cair-net Digest of: get.201_300 Topics (messages 201 through 300): CAIR-NET: N.Va. Muslims Gather to Decry Raids 201 by: CAIR CAIR-NET: Raids, Detentions and Lists Lead Muslims to Cry Persecution 202 by: CAIR CAIR-NET: Muslims Condemn AJC Attempt at Political Exclusion 203 by: CAIR CAIR-NET: U.S. Muslims Learn Techniques of Activism at VA Conference 204 by: CAIR CAIR-NET: America Must Act to Stop Israeli Aggression 205 by: CAIR CAIR-NET: Pipes Says Enfranchisement of U.S. Muslims Threatens Jews 206 by: CAIR CAIR-NET: Jewish Groups Asked to Condemn Israeli Attacks 207 by: CAIR CAIR-NET: "Betrayed" by Bush/AI Condemns Israeli Rights Violations 208 by: CAIR CAIR-NET: Powell Meets with Muslims/Orphans Rumor May be Hoax 209 by: CAIR CAIR-NET: CAIR Supports President's Demand for End to Israeli Attacks 210 by: CAIR CAIR-NET: Detainees/Afghan Orphans/Palestine/Teen Asks to Display Five Pillars 211 by: CAIR CAIR-NET: Advocate of Slaughtering Palestinians to Appear on Fox 212 by: CAIR CAIR-NET: Advertisers May Pull Ads From "Nuking Mecca" Journal 213 by: CAIR CAIR-NET: Muslims Defend Jewish Woman Fired for Marrying Palestinian 214 by: CAIR CAIR-NET: Columnist Says Quran is "Suicide Playbook" 215 by: CAIR CAIR-NET: Judge Firm on Open Hearing for Activist 216 by: CAIR CAIR-NET: U.S. Muslims Say "War Crimes" Committed in Jenin 217 by: CAIR CAIR-NET: Help a Struggling Muslim Family 218 by: CAIR CAIR-NET: Aid Offers for Family Flow In 219 by: CAIR CAIR-NET: JENIN - The Camp that Became a Slaughterhouse 220 by: CAIR CAIR-NET: Israel Rally "Spins" Brutal Occupation Say Muslims 221 by: CAIR CAIR-NET: Wolfowitz Booed at Pro-Israel Rally 222 by: CAIR CAIR-NET: Dept. Store Chain Settles Muslim Discrimination Complaint 223 by: CAIR CAIR-NET: April 20 Rally for Palestine in DC 224 by: CAIR CAIR-NET: Largest-Ever Rally for Palestine - April 20 225 by: CAIR CAIR-NET: Is the Pro-Israel Media Lobby Losing its Grip? 226 by: CAIR CAIR-NET: Emerson Says Islam Needs "Reform," is "Outmoded" 227 by: CAIR CAIR-NET: Rep. McKinney Requests Hearing on Palestinian Relief Restrictions 228 by: CAIR CAIR-NET: Rally for Palestine Attracts 100,000 Americans 229 by: CAIR CAIR-NET: Congress Seeks $200 Million in Added Aid for Israel 230 by: CAIR CAIR-NET: Muslim Mother of 11 Freed in Florida 231 by: CAIR CAIR-NET: Fla. Editorial Cartoon Defames Palestinian Mothers 232 by: CAIR CAIR-NET: Dr. Laura Says Muslims Have a "Plan" to Dominate World 233 by: CAIR CAIR-NET: Palestinians in Jenin Turn Down U.S. Relief Aid 234 by: CAIR CAIR-NET: Report on American Muslim Civil Rights to be Released 235 by: CAIR CAIR-NET: CAIR Mourns the Loss of Dr. Hala Maksoud 236 by: CAIR CAIR-NET: More Nebraskans Converting to Islam After Sept. 11 237 by: CAIR CAIR-NET: Desmond Tutu: Apartheid in the Holy Land 238 by: CAIR CAIR-NET: Anti-Muslim Incidents Up Three-Fold in Past Year 239 by: CAIR CAIR-NET: Action Needed on Gujarat Killings/Critical Look at Patriot Act 240 by: CAIR CAIR-NET: U.S. Politicians "Pledge Allegiance" to Israel 241 by: CAIR CAIR-NET: Congressman Calls for Ethnic Cleansing of Palestinians 242 by: CAIR CAIR-NET: Tenn. Muslims Accuse Whirlpool of Religious Discrimination 243 by: CAIR CAIR-NET: Thank Those in Congress Who Did Not Vote for Pro-Israel Resolutions 244 by: CAIR CAIR-NET: A Penchant for Secrecy 245 by: CAIR CAIR-NET: U.S. Physician Detained by Israelis After Reporting From Jenin 246 by: CAIR CAIR-NET: At $3,100 an Hour, Solidarity Has Wings 247 by: CAIR CAIR-NET: U.S. Gov. Must Protect Americans From Illegal Israeli Detentions 248 by: CAIR CAIR-NET: The Israeli "Art Student" Mystery 249 by: CAIR CAIR-NET: Israeli Troops Defecate into Photocopier 250 by: CAIR CAIR-NET: American Detainee in Israel On Hunger Strike 251 by: CAIR CAIR-NET: American Security Sacrificed for Aid to Israel 252 by: CAIR CAIR-NET: Few Question Congress' Blind Support for Sharon 253 by: CAIR CAIR-NET: American Relief Worker Released/Congress Encourages Extremism 254 by: CAIR CAIR-NET: Israelis Caught Near U.S. Naval Base in Truck with TNT Traces 255 by: CAIR CAIR-NET: First Lady Can't Empathize with Palestinian Mothers 256 by: CAIR CAIR-NET: Praying Muslims Lead to Evacuation 257 by: CAIR CAIR-NET: CBS Exposes Faked Slave "Redemptions" in Sudan 258 by: CAIR CAIR-NET: Repeated Profiling of Muslim Traveler Prompts DOT Meeting 259 by: CAIR CAIR-NET: Rep. McKinney Calls for "Unvarnished Truth" on Terror Warnings 260 by: CAIR CAIR-NET: Breaking News - Dr. Riad Abdelkarim Released 261 by: CAIR CAIR-NET: Join in Welcoming Dr. Riad Abdelkarim Back Home 262 by: CAIR CAIR-NET: Dr. Abdelkarim Thanks Supporters for Release From Israel 263 by: CAIR CAIR-NET: U.S. Defends Withholding Detainees' Names 264 by: CAIR CAIR-NET: Turkish Men Cause Alarm at Mass. Schools 265 by: CAIR CAIR-NET: Paul Harvey Says Muslims May "Sell Daughters" 266 by: CAIR CAIR-NET: Georgetown Univ. Cop Assaults Muslim Family 267 by: CAIR CAIR-NET: Detainees Allege More Retaliation 268 by: CAIR CAIR-NET: Georgetown U. Suspends Officer Accused of Assault 269 by: CAIR CAIR-NET: Calif. Cops Arrest 11-Year-Old Muslim Girl 270 by: CAIR CAIR-NET: Video of 11-Year-Old's Arrest/Inside the Pro-Israel Lobby 271 by: CAIR CAIR-NET: Demand Reunification of Muslim Family in Florida 272 by: CAIR CAIR-NET: "Jihad" - At Harvard, a Word Sparks a Battle 273 by: CAIR CAIR-NET: New FBI Guidelines May Lead to Abuses Say Muslims 274 by: CAIR CAIR-NET: Secrecy on Detainees is Debated in D.C. Court 275 by: CAIR CAIR-NET: Rapes Go Unpunished in Indian Mob Attacks 276 by: CAIR CAIR-NET: Act Now to Prevent War Between Pakistan and India 277 by: CAIR CAIR-NET: Expel American Muslims? 278 by: CAIR CAIR-NET: Muslims React to Fingerprinting of Visa Holders 279 by: CAIR CAIR-NET: Fingerprinting Proposal is Discriminatory Say Muslims 280 by: CAIR CAIR-NET: "We'll Show Them Humiliated" 281 by: CAIR CAIR-NET: All-American Osamas 282 by: CAIR CAIR-NET: CNN Host's 'War on Islamists' Sparks Religious Debate 283 by: CAIR CAIR-NET: "Islamists"/Muslim Voters/Profiling 284 by: CAIR CAIR-NET: Fallaci - Muslims "Multiply Like Rats" 285 by: CAIR CAIR-NET: Baptists Call Prophet Muhammad "Demon-Possessed Pedophile" 286 by: CAIR CAIR-NET: NJ Court Denies Release of Detainee Data 287 by: CAIR CAIR-NET: Vandals Attack Calif. Mosque Under Construction 288 by: CAIR CAIR-NET: Christians and Jews Condemn Anti-Muslim Smears 289 by: CAIR CAIR-NET: "Who's the Real Demon?"/Starbucks Boycott 290 by: CAIR CAIR-NET: U.S. Muslims Barred From Israel Hold News Conference 291 by: CAIR CAIR-NET: Muslim Police Officer Denied Right to Jumah 292 by: CAIR CAIR-NET: Islam Attracts Hispanics/Cover-Up of Anthrax Case? 293 by: CAIR CAIR-NET: U.S. Must Keep Terror Hearings Open, Court Says 294 by: CAIR CAIR-NET: Fla. Drops Neglect Charges Against Muslim Family 295 by: CAIR CAIR-NET: Oppose Sanctions Bill That Harms Americans and Syrians 296 by: CAIR CAIR-NET: Bush Disagrees With Pastor's Remarks 297 by: CAIR CAIR-NET: Penn. Muslims Hold News Conference for Guard Denied Prayer 298 by: CAIR CAIR-NET: Muslim PAC Urges Support for Rep. Hilliard 299 by: CAIR CAIR-NET: Were Israelis Detained on 9/11 Spies? 300 by: CAIR --------------------------------- Expecting? Get great news right away with email Auto-Check. Try the Yahoo! 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In the Name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful ----- AMERICAN MUSLIM NEWS BRIEFS - 3/26/2002 ----- HEADLINES: * HADITH OF THE DAY: PATIENCE * CAIR CONFERENCE NEARLY SOLD OUT, REGISTRATION CLOSES 3-28 * N.VA. MUSLIMS GATHER TO DECRY RAIDS (Washington Post) * EARTHQUAKES HIT AFGHANISTAN, 2,000 FEARED DEAD (Reuters) * ANOTHER MUSLIM CONFIRMED DEAD AT WTC (Newsday) * IF THINGS 'DON'T LOOK RIGHT,' THEY'RE READY TO ACT (Atlanta Journal) * NEW YORKERS BELIEVE 9-11 HAD IMPACT ON DIVERSITY IN THE WORKPLACE * EMPLOYEES PRAY FOR GUIDANCE (Philadelphia Inquirer) * ABCS AND ARABIC (Salt Lake Tribune) * OUR HIJACKED FOREIGN POLICY (Antiwar.com) - Leaked Government report exposes Israeli spy ring * ISRAELIS USE PEACE PROCESS TO SEIZE ARAB LAND, MANIPULATE U.S. POLICY (St. Paul Pioneer Press) * ISLAM ON THE INTERNET (NPR) * FRENCH TEACHERS END STRIKE AFTER MUSLIM HIGH SCHOOLER CHANGES HEADSCARF (AP) ----- HADITH OF THE DAY: PATIENCE The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) passed by a woman who was weeping beside a grave. He told her to fear God and be patient. Not recognizing the Prophet, she said: "Go away, for you have not been afflicted with a calamity like mine." When she was later informed who he was, she went to the house of the Prophet and said to him, "I did not recognize you." He said, "Verily, real patience is at the first stroke of a calamity." Sahih Al-Bukhari, Volume 2, Hadith 372 ----- CAIR CONFERENCE NEARLY SOLD OUT, REGISTRATION CLOSES 3-28 CAIR's intensive Training Conference on Saturday, March 30, and Sunday, March 31, in Vienna, Va., is nearly sold out. Registration will be closed on Thursday, March 28. There will be no on-site registration. To register, go to: http://www.cair-net.org/asp/leadershipconference.asp Rep. John Conyers, Jr. (D-Mich.) will offer a luncheon address dealing with Muslim civil rights in America as they relate to recent events. A major legal initiative will be announced at an evening banquet. At the conference, headlined "Muslims in America: Moving Forward with Faith," top trainers in their fields will offer workshops and lectures on media relations, civil rights advocacy, coalition building, and political empowerment. Workshop presenters include Muslim congressional staffers, professional leadership trainers, representatives of national grassroots civil liberties advocacy organizations, media representatives, and CAIR staffers. For more information, e-mail: register@cair-net.org ----- N.VA. MUSLIMS GATHER TO DECRY RAIDS By Rosalind Helderman, The Washington Post, 3/26/2002 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A17818-2002Mar26.html Several hundred people met last night in Sterling to hear speakers denounce last week's searches of Muslim homes and businesses in Northern Virginia as reminiscent of government tactics in the McCarthy era. The speakers promised to seek congressional hearings into the raids and called on listeners to support the fundraising efforts of the groups that were searched. Speakers also pledged a renewed effort to organize the American Muslim community. "You have been law-abiding citizens...I want you to be strong. Hold your head up. You have done nothing wrong," Mohamed Magid, the religious leader of the All Dulles Area Muslim Society, told the audience at the Sterling Library. The crowd filled the room and spilled into a hallway. At that point, organizers announced that another meeting would be held at the Muslim group's center, also in Sterling, and they later said 150 people attended that meeting... Among the businesses raided was Leesburg's Graduate School of Islamic and Social Sciences, which trains Muslim clerics, including for service in the U.S. military. Several of the businesses were centered in Herndon, including the International Institute for Islamic Thought... Describing the raided groups as moderate and responsible, people at the meeting called the searches a turning point. "For American Muslims, a new day has been etched into our hearts and minds. That day was March 20," said Manal Omar, a meeting organizer... ----- EARTHQUAKES HIT AFGHANISTAN, 2,000 FEARED DEAD By Sayed Salahuddin and Brian Williams KABUL (Reuters) - Aftershocks were hampering rescue efforts Tuesday after some 2,000 people were killed and thousands injured in a series of earthquakes which struck northern Afghanistan. The interim government of the war-ravaged country appealed for international help, saying it could not cope with the disaster. The quakes devastated the market town of Nahrin, a district capital of mud-brick buildings with a population of 10,000 near the epicenter in the rugged Hindu Kush mountains, and surrounding villages late Monday and Tuesday morning. "It was a very heart-rending catastrophe," Interior Minister Yunus Qanuni told Reuters. "The bodies of 1,800 have been pulled out of the rubble, but many more are still buried. More than 3,000 have been injured and 30,000 displaced," Qanuni said at Kabul airport before flying to the disaster zone... Earthquakes are relatively frequent in the Hindu Kush mountain range. In 1998, two earthquakes killed about 8,500 people and destroyed tens of thousands of houses in Takhar and Badakhshan provinces. ----- ANOTHER MUSLIM CONFIRMED DEAD AT WTC MISSING CADET CONFIRMED DEAD By Merle English, Newsday, 3/26/2002 http://www.newsday.com/ Mohammad Salman Hamdani, 23, the Bayside police cadet and part-time ambulance driver sought for questioning since his parents reported him missing Sept. 12, is among the most recent confirmed victims of the World Trade Center attack, authorities said yesterday. Family members had said Hamdani might have rushed to the Twin Towers to help with the rescue operation and died in their fiery collapse. But his mother and father also expressed fear - mingled with hope - that Hamdani might have been detained for questioning by authorities, although they did not know why he would be. Hamdani's remains were found at the World Trade Center site recently and identified by the medical examiner. Hamdani was a practicing Muslim whose family emigrated from Karachi, Pakistan, 22 years ago. A June graduate of Queens College, he reportedly had a job as a research assistant at Rockefeller University on Manhattan's Upper East Side. ----- IF THINGS 'DON'T LOOK RIGHT,' THEY'RE READY TO ACT By MARY LOU PICKEL, The Atlanta Journal, 3/26/2002 http://www.accessatlanta.com/ajc/epaper/editions/today/metro_c30a1108e2c420e5001e.html On Feb. 21, passengers ran up to several Guard troops to report that three Muslim men were praying loudly by the T-gates, according to a report. Two of the men had constantly walked up and down the aisle of their Delta flight from Nevada, making other passengers nervous, they said. The Guard troops observed the prayer ceremony and tried to assess the situation along with FAA security officials. After the men boarded the plane, the pilot demanded rescreening for them and their six traveling companions. When the party was cleared to go, 17 other passengers got off the plane in protest and were booked on another flight, according to a Guard report... ----- NEW YORKERS BELIEVE 9-11 HAD IMPACT ON DIVERSITY IN THE WORKPLACE www.nytco.com NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 26, 2002--A majority of job seekers (58%) and nearly half of hiring managers (44%) say the events of September 11 have had an impact on workplace diversity in the greater New York metropolitan area, according to recent research findings from The New York Times Job Market, the print and online recruitment services offering of The New York Times advertising department. Eighteen percent of job seekers and 12% of hiring managers say they believe there is more workplace discrimination since September 11. When surveyed, several respondents voiced their beliefs that people are no longer open to the concept of workplace diversity and that prospective employees who are Muslim or of Arab descent will now be viewed with suspicion by hiring managers. Some 10% of job seekers and 7% of hiring managers say the events of September 11 have made people more tolerant of other's differences... This press release can be downloaded from www.nytco.com ----- EMPLOYEES PRAY FOR GUIDANCE By Jane M. Von Bergen, The Philadelphia Inquirer, 3/25/2002 http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/2002/03/25/business/2930648.htm Particularly since Sept. 11, Muslims feel vulnerable at work, she said. Among many religions, they need some of the most obvious accommodations - particularly time and space for prayer at several specified times during the day. "Usually it can be worked out," said Ibrahim Hooper, a spokesman with the Council on American-Islamic Relations, an Islamic advocacy group. Hooper said that after Sept. 11 there seemed to be greater understanding of religious practices, but that Islamic workers experienced more of other kinds of harassment on the job. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission reported that the number of religious-discrimination complaints filed by Muslims between Sept. 11 and March 11 was triple those filed during the same period a year earlier... ----- ABCS AND ARABIC BY PEGGY FLETCHER STACK, THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE, 3/23/2002 http://www.sltrib.com/2002/mar/03232002/saturday/saturday.htm Like school kids everywhere, these Sandy students gobble down macaroni-and-cheese, read about The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins and romp on colorful swings and slides. They know their numbers, colors and shapes and many can read and write in journals. But this is Iqra Academy, Utah's only full-time Muslim school, so instead of "Ee-i-ee-i-oh!" in the chorus of "Old MacDonald," the elementary-age children sing, "God is only one!" There are other differences as well. The 31 students -- whose families came from Burma, Malaysia, Palestine, Egypt, Indonesia and Somalia -- are taught by women who wear head scarves as a sign of obedience to God and learn the Arabic alphabet right along with English. During their morning study of the Qu'ran, the children explore the notion of good and evil... ----- OUR HIJACKED FOREIGN POLICY Neoconservatives take Washington - Baghdad is next By Justin Raimondo, Antiwar.com, 3/25/2002 http://www.antiwar.com/justin/justincol.html Evil is defined, in the neocon sense, as any power that stands in the way of Israel and the current right-wing govenment's plans to ethnically cleanse Palestine of the Palestinians and solve the "Arab problem" once and for all. Under cover of a general Middle Eastern conflagration, with US troops and planes targeting Arafat's possible protectors, Israel hopes to use the US as a shield while she puts her enemies to the sword. It's ugly, even monstrous - and it just may work. What could stop it, however, is if enough people like Matthews, and others in the media, catch on to the neocons' wargame - and decide it's time to pull the plug. SEE ALSO: THE TRUTH, AT LAST: Leaked Government report exposes Israeli spy ring By Justin Raimondo, Antiwar.com, 3/22/2002 http://www.antiwar.com/justin/j032202.html In the gray, matter-of-fact bureaucratese so typical of a government document, the leaked "Israeli Art Student Papers" - posted on Antiwar.com yesterday - confirm what we have been saying in this space all along: that an underground apparatus of Israeli covert agents, centered in the southwestern US but extending nationwide, carried out extensive operations in the months prior to 9/11. Their targets were US government offices, including not only the Drug Enforcement Administration (as previously reported), but the Immigration and Naturalization Service, the Federal Protective Service, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (BATF), the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and a host of state and federal courthouses and other buildings, as well as military bases. There is no longer any doubt about whether the spy ring existed. Now we are left with the nagging question: what was its purpose? The leaked document - provided to us by the heroic John Sugg, of Creative Loafing (Atlanta) and the Weekly Planet (Tampa) -- describes in excruciating detail the doggedly persistent efforts of Israelis claiming to be "art students" to get into the offices and even the homes of federal law enforcement agents and government officials. In this 60-odd page report, incident is piled on incident until, at a certain point, even the most mentally challenged reader -- even one who wants to give the Israelis the benefit of every doubt -- is forced to conclude that our friends, the Israelis, were up to no good: and, perhaps, far worse than that.... ----- ISRAELIS USE PEACE PROCESS TO SEIZE ARAB LAND, MANIPULATE U.S. POLICY By FEDWA WAZWAZ, The St. Paul Pioneer Press, 3/24/2002 http://www.twincities.com/mld/pioneerpress/news/opinion/2916213.htm The Middle East peace process was supposed to bring an end to the hostilities between Palestinians and Israelis, but instead it has led to a vicious cycle of violence, hatred and vengeance. So what went wrong? In answering that question, we must ask ourselves how well we