi without regard to any
constitutional
limitations. Such an interpretation of the Constitution is a wild
stretch
even if the text were silent on the issue of disloyal citizens.
The truth is, however, that the Founders foresaw the possibility of
citizens turned enemies and provided for both the crime and a procedure
for
its prosecution. The crime is treason. Article III, Section 3 of the
Constitution states: "Treason against the United States, shall consist
only
in levying war against them, or in adhering to their enemies, giving
them
aid and comfort. No person shall be convicted of treason unless on the
testimony of two witnesses to the same overt act, or on confession in
open
court..."
SEE ALSO:
5 MILLION ON TERRORISM LIST
Tom Godfrey, Toronto Sun, 1/20/04
http://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/TorontoSun/News/2004/01/20/318488.html
U.S. security agents have a master list of five million people
worldwide
thought to be potential terrorists or criminals, officials say. "The
U.S.
lookout index contains some five million names of known terrorists and
other persons representing a potential problem," Brian Davis, a senior
Canadian immigration official in Paris, said in a confidential document
obtained by the Sun.
Names on the list are compared against those applying for visas or on
flights travelling to the U.S.
Anyone whose name is on the list is questioned or banned from entering
the
U.S. -- as passengers were on two British Airways flights to Los
Angeles
two weeks ago.
The master list was revealed by U.S. embassy officials to a Canadian
standing immigration committee in April 2002. Its existence was
revealed in
Davis' document, obtained by Montreal lawyer Richard Kurland through an
Access to Information request.
Davis said Canadian visa officers abroad do not keep an extensive list
like
the U.S. because terrorists can use bogus documents and change their
identities.
"We examine each application according to profiles," he said. "(We)
apply
experience and knowledge gained from a variety of sources. Canada's
approach to identifying persons who may pose a danger was as sound as
possible."
CSIS agents in Paris send a "brief" to Ottawa for cases that require
more
in-depth investigation.
-----
TERRORISTS PLAN D.C. FUNDRAISER
Sam Dealey, The Hill, 1/21/04
http://www.thehill.com/news/012104/terrorists.aspx
House Administration Chairman Robert Ney (R-Ohio) will ask Attorney
General
John Ashcroft today to investigate a charity event for ties to an
Iranian
terrorist group backed by Saddam Hussein.
The event, to be held Saturday at the Washington Convention Center, is
billed as a “night of solidarity with Iran.” The organizers, led by the
Iranian-American Society of Northern Virginia, hope to raise $140,000
to
help survivors of the earthquake in Bam on Dec. 26, which killed 30,000
people.
But a number of sponsoring groups have strong ties to the Mujahedin-e
Khalq
(MEK), and the fundraiser may violate the prohibition on providing
material
support for global terrorism.
“I intend to ask the attorney general to investigate this,” said Ney.
“The
MEK is hiding behind earthquake victims; you’ll find those are false
groups. They’re not supposed to operate, and I don’t know what they’re
going to do with the money. I just think it smells.”
An MEK representative in Washington did not return repeated calls for
comment.
Spokesmen for the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI said they
were not aware of Saturday’s event and declined to comment on the
sponsor
groups.
An official with the Iranian-American Community of Northern Virginia
declined to provide any details on the participating groups.
“It’s about solidarity with victims of the earthquake in Iran and to
support the Iranian Resistance and call for referendum in Iran,” said
the
official, who would not give his name...
SEE ALSO:
DANIEL PIPES SAYS MEK NO TERRORISTS
“Is the MEK a terrorist group? No…when the secretary of state next
decides
whether or not to re-certify the MEK as a terrorist group, he should
come
to the sensible conclusion that it poses no threat to the security of
the
United States or its citizens, and remove it from the list of Foreign
Terrorist Organizations.”
Daniel Pipes, New York Post, 5/20/03
-----
SECRECY LIFTS FOR S. FLORIDA MAN DETAINED POST 9-11
Broward Daily Business Review, 1/21/04
http://www.dailybusinessreview.com/news.html?news_id=29094
"Not guilty." The plea tumbled off the eager lips of the graying man in
the
blue jumpsuit in unison with his lawyer at a federal court arraignment
hearing Friday in West Palm Beach.
After 19 months, terrorism suspect Adham Amin Hassoun finally emerged
from
the U.S. government's closet of secret cases.
The government claims that Hassoun, 41, has ties to al Qaeda terrorist
leader Osama bin Laden, has engaged in terrorist activity, was involved
in
a conspiracy to commit an assassination, and provided support to
persons
and groups engaged in terrorist activity.
But for the first time since Hassoun was locked behind razor wire at
the
Krome Detention Center in southern Miami-Dade in June 2002, the Sunrise
computer programmer got to make a public appearance in a federal
courtroom.
In secret proceedings last year, he was ordered deported by immigration
officials for alleged Islamic terrorist activities.
Still, many aspects of his case remain shrouded by judicial order...
-----
DAMRA IS FORCED TO TAKE PAID LEAVE
Cleveland Plain Dealer, 1/21/04
http://www.cleveland.com/living/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/living/107468116
3294941.xml
Leaders of the area's largest mosque have ordered controversial cleric
Fawaz Damra to step down as imam after his arrest on charges of failing
to
disclose links to terrorist groups.
The Board of Trustees of the Islamic Center of Cleveland voted 10-5
Monday
to place Damra on a paid leave of absence while he addresses the
criminal
charges.
But the imam rejected the board's request that he take leave
voluntarily,
and at least one board member said Damra's backers are gathering
support to
put the decision to a vote of the general membership.
In a statement released Tuesday, mosque leaders said they put Damra on
leave "as a result of the distractions" stemming from his arrest last
week.
"We support the imam as a person, but our obligation is to protect the
center," Dr. Ali Halabi, the mosque's president, said in a telephone
interview Tuesday.
Damra declined to comment Tuesday, but at a rally last Friday at the
mosque, attended by about 250 supporters including Christian clergy and
leaders of other Islamic groups, Damra criticized what he called the
"blatant targeting" of Islamic leaders by the government...
-----
AL-AMIN'S LAWYER: PROSECUTORS UNFAIRLY QUESTIONED DEFENDANT
MARK NIESSE, Associated Press, 1/21/04
ATLANTA - A lawyer for a former black militant convicted of killing a
deputy told the Georgia Supreme Court on Wednesday that the man's right
not
to testify at trial had been violated when prosecutors posed questions
to
him during closing arguments.
The lawyer, Jack Martin, said prosecutors unfairly asked Jamil Al-Amin
questions that the defendant could not answer because he chose not to
take
the stand in his own defense.
Al-Amin, known as H. Rap Brown when he was a black militant leader in
the
1960s, was convicted last year in the shooting death of Fulton County
Sheriff's Deputy Ricky Kinchen, 38, in March 2000. He was sentenced to
life
without parole.
At issue was a slide shown to jurors labeled "Questions for the
defendant."
It asked things like how did Al-Amin's Mercedes get to Whitehall, Ala.,
and
why he would suddenly leave Georgia for Alabama if he wasn't guilty.
"If this isn't comment on the defendant's failure to testify, then what
is?" Martin asked…
Green claimed there was such overwhelming evidence against Al-Amin that
even if it was inappropriate to question the defendant, those questions
wouldn't justify a new trial.
The Georgia Supreme Court will decide in the next few months…
Al-Amin was known as Brown when he was a black militant in the 1960s,
working with the Black Panthers and other groups.
Defenders have suggested Al-Amin was framed as part of a government
conspiracy they said had dogged him since his days as a prominent Black
Panther in the '60s.
Al-Amin led one of the nation's largest black Muslim groups, the
National
Ummah, which has formed 36 mosques around the nation and is credited
with
revitalizing poverty-stricken areas.
-----
CANADIAN TO SUE U.S. FOR EXPULSION TO SYRIA
Reuters, 1/21/04
NEW YORK, Jan 21 (Reuters) - A Canadian expelled by the United States
to
Syria as an al Qaeda suspect plans to sue the U.S. government on
Thursday
for sending him to be tortured, his lawyers said on Wednesday.
In a case that strained relations with its neighbor Canada, the United
States deported Syrian-born Canadian computer technician Maher Arar in
September 2002 based on evidence it said was provided by Canadian
police.
Arar, arrested in New York between international flights, will sue U.S.
Attorney General John Ashcroft and other officials in Brooklyn federal
court on Thursday, the Center for Constitutional Rights said…
Arar was deported to Jordan for two weeks and then to Syria where he
said
he was tortured while in a Damascus jail for almost a year before his
October release. He already announced plans to sue the governments of
Jordan and Syria.
-----
ISRAELI MAN CHARGED WITH BRIBING SHARON
Peter Enav, Associated Press, 1/21/04
http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-3650466,00.html
TEL AVIV, Israel - An Israeli businessman was indicted Wednesday on
charges
of bribing Ariel Sharon with hundreds of thousands of dollars, further
complicating the prime minister's clouded legal situation
Analysts said the indictment against real-estate developer David Appel
increases the chances that Sharon himself may face charges, which the
Supreme Court has ruled would compel him to leave office pending the
outcome of a trial.
Sharon was not charged with any criminal wrongdoing, and officials in
his
office said he was conducting business as usual Wednesday.
``The prime minister continues to work as scheduled and has not changed
anything in his work,'' an official said on condition of anonymity.
Nonetheless, opposition lawmakers called on the prime minister to
resign.
``He should resign,'' said former Finance Minister Avraham Shochat of
the
Labor Party. ``He is polluting the atmosphere.''
Appel was indicted in the Tel Aviv Magistrates court for allegedly
giving
Sharon hundreds of thousands of dollars to promote an ambitious
real-estate
project in Greece when Sharon was foreign minister in 1999 and to help
rezone urban land near Tel Aviv before and during Sharon's term as
prime
minister...
ALSO SEE:
ISRAELI PROSECUTORS CONSIDER SHARON CHARGES-RADIO
Reuters, 1/21/04
JERUSALEM - Israel Radio said Wednesday state prosecutors would decide
within several weeks whether to indict Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in a
scandal in which a leading businessman has been charged with trying to
bribe him.
Citing unnamed sources at the Justice Ministry, Israel Radio said
prosecutors were considering whether to charge Sharon along with his
son
Gilad and Vice Premier Ehud Olmert, a close ally. A Justice Ministry
spokeswoman declined comment on the report.
-----
FRANCE ADDS BEARDS TO LIST OF TABOO RELIGIOUS SIGNS
Tom Heneghan, Reuters, 1/20/04
http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-3650466,00.html
PARIS - France's plan to bar religious symbols from state schools slid
into
confusion Tuesday after the education minister said a proposed ban on
Muslim veils could also outlaw beards if they were judged to be a sign
of
faith.
Opposition politicians derided the government plan as misguided and
some of
President Jacques Chirac's conservative allies said they would abstain
or
vote against the law meant to stem growing Islamist influence among
some of
France's five million Muslims.
In another sign of the political tangle the veil debate has caused, a
senior French official issued a rare public rebuke to Pope John Paul II
for
saying some politicians' efforts to ban faith from the public sphere
endangered religious freedom in Europe.
Education Minister Luc Ferry made the surprising statement about
disciplining bearded students in a National Assembly legal committee
hearing about the draft law on the ban due to be debated next month.
Discussing the plan to remove Islamic headscarves from state schools,
he
told a communist deputy who asked about a pupil with a beard: "As soon
as
it becomes a religious sign and the code is apparent, it would fall
under
this law."
Pious Muslim men wear beards in obedience to the Prophet Mohammad, who
is
said to have instructed them to do so...
ALSO SEE:
HERE'S NEWS FOR COWBOYS: BANDANNA CAN BE RELIGIOUS
Elaine Sciolino, New York Times, 1/21/04
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/01/21/international/europe/21BAND.html
PARIS- And now for the bandanna ban.
The proposed French law prohibiting the wearing of religious symbols in
public schools was initially interpreted to include Islamic head
scarves,
Jewish skullcaps and large Christian crosses. Those were the three
items
singled out last month in a speech by President Jacques Chirac and in a
report by a blue-ribbon commission on religion and the state.
Then the issue of the turbans worn by Sikhs was raised, as France's
tiny
Sikh community protested that its boys would quit school before
removing
their turbans.
On Tuesday, Luc Ferry, the minister of national education, went even
further than Mr. Chirac, telling the National Assembly's legal affairs
committee that any girl's bandanna that is considered a religious sign
(as
opposed to a fashion statement, presumably) will now be banned.
During the two-hour debate on the proposed ban, lawmakers wanted to
know
why the draft law was worded to ban "ostensibly" religious symbols and
not
everything that is "visibly" religious...
When one deputy asked about beards, Mr. Ferry said that even they might
be
a no-no, Reuters reported. "As soon as it becomes a religious sign, it
would fall under this law," Mr. Ferry was quoted as saying. Beards are
required for Sikhs; some Muslim and Jewish men grow beards as a display
of
religious commitment...
---
MERVE KAVAKCI: FASHION 'DO'
Washington Times, 1/20/04
http://www.washtimes.com/op-ed/20040120-085118-4545r.htm
Diana West patently perceives the hijab as a sign of repression
("French fashion?" Op-Ed, Friday). She has her reasons, and as far as
some
of them are concerned, she is right. Could anyone deny that some Muslim
women are coerced to wear head scarves either by peer pressure or
simply by
the rules or the regulations of the places where they live? This is a
sad
reality.
Nevertheless, the coin has two sides. Part of the aforementioned
reality
comprises hundreds of thousands of women who are forced to take off
their
hijabs against their free will. Miss West is cognizant of this fact as
well. She raves and roots about the hijab bans in Turkey and Tunisia.
What she misses, however, are the underlying factors that inspire girls
to
cover their hair despite the proverbial difficulties they would face
for
making such decisions. In Turkey, for instance, where I personally paid
quite a high price as the first parliamentarian with hijab, a majority
of
the women and girls who demand their freedom to wear scarves come —
economically and educationally — from middle- or lower-class families.
Unlike the daughters, mothers of these young women and girls are mostly
homemakers who had neither the opportunity to pursue careers nor the
passion to become "too religious."
Their daughters, on the other hand, strive to "define" themselves with
their adherence to learning as much as their adherence to Islam. They
do
not want to be "uneducated" like their moms or to be educated, but
merely
to stay as "wife persons."
They want it all; they want both worlds, and they want them now. As
much as
it might sound ironic to some, including Miss West, according to
renowned
sociologist Nilufer Gole, these girls turn to Islam as an act of
"liberation" and "emancipation..."
---
GROWING DOUBTS OVER APPLICABILITY, EFFECTS OF FRENCH HEADSCARF LAW
Hugh Schofield, Agence France Presse, 1/21/04
PARIS, Jan 20 - Days ahead of its presentation before the French
parliament, doubts were appearing Wednesday over the feasibility of a
proposed new law banning the Islamic headscarf in schools, with growing
warnings that it will create more problems than it solves.
Legislators from the ruling Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) party
and
the opposition Socialists were meeting separately to work out their
positions on the bill, amid calls for a no vote -- or at least
abstention
-- from a significant number of influential political figures.
Confusion over the text -- which bans "signs and clothing which
conspicuously display a pupil's religious affiliation" -- was only
increased Tuesday when Education Minister Luc Ferry told a
parliamentary
committee that this could include bandanas worn with the wrong intent
or
"mere hairiness."
The headscarf ban was agreed by President Jacques Chirac last month
with
the aim of enforcing France's strict secularism in the classroom, but
it
has provoked an angry backlash from many Muslims -- at home and abroad
--
who believe their are being singled out for discrimination.
-----
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-----
CAIR
Council on American-Islamic Relations
453 New Jersey Avenue, S.E.
Washington, D.C. 20003
Tel: 202-488-8787, 202-744-7726
Fax: 202-488-0833
E-mail: cair@cair-net.org
URL: http://www.cair-net.org
-----
--------------------------------------------------------------------
mail2web - Check your email from the web at
http://mail2web.com/ .
Forwarded Message
Date:
Thu, 22 Jan 2004 16:06:16 -0500
To:
cair-net@cair.biglist.com
From:
"CAIR" <cair@cair-net.org>
Subject:
CAIR-NET: Canadian Muslim Sues U.S. Over Torture/CAIR on BBC
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
AMERICAN MUSLIM NEWS BRIEFS - 1/22/04
* HADITH OF THE DAY: HARBOR GOOD THOUGHTS
* CAIR LIBRARY PROJECT UPDATE: CONNECTICUT
* CAIR-CAN JOINS INDUSTRY CANADA DIVERSITY DAY
- CAIR-Houston Co-Hosts Presidential Campaign Forum
- CAIR�DFW Annual Fundraiser Banquet/Eid Dinner
- CAIR-FL Reacts to SOTU (Sun-Sentinel)
* CAIR FEATURED IN BBC PROGRAM ON U.S. 'MUSLIM LOBBY'
* NEW MAGAZINE GIVES MUSLIM WOMEN A VOICE (Buffalo News)
- Islam Convert Makes Anti-Racist Bid (N. Ireland News)
* CANADIAN SUES U.S. OVER TORTURE IN SYRIA (Reuters)
* RESISTANCE TO PATRIOT ACT GAINING GROUND (Globe Staff)
* PIZZA DELIVERYMAN HOPES TO STAY IN U.S. (AP)
- Rangel Fights to Free Immigrant (Journal News)
* A CALL FOR 'CHRISTIAN TERRORISM' (ABC News)
* PUBLIC HEARING: THE MIDEAST AND THE NEOCONS (CNI)
* MILITARY LAWYER SLAMS U.S. TRIBUNALS (Reuters)
- Ecumenical Delegation Denied Visit to Detainees (NCC)
-----
HADITH OF THE DAY: HARBOR GOOD THOUGHTS
The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: "To harbor good thoughts
is
a part of well-conducted worship."
Sunan of Abu Dawood, Hadith 2352
-----
CAIR LIBRARY PROJECT UPDATE: CONNECTICUT
Now, let's help the state of Connecticut: 131 covered, 124 more
libraries
to go!
The goal of CAIR's library project is to send accurate and objective
information about Islam to America's 16,000 public libraries.
For only $150, you may sponsor an 18-item package about Islam and
Muslims,
which are then distributed to the library of their choice.
To sponsor a library call, 1-800-392-7876, ext. 320, or visit:
www.libraryproject.org.
-----
CAIR-CAN JOINS INDUSTRY CANADA IN 'DIVERSITY DAY'
(OTTAWA, 22/01/2003) - The Canadian Council on American-Islamic
Relations
(CAIR-CAN) yesterday joined Industry Canada (http://www.ic.gc.ca/), a
department of the Canadian government, in celebrating its first-ever
'Diversity Day' in Ottawa.
Employees of Industry Canada and members of the public were invited to
attend a program aimed at fostering greater cultural and diversity
awareness. The event, held at the C.D. Howe building in downtown
Ottawa,
featured international cuisine, information kiosks and other
activities.
CAIR-CAN representatives were onsite to provide consultation and
resources
in order to educate the public about Islam and issues affecting
Canadian-Muslims.
"CAIR-CAN would like to thank Industry Canada for inviting us to this
successful event," stated CAIR-CAN Spokeswoman Hadeel Al-Shalchi. "Such
events are integral to promoting multiculturalism in Canada."
Council on American-Islamic Relations CANADA (CAIR-CAN)
P.O.Box 13219, Ottawa, ON
Canada, K2K 1X4
Tel: 1-866-524-0004
Local: (613) 254-9704
Fax: (613) 254-9810
Email: canada@cair-net.org
URL: www.caircan.ca
ALSO SEE:
CAIR-HOUSTON CO-HOSTS PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN FORUM
WHAT: Members of the Houston-area community are invited to meet
representatives of the candidates running for President (Presidential
candidates -- schedules permitting -- may call in live during the
Forum).
Confirmed appearances by representatives from: General Wesley Clark,
Gov.
Howard Dean, Sen. John Kerry, Rep. Dennis Kucinich, and Bush-Cheney
'04.
The event is organized by the Freedom and Justice Foundation (F&J) and
CAIR-Houston.
WHEN: Sunday, January 25, from 2-5 p.m.
WHERE: Taj Hall, 5615 Savoy, Houston, TX 77036
To learn more or volunteer: contact CAIR-Houston or The Freedom and
Justice
Foundation. Email info@freeandjust.org, or call 972-365-8214
Council on American-Islamic Relations Houston Chapter
Tel: 713-838-CAIR (2247)
Fax: 713-838-2250
E-Mail: info@cairhouston.org
---
CAIR�DFW ANNUAL FUNDRAISER BANQUET/EID DINNER
WHAT: CAIR-DFW will host its annual fundraising banquet with Guest
Speakers: Hon. Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson; Hon. State
Representative Lon Burnam; Hon. State Representative Terry Hodge; Omar
Ahmed Chairman of CAIR National; Bob Ray Sanders Editor Star Telegram.
WHEN: Sunday Feb, 15, 2004 at 5:30 p.m.
WHERE: Hilton Dallas Lincoln Center (5410 LBJ FRWY, Dallas, TX 75240
Ph:
(972)-934-8400)
Tickets: $25 per person. ($30 at the door if available)
$250 for table of 10
Childcare Available. $5 per child
Tickets will be available in all major mosques & CAIR-DFW office
beginning
January 26, 2004
CAIR - Dallas/Fort Worth
3010 LBJ Freeway, Suite 100
Dallas, TX 75234
Main Telephone: 972-241-7233
Fax Number: 972-241-7466
E-Mail: info@cairdfw.org
Website: http://www.cairdfw.org
---
CAIR-FL: FLORIDA REACTS ALONG PARTY LINES TO PRESIDENT'S SOU SPEECH
Buddy Nevins, Sun-Sentinel, 1/22/04
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/southflorida/sfl-reactmain22jan22,0,5891722.story
The race for the Democratic presidential nomination faded into the
background Wednesday as South Floridians picked apart President Bush's
State of the Union speech, lauding portions of the address and
disagreeing
with others.