know the issues involved in the "peace process?" To the Palestinians, the peace process was to bring an end to one of the longest military occupations, leading to a viable Palestinian state that would allow Palestinians to live with dignity and freedom. To Israel, I believe, the peace process was a needed camouflage to continue seizing Arab land, expanding Jewish-only settlements, demolishing Arab-only property and engaging in other illegal acts. The Israelis have a scapegoat - Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat - to blame whenever the Palestinians resist the occupation and respond to these illegal acts with violence... ----- ISLAM ON THE INTERNET Part II: Muslim Women Breaking Down Barriers on the Web By Davar Ardalan's report on Muslim women on the Internet http://www.npr.org/programs/watc/cyberislam/fatima.html For many Muslim women, the Internet has become a safe portal where traditional notions of the ideal Muslim woman can be tested, expanded, and re-created. As NPR's Davar Ardalan discovered, there is a dynamic exchange taking place online, where a Muslim woman can be a traditionalist or an iconoclast, a homemaker or an entrepreneur. The "neutral ground" of the Internet allows many Muslim women to learn about their rights within the religion, without the usual cultural or traditional barriers -- barriers, for example, that prohibited Afghan women under the Taliban to educate themselves or go to work. Ardalan met one woman who personifies the "cyber Fatima" trend. In many ways, Noorin Khwaya is a traditional Muslim woman who chooses to wear the Islamic veil and stay home with her four children. But she's also the CEO of a thriving home-based Internet company, TwoMuslimGirls.com, selling traditional garb over the Internet. ----- FRENCH TEACHERS END STRIKE AFTER MUSLIM HIGH SCHOOLER CHANGES HEADSCARF Associated Press, 3/26/2002 PARIS (AP) - Teachers at a suburban Paris high school ended a strike Tuesday over a Muslim student's insistence on wearing a head scarf after she showed up for class in a modified version that exposed her ears and forehead. Striking a deal with school officials, the student changed her customary black headscarf, which had tightly framed her face and covered her shoulders, for a loosely draped scarf in light blue. "I'm showing my forehead and ears now," the student, identified by her first name, Mimouna, told LCI Television. "All I want is to study and be left alone ... and to live my religion peacefully and tranquilly." Nearly all of the 90 teachers at Leonard de Vinci high school in the suburb of Tremblay-en-France went on strike last Wednesday to protest a decision by officials of the Creteil school district to allow the student to attend class in a headscarf. The teachers said the move threatened France's separation of religion and state. The student had been banned from attending class in February after school administrators ruled that she had violated a school policy banning "showy" clothes, said Jean-Claude Girald, a teacher's union leader in the Paris area. ----- 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 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 ----- AMERICAN MUSLIM NEWS BRIEFS - 3/27/2002 ----- HEADLINES: * VERSE OF THE DAY: SPEAK FOR JUSTICE * RAIDS, DETENTIONS AND LISTS LEAD MUSLIMS TO CRY PERSECUTION (New York Times) - CUSTOMS SERVICE DEFENDS ITS AGENTS IN N.VA. RAIDS (Washington Post) - OPINION: MODERATE MUSLIMS - THE NEW TARGET? (Daily Star) * MAN WHO DROVE TRUCK INTO ISLAMIC CENTER SAID HE HATED MUSLIMS (Tallahassee Democrat) * EDITORIAL: FREE ANSAR MAHMOOD (Washington Post) * NEWSPAPERS PUSH FOR ACCESS TO INS CASE (Detroit Free Press) * MARCH 30 - NATIONAL DEMONSTRATIONS TO "END THE OCCUPATION" * A REPLY TO DANIEL PIPES (New York Post) - U.S. ARABS' FIREBRAND * SUPPORT AFGHAN QUAKE VICTIMS * SUPPORT THE MUSLIMS OF INDIA * MUSLIMS ASKED TO BECOME FOSTER PARENTS ----- VERSE OF THE DAY: SPEAK FOR JUSTICE "Show forgiveness, speak for justice and avoid the ignorant." The Holy Quran, Chapter 7, Verse 199 ----- RAIDS, DETENTIONS AND LISTS LEAD MUSLIMS TO CRY PERSECUTION By JOSEPH KAHN, The New York Times, 3/27/2002 http://www.nytimes.com/2002/03/27/national/27MUSL.html As the Bush administration investigates what it says may be domestic ties to Al Qaeda and other terrorist groups, some Muslim leaders say the government is persecuting them as it once did suspected supporters of Japan or the Soviet Union more than 50 years ago. An ad hoc group of Muslim civic and religious groups have accused the administration of racial and religious harassment, citing the Justice Department's request that 3,000 Muslims living in the United States submit to voluntary interviews, as well as a series of federal raids last week on homes, businesses and charities in Northern Virginia. Several hundred Muslims held an open meeting on Monday night in Sterling, Va., near Washington, to listen to complaints of people whose homes or businesses were among those raided. Many said they intended to press for Congressional hearings into police tactics and to organize rallies to call attention to abuses against Muslims since Sept. 11... "As Muslims we condemned the terrorist acts of Sept. 11," said Akmal M. Muhammad, an imam who spoke at the meeting. "But we must also insist that the Bush administration stop practicing terrorism in reverse against us." Though the number of Muslims in the United States has been estimated by some to be as high as six million, Muslims tend to be more loosely organized than adherents of some other major religions and do not often speak with a unified national voice. But groups like the Council on American-Islamic Relations and the Muslim Public Affairs Council say they are trying to change that to protest what they describe as a pattern of discrimination against Muslims since the terrorist attacks... Louay M. Safi, director of research at the International Institute of Islamic Thought in Herndon, Va., which was searched, did not complain about tactics. But he said his study center had no ties to terrorists and that he believed it was a target only because it supports Islam. "This has undermined the effect of Bush saying that Muslims are peaceful," Mr. Safi said. "This is really a campaign against Islam." SEE ALSO: CUSTOMS SERVICE DEFENDS ITS AGENTS IN N.VA. RAIDS By Tom Jackman, The Washington Post, 3/27/2002 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A22942-2002Mar26.html The U.S. Customs Service said yesterday that its agents acted professionally while serving 16 search warrants in a series of raids in Northern Virginia last week... The subjects of the searches and Muslim interest groups have protested the raids, challenging the reasoning and alleging heavy-handedness. Aysha N. Unus, for example, said she and her 19-year-old daughter were handcuffed for five hours in their Herndon home and were not allowed to cover their heads for several hours, as Islamic tradition dictates... Ibrahim Hooper, a spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, dismissed the agency's response. "First they said she wasn't handcuffed, now they're saying she was," he said about Unus. "We can hope this is a realization that something went wrong with this raid . . . and not just embarrassment about the negative publicity." OPINION: MODERATE MUSLIMS - THE NEW TARGET? The Daily Star (Lebanon), 3/26/2002 http://www.dailystar.com.lb/opinion/03_26_02_c.htm For over 20 years, the Muslim leadership associated with the International Institute of Islamic Thought (http://www.iiit.org), one of the targets of the raid, has been at the forefront of many progressive, moderate, intellectual and liberal initiatives taken by American Muslims... One of the most debilitating effects of raids on moderate Muslim institutions is the power it gives to those conservative Muslims who are critical of the US and see the war on terror as essentially a global war on Islam... ----- MAN WHO DROVE TRUCK INTO ISLAMIC CENTER SAID HE HATED MUSLIMS By Tony Bridges, The Tallahassee Democrat, 3/27/2002 http://www.tallahassee.com/mld/democrat/2941390.htm The man who crashed his truck into a campus mosque late Monday has a history of bizarre behavior linked to Florida State University. Charles Franklin, 41, was arrested in 1992 after he used a metal pipe to vandalize the disc-jockey booth at V89, an FSU radio station. In 1998, he was investigated for allegedly driving his van at a group of students near the Student Union, according to FSU police. Now, he's charged with burglary and felony criminal mischief in Monday's attack on the Islamic Center of Tallahassee. Franklin told police he did it because he "hated Muslims" and could face additional hate-crime penalties if convicted, said Scott Hunt, Tallahassee Police Department spokesman. Federal prosecutors also reportedly are reviewing the case for possible civil rights violations. "All (Franklin's) statements are very alarming for us," said mosque President Hazim Mohammed. "It's not just a crazy guy saying something, because he acted on it. "The idea of terrorism is to terrorize. And that's what happened exactly..." In Monday's attack, Franklin, who makes his living as a carpenter, crashed his GMC pickup into the West Pensacola Street mosque about 30 minutes before evening prayers. The small truck was wedged into the building's front entrance, so he escaped by smashing out the cab's rear window. He left a Bible and a bottle of liquid marked "holy water" in the truck, police said... According to his arrest report, he shouted curses at Osama bin Laden and at Allah as he was led to a patrol car. Franklin allegedly told investigators that he wanted to kill Muslims and had tried unsuccessfully to join the military, adding that he could have blown up the mosque by putting propane tanks in the truck... Meanwhile, Islamic leaders are convinced there was only one motivation behind the attack: hate. "(His) statements are a clear indication that he came out of hate," Mohammed said. "He's carrying this hatred in his mind and his heart." And in Washington, the Council on American-Islamic Relations issued a statement Tuesday blaming Franklin's attack on "the current barrage of anti-Muslim rhetoric by right-wing commentators who paint Islam as a violent faith bent on world domination..." ----- EDITORIAL: FREE ANSAR MAHMOOD The Washington Post, 3/27/2002 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A22838-2002Mar26.html MOST OF THE 1,200 immigrants picked up and detained by the federal government after Sept. 11 have been cleared of any connection to the terrorists, or to any terrorists. But most, according to a Sunday article by Post staff writer Hanna Rosin, are being deported anyhow. In the course of police inquiries, almost all of the detainees were found to have violated some law or regulation, sufficient grounds for them to be kicked out and never permitted to return. The first reaction to this news may be: So what? They should have known better than to break a rule -- to overstay a visa, or help a friend without a green card find a job, or commit some other infraction. But the story of a Pakistani man, Ansar Mahmood, may have caused some readers, as it did us, to think twice about the administration's no-excuses policy. Mr. Mahmood seems in many ways to have been the ideal immigrant, the classic American story. He was here legally. He worked hard, legally, putting in 13 or 14 hours per day as a pizza delivery man. He lived frugally and sent money home so his sisters could go to school and his sick father could buy medicine... Now he faces deportation, with no possibility of return...The government should not tolerate lawbreakers. But by rounding up aliens from majority-Muslim countries and then finding something, anything, to pin on them, the government seems to be saying: Terrorist or not, we're better off without you. From what we know about him, it doesn't seem to us that America is better off without Mr. Mahmood. ----- NEWSPAPERS PUSH FOR ACCESS TO INS CASE By David Ashenfelter, Detroit Free Press, 3/27/2002 http://www.freep.com/news/mich/haddad27_20020327.htm DETROIT _ Government lawyers tried to persuade a federal judge Tuesday that the public doesn't have a legal right to attend deportation proceedings for Ann Arbor Muslim activist Rabih Haddad. But U.S. District Judge Nancy Edmunds didn't seem to agree. "Historically, the press had an absolute right limited only by overriding issues of national security to attend judicial proceedings," Edmunds said during the 2 -hour hearing on lawsuits filed by the Detroit Free Press and other newspapers to open Haddad's proceedings. At issue is a memo that Michael Creppy, chief U.S. immigration judge, issued Sept. 21 at the behest of Attorney General John Ashcroft. It directs all U.S. immigration judges to bar family, the public and the news media from immigration hearings resulting from the terrorism probe. Haddad, who was born in Lebanon and lives in Ann Arbor, Mich., was arrested at his home Dec. 14, the same day federal agents raided the foundation he cofounded in suburban Chicago. The government says the Global Relief Foundation finances terrorism, which Haddad's supporters deny. The Immigration and Naturalization Service arrested Haddad for overstaying his visa and is trying to deport him. It also is trying to remove his wife, Salma al-Rushaid, for overstaying her visa, and three of their four children. He is being held in Chicago. She and her children are free pending a deportation hearing April 10... The newspapers argued Tuesday that the public has a constitutional right to attend court hearings, unless someone can show that there is a higher public interest in closing the proceeding... "I've rarely heard a judge express her opinions so clearly during questioning," said Michigan ACLU Executive Director Kary Moss, who attended the hearing. "She was very up front when she thought the government was wrong in its position, which seemed to be most of the time." ----- MARCH 30 - NATIONAL DEMONSTRATIONS TO "END THE OCCUPATION" Major demonstrations are planned across the nation in support of Palestinian rights on Palestinian Land Day, Saturday, March 30. Demonstrations are scheduled to be held in Washington, DC, Los Angeles, CA, and Atlanta, GA. Please join us in demanding that the Bush Administration be actively engaged in the full implementation of International Law and UN Resolutions calling for self-determination for the Palestinian people and for an end to the Israeli Occupation. WASHINGTON, DC What: Demonstration & Rally Where: Freedom Plaza (13th Street and Pennsylvania Ave., NW) When: 1:00 - 4:00 p.m. LOS ANGELES, CA What: Demonstration & Rally Where: In front of the Federal Building at Westwood, which is at Wilshire Blvd. and Veteran St. When: 12 p.m. SEE: http://www.cair-california.org/announce/palestinerally.htm ATLANTA, GA What: Demonstration & March Where: Starting at Piedmont Park- Ending in front of the Israeli Consulate. Gather at the "Free Nelson Mandela" monument in Piedmont Park - right beyond the gate entrance at 10th Street & Charles Allen Dr. When: 2:00-4:00 p.m. For more information about the Land Day Demonstrations, please contact the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee at:(202) 244-2990 or by e-mail to: organizing@adc.org Cosponsors: American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) American Committee on Jerusalem (ACJ) American Muslim Council (AMC) Al-Hewar Center Council for the National Interest (CNI) Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) El-Bireh Society Fellowship of Reconciliation/DC Chapter (FOR-DC) Partners for Peace Project South: Institute for the Elimination of Poverty & Genocide Solidarity USA Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC) Christian Peacemakers Teams (CPT) American Muslims for Jerusalem (AMJ) Al-Awda-DC Jews Against Occupation (JAC) Nonviolence International The Young Arab Leadership Alliance (YALA) - Georgetown University Peace Action Arab Students Association at American University Washington Peace Center (WPC) Middle East Peace Committee/Washington Episcopal Diocese Pax Christi USA Union of Arab Students Associations (UASA) American Muslims for Global Peace and Justice (AMGPJ) Black Voices for Peace Muslim American Society (MAS) Palestinian-American Women's Association (PAWA) The International Action Center (IAC) International Socialist Organization (ISO) Islamic Association for Palestine (IAP) Solidarity International for Human Rights (SIHR) Birzeit Society Palestine Aid Society (PAS) Coalition For Peace in the Middle East (CPME) Unitarian Universalist for Justice in the Middle East (UUJME), ----- A REPLY TO DANIEL PIPES By HUSSEIN IBISH, The New York Post, 3/27/2002 http://www.nypost.com/postopinion/opedcolumnists/44527.htm IN a heated exchange on MSNBC's Alan Keyes show recently, Daniel Pipes was so badly beaten on the merits of the argument that he was reduced to shouting at me to "shut up." Having failed to convince me to silence my advocacy on behalf of the Arab-American community voluntarily, Pipes now seeks to have me banned from the TV shows where I have repeatedly carried the day. In the pages of the New York Post he urges the media to "close their doors" to me ("U.S. Arabs' Firebrand," Opinion, March 25)... Almost all his "evidence" that I should not be allowed to defeat him in television debates any more is quotes ripped out of their context and misrepresented, mainly from articles I wrote as a university student many years ago. It is truly touching to think of poor old Dan poring over musty issues of the Massachusetts Daily Collegian in a futile search for means to discredit me. This is not the first time that Pipes, who is a veritable geyser of falsehoods, has resorted to such fabrications. In August 2000, he labeled me a "fundamentalist Muslim," whose goal is "the Islamization of America." This nonsense fell completely flat, and has occasionally come back to haunt him, since I was then and remain an ardent secularist. It has now given way to equally absurd claims that I promote "a set of far left-wing views." So, in Pipes' mind, I've suddenly gone, in the space of less than two years, from being a far right-wing fundamentalist to an extreme leftist. SEE PIPES' ORIGINAL ARTICLE: U.S. ARABS' FIREBRAND http://www.nypost.com/seven/03252002/postopinion/opedcolumnists/44303.htm ----- SUPPORT AFGHAN QUAKE VICTIMS PRESS RELEASE - For Immediate Release CONTACTS: Phone: 248-424-7493 Susan Afr: Media Director -Ext. 25 Mariam Ahmad - Ext. 22 LIFE FOR RELIEF AND DEVELOPMENT APPEALS FOR AID TO AFGHANISTAN EARTHQUAKE VICTIMS Life for Relief and Development is requesting donations to assist in the aftermath of the earthquake on March 25 that killed an estimated 5,000 people and destroyed over 30,000 homes. Life is opening a field office in Kabul, Afghanistan. Development Director Vicki Robb who is at the border of Afghanistan stated, "Internally displaced persons are living in tent camps. So many more will be displaced now because of the earthquake. The needs are great because many people have had all their personal belongings destroyed." Life has recently sent five 40-feet containers to Afghanistan in cooperation with other agencies. The aid includes requested medical supplies for the Women's hospital in Kabul as well as coats, blankets, and medical books. In October 2001 Life opened an office in Peshawar, Pakistan to aid the Afghan Refugees. Life for Relief and Development is a nonprofit United Nations affiliated Organization dedicated to alleviating human suffering regardless of race, color, religion, or cultural background. Donations to assist the Afghan victims are greatly appreciated. Credit Card donations can be made online at www.lifeusa.org. Checks should be made out to Life for Relief & Development and sent to: Life for Relief and Development 17300 W. 10 Mile Road Southfield, MI. 48075 1-800-827-3543 life@lifeusa.org www.lifeusa.org ----- SUPPORT THE MUSLIMS OF INDIA Learn about the thousands who have been killed and injured by hate mongers in Gujarat, India. WHEN: April 7, 2:30 p.m. WHERE: Momin Lodge, 1918 Artesia Blvd, Torrance, CA One block West of Western Avenue. For more information, contact: Ismail Ghosla (714) 692-0577 Fakhruddin Kadri (213) 388-8790 Dr. Aslam Abdullah (909) 822-2805 ----- MUSLIMS ASKED TO BECOME FOSTER PARENTS "HOW TO BECOME A FOSTER PARENT" WORKSHOP First Workshop: Date: Saturday March 30th, 2002 Time: 10 A.M. to 1:00 P.M. Place: Islamic Society of Orange County, 952 W. 13th Street (Cross Streets: Off of Brookhurst, Between Hazard and Westminster) Garden Grove, CA 92844 Tel: (714) 531-1722 Second Workshop: Date: Sunday March 31, 2002 Time: 10:00 A.M. to 1:00 P.M. Place: Islamic Center of Grenada Hills, 11439 Encino Ave. (Cross Streets: Between White Oak & Balboa & Rinaldi) Grenada Hills, CA 91344 Tel: (818) 772-0906 Over the years Niswa (An Islamic Family Outreach Organization) has made a continuous effort to recruit Muslim foster parents by providing them with relevant information, encouragement and support to get certified. Niswa Association P.O. Box 1403 Lomita, CA 90717 CONTACT: CAIR_SCA@cair-california.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 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 ----- AMERICAN MUSLIM NEWS BRIEFS - 3/28/2002 ----- HEADLINES: * HADITH/VERSE OF THE DAY: ALL PROPHETS ARE BROTHERS * CAIR'S LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE IS SOLD OUT * MUSLIMS CONDEMN AJC ATTEMPT AT POLITICAL EXCLUSION * CAIR CONDEMNS ATTACKS ON CIVILIANS * AFTER RAIDS, MUSLIMS SPEAK OUT FOR RIGHTS (Washington Post) - MUSLIMS PROTEST NORTHERN VA. RAIDS (Reston Times) * FBI ARRESTS MAN WHO DROVE INTO MOSQUE (Tallahassee Democrat) * COURT RULES DETAINEES' IDS MUST BE RELEASED (Star-Ledger) * MUSLIMS: INCIDENTS OF BIAS GO UNREPORTED IN FLORIDA (Sun-Sentinel) * CLARKSTON REJECTED STEREOTYPES, WINNER SAYS (Atlanta Journal) * A GOLDEN REIGN OF TOLERANCE (New York Times) * FLAWS IN AL-ARIAN SUIT RAISE DOUBTS (St. Petersburg Times) ----- HADITH/VERSE OF THE DAY: ALL PROPHETS ARE BROTHERS The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: "Both in this world and in the Hereafter, I am the nearest of all people to Jesus, the son of Mary. The prophets are paternal brothers; their mothers are different, but their religion is one." Sahih Al-Bukhari, Volume 4, Hadith 652 "Say ye: 'We believe in God and that which is revealed to us; and what was revealed to Ibrahim (Abraham), Isma'il (Ishmael), Ishaq (Isaac), Ya'qoob (Jacob) and their descendants, and that which was given to Musa (Moses), Isa (Jesus) and other Prophets from their Lord. We make no distinction between any of them, and it is unto Him that we surrender ourselves.'" The Holy Quran, Chapter 2, Verse 136 ----- CAIR'S LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE IS SOLD OUT Space for CAIR's annual leadership conference on March 30 is now sold out. Any questions about conference registration should be directed to: register@cair-net.org ----- MUSLIMS CONDEMN AJC ATTEMPT AT POLITICAL EXCLUSION (WASHINGTON, D.C., 3/28/2002) - The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), a Washington-based Islamic advocacy group, today condemned the latest attempt by the American Jewish Committee (AJC) to marginalize the American Muslim community. According to the Washington Post, AJC officials have demanded that President Bush and Rep. James P. Moran Jr. (D-Va.) return political contributions from individuals who were targeted by recent raids on Muslim businesses and homes in Virginia and Georgia. No arrests were made in those raids. SEE: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A28721-2002Mar27.html According to the Post, White House spokeswoman Claire Buchan said the president has not returned the contribution as demanded by the AJC. "This is an ongoing investigation. There have been search warrants that have been issued, but there have not been any charges made," said Buchan. Moran said he would not return the contribution because he knows of no illegal activity by the donors. "In our system of justice, you're innocent until proven guilty -- not the reverse," said Moran. "This is yet another example of the American Jewish Committee capitalizing on anti-Muslim prejudice and legitimate post-September 11 security concerns in a transparent attempt to marginalize and disenfranchise the American Muslim community. Elected officials should not succumb to politically-motivated and disingenuous strong-arm tactics by special interest groups like the AJC," said CAIR Governmental Affairs Director Jason Erb. Erb added that the AJC has in the past supported the use of secret evidence against Muslims and Arabs, withdrew from an amicus brief to the Supreme Court because of Muslim involvement and demanded that a Muslim speaker be excluded from a public forum designed to promote intercultural understanding. AJC Executive Director David A. Harris wrote in the May 28, 2001, issue of The Jerusalem Report: "We dare not underestimate the Arab and Muslim lobbies [in America] or delude ourselves as to their ultimate objectives. The stakes are too high. The call for action by American Jewry, together with Israel, is clear." In a report, titled "The Jewish Stake in America's Changing Demography," published on the web site of the Center for Immigration Studies, AJC Senior Fellow Dr. Stephen Steinlight falsely portrays Islam as a violent, intolerant and anti-Semitic faith that is a threat to America. He wrote: "...undoubtedly the greatest immediate threat to the well being of the American Jewish community and its interests stems from large-scale immigration from the Muslim world. "At the risk of being labeled the fool who rushes in where angels fear to tread, it must also be acknowledged that classic Islam itself, the traditional faith - and not the hideous political ideologies derived from it - is itself not unproblematic in its attitudes towards Jews, Christians, and other non-Muslims." SEE: http://www.cis.org/articles/2001/back1301.html#author ----- CAIR CONDEMNS ATTACKS ON CIVILIANS (WASHINGTON, D.C., 3/28/2002) - The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), a Washington-based Islamic advocacy group, today condemned a bomb attack on a Passover celebration in the Middle East that left 20 people dead and more than 100 wounded. In a statement, CAIR said: "We condemn this attack and all other attacks on innocent civilians. Illegitimate and counterproductive tactics must not be used in the legitimate struggle to end Israel's brutal occupation. "This attack is of particular concern coming as it did during a religious observance in which the focus is remembrance of God. "We ask the international community to similarly condemn actions by the Israeli armed forces that also target civilians and impose daily humiliation and suffering on an entire population through blockades, home demolitions, assassinations, indiscriminate shooting, torture, land confiscations and a wide variety of Apartheid-like and oppressive practices. "To break this cycle of violence and counter-violence, all parties must focus on a political solution based on justice and equality, not force of arms." ----- AFTER RAIDS, MUSLIMS SPEAK OUT FOR RIGHTS By Rosalind S. Helderman, The Washington Post, 3/28/2002 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A22966-2002Mar26.html Area Muslims met Monday night at the Sterling library to hear speakers call for a new level of organization to respond to 16 government raids on Muslim homes and businesses in Northern Virginia last week, including the Graduate School of Islamic and Social Sciences in Leesburg, which trains Muslim clerics for the military. About 150 people attended the standing-room-only meeting, while a spillover crowd of about 150 reassembled for a simultaneous meeting at the All Dulles Area Muslim Society (ADAMS) center in Sterling. "The reason we are here today is that we will not allow our civil liberties to be compromised...This hits the core of our American values," said Manal Omar, who helped to organize the event on behalf of ADAMS... Jemel Buck, director of operations for ADAMS, said the event was a way for the local Muslim community, deeply shaken by the raids, to try to heal. "We are typically a quiet community," he said. "For us to gather and focus on protecting our civil rights is enormous. We're willing to stand up and say there was wrong in what they did." ADAMS's headquarters, in a Sterling shopping center, was vandalized in the days after Sept. 11. The group's leaders broke ground in Herndon in November for a new Islamic Center to serve 1,700 families in the area. SEE ALSO: MUSLIMS PROTEST NORTHERN VA. RAIDS http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=3668707&BRD=1898&PAG=461&dept_id=126522&rfi=6 ----- FBI ARRESTS MAN WHO DROVE INTO MOSQUE By Tony Bridges, Tallahassee Democrat, 3/28/2002 http://www.tallahassee.com/mld/democrat/news/local/2949088.htm The FBI has arrested the man who drove his truck into a mosque near the Florida State University campus earlier this week. Charles Franklin, 41, is being held in the Leon County Jail and is expected to appear in federal court this morning. He has not yet been officially charged but was arrested based on "probable cause," according to an FBI spokesman. "There's a federal interest in this matter...a civil rights interest," said Special Agent Bill Hurlburt, with the FBI's Jacksonville office. Tallahassee police arrested Franklin late Monday at a West Tennessee Street bar where he'd walked to after allegedly ramming his GMC pickup into the front of the Islamic Center of Tallahassee. He told investigators he did it as a statement to all Muslims that they should leave the country, according to his arrest report... After the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, he wrote in a letter published in the Democrat that "the violence must end, but American flower power will not soften the hearts of militant Muslims. Until all of Abraham's descendants learn to live as brothers in the tiny land that they all cherish, the hawk will continue to circle and the dove will be put to flight." Hazim Mohammed, president of the mosque, planned to attend today's hearing in federal court with others from the Islamic Center. "We're glad that he is still in custody," Mohammed said late Wednesday. "They did not just totally release him." ----- COURT RULES DETAINEES' IDS MUST BE RELEASED Secret arrests violate 104-year-old state law BY BRIAN DONOHUE, New Jersey Star-Ledger, 3/27/2002 http://www.nj.com/news/ledger/index.ssf?/base/news-1/1017223820277344.xml Striking a blow to the U.S. government's policy of keeping secret the identities of foreigners swept up in its terrorism investigations, a Superior Court judge ruled yesterday the names of those held on immigration charges in New Jersey must be made public. Hudson County Assignment Judge Arthur D'Italia ruled the government's refusal to release the names and other basic information on hundreds of detainees violates a 104-year- old state law requiring jailers to publish a public list of all inmates in their facility... The counties and federal government have 45 days to file an appeal in the case. ----- MUSLIMS: INCIDENTS OF BIAS GO UNREPORTED IN FLORIDA By Madeline Baró Diaz, The Sun-Sentinel, 3/27/2002 http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/miami/sfl-dmuslim27mar27.story?coll=sfla%2Dnews%2Dmiami MIAMI · Since Sept. 11, discriminatory incidents against Muslims in Florida have gone unreported because of fear, activists told a civil rights panel Tuesday. "Our community is a very shy community and a very quiet community," said Sofian Abdelaziz, director of the American Muslim Association of North America. "We're not going to have demonstrations. We're not going to have riots. We're not going to have all that because we don't believe in that." Abdelaziz and other community leaders spoke about post-Sept. 11 discrimination during a meeting of the Florida Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. The information gathered at the meeting, conducted at the Sheraton Biscayne Bay, will feed a national project on discrimination against Muslims, said Bobby D. Doctor, regional director of the commission. Community leaders on Tuesday spoke about the treatment of Muslims by law enforcement and government agencies. They spoke of Muslims held on suspicion of terrorism who later were cleared, Muslim women who were forced to remove their hijab, or head covering, in public although it is against their religion, and racial profiling by law enforcement agencies of Muslims, Arabs and those thought to be Muslim or Arab. Altaf Ali, executive director of the Florida chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said Muslims have been discriminated against simply because of how they look. He described bumper stickers he's seen that advocated killing Muslims or kicking them out of the United States. A message of nondiscrimination toward Muslims would have to come from the highest levels of government, he said... ----- CLARKSTON REJECTED STEREOTYPES, WINNER SAYS By SHANDRA HILL, The Atlanta Journal, 3/28/2002 Six months after Sept. 11, Clarkston voters ignored ethnic stereotypes and elected an American Muslim of African and Middle Eastern ancestry to fill a seat on the Clarkston City Council. Abdul Akbar won 66 percent of the votes cast for an at-large seat on the six-member council during a special election last week. Akbar, who has no political background, originally had run for one of three vacant council seats in November. He lost by two votes. "The one thing I found with the people of Clarkston is they are very open to see who you are," Akbar said. "They welcomed me with open arms. They wanted to know me, not as Abdul Akbar. "They wanted to know me as what type of person are you, what can you do to improve our community, how can you help with government services, how can you address the issues of taxes? "They wanted to know about the issues that address their everyday life, and that's how I spoke to them..." "I want to be remembered as the regular person who connects with everyone, who will make sure that their trash gets picked up, the potholes get filled," he said. "I want to be one of the regular people who solve problems." ----- A GOLDEN REIGN OF TOLERANCE By Maria Rosa Menocal, The New York Times, 3/28/2002 http://www.nytimes.com/2002/03/28/opinion/28MENO.html Maria Rosa Menocal is director of the Whitney Humanities Center at Yale and author of "The Ornament of the World: How Muslims, Jews and Christians Created a Culture of Tolerance in Medieval Spain." The lessons of history, like the lessons of religion, sometimes neglect examples of tolerance. A thousand years ago on the Iberian Peninsula, an enlightened vision of Islam had created the most advanced culture in Europe. A nun in Saxony learned of this kingdom from a bishop, the caliph's ambassador to Germany and one of several prominent members of his diplomatic corps who were not Muslims; the bishop most likely reported to the man who ran the foreign ministry, who was a Jew. Al Andalus, as the Muslims called their Spanish homeland, prospered in a culture of openness and assimilation... ----- FLAWS IN AL-ARIAN SUIT RAISE DOUBTS By GRAHAM BRINK, St. Petersburg Times, 3/28/2002 http://www.sptimes.com/2002/03/28/TampaBay/Flaws_in_Al_Arian_sui.shtml TAMPA - John Loftus made a big splash last week when he filed a lawsuit against Sami Al-Arian, accusing the suspended University of South Florida professor of using charities to solicit and launder money, then funnel it to terrorist groups in Syria. Loftus said he made the accusations public to pressure the government into taking action against Al-Arian and the Saudi organizations "that helped fund terrorism." But he also thinks he will be able to bring enough evidence and witnesses to win the case. But will the suit hold up in court? Does the former federal prosecutor turned Nazi hunter have legal standing to file it? Or is it just a "publicity stunt," as Al-Arian called it while vehemently denying the allegations? The lawsuit has flaws, including factual mistakes and misspellings. It also relies heavily on confidential sources that Loftus said he developed during 25 years as an intelligence community insider and observer. Tampa attorney Bill Jung said he does not envy the judge who has to sort through the 23-page suit. "It starts out strong but then turns into a bad Ludlum novel," Jung said... ----- 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 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 ----- AMERICAN MUSLIM NEWS BRIEFS - 3/29/2002 ----- HEADLINES: * VERSE OF THE DAY: PATIENCE IN ADVERSITY * INFORMATION ON VA RAIDS MAY HAVE BEEN LEAKED * U.S. MUSLIMS LEARN TECHNIQUES OF ACTIVISM AT VA CONFERENCE * REMINDER - MARCH 30 RALLIES IN SUPPORT OF PALESTINE * 20/20 REPORTS ON SAUDI ARABIA (ABC) * CHURCH FLEXTIME: SELLING OUT OR SAVING WORLD? (Christian Science Monitor) * ISLAMIC GROUPS WILL INVITE THE PUBLIC (St. Louis Post-Dispatch) * IRANIAN-AMERICAN FUND-RAISER AT HEART OF STATE POLITICAL SQUABBLE (Gannett News Service) - MUSLIMS CONDEMN ACJ ATTEMPT AT POLITICAL EXCLUSION * ANTI-IMMIGRANT MOVEMENT IN EUROPE REFLECTS POST-SEPT. 11 VIEWS ON MUSLIMS (Washington Post) * THE PROPHET WOULD BE APPALLED (Globe and Mail) ----- VERSE OF THE DAY: PATIENCE IN ADVERSITY "Do you think that you shall enter the Paradise without such (trials) as came to those who passed away before you? They encountered suffering and adversity and were so shaken in spirit that even the Apostle and those of faith who were with him cried: "When (will come) the help of God?" Ah! verily the help of God is (always) near! The Holy Quran, Chapter 2, Verse 214 ----- INFORMATION ON VA RAIDS MAY HAVE BEEN LEAKED A delegation of Islamic leaders and those targeted by recent raids on Muslim homes and businesses in Virginia met yesterday with Rep. Frank Wolf (R-VA). Meeting participants included Dean Boyd, public affairs specialist with the Department of the Treasury and Nicole Nason, assistant commissioner the U.S. Customs Service. The meeting was organized by the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC). Following the meeting, MPAC issued a statement that read in part: "...sealed information that told of the upcoming raid on American Muslim businesses and individuals may have been leaked to John J. Loftus, former prosecutor in the Justice Department's Nazi War Crimes Unit. "Mr. Loftus contacted members of the media and told them of the upcoming raids before they occurred to assure that they would be covered by the media... "Boyd publicly confirmed MPAC's suspicion that John Loftus leaked the story of the raids on American Muslim organizations and individuals to the media..." Also present at the meeting were representatives from the American Muslim Council and the Council for American-Islamic Relations. ----- FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - 3/29/2002 -- MEDIA ADVISORY -- U.S. MUSLIMS LEARN TECHNIQUES OF ACTIVISM AT VA CONFERENCE Recent events highlight need for grassroots political mobilization WHAT: On Saturday, March 30, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) will hold its annual leadership conference at the Sheraton Premiere hotel in Vienna, Virginia. The sold-out conference, Muslims in America: Moving Forward with Faith, offers intensive workshops and lectures on media relations, civil rights advocacy, coalition-building and political empowerment. Conference attendees include Muslim community leaders and activists from across the United States. Representative John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI) will offer a luncheon keynote address focusing on Muslim civil liberties in light of recent government actions such as the raids on homes and businesses in northern Virginia. CAIR will also announce a major legal initiative at the luncheon. There are an estimated seven million Muslims in America. SEE: CAIR's "The Mosque in America: A National Portrait" at http://www.cair-net.org/mosquereport. WHEN: Saturday, March 30, 9 a.m. - 9 p.m. (Journalists are invited to attend the luncheon. Conference workshops are limited to paid attendees.) Luncheon - 1:30 p.m. Dinner Banquet - 7 p.m. WHERE: Sheraton Premiere, 8661 Leesburg Pike, Vienna, VA - END - CONTACT: Ibrahim Hooper, 202-488-8787 E-MAIL - cair@cair-net.org Ms. Hodan Hassan, 202-488-8787 E-MAIL: hhassan@cair-net.org ----- REMINDER - MARCH 30 RALLIES IN SUPPORT OF PALESTINE Major demonstrations are planned across the nation in support of Palestinian rights on Palestinian Land Day, Saturday, March 30. Demonstrations are scheduled to be held in Washington, DC, Los Angeles, CA, and Atlanta, GA. Please join us in demanding that the Bush Administration be actively engaged in the full implementation of International