"No two people see eye to eye on everything," said Ana Gomez-Mallada, a
Fort Lauderdale lawyer and a Bush fan.
Few of those interviewed liked or disliked the entire speech.
Most liked Bush's stance on the war, which echoes the favorable poll
results that Bush's fight against terrorism has received. Many
disagreed
with elements of his domestic policy, which is also what has been
reflected
in polls.
Many remembered sections of the almost hourlong speech that had
personal
meaning for them.
Mothers with children in the military in Iraq agreed with Bush that
their
children are keeping the country safe from terrorists...
Altaf Ali, director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations'
Florida
office in Davie, also applauded the parts of Bush's speech concerning
rebuilding Iraq and bringing democracy to that country. He
congratulated
Bush as well for his support of recognizing marriage as the union
between a
man and a woman, saying "this is one of the foundations of
civilization."
But Ali was disturbed by the part of the speech calling for renewal of
Patriot Act, the anti-terrorism law that is scheduled to expire next
year.
"Like many other civil liberties groups, CAIR is very concerned about
the
Patriot Act," Ali said. "It is cutting the corners on freedom of speech
and
the right to counsel…"
-----
CAIR FEATURED IN BBC PROGRAM ON U.S. 'MUSLIM LOBBY'
MUSLIM LOBBY IN THE US
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/programmes/assignment.shtml
Can President Bush and the Republican Party fight a war on terror
against
Islamic militants and still retain the support of American Muslims at
home?
That's the question tackled in this week's "Assignment".
Barnie Choudhury has been to the United States to examine claims of
discrimination since September 11, and to consider the hopes of some
Muslims there that they can organise themselves in response and use
election year to win real influence.
-----
NEW MAGAZINE GIVES MUSLIM WOMEN A VOICE
Amruta Gadgil, Buffalo News, 1/21/2004
http://www.buffalonews.com/editorial/20040121/1047603.asp
After Sept. 11, 2001, Americans faced a multitude of problems. Fears
ranging from world terrorism to anthrax to a lagging economy consumed
much
of our lives. But many cultural groups, especially Islamic communities,
had
another reality to accept. They were under intense scrutiny for their
beliefs and actions, and pervasive stereotypes began to form about
terrorists and Islamic women.
Azizah magazine, an Atlanta-based quarterly, not only provides Muslim
women
with a platform to express themselves, but also gives non-Muslims a
clearer
perspective on Islamic life.
Filled with pages of inspirational tales of Islamic sisterhood and
unity,
the magazine attempts to deal with a variety of issues and stereotypes
that
plague the community. Muslim-American women have been deemed as
oppressed
underneath their veil, but Azizah helps correct that idea by
highlighting
the accomplishments of Muslims. The magazine also features interviews
with
former Pakistani Prime Minister Benezir Bhutto and prominent filmmakers
and
other leaders. The usual suspects also appear: recipes, poetry,
personal
stories, and fashion.
But the driving force behind the magazine is that Azizah prides itself
as
being the "authentic voice" of contemporary Muslim women. It is a
message
that has resonated well with the Azizah audience.
One reader from Quebec wrote, "We women now have a magazine that will
educate not only us, but will enrich the knowledge of our family
members."
An international reader from Cairo praises Azizah saying, "There are
many
women's magazines, but none of them talk about us. You are the first
magazine that talks to and about Muslim women."
Azizah succeeds in empowering women by educating them and helping both
Muslims and non-Muslims better understand the religion.
For more information about Azizah magazine visit
www.azizahmagazine.com.
ALSO SEE:
ISLAM CONVERT YVONNE MAKES ANTI-RACIST BID
Northland Ireland News, 1/22/04
http://icnorthernireland.icnetwork.co.uk/news/local/content_objectid=13844431_method=full_siteid=91603_headline=-Islam-Convert-Yvonne-Makes-Anti-Racist-Bid-name_page.html
Belfast - A Muslim student who is regularly taunted in the street
because
of his religion is hoping to shatter negative images of Islam in
Northern
Ireland.
Belfast student Mohammed Awawdeh says he often notices people's
reactions
harden when they are introduced to him because many associate Islam
with
terrorism.
Now, in a one-man bid to turn the tide, the Islamic Student Association
president has invited journalist Yvonne Ridley, who was captured by the
Taleban in Afghanistan, to speak about her experiences...
"Yvonne will be talking about the influence of media in creating these
opinions because of her experiences in Afghanistan.
"The way the media perceive Muslims, it's almost like there's an Islam
phobia.''
Yvonne is due to talk about her 10 days at the hands of her Taleban
captors, and the perception of Islam portrayed by western media, on
Monday
at the Peter Froggatt Centre at Queen's at 5pm.
The mother of one, who recently converted to Islam, was captured by the
Taleban when she was working in Kabul as a reporter for the
London-based
Express newspaper...
-----
CANADIAN SUES U.S. OVER EXPULSION, TORTURE IN SYRIA
Grant McCool, Reuters, 1/22/04
NEW YORK, Jan 22 (Reuters) - A Syrian-born Canadian sued U.S. Attorney
General John Ashcroft on Thursday for deporting him to Syria as an al
Qaeda
suspect and said government officials knew he would be tortured in a
Damascus jail.
The lawsuit filed in Brooklyn federal court is the latest development
in a
case that has strained relations between the United States and Canada,
raised security and human rights issues and led to a new deportation
deal
between Ottawa and Washington.
Computer technician Maher Arar was arrested between international
flights
at Kennedy airport in New York in Sept. 2002. He was interrogated for
13
days and expelled to Jordan and then Syria, where he said he was held
for
more than 10 months in a "dark, damp hole" and tortured.
Arar was freed in October 2003 and returned to Canada, but he is barred
from the United States. At a news briefing in New York to announce the
lawsuit, Arar talked by speakerphone.
"I believe that the persons who sent me to Syria knew that I would be
interrogated under torture there," said Arar, 33, who lives in Ottawa
with
his wife and two children. He has been unemployed since his return from
Syria after years of working for a high-tech company.
Arar added that he had "never knowingly associated with terrorists" and
that under brutal treatment in Syria, he "falsely confessed to my
torturers."
One of his lawyers, Steven Watt, said: "Syria released him as an
innocent
man and an innocent man he remains today..."
Lawyers for the Center for Constitutional Rights said the suit was the
first to challenge the government's "extraordinary renditions" program
of
keeping foreigners suspected of being a security risk out of the
country.
"Federal officials removed Mr. Arar to Syria under the program
precisely
because Syria could use methods of interrogation to obtain information
from
Mr. Arar that would not be legally or morally acceptable in this
country or
other democracies," the lawsuit said…
-----
RESISTANCE TO PATRIOT ACT GAINING GROUND
Thanassis Cambanis, Globe Staff, 1/20/04
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2004/01/20/resistance_to_patriot_act_gaining_ground/
More than two centuries ago, the patriots of Brewster shut down the
Colonial courts on Cape Cod in one of the first acts of resistance
against
the tyrannical rule of King George III.
Now, deliberately evoking its Revolutionary history, Brewster Town
Meeting
has formally condemned the antiterrorist USA Patriot Act, united
against
the laws of a different leader named George.
While the act is largely symbolic -- federal law enforcement agencies,
not
local governments, enforce the Patriot Act's new search, seizure, and
detention provisions -- the grass-roots opposition has forged an
unlikely
alliance of people angry at Washington's domestic handling of the war
on
terror. In Brewster, anger at the Patriot Act has drawn together
libertarians, an antitax group, and a Unitarian congregation, as well
as a
more traditional coalition of civil libertarians and antiwar
activists...
The burgeoning nationwide movement has prompted three state
governments,
and 236 communities in 37 states, to pass resolutions against the
Patriot
Act. If the backlash continues to grow, opponents of the Patriot Act
believe, their momentum will force Congress and the White House to
address
some of the law's unpopular elements...
-----
PIZZA DELIVERYMAN HOPES TO STAY IN U.S.
Michael Hill, Associated Press, 1/20/04
http://www.pennlive.com/newsflash/lateststories/index.ssf?/base/national-16/1074582543114740.xml
HUDSON, N.Y. - Ansar Mahmood has dropped his long-shot deportation
challenge and is leaving his fate in the hands of federal immigration
officials. In what his lawyer calls a "last gasp" move, he is asking to
return to his old life in upstate New York under supervision instead of
being deported to Pakistan.
Mahmood's legal troubles started when he decided to take a snapshot
near a
picturesque reservoir during the jittery weeks after the 2001 terror
attacks.
A suspicious guard posted at the water supply called police. The young
pizza deliveryman from Pakistan was eventually charged - not as a
terrorist, but on an immigration law violation.
Mahmood's resulting detention and fight against deportation has
attracted
national attention and roused neighbors around his adopted Hudson
Valley
hometown into activism. His fight has become a symbol to critics who
believe federal authorities overreacted after the terror attacks.
Now that fight appears to be near an end...
ALSO SEE:
RANGEL FIGHTS TO FREE IMMIGRANT
Susan Elan, Journal News, 1/20/04
http://www.nyjournalnews.com/newsroom/012004/a06w20detained.html
Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., has joined a Hudson Valley citizens group
in
calling for the release of a Pakistani pizza deliveryman detained in a
federal prison near Buffalo for two years. He was being held in the
crackdown on immigrants following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist
attacks.
The Journal News reported in September on Ansar Mahmood's struggle to
overcome a deportation order back to Pakistan and remain in the United
States.
Mahmood, 26, who lived and worked legally in Hudson, N.Y., has been
locked
up awaiting deportation since January 2002 as the result of an
infraction
that would have resulted in probation for a United States citizen.
"It seemed to me that he was being dealt an injustice, so I wrote his
attorney offering to be of assistance to help resolve this matter,"
Rangel
said in a written statement.
Rangel called on federal officials to comply with Mahmood's request for
release under a form of probation and his return to the upstate
community
where he has several offers of housing and employment.
Rangel is the first public official to call for Mahmood's release. New
York
Democratic Sens. Charles Schumer and Hillary Rodham Clinton say they
want
more information.
-----
'CHRISTIAN TERRORISTS'
Dean Schabner, ABC News, 1/22/04
http://abcnews.go.com/sections/US/WorldNewsTonight/antiabortion_violence_040122-1.html
Jan 22 - An anti-abortion activist, calling for a new wave of violence
against clinics and doctors, is following the example of violent
Islamic
fundamentalists, telling those who share his views to become "Christian
terrorists" and promising them a reward in Heaven.
"As cream rising to the top of the milk, so the Christian terrorist
rises
above the huddled masses of churchgoers and the many voices which
denounce
their violent attempts to defend the innocent from they're [sic]
murderous
assailants," Chuck Spingola wrote in a posting on the Army of God Web
site.
"Regarding abortion the separation is clear. The CT [Christian
terrorist]
has the Word of God and a testimony of loving, albeit terrifying [to
the
wicked], actions," he said.
Spingola declined to discuss the statement with ABCNEWS.com without
stipulations, but said he stood by the posting.
There is some question among academics and others who follow extremist
movements in the United States about how seriously to take the
rhetoric,
particularly because none believe that such views are shared by more
than,
at most, a few hundred people...
-----
PUBLIC HEARING: THE MIDDLE EAST AND THE NEOCONS
WHAT: The Council for the National Interest will host a public hearing,
titled, "The Middle East in Election 2004: Voting to Reverse the
Neocons."
Two former Republican congressmen, Paul Findley (R-IL) and Paul Pete
McCloskey (R-CA), and Edward Peck, a former Chief of Mission in
Baghdad,
will be launching a major new series of hearings called The Middle East
in
Election 2004. The first will focus on Voting to Reverse the Neocons.
The
series will follow the candidates statements and will propose a whole
new
policy for the entire Middle East…
Congressmen Findley and McCloskey are making a rare appearance on the
Hill
at the invitation of the Council for the National Interest, a
Washington
think-tank they established fifteen years ago. This hearing, which was
arranged by Congressman John Conyers (D-MI), will also propose a 4-Rs
national campaign that includes a plank for the immediate recognition
of
Palestine as an independent state, one sure way of readdressing the
current
imbalance. Other speakers, which include E. Faye Williams, will suggest
a
permanent alliance for peace in the Middle East in place of temporary
coalitions for war.
WHEN: January 27, 2004, 10:00 AM -12:00 PM
WHERE: Room 2237 Rayburn House Office Building, Washington, DC
For further information and transcripts, contact Terry Walz, CNI, 202
863-2951.
Council for the National Interest: 1250 4th Street SW, Ste WG-1,
Washington, DC 20024. Tel: 202 863-2951, Fax: 202 863-2952; E-mail:
count@igc.org
-----
MILITARY LAWYER SLAMS U.S. TERRORISM TRIBUNALS
Deborah Charles, Reuters, 1/21/04
http://www.reuters.com/printerFriendlyPopup.jhtml?type=domesticNews&storyID=4179427
WASHINGTON - The U.S. Marine Corps lawyer assigned to defend an
Australian
terror suspect being held at the Guantanamo naval base in Cuba
Wednesday
criticized the military tribunal process and said it will not allow a
fair
trial.
Maj. Michael Mori, who in November was assigned to be the military
attorney
for David Hicks -- an Australian held at the U.S. military prison in
Cuba
-- said the system set up by the Pentagon for trials of non-U.S.
citizens
captured during what U.S. officials call the war on terror was unfair.
"The military commissions will not provide a full and fair trial," Mori
told a news conference. "The commission process has been created and
controlled by those with a vested interest only in convictions."
"Fairness is extremely important in all cases, particularly those that
have
commanded such international attention and will have international
impact,"
he said.
Mori has met three times with Hicks, who has been held for two years in
Guantanamo Bay along with hundreds of other prisoners detained during
the
U.S. invasion of Afghanistan.
None of the roughly 660 prisoners held at Guantanamo Bay has yet been
charged with any crimes although Pentagon officials have suggested that
military trials for some could begin soon...
ALSO SEE:
U.S. ECUMENICAL DELEGATION DENIED VISIT TO GUANTANAMO DETAINEES
NCC Continues to Press for Detainees' Due Process Rights
January 21, 2004, NEW YORK CITY - The U.S. Department of Defense has
denied
a written request from the National Council of Churches USA (NCC) for
permission to send a small interfaith delegation to visit detainees at
the
U.S. Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay later this month.
NCC General Secretary Bob Edgar made the request in a Dec. 8, 2003,
letter
to Secretary of State Colin Powell, Attorney General John Ashcroft and
Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. On Jan. 16, he received a reply
from
Dr. Jeffrey M. Starr, Principal Director for Special Operations Program
Support in the U.S. Department of Defense, who wrote, "Unfortunately it
is
not possible for your group to meet with the enemy combatants detained
in
Guantanamo Bay, Cuba."
In response, Dr. Edgar said today that the NCC would "seek a meeting
with
U.S. government officials to press the issue of faith leaders' access
to
the Guantanamo detainees..."
-----
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-----
CAIR
Council on American-Islamic Relations
453 New Jersey Avenue, S.E.
Washington, D.C. 20003
Tel: 202-488-8787, 202-744-7726
Fax: 202-488-0833
E-mail: cair@cair-net.org
URL: http://www.cair-net.org
-----
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
AMERICAN MUSLIM NEWS BRIEFS - 1/23/04
* HADITH OF THE DAY: OBEY ONLY WHAT IS GOOD
* LIBRARY PROJECT: NEW MEXICO
* CAIR-OH: THE MAN WHO SPEAKS FOR MUSLIMS
* CAIR-MD: FAMILY OF STUDENT WANTS ANSWERS (WBAL)
- Arrested in Class, Teen Files Complaints (Balt. Sun)
* KOFI ANNAN: ISLAMOPHOBIA ON THE RISE (Daily Nation)
- CA: Students Clear Misconceptions (Daily Bruin)
* LA COUNCIL: SCALE BACK PATRIOT ACT (AP)
- Lawmakers: No Rush to Take Up Terror Act (NY Times)
- Bush Hijacks Title VI (Swarthmore Phoenix)
* HAJJ: JOY, HOPE FILL THOSE HEADING TO MECCA (AP)
- CNN SPECIAL: Pilgrimage is an Act of Faith
* PEACE WON'T COME BY SWEEPING CONFLICT ASIDE (Free Press)
- Giving Islam a Chance (Pittsburgh City Paper)
* ARABS SLAM U.S. OVER DEMOCRACY AT DAVOS (Reuters)
* EX-ARMS HUNTER KAY SAYS NO WMD STOCKPILES IN IRAQ
* AL-ARIAN JUDGE TRIES TO STEP UP THE PACE (NY TIMES)
* THE LATEST TABOO IN PARIS (Wash. Post)
- DC: Students Protest French Hijab Ban (Hoya)
* ISRAELI ARAB NOT WELCOME IN JEWISH TOWN (Reuters)
- Democratic Hopefuls Stick to Pro-Israel Policies (Haaretz)
* MA: ISB OFFERS ISLAMIC STUDIES PROGRAM
* MEDIA REQUEST: HAVE YOU AVOIDED VISITING THE U.S.?
-----
HADITH OF THE DAY: OBEY ONLY WHAT IS GOOD
The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) once sent an army unit on a
campaign and ordered the soldiers to obey their commander. During the
campaign, their commander became angry and said: "Didn't the Prophet
order
you to obey me?" They said: "Yes." He then said: "I order you to
collect
wood, make a fire and then throw yourselves into it."
The men at first obeyed their commander by collecting wood and making a
fire. But when they were about to throw themselves into the fire, they
started looking at each other, and one of them said: "We followed the
Prophet to escape from the fire (of Hell). Why should we enter it now?"
While they talked, the fire went out and their commander's anger
abated.
When the incident was mentioned to the Prophet, he said: "If they had
entered (the fire) they would never have come out (until the Day of
Resurrection), for obedience is required only in what is good."
Sahih al-Bukhari, Volume 9, Hadith 259
-----
CAIR LIBRARY PROJECT UPDATE: NEW MEXICO
Now, let's help the state of New Mexico: 47 covered, 46 more libraries
to go!
The goal of CAIR's library project is to send accurate and objective
information about Islam to America's 16,000 public libraries. Total
number
of libraries 7182.
For only $150, you may sponsor an 18-item package about Islam and
Muslims,
which are then distributed to the library of their choice.
To sponsor a library call, 1-800-392-7876, ext. 320, or visit:
www.libraryproject.org.
-----
CAIR-OH: THE MAN WHO SPEAKS FOR MUSLIMS
Aaron Marshall, The Other Paper, 1/29/04
http://www.theotherpaper.com/substory2.html
As the French ambassador spoke to the Columbus business group about his
country's position on Iraq, his remarks were frequently punctuated by
cheering.
Was the staid luncheon crowd that excited by Jean-David Levitte's take
on
the war? Au contraire.
The commotion last Thursday was actually coming from two floors below,
where more than 100 Muslim women were protesting on an icy downtown
street
corner.
What turned them out was a French campaign to ban all forms of
religious
symbols, including the hijab-the traditional religious head scarf worn
by
many Muslim women.
Who turned them out was Jad Humeidan, executive director of the Ohio
chapter of CAIR, the Council on American-Islamic Relations.
"It wasn't too hard," said Humeidan, who had assembled the crowd via
e-mail
and a weekly newsletter passed out at area mosques. "For the sisters,
it
was their calling."
If you thought it would be a cold day in hell before a throng of Muslim
women turned out for a political protest in Columbus, well, at least
you
were right about the weather.
It was yet another PR victory for Humeidan, a media-savvy 29-year-old
who
has become the spokesman for the tens of thousands of Muslims living in
Ohio.
Need a Muslim guy to come talk to your school or civic organization?
Humeidan's your guy. And when the media need a Muslim opinion to round
out
a story, Jad's their dude. It's a job that brings long hours and plenty
of
time on the road...
-----
MIDDLE-EASTERN STUDENT ARRESTED, FAMILY DEMANDS ANSWERS
WBAL, 1/22/04
http://www.thewbalchannel.com/news/2786815/detail.html
ELLICOTT CITY, Md. -- The family of a Howard County high school student
of
Middle-Eastern decent arrested last December for not changing seats
wants
answers.
Did the police officer go too far? Did race play a role? The family
demands
an investigation, WBAL-TV 11 News reporter Rob Roblin reported.
Marvan Ebrahimzadeh was arrested for disorderly conduct on Dec. 10,
2003,
when he refused to switch seats in his biology class at Glenelg High
School. The school's resource police officer and the vice principal
responded to the classroom where the boy's family claims the police
officer
manhandled Ebrahimzadeh.
"Both men slammed Marvin on to ground. Marvin suffered bruising on his
forehead. In the struggle, at least one desk knocked over. Marvin's
head
collided with the ground and he was then handcuffed," Hassan Ahmad,
Ebrahimzadeh's attorney, said.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations and Ebrahimzadeh's family
want a
full investigation of the arrest because they want to know if it was
racially motivated...
ALSO SEE:
ARRESTED IN CLASS, TEEN-AGER FILES PAIR OF COMPLAINTS
Liz F. Kay, Baltimore Sun, 1/23/04
http://www.sunspot.net/news/education/bal-ho.arrest23jan23,0,5484518.story
Formal complaints have been filed against the Howard County public
school
system and Police Department after a Glenelg High School sophomore said
excessive force was used when he was arrested by a school resource
officer
for refusing to change seats in class, his lawyer said yesterday.