Law and UN Resolutions calling for self-determination for the Palestinian people and for an end to the Israeli Occupation. WASHINGTON, DC What: Demonstration & Rally Where: Freedom Plaza (13th Street and Pennsylvania Ave., NW) When: 1:00 - 4:00 p.m. LOS ANGELES, CA What: Demonstration & Rally Where: In front of the Federal Building at Westwood, which is at Wilshire Blvd. and Veteran St. When: 12 p.m. SEE: http://www.cair-california.org/announce/palestinerally.htm ATLANTA, GA What: Demonstration & March Where: Starting at Piedmont Park- Ending in front of the Israeli Consulate. Gather at the "Free Nelson Mandela" monument in Piedmont Park - right beyond the gate entrance at 10th Street & Charles Allen Dr. When: 2:00-4:00 p.m. ----- 20/20 REPORTS ON SAUDI ARABIA http://abcnews.go.com/Sections/2020/ Friday, March 29, 10 p.m. (ET) One-hour special: Barbara Walters reports from Saudi Arabia, the spiritual center of Islam and the home country of 15 of the Sept. 11 hijackers, where she also interviews Abdullah bin Laden, Osama's brother. Watch the program and then send comments to: http://abcnews.go.com/sections/2020/2020/2020friday_email_form.html ----- CHURCH FLEXTIME: SELLING OUT OR SAVING WORLD? By G. Jeffrey MacDonald, The Christian Science Monitor, 3/29/2002 http://www.csmonitor.com/2002/0329/p01s04-ussc.html Across the country, churches are bending schedules to make encounters with the holy more practical, even if the new timing reflects a society's collective downtime rather than a liturgical calendar. With the shift, especially evident as Holy Week ushers in Easter, purists lament the loss of religious tradition while pragmatists applaud the popularity of flexible worship times. At the core looms a perennial but primal question: Are churches transforming timetables to fit the world? Or are they transforming the world by bringing more people into churches through better timetables?... In Islam, the dilemma doesn't exist, because sacred time can't be compromised. Community worship is required once a week between noon and 2 p.m. on Friday, and work is no excuse to miss. "People say [to employers], 'I'll come in early or stay late, but this is something I have to do,' " says Ibrahim Hooper of the Council on American-Islamic Relations. "Somebody might be weak and make an argument why they can't, but the religion wouldn't allow for it." ----- ISLAMIC GROUPS WILL INVITE THE PUBLIC St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 3/28/2002 The Islamic Foundation of Greater Saint Louis and the Council on American-Islamic Relations, St. Louis Chapter, are holding a joint open house Saturday at 517 Weidman Road in Manchester, near Queeny Park. People of all faiths are invited, and participants may ask questions about Islam and American Muslims. A 90-minute program of lectures, videos and tours will begin at 9 a.m., noon and 3 p.m. ----- IRANIAN-AMERICAN FUND-RAISER AT HEART OF STATE POLITICAL SQUABBLE By CARL WEISER, Gannett News Service, 3/27/2002 WASHINGTON -- Sen. Joseph Biden's acceptance of campaign donations raised by an Iranian-American dentist has prompted the head of his state's Republican Party to accuse him of supporting a country identified by President Bush as part of the "axis of evil." But Biden says the fund-raiser has no ties to terrorism, and another Iranian-American group accused the Delaware GOP of Muslim-bashing. Sadegh Namazikhah, a Los Angeles dentist, hosted a February event for Biden that raised an estimated $ 24,000 to $ 30,000. State Republican Party Chairman Everett Moore on Tuesday demanded that Biden return the money. He said Namazikhah was a "lobbyist" for Iran, which along with Iraq and North Korea forms Bush's "axis of evil..." At a Tuesday night Democratic Party fund-raiser in Dover, Biden said the Iranian Muslim Association of North America that Namazikhah belongs to does not support terrorism or religious extremism... Namazikhah was, until recently, chairman of the Endodontics Department at the University of Southern California... The Web site for the Iranian Muslim Association of North America says it is "dedicated to bring the Iranian Muslim community closer together while teaching people of all races and religion about Islam and the Iranian Culture..." "Dr. Namazikhah is an independent person with no relations to the Iranian government or fundamentalist Muslim group," said Hooshang Amirahmadim, a Rutgers University professor and founder of the AIC. "The charge is simply Muslim-bashing and I would add Iran-bashing; it is certainly a Biden-bashing attempt as well," he said... Ibrahim Hooper, spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said such political accusations were increasingly common and "pretty pathetic." "You find out if any Muslim has donated to your opponent and then you say those Muslims are tied to terrorism," he said. "It's just standard procedure in any political contest..." The chairman of the American Iranian Council, Robert Pelletreau -- a former ambassador in both the Reagan and first Bush administrations -- said he knew of no evidence that Namazikhah worked for the Iranian government. Nor, he said, is there anything sinister about urging exchanges between Iran's parliament and the U.S. Congress, as Biden did in a March 13 speech to the AIC... For background, see: MUSLIMS CONDEMN ACJ ATTEMPT AT POLITICAL EXCLUSION http://www.cair-net.org/asp/article.asp?articleid=694&articletype=1 ----- ANTI-IMMIGRANT MOVEMENT IN EUROPE REFLECTS POST-SEPT. 11 VIEWS ON MUSLIMS Peter Finn, The Washington Post, 3/29/2002 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A33967-2002Mar28.html A wave of anti-Muslim sentiment has bolstered far-right parties in some European countries since Sept. 11 and left the continent's large communities of foreigners wondering how long their welcome will last. The changing mood has found its fullest political expression here in Denmark, where an anti-immigrant party won 12 percent of the vote in parliamentary elections in November, nearly doubling its showing from the previous election. Its campaign posters featured a picture of a young blond girl and the slogan: "When she retires, Denmark will have a Muslim majority." ----- THE PROPHET WOULD BE APPALLED By SHEEMA KHAN, The Globe and Mail, 3/29/2002 http://globeandmail.com/ Search using the term "Sheema Khan." Sheema Khan is chair of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, Canada. A memorial service was held for journalist Daniel Pearl this past Sunday in Ottawa. It provided an excellent opportunity to pay respect, offer sympathy and stand in solidarity against xenophobia. It is clear that hate does not strengthen an individual's identity. On the contrary, it destroys the humanity within. The brutal manner in which Mr. Pearl was killed is horrific enough. Yet it was even more repulsive to know that Mr. Pearl was kidnapped, murdered and mutilated simply because he was a Jew. As a Muslim who has been involved in fighting discrimination and hate directed at Muslims over the past few years, I thought I knew how destructive hate could be. But Mr. Pearl's murder brought home a chilling reality. That "Muslims," ostensibly "fighting" for the liberation of their oppressed brethren, seeking to "embarrass" Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, would engage in such a barbaric act, and murder a man simply because he was a Jew, is an affront to Muslims everywhere, and is completely rejected by the very foundations of Islam. As for this week's bombing in Israel -- the murder of people who were engaged in worship, be it for Sunday service or Passover, is vile, and condemned in Islam. Muslims must denounce it in the strongest of terms... ----- 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 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 #326 AMERICA MUST ACT TO STOP ISRAELI AGGRESSION The media need to hear from you on the issue of Palestine (WASHINGTON, D.C., 3/29/2002) - As Israeli forces rampage throughout Palestine and American media outlets offer only the Israeli viewpoint on the crisis, our elected officials remain silent. CAIR is calling on members of the Muslim community to take positive steps in defense of the Palestinian people and in support of America's real interests in the region. Take two minutes to make your voice heard on this important issue. IMMEDIATE ACTION REQUESTED: 1) CONTACT President Bush to let him know that Palestinian Muslims and Christians have the right to freedom and justice. Ask that he make a public statement calling for an end to Israeli aggression. Also ask that he meet with American Muslim leaders to discuss the crisis and America's inaction. CONTACT: President George W. Bush The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Washington, DC 20500 TEL: 202-456-1414, Press 1 FAX: 202-456-2461 E-MAIL: president@whitehouse.gov, secretary@state.gov, cair@cair-net.org 2) CONTACT your elected representatives to make the same point. To obtain contact information for your representative, go to: http://www.house.gov/writerep/, or call 202-224-3121. Have your Zip Code ready. For senators, go to: http://www.senate.gov/senators/senator_by_state.cfm 3) CONTACT local and national media outlets to express the Muslim perspective on the conflict. Call radio talk show call-in programs (numbers are announced on-air), send e-mails to cable news programs, write letters to the editor, and respond to one-sided coverage with a call, fax or e-mail. ABC News - 212-456-4040 CBS News - 212-975-3691 NBC News - 212-664-4971 CNN - 404-827-1511 Fox News - 212-301-3300 MSNBC - 201-583-5222 PBS - 703-998-2150 NPR - 202-414-2200 NY Times - 212-556-1234 USA Today - 703-276-3400 WS Journal - 212-416-2000 Wash. Post - 202-334-6000 Time - 212-522-1212 U.S. News - 202-955-2000 AP 212-621-1600 MSNBC - 201-583-5000 CNBC - 201-585-2622 TALKING POINTS: * America's true interests are served by standing up for freedom and justice, not by blindly following the dictates of a foreign government and its domestic lobby. American officials must stop parroting the Israeli line and step in as honest brokers. * Palestinians will not stop resisting the Israeli occupation until they feel there is a just political solution in sight. * Israel's incessant attacks on civilian areas causes severe trauma in the entire civilian population. * Israeli attacks are a form of collective punishment, not strikes on perpetrators of crimes. Israel does not just attack forces that are attacking them, but take revenge against the whole population with home demolitions, destruction of agricultural land, curfews, and attacks on civilian infrastructure like media outlets, electrical plants, schools, and police stations. * Israel is using US-supplied weapons of war, with tacit approval, against civilian targets in violation of U.S. and international law. American weapons are supplied on the premise that they will be used only in self-defense, not in revenge attacks or to enforce an illegal military occupation. * This conflict pits one of the world's strongest armies against unarmed civilian population. * Israeli actions could lead to a wider war in the region. - PLEASE ANNOUNCE, POST AND DISTRIBUTE AT FRIDAY PRAYERS - ----- 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 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 ----- AMERICAN MUSLIM NEWS BRIEFS - 3/31/2002 ----- HEADLINES: * HADITH OF THE DAY: VISITING THE SICK * PIPES SAYS ENFRANCHISEMENT OF U.S. MUSLIMS THREATENS JEWS - Muslims condemn ACJ attempt at political exclusion - Who is Daniel Pipes? * KILLINGS RAISE QUESTIONS ABOUT ISRAELI TACTICS (Washington Post) - Israeli killings: Troops stormed Arafat's men's base - and Palestinians believe that what followed was an execution (The Observer) * THE ISRAEL LOBBY (Prospect) * INTRACTABLE FOES, WARRING NARRATIVES (MSNBC) * EDITORIAL: A WAR ON ISLAM? (Washington Post) * HATE CRIME CHARGED IN MOSQUE ATTACK (Miami Herald/AP) * EDITORIAL: MUSLIM, BUT AMERICAN TOO (Washington Post) ----- HADITH OF THE DAY: VISITING THE SICK The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: “One who visits the sick dives headlong into mercy.” Imam Bukhari’s Book of Muslim Morals and manners, Hadith 522 ----- PIPES SAYS ENFRANCHISEMENT OF U.S. MUSLIMS THREATENS JEWS “I worry very much from the Jewish point of view that the presence, and increased stature, and affluence, and enfranchisement of American Muslims…will present true dangers to American Jews.” Daniel Pipes speaking before the convention of the American Jewish Congress, 10/21/2001 FOR BACKGROUND, SEE: Muslims condemn ACJ attempt at political exclusion http://cair-net.org/asp/article.asp?articleid=694&articletype=1 Who is Daniel Pipes? http://www.cair-net.org/misc/people/daniel_pipes.html ----- KILLINGS RAISE QUESTIONS ABOUT ISRAELI TACTICS By Daniel Williams, The Washington Post, 3/31/2002 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A41139-2002Mar30.html Something nasty happened on the fourth floor of the British Council building on a hilltop in downtown Ramallah. The bodies of five Palestinian police officers lay on their backs and sides. They had been shot in the head or neck, yet most of the blood on the wall near them was splattered no more than two or three feet high, according to a reporter who saw the scene… Maher Shalabi, Abu Dhabi television's bureau chief in Ramallah, waited in his office on the sixth floor until dawn today while the building shook from the blasts of stun and anti-personnel grenades and the sharp staccato of rifle and machine-gun fire. Shalabi said an Israeli soldier searching the television offices told him, "We killed five police." This morning, Shalabi discovered the bodies on the fourth floor. Shalabi said the five men had been hiding and were executed or shot when Israeli soldiers rounded the corner into the hall. There were no signs that the Palestinians had fired from their last position… SEE ALSO: Israeli killings: Troops stormed Arafat's men's base - and Palestinians believe that what followed was an execution By Peter Beaumont, The Observer, 3/31/2002 http://www.observer.co.uk/international/story/0,6903,676830,00.html ----- THE ISRAEL LOBBY By Michael Lind, Prospect, April 2002 America's unconditional support for Israel runs counter to the interests of the US and its allies. We need an open, unprejudiced debate about it http://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/ArticleView.asp?accessible=yes&P_Article=10335 It is not in the news stories, but in the opinion pages and the journals of opinion-which ought to provide the missing context-that propaganda for Israel has free reign. There are several widely-syndicated columnists and television pundits who are apologists for the Israeli right, like Safire, Cal Thomas, George Will and Charles Krauthammer. Others like Anthony Lewis, Flora Lewis and Thomas Friedman do criticise right-wing Israeli governments, but anything more than the mildest criticism of Israel is taboo in the mainstream media. The taboo against anti-Arab bigotry, however, is weak. One of the saddest consequences of Israel's colonialism has been the moral coarsening of elements of the Jewish-American community. I grew up admiring Jewish civil rights activists for their sometimes heroic role in the fight to dismantle segregation in the US. But today I frequently hear Jewish acquaintances discuss Arabs in general, and Palestinians in particular, in terms as racist as those once used by southerners in public when discussing blacks… ----- INTRACTABLE FOES, WARRING NARRATIVES While much of the world sees Mideast conflict through Palestinian eyes, in America, Israel’s view prevails By Eric Alterman, MSNBC.com, 3/28/2002 http://www.msnbc.com/news/730905.asp?cp1=1#BODY In most of the world, it is the Palestinian narrative of a dispossessed people that dominates. In the United States, however, the narrative that dominates is Israel’s: a democracy under constant siege. Europeans and other Palestinian partisans point to the fact that the Israel lobby in America is one of the strongest anywhere, and Jewish individuals and organizations give millions of dollars to political candidates in order to reward pro-Israel policies and punish those who support the Palestinians. Another reason, however, is the near- complete domination by pro-Israel partisans of the punditocracy discourse. Some Jewish groups in America like to harass news organizations like The Washington Post or National Public Radio for what they believe to be coverage insufficiently sympathetic to Israel’s plight. But even Ariel Sharon and Benjamin Netanyahu would not be able to complain about the level of support their actions typically receive from the members of the punditocracy. For reasons of religion, politics, history and genuine conviction the punditocracy debate of the Middle East in America is dominated by people who cannot imagine criticizing Israel. The value of this legion to the Jewish state is, for better or worse, literally incalculable, particularly when push as it inevitably does in the Middle East comes to shove. Here’s a list I made in trying to measure the immeasurable. COLUMNISTS AND COMMENTATORS WHO CAN BE COUNTED UPON TO SUPPORT ISRAEL REFLEXIVELY AND WITHOUT QUALIFICATION: George Will, The Washington Post, Newsweek and ABC News William Safire, The New York Times A.M. Rosenthal, The New York Daily News, formerly Executive Editor of and later columnist for, The New York Times, Charles Krauthammer, The Washington Post, PBS, Time, and The Weekly Standard, formerly of the New Republic. Michael Kelly, The Washington Post, The Atlantic Monthly, National Journal, and MSNBC.com, formerly of The New Republic and The New Yorker. Lally Weymouth, The Washington Post and Newsweek Martin Peretz, The New Republic, Daniel Pipes, The New York Post Andrea Peyser, The New York Post Dick Morris, The New York Post Lawrence Kaplan, The New Republic William Bennett, CNN William Kristol, The Washington Post, the Weekly Standard, Fox News, formerly of ABC News Robert Kagan, The Washington Post and The Weekly Standard, Mortimer Zuckerman, US News and World Report (Zuckerman is also Chairman of Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations). David Gelertner, The Weekly Standard John Podhoretz, The New York Post and The Weekly Standard Mona Charen, The Washington Times Morton Kondracke, Roll Call, Fox News formerly of The McLaughlin Group, The New Republic and PBS Fred Barnes, The Weekly Standard, Fox News, formerly of The New Republic, The McLaughlin Group, and The Baltimore Sun Sid Zion, The New York Post, The New York Daily News, Yossi Klein Halevi The New Republic, Sidney Zion, The New York Post, formerly of The New York Daily News Norman Podhoretz, Commentary, Jonah Goldberg, National Review and CNN Laura Ingraham, CNN, formerly of MSNBC and CBS News Jeff Jacoby, The Boston Globe Rich Lowry, National Review Andrew Sullivan, The New Republic Seth Lipsky, The Wall Street Journal and The New York Sun, formerly of the Jewish Forward Irving Kristol, The Public Interest, The National Interest and The Wall Street Journal Editorial Page Chris Matthews, MSNBC Allan Keyes, MSNBC, WorldNetDaily.com Brit Hume, Fox News John Leo, US News and World Report Robert Bartley, The Wall Street Journal Editorial Page John Fund, The Wall Street Journal OpinionJournal, formerly of The Wall Street Journal Editorial Page Peggy Noonan, The Wall Street Journal Editorial Page, Ben Wattenberg, The Washington Times, PBS Tony Snow, Washington Times and Fox News Lawrence Kudlow, National Review and CNBC Alan Dershowitz, Boston Herald, Washington Times David Horowitz, Frontpage.com Jacob Heilbrun, The Los Angeles Times Thomas Sowell, Washington Times Frank Gaffney Jr, Washington Times Emmett Tyrell, American Spectator and New York Sun Cal Thomas, Washington Times Oliver North, Washington Times and Fox News, formerly of MSNBC Michael Ledeen, Jewish World Review William F. Buckley, National Review Bill O’Reilly, Fox News Paul Greenberg, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, L. Brent Bozell, Washington Times Todd Lindberg, Washington Times Michael Barone, US News and World Report and The McLaughlin Group Ann Coulter, Human Events, Linda Chavez, Creators Syndicate Cathy Young, Reason Magazine Uri Dan, New York Post Dr. Laura Schlessinger, morality maven Rush Limbaugh, radio host PUBLICATIONS THAT, FOR REASONS OF OWNER OR EDITORSHIP CAN BE COUNTED UPON TO SUPPORT ISRAEL REFLEXIVELY AND WITHOUT QUALIFICATION: The New Republic (Martin Peretz, Michael Steinhardt, Roger Hertog, Owners) Commentary (American Jewish Committee, Owner) US News and World Report (Mortimer Zuckerman, Owner) The New York Daily News (Mortimer Zuckerman, Owner) The New York Post (Rupert Murdoch, Owner) The Weekly Standard (Rupert Murdoch, Owner) The Wall Street Journal Editorial Page (Peter Kann, Editor) The Atlantic Monthly (Michael Kelly, Editor) COLUMNISTS LIKELY TO CRITICIZE BOTH ISRAEL AND THE PALESTINIANS, BUT VIEW THEMSELVES TO BE CRITICALLY SUPPORTERS OF ISRAEL, AND ULTIMATELY, WOULD SUPPORT ISRAELI SECURITY OVER PALESTINIAN RIGHTS: Thomas Friedman, The New York Times, Richard Cohen, The Washington Post and New York Daily News Avishai Margolit, The New York Review of Books David Remnick, The New Yorker Eric Alterman, The Nation and MSNBC.com The New York Times Editorial Board The Washington Post Editorial Board COLUMNISTS LIKELY TO BE REFLEXIVELY ANTI-ISRAEL AND/OR PRO-PALESTINIAN REGARDLESS OF CIRCUMSTANCE: Robert Novak, The Washington Post Pat Buchanan, WorldNetDaily.com, formerly of The Washington Times and CNN. Alexander Cockburn, The Nation and New York Press Christopher Hitchens, The Nation and Vanity Fair Edward Said, The Nation HOW FRIENDS CAN BEST HELP As can be seen from this list of lists, the entire anti-Israel contingent of the punditocracy does not add up to a single George Will or William Safire, much less a Wall Street Journal or US News. It remains to be seen whether unqualified support for all of Israel’s actions is really in that tortured nation’s best interest in the long run. Sometimes the bravest and most valuable advice a trusted friend can give is: “STOP.” Someone is going to have to stop first if this unending catastrophe is ever to end. ----- EDITORIAL: A WAR ON ISLAM? By AMINA CHAUDARY, The Washington Post, 3/30/3002 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A38342-2002Mar29.html The March 20 closing of the International Institute of Islamic Thought in Herndon by FBI officials leaves a mark of confusion in the lives of American Muslims ["Raids Held in Terror Probe," Metro, March 21]. The institute serves as a vehicle for intellectual thought in the lives of Muslims throughout the world, and has been running for more than 20 years. The most progressive Muslims of the community are among the institute's founders. Those involved represent the diversity of Muslims. The accusations directed at the institute are an accusation against thousands of Muslims in the Washington area. Such actions contradict assurances that this war is not about Islam. Any person can walk into the institute's offices and pick up a book on the shelf and realize that the publications inspire true knowledge and critical thought. The institute is a Muslim think tank. The only way to rid the world of terrorists is through intellectual discourse and respect for each other's cultures. It is this that the International Institute of Islamic Thought makes explicit. ----- HATE CRIME CHARGED IN MOSQUE ATTACK The Miami Herald/AP, 3/30/2002 (AP) -- A man who police say drove his pickup truck into a mosque earlier this week and yelled anti-Muslim threats has been charged with a federal hate crime that could lead to 20 years in prison. Charles D. Franklin of Tallahassee was charged in federal court here Thursday under a statute that prohibits intentional damage of religious property and ordered by a magistrate into federal custody. He was also ordered to have a mental health examination. Federal prosecutor Thomas Kirwin said the complaint alleges that Franklin drove his truck into the door of the mosque near the Florida State University campus Monday. “At the time of his arrest, he reportedly shouted slurs against the Islamic religion and threats against Muslims,” Kirwin said in a statement released by his office… During a hearing Thursday, prosecutors played a tape during which Franklin said he “wanted to blow the…Muslims up,” during an interview with Tallahassee police... SEE ALSO: Florida Mosque attack result of anti-Muslim rhetoric http://www.cair-net.org/asp/article.asp?articleid=692&articletype=3 ----- EDITORIAL: MUSLIM, BUT AMERICAN TOO By Afeefa Syeed, The Washington Post, 3/31/2002 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A38406-2002Mar29.html Afeefa Syeed is a co-director of the nonprofit Muslim Education Resource Council. What do Muslim schools teach, and what is their mission? The response offered on the front page of the Feb. 25 Post was far from representative. We speak here for administrators and teachers working every day in the classrooms of Muslim schools in this area and across the country. The mission of Muslim schools is to raise children who can balance their Islamic values with their American identity. Many of us were born and raised in the United States, and the curriculum reflects our identity as American Muslims. We study the Pilgrims' migration to America in conjunction with the Prophet Muhammad and his followers' migration to Medina. Both were searching for the freedom to practice their religious beliefs, and both survived only with assistance from local inhabitants -- the Native Americans and the natives of Medina. Our children learn to respect Clara Barton, Grandma Moses, Albert Einstein and Hakeem Olajuwan as exemplary Americans. They study the story of the founder of the Red Cross side by side with the story of the women who helped the wounded in battles alongside the Prophet. We teach our students to acknowledge and be proud of the values upon which the United States was founded. We teach civic duty by reminding them that the Prophet Muhammad taught us that even a smile is charity. We teach them that the Koran asks us to love one another and compete in good work and action; harming one is like harming us all. Our texts are constantly updated by American Muslim educators. We do not teach our students merely to memorize or recount verses in a language that is not their own. Our children learn to read the Koran in its poetic Arabic, but they also interact with its teachings and put into practice what they memorize. They brainstorm, discuss and question. Most American Muslim schools are struggling with bake sales, read-a-thons and tedious grant writing in order to survive. We choose to be free of ideological politicking so we can be true to our faith. We can thereby teach our children to love their land and God, and serve both by being the most upstanding citizens they can be. We do not teach hatred of anyone -- this would violate our mission to bring humanity together. Muslim schools cannot afford to be isolationist. We encourage our students to engage with other schools where students are not of the Muslim faith. After the tragedies of Sept. 11, Muslim schoolteachers and administrators organized interfaith dialogues, open houses and prayer services for those we all had lost. By reaching out to the community we were demonstrating to our children that we grieved also. Muslim students organized blood drives, raised money and consoled those who had been affected by the tragedies. American Muslim schools don't deserve to be stereotyped. We are a dynamic and positive force for change in our society that affects Muslims and non-Muslims alike. ----- 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 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 HADITH OF THE DAY: The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) prayed for pardon for his people and received the reply: "I have forgiven them all but acts of oppression, for I shall exact recompense for the one who is wronged, from his oppressor." Al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 818 ----- FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE JEWISH GROUPS ASKED TO CONDEMN ISRAELI ATTACKS (WASHINGTON, D.C., 4/1/2002) A prominent American Muslim advocacy group is calling on leaders of major Jewish organizations to condemn the Israeli government's ongoing attacks on Palestinian civilians in the Occupied Territories. The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) says Jewish groups often demand that Muslims condemn violence against civilians, but are silent when those they support carry out such attacks. In a statement, CAIR Governmental Affairs Director Jason Erb said: "National American Muslim groups have condemned attacks on civilians, including last week's Passover bombing, the murder of journalist Daniel Pearl and the recent killings at a Pakistani church. Where are the voices of national Jewish organizations in condemning Israel's brutal military assaults now being carried out against Muslim and Christian Palestinian civilians? "Why have these groups never condemned collective punishment of civilian populations? Where is the condemnation of torture, assassinations, summary executions, assaults on journalists and medical personnel, land confiscations, dispossessions, destruction of homes and agricultural land, blockades of towns and villages, denial of medical services, and the uncounted daily humiliations suffered by the Palestinians at the hands of Israeli occupation forces? "Unless these groups take a principled and even-handed stand on all aspects of terrorism, including state terrorism, they will be viewed as little more than propagandists for a foreign government who are complicit in the same kind of violence they ask others to repudiate." To illustrate his point, Erb cited an article in today's Christian Science Monitor indicating that many Jewish groups are backing Israel's hard-line policies against Palestinian civilians. SEE: "Many American Jews rally around Sharon" - http://www.csmonitor.com/2002/0401/p02s02-ussc.html - END - CONTACT: Ibrahim Hooper, 202-488-8787 E-MAIL - cair@cair-net.org Ms. Hodan Hassan, 202-488-8787 E-MAIL: hhassan@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 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 ----- AMERICAN MUSLIM NEWS BRIEFS 4/2/2002 ----- HEADLINES: * HADITH OF THE DAY: KINDNESS TO ANIMALS * "BETRAYED" BY BUSH (Salon.com) * DOJ INITIATES DETAINEE CIVIL RIGHTS REVIEW * U.S. BEGINS CRACKDOWN ON MUSLIMS WHO DEFY ORDERS TO LEAVE COUNTRY (NY Times) * CAIR-CALIF TOWN HALL FORUM WITH GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS * REMINDER: AMERICA MUST ACT TO STOP ISRAELI AGGRESSION * PRIEST SAID SHOT DEAD IN BETHLEHEM CHURCH, MORGUE OVERFLOWS WITH BODIES (AFP) * AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL CONDEMNS ISRAELI HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS * DANIEL PIPES TELLS CHRIS MATTHEWS HE IS NOT PRO-ISRAEL * PROSECUTORS CONCEDE LIMITS OF THEIR CASE AGAINST LINDH (Washington Post) - PHOTO OF LINDH BOUND, BLINDFOLDED AND NAKED (Reuters) ----- HADITH OF THE DAY: KINDNESS TO ANIMALS The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: "While a man was walking along a road, he became very thirsty and found a well. He lowered himself into the well, drank, and came out. Then [he saw] a dog protruding its tongue out with thirst. The man said: 'This dog has become exhausted from thirst in the same way as I.' He lowered himself into the well again and filled his shoe with water…He gave the dog some water to drink. He thanked God, and [his sins were] forgiven." The Prophet was then asked: "Is there a reward for us in our animals?" He said: "There is a reward in every living thing." Fiqh-us-Sunnah, Volume 3, Number 104 ----- "BETRAYED" BY BUSH By Eric Boehlert, Salon.com, 4/2/2002 http://www.salon.com/ HIGHLIGHT: Rattled by government raids on their homes and American support for Israel in the Middle East's escalating violence, American Muslims rethink their 2000 endorsement of the president. During the 2000 election, Muslim-American organizations urged constituents for the first time to vote as a bloc. Muslim leaders were attracted to George W. Bush's televised pledge during the second campaign debate to do away with secret evidence often used against Muslim immigrants by prosecutors. They hoped he could bring a fresh perspective to the troubles in the Middle East. They found him more willing to meet with Muslims during the campaign than Vice President Al Gore. And so the Muslim community's umbrella groups, aiming to win some clout, urged America's estimated 6 million Muslims (the exact number is in dispute) to vote for Bush. And according to the groups' internal polls, they did, in overwhelming numbers -- and played a crucial role, for instance, in Bush's victory in Florida. Today, some are wondering what their votes accomplished. Many Muslims have been watching the unfolding war on terrorism at home with growing concern since Sept. 11. They were worried when the government refused to release the identities of more than 1,000 foreigners, mostly Arab or Muslim, detained by law enforcement; disturbed when deportation trials were held in secret; upset when federal agents fanned out across the country to interview thousands of young Muslim foreigners; and troubled when U.S.-based Islamic charities were raided during Ramadan by government agents seeking evidence of terrorist ties. But much of the Muslim criticism of Bush and his administration was muted in the period after Sept. 11. Leaders were reluctant to appear unpatriotic. At the same time, they were genuinely grateful for law enforcement's aggressive response to post-Sept. 11 hate crimes and for the explicit comments the president made about how the United States' war was targeting terrorists, not Muslims… That's all changed now, thanks to two recent, defining events. The first is "the total assault on civil liberties, targeted at Arabs and Muslims," says Ali Abunimah, vice president of the Arab-American Action Network. He's referring to a series of March 20 government raids in Northern Virginia, in which 150 federal agents seized property from 14 homes, businesses and schools run by Muslim Americans. Designed to identify organizations that may have contributed to international groups that sponsor terrorist activities, the actions were part of the Treasury Department's counter-terrorism task force, Operation Green Quest. No arrests were made. Muslims say the raids, which targeted moderate American citizens and organizations, sent shock waves through their community… The other galvanizing episode has been the Bush administration's response to the runaway violence in the Middle East, and what Muslims see as the White House's complete capitulation to the Israeli position. "What did Bush say over the weekend? That Israel is defending itself," says Abunimah. "Bush is unwilling to deal with the basic facts of the conflict, which is Israel is not defending itself inside its borders but that tens of thousands of troops are occupying land outside Israel." For Muslims, says Abunimah, it appears "The United States has openly decided to fight with Israel in a colonial war against an occupied people…" The frustration unleashed by the domestic raids and overseas violence has led some Muslims to rethink their 2000 support of Bush… Adds Nihad Awad, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations: "The Muslim community feels let down by the administration. Most Muslims stood by it after the election. We stood by the president during the crisis and we've got little in return but a broken promise." Grover Norquist, a conservative political activist and president of Americans for Tax Reform, helped shepherd the Muslims' endorsement of Bush, and he remains an active liaison between the Muslim community and the White House. Assessing the state of that political relationship, Norquist says, "I don't think it's broke for the Bush people and the Republicans, but they need to refocus and speak to the community..." Simultaneous raids on two highly respected religious institutions that day also stunned American Muslims. The first was Leesburg, Va.'s Graduate School of Islamic and Social Sciences, the only school the U.S. military uses to train and endorse chaplains to guide the armed forces' growing Muslim population… Also targeted that day was the Fiqh Council of North America, also in Leesburg, "the highest religious body for Muslims in North America," says Safi at IIIT. The Fiqh Council issues religious rulings "to help Muslims be good Americans while living Islamic-ly," says Safi… "Why target organizations like these?" asks Safi, who says the reaction among Muslims to the council's being raided would be the same as that among Catholics, for instance, if the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops were ever targeted by agents. "It's not a shadowy organization you raid with guns…" "There's a great deal of disappointment that raids happened the way they did," says Norquist. "And I don't think the Muslim community is overreacting..." Conceding some regrets, Awad at CAIR stresses the positive from the 2000 election: "We mobilized Muslims nationwide to vote in one direction and succeeded. That was a strategic achievement." And rather than turn people off, he says, the experience will lead to further participation. "There will be more Muslims voting in the next election than ever before. We have learned a lesson: To gain respect you need to be more organized. We can't afford to waste votes." ----- DOJ INITIATES DETAINEE CIVIL RIGHTS REVIEW (ANNOUNCEMENT BY THE DOJ) In furtherance of its responsibilities under the USA Patriot Act, the Department of Justice's Office of Inspector General (OIG) is initiating a review of the civil rights and civil liberties protections afforded to detainees in Department of Justice custody in connection with the response to the September 11 terrorist attacks. This inspection, to be conducted by the OIG's Evaluation and Inspections Division, will assess compliance by Department components with laws, regulations, and policies that protect the civil rights of the detainees.Among the issues the OIG will review are detainees' access to counsel, timeliness of presentation or disposition of criminal or other charges, and physical detention conditions.The OIG plans to review information about federal detainees at the Passaic County Jail in Paterson, New Jersey, and/or the Federal Bureau of Prison's Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, New York.