At a news conference in front of police headquarters in Ellicott City,
attorney Hassan M. Ahmad said his client is pursuing administrative
remedies. But the student, who is Middle Eastern and Muslim, and his
family
have not ruled out legal action or the possibility that the arrest by
Officer Kelly Smith was racially motivated.
"We're trying to exhaust any other remedies before it comes to that,"
Ahmad
said...
Smith was permanently reassigned to another school during the winter
break
after he and police commanders determined that would be the best
solution,
Llewellyn said.
"That's excellent," said Attorney Anu B. Kemet, part of the legal team
representing Marvan. But that doesn't resolve the problem, he said.
"Should officers be going around arresting children in their classrooms
in
school for failing to comply with a seating chart in a timely manner?"
he
asked.
"The main goal is to not have this happen again to anyone else's
child,"
Kemet said. "There has to be some prophylactic measure ... to
discourage,
dissuade future action of this magnitude. ... They just shuffled their
personnel around."
-----
KOFI ANNAN: ISLAMOPHOBIA ON THE RISE EVERYWHERE
Peter Mwaura, Daily Nation, 1/23/04
http://www.nationaudio.com/News/DailyNation/Today/Comment/Comment2301200412.html
One of the most disturbing manifestations of bigotry today is
Islamophobia," United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan said earlier
this month in New York.
"Since the September 11 terrorist attacks on the United States which
were
condemned throughout the Muslim world, many Muslims, particularly in
the
West, have found themselves the objects of suspicion, harassment and
discrimination."
Mr Annan said that too many people see Islam as "a monolith" and that
"the
gulf of ignorance is dangerously deep".
He was giving the first Robert Burns memorial lecture on January 13 to
celebrate the 18th century Scottish poet. Quoting one of Burns' most
famous
lines, he said: "A Man's a Man for a' That" and "We are all brothers".
Mr Annan regretted that "we seem to be slipping into mutual distrust,
protectionism and fear... The persistence of prejudice should be
especially
troubling to us all," he said.
The "persistence of prejudice", the main concern in Mr Annan's lecture,
was
perhaps most dramatically exemplified in Britain, where 1.6 million
Muslims
live...
It seems to be open season for Muslims everywhere. Those who want to
spread
the fear of Muslims have not spared even the Internet. There are too
many
sites devoted to Muslim-bashing. For example, a French-language-site,
"islam-danger.com", proclaims itself as a site devoted to the study of
the
"dangerous ideology" of Islam...
ALSO SEE:
MUSLIM STUDENTS SET OUT TO CLEAR MISCONCEPTIONS
Caitlin Roberson, Daily Bruin, 1/23/04
http://www.dailybruin.ucla.edu/news/articles.asp?id=27019
Students and faculty are gearing up this weekend in preparation for
Islamic
Awareness Week, scheduled to begin Monday.
Events will be put on by the Muslim Student Association to promote
understanding and to disperse common misconceptions of the Islamic
religion.
MSA members plan to man booths and set up posters along Bruin Walk
every
day next week, and hold informational forums each evening to educate
students...
Students at MSA booths will discuss key Islamic beliefs and share
personal
stories with UCLA peers. Nightly educational programs are also
scheduled to
discuss issues such as Muslim contributions to western civilization
(Thursday) and the true significance of the head scarf worn by Muslim
females (Tuesday)...
-----
LA CITY COUNCIL ASKS CONGRESS TO THROW OUT PARTS OF PATRIOT ACT
Associated Press, 1/22/04
http://www.sacbee.com/state_wire/story/8141501p-9073393c.html
LOS ANGELES - The City Council approved a resolution criticizing
portions
of the USA Patriot Act a day after President Bush called on Congress to
extend it.
Wednesday's 9-2 vote makes Los Angeles the largest of the more than 200
cities and towns nationwide whose councils have taken stands against
the
federal law, which was passed after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist
attacks
and granted federal authorities broad surveillance and investigative
powers
to help combat terrorism.
The symbolic resolution by Councilwoman Jan Perry urges Congress to
delete
parts of the law that give federal authorities access to library,
bookstore
and other business records as part of terrorism investigations. The
provision has drawn at least one legal challenge in a federal lawsuit
filed
in July by the American Civil Liberties Union and Islamic groups.
"This city has a commitment to civil rights," Perry said. "We should be
for
a government that helps us and uplifts us, not one that enslaves us..."
ALSO SEE:
LAWMAKERS NOT RUSHING TO TAKE UP TERRORISM ACT
Eric Lictblau, New York Times, 1/22/04
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/01/22/national/22PATR.html
WASHINGTON - Despite President Bush's plea for an extension of the
counterterrorism law known as the USA Patriot Act, leading Republicans
and
Democrats in Congress said Wednesday that were in no rush to take up
the
politically divisive issue in this election year.
Crucial provisions of the law do not expire until the end of 2005, and
Mr.
Bush's push for their renewal in his State of the Union speech, which
he
repeated on Wednesday, caught many lawmakers off guard.
"I'd say he's about a year early," said Senator Charles E. Grassley,
Republican of Iowa and a leading member of the judiciary committee. "If
I
were running for president, I wouldn't have brought it up now."
Mr. Grassley, like other members of Congress interviewed on Wednesday,
said
that while the antiterrorism act included some important law
enforcement
tools worth keeping, it was so far-reaching that its continuation
needed
careful scrutiny...
---
BUSH HIJACKS TITLE VI
Maya Schenwar, Swarthmore Phoenix, 1/23/04
http://phoenix.swarthmore.edu/2004-01-22/opinions/13578
SWARTHMORE, Pa. - It's 2008. You're bored, you're nostalgic and you
start
flipping through college catalogs online. But something's a little
different. Gone are the classes on Middle Eastern religion, the global
context of Islam and gender politics in Iran. Instead, an array of new
courses have burst onto the scene -- options like Terrorology
101, Decoding Osama and Behind the Veil: What They're Really Hiding --
and
professors with Arabic-sounding names have mysteriously disappeared
from
the rosters. Sound farfetched? McCarthyish? A little. But such a
scenario
may not be far from reality, come February. The International Studies
in
Higher Education Act passed the House unanimously in October and is up
for
a vote in the Senate early this year.
The act claims to renew the landmark Title VI, which has provided
grants
for international studies and world affairs at places like the
University
of Chicago, Columbia and Harvard since 1965. However, in order to "meet
the
needs of the post-9/11 era," the new act makes some significant
adjustments. Most notably, it mandates the establishment of an
International Education Advisory Board. Although the board wouldn't be
able
to directly control curriculum, its seven members, including two
national
security representatives, would make recommendations as to how Title VI
programs "might better reflect the national needs related to homeland
security..."
Since the bill also requires that Title VI centers train students for
government service, students interested in national defense may be
given
preference for fellowships. After all, as Martin Kramer of the
right-wing
Middle Eastern Quarterly notes, "Studying gender in eighth-century
Cairo is
perfectly valid, but I'm not sure it's a taxpayer priority..."
-----
JOY, HOPE FILL THOSE HEADING TO MECCA
Tarek El-Tablawy, Associated Press, 1/23/04
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chicago/chi-0401230163jan23,1,3774558.story
ROMULUS, Mich. - At an airline ticket counter in Detroit Metropolitan
Airport, a man drapes his arm around his elderly father's shoulder. A
smile
radiates from the older man's face.
"Are you ready?" whispers the son. The father nods his head and clasps
his
wife's hand.
A few yards away, a husband gently embraces his wife. "May you go and
return in peace," he says. "There is no God but God."
"And Muhammad is his prophet," she says, completing the Shahada, a
prayer
that devout Muslims must recite as one of the five pillars--or
obligations--of their faith.
About 100 Detroit area Muslims headed to Saudi Arabia last week to
perform
the Hajj, a pilgrimage to Islam's holiest site in Mecca. For one group
of
mostly Shiite Iraqis who gathered at the airport, the trip is
especially
poignant this year.
The pilgrimage is another of the five pillars, required of every
able-bodied Muslim who can afford the trip at least once in their
lifetime.
It is a time of joy, renewal and hope.
The Saudi embassy says about 12,000 U.S. Muslims, from a population
estimated between 2 million and 6 million, will be undertaking the
journey
this year.
They will join roughly 2 million other pilgrims who will begin their
Hajj
on Jan. 31 by visiting Mecca's Grand Mosque. There, they will circle
the
Kaaba, a large cubic stone structure that Muslims face during their
five
daily prayers, before continuing the multiday pilgrimage that includes
a
ritual "stoning of the devil" in the nearby city of Mina...
ALSO SEE:
PILGRIMAGE IS AN ACT OF FAITH
CNN.com, 1/24/04
http://edition.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2004/hajj/
About 2 million Muslims from more than 70 countries journey to the holy
city of Mecca each year to make the spiritual pilgrimage known as the
Hajj.
The pilgrimage is one of five Pillars of Islam that form the framework
of
Islamic life. All Muslims who are physically and financially able are
expected to perform the Hajj at least once. The Hajj begins on the
eighth
day of Dhul-Hijjah (month for Hajj), the 12th month of the Islamic
year,
and lasts for as long as six days.
-----
MIDEAST PEACE WON'T COME BY SWEEPING CONFLICT ASIDE
Shamil Idriss, Detroit Free Press, 1/23/04
http://www.freep.com/voices/columnists/eshami23_20040123.htm
At a recent meeting of Islamic and American leaders held in Doha,
Qatar, an
exchange on opening night crystallized a core frustration of
Islamic-American dialogues today: Among the current political and
religious
leadership, neither is much interested in discussing the issues that
are of
primary importance to the other.
The Doha meeting, organized by the Brookings Institution and the
government
of Qatar, opened with Muslim leaders calling on the United States to
play a
more even-handed role in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
A former senior American diplomat's reaction was blunt: "The U.S. will
never turn its back on Israel," followed by an appeal that conference
participants focus on areas of potential Islamic-American cooperation,
such
as the global AIDS crisis.
Though no one had asked that the United States turn its back on Israel,
the
American message was clear: The issue that many Muslims most wanted to
discuss was off the table. The result was predictable.
Even those Muslims who did not want to spend three days talking about
Israel and Palestine -- who only wanted the issue to be raised and
registered -- would now hammer it for the rest of the meeting, because
the
Americans clearly didn't get its importance.
Muslim Americans are accustomed to such interactions, but what remains
baffling is that topics that are off-limits for discussion in the
United
States get a much fuller hearing in Israel itself. Compare the
diversity of
critical opinions that appear in Israel's major newspapers to those in
the
United States -- you'd think the United States has a greater stake in
defending the occupation than does Israel...
ALSO SEE:
THE CONTEMPORARY MUSLIM WORLD: GIVING ISLAM A CHANCE
Chris Potter, Pittsburgh City Paper, 1/24/04
http://www.pghcitypaper.com/
Dalia Mogahed and her family picked an inauspicious date to move from
Wisconsin to Pittsburgh: Sept. 11, 2001.
"We had everything packed, but at 8:30 in the morning we heard what
happened and we were like, 'Guess we're not driving across Middle
America
today,'" she recalls. They drove to Pittsburgh the next day instead,
but it
wasn't until they went to the mosque in their new home that she began
to
feel comfortable.
"Close to half the people there were non-Muslims showing support for
the
community," says Mogahed. "That turned the atmosphere -- the feeling of
being in hostile territory -- around for me."
But Mogahed, a graduate student at Pitt's Katz School of Business, says
she
often feels "helpless and frustrated by the misinformation about Islam
that's propagated by so-called experts." And Pittsburgh is perhaps less
equipped to sort out fact from fiction than other places: Regional
colleges
rarely offer more than the occasional class in Islam. So far "there
hasn't
been a push for it, which is amazing since it's such a huge number of
people in such a large part of the world," she says.
To address that blind spot, Mogahed directs the outreach program for
the
Consortium for Educational Resources for Islamic Studies, an umbrella
group
for local educational institutions trying to increase people's
understanding of Islam. She's also teaching a not-for-credit evening
class
titled "The Contemporary Muslim World," that begins in February.
-----
ARABS SLAM U.S. OVER DEMOCRACY AT DAVOS
Paul Taylor, Reuters, 1/23/04
http://www.reuters.com/locales/newsArticle.jsp?type=worldNews&locale=en_IN&storyID=4196481
DAVOS, Switzerland - Arab and Muslim leaders slammed the United States'
campaign for democracy in the Middle East as hypocritical on Friday,
saying
Washington should first end its "double standards" in the Israeli-Arab
conflict.
At a public debate at the World Economic Forum in Davos, senior figures
from Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Iran accused the Bush administration of
ignoring Israeli weapons of mass destruction and human rights abuses
towards Palestinians while pressuring Arab and Muslim states to disarm
and
democratise...
He complained that the United States talked about promoting democracy
in
the Middle East yet refused to recognise one of the few democratically
elected leaders in the region, Palestinian President Yasser Arafat.
While Washington had put pressure on Iran, Syria, Libya and Iraq over
their
alleged weapons of mass destruction programmes, it never mentioned
Israel,
which had not only nuclear but also biological and chemical weapons,
Prince
Turki said...
-----
EX-ARMS HUNTER KAY SAYS NO WMD STOCKPILES IN IRAQ
Tabassum Zakaria, Reuters, 1/23/04
WASHINGTON - David Kay stepped down as leader of the U.S. hunt for
banned
weapons in Iraq on Friday and said he did not believe the country had
any
large stockpiles of chemical or biological weapons
In a direct challenge to the Bush administration, which says its
invasion
of Iraq was justified by the presence of illicit arms, Kay told Reuters
in
a telephone interview he had concluded there were no Iraqi stockpiles
to be
found.
"I don't think they existed," Kay said. "What everyone was talking
about is
stockpiles produced after the end of the last (1991) Gulf War, and I
don't
think there was a large-scale production program in the nineties," he
said.
The CIA announced earlier that former U.N. weapons inspector Charles
Duelfer, who has previously expressed doubts that unconventional
weapons
would be found, would succeed Kay as Washington's chief arms hunter.
Kay said he believes most of what was going to be found in the search
for
weapons of mass destruction in Iraq has been found and that the hunt
would
become more difficult once America returned control of the country to
the
Iraqis.
-----
AL-ARIAN JUDGE TRIES TO STEP UP THE PACE
Graham Brink, New York Times, 1/23/04
http://www.sptimes.com/2004/01/23/Hillsborough/Al_Arian_judge_tries_.shtml
TAMPA - U.S. Magistrate Judge Thomas McCoun expressed concern Thursday
about the pace of the required exchange of evidence in the terrorism
case
involving Sami Al-Arian and three other men.
The government's decade-long investigation produced thousands of taped
conversations, piles of investigative documents and reams of records.
Lots of the evidence is in Arabic. Parts are in Hebrew. And some
documents
currently reside with Israeli officials, who haven't been quick to
share.
McCoun encouraged the lawyers to pick up the pace, especially now that
the
trial is just a year away.
To help expedite matters, McCoun ordered government prosecutors to turn
over to the defendants English transcripts of the 200 or so hours of
taped
conversations relevant to the indictment. They also must make available
the
analyses by the intelligence agents who monitored the wiretaps.
And, within 30 days, they must make available all investigative
material
related to acts of violence in Israel alleged in the indictment, or
show
why it cannot be disclosed...
-----
THE LATEST TABOO IN PARIS
Robin Givhan, Washington Post, 1/23/04
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A40423-2004Jan22.html
The French proposal to keep overt religious symbols out of public
schools
broadened this week when the education minister suggested that beards
and
bandannas be added to a list that already includes Islamic head
scarves,
Jewish skullcaps and Christian crosses. The latest additions to the
inventory of potentially taboo items has the French government wading
into
the murky waters of fashion, personal grooming and everything that can
mean.
President Jacques Chirac proposed the ban to protect the French
tradition
of secularism from a rising number of religious and ethnic divisions
and
antagonisms. In particular, the veil worn by many Muslim women was
singled
out as a sign of the encroachment of religion into public life. The
troika
of items initially targeted for the ban have unquestionable religious
connotations despite every attempt by the fashion industry and popular
culture to transform them into something secular. Designers such as
Alexander McQueen and Miguel Adrover used chadors and burqas on the
runway
and both were taken to task for doing so. When Jean Paul Gaultier used
the
dress of Hasidic Jews as inspiration for a collection, the clothes were
met
with outrage and uneasiness. And even though rappers have turned the
cross
into a glitzy, diamond-studded example of the gaucheness of new money,
it
still maintains its sacred meaning.
It is clear that the veil, the yarmulke and the cross each has the
power to
incite or to soothe. And when religious differences spark debates that
turn
into arguments or violence, one can understand, although not
necessarily
endorse, the logic in trying to remove all identifying, volatile
markers.
But now the government might turn its attention to bandannas and
beards.
They are not specific or overt symbols of religion. But if a student
wears
a beard or a bandanna as a religious sign, then it could be banned
under
the proposed law.
SEE ALSO:
STUDENTS PROTEST FRENCH
Aaron Terrazas, Hoya, 1/23/04
http://www.thehoya.com/news/012304/news7.cfm
Crowds gathered across the street from the French Embassy last Saturday
morning in protest of French President Jacques Chirac's decision to ban
religious insignia from schools.
The proposed ban has caused particular outrage among Muslim and Sikh
communities worldwide. Muslim women would be barred from wearing hijab,
a
traditional cloth head-covering, and Sikhs would be prohibited from
wearing
turbans, both of which are seen as requirements of their respective
faiths.
Large Christian crosses and Jewish yarmulke would also be prohibited in
public schools, although Christian and Jewish groups have been less
vocal
in their opposition. Currently, the law is expected to easily pass
through
the French legislature and take affect next September.
Chirac claims that the law intends to protect the principle of
secularism
that many French value. Others see it as an attempt to quell the
growing
tide of Islamic fundamentalism in France.
Officials at the French Embassy could not be reached for comment but a
statement issued in Paris on Dec. 31 by the French Ministry of Foreign
Affairs defended the policy...
-----
ISRAELI ARAB FINDS NO WELCOME MAT IN JEWISH TOWN
Allyn Fisher-Ilan, Reuters, 1/19/04
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle.asp?xfile=data/todaysfeatures/2004/January/todaysfeatures_January39.xml§ion=todaysfeatures
BAKA AL GHARBIYA, Israel - By now Adel Kadaan was sure he would be
living
in the house of his dreams -- nine years after responding to an
advertisement for a plot of land in Israel.
But the dream has turned into a nightmare for the Israeli Arab nurse,
who
blames prejudice for the delay in moving from the rundown Arab town of
Baka
Al Gharbiya to the more modern Jewish suburb of Katzir in northern
Israel.
The saga began back in 1995, when Jewish officials in Katzir summarily
rejected Kadaan's housing application. "Let's be frank, we don't accept
Arabs here," Kadaan quoted one of the officials as telling him.
Ari Gilad, chairman of the Katzir Residents' Committee, declined to
comment, saying the case was still in the courts.
In a landmark decision in 2000, Israel's Supreme Court ruled that no
community in the country was entitled to deny Arabs residence on the
basis
of ethnic identity.
Arabs make up about 20 percent of Israel's population and have long
complained about discrimination, including a paucity of funds for
housing
and education...
ALSO SEE:
AMERICAN DEMOCRAT HOPEFULS STICKING TO PRO-ISRAEL POLICIES
Nathan Guttman, Haaretz, 1/23/04
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/386103.html
WASHINGTON - Surprising results this week in the Iowa primary have
caused
the American Jewish community, and supporters of Israel in the United
States, to take a closer look at Democratic candidates who have up to
now
been trailing the pack.
In past months, the Jewish community was preoccupied with then
front-runner
Howard Dean. It monitored closely what appeared to be worrisome
comments
made by Dean, particularly his reference to an "evenhanded approach"
toward
the Middle East conflict. Though the obsession with Dean obscured the
other
candidates, the other Democratic Party hopefuls did not forget the
Jewish
community.
On Wednesday, Wesley Clark's staff organized a nationwide event aimed
at
his Jewish supporters. In dozens of cities around the country, rallies
were
held for Clark, and the retired general greeted his supporters in
conference calls. Clark tried to allay Jewish voters' fears, most of
them
related to Israel. "I believe we should take risks for peace, and we
will
reach peace in the Middle East," Clark declared.
He declined, however, to detail a peace plan. He did take a hard line
toward the Arab countries. "Years ago, I saw that the Palestinians are
teaching hate in classrooms, and I am also worried about the Saudis
preaching hate. When I am president, I will take action against that,"
he
stated...
-----
ISLAMIC SOCIETY OF BOSTON OFFERS LANGUAGE ARTS & ISLAMIC STUDIES
PROGRAM
WHAT: The Islamic Society of Boston is pleased to invite the community
to
join us for another semester of classes. Course days and times are
subject
to change.
COURSES OFFERED: Arabic as a Second Language, Islamic Studies Program,
Tajweed Al-Qur'an, Oloum Al Qur'an, and Qur'an Memorization School
WHEN: Placement Exams For Language Courses: January 24 and 31, 2004.
Last
Day to Register: February 7, 2004, First Day of Class: February 14,
2004
For classes whose times are not listed, please call us or visit our
website
at www.isboston.org for updates.
-----
MEDIA REQUEST: HAVE YOU AVOIDED VISITING THE U.S.?
International reporter looking for specific cases involving
Muslims/Arabs
An international reporter with a prominent newspaper is writing an
in-depth
article about the effect of the new Visa regulations on the U.S.
economy,
especially Florida's economy. The reporter needs to cite specific
examples
and is looking for the following:
1. A Muslim Univ. student who left the U.S. and chose to finish their
studies elsewhere.
2. A Muslim Student who was denied entry to the U.S. and was forced to
study elsewhere.
3. A Muslim who needed medical treatment and chose/was forced to seek
treatment elsewhere (such as Europe).
You're help is needed in order to provide real examples. If you're
interested in participating please send your NAME, EMAIL, PHONE #
(including international area code), and a BRIEF SUMMARY of your story
to
abedier@cair-florida.org
-----
To SUBSCRIBE to or UNSUBSCRIBE from this list, go to:
http://cair.biglist.com/cair-net/
To reach the list moderator, send a message to: cair@cair-net.org
-----
CAIR
Council on American-Islamic Relations
453 New Jersey Avenue, S.E.
Washington, D.C. 20003
Tel: 202-488-8787, 202-744-7726
Fax: 202-488-0833
E-mail: cair@cair-net.org
URL: http://www.cair-net.org
-----
Forwarded Message
Date:
Sun, 25 Jan 2004 18:41:57 -0500
To:
cair-net@cair.biglist.com
From:
"CAIR" <cair@cair-net.org>
Subject:
CAIR-NET: Two-State Solution Sells Palestinians Short
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
AMERICAN MUSLIM NEWS BRIEFS - 1/25/04
* HADITH OF THE DAY: BEWARE OF ANGER
* CAIR-SAN ANTONIO: EXTREMISTS FOSTER MISUNDERSTANDING
- Be Critical, But Not Hateful (Kansas City Star)
* TWO-STATE SOLUTION SELLS PALESTINIANS SHORT (LA Times)
- U.S. Group 'Manufacturing' Ethiopian Jews (Newsweek)
- Israeli Demolitions Leave Many Homeless (AP)
- Israeli Historian: Ethnic Cleansing 'Beneficial'
* GUANTANAMO SPY CASES EVAPORATE (Washington Post)
- Library Officials Fight Against Patriot Act (BCN)
* US MUSLIMS FLEX POLITICAL MUSCLE (BBC)
* GA: MUSLIM CEMETERY OPENS (Atlanta Journal)
* MECCA LURES MUSLIMS FROM SOUTH FLORIDA (Miami Herald)
- Hajj Activities (Miami Herald)
* U.S. VOICE DOESN'T GET THROUGH TO MUSLIMS (St. Pete Times)
* CAIR-SACRAMENTO MEETS PAKISTANI AMBASSADOR (Pakistan Link)
-----
HADITH OF THE DAY: BEWARE OF ANGER
The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: "The best of you are
those
who are slow to anger and swift to cool down…Beware of anger, for it is
a
live coal on the heart of the descendants of Adam.
Al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 1331
-----
RELIGIOUS EXTREMISTS FOSTER MISUNDERSTANDING OF MUSLIMS
Sarwat Husain, San Antonio Express-News, 1/24/04
http://news.mysanantonio.com/story.cfm?xla=saen&xlb=180&xlc=1118247
Sarwat Husain is chairwoman for the San Antonio chapter of the Council
on
American Islamic Relations.
As the Hajj season draws millions of Muslim pilgrims to Saudi Arabia,
it is
instructive to look in that direction and see what has come from there.
Islam influenced the Enlightenment in Europe, just as the Protestant
Reformation did. Science, math, international finance, even the English
language itself have been shaped by the world of Islam.
The region also yielded Abraham, the patriarch of Islam and two other
monotheistic faiths, Christianity and Judaism.
With all of this in common, there can be no clash of civilizations, but
you
couldn't tell that from listening to some in the American media,
including
those who claim to be scholars…
The truth is that Islam is compatible with tolerance, democracy,
personal
rights and equality before the law...
When moderate Americans remain silent, the extremists carry on.
Moderate Americans must ask themselves: How can the second-largest
religion, followed by one fifth of the population of the world, be
terroristic, uncivilized, ignorant and a threat to the West and world
peace?
Islam's 1.3 billion people live in all corners of the world, so there
must
be something inherently profound for it to reach that far and last more
than 1,400 years…
Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy understood this call to moderate
America. In December 1999, he said, "I hope that in the next century we
will come to terms with our abysmal ignorance of the Muslim world.
"Muslims aren't a bunch of wackos and nuts. They are decent, brilliant,
talented people with a great civilization and traditions of their own,
including legal traditions.
"America knows nothing about them. There are people in that part of the
world with whom we are simply out of touch. That is a great challenge
for
the next century."
That next century is here. Let each one of us get actively engaged in
learning about and cherishing the best in each other.
SEE ALSO:
IS IT BAD TO PUBLICLY CRITICIZE A RELIGION?
El-Ghussein, Kansas City Star, 1/24/04
http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/living/7780791.htm
Be critical, but do not be hateful
Rushdy El-Ghussein, former president of the Islamic Society of Greater
Kansas City: Muslims are taught that a believer is neither a taunter, a
curser nor an abuser. A believer should state what he or she believes
without hesitation; otherwise he or she is considered a hypocrite.
In matters of discussion and debate, believers should state what they
believe without resorting to hurtful and foul language. Foul language
creates animosity, hatred and division. Discussions and debates should
bring understanding between people without them being pressured or
forced
to adopt each other's point of view. Strong believers can eloquently
express their belief with examples that reflect strong commitment to
ideals
without belittling others or resorting to vulgar and objectionable
language. In my humble opinion, vulgar, obscene and hateful language
indicates a lack of maturity and, moreover, a lack of understanding
what
religion is about. Prophet Muhammad (P) taught us that we should either
say
something that is beneficial or be silent
I do not see any harm of strong criticism as long as it is based upon
facts
and not hearsay. People of reason and people of faith will accept
criticism
that is factual and honest. People of faith who criticize others should
also reflect upon their own belief and try to be factual and honest in
their own evaluation. In addition to knowing the facts a person should
not
twist and manipulate these facts to suit his or her arguments. For
example,
quotations should not be taken out of context and historical relevance.
-----
TWO-STATE SOLUTION AGAIN SELLS PALESTINIANS SHORT
George Bisharat, Los Angeles Times, 1/25/04
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/opinion/la-op-bisharat25jan25,1,1350171.story
SAN FRANCISCO - It is a tragic irony that, more than 55 years ago, one
desperate people seeking sanctuary from murderous racism decimated
another
- and continue to oppress its scattered survivors to this day. In 1948,
about 700,000 Palestinians were expelled from their homeland, their
land
and possessions taken by the new Jewish state of Israel. This included
the
Jerusalem home of my grandparents, Hanna and Mathilde Bisharat, which
was
expropriated through a process tantamount to state-sanctioned theft.
Today, many assume that to achieve Middle East peace, we Palestinians
must
surrender our right to return to our homes and homeland. Millions of
Palestinians - with memories and photographs of our stolen properties,
keys
to our front doors, and an abiding sense of injustice - are expected to
swallow our losses in order to facilitate a "two-state solution."
But it's not that simple. Although Israel has claimed that Palestinians
willingly abandoned Palestine after being urged to leave in radio
broadcasts by Arab leaders, a review of broadcast transcripts by Irish
diplomat Erskine Childers in 1961 revealed that Palestinians were
exhorted
by Arab leaders to stay, not leave their homes. In fact, Yigal Allon,
commander of Palmach, the elite Zionist troops, and later Israeli
foreign
minister, launched a whispering campaign to terrorize Palestinians into
flight...
Zionist leaders knew that an Arab minority of 40% would challenge the
Jewish demographic dominance they sought. Hence, nearly half of the
Palestinian refugees ultimately expelled were forced out before the
Arab
states attacked Israel in May 1948. Israeli historian Benny Morris
documented 24 massacres of Palestinian civilians, some claiming
hundreds of
unarmed men, women and children, during subsequent fighting. Thousands
more
Palestinians were, like the residents of Majdal (now Ashkelon) - a
southern
coastal city 15 miles north of the Gaza Strip - chased across the
border
into Gaza after the armistice of 1949.
Palestine had to be "cleansed" of its native population to establish
Israel
as a Jewish state. Ironically, those who today protest that the return
of
the refugees would destroy Israel unwittingly confirm this viewpoint,
for
the refugees are simply the Palestinians and their offspring who would
have
become Israeli citizens had they not been exiled…
The two-state solution envisioned today would probably ameliorate the
conditions of the one-third of the Palestinians living under Israeli
military occupation in the West Bank and Gaza Strip…
But this two-state solution would not address the concerns of 1.2
million
Palestinians living in Israel as second-class citizens. Palestinian
citizens there possess formal political rights - that much Israel can
afford after expelling most Palestinians in 1948…
Nor would the two-state solution fairly redress the rights of diaspora
Palestinians - permitting us only return to a new, already overcrowded
and
underfunded "statelet" in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
There is no bar to implementing the Palestinians' right of return. If
there
is room in Israel for a million Russian immigrants (including many
non-Jews), there is room for those Palestinians who would elect return
over
other legal options. The sole obstacle is Israel's desire to maintain a
"demographic balance" favorable to Jews.
Why is it self-evident that our international legal rights should give
way
to cement dominance of Jews over Palestinians in Israel? Why is this
assumption unquestioned - especially in the U.S., which fought a civil
war
for the ideal of equal rights under the law? How do claims that are
2,000
years old trump our rights when we have modern deeds in hand? Why
should
Palestinians pay for a European holocaust? Why do U.S. officials -
including our two Democratic senators in this multicultural state -
unconditionally support Israel with billions in tax dollars while
ignoring
glaring contradictions between Jewish exclusivism and truly democratic
values? Would Americans tolerate any group placing its religious symbol
on
the national flag, appropriating the state for some citizens rather
than
all and pursuing policies systematically giving privileges to its
members
over others?...
SEND NOTES OF APPRECIATION TO: letters@latimes.com
COPY TO: cair@cair-net.org
SEE ALSO:
U.S.-BASED GROUP IS 'MANUFACTURING' ETHIOPIAN JEWS
Joshua Hammer, Newsweek International, 2/2/04
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4051787/
Newsweek International, Feb. 2 issue - Ashagray Zeleke is on the front
lines of a war over Israel's future. The local representative of the
North
American Conference on Ethiopian Jewry (NACOEJ), Zeleke administers a
compound in Addis Ababa where thousands of Falash Mura-Ethiopian
Christians
who claim Jewish ancestry-learn the rites of the faith while awaiting
emigration to Israel. Leading a visitor through the iron gates, Zeleke
proudly shows off Hebrew lessons in progress and a makeshift synagogue
where 300 men wearing yarmulkes and prayer shawls bow fervently before
an
ark inscribed in Amharic. "Some have been waiting a decade to leave for
Israel," he says. "They really feel Jewish inside." There's just one
problem: according to many Israeli officials, barely 40 percent of the
Ethiopians languishing in this compound have Jewish roots.
NACOEJ's ambitions have ignited an angry debate in Israel that cuts to
the
heart of the Jewish state's identity. Critics charge that the
U.S.-based
group, in an effort to spread Orthodox Judaism and beef up Israel's
Jewish
population, is "manufacturing Jews"-luring Ethiopian Christians out of
their villages, inflating the numbers of those it claims have Jewish
ancestry and trading food and the promise of exodus for religious
conversion. NACOEJ, which insists that all the Ethiopians in its
compounds
are Jews, has found an alliance with some powerful sectors of Israeli
society. The Palestinian intifada has drastically reduced the number of
diaspora Jews interested in emigrating to Israel: the number dropped
from
61,000 in 2000 to 21,000 last year. Amid fears that Muslims may soon
outnumber Jews in Israel and the occupied territories, some Likud Party
leaders and religious right wingers see resettling the Falash Mura as
one
way of guaranteeing the strength of the Jewish population…
Israeli officials, and some leaders of the Ethiopian Jewish community,
charge that NACOEJ aggressively recruits Falash Mura in rural Ethiopia.
Unemployment is rife among the those who move into the compounds. "In
villages they have respect. They're not rich, but they farm, they are
self-sufficient," says Dani Abebe, an Ethiopian journalist for Yediot
Ahronot. "They come to Addis and they have nothing..."
---
ISRAELI DEMOLITIONS LEAVE MANY HOMELESS
IBRAHIM BARZAK, Associated Press, 1/25/04
RAFAH REFUGEE CAMP, Gaza Strip (AP) - Sami Homs' family of 12 has been
living in a single room since his house was razed by Israel three
months
ago, and now the Palestinian laborer fears the bulldozers will strike
again.
Like his demolished house, Homs' tiny new shelter, a former kiosk,
stands
in the path of demolition - a wide buffer zone Palestinians say Israel
is
carving into the Rafah camp.
Raids over the past three years have left more than 8,600 people
homeless,
or nearly 10 percent of the camp's 90,000 residents, local officials
say.
Since the outbreak of fighting in September 2000, Israel has razed 869
houses in Rafah and partially demolished 629 others, local Palestinians
claim…
"Anyone who has seen the conditions under which these people are now
pushed
even further into misery and tragedy will ask themselves, `At what
price
security?'" said Hansen, head of the U.N. Relief and Works Agency,
which
helps Palestinian refugees.
UNRWA has built shelters for some of the homeless, but says it cannot
afford to rehouse all. On Sunday, Hansen handed over 37 houses for 43
families in Khan Younis, a camp near Rafah. The Palestinian Authority
has
rented apartments for some of the displaced, while others have moved
into
tents or live with relatives...
Last week, about 400 Rafah residents were made homeless and a
Palestinian
woman standing near her house was killed in the two-day raid…
---
MORRIS: ETHNIC CLEANSING 'BENEFICIAL FOR HUMANITY'
"I am aware that 'ethnic cleansing' is not politically correct and is
morally problematic. But, what can we do - the history of the 20th
century
is replete with instances of ethnic cleansing that occurred under
catastrophic circumstances and were ultimately beneficial for humanity,
including for the expulsees themselves."
Israeli Historian Benny Morris, Haaretz, 1/26/04
"Ben-Gurion was right. If he had not done what he did, a state would
not
have come into being. That has to be clear. It is impossible to evade
it.
Without the uprooting of the Palestinians, a Jewish state would not
have
arisen here."
SEE: "SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST"
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=380986&contrassID=
-----
GUANTANAMO SPY CASES EVAPORATE
John Mintz, Washington Post, 1/25/04
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A44930-2004Jan24.html
Last September, top officials of the Navy prison at Guantanamo Bay,
Cuba,
told a military judge in Florida that the prison's Muslim chaplain,
Army
Capt. James Yee, would soon be charged with mutiny, sedition,
espionage,
spying and aiding the enemy -- crimes that could lead to his execution.
Based on those allegations, Yee was held in solitary confinement in a
Navy
brig in South Carolina for 76 days. But authorities never charged him
with
any of those offenses. Instead, Yee will face much less serious
charges,
such as mishandling classified materials and adultery, when the case
against him resumes at a hearing at Fort Benning, Ga., scheduled for
Feb. 4.
At the same time Yee was being detained, Air Force Senior Airman Ahmad
I.
Halabi, who worked as an Arabic translator at Guantanamo Bay, was also
in
solitary confinement 3,000 miles away, held in California on charges of
espionage and aiding the enemy. In time, the most serious of those
allegations have been withdrawn as well.
Some experts on military law and the men's lawyers say the prosecutions
of
Yee and Halabi have been riddled with inconsistencies and oddities that
cast doubt on the government's original fears that a spy ring was
operating
in the high-security prison for alleged al Qaeda and Taliban fighters.
"I find it difficult to believe professional prosecutors are proceeding
with these two cases in this manner," said Gary D. Solis, a former
Marine
Corps prosecutor who teaches the law of war at Georgetown University.
"The
ineptitude at each step of the proceeding is amazing. . . . It seems
there's been investigative overreaction in both cases."
Even now, prosecutors have not made final determinations that some of
the
documents Halabi was charged with possessing were, in fact, classified
--
and, if they were, what level of security applied to them. As a result,
his
lead civilian attorney, Donald G. Rehkopf Jr., said he has only a hazy
picture of why his client was arrested last July…
SEE ALSO:
LIBRARY OFFICIALS FIGHT AGAINST PATRIOT ACT
BAY CITY NEWS, 1/23/04
http://www.kron4.com/Global/story.asp?S=1614705&nav=5D7lKOC9
SAN FRANCISCO (BCN) -- State library officials are teaming up with the
American Civil Liberties Union in a new effort to fight what they say
are
civil liberties violations authorized by the USA Patriot Act.
The effort is in response to calls by President George W. Bush this
week to
renew certain portions of the act that are set to expire in 2005,
according
to Bob Kearney, associate director of the ACLU of Northern California.
"In the State of the Union address, President Bush called on Congress
to
make permanent some of the worst provisions of the USA Patriot Act,"
Kearney said.
At issue specifically are the Patriot Act's provisions authorizing
searches
of library, Internet, business and other records.
The campaign features full-page ads, slated to run through Jan. 28 in
alternative newspapers throughout the state reading, "Don't you hate it
when someone reads over your shoulder? Especially when that someone is
the
Justice Department?"
The ads include the address of a Web site where people can send letters
to
their representatives, free of charge, and "say in their words why they
want to make sure they're both safe and free," Kearney said...
The SAFE Act would limit the types of searches the government is
allowed to
carry out, and would prevent intelligence agents from searching library
records unless an individual is believed to be involved with a foreign
power, according to the ACLU…
The ACLU's Web site on the topic is at http://www.aclunc.org/freedom
-----
US MUSLIMS FLEX POLITICAL MUSCLE
Barnie Choudhury, BBC, 1/23/04
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3422685.stm
American Muslims could play a crucial part in deciding the outcome of
this
year's presidential election…
Groups like the CAIR are trying to get one million more Muslims to
register
as voters this time around. After the Florida debacle last time some
Muslims believe they can hold real power in swing states.
Ohio is one of those which could be crucial for Republicans and
Democrats
alike. Those who feel it is not important to vote should remember this,
says Jad Humeidan, Executive Director of CAIR, Ohio.
"We have to become more politically active and more politically savvy
in
order to ensure the survival of the Muslim community."
They now have the ear of Congressman Dennis Kucinich, who is running
for the
Democrat nomination for the White House.
"This is a community that's suffered much over the last few years," Mr
Kucinich says.
"They suffered with all Americans in the horrible tragedy of 9-11. But
they've
also been scapegoated and they've been subject to profiling and have
been
subject to law enforcement practices which are truly repugnant in a
democracy."
Few politicians speak about Islam, afraid of a backlash from the
powerful pro-
Israeli lobby. But Congressman Kucinich goes further, urging Muslims to
vote as a block and use their political muscle…
-----
MUSLIM CEMETERY OPENS
BRIAN FEAGANS, Atlanta Journal, 1/24/04
http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/gwinnett/0104/24cemetery.html
A long-planned Muslim cemetery near Lawrenceville, focus of a bitter
rezoning battle that drew national attention after the Sept. 11
terrorist
attacks, opened for burials Friday.
It is Georgia's third Islamic cemetery and the first within easy access
of
the growing Islamic population north of Atlanta. The others are south
of
Atlanta in the cities of Lovejoy and Jonesboro.
"We are very, very happy," said Hafiz A. Ghaffar Khan, director of the
Georgia Islamic Institute of Religious & Social Sciences. He announced
the
news during afternoon prayer at the institute's mosque off Simonton
Road.
Hours earlier, the first shipment of casket-like plywood boxes had
arrived
three miles away at the 1,276-plot cemetery at New Hope and Grayson New
Hope roads.
Muslims traditionally wrap their dead in a shroud, not caskets, for
burial.
But the institute agreed to use the boxes and cover them with
three-sided
plastic caps as part of a special-use permit unanimously approved by
the
County Commission two years ago…
By the time county officials approved the cemetery in February 2002,
reporters from as far away as England had come to tell the story of the
Bible Belt community that struggled to accept an Islamic burial ground
in
the wake of Sept. 11. Newsweek and the Chicago Tribune published
stories,
Khan said, while a BBC reporter made two visits…
-----
MECCA LURES MUSLIMS FROM SOUTH FLORIDA
NATALIE P. McNEAL, Miami Herald, 1/24/04
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/living/7776873.htm
As a faithful Muslim, Kebire Ahmed went on a religious pilgrimage to
Mecca
25 years ago with his grandmother.
It was a life-changing experience -- so much so that he has decided to
return, though his faith requires only one trip.
As Ahmed, 44, of Pembroke Pines, prepares for his third journey to
Saudi
Arabia, he says the trip is worth doing again.
''It's hard to get three weeks vacation from work,'' said Ahmed, a
productivity consultant for Xerox. ''But when you see it live, you get
a
different feeling over and over again.''
In the coming days, roughly two million Muslims across the world are
making
a pilgrimage to Mecca for hajj, one of the five pillars of Islam. Many,
like Ahmed, are making a return trip.
These repeaters are not imams, or prayer leaders, but regular working
people. Some make the trek more than once because the first experience
is
overwhelming: millions of Muslims, crowded in one city, praying for
purification, united for religion…
The Florida chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations
estimates
that 300 to 400 South Floridians are making the pilgrimage. Most left
Friday and will return in mid-February. Although the rites of hajj are
only
a few days, most pilgrims stay longer…
SEE ALSO:
HAJJ ACTIVITIES
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/living/7776883.htm
Hajj is one of the ''five pillars'' of the Islamic faith. (The other
pillars are declaration of faith, daily prayers, offering regular
charity
and fasting during the month of Ramadan.)