\ ----- U.S. BEGINS CRACKDOWN ON MUSLIMS WHO DEFY ORDERS TO LEAVE COUNTRY By SUSAN SACHS, The New York Times, 4/2/2002 http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/02/nyregion/02DEPO.html Federal law enforcement agents have started to hunt down and arrest Muslim immigrants who failed to comply with pre-Sept. 11 deportation orders, a crackdown aimed as much at generating antiterrorism leads as enforcing orders that have piled up over many years. Justice Department officials said that taking aim at people from countries where Al Qaeda has been active will give investigators the opportunity to interrogate Muslims as they are detained on immigration violations. Civil rights advocates said the approach unfairly singled out one religious group in the enforcement of immigration laws. The Immigration and Naturalization Service, which is part of the Justice Department, has categorized at least 320,000 foreigners of all nationalities as "alien absconders," or people who managed to remain in the country after immigration judges ordered them to leave. The new crackdown concentrates on fewer than 2 percent of those with outstanding deportation orders, or an estimated 6,000 people on the list who come from Arab and other Muslim countries… ----- CAIR-CALIF TOWN HALL FORUM WITH GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS AGENCIES REPRESENTED: Department of Justice, INS, FBI and the U.S. Attorney’s Office. TOPICS: 1) detainees, 2) the use of secret evidence, 3) the raids on charities and other institutions, 4) the Patriot Act. OTHER GROUPS REPRESENTED: ACLU, NAACP, National Lawyers Guild, the Sikh Association, the Japanese American Council, and La Raza WHEN: Thursday April 4, 7 p.m. WHERE: MCA - 3003 Scott Blvd., Santa Clara, Calif. FREE Baby Sitting services will be provided. SBIA: 325, N. Third St. San Jose, CA 95112 Ph: 408-947-9389 http://www.sbia.netE-mail: sbia_sj@yahoo.com ----- REMINDER: AMERICA MUST ACT TO STOP ISRAELI AGGRESSION As Israeli forces rampage throughout Palestine and American media outlets offer only the Israeli viewpoint on the crisis, our elected officials remain silent. CAIR is calling on members of the Muslim community to take positive steps in defense of the Palestinian people and in support of America's real interests in the region. Take two minutes to make your voice heard on this important issue. IMMEDIATE ACTION REQUESTED: 1) CONTACT President Bush to let him know that Palestinian Muslims and Christians have the right to freedom and justice. Ask that he make a public statement calling for an end to Israeli aggression. Also ask that he meet with American Muslim leaders to discuss the crisis and America's inaction. CONTACT: President George W. Bush The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Washington, DC 20500 TEL: 202-456-1414, Press 1 FAX: 202-456-2461 E-MAIL: president@whitehouse.gov, cair@cair-net.org 2) CONTACT your elected representatives to make the same point. To obtain contact information for your representative, go to: http://capwiz.com/cair 3) CONTACT local and national media outlets to express the Muslim perspective on the conflict. Call radio talk show call-in programs (numbers are announced on-air), send e-mails to cable news programs, write letters to the editor, and respond to one-sided coverage with a call, fax or e-mail. ABC News - 212-456-4040 CBS News - 212-975-3691 NBC News - 212-664-4971 CNN - 404-827-1511 Fox News - 212-301-3300 MSNBC - 201-583-5222 PBS - 703-998-2150 NPR - 202-414-2200 NY Times - 212-556-1234 USA Today - 703-276-3400 WS Journal - 212-416-2000 Wash. Post - 202-334-6000 Time - 212-522-1212 U.S. News - 202-955-2000 AP 212-621-1600 MSNBC - 201-583-5000 CNBC - 201-585-2622 ----- PRIEST SAID SHOT DEAD IN BETHLEHEM CHURCH, MORGUE OVERFLOWS WITHBODIES By MICHEL SAILHAN, Agence France Presse, 4/2/2002 BETHLEHEM, West Bank, - Israeli troops on Tuesday seized control of this biblical city in their drive against Palestinian towns, reportedly shooting dead a Catholic priest and wounding at least six nuns in a church. Elsewhere on the West Bank, Ramallah central hospital said it had started burying corpses in its parking lot after the town's morgue overflowed under the death toll of Israel's four-day-old invasion and ambulances were unable to reach the cemetery. Palestinian medical sources said the priest and nuns were in the Santa Maria church when they were hit by fire as Israeli tanks and troops rolled though the birthplace of Jesus Christ. But there was confusion about the incident, with the Vatican denying that the priest originally named was dead, and the Israelis banned any independent verification. Also caught up in the turmoil of the operation launched two days after Easter was Bethlehem's main Omar mosque which caught fire late Tuesday for undetermined reasons, an AFP journalist said. Around 150 people, 20 of them wounded, were stranded inside the Church of the Nativity in central Bethlehem after taking shelter from Israeli gunfire, Palestinian witnesses said… ----- AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL CONDEMNS ISRAELI HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS Statement to the UN Commission on Human Rights, Israel and Occupied Territories Commission on Human Rights, 58th Session, 18 March - 26 April 2002 Agenda item 8: Question of the violation of human rights in the occupied Arab territories, including Palestine ORAL STATEMENT BY AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL Tuesday 2 April 2002 http://web.amnesty.org/web/news.nsf/WebAll/230741FF93144C3B80256B89003D10D3 Chairperson, In the recent negotiations for a ceasefire in Israel and the Occupied Territories there has been much mention of "security", little or none of human rights. Yet human rights are at the heart of this conflict and if human rights are not firmly on the agenda of the ceasefire talks there can be no durable ceasefire and no sustainable peace. Palestinians and Israelis will continue to be slaughtered in the alleyways of refugee camps and the streets of Israeli towns. Armed Palestinians have breached fundamental principles of international humanitarian law on numerous occasions… These actions are shocking. Yet they can never justify the human rights violations and grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions which, over the past 18 months, have been committed daily, hourly, even every minute, by the Israeli authorities against Palestinians. Israeli forces have consistently carried out killings when no lives were in danger. The Israeli authorities' failure to carry out proper investigations into unlawful killings sends the message that Palestinian lives are cheap. More than 600 Palestinian homes have been systematically demolished, making thousands homeless, the vast majority children. More than 100 checkpoints throughout the West Bank and Gaza have not stopped suicide bombings. The closures of towns and villages deny freedom of movement and appear to be set up to harass, collectively punish, intimidate and humiliate the Palestinian people… In the camps curfews were imposed and electricity, water and telephones cut off for up to nine days. In several camps male Palestinians between 15 and 45 were ordered to report to an assembly point and hundreds were arrested. For the first 24 hours they were handcuffed, blindfolded, given no food, no blanket, and not allowed to go to the toilet.Ten days afterwards about 100 of more than 2,500 arbitrarily arrested remained in detention. Again, in treatment apparently intended to hurt and degrade the population, Israeli soldiers who occupied apartments had systematically trashed them: clothes were torn, cupboards emptied on the floor, TV sets hurled down stairs, and a copy of the Qur'an was torn into pieces and scattered on the floor. An independent military advisor, one of Amnesty International's delegates, said: "Either the Israeli army is totally undisciplined or they have been ordered to disobey the laws of war…" During the incursions the IDF unlawfully killed six medical aid workers, including two doctors. Ambulances, including those of the ICRC, have been consistently shot at. Such attacks on the fundamental principle of medical neutrality are flagrant violations of the Geneva Conventions. The director of the Red Crescent at Tulkarem told delegates that it was now safer to transport patients by taxi than by ambulance… Security can only be achieved through full respect for humanrights, not at their expense… ----- DANIEL PIPES TELLS CHRIS MATTHEWS HE IS NOT PRO-ISRAEL Interview: Daniel Pipes from Middle East Forum and Michael O'Hanlon from Brookings Institution discuss whether or not Bush administration should endorse Israel's military operation in West Bank CNBC: Hardball with Chris Matthews, 01/2002 CHRIS MATTHEWS, host: First, the HARDBALL DEBATE. Should the Bush administration endorse Israel's military operation in the West Bank? Early Sunday morning, the US voted in favor of a UN resolution calling for the withdrawal of Israeli forces. But within hours, President Bush backed Sharon and forcefully called on Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat to denounce suicide bombers… We're joined by Daniel Pipes of the Mideast Forum, a pro-Israeli think tank. And Michael O'Hanlon is with the Brookings Institution. Daniel, make the case for this strong, hard-nosed action by the prime minister of Israel on the West Bank. Mr. DANIEL PIPES (Middle East Forum): Chris, let me start by resenting the fact that you'd label me and not my opponent. Could we try that one again? MATTHEWS: Let's try it again. Is--does your--does your--what's the name of it again? The Mideast Forum. Are you pro-Israeli or pro-Arab? Mr. PIPES: We're pro-American. MATTHEWS: What does that mean in this context? Mr. PIPES: Well, that means I'm trying to figure out what is best for American policy. MATTHEWS: Has the Middle East Forum ever criticized Israeli policy? Mr. PIPES: The Middle East Forum doesn't take positions, but I do. MATTHEWS: Well, you're here to take a position. Mr. PIPES: OK. MATTHEWS: Have you ever criticized Israeli policy? Mr. PIPES: Yes, I have. MATTHEWS: When was that? Mr. PIPES: Well, for example, when the Israelis bombed the electric installation in Lebanon, I criticized it. MATTHEWS: OK. When was that? What year was that? Mr. PIPES: It was two years ago. MATTHEWS: OK. So it's fair to say you're generally pro-Israeli. Mr. PIPES: Yeah. MATTHEWS: OK. That's all I said. Mr. PIPES: But I just don't like getting labeled, OK? MATTHEWS: Well, you were and you are. So if you want to get out of that and say you're not pro-Israeli, just make your case… MATTHEWS: Well, if you would argue that--let's--let's just sharpen this. You think the United--and I agree with you--you think the United States should heartily condemn the use of young people especially as suiciders to--in order to advance a political cause. But you wouldn't endorse the United States, for example, supporting the continued occupation of the Arab territories by Israel. You wouldn't endorse that, would you? Mr. PIPES: I don't think that is the issue. The issue is... MATTHEWS: No, what would you do? Do you endorse the continued occupation of--of the--of the Arab territories by Israel? Mr. PIPES: I would hope that some day there could be a resolution between Israel and the Palestinians over this. MATTHEWS: To what effect? Mr. PIPES: But I see that... MATTHEWS: To what effect? Mr. PIPES: But I see that as a--as--as completely untenable at this point when the Arabs in those territories want to destroy Israel. MATTHEWS: I get your point. So in other words, until this violence ends of the suicidal variety, we're not going to get any negotiations. Mr. PIPES: No. What I'm saying is there can't be negotiations until the Arabs accept Israel, whether they're engaged in suicide operations or not. They first have to accept Israel, and then negotiations over territory... MATTHEWS: OK. ----- PROSECUTORS CONCEDE LIMITS OF THEIR CASE AGAINST LINDH Government Has No Evidence He Shot at U.S. Citizens By Brooke A. Masters, The Washington Post, 4/2/2002 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A48877-2002Apr1.html The U.S. government has no evidence that John Walker Lindh, the American captured with Taliban fighters, ever killed or shot at U.S. citizens, including the CIA officer who was slain in a prison uprising shortly after interviewing Lindh, prosecutors acknowledged at a hearing yesterday. Prosecutors also backed off a claim in the grand jury indictment that Lindh, 21, trained at "terrorist" camps run by al Qaeda and a Pakistani group, arguing instead that he received military training that he later used to serve terrorist organizations… The new information emerged during a two-part hearing at which defense lawyers were seeking to flesh out the government's evidence against Lindh, asking for more access to documents and witnesses and for a more specific description of what prosecutors believe he did. "What is the conspiracy that my client is alleged to have been in?" asked defense attorney James Brosnahan. "We don't know who was supposed to be murdered…We don't know the names of any co-conspirators…It's not fair…" To bolster their legal and public relations argument that Lindh had been tortured, the defense filed a photograph in court yesterday that the U.S. government apparently took of Lindh while he was in captivity. It shows him lying on a stretcher, bound, blindfolded and naked… TO VIEW THAT PHOTO, GO TO: http://www.reuters.com/news_article.jhtml?type=topnews&StoryID=762546 ----- 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 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 ----- AMERICAN MUSLIM NEWS BRIEFS 4/3/2002 ----- HEADLINES: * VERSE OF THE DAY: EVEN THE BIRDS PRAISE GOD * POWELL MEETS WITH MUSLIMS TO DISCUSS ISRAELI ATTACKS - Pope Says Israel is “Humiliating” Palestinians (Reuters) - Media Committee Criticizes Israel (AP) - ICRC Says Medical Personnel Blocked in Palestine - Canadian Government Criticized by Jewish, Muslim Groups (AP) * ORPHANS RUMOR MAY BE A HOAX (San Jose Mercury News) * EDITORIAL: JUSTICE DIES IN THE DARK (Los Angeles Times) * FIVE MUSLIMS BURNT TO DEATH IN INDIAN STATE (Reuters) * THE FIRST HOLY WAR (U.S. News & World Report) * YOUNG MUSLIMS WEAR THEIR FAITH WITH PRIDE (Montreal Gazette) * THE MIND OF A RACIST (Time) * TEXAN CONVICTED OF KILLING INDIAN OVER SEPT. 11 (Reuters) ----- VERSE OF THE DAY: EVEN THE BIRDS PRAISE GOD "Seest thou not that it is God whose praises all beings in the heavens and on earth do celebrate, (even) the birds (of the air) with wings outspread? Each one knows its own (mode of) prayer and praise." The Holy Quran, Chapter 24, Verse 41 ----- -- MEDIA ADVISORY -- POWELL MEETS WITH MUSLIMS TO DISCUSS ISRAELI ATTACKS WHAT: On Wednesday, April 3, leaders of national American Muslim and Arab-American organizations will meet with Secretary of State Colin L. Powell to discuss Israeli’s ongoing attacks in the Occupied Territories. Following the meeting, Muslim attendees will hold a briefing outside the State Department’s C Street entrance. Interviews are also available prior to the meeting. “We appreciate Secretary’s Powell’s decision to call for this meeting and once again state the American Muslim community’s willingness to provide a bridge of understanding to the Islamic world during this time of crisis and conflict,” said Nihad Awad, Executive Director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), one of the group’s invited to today’s meeting. WHEN: Wednesday, April 3, Meeting - 2 p.m., Briefing 3:15 p.m. (or following the conclusion of the meeting) WHERE: Briefing - Outside the State Department’s C Street Entrance. - END - CONTACT: Ibrahim Hooper, 202-488-8787 or 202-489-5108 E-MAIL - cair@cair-net.org Ms. Hodan Hassan, 202-488-8787 or 703-861-7294 E-MAIL: hhassan@cair-net.org SEE ALSO: Pope Says Israel is “Humiliating” Palestinians Israel, U.S. under fire in Europe Reuters, 4/3/2002 LONDON, April 3 (Reuters) - Pope John Paul sharply criticised Israel on Wednesday for "humiliating" the Palestinians, while European newspapers attacked the United States for not doing enough to halt Middle East violence. In a strongly-worded statement, the Vatican said it had called in the Israeli and U.S. ambassadors to the Holy See on Tuesday to discuss the crisis. Although it condemned acts of terrorism, an apparent reference to a recent wave of Palestinian suicide attacks in Israeli towns and cities, the statement included a list of criticisms of the Jewish state. It said the Pope "rejects unjust conditions and humiliations imposed on the Palestinian people as well as the reprisals and revenge attacks which do nothing but feed the sense of frustration and hatred…" Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has sent troops and tanks to reoccupy a string of West Bank towns and villages and besiege Palestinian President Yasser Arafat in his Ramallah headquarters in response to the suicide bombings… --- Media Committee Criticizes Israel By STEVE WEIZMAN, The Associated Press, 4/3/2002 JERUSALEM (AP) - The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists has joined a growing chorus of other groups criticizing Israel's policy of expelling journalists from occupied cities in the West Bank. The group also accused Israeli troops of shooting at reporters. The organization said in a statement Tuesday that it has sent a letter to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon protesting the military's attempts to block reporters from working in Bethlehem, Ramallah and Qalqiliya… The Committee to Protect Journalists also accused Israel of attacking reporters. The group said that troops on Monday fired on an armored car used by NBC correspondent Dana Lewis and his two-person crew. The car was clearly marked as a media vehicle, the group said. No one was injured. The organization also said that BBC reporter Orla Guerin and her TV crew came under Israeli fire Monday while covering a peaceful protest in Bethlehem. No one was injured. --- ICRC Says Medical Personnel Blocked in Palestine A solemn appeal by the International Committee of the Red Cross and the International federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies http://www.ifrc.org/Docs/News/pr02/2102.asp Over the past few days and in response to the worsening situation, International Red Cross delegates and Palestine Red Crescent Society volunteers attempted to cater for the most pressing humanitarian needs in the West Bank. However, the ICRC and the International Federation have cause to regret the frequent and often serious instances in which medical personnel were prevented from performing their life saving duties. The most basic humanitarian precondition in a situation of violence, is that all medical staff and volunteers be allowed to function unmolested. Much remains to be done in virtually all humanitarian domains - medical, livelihood of the civilian populations, protection of non combatants and of arrested persons... - yet ICRC delegates were regrettably prevented from working because of a sudden degradation of the usual lines of communication between themselves and the Israeli authorities… --- Canadian Government Criticized by Jewish, Muslim Groups for Middle East Policy The Associated Press, 4/2/2002 Foreign Minister Bill Graham drew criticism from both sides of the Middle East conflict Tuesday after saying Israel should withdraw from Palestinian territory and Yasser Arafat must reject terrorism. The Canadian-Israel Committee called Graham's position contradictory, noting that Canada supports the U.S. war on terrorism but tells Israel to pull back instead of trying to root out terrorists killing its people. At the same time, the Canadian office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations called on the government to denounce Israel's "war of terror" against Palestinians. "Silence in the face of these crimes is approval," said a statement issued by the Ottawa-based group. Graham, in a conference call with journalists from a vacation in Barbados, maintained the evenhanded policy toward the Middle East that he has expressed since being named foreign affairs minister in January… CONTACT: Canada@cair-net.org ----- ORPHANS RUMOR MAY BE A HOAX By Putsata Reang, San Jose Mercury News, 4/3/2002 http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/news/local/2989074.htm The rumor that more than 500 Afghan orphans have been brought to the United States and are ready for adoption has angered and frustrated members of the Afghan community in Fremont who are eager to help but fear it may be a hoax. "We really want to find out what's the real story," said Rona Popal, executive director of the Afghan Coalition in Fremont. "Everybody's mad." A U.S. Department of Defense official denied the claim that the United States transported Afghan orphans here, and social service agencies that work with refugees, including the International Rescue Committee, say the rumor is unfounded. "Resettling an orphan is not something someone takes on lightly," said Don Climent, director of the committee's San Francisco office. "It's a good rumor." Even the Afghan Embassy was unable to confirm the rumor. "Our investigations from both the embassy side as well as the investigations done by the U.S. government and FBI have turned up no verifiable truth that orphans from Afghanistan were brought to the United States," said Homerya Mokhtarzada, the embassy's humanitarian aid officer. More than two weeks ago, an e-mail that circulated across the country claimed that 570 orphaned children, from newborns up to age 10, had been airlifted out of Afghanistan by the U.S. government and brought to Southern California, where church organizations were preparing to find them adoptive homes… Two meetings last weekend in Garden Grove and Northridge for prospective adoptive parents drew about 350 Afghans, according to Rohida Kahn, coordinator for domestic violence for NISWA, a Muslim social service agency in Los Angeles. Although her organization helped sponsor the meetings, even Kahn isn't sure whether the rumor has merit. "We are investigating," Kahn said. The initial e-mail came from Mohammad Daoud Abedi, an Afghan man in Calabasas, about 20 miles northwest of Beverly Hills, who said he met with a social worker at a church in mid-March who told him about the orphans. The woman told Abedi that 45 of the children had arrived in the United States and more were on their way. However, since the meeting, Abedi has not been able to confirm any of the information and no one has reported seeing the children… But many Afghans