Pilgrimage is a once-in-a-lifetime obligation for those who have the
physical and financial ability.
Most activities this year are from Friday until a few days after Feb.
1.
After the main portion of the pilgrimage is completed, Muslims
worldwide
gather for communal prayers on the first day (Feb. 1) of Eid ul-Adha
(EED-al-ODD-ha), the second of the two major Muslim holidays.
The hajj activities include:
* Entrance into a state of self-control called ihram, during which
pilgrims
are forbidden to harm living creatures, even insects or plants, or
raise
their voice in anger. Men wear two pieces of unsewn white cloth, which
signifies the equality of all before God.
* Circling of the Ka'aba (Tawaf), the stone building Muslims believe
was
built by Abraham and his son Ishmael. The Ka'aba is viewed as the first
sanctuary on earth dedicated to the worship of the One God. It is a
symbol
of unity for Muslims because all prayers are oriented in the direction
of
the Ka'aba.
* The Sa'i, or ''hastening'' between two small hills near the Ka'aba,
to
commemorate Hagar's search for water for her son Ishmael.
* The ''Day of Arafah'' on Jan. 31. On this day, the climax of the hajj
season, pilgrims assemble at Arafah, a mountain and its surrounding
plain
near Mecca, for supplication to God.
* The stoning of three pillars representing Satan's temptation of
Abraham.
The stoning indicates the pilgrim's rejection of evil deeds.
* Cutting the hair to symbolize the completion of hajj.
* Sacrifice of an animal to help the poor, and in remembrance of
Abraham's
willingness to sacrifice his son Ishmael at God's command. The meat is
distributed to relatives and to the needy.
* Because the beginning of Islamic lunar months depends on the actual
sighting of the new moon, the start date for hajj and Eid ul-Adha may
vary.
Source: Council on American-Islamic Relations, Washington, D.C.
-----
AMERICAN VOICE DOESN'T GET THROUGH TO MUSLIMS
SUSAN TAYLOR MARTIN, St. Petersburg Times, 1/25/04
http://www.sptimes.com/2004/01/25/Columns/American_voice_doesn_.shtml
It's no secret Uncle Sam has an image problem, especially in Arab and
other
Muslim countries. In Indonesia, with the world's largest Muslim
population,
only 15 percent have a favorable view of the United States. In Turkey,
a
U.S. ally, the favorable opinion plunged from 52 percent three years
ago to
15 percent last spring. And by a wide margin, residents of Saudi
Arabia,
Qatar and Bahrain viewed America as a bigger threat than Saddam
Hussein's
regime.
Much of the perception is because of unpopular U.S. policies: the
invasion
of Iraq; the strong support of Israel in its conflict with the
Palestinians; the perceived coziness of the U.S. government with
repressive
Arab regimes.
Yet anti-Americanism also is on the rise because the United States has
done
a woeful job of "public diplomacy" - explaining and promoting its
values to
people of other countries - according to a provocative report.
That failure "has contributed to widespread hostility toward Americans
and
left us vulnerable to lethal threats to our interest and our safety,"
warns
Changing Minds, Winning Peace. "In this time of peril, public diplomacy
is
absurdly and dangerously underfunded…"
Read the report: "Changing Minds, Winning Peace" is available at
www.state.gov/documents/organization/24882.pdf
-----
PAKISTAN'S AMBASSADOR IN U.S. TOUTS COUNTRY'S PROGRESS AGAINST
EXTREMISM
Ras H. Siddiqui, Pakistan Link, 1/25/04
http://news.ncmonline.com/news/view_article.html?article_id=1b3e1784064d17e40f10d8bcd0deb534
SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- The Ambassador of Pakistan to the United States,
Ashraf Jehangir Qazi, took time out during his U.S. West Coast visit to
California's capital, Sacramento, And in his itinerary which included a
meeting with our new Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and a session with
local
area opinion builders, he made it a to meet local Asian, Iranian and
Arab-American and Muslim dignitaries along with members our
Pakistani-American community.
Leaders of the Asian Group CAPITAL (Jerry Chong) along with the
Arab-American Chamber of Commerce (Ayad Al Qazzaz) the Iranian
Community
including host Mo Mohanna and the Rahimians, along with Sacramento city
council members and representatives from the mayor's office The
Sacramento
Bee and the Sacramento News and Review newspapers plus local TV Channel
3
Edie Lambert were present.
Five official forms of welcome were ready for the ambassador and one
very
unusual one for Pakistan. First, Ambassador Qazi was welcomed by the
President of Sacramento Valley Council on American Islamic Relations
(CAIR)
Mr. Rashid Ahmad. The next item was a gift bag from the Sacramento
mayor's
office presented by city council Member Jimmy Yee who applauded the
great
relationship that our (U.S.) government has with Pakistan. Barbara O.
Schneeman, the Associate Vice Provost from the University of California
at
Davis followed with her welcome and a short speech during which she
highlighted the agreements that U.C. Davis already has with the Agha
Khan
University and the University of Karachi. The Iranian-American
community
presented a token of appreciation to the Ambassador as Mo Mohanna said:
"We
are really blessed to have you here with us." The Embassy of Pakistan
currently runs an Iranian Section that fills in the diplomatic gap
between
the US and Iran while the two countries still do not have direct
relations.
The fifth welcome was somewhat unusual and a pleasant surprise. Surely
an
example that the media in the United States could emulate (if it wanted
to)
Karen Buchanan from the Butte County Republican Party Central Committee
traveled some distance with her friend Rabina Khan of the American
Muslim
Congress to present a plaque to the President of Pakistan in
appreciation
of the support provided by him to the United States when it immediately
needed it after the horrors of Sept. 11, 2001…
-----
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-----
CAIR
Council on American-Islamic Relations
453 New Jersey Avenue, S.E.
Washington, D.C. 20003
Tel: 202-488-8787, 202-744-7726
Fax: 202-488-0833
E-mail: cair@cair-net.org
URL: http://www.cair-net.org
-----
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
AMERICAN MUSLIM NEWS BRIEFS - 1/26/04
* HADITH OF THE DAY: THE POWER TO DO GOOD
* LIBRARY PROJECT: NEW MEXICO
* REPORT EID UL-ADHA VOTER DRIVES
* CAIR-DFW: CON ARTIST PREYS ON TX MUSLIMS
- CAIR-DFW Annual Fundraiser Banquet/Eid Dinner
* MUSLIM VOTERS ACQUIRING POLITICAL CLOUT (Daily Bruin)
* AL: WOMAN BATTLES FOR RIGHT TO SCARF (Mobile Register)
- UK Teacher Pulls Off Student's Scarf (BBC)
- Sikhs Face Tough Choices in France (Reuters)
- Explosion at School of Muslim Official (AFP)
* TX: ISLAMIC SCHOOL RECEIVES ACCREDITATION (Star Telegram)
- Mosque Highlights Sacred Places (Galveston News)
* INCITEMENT: IN '48, ISRAEL DID WHAT IT HAD TO DO (LA Times)
- Survival Of The Fittest? (Counterpunch)
- Palestinians are the Ones in the Ghetto (Globe/Mail)
* FALLOUT FROM GUJARAT REACHES US (BBC)
* U.S. PROBES KILLINGS OF 4 IRAQIS IN TAXI (AP)
- Iraq War Not Humanitarian, Group Says (AP)
-----
HADITH OF THE DAY: THE POWER TO DO GOOD
The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: "O God, I beg of Thee
(power) to do good deeds and abandon evil deeds, to love the poor that
Thou
(might) forgive me and show mercy to me...and I beg of Thee Thy love
and
the love of (those) who love Thee..."
Al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 245
-----
CAIR LIBRARY PROJECT UPDATE: NEW MEXICO
Now, let's help the state of New Mexico: 47 covered, 46 more libraries
to go!
The goal of CAIR's library project is to send accurate and objective
information about Islam to America's 16,000 public libraries. TOTAL
NUMBER
OF LIBRARIES SPONSORED TO DATE: 7182
For only $150, you may sponsor an 18-item package about Islam and
Muslims,
which are then distributed to the library of their choice.
To sponsor a library call, 1-800-392-7876, ext. 320, or visit:
www.libraryproject.org.
-----
REPORT EID UL-ADHA VOTER DRIVES
Earlier this month, CAIR called on Muslim communities to hold voter
registration drives at Eid ul-Adha festivals. If your community has a
voter
drive scheduled, please contact CAIR Governmental Affairs Coordinator
Hasan
Mansori at: hmansori@cair-net.org
SEE: CAIR LAUNCHES EID UL-ADHA VOTER REGISTRATION DRIVE
http://www.cair-net.org/asp/article.asp?id=157&page=AA
-----
CAIR-DFW: CON ARTIST PREYS ON TX MUSLIMS
(DALLAS, TX, 1/26/2004) - The Dallas/Fort-Worth office of the Council
on
American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-DFW) is warning Muslims in that state
about a con artist who seeks money by impersonating well-known
personalities in the Muslim world.
The con artist calls Muslim individuals and groups pretending to be
with a
respected Islamic institution. He claims that he and others are coming
to
visit the United States. Later, he calls back, claiming to have lost
his
money, tickets or passport and asks for emergency cash to be wired to
him
at Western Union or a similar facility.
A person using this same con game was arrested in Canada two years ago,
but
was later released. NOTE: The impostor may use many variations of this
scam.
IMMEDIATE ACTIONS REQUESTED:
1. Please ANNOUNCE AT JUMA'A and other functions - several hundred
Muslims
have been targeted in the past.
2. DO NOT wire money to anyone claiming to be stranded in an airport.
3. REPORT requests for money to CAIR, the local office of the FBI (ask
for
a fraud investigator) and to local police. Obtain a copy of the
complaint.
4. If you have already been a victim, send copies of wire transfer
documents to CAIR so that a case can be built against this man. (FAX:
202-488-0833)
FOR BACKGROUND, SEE THE FOLLOWING 2002 ARTICLE AND CAIR ALERT:
CON-ARTIST WHO DEFRAUDED MUSLIMS CAUGHT
http://www.cair-net.org/asp/article.asp?id=125&page=AA
ALSO SEE:
CAIR-DFW ANNUAL FUNDRAISER BANQUET/EID DINNER
WHAT: CAIR-DFW will host its annual fundraising banquet with Guest
Speakers: Hon. Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson; Hon. State Rep. Lon
Burnam; Hon. State Representative Terry Hodge; Omar Ahmed Chairman of
CAIR
National; Bob Ray Sanders Editor Star Telegram.
WHEN: Sunday Feb, 15, 2004 at 5:30 p.m.
WHERE: Hilton Dallas Lincoln Center, 5410 LBJ FRWY, Dallas, TX
TICKETS: $25 per person. ($30 at the door if available) $250 for table
of
10. Childcare Available for $5 per child.
CONTACT: CAIR-DFW
Tel: 972-241-7233
E-Mail: info@cairdfw.org
-----
MUSLIM VOTERS ACQUIRING MORE POLITICAL CLOUT
Dmitri Pikman, Daily Bruin, 1/26/04
http://www.dailybruin.ucla.edu/news/articles.asp?id=27046
There are 1.8 million registered Muslim voters in the United States,
and
that number is predicted to increase with a new generation of young
Muslim
Americans coming of voting age.
And politicians are slowly starting to take notice.
A Democratic forum in Michigan organized by the Arab American Institute
last October was attended by all of the Democratic candidates, and
Michigan
will print its first Arabic language ballots for the upcoming February
primary.
A Labor Day convention organized by the Islamic Society of North
America
included three of the presidential candidates, who showed up uninvited
to
talk in front of a crowd of more than 30,000.
On the university level, Muslim students are gaining attention as
Monday
marks the start of Islamic Awareness Week at UCLA.
Agha Saeed, national chairman at the American Muslim Alliance, said
that
the increased political importance of Muslim Americans should be
expected.
"There are 7 million Muslim Americans in the United States, and in
every
close race, politicians realize that they can ignore large populations
of
potential voters only (at) their own expense," Saeed said.
The importance of Muslim American voters first became clear to
political
experts during the close election of 2000.
During that presidential race, the American Muslim Public Council, a
nonprofit organization, invited both the presidential candidates to
discuss
issues important to its members...
-----
MUSLIM WOMAN BATTLES STATE FOR RIGHT TO WEAR SCARF IN PHOTO
Rhoda A. Picket, Mobile Register, 1/26/04
http://www.al.com/news/mobileregister/index.ssf?/base/news/1075112189267570.xml
The Council on American-Islamic Relations, based in Washington, D.C.,
is
talking with the American Civil Liberties Union about a case involving
a
Mobile Muslim woman's fight to get a driver's license, officials said
Friday.
La Tonya Floyd complained to CAIR after she was told she could not get
an
Alabama license if she did not remove her head scarf -- hijab -- to get
her
photograph taken. Removing the scarf is a religious violation for the
Orthodox Sunni Muslim woman.
The ACLU hasn't made a final decision on what actions it might take on
Floyd's behalf, said Rizwan Qureshi, civil rights coordinator with
CAIR…
Floyd said she thought getting a driver's license would be easy. She
moved
to Mobile in April from Dallas and wanted her driver's license to
reflect
her new address. On Dec. 19 she went to the Alabama Department of
Public
Safety office in Mobile on Demetropolis Road and filled out the
paperwork
and waited for her turn in front of the camera.
She was told to remove her scarf...
The Alabama department made the change to its policy in March that
requires
drivers to have their heads uncovered when photographed for licenses...
Floyd said she and her husband, John, asked for a copy of the public
safety
department's policy regarding head coverings, but officials would not
give
it to them.
SEE ALSO:
TEACHER 'INSULTED MUSLIM PUPIL'
BBC, 1/26/04
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/cambridgeshire/3430673.stm
A teacher forced a Muslim pupil to remove a headscarf and then said her
religion was a "big joke", a court has been told.
Hazel Dick, 43, of Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, scratched the
15-year-old
girl's chin with a pin holding the scarf in place as she removed the
garment, Peterborough Crown Court heard.
Ms Dick then insulted the Islamic religion by saying: "Islam is all a
big
joke," prosecutor Stuart Alford told a jury of six men and six women.
The teacher denies a charge of religiously aggravated common assault.
Jurors were told that the incident occurred at Bretton Woods Community
School, in Peterborough, in March 2003.
Mr Alford told jurors that Ms Dick was head of science at Bretton Woods
School.
He said the victim, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was a Muslim
pupil who chose to wear a hijab - a headscarf tied around her head - to
school...
---
YOUNG SIKHS FACE TOUGH CHOICES UNDER NEW FRENCH LAW
Tom Heneghan, Reuters, 1/26/04
BOBIGNY, France - Prabhjit Singh is 10 years old and worries he might
have
to leave France to continue his schooling. Manprit Singh, 19, wants to
stay
but doesn't know if he'll be allowed to go to business college here.
Young Sikhs in France face tough choices if Paris goes ahead with a
planned
ban on symbols of faith at state schools and outlaws the turbans they
refuse to take off.
The law, meant to clamp down on the Muslim headscarves seen here as a
barometer of spreading Islamist influence, has been worded broadly to
dampen the impression of discrimination. Some Jewish and Christian
symbols
will also be outlawed.
But officials drafting the law overlooked the 5,000 Sikhs in the
greater
Paris area, who mostly live close to their temple in this northeastern
suburb, and the effect a ban could have on followers of this
500-year-old
Indian religion.
"I want to keep my turban," Prabhjit, a shy little boy with a black
cloth
covering his uncut hair, said softly in French. "I want to stay here
with
my family and my friends, but I might have to go to England."
Older boys at the Gurdwara Singh Sabha temple, an unassuming house with
a
prayer hall, canteen and classroom that could have come straight from
the
Sikhs' native Punjab region, argued with confidence like the French
citizens they are.
"Under this law, parents can continue to be Sikhs but their children
cannot," Matinder Singh, 18, complained.
French officials have promised to review the Sikhs' case but time is
running out. The cabinet is due to approve the law on Wednesday and
parliamentary debate on it starts next week...
---
EXPLOSION AT SCHOOL OF MUSLIM PREFECT CAUSES NO INJURIES
Agence France-Presse, 1/26/04
NANTES, France - An explosion on Sunday outside a business school run
by
the first prefect in France who is both foreign born and Muslim caused
minor damage but no injuries, officials said.
Last week, the car belonging to Aissa Dermouche, the Algerian-born
prefect
of the Jura region, near the Swiss border, was destroyed by an
explosive
device.
The explosion on Sunday broke windows and damaged the door at the
Audencia
school in Nantes, which the 57-year-old Mr. Dermouche has run since
1989,
officials said.
The explosive device, which was placed near a guard post, was "not very
sophisticated," said an official familiar with the investigation.
Mr. Dermouche, who came to France at the age of 18, is the first
departmental governor, or prefect, from the generation that emigrated
from
North Africa in the 1960's. The handful of previous Muslim prefects
started
their civil service careers before 1962, when Algeria was officially
part
of France.
His appointment 10 days ago came at a time of growing concern over how
to
improve integration of the five million Muslims in France.
No one was hurt in the attack on Mr. Dermouche's car a week ago, which
took
place before dawn. Mr. Dermouche has since been under police
protection...
-----
ISLAMIC SCHOOL RECEIVES ACCREDITATION
Matt Frazier, Star-Telegram, 1/23/04
http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/news/7782937.htm
FORT WORTH - Fort Worth's Al-Hedayah Academy has become the second
Islamic
school in Texas to receive accreditation from the Southern Association
of
Colleges and Schools.
"It validates us," Principal Michelle Nusrallah said. "It gives us a
security that we are doing things the way they should be done."
Open since 1992, the school, which teaches students from
pre-kindergarten
through eighth grade, offers classes in Arabic and Muslim religious
classes
and Muslim history. Children also learn the Islamic way to conduct
themselves in daily routines and relationships and to respect nature
and
the environment.
Over the past few years, the school has been working with the
association
to earn accreditation. The school had to meet numerous requirements,
including proper class sizes, qualified instructors, a rigorous
curriculum
and financial responsibility.
It must also have plans in place to improve student performance...
Receiving accreditation will allows Al-Hedayah's 180 students to move
more
easily to a public school system when they graduate...
SEE ALSO:
ISLAMIC CENTER HIGHLIGHTS SACRED PLACES
Nathan Smith, Galveston News, 1/25/04
http://www.galvnews.com/story.lasso?wcd=17206
GALVESTON - Longtime Galveston weekender Joy Gerson had heard of the
Galveston Historical Foundation's annual Sacred Places Tour of island
churches and cemeteries but had never made the journey herself.
This year, however, a new stop along the tour caught her eye.
"When I found out the (Galveston) Islamic Center was going to be a part
of
it, I said, 'I'm definitely going now!'" said Gerson. "It's the only
reason
I signed up to go. I've always wanted to see the inside of a mosque,
but I
was reluctant to just walk on in by myself."
Gerson wasn't alone. In it's first year as part of the tour, dozens of
curious sightseers filed into the city's only mosque Saturday, making
it
the most talked-about stop on the Sacred Places Tour.
For many, it was their only stop.
"It has been a very successful day," said Ahmed Ahmed, a member of the
Islamic center's board of directors. "We are proud to have joined the
tour
this year. We feel as though we are a part of the community, and that
we
have been here long enough that the community has a right to know who
we
are. This has been a great opportunity to show them."
The Islamic Center, which was completed in 2002, has inspired curiosity
on
the island since its construction began, said Ahmed. Many islanders who
dropped by Saturday knew almost nothing of the nation's fastest-growing
religion...
-----
INCITEMENT WATCH: IN '48, ISRAEL DID WHAT IT HAD TO DO
Benny Morris, Los Angeles Times, 1/26/04
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-morris26jan26,1,1348983.story
Benny Morris is a professor of Middle Eastern history at Ben-Gurion
University in Israel. "The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem
Revisited" is being published by Cambridge University Press this
On July 12, 1948, Israeli soldiers battling the Arab Legion and local
irregulars in the towns of Lydda and Ramle, just south of Tel Aviv,
were
ordered to empty the two towns of their Arab residents. Over two days,
between 50,000 and 60,000 inhabitants were driven from their homes.
Many
were forced to walk eastward to the Arab Legion lines; others were
carried
in trucks or buses. Clogging the roads, tens of thousands of refugees
marched, shedding their possessions along the way.
The expulsions, conducted under orders from then-Lt. Col. Yitzhak
Rabin,
were an element of the partial ethnic cleansing that rid Israel of the
majority of its Arab inhabitants at the very moment of its birth.
Earlier,
in the 1930s and 1940s, a near consensus had emerged among Zionist
leaders
on the necessity of "transfer." They believed that it was critical to
buy
out or drive out the Arab inhabitants from the areas destined for
Jewish
statehood, both to make way for Jewish immigrants and to remove the
Arabs
who opposed, often violently, the establishment of such a state.
The idea of transfer never crystallized into a formal Zionist policy -
there was no master plan and, of course, not all Palestinians who
became
refugees in 1948 were expelled like the Arabs of Lydda and Ramle.
Indeed,
most fled because they feared the ravages of war or because they were
advised to do so by their leaders. But one way or another, transfer was
accomplished; 700,000 Palestinians left the country, and the refugee
problem that has haunted Israel ever since was born...
In fact, today - after looking afresh at the events of 1948 and at the
context of the whole Arab-Zionist conflict from its inception in 1881
until
the present day - I find myself as convinced as ever that the Israelis
played a major role in ridding the country of tens of thousands of
Arabs
during the 1948 war, but I also believe their actions were inevitable
and
made sense…
SEND POLITE COMMENTS TO: letters@latimes.com
COPY TO: cair@cair-net.org
ALSO SEE:
SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST?
Ari Shavit, Counterpunch, 1/16/04
http://www.counterpunch.org/shavit01162004.html
Note: Benny Morris is the dean of Israeli 'new historians', who have
done
so much to create a critical vision of Zionism--its expulsion and
continuing oppression of the Palestinians, its pressing need for moral
and
political atonement. His 1987 book, The Birth of the Palestinian
Refugee
Problem, chronicled the Zionist murders, terrorism, and ethnic
cleansing
that drove 600,000-750,000 Palestinians from their homes in 1948, thus
refuting the myth that they fled under the orders of Arab leaders. A
second
edition of this book is due out this month, chronicling even more
massacres, and a previously unsuspected number of rapes and murders of
Palestinian women. Thus Morris continues to provide crucial
documentation
for Palestinians fighting the heritage of Al-Nakba, "The Catastrophe."
But in an astonishing recent Ha'aretz interview, after summarizing his
new
research, Morris proceeds to argue for the necessity of ethnic
cleansing in
1948. He faults David Ben-Gurion for failing to expel all Arab
Israelis,
and hints that it may be necessary to finish the job in the future.
Though
he calls himself a left-wing Zionist, he invokes and praises the
fascist
Vladimir Jabotinsky in calling for an "iron wall" solution to the
current
crisis. Referring to Sharon's Security Wall, he says, "Something like a
cage has to be built for them. I know that sounds terrible. It is
really
cruel. But there is no choice. There is a wild animal there that has to
be
locked up in one way or another." He calls the conflict between
Israelis
and Arabs a struggle between civilization and barbarism, and suggests
an
analogy frequently drawn by Palestinians, though from the other side of
the
Winchester: "Even the great American democracy could not have been
created
without the annihilation of the Indians."
That's nice and clear. Now one can find fault with the analogy, as did
one
outraged reader of Ha'aretz, who suggested that the annihilation of the
Indians was the prototype for American imperialism, not the
precondition
for American democracy. But such arguments are almost beside the point.
Morris's chilling candor effectively removes him from the realm of
rational
argument, and hauls Sharon's fascist vision of a Greater Israel out
into
the light of day...
---
PALESTINIANS ARE THE ONES IN THE GHETTO
Dow Marmur, Globe and Mail, 1/26/04
http://www.globeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20040126/COMARMUR26//?query=dow+marmur
Though Jews living in the ghettos of Europe had an elaborate network of
organizations and societies, there's no evidence that they engaged in
interfaith activities or worked for universal human rights. They were
beleaguered from all sides by hostile or indifferent Gentiles and saw
their
only task as doing what they could to protect themselves in order to
survive. Despite Jewish teachings about universal values, they would
have
thought that anybody espousing them such conditions was quixotic or,
more
likely, treacherous. Human rights were a luxury they couldn't afford.
That's usually my response to those who say that Israeli human-rights
organizations are wasting their time promoting mutual recognition of
human
rights because they have no Palestinian counterparts. When I say that
Palestinians, especially in the West Bank and Gaza, see themselves more
or
less as Jews once saw themselves in the ghetto, few seem to know what
I'm
talking about.
They refuse to recognize that, today, the relationship between Israelis
and
Palestinians is asymmetrical: Jews are no longer in the ghetto but
Palestinians are, even though these places of residence are called
refugee
camps. They cling to the old paradigm that identifies Jews as victims
and
all others as perpetrators or bystanders...
-----
FALLOUT FROM GUJARAT REACHES US
Rahul Sarnaik, BBC, 1/26/04
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/south_asia/3415931.stm
In the second of his reports on the fears of Hindu extremism, Rahul
Sarnaik
talks to members of the Indian diaspora in the US.
A group of teenagers play basketball in New York City. The players
trace
their roots back to India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, and belong to
several
religious backgrounds.
They insist that tensions in their parents' homelands do not affect
their
day-to-day lives.
But it is a very different story among older South Asians attending the
Westbury Mosque and Islamic Centre in suburban Long Island.
A large contingent of the worshippers is from Gujarat - the state in
western India that was engulfed by sectarian riots early in 2002.
Up to 2,000 people were killed - most of them Muslims...
-----
U.S. PROBES KILLINGS OF 4 IRAQIS IN TAXI
Paul Garwood, Associated Press, 1/26/04
http://www.ajc.com/news/content/news/ap/ap_story.html/Intl/AP.V5943.AP-Iraq-Car-Slayin.html
TIKRIT, Iraq - The U.S. military has ordered an investigation into the
Jan.
3 deaths of four Iraqis who were killed by heavy caliber machine gun
fire
possibly from American soldiers, the Army said Monday.
No one has claimed responsibility for the shooting that occurred on a
highway bypass in Tikrit in north-central Iraq. But the sole survivor
and
Iraqi police accuse American soldiers traveling in a northbound
military
convoy of killing the Iraqis, including a woman and a 7-year-old boy.
U.S. military chiefs at the Baghdad-based Combined Joint Task Force
ordered
the Tikrit-based 4th Infantry Division to conduct the investigation,
after
receiving a report from one of the division's battalion commander, Lt.
Col.Steve Russell, who said the type of weapon used in the shooting
makes
it ``likely'' coalition forces were involved.
Russell and the commanding officer of the 4th Infantry Division, Maj.
Gen.
Raymond Odierno, have repeatedly said that none of their soldiers was
responsible. The possibility has not been ruled out, however, that a
convoy
passing through their area opened fire.
Russell said he will appoint a senior officer to handle the
investigation.
SEE ALSO:
IRAQ WAR NOT HUMANITARIAN, GROUP SAYS
MICHAEL McDONOUGH, Associated Press, 1/26/04
LONDON (AP) - The war in Iraq cannot be justified as an intervention in
defense of human rights even though it ended a brutal regime, Human
Rights
Watch said Monday, dismissing one of the Bush administration's main
arguments for the invasion.
While Saddam Hussein had an atrocious human rights record and life has
improved for Iraqis since his ouster, his worst actions occurred long
before the war, the advocacy group said in its annual report. It said
there
was no ongoing or imminent mass killing in Iraq when the conflict
began.
President Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair cited the threat
from
Saddam's alleged weapons of mass destruction as their main reason for
attacking Iraq. But as coalition forces have failed to find evidence of
such weapons, both leaders have also highlighted the brutality of the
regime when justifying military intervention.
Human Rights Watch, however, rejected such claims.
"The Bush administration cannot justify the war in Iraq as a
humanitarian
intervention, and neither can Tony Blair," executive director Kenneth
Roth
said.
Atrocities such as Saddam's 1988 mass killing of Kurds would have
justified
humanitarian intervention, Roth said.
"But such interventions should be reserved for stopping an imminent or
ongoing slaughter," he added. "They shouldn't be used belatedly to
address
atrocities that were ignored in the past…"
The New York-based group further said that European and other
governments
were ignoring human rights abuses in the conflict in Chechnya, which
Russia
characterizes as its contribution to the global war on terror.
Human Rights Watch: www.hrw.org
-----
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-----
CAIR
Council on American-Islamic Relations
453 New Jersey Avenue, S.E.
Washington, D.C. 20003
Tel: 202-488-8787, 202-744-7726
Fax: 202-488-0833
E-mail: cair@cair-net.org
URL: http://www.cair-net.org
-----
Forwarded Message
Date:
Tue, 27 Jan 2004 15:47:22 -0500
To:
cair-net@cair.biglist.com
From:
"CAIR" <cair@cair-net.org>
Subject:
CAIR-NET: Prayers, Voter Drives Mark End of Hajj in U.S.
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
SAMPLE EID/VOTER DRIVE PUBLICITY MATERIALS
The following publicity materials may be modified and used by local
communities to publicize Eid ul-Adha and voter registration drives
associated with Eid. When modifying the news releases, include
references
to local activities and contact information for local spokespeople.
Send to
the newspaper "city editor," television station "assignment editors"
and
radio station "news directors." Just call each media outlet to get the
contact information. Also send to the "daybook editor" at the nearest
Associated Press bureau.
IMPORTANT NOTE: Contact CAIR Governmental Affairs Coordinator Hasan
Mansori
at hmansori@cair-net.org or 202-646-6039 to let CAIR know about local
voter
registration efforts.
CONTENTS:
* PRAYERS, VOTER DRIVES MARK END OF HAJJ IN U.S.
- Partial List of Voter Registration Drives
- Reasons Why Muslims Should Vote
- Who May Register to Vote?
- Step-by-Step Guide to Voter Registration
- Sample Eid Voter Drive Media Advisory
-----
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - 1/27/2004
- MEDIA ADVISORY -
PRAYERS, VOTER DRIVES MARK END OF HAJJ IN U.S.
Muslim communities to register voters at Eid celebrations
WHAT: On Sunday, February 1, Muslims in America will mark the end of
the
yearly pilgrimage to Mecca, or Hajj, with communal prayers and
celebrations
at locations around the country. Many Muslim communities will also hold
voter registration drives at end-of-Hajj festivals. (For more
information
on the local voter drives, contact CAIR Governmental Affairs
Coordinator
Hasan Mansori at: hmansori@cair-net.org or 202-646-6039.)
The prayers, and the holiday that follows, are called Eid ul-Adha
(EED-al-ODD-ha), or "festival of the sacrifice." Eid ul-Adha
commemorates
the Prophet Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his son Ishmael at God's
command. The holiday is celebrated with the prayers, small gifts for
children, distribution of meat to the needy and social gatherings.
During
this holiday, Muslims exchange the greeting "Eid Mubarak" or "blessed
Eid."
Each year, some two million Muslims, including thousands of American
Muslims, go on Hajj.
WHEN: Sunday, February 1 - The prayers are held in the early morning.
Many
communities also hold day-long Eid festivals for families.
WHERE: The Eid prayers and festivals are held either in local mosques
or in
public facilities designed to accommodate large gatherings. Call local
Muslim organizations for details about Eid celebrations.
PHOTO OPPORTUNITY: Each year, Muslims from America and many different
countries come to the prayers in colorful dress. The prayers themselves
are
quite visual, with worshipers arranged in neat rows and bowing in
prayer in
unison. Participants exchange embraces at the conclusion of the
prayers.
NOTE: Because this is a religious service, reporters and photographers
of
both sexes should dress modestly. That means no shorts for men or short
skirts for women. Some communities may ask female reporters and
photographers to put a scarf over their hair while in the actual prayer
area. Photographers should arrive early to get into position for the
best
shots. Photographers are also advised not to step directly in front of
worshipers and to seek permission for close-up shots. Shots of shoes
removed for prayer, and rear-angle shots of prostrating worshipers, are
considered inappropriate and clich�d.
- END -
CONTACT: Ibrahim Hooper, 202-488-8787 or 202-744-7726, E-Mail:
cair@cair-net.org; Rabiah Ahmed, 202-488-8787 or 202-439-1441, E-Mail:
rahmed@cair-net.org
-----
PARTIAL LIST OF VOTER REGISTRATION DRIVES
WASHINGTON STATE
The Seattle Center Exhibition Hall Seattle, Washington
Exhibition Hall, 305 Harrison Street, Seattle, WA
Contact: Michaela Corning, 206-465-0977
TEXAS
CAIR-DALLAS/FT WORTH
LOCATION: FAIR PARK
Contact: Amina-Marisol Rojas, 972-241-7233
Islamic Center of San Antonio
8638 Fairhaven
San Antonio, TX
210-614-0989
Contact: Sarwat, 210-494-4129
NEW YORK
Islamic Center of Long Island
835 Brush Hollow Rd. Westbury, New York
Contact: Ghazi Khankan 516-729-8754
Islamic Center of New York
1711 3rd Ave.
New York, NY 10029
Contact: Firdos, 212-870-2002
FLORIDA
C. B. SMITH PARK (Pavilion No. 15)
900 N. Flamingo Rd., Pembroke Pines, Florida
Contact: Altaf Ali or Lubna, 954-916-5661
NEW JERSEY
The Hilton at Hasbrouck Heights
650 Terrace Avenue/ Hasbrouck Heights, NJ 07604
Ramada Plaza Hotel
3050 Woodbridge Avenue/Edison, NJ 08837
RexPlex Center
Exit 13A NJ Turnpike/ Elizabeth, NJ 07201
Contact Faiza Ali
MISSOURI
Medina Mosque
Chippewa & Kings Highway
Millenium Hotel
Contact: James O. Hacking, (314) 602-3794
ILLINOIS
Meridian Banquets
1701 Algonquin Rd, Rolling Meadows, IL
Contact: Dawood Khan, 847-975-7009
MARYLAND
Islamic Center of Maryland
Gaithersburg, MD.
Contact: Ibrahim Moiz, 301-343-2924
TENNESSEE
Knoxville Muslim Community
Knoxville, TN
Contact M. I. Hussain, MD
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
Anaheim Convention Center Hall
C 800 W. Katella Ave. Anaheim, CA
LA Convention Center
(213)741-1151
The Carson Community Center
3 Civic Plaza Drive, City of Carson
Masjed Omar Ibn Al-Khattab
1025 W. Exposition Blvd. LA, CA 90007
UC Riverside Student Recreation Center
Orange County Islamic Foundation
23581 Maderao Dr. #101 Mission Viejo, Ca 92691 (949)595-0480
Pomona Fairflex
1101 W. McKinley Ave., Pomona CA
Islamic Center of Temecula
42188 Rio Neda #A Temecula Ca 92590
(909) 296-6601
Pomona Valley Mining Co.
1777 Gillette Road, Pomona, 91768 CA
(909) 623-3515
Islamic Education Center of OC
3194-B Airport Loop Dr., Costa Mesa, CA
(714)432-0060
Crenshaw High School
52nd and 11th Avenue
Masjid Qurtabuh
1121 E. Huntington Dr. Monrovia Ca
(626)305-0077
Islamic Center of Corona/Norco
465 Santana Way 92881 CA
(909) 736-0893
CAIR Contact: Omar Zaki 714-776-1847
NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
Santa Clara County Fairgrounds
344 Tully Road, San Jose, CA 95111
Muslim Community Association
3003 Scott Blvd. Santa Clara, CA 95054
Henry Kaiser Convention Center
10th Street, Oakland, CA 94607
Contact Dahlia Eltoumi 408-206-1207 or Helal Omeira 408-476-7843
MICHIGAN
Flint Islamic Center
9447 Corunna Road, Swartz Creek, MI 48473
Burton Manor
27777 Schoolcraft Road,
Contact: Celena Khatib (248) 569-2203 or (734) 306-9507
-----
REASONS WHY MUSLIMS SHOULD VOTE:
* Supporting accommodation of Islamic religious requirements in the
workplace and in schools
* Creating a safe and drug-free environment for families
* Challenging discrimination and stereotyping
* Encouraging foreign and domestic policies that are based on justice
* Deciding how your tax dollars are used
WHO MAY REGISTER TO VOTE?
To be eligible to vote, a person:
a) Must be a citizen of the United States
b) Must live in the state where he/she is registering
c) Must be at least 18 years old by the date of the next general
election
d) Must not claim the right to vote in any other state
-----
HOW TO CONDUCT A VOTER REGISTRATION DRIVE
1. Gather 2 to 4 members of the community to coordinate the drive.
2. Choose the location of the event - a local mosque, community center
or
school are ideal.
3. Choose the date and time for the event - make sure that the timing
is
convenient, and fits into the normal schedule of the community. Eid
ul-Adha
festivals and prayers are the best opportunity in the near future.
4. Call or visit your state election office for materials to be used in
your voter drive. Call your county government administration for
registration information. You can also do a www.google.com search using
the
term "voter registration in [your state]."
SEE ALSO:
Federal Election Commission, (800) 424-9530
Frequently Asked Questions About Voter Registration and Voting
http://www.fec.gov/pages/faqs.htm
State Voter Registration Requirements
http://www.fec.gov/pages/Voteinst.htm
5. Consider making the drive an event. Invite local and national
candidates
from all parties to participate in a forum at your mosque or facility
to
discuss the issues. At minimum, set up a voter registration booth after
Jumah prayer or other community events.
6. Inform the community about the drive. Announce the event at Jumah
and
other community activities. Distribute a flyer to advertise the
registration drive.
7. Contact the media in advance and let them know about the drive.
Events
of this nature are an excellent opportunity to obtain positive press
coverage of the Muslim community. Contact CAIR for advice on holding a
media event.
8. Make sure you have enough registration materials. Keep track of how
many
voters you have registered.
9. Conduct the drive. Make sure you have read all the instructions
carefully, and help people in filling out the form.
10. Follow up. Completed voter registration forms should be sent or
dropped
off at your state election office within a specified time period. Make
sure
to contact them afterwards to confirm that the registration forms were
accepted.
11. Be sure to write and thank speakers for attending. Thank the
community
for participating.
12. Inform CAIR of the number of voters your organization registered.
What method can be used to return completed application(s)?
a) Delivery through the postal system. The applicant can deliver the
voter
registration application through the postal system.
b) Delivery in person. The applicant can deliver the voter registration
application form in person to their local registration office.
c) Delivery by a third party. See:
http://www.fec.gov/votregis/pdf/nvra.pdf
and select your state to find appropriate mailing address.
-----
PUBLICIZE YOUR VOTER REGISTRATION DRIVE
The following media advisory may be modified and used by local
communities
to publicize a voter registration drive. Send to the newspaper "city
editor," television station "assignment editors" and radio station
"news
directors." Just call each media outlet to get the contact information.
Also send to the "daybook editor" at the nearest Associated Press
bureau.
---
[Insert Your Local Organization Name and Address Here]
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
- MEDIA ADVISORY -
LOCAL MUSLIMS TO HOLD VOTER REGISTRATION DRIVE
Effort designed to coincide with end-of-pilgrimage festival
WHAT: On [date in bold], the [location] Muslim community will hold a
voter
registration drive following Eid ul-Adha (EED-al-ODD-ha) prayers
marking
the end of the Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, or Hajj.
Eid ul-Adha, or the "feast of sacrifice," commemorates the Prophet
Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his son Ishmael at God's command.
The
holiday is celebrated with the prayers, small gifts for children,
distribution of meat to the needy and social gatherings.
Festivals following Eid ul-Adha prayers draw thousands of Muslims in
local
communities and offer an excellent opportunity to distribute voter
registration materials.
The voter drive is part of an effort coordinated by the
Washington-based
Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR).
There are more than [number] of Muslims in the [city name] metro area,
an
estimated seven million in America and some 1.2 billion worldwide.
Demographers say Islam is one of the fastest growing religions in this
country and around the world.
WHEN: [Insert date in bold here]
WHERE: [Name of mosque and street address]
CONTACT: [Group name or person, phone, fax, cell phone]
NOTE: Because the prayer portion of the Eid festival is a religious
service, reporters and photographers of both sexes should dress
modestly.
That means no shorts for men or short skirts for women. Some
communities
may ask female reporters and photographers to put a scarf over their
hair
while in the actual prayer area. Photographers should arrive early to
get
into position for the best shots. Photographers are also advised not to
step directly in front of worshipers and to seek permission for
close-up shots.
- END -
-----
NOTE: CAIR offers an e-mail list designed to be a window to the
American
Muslim community. Subscribers to the list, called CAIR-NET, receive
news
releases and other materials dealing with American Muslim positions on
issues of importance to our society.
To SUBSCRIBE to or UNSUBSCRIBE from this list, go to:
http://cair.biglist.com/cair-net/
To reach the list moderator, send a message to: cair@cair-net.org
-----
CAIR
Council on American-Islamic Relations
453 New Jersey Avenue, S.E.
Washington, D.C. 20003
Tel: 202-488-8787, 202-744-7726
Fax: 202-488-0833
E-mail: cair@cair-net.org
URL: http://www.cair-net.org
-----
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
AMERICAN MUSLIM NEWS BRIEFS - 1/27/04
* HADITH OF THE DAY: ABSTINENCE
* LIBRARY PROJECT: 7182 SPONSORSHIPS
* JUDGE RULES OUT PART OF PATRIOT ACT (AP)
- Know Your Rights (NLG)
* ACLU COMPLAINS TO U.N. ON MUSLIM DETAINEES (Reuters)
* MUSLIMS LAUNCH EID VOTER DRIVES (Washington File)
* PROFESSOR DEPICTS CULTURE OF ISLAMIC WOMEN (DM)
- CA: Pastor Breaks Fast (SJ Mercury News)
* TX: HAJJ IS JOY, BUT TRYING FOR SENIORS (Dallas News)
* KERRY: ISRAEL CAN'T PROVIDE GOODS IN TALKS (Haaretz)
- Lebanese Accuses Israel of Torture (Reuters)
* INCITEMENT WATCH: PAT ROBERTSON SAYS ALLAH IS 'HUBAL'
- Canada Station Rapped For Muslim Jibe (Reuters)
* NY: HOPING HARASSER WILL LEARN (Newsday)
* CANADA: WHY I LOVE THE UNITED STATES (Toronto Sun)
* MR. CHENEY, MEET MR. KAY (NY Times)
- Baghdad Is Bush's Blue Dress (LA Times)
- One Iraqi, One Vote? (NY Times)
- US Troops Face Iraq Abuse Charges (BBC)
* CAIR: HIJAB PROPOSAL FLOUTS FRENCH LAW (Phil. Inq)
- Chirac Faces More Critics Over Ban (CC Times)
* PAKISTANI AMERICAN IS PHYSICIAN OF THE YEAR (NCPA)
-----
HADITH OF THE DAY: ABSTINENCE
A man once said to the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him): "Direct me
to
a deed for which I shall be loved by God and by men." The Prophet
replied:
"If you practice abstinence in this world, God will love you. And if
you
abstain from (other) people's possessions, men will love you."