here were quick to believe the orphan story, Popal said, because Afghanistan faced a similar situation during its war with the Soviet Union. Several thousand orphans were taken to the former Soviet Union starting in 1979 -- a mission which spanned about a decade. ----- EDITORIAL: JUSTICE DIES IN THE DARK The Los Angeles Times, 4/3/2002 http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/editorials/la-000023745apr03.story Openness is a hallmark of this nation's legal system. The founding fathers knew that secret court proceedings give cover to corrupt or tyrannical judges and sloppy prosecutors, that judges who can hide can easily abuse power. Yet shortly after the September terrorist attacks, immigration judges around the country slammed shut the doors of their courtrooms, barring the public, the press and even relatives of the oh-so-vaguely accused men and women rounded up by the thousands under blanket orders from the attorney general. A federal judge could decide this week whether this secrecy should stand. We hope she agrees that it should not. The case before the Detroit federal court involves proceedings against Rabih Haddad, a Muslim religious and community leader from Ann Arbor, Mich. Haddad is a Lebanese citizen who has lived in the United States on and off for the past 20 years. He last entered in 1998 under a tourist visa, which has since expired. Last year, Haddad applied for permanent residency. As part of the mass arrests of Middle Eastern men after Sept. 11, federal agents picked up Haddad for overstaying his visa. He has been jailed since and is now being held in a Chicago federal prison, in solitary confinement, pending a final deportation hearing. The government has made no allegation that Haddad had any role in the terrorist attacks, which he loudly condemned. Yet in December, the court barred Haddad's family, along with newspaper and television reporters and Rep. John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.), from attending his first immigration hearing. In closing the doors, the judge in that proceeding was acting in accordance with a September memo issued by the chief immigration judge, on orders from Atty. Gen. John Ashcroft... ----- FIVE MUSLIMS BURNT TO DEATH IN INDIAN STATE Reuters, 4/3/2002 AHMEDABAD, India, April 3 (Reuters) - Five Muslims were burnt to death and a sixth person was shot by police as fresh Hindu-Muslim violence flared in India's riot-racked Gujarat state, police said on Wednesday. The grisly bodies were discovered a day before Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee makes his first visit to the state since the religious bloodletting erupted late in February. Police said the remains of the five were found on the outskirts of Ahmedabad, the state's main commercial city, adding to more than 800 people, mostly Muslims, who have already been killed in the wave of violence. "Five charred bodies were recovered this morning from one of three houses burnt by a Hindu mob early on Wednesday," a senior police officer told Reuters. Four people suffered burns and were in hospital, he said… Both the state and federal governments have been heavily criticised by opposition parties for failing to act swiftly to stop the carnage -- charges they have denied. The violence erupted on February 27 after a Muslim mob torched a train carrying hardline Hindus, burning 58 people alive. That sparked a wave of reprisal killings in which around 750 people, mostly Muslims, were killed. Some 100,000 people, mainly Muslims, are sheltered in relief camps in the state. Many have lost their homes in arson attacks or are too terrified to return to them for fear of being targeted by their Hindu neighbours, relief workers say. ----- THE FIRST HOLY WAR By Andrew Curry, U.S. News & World Report, 4/8/2002 http://www.usnews.com/usnews/issue/020408/ideas/8crusades.htm It was the fall of 1187, and an emissary from the besieged city of Jerusalem had come to beg Saladin, the sultan of Egypt, for mercy. After barely four days of assaults, the Christian defenders saw that Saladin had them hopelessly outmatched. Waiting in his tent outside the city's walls, the Muslim ruler knew both sides had a lot riding on the outcome of this battle. For the city's defenders, the prospect of Saladin's wrath loomed. The last time Jerusalem was sacked by an invading army--a Christian one--its narrow streets ran red with blood. For Saladin, his honor depended on capturing Jerusalem. All summer his armies had battled their way north through the Holy Land, sweeping through the Christian fiefs like an angry desert wind, with only one goal: recapturing the holy city that had been occupied by European invaders for 88 years. Now the sultan stood on the hills north of Jerusalem. But the Christian emissary trudging toward him had no prize to offer, only surrender. For days Saladin's men had bombarded the city from the heights to the north, finally breaching St. Stephen's Gate. The few defenders who remained knew that prolonging the fight would only worsen the consequences of defeat. And so a triumphant Saladin entered Jerusalem on Oct. 2, 1187. For the sultan's army, it was a moment of both joy and sadness. Christians had profaned some of Islam's holiest sites. The al-Aqsa mosque had been used as a stable for horses. Pieces of the rock from which Mohammed was said to have ascended to heaven had been chipped away to sell in Constantinople. But the victorious Saladin forbade acts of vengeance. There were no more deaths, no violence. A token ransom was arranged for the thousands of residents. Saladin and his brother paid for hundreds of the poorest themselves and arranged guards for the caravans of refugees. Sound familiar? If not, don't feel bad. Saladin doesn't get much play in Western history books… More than nine centuries after Urban II called the first Crusade, the legacy of misunderstanding and animosity is still with us today. In the West, many of the most lasting misperceptions of Islam stem from that time. In the Arab and Muslim world, the Crusades have made an unfortunate rhetorical comeback. "Such analogies are really not very helpful to understand the Crusades or present-day realities--they obscure rather than clarify," says Kedar. "People get so obsessed with . . . the past that they don't react to the reality but to the reflection." With that reflection distorted almost beyond recognition by rhetoric and misunderstanding, a clearer vision of the past has never been more important. ----- YOUNG MUSLIMS WEAR THEIR FAITH WITH PRIDE New clothing line declares 'way of life' By ALLISON LAMPERT, Montreal Gazette, 4/3/2002 http://www.canada.com/montreal/news/story.asp?id={80A32391-168C-4586-89B8-4054CAB163E6} Mubashir Jamal was different from the other teens he knew in high school. At a time when many of his peers were partying at clubs and losing their virginity, Jamal, now 18, refrained from drinking alcohol or smoking marijuana. A practicing Muslim, Jamal spoke of prayer, and engaged in lively debate over religion and western society during English class. "Religion became a real taboo in high school," he recalled. "When you enter an environment like that it makes it even more difficult when people don't understand." Now a student at Dawson College, Jamal continues to stand out because of his religious beliefs. He displays them on the black knit tuque on his head, and on his sweatshirt. Jamal is wearing Muslim Gear, a clothing line launched to promote greater understanding of a religion he says is frequently misunderstood. Sitting in an empty Muslim prayer room at Concordia University, Jamal points to a phrase emblazoned in white on the back of a black T-shirt worn by a friend, Ali Merali. Just below the Muslim Gear logo, the shirt refers to Islam as "more than a religion." "The main intention is to raise awareness about Islam," Jamal said. "When we have statements like this…it invokes questions in people's minds…" For additional information, go to: www.muslimgear.com ----- THE MIND OF A RACIST He thought I was an Arab and let his spleen vent BY Aparism Ghosh, TIME Magazine, 4/3/2002 http://www.time.com/time/asia/news/column/0,9754,203473,00.html I met my first real-life racist at lunchtime in a central London café. He was wearing a dark blue suit and a fawn felt overcoat, crisp white shirt and a brick-red tie. He was a small, wiry figure, with a wide forehead, thinning blond hair and grey eyes behind rimless glasses. He was well-spoken, uttered not a single obscenity and had good teeth. And he didn't raise a hand towards me in anger… "Look," he said, now taking on a conciliatory tone, "for all I know, you're a perfectly nice fellow. You were probably educated in this country, and you are Westernized. But your religion..." He shook his head. "What about it?" I asked. "Well, it's savage and medieval and... savage," he said. "It's not polite to say these things these days, but they need to be said. And after what happened in America, it can't be hidden any longer." "Why is it savage?" "It's full of hate, isn't it? It teaches your people to be hostile, towards us, towards anybody who disagrees with you. And women, too, your own women." He then favored me with his thesis on Islam. Muslims, in his view, allowed their clergy ("the Imams," he called them) to run their lives. They - we - were brainwashed to be unquestioning and unthinking, to aspire to a medieval way of life. He liked the word "medieval," and used it repeatedly. Islam, he added, had failed to "snap out of its medieval trance and recognize that the world has moved on…" Despite his low tone, he was obviously deeply angry, at me, at all Arabs. Maybe this rage had come from something that had happened to him recently, some specific event, like the loss of a job or a contract (or a wife?) to an Arab. Or did he carry his loathing with him all the time, coiled up in his gut like a wounded rattlesnake, ready to lash out at anybody. I wanted to ask, but didn't know how… "You seem to have done some reading on Islam," I said… Throughout our conversation, I had not once challenged this man, not told him to his face that he was a racist nut and that his notions about Arabs and Muslims were all warped and ugly and wrong. As a journalist, I'm so used to holding my own opinions while seeking out those of others that I sometimes let nonsense go unchallenged. Or - and this was the shameful part - perhaps it was because, not being an Arab or a Muslim, I was unable to take his bigotry personally. And finally, coming from such an incongruous figure, his words had seemed more amusing than offensive - at the time. But now I felt like chasing after him on the crowded pavement and confronting him in the street, humiliating him in public. The moment passed. I told myself it would serve no purpose, because hismind was closed. Besides, he had given me something valuable, an insight into his prejudices. And, probably more precious, a real face to put on my mental image of a racist. I will never forget it. ----- TEXAN CONVICTED OF KILLING INDIAN OVER SEPT. 11 Reuters, 4/2/2002 http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=564&564&e=10&u=/nm/20020402/ts_nm/attack_murder_dc_2 DALLAS (Reuters) - A suburban Dallas man who went out to shoot immigrants in revenge for the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States was convicted of capital murder on Tuesday for killing an Indian gas station owner. A Dallas jury took less than an hour to convict Mark Stroman, 32, who had told police and a Dallas TV station he shot naturalized U.S. citizen Vasudev Patel last October because he thought the Indian man looked Middle Eastern and he wanted vengeance for the hijack attacks on New York and the Pentagon (news - web sites)… Stroman is also charged with killing a Dallas-area convenience store clerk, Waquar Hassan, on Sept. 15 and is suspected in a third shooting that injured another store clerk, Rais Uddin. Arguments in the punishment phase began on Tuesday before the case goes to the jury one more time for sentencing. ----- 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 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 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CAIR SUPPORTS PRESIDENT'S DEMAND FOR END TO ISRAELI ATTACKS (WASHINGTON, D.C., 4/4/2002) - The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), a Washington-based Islamic advocacy group, is supporting President Bush's demand, announced today, that Israel end both its settlement activity and it ongoing assaults on Palestinian towns and villages. The president said: "Israeli settlement activity in occupied territories must stop...I ask Israel to halt incursions into Palestinian-controlled areas and begin the withdrawal from those cities it has recently occupied." He said Israel must also "show a respect for - and concern about - the dignity of the Palestinian people" and lift its blockade of Palestinian civilians by opening border crossings and checkpoints. For the full text of the president's remarks, go to: http://www.msnbc.com/news/734039.asp?cp1=1 In a statement issued following the president's speech, CAIR Governmental Affairs Director Jason Erb said: "The operative aspects of today's remarks by President Bush, despite being couched in standard pro-Israel rhetoric, are a clear departure from the administration's one-sided support for that nation's brutal and illegal policies. The President has accurately identified the real sources of conflict in the Holy Land; the settlements, the occupation and the "daily humiliation" suffered by ordinary Palestinians. "It is also encouraging that the president decided to send Secretary of State Colin Powell to the region. Such high-level intervention is essential to bring about an end to the cycle of violence and the mutual hatred it generates. CAIR Executive Director Nihad Awad proposed just such an initiative in a meeting yesterday with Secretary Powell. "These constructive statements must now be followed by concrete and sustained diplomatic action." - END - CONTACT: Ibrahim Hooper, 202-488-8787 or 202-489-5108 E-MAIL - cair@cair-net.org Ms. Hodan Hassan, 202-488-8787 or 703-861-7294 E-MAIL: hhassan@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 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 ----- AMERICAN MUSLIM NEWS BRIEFS 4/5/2002 ----- HEADLINES: * VERSE OF THE DAY: REPEL EVIL WITH GOOD * CAIR TRAINING CONFERENCE A SUCCESS * RIGHTS ACTIVISTS ASSAIL CHECK OF JAIL CONDITIONS * JUDGE RULES THE HEARING FOR A DETAINEE MUST BE OPEN (New York Times) * ISRAELI SOLDIERS SHOOT AND KILL A U.S. CITIZEN (Democracy Now) * ISRAELI TROOPS FIRE GRENADES AT REPORTERS (UPI) * KAPTUR URGES BUSH TO PUSH FOR U.N. PEACEKEEPERS IN MIDEAST * U.S. JEW DENOUNCES CRITICS OF HIS PALESTINIAN AID (Reuters) - Editorial: Death Threats in Brooklyn (New York Times) - Interviews Available With Americans In Palestinian Cities Under Attack By The Israeli Army (us Newswire) * U.S. RADIO PROMOTES AFGHAN CAMPAIGN (AP) * ‘AFGHAN ORPHAN’ E-MAIL MAY BE HOAX (ABC) * TEXAN GETS DEATH FOR KILLING INDIAN OVER SEPT. 11 (Reuters) * COMMENT: THE PRISONER OF SHARON (Worldnetdaily.com) * THE ANTI-AMERICANS (Antiwar.com) * PALESTINIANS ARE BLURRY IN THE EDITORIAL FRAME (FAIR) - In U.S. Media, Palestinians Attack, Israel Retaliates * PALESTINIAN BACKERS URGE U.S. MEDIATION (Columbus Dispatch) * ISRAELIS WHO WON’T JOIN THE FIGHT(NBC) * A SPEECH LACED WITH OBSESSIONS AND LITTLE ELSE (The Independent) * ISRAEL IS NOT AMERICA’S GREATEST ALLY (Newsweek International) * A RIGHTWING BLUEPRINT FOR THE MIDDLE EAST (AlterNet) * TEEN ASKS TENNESSEE COUNTY TO DISPLAY ISLAMIC PILLARS (AP) * EXHIBIT: THE HISTORY OF MUSLIMS IN WASHINGTON, DC ----- VERSE OF THE DAY: REPEL EVIL WITH GOOD “[Since] good and evil cannot be equal. Repel [evil] with something that is better. Then you will see that he with whom you had enmity, will become your close friend.” The Holy Quran, Chapter 41, Verse 34 ----- CAIR TRAINING CONFERENCE A SUCCESS (WASHINGTON, D.C., 4/5/02) On Saturday, March 30 and Sunday March 31, 2002, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) held its annual training conference at the Sheraton Premiere in Vienna, Va. The sold-out conference, entitled “Muslims in America: Moving Forward with Faith,” offered intensive workshops and lectures on media relations, civil rights advocacy, coalition-building and political empowerment, all presented by top professionals in their fields. More than 400 Muslim activists took part in the conference. Attendees included community leaders and activists from 28 states, Canada and Europe. Evaluations from participants indicate a high level of appreciation for the conference and the content of workshops. One participated stated, “The conference has given me a lot of ideas and motivated me beyond my imagination.” Many attendees pointed to the need for greater activism within the Muslim community, particularly in light of the government’s increasing use of racial and religious profiling. Representative John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI) offered the keynote address at the luncheon on Saturday. His speech highlighted civil rights and civil liberties concerns in the aftermath of September 11. “I have not been able to find any evidence of why we need to surrender any of our constitutional civil rights and liberties to fight terrorism,” said Conyers. ----- RIGHTS ACTIVISTS ASSAIL CHECK OF JAIL CONDITIONS By MITCHEL MADDUX, The Record (Bergen County, NJ), 4/4/2002 http://northjersey.com/cgi-bin/page.pl?id=3049876 Civil rights activists criticized the U.S. Justice Department on Wednesday, saying that an agency review of immigration detainees¬ treatment in the Passaic County Jail has come too late. The Justice Department's Inspector General's Office recently began a review of conditions at the Paterson facility, only weeks after an Amnesty International report said Muslim detainees there had been mistreated. But several activists said that as many as 75 percent of those held in Passaic County as part of the Sept. 11 terror probe have already either been deported or released. "It's closing the barn door after the horses have gotten out," said Ibrahim Hooper, a spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations in Washington. "A cynical person would say it's just public relations spin and damage control.” A spokesman for the Justice Department's Inspector General's Office, Paul Martin, declined to discuss the review, which also is looking at conditions inside the federal Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn. Authorities did confirm that the review would examine issues such as the detainees’ access to legal counsel, the civil rights they are afforded, whether their cases are being handled promptly, and other conditions in the jails. Most of those among the 326 being held -- many of them men of Middle Eastern and South Asian heritage -- are being detained on immigration charges. Most are being held in New Jersey, with many in the Passaic and Hudson jails, civil liberties groups say. Sohail Mohammed, a Clifton attorney who has represented more than a dozen detainees, said many detainees who could have been affected by the review's outcome are no longer in custody. Citing information culled from civil rights groups and other attorneys, he estimated that 100 immigration detainees remain of 400 originally held in the Passaic County Jail. ----- JUDGE RULES THE HEARING FOR A DETAINEE MUST BE OPEN By Danny Hakim with Susan Sachs, New York Times, 4/03/02 http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/04/national/04DETA.html A federal judge here ruled today that an immigration hearing for a local suspect in the government's terror sweep could not be closed to reporters. The ruling was the first in a federal court on the Justice Department's effort to keep such cases closed and could have ramifications for hundreds of other immigration hearings that are pending for men of Arab descent since the Sept. 11 attacks. "Openness is necessary for the public to maintain confidence in the value and soundness of the government's actions, as secrecy only breeds suspicion," Judge Nancy G. Edmunds of Federal District Court ruled in rejecting the argument that the cases should be closed for national security reasons… ----- FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Democracy Now! at (212) 431-9090 ISRAELI SOLDIERS SHOOT AND KILL A U.S. CITIZEN AS SHE HOLDS