Al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 1350
-----
CAIR LIBRARY PROJECT UPDATE: 7182 SPONSORSHIPS
Now, let's help the state of Connecticut. 131 covered, 124 more
libraries
to go!
The goal of CAIR's library project is to send accurate and objective
information about Islam to America's 16,000 public libraries.
For only $150, you may sponsor an 18-item package about Islam and
Muslims,
which are then distributed to the library of their choice.
To sponsor a library call, 1-800-392-7876, ext. 320, or visit:
www.libraryproject.org.
-----
JUDGE RULES OUT PART OF PATRIOT ACT
Associated Press, 1/26/04
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4065424/
In a ruling handed down Friday night but not made available until
Monday,
U.S. District Judge Audrey Collins said the ban on providing "expert
advice
or assistance" was impermissibly vague, in violation of the First and
Fifth
Amendments.
John Tyler, the Justice Department attorney who argued the case, had no
comment and referred calls to the department's press office in
Washington.
A message left there was not immediately returned.
The case before the court involved five groups and two U.S. citizens
seeking to provide support for lawful, nonviolent activities on behalf
of
Kurdish refugees in Turkey.
The Humanitarian Law Project, a human rights advocacy group based in
Los
Angeles that brought the lawsuit, said the plaintiffs were threatened
with
15 years in prison if they advised groups on seeking a peaceful
resolution
of the Kurds' campaign for self-determination in Turkey.
The judge's ruling said the law, which was enacted after the Sept. 11,
2001, terrorist attacks, did not differentiate between impermissible
advice
on violence and encouraging the use of peaceful, nonviolent means to
achieve goals...
SEE ALSO:
KNOW YOUR RIGHTS
To learn more about your rights visit the National Lawyers Guild page
at
http://www.nlg.org/sf/rights.html or call (415) 285-1041.
CAIR can be reached at 202-488-8787, 202-744-7726 Website:
www.cair-net.org
-----
ACLU COMPLAINS TO U.N. ON MUSLIM DETAINEES IN U.S.
Stephanie Nebehay, Reuters, 1/27/04
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=domesticNews&storyID=4219096
GENEVA - The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) on Tuesday brought a
complaint to the United Nations charging that Muslim immigrants in the
United States were unfairly detained and deported in the wake of
September 11.
The complaint, specifically on behalf of 10 former detainees and three
men
still in custody, was filed with the U.N. working group on arbitrary
detentions.
It accuses the U.S. government of arbitrarily arresting hundreds of
Muslim
immigrants from South East Asia and the Middle East following the
hijacked
airliner attacks in 2001 on the World Trade Center and Pentagon, which
killed nearly 3,000 people.
Most were held for months without criminal charges being laid and
denied
access to an attorney or judge while in legal limbo, according to the
New-York based ACLU. Many were deported, some to face interrogation in
their homelands, it added.
It charged U.S. officials "arbitrarily and indiscriminately arrested
immigrants unconnected to terrorism or crime."
"By asking the United Nations to shine a global spotlight on the U.S.
government's indiscriminate round up of immigrants, the ACLU warns the
government that it cannot escape justice through secrecy," the ACLU
said.
"Many of these policies remain in effect and there is a substantial
danger
that they will be applied again...," it said...
-----
MUSLIM-AMERICANS LAUNCH VOTER REGISTRATION DRIVES DURING EID AL-ADHA
David Shelby, Washington File, 1/27/04
http://usinfo.state.gov/xarchives/display.html?p=washfile-english&y=2004&m=January&x=20040127142641ndyblehs0.4902002&t=usinfo/wf-latest.html
Washington -- American Muslim groups hope to benefit from the coming
Eid
Al-Adha holidays to rally Muslim voters for this year's U.S. elections.
Mosques and Islamic centers across the country are planning voter
registration drives in conjunction with the holiday activities.
"Active political participation by American Muslims is no longer an
option,
it is a necessity," said Omar Ahmad, chairman of the Council on
American-Islamic Relations (CAIR).
He added, "It is only through the power of the vote that Muslims will
have
their concerns addressed by political candidates and elected
representatives."
CAIR is spearheading the voter registration drive on the national
level.
Hasan Mansori, who is coordinating CAIR's national efforts, said, "It
is
increasingly important for Muslims to engage in their civic
responsibilities. Muslims are more concerned than ever about respect
for
their civil liberties, and we need to look more deeply at who the
candidates are and what they stand for."
Mansori indicated that local Muslim groups have been very receptive to
CAIR's initiative. He noted that all 25 of the group's local chapters
had
embraced the idea and were sponsoring at least three to four voter
registration drives in their local communities during the holidays. Eid
Al-Adha is the Muslim holiday that follows the Hajj, the annual
pilgrimage
to the Muslim holy sites of Mecca and Medina in Saudi Arabia. This year
Eid
Al-Adha falls on February 1-3.
Celena Khatib from CAIR Michigan has been organizing voter registration
tables at mosques during Friday prayers for several weeks leading up to
the
Eid holidays and reports that "people have been very enthusiastic and
helpful in advertising for the drive."
Khatib added that people at the local level have been very excited
about
recruiting volunteers to man the sign-up tables…
CAIR is suggesting that Imams use part of their Eid sermons to
encourage
community members to register to vote...
CAIR is encouraging local Muslim organizations to invite local
candidates
and representatives from the national campaigns to address their
groups.
The organization suggests that such visits could even be planned as
part of
the Eid festivities…
(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International
Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site:
http://usinfo.state.gov)
-----
PROFESSOR DEPICTS CULTURE, ENVIRONMENT OF ISLAMIC WOMEN
Emilie Bramlett, Daily Mississippian, 1/27/04
http://www.thedmonline.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2004/01/27/4016238ac3ebc
The Sarah Isom Center for Women's Brown Bag Lecture Series featured a
talk
about women in Islam Monday at the Johnson Commons.
Mary Thurlkill, assistant professor of philosophy and religion, talked
about several important aspects of Islamic culture and religion as
relates
to women, discussing the portrayal of Islamic women in western media.
She explained the link between Muslim women and the changes taking
place in
the various governments. As some governments change, the veiling of
women
changes...
Modesty was also a theme of Thurlkill's lecture. The lecture centered
on
the modesty of Muslim women portrayed by the wearing of veils and women
in
marriage. The veil is not a symbol of oppression, but a symbol of a
woman's
religious beliefs, Thurlkill said.
Thurlkill described a Muslim friend who lived in America and continued
to
wear her veil.
"By covering herself, she believed that she bypassed any
objectification
and forced her coworkers to deal with her mind, her intellect and her
creativity. To her, the veil did not oppress, it liberated," Thurlkill
said...
ALSO SEE:
FREMONT PASTOR BREAKS FAST AFTER CASE DELAYED
Lisa Fernandez, San Jose Mercury News, 1/27/04
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/local/7806336.htm
Pastor Bruce Green of Fremont's Centerville Presbyterian Church broke a
22-day fast Monday with a bowl of ash.
That's a savory Afghan soup with noodles, chickpeas, potatoes and
meatballs
-- the traditional light meal eaten to break the Muslim fast of
Ramadan.
''I'm starting to salivate a little,'' said Green, who is slightly more
than 6 feet tall. He started his fast at 220 pounds and now weighs 190.
The soup was made especially for him by Rabia Furmully, 20, who, along
with
Zarghuna Qudus, has been fasting since Jan. 4 on behalf of Qudus'
husband,
Qader Qudus. Qader Qudus is a well-respected Afghan businessman in
Fremont
who was arrested in August on federal charges of money laundering and
heroin trafficking.
Zarghuna Qudus burst into tears as Green said a prayer for her
husband's
quick release before eating the soup. ''Oh, this is good, this is
wonderful,'' Green said after tasting the soup, pacing himself so as
not to
eat too quickly.
The case was transferred last fall to Maryland, where Qudus is in
custody.
His court date Monday was delayed by bad weather on the East Coast.
Green
had promised to live on only water until a decision came in, but
because
the delay is indefinite he decided to break his fast Monday.
Qudus owns a jewelry store called Global Import Sales on Fremont
Boulevard,
where he also ran a multimillion-dollar hawala business. The government
contends that Qudus' hawala, a traditional Middle Eastern money
exchange
that resembles an informal Western Union, was part of a
drug-trafficking
conspiracy overseas.
Qudus' supporters say Afghanistan is a chaotic place. If some money
sent
from Fremont to refugee families ended up in the hands of drug lords,
Qudus
was an unknowing participant, they say...
-----
HAJJ IS A JOY, BUT THE TREK TO MECCA CAN BE TRYING FOR OLDER MUSLIMS
Mary A. Jacobs, Dallas Morning News,
http://www.fortwayne.com/mld/newssentinel/7807684.htm
DALLAS - Preparing for what may be the biggest physical challenge of
her
life, Shakar Mirza got into shape by eating healthy food, walking every
day
and attending weekly aerobics and yoga classes.
The event? The hajj - the annual pilgrimage that draws millions of
Muslims
to Mecca.
Mirza, 68, of Carrollton, Texas, left last week for her second hajj.
While
the journey has profound spiritual significance, it's also physically
taxing, especially for older Muslims. Many pilgrims, like Mirza, have
to
cross half a world just to get to Saudi Arabia. Then they travel from
city
to city, at times sleeping in tents or under the stars, with
temperatures
as high as 110 degrees.
As an Islamic Web site, www.islamicity.com, cautions: "The hajj rites
require a great deal of strength and endurance. The constant crush of
hundreds of thousands of pilgrims, each trying to perform the same
rites at
the same time in limited spaces and very hot weather, compounds the
demands
on your physical conditioning and mental toughness."
Having made the trip four years ago, Mirza knew what to expect.
"I'll be there 2 1/2 weeks, and the whole time, it never lets up," she
said. At one point in the pilgrimage - when she will walk around the
Kaaba,
the Islamic holy shrine in Mecca, seven times - she estimates that she
will
walk 16 miles in a single day.
"I want to be in good shape," she said. "I'm traveling with a group,
and I
don't want to slow the group down." Mirza plans to walk around the
Kaaba
from the top tier of Mecca's Grand Mosque. It's less crowded that way,
but
it involves more walking - each trip around the top tier is about one
mile...
-----
KERRY: ISRAEL CAN'T PROVIDE GOODS IN TALKS WITH PALESTINIANS
Nathan Guttman, Haaretz, 1/26/04
http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/spages/387255.html
Leading Democratic presidential hopeful John Kerry on Monday said the
government in Israel currently lacks someone who can provide the goods
in
everything connected to negotiations with the Palestinians. "It's very
difficult for Israel to negotiate because in Israel there is nobody to
negotiate to actually deliver," Kerry said at a political rally in New
Hampshire ahead of Tuesday's primary.
Kerry also criticized the settlement policy of the Israeli government
and
said that it was a mistake to increase building there at this time. The
Massachusetts senator called for strengthening the Palestinian
Authority so
that it will be stronger than Hamas.
"It's important for us to leverage the Palestinian Authority in order
for
them to be stronger than Hamas on the ground," he said.
Kerry promised that if elected president, he would ask former U.S.
presidents Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter to serve as special envoys to
the
region.
Kerry's main rival, former front-runner Howard Dean, said at a campaign
event in Manchester that the U.S. should increase resources for the
Palestinian Authority in order to persuade the Palestinians to
relinquish
the right of return. The former Vermont governor specified that Israel
should demonstrate flexibility in regard to final borders in order to
allow
the creation of a Palestinian state. The Democratic presidential
hopefuls
were scouring New Hampshire for last-minute converts on Monday, with
Dean
questioning Kerry's judgment on Iraq and Wesley Clark contrasting his
modest roots to his rivals' privileged backgrounds...
SEE ALSO:
JAILED LEBANESE ACCUSES ISRAELI TORTURER OF SODOMY
Dan Williams, Reuters, 1/27/04
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L27112128.htm
TEL AVIV - A former Lebanese militia chief told a court on Tuesday he
had
been forcibly sodomised by Israeli secret service torturers who then
left
him shackled and soaking in excrement for almost two weeks.
Mustafa Dirani said he was too ashamed to repeat the words of his
tormentors and instead spelled them out to the court hearing his claim
for
six million shekels ($1.34 million) in compensation over his 1994
interrogation.
Dirani's testimony was brought forward to Tuesday because he is due to
return to Lebanon in two days in a prisoner exchange between Israel and
the
Lebanese guerrilla group Hizbollah. Dirani was captured in south
Lebanon in
1994 by Israelis seeking information on missing airman Ron Arad.
Dirani described his alleged sodomy by a soldier at the orders of an
intelligence officer codenamed "George," and another incident in which
he
said a police baton was inserted into his rectum.
Dirani spent most of the next two weeks shackled and wearing adult
diapers
that left him soaking in urine and excrement, he said in testimony
translated from Arabic into Hebrew...
-----
INCITEMENT WATCH: PAT ROBERTSON SAYS ALLAH IS 'HUBAL'
On today's Diane Rehm radio program, Christian televangelist Pat
Robertson
attacked the faith of Islam, saying "Allah is Hubal, the moon god of
Mecca."
He also claimed the Indian city of Calcutta is cursed because Hindus
there
worship the "black goddess of death," and that "societies are cursed by
false religions." "Do we want that in America?" asked Robertson.
SEE: http://www.wamu.org/dr/index.html
E-MAIL POLITE COMMENTS TO: drshow@wamu.org
COPY TO: cair@cair-net.org
Ask that a Muslim representative be invited to provide an accurate
description of Islam and to answer questions from the public.
(NOTE that Diane Rehm did NOT support Robertson's comments. She has a
history of fair and objective programming.)
BACKGROUND ON ALLAH AND "HUBAL"
HUBAL - "An idol, the God of the Moon. Centuries before Islam…a chief
of
the tribe of Jurham...brought the idol to the city from Syria. It was
set
up in the Ka'bah and became a principal idol of the pagan
Meccans...Hubal
was pulled down and used as a doorstep when the Prophet [Muhammad]
conquered Mecca and purified the Ka'bah." (Page 160, "The Concise
Encyclopedia of Islam," by Cyril Glasse [Harper & Row])
ALLAH - Allah is the Arabic word for "God." It is the same word
Arabic-speaking Christians, even followers of Pat Robertson, use when
referring to God. Allah is the same God worshipped by Christians and
Jews.
* From the "Concise Encyclopedia of Islam" - "The word Allah is a
proper
and true Name of God, through which man calls upon Him personally. It
is an
opening on to the Divine Essence, beyond language and the world
itself."
(Page 35)
* From the Quran, Islam's revealed text: "Allah (God) is the Light of
the
heavens and the earth. The parable of His Light is as if there were a
Niche
and within it a lamp: the Lamp enclosed in Glass: the glass is of a
star-like brilliance…Light upon Light! Allah doth guide whom He will to
His
Light."
-----
HOPING HARASSER WILL LEARN
Ray Sanchez, Newsday, 1/26/04
http://www.nynewsday.com/news/local/queens/ny-nysub263642339jan26,0,5671826.column
"I want you off this train," Thomas Brand was saying on the Long Island
Rail Road that night, washing down hate with a can of Bud in a brown
paper bag.
His target was Gurpreet Singh, 25, a technology consultant who lives in
Syosset. Singh is a Sikh who was born in Afghanistan and raised in
Flushing. His parents are from India. He is neither Arab nor Muslim.
Brand, 33, who awaits sentencing after a guilty plea last week to a
misdemeanor charge of aggravated harassment, couldn't see beyond
Singh's
long black beard or the turban wrapped around his head.
"Get off the train now!" Brand shouted, following Singh through the car
of
a Huntington train that February night, bumping him menacingly...
-----
WHY I LOVE THE UNITED STATES
Asma Arshad Mahmood, Toronto Sun, 1/27/04
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1075158610693&call_pageid=968256290204&col=968350116795
As a South Asian Muslim, I have been taught to believe that almost all
the
problems my people faced were the fault of the Americans. I guess we
needed
to pin our troubles on someone in order to see them more clearly.
However, as I grew up, my images of America changed. It became a part
of
the world I wanted to live in and experience...
And then 9/11 happened.
A few days ago, standing in a line outside the U.S. consulate in -27C
temperatures waiting to get my visa for a trip south, I realized that I
now
have a different feeling toward the U.S. I am not as angry as I was a
few
months ago.
Seeing the harsh security measures, I realized that Americans are
really
scared. I realized that the threat that I thought was not really all
that
serious any longer, is still very serious for them. I felt so sorry for
them at that moment that it seemed all right when I was fingerprinted
and
asked a number of rather silly questions.
Sitting there, I observed that while as a Pakistani I have been
subjected
to a full body search, fingerprinting and a checking of all the baggage
in
my own country (even on domestic flights), these same measures were
considered an insult when conducted by U.S. customs. Maybe we expect
too
much of the U.S. Maybe we have stopped accepting that it too can make
mistakes, and can show weakness from time to time.
I made up my mind that I was going to go home and list all the good
things
that I can think of about the U.S...
-----
MR. CHENEY, MEET MR. KAY
New York Times, 1/27/04
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/01/27/opinion/27TUE1.html
Vice President Dick Cheney continued to insist last week that Iraq had
been
trying to make weapons of mass destruction, apparently oblivious to the
findings of the administration's own chief weapons inspector that Iraq
had
possessed only rudimentary capabilities and unrealized intentions. The
vice
president's myopia suggests a breathtaking unwillingness to accept a
reality that conflicts with the administration's preconceived notions.
This
kind of rigid thinking helped propel us into an invasion without broad
international support and, if Mr. Cheney is as influential as many say,
could propel us into further misadventures down the road.
Mr. Cheney has long been the administration's most alarmist proponent
of
the view that Saddam Hussein had chemical and biological weapons ready
for
use at any time and an active nuclear program. He gave little ground in
an
interview on National Public Radio on Thursday. He described two
flatbed
trailers found in Iraq months ago as mobile biological weapons labs and
claimed they were "conclusive evidence" of Iraqi programs to make
weapons
of mass destruction. The very next day, David Kay, who had just stepped
down as the top weapons inspector, told Reuters that he now thought the
much-feared stockpiles of biological and chemical weapons had not
existed
on the eve of the war. They were eliminated in the mid-1990's by United
Nations inspectors and by Iraq's own decisions, he said, and no
significant
efforts to make new ones followed.
As for those trailers cited by Mr. Cheney, the consensus view, Mr. Kay
told
The Times, is that they were intended to produce hydrogen or perhaps
rocket
fuel, not biological weapons. Mr. Kay had earlier called the trailer
assertions an embarrassing fiasco. So, too, with Iraq's nuclear weapons
program. Mr. Cheney once famously declared that it had been
reconstituted,
but Mr. Kay called it rudimentary - hardly capable of producing a bomb
in a
year or two, as the administration had implied...
ALSO SEE:
BAGHDAD IS BUSH'S BLUE DRESS
Robert Scheer, Los Angeles Times, 1/27/04
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-scheer27jan27,1,2870082.column
Now, can we talk of impeachment? The rueful admission by former chief
U.S.
weapons inspector David Kay that Saddam Hussein did not possess weapons
of
mass destruction or the means to create them at the time of the U.S.
invasion confirms the fact that the Bush administration is complicit in
arguably the greatest scandal in U.S. history. It's only because the
Republicans control both houses of Congress that we hear no calls for a
broad-ranging investigation of the type that led to the discovery of
Monica
Lewinsky's infamous blue dress.
In no previous instance of presidential malfeasance was so much at
stake,
both in preserving constitutional safeguards and national security.
This
egregious deception in leading us to war on phony intelligence
overshadows
those scandals based on greed, such as Teapot Dome during the Harding
administration, or those aimed at political opponents, such as
Watergate.
And the White House continues to dig itself deeper into a hole by
denying
reality even as its lieutenants one by one find the courage to speak
the
truth.
A year after using his 2003 State of the Union address to paint Iraq's
allegedly vast arsenal of weapons of mass destruction as a grave threat
to
the U.S. and the world, Bush spent this month's State of the Union
defending the war because "had we failed to act, the dictator's weapons
of
mass destruction programs would continue to this day." Bush said
officials
were still "seeking all the facts" about Iraq's weapons programs but
noted
that weapons searchers had already identified "dozens of weapons of
mass
destruction-related program activities..."
Yet three days after the State of the Union address, Kay quit and then
began telling the world what the administration had denied since taking
over the White House: That Hussein's regime was but a weak shadow of
the
military force it had been at the time of the 1991 Persian Gulf War,
that
he believed it had no significant chemical, biological or nuclear
weapons
programs or stockpiles in place, and that the United Nations
inspections
and allied bombing in the '90s had been more effective at eroding the
remnants of these programs than critics had thought...
---
ONE IRAQI, ONE VOTE?
Dilip Hiro, New York Times, 1/27/04
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/01/27/opinion/27HIRO.html
LONDON - In calling the capture of Saddam Hussein "crucial to the rise
of a
free Iraq," President Bush forgot the old saw about being careful what
you
wish for. Six weeks later, the administration seems shocked by the
effect
that event had on the country's Shiite community, which makes up 60
percent
of the population.
No longer worried about the return of Saddam Hussein, the Shiites - led
by
Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani - are focusing on the second part of
their
much-shouted slogan, "No, no to Saddam; no, no to America." And the
Bush
team seems unable to stomach the idea that democracy in Iraq will mean
Shiites assuming power, and most likely developing close ties with
Shiite-dominated Iran.
So now President Bush and his proconsul in Baghdad, L. Paul Bremer, are
watching as Ayatollah Sistani, a recluse who had remained above the
political fray, turns into the second coming of Iran's Ayatollah
Ruhollah
Khomeini. More embarrassingly for an administration that fought a "war
for
democracy," it is now opposing Ayatollah Sistani's call for direct
elections to the new national provisional assembly.
Mr. Bremer and the American-appointed Iraqi Governing Council give many
reasons for ruling out quick elections: the electoral rolls are not up
to
date; the political parties are not functioning properly; and the
security
situation is not conducive to election campaigns. All of these
arguments
fall apart on closer scrutiny...
---
US TROOPS FACE IRAQ ABUSE CHARGES
BBC, 1/27/04
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3429739.stm
Four US marine reservists are due in a military court on Monday to face
charges of abusing Iraqi prisoners.
The incidents are alleged to have happened last year at a detention
facility in southern Iraq.
Two of them face charges of negligent homicide, arising from the death
of a
Baath Party official.
Lance Corporal Christian Hernandez and the camp's commander, Major
Clark
Paulus, are also accused of cruelty, assault and dereliction of duty.
Fifty-two-year-old Baath Party official Nagem Sadoon Hatab died in June
in
Camp Whitehorse, a makeshift prison set up to receive Iraqis captured
during raids.
Lance Corporal Hernandez is alleged to have grabbed him by the neck and
accidentally snapped a bone in his throat, according to the Marine
Corps.
Prosecutors are expected to begin presenting evidence in a California
court
against Lance Corporal Hernandez, Major Paulus and two others.
The proceedings are part of an Article 32 hearing, the military
equivalent
of a grand jury.
The hearing will help commanders determine whether the four will go on
to
be court-martialled...
-----
CHIRAC'S ANTI-HIJAB PROPOSAL FLOUTS FRENCH, EUROPEAN LAW
Arsalan T. Iftikhar, Philadelphia Inquirer, 1/27/04
http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/7803783.htm
To many, France has shown moral strength in the last year by opposing
the
recent war in Iraq. That's why it's unsettling to see that President
Jacques Chirac has recently proposed legislation that would ultimately
ban
Muslim women from wearing the hijab (head scarf), Jewish men from
wearing
yarmulkes, and Christians from wearing crosses in state institutions.
Chirac's proposed legislation would ban the use of "religious symbols"
in
French state schools and hospitals. One such symbol is the traditional
head
scarf called the hijab. In Islam, the wearing of the hijab is a
religious
observance to which many Muslim women choose to adhere. Unlike a cross
worn
on the neck, which is not a religious mandate for Christians, hijab is
not
merely a "symbol" that can be removed at will by those who decide to
wear
it. Rather, it is a religious obligation for Muslim women who choose to
observe it. Any ban on a woman's right to fulfill what she sincerely
believes is her religious obligation is a direct legislative assault on
her
right to free exercise of religion.
Proponents say the law applies equally to all religions - as if this
were a
strength of the law, when in fact it really means that all religions
are
treated equally poorly. And although the law is neutral on its face, it
clearly is aimed at Muslims and will have a far greater impact on them,
since few Jewish students attend state schools in France...
ALSO SEE:
CHIRAC FACES MORE CRITICS OVER SCARF BAN
Christine Ollivier, Contra Costa Times, 1/27/04
http://www.contracostatimes.com/mld/cctimes/news/7806220.htm
PARIS - French President Jacques Chirac is facing growing political
opposition to his proposal to ban the Muslim head scarf in public
schools.
Even some of his ideological allies have begun to express doubts about
whether such a law would be workable and what might be the price.
The government made clear Monday it was no mood for dissent, with the
bill
set to go before French lawmakers next week. The Cabinet takes up the
proposal on Wednesday.
"We have to stop this debate that is taking on completely unreasonable
proportions," said Social Affairs Minister Francois Fillon, who is also
spokesman for Chirac's party.
The ban has already generated months of debate and not just in France.
Muslims around the world, including in the United States, have voiced
disapproval, and some foreign governments have expressed dismay.
France, mainly a Roman Catholic country, is struggling to hold together
the
multicultural society it has become after the arrival of many
immigrants
from its former colonies in North Africa.
Chirac says the goal of the law is to protect France's secular
foundation.
But it also is seen as a way to hold back the swell of Islamic
fundamentalism.
The proposal has provoked charges of discrimination from many of
France's
Muslim community -- an estimated 5 million, the largest in Western
Europe...
-----
PAKISTANI AMERICAN WINS PHYSICIAN OF THE YEAR AWARD
National Council of Pakistani Americans, 1/27/01
http://www.ncpa.info/news/view_newsdetails.asp?id=131
WASHINGTON Dr. Attique Samdani, the noted physician of Pakistani
origin, is
to receive the singular honour of 'Physician of the Year Award' at a
ceremony to be held here on Jan. 27, says the Physicians Advisory Board
of
the National Congressional Committee in an announcement Saturday.
The award-giving ceremony is scheduled on the concluding day of the
two-day
(Jan 26-27) annual meeting of the Physicians Advisory Board.
The selection is based on performance during the preceding year.
Physician of the Award is presented to outstanding medical
professionals at
a formal ceremony, where Republican Members of the U.S. Congress and
Administration officials alongwith physicians are invited, followed by
a
daylong seminar on medical practice, medicare/medicaid reform...
-----
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CAIR
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-----
Forwarded Message
Date:
Wed, 28 Jan 2004 13:25:48 -0500
To:
cair-net@cair.biglist.com
From:
"CAIR" <cair@cair-net.org>
Subject:
CAIR-NET: Muslim FBI Agent Sues ABC/My God is Your God
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
AMERICAN MUSLIM NEWS BRIEFS - 1/28/04
* HADITH OF THE DAY: THE DAY OF ARAFAH
- Pilgrims Prepare to Begin Hajj Rituals (AP)
* LIBRARY PROJECT: LOUISIANA
* CAIR-CAN: OUTRAGE OVER UNIV. CLUB'S 'HATE-MONGERING'
- CAIR-Sacramento Hosts Registration Workshop
* MY GOD IS YOUR GOD (New York Times)
- Israelis, Hindus to Discuss Terror (SJ Mercury)
* MUSLIM EX-FBI AGENT SUES ABC (Chicago Tribune)
- Richard Perle Supports Terrorism (Antiwar.Com)
* MARSHALS USE ISRAELI BEHAVIOR PATTERN RECOGNITION (AP)
* FRENCH MUSLIMS DON'T SUPPORT HIJAB BAN (Reuters)
- French Cabinet Adopts Muslim Scarf Ban (AP)
-----
HADITH OF THE DAY: THE DAY OF ARAFAH
The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: "When the Day of Arafah
comes, God (says to the angels), 'Look at my servants who have come to
Me
disheveled, dusty and crying out from every deep valley. I call you to
witness that I have forgiven them.' The angels say: 'My Lord, so and so
was
suspected of sin, also so and so and such and such a woman.' The
Prophet
said that God replied: 'I have forgiven them (all).'"
Al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 817
The Prophet also said: "There is no day in which God sets free more
servants from Hell than on the Day of Arafah."
Sahih Muslim, Hadith 650
NOTE: The "Day of Arafah" falls on the 9th day of the Islamic lunar
month
of Dhul-Hijjah (January 31). Arafah is the empty plain near the city of
Mecca. On this day, the climax of the Hajj season, pilgrims assemble on
the
plain for supplication to God.
ALSO SEE:
MUSLIM PILGRIMS PREPARE TO BEGIN HAJJ RITUALS
Rawya Rageh, Associated Press, 1/28/04
MEDINA, Saudi Arabia - Thousands of pilgrims converged Wednesday on the
holy city of Medina to pray and get a glimpse of the tomb of Islam's
Prophet Muhammad before returning to Mecca to take part in the annual
pilgrimage, or hajj.
The trip to Medina, Islam's second most-sacred city, is not part of the
rituals of the pilgrimage, but is encouraged, and many pilgrims make
time
to visit the city.
Medina is known as the "City of the Prophet" and "al-Medina
al-Munawwarah,"
or the radiant city.
It was to this city that Muhammad emigrated from Mecca with a group of
his
followers to escape persecution in what was called the Hijra, or
migration,
on which the Islamic calendar is based...
After visiting Medina, the pilgrims will head to Mecca to join about 2
million Muslims for Thursday's expected start of the hajj.
The ritual is required once in a lifetime of every able-bodied Muslim
who
can afford it.
The hajj rituals involve circling the Kaaba, the large cubic stone
structure that Muslims face during their five daily prayers; praying at
Mount Arafat; throwing pebbles from giant ramps surrounding three
pillars
symbolizing the devil; and slaughtering a camel, sheep or cow to mark
the
beginning of Eid al-Adha, the Feast of the Sacrifice.
-----
CAIR LIBRARY PROJECT UPDATE: 7,185 SPONSORSHIPS
Let's help the state of Louisiana: 546 covered, 556 more libraries to
go!
The goal of CAIR's library project is to send accurate and objective
information about Islam to America's 16,000 public libraries.
For only $150, you may sponsor an 18-item package about Islam and
Muslims,
which are then distributed to the library of their choice.
To sponsor a library call, 1-800-392-7876, ext. 320, or visit:
www.libraryproject.org.
-----
CANADIAN MUSLIMS OUTRAGED AT UNIVERSITY CLUB'S 'HATE-MONGERING'
(OTTAWA, CANADA - 28/1/2004) - The Canadian Council on American-Islamic
Relations (CAIR-CAN) today expressed outrage at a recent handout by the
Israel Action Committee at the University of Western Ontario in London,
Ontario, that directed hateful stereotypes toward Muslims and Arabs.
The flier showed a picture of the burning World Trade Center on
September
11, 2001, while clearly attributing the terrorist act to all Muslims
and
Islam as a religion.
CAIR-CAN said the handout portrayed Islam and Muslims as inherently
violent
and oppressive, thereby creating a climate of fear and hate on campus.
Muslim students at the campus requested CAIR-CAN to take formal action.
The Islamic civil rights group is requesting that law enforcement
authorities investigate the incident as a possible hate crime. CAIR-CAN
is
also calling on the University of Western Ontario to ensure that
hateful
conduct in not tolerated on campus.
In a statement issued today, CAIR-CAN wrote:
"Such malicious and hurtful stereotypes only lead to misunderstanding
and
intolerance. There is no place for hate in our society.
"We expect that the University of Western Ontario will review this
matter
with the urgency and resolve it deserves. We also hope that fellow
Canadians will stand with us in denouncing the contents of this
venomous
handout."
- END -
CONTACT: Naeem Saloojee at 613-254-9704 or 613-795-2012; E-Mail:
Canada@cair-net.org
SEE ALSO:
CAIR-SAC CO-HOSTS WORKSHOP ON REVISED IMMIGRATION REGISTRATION
WHAT: Community Workshop on Revised Immigration Registration
Regulations
The National Security Entry Exit Registration System (NSEERS), a
product of
the USA Patriot Act, requires certain non-US citizens from
predominately
Muslim countries to register with the United States Citizenship and
Immigration Service (USCIS) and renew their registration annually.
These
regulations apply to those persons who are in the US on non-immigrants
or
non-permanent visa, such as student visa or work permit visas.
Recently,
the system has had several changes, which are confusing to many
affected
individuals.
CAIR-Sacramento Valley and University of California, Davis' King Hall
Immigrant Detention Project will co-host this workshop, featuring
immigration law experts to explain changes in NSEERS and answer
questions
by the community.
WHERE: Masjid Annur, 6990 65th St. Sacramento, CA
WHEN: Friday, January 30, 2004 at 8:15 PM
For information about the event: Tamer Ahmed: (916) 716-5124
For directions to Masjid Annur (Venue of the Workshop): (916) 39-ANNUR.
-----
MY GOD IS YOUR GOD
John Kearney, New York Times, 1/28/04
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/01/28/opinion/28KEAR.html
John Kearney is a student at the Columbia University Graduate School of
Journalism.
Sunday is one of the most important holidays in Islam: Id al-Adha, the
feast celebrating Abraham's faith and willingness to sacrifice his son
to
God. It would also be a good occasion for the American news media to
dispense with Allah and commit themselves to God.
Here's what I mean: Abraham, the ur-monotheist, represents the shared
history, and shared God, of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Many
Christians and Jews are aware of this common past, but seem to have a
tough
time internalizing it. Lt. Gen. William Boykin, a deputy under
secretary of
defense, made headlines last year suggesting that Allah is not "a real
God"
and that Muslims worship an idol. Last month in Israel, Pat Robertson
said
that today's world conflicts concern "whether Hubal, the moon god of
Mecca
known as Allah, is supreme, or whether the Judeo-Christian Jehovah, God
of
the Bible, is supreme."
Never mind that Hubal was actually a pre-Islamic pagan god that
Muhammad
rejected. Mr. Robertson's comments, like those of General Boykin,
illuminate a widespread misconception - one that the news media has
inadvertently helped to promote. So here's a suggestion: when
journalists
write about Muslims, or translate from Arabic, Urdu, Farsi or other
languages, they should translate "Allah" as "God," too. A minor point?
Perhaps not.
Last August the Washington Post Web site posed this question to
readers:
"Do you think that Muslims, Christians and Jews all pray to the same
God?"
One Muslim respondent wrote yes, each of the three major monotheistic
faiths "pray to the God of Abraham."
Christian respondents, however, were equivocal or hostile to the
notion.
"Jews pray to Yahweh," one Virginia woman wrote. "As a Christian, I
pray to
the same God." But she insisted that "Muslims pray to Allah. Allah is
not
the God of Abraham." This woman might be surprised that Christian Arabs
use
"Allah" for God, as do Arabic-speaking Jews. In Aramaic, the language
of
Jesus, God is "Allaha," just a syllable away from Allah...
ALSO SEE:
ISRAELIS, HINDUS TO DISCUSS TERROR
Matthai Chakko Kuruvila, San Jose Mercury News, 1/28/04
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/local/7813039.htm
Last March, when Lisa Cohen heard about a terrorist attack in Kashmir,
India, she immediately thought about suicide bombings in Israel. So the
Menlo Park resident, who is Jewish, went to Fremont and joined a
street-corner rally organized by Hindu nationalists to raise awareness
about the violence.
``We're both democracies,'' she said this week. ``We're both faced with
the
daily threat of radical Islamic terror.''
Cohen's presence at the rally is but one of many ways that Zionist Jews
and
Hindu nationalists -- not traditional allies -- have begun to forge
alliances in the post-Sept. 11 era. That continues tonight, when a slew
of
Israeli and Hindu groups are sponsoring a talk at Stanford titled
``Global
Trends That Will Defeat Terror.''
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon visited India earlier this year, a
first for an Israeli leader since 1992, when India opened ties with the
Jewish state. Some Hindu nationalist Web sites now carry Israeli flags.
Rep. Tom Lantos, D-San Mateo, who will be introducing tonight's
speakers,
told a coalition of Indian and Israeli political action committees last
summer, ``We have been drawn together by our joint fight against
mindless,
vicious, fanatic Islamic terrorism.''
The groups hope joining together will give them a more powerful voice.
But
their bonds concern many in India's minority Muslim community,
including
many Bay Area residents who believe the ties are based more on
politically
convenient stereotypes than reality...
-----
EX-FBI AGENT SUES ABC
Todd Lighty, Chicago Tribune, 1/28/04
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chicago/chi-0401280129jan28,1,7903338.story
A former Muslim FBI agent has sued ABC News, a Chicago FBI agent and a
retired agent, charging they defamed him in a national television
broadcast
in December 2002.
Gamal Abdel-Hafiz alleges that the ABC broadcast and stories posted on
the
network's Web site falsely stated that he had refused orders to
secretly
record fellow Muslims as part of FBI investigations into terrorist
activities, including a 1999 Chicago-based investigation into the
fundraising activities of the militant group Hamas.
The stories suggest he placed "his religion over his duty as an agent"
and
left viewers with the impression he was a "sympathizer to terrorism and
other religious fanatics," according to the lawsuit.
While his two former colleagues did not mention Abdel-Hafiz by name,
the
lawsuit alleges that "co-workers understood that the broadcast and
articles
referenced him, due to the fact that he was the only Muslim special
agent
working for the Federal Bureau of Investigation at that time."
Abdel-Hafiz, 45, who was fired by the FBI in May, could not be reached
for
comment. His lawyers also would not discuss the lawsuit.
The FBI declined to say why Abdel-Hafiz was terminated. But the PBS
television program "Frontline" has reported that he failed to reveal on
his
job application that he once was involved in an insurance lawsuit...
SEE ALSO:
RICHARD PERLE SUPPORTS TERRORISM
Justin Raimondo, Antiwar.com, 1/28/04
http://www.antiwar.com/justin/
He is the author of a book that criticizes the U.S. government for
being
too soft on terrorism. He was an advocate of invading Iraq - and most
of
the other Arab countries in the Middle East - long before 9/11. He
wants us
to give up a lot of our civil liberties, including submitting to a
national
ID card, and he's taken to the hustings promoting an approach to the
"war
on terrorism" that's more royalist than the king.
His name is Richard Perle, and he's one of the leading and certainly
one of
the most visible neoconservatives in Washington, D.C., whose combative
style and clear contempt for his opponents has earned him the sobriquet
"Prince of Darkness."
He is also a supporter of terrorism.
Why else would he have agreed to speak at a January 24 fundraiser,
billed
as "A Night of Solidarity," supposedly to raise money for Iranian
earthquake victims - an event sponsored by groups that have links to
the
Mujahedin-e-Khalq (MEK), listed by the U.S. State Department as a
terrorist
organization?
MEK is a formerly Marxist group with odd, cultic overtones. Led by
Maryam
Rajavi, the self-proclaimed "President Elect" of Iran, and her husband,
Massoud, head of the group's military wing, they originally supported
Khomeini when he overthrew the Shah, and carried out terroristic
attacks on
Americans, only to turn against the regime...
-----
FEDERAL MARSHALS TO USE BEHAVIOR PATTERN RECOGNITION AT LOGAN
Associated Press, 1/27/04
http://www.usatoday.com/travel/news/2004-01-27-logan-security_x.htm
BOSTON - The federal air marshals who travel undercover through Logan
International Airport each day will become the first in the country to
use
Israeli-style behavior pattern recognition training to scan the crowd
for
suspicious activity, according to the leader of the Boston field
office.
An undisclosed number of Boston-based marshals have been trained by the
state police unit at Logan, which launched the nation's first such
program
a year ago to identify potentially suspicious passengers for further
questioning.
"The responsibility of the federal air marshal doesn't begin when the
door
of the aircraft closes," said Jack Shea, the special agent in charge of
the
air marshal's Boston field office. "They are watching when they get
their
ticket and when they're moving through the terminals. The (behavior
pattern
recognition) system will be one more tool to ensure that Logan is a
safe
airport."
As part of the new layer of security, specially trained officers
analyze
passengers for irregular behavior and try to identify people that may
have
hostile intentions. It was introduced at Logan by Israeli security
expert
Rafi Ron, a consultant who previously worked for El Al Airlines and
Ben-Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv.
Potentially suspicious behavior could include wearing heavy clothes on
a
hot day, sweating on a cool day, loitering in the terminal without
luggage,
or even using a pay phone. Law enforcement officers who notice any
irregular behavior are trained to then ask simple questions about their
identity and look for an innocent explanation that could clear up any
confusion...
-----
FRENCH SUPPORT VEIL BAN BUT FRENCH MUSLIMS DON'T
Reuters, 1/27/04
PARIS - A majority of French voters supports a government plan to ban
religious symbols from state schools, but the Muslim minority remains
opposed to the measure it sees as discriminatory, according to latest
opinion polls.
The center-right government was due to approve the law in cabinet
Wednesday
before presenting it for debate in the National Assembly on Feb. 3. Its
parliamentary leaders said they expected a solid majority for the law.
A BVA poll issued Tuesday showed 58 percent of those polled thought the
controversial ban, which critics say is not clear enough to be
effective,
could work in practice.
That came after a CSA poll published Monday showed 69 percent favoring
barring Muslim headscarves, Jewish skullcaps and large Christian
crosses
from public schoolrooms.
The same CSA poll said Muslims, who make up eight percent of France's
60
million population, opposed the law by 53 percent.
But a considerable scepticism remained. The BVA poll showed that 43
percent
of all French surveyed thought the government had focused on the veil
issue
to divert attention from more pressing economic and social problems...
ALSO SEE:
FRENCH CABINET ADOPTS MUSLIM SCARF BAN
Associated Press, 1/28/04
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/world/7815584.htm
PARIS - French Cabinet ministers on Wednesday adopted a bill to ban
conspicuous religious symbols in public schools - the first step to
outlawing Islamic head scarves in the classroom.
The bill, containing three articles, goes to the parliament for debate
on
Tuesday.
It stipulates that ``in schools, junior high schools and high schools,
signs and dress that conspicuously show the religious affiliation of
students are forbidden.''
It does not apply to students in private schools.
The law would forbid Islamic head scarves, Jewish skullcaps and
Christian
crosses, but it is clearly aimed at the Muslim head coverings.
Conservative President Jacques Chirac, who called on lawmakers to move
ahead with such a law in a nationally televised speech in December, had
asked that the legislation be succinct, quickly passed and in force by
the
new school year in September...
-----
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CAIR
Council on American-Islamic Relations
453 New Jersey Avenue, S.E.
Washington, D.C. 20003
Tel: 202-488-8787, 202-744-7726
Fax: 202-488-0833
E-mail: cair@cair-net.org
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