HER 9-MONTH-OLD BABY IN HER LAP; WITH THE MORGUE OVERFLOWING, THE FAMILY IS FORCED TO BURY THE 21-YEAR OLD PALESTINIAN-AMERICAN IN THE RAMALLAH HOSPITAL PARKING LOT; THE U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT DOES NOTHING Israeli soldiers on Friday shot and killed Suraida Saleh in Ramallah as she was holding her 9-month old baby in her lap. She and her husband were driving to safety at her father's house after hearing shooting near their home. Suraida Saleh was a Palestinian-American born in George Washington Hospital in Washington, D.C. Reached on the phone today in Ramallah, her father, Farhan Mohammed Saleh, told Democracy Now! that Israeli soldiers asked the husband to stop the car and started shooting. He said they shot Suraida in the head and chest, and she died immediately. After shooting the husband repeatedly, they let him go. He took the baby from his dead wife's lap and stumbled up the road to the home of his father-in-law, where he collapsed. With the Ramallah hospital morgue overflowing and Israeli soldiers preventing anyone from reaching the cemetery, Saleh said he was forced to bury his daughter in the hospital parking lot alongside dozens of other Palestinians. Suraida's father, Farhan Mohammed Saleh, wept as he said: "I took her out of the hospital refrigerator [morgue] with my own hands, and my wife and my older son with me, we took her outside and put her in the ground, just temporary." On Tuesday, Democracy Now! spoke to the Office of Consular Affairs at the State Department. The office said the State Department was aware that Suraida Saleh was a U.S. citizen, but did not plan to release a statement or take any action. Farhan Mohammed Saleh said that the State Department has done nothing. As he spoke, his grandson could be heard crying in the background. "[My grandson] is with me now. He is 9 months old, I don't know what's going to happen with him without his mother. You know, he's crying all the time. That's what makes me suffer." What follows is a partial transcript of the interview with Farhan Mohammed Saleh, the father of Suraida Saleh. He was interviewed by Amy Goodman, host of the radio and television show, Democracy Now!. Farhan Mohammed Saleh [Saleh]: …some of the neighbors, when they hear the shooting and saw her in the car, they call the ambulance… she stayed in the refrigerator [hospital morgue] from Friday morning up to yesterday evening [5 days]. … I took her out of the hospital refrigerator with my own hands, and my wife and my older son with me, we took her outside and put her in the ground, just temporary, somewhere in the hospital, until they can take her to the cemetery. Amy Goodman [AG]: You buried your daughter in the parking lot? Saleh: Yes, yes, she was with 2 more women, the men were buried separately. It is a temporary cemetery they make ... AG: How many other people are buried in the parking lot? Saleh: About 25 or 27 people. Three women were yesterday, and about 23 or 24 men. AG: Why couldn't you get to the cemetery? Saleh: Nobody can go to the cemetery, there was shooting going everywhere. They just give 1 or 2 hours to the people to see their dead. We passed from the side of the tanks and the soldiers, and we was scared… [My grandson] is with me now. He is 9 months old, I don't know what's going to happen with him without his mother. You know, he's crying all the time. That's what makes me suffer. [Crying of baby in the background] AG: Has the US embassy come to see you? Saleh: Nobody, nobody up to now. My other daughter in Brooklyn, she called the Department of State in the U.S. and gave them all the information and they called the American Embassy in Jerusalem, and gave them my phone number. They called me Friday or Saturday, and I told them what's happening, and they say they are going to come and nobody came. And they called me Sunday morning and say they're going to come and nobody showed up, up to now. I called 2 or 3 times and I talked with some people working and nobody has shown up to now, nobody has seen me up to now. I don't know what I'm going to do with the baby now. [He begins to weep.] It's a bad situation, a bad situation we have really. We just ask God to help her. It's killing people everywhere, in the streets, in the houses. They broke down the houses, the buildings, they get inside the houses and the apartments and they kill people and break down everything. That's barbarism. That's the situation we have. I don't know where are the human rights? The US and all the world, they're calling for human rights - where are the human rights? Civilian people, they're killing everywhere, in the streets and the houses and the apartments. Some buildings have 10 to 15 apartments, they get inside the apartments and houses and are killing everywhere. ----- ISRAELI TROOPS FIRE GRENADES AT REPORTERS United Press International, 4/5/2002 TEL AVIV, Israel, April 5 (UPI) -- Israeli soldiers fired rubber bullets and stun grenades at a journalist convoy near the compound of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat in Ramallah, U.S. TV journalists reported early Friday. There was no warning before troops in two vehicles fired five to seven stun grenades, TV reporters from CNN and ABC News reported. About 25 reporters were then ordered to leave. Journalists had gone to the area to wait for U.S. special envoy Gen. Anthony Zinni, who is scheduled to meet with Arafat later in the day... ----- KAPTUR URGES BUSH TO PUSH FOR U.N. PEACEKEEPERS IN MIDEAST http://www.house.gov/apps/list/press/oh09_kaptur/prBushMideast.html TOLEDO, OH -U.S. Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur (OH-9) today called on President Bush to request an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council for the purpose of approving an enforcement action in the Middle East. “The situation in Israel and the Palestinian territories has spiraled out of control,” Congresswoman Kaptur said.“United Nations peacekeepers could end the escalation of violence in Israel and the Palestinian Authority. “The world looks to the United States for leadership.As a permanent member of the Security Council, the United States has a responsibility to work with the nations of the world to urge warring parties to end their conflicts through dialogue.If they do not, however, we must help forge an international alliance to create an atmosphere more conducive to negotiations.” Congresswoman Kaptur said a U.N. force, after bringing down the level of violence, could help provide the regional stability that is necessary for preserving Israel’s right to exist and establishing an independent Palestinian state. She noted that both objectives are part of the Bush Administration’s stated policy in the Middle East. According to the United Nations, there have been 49 peacekeeping operations since 1948.Thirty six operations were created by the Security Council in the years between 1988 (when the blue-helmeted U.N. peacekeepers were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize) and June 1999. “Over the past 18 months we have seen more than 400 Israelis and more than 1,200 Palestinians killed,” Congresswoman Kaptur said.“The violence on both sides has intensified in recent weeks and now threatens to engulf the entire region in a destabilizing conflict.The violence is taking on a life of its own.Further delay will make peace even harder to achieve. This is why the United Nations peacekeepers exist.The United States must take the lead to bring an end to the bloodshed.” In the case of enforcement action, the Security Council gives Member States the authority to take all necessary measures to achieve a stated objective. Consent of the parties is not necessarily required. SEND NOTES OF APPRECIATION TO: Rep. Marcy Kaptur Northwest Ohio Office One Maritime Plaza Sixth Floor Toledo, Ohio 43604-1853 (419) 259-7500 (800) 964-4699 Fax - (419) 255-9623 Washington, D.C. Office 2366 Rayburn House Office Bldg. Washington, DC 20515 (202) 225-4146 Fax - (202) 225-7711 E-MAIL: REP.KAPTUR@mail.house.gov COPY TO: ohio@cair-net.org, cair@cair-net.org ----- U.S. JEW DENOUNCES CRITICS OF HIS PALESTINIAN AID By Christian Wiessner, Reuters, 4/4/2002 http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/news/news-mideast-usa-brooklyn.html NEW YORK, April 4 (Reuters) - The Jewish American aid worker who treated Palestinian wounded in Yasser Arafat's besieged compound denounced his critics on Thursday and said police and the FBI were investigating death threats that have led his parents to temporarily leave their Brooklyn home. "So far they are safe and trying to stay that way," Adam Shapiro -- described as "the Jewish Taliban" in some U.S. media reports -- said of his parents, Doreen and Stuart Shapiro, in a telephone interview from his apartment in the West Bank city of Ramallah… The Shapiros, both teachers, are living out of state after death threats sent to their Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, home via telephone and e-mail… Shapiro is a member of The International Solidarity Movement, a group which bills itself as working to raise awareness of the Palestinian struggle and to end the Israeli occupation. He persuaded Israeli authorities to allow him to enter the PLO presidential compound last weekend to treat wounded aides of Arafat and became trapped inside as Israeli troops pounded the complex with heavy gunfire. Shapiro caused a storm in some New York Jewish circles when it was learned after he emerged from the compound that Arafat ate breakfast with him as a gesture of thanks for aiding the wounded. In New York, Shapiro's brother Noah said the "disgusting" telephone calls and emails had left their parents "emotional and distraught..." SEE ALSO: Editorial: Death Threats in Brooklyn The New York Times, 4/4/2002 http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/04/opinion/_04THU2.html As the Mideast death toll soars, so do anxieties about the region's corrosive hatreds spilling onto our own shores and threatening the lives and freedoms of Americans. That fear has now become reality in Brooklyn in a way both surprising and repellent. Death threats from irresponsible local supporters of Israel have forced an innocent couple, Doreen and Stuart Shapiro, to flee their home. They became a target after their son Adam delivered humanitarian medical aid to Yasir Arafat's besieged compound in Ramallah, on the West Bank. Rage at Mr. Arafat for his complicity in murderous suicide bombings across Israel is understandable. Yet Mr. Arafat's behavior scarcely turns Adam Shapiro's peaceful action into treason against America and the Jews or makes him the equivalent of an American Taliban fighter, as some of the menacing messages charge… --- Interviews Available With Americans In Palestinian Cities Under Attack By The Israeli Army U.S. Newswire, 4/4/2002 Several U.S. citizens remain inside Palestinian refugee camps and cities that are under siege by the Israeli army. Yesterday the United States government evacuated many of the U.S. members of the international delegation that had gone to the occupied territories to protest against human rights violations against Palestinians. But some Americans decided to stay in Palestine, to protect Palestinians and report on the atrocities being carried out there by the Israeli Army. The following Americans are available to provide eyewitness testimony from Palestinian cities and refugee camps: Kate Raphael, cell phone: 011-972-56-621-935 Kate Raphael is a 42-year old Jewish American woman who lives in the San Francisco Bay Area where she works at a law firm. Kate has been involved with a group called Women in Black, which is an international peace network whose members hold silent peace vigils in protest of war and human rights abuses. Women in Black vigils were started in Israel in 1988 by women protesting against the occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Huwaida Arraf, cell phone: 011-972-52-642-709 Huwaida Arraf is a 26-year-old Palestinian American from Detroit, MI. She decided not to be evacuated out of the occupied territories by the U.S. government, and she is now in Ramallah. Rob Lipton, cell phone: 011-972-51-363-195 Rob Lipton is a 43-year-old Jewish American scientist from Berkeley, CA. He is active with a group called Jewish Voice for Peace, a San Francisco Bay Area grassroots human rights organization focused on the Middle East. In an April 3 interview with the Associated Press from East Jerusalem, after he was evacuated from Bethlehem, Lipton said: "The first night in the camp there was very heavy machine gun fire. The Palestinians did not return fire. They do not have heavy weapons, although I could hear the occasional pop pop of some small guns and then the giant roar of tank fire," he said. Adam Shapiro, cell phone: 011-972-52-481-261 Adam Shapiro is a 30-year-old activist from Brooklyn, New York. He works with the International Solidarity Movement, the organization that sponsored the delegation of internationals to the West Bank and Gaza Strip. He is currently in Ramallah. Since Adam was interviewed in the U.S. media in recent days, his parents received so many death threats from pro-Israeli zealots that they had to temporarily leave their home in Brooklyn. For eyewitness reports by Americans, Europeans, Palestinians and others who are in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, see www.electronicintifada.net and www.jerusalem.indymedia.org. CONTACT: Karen Pomer, 310-463-7025 Andrea Buffa, 510-839-8911 both of Vanguard Public Foundation Web: http://www.vanguardsf.org/ ----- U.S. RADIO PROMOTES AFGHAN CAMPAIGN By MICHELLE BOORSTEIN, The Associated Press, 4/5/2002 BAGRAM, Afghanistan (AP) - In a classified area of this sprawling, dusty military base, behind rolls of barbed wire, a different sort of battle is under way. Four Humvees and a canvas tent have been transformed into a radio station run by the U.S. Army Psychological Operations unit, broadcasting Afghan folk music, Dari language techno and informational items crafted by Army marketing experts. Luring listeners with a program that is heavy on music - banned under the Taliban - Information Radio weaves in announcements that carry a clear message across Afghanistan: Support the allies and the interim government of Hamid Karzai. A recent item on the station, which broadcasts 24 hours a day and can be heard nationwide, told of two Afghan bicyclists training for the 2004 Olympics. They will win, “God willing,” the announcer said. “However, it can only happen when peace is truly achieved in Afghanistan and all Afghans unite to support the interim government and the new way of life…” The psychological operations specialists make the music and write the scripts with the help of civilian and military Afghan-Americans, linguists and marketing experts, says Capt. Bob of the Fort Bragg, N.C.-based 8th Battalion. The Army prohibits identifying members of the unit by their full names… ----- ‘AFGHAN ORPHAN’ E-MAIL MAY BE HOAX Afghan-American Families Offer Foster Care, But Orphans May Not Exist By Leela Jacinto, ABC News, 4/03/02 http://abcnews.go.com/sections/world/DailyNews/afghan020403_orphan.html The e-mails, seeking homes for more than 500 Afghan women and children coming to the United States, started circulating among the Afghan-American community last month, but U.S. and Afghan officials fear they may be nothing more than a well-circulated hoax. Hundreds of Afghan-American families across the country have been signing up for foster care licenses after a series of e-mails claimed that 529 Afghan women and children, 217 of them orphaned children, were going to be brought to the United States. But the e-mails which appeared to be put out by Niswa, a Los Angeles-based Muslim community organization offered no details on how the women and children had arrived in the United States or who was responsible for bringing them in… ----- TEXAN GETS DEATH FOR KILLING INDIAN OVER SEPT. 11 Reuters, 4/4/2002 DALLAS, April 4 (Reuters) - A Dallas-area stone worker who went out to shoot immigrants in revenge for the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States was sentenced to death on Thursday for killing a gas station owner born in India. The same Dallas jury that convicted Mark Stroman, 32, of capital murder on Tuesday condemned him to death for the slaying last October of Vasudev Patel, 49, a naturalized U.S. citizen from India. Stroman, who maintained his actions were the result of his anger over the Sept. 11 attacks, is also charged in the Sept. 15 shooting death of Waqar Hassan, a convenience store owner from Karachi, Pakistan, and the wounding of Raisuddin Bhuiyan, a Bangladeshi immigrant shot on Sept. 21 at the gas station where he worked. ----- COMMENT: THE PRISONER OF SHARON By Patrick J. Buchanan, Worldnetdaily.com, 4/5/2002 http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=27112 The president's problem: If he denounces Sharon and demands he pull back from the West Bank, he will dynamite his political coalition at home and call down a firestorm within his own party. Nevertheless, the president must separate America's policy from Sharon's policy. For, if he does not, his own and America's standing in an Arab world of 300 million will come to resemble that of Sharon. The president must not let this happen. For, as a global power, the United States has strategic interests in the Middle East and Islamic world that are far greater than, and far different than, those of Israel… But Ariel Sharon does not believe in that peace. When the United States embraced the Oslo accords and Prime Minister Rabin's offer of land-for-peace, when we endorsed Ehud Barak's bold offer to the Palestinians, when President Bush welcomed the Saudi peace plan, Sharon opposed them all, rejected them all, trashed them all, fought them all. Sharon's vision is not America's vision. We must make that known to the world… The president must erase the perception that Americans are Sharon's silent partners in killing Palestinian dreams of a nation of their own on land on which their fathers have lived for 1,000 years… The president must understand that what Sharon and the neoconservative War Party are slavering for is what the latter call "World War IV," a war with America and Israel on one side, and all the enemies of Israel in the Arab and Islamic world on the other a war that could bring down every pro-American regime in the region and usher in the war of civilizations the president has sought since Sept. 11 to avoid… ----- THE ANTI-AMERICANS Amen Corner denounces Bush for 'going wobbly' By Justin Raimondo, Antiwar.com, 4/5/2002 http://www.antiwar.com/justin/j040502.html First it was the Pope coming out against Israel's "humiliation" of the Palestinians, then, a day later, the President of the United States calling on Ariel Sharon to pull back his tanks. But don't think that Israel's Amen Corner didn't see it coming. You gotta give these guys credit: they know when someone is about to turn pro-American. Norman Podhoretz, writing in the Jerusalem Post the day before Bush's statement, prefaced his condemnation of a President gone "wobbly" as the War Party is now glumly putting it with paragraph upon paragraph of unctuous praise. Yet he got out the knives before getting halfway through his screed by noting unhappily that Bush had once or twice used that suspect phrase "the cycle of violence" and that this rhetorical gaffe was really the necessary prelude to his sending Vice President Dick Cheney on "a quixotic, unnecessary, and humiliating quest" seeking support for an effort to topple Iraq's Saddam Hussein. Oh, George W. had been "incandescent" in the days and weeks following 9/11, and Poddy was particularly thrilled by the "axis of evil" speech; but, lately there have been worrying signs that the President has "suddenly lost his ability to see the obvious" obvious to Norman Podhoretz, and his fellow neoconservatives, that is… ----- PALESTINIANS ARE BLURRY IN THE EDITORIAL FRAME By Norman Solomon, FAIR, 4/4/2002 http://www.fair.org/media-beat/020404.html Most editorial writers seem determined to detour around obvious parallels with apartheid-era South Africa. Evasions and apologetics for basic elements of Israel's policies dominate so much of the U.S. media landscape that insightful comments by Brzezinski were conspicuous: "The Israelis are becoming increasingly like the white supremacist South Africans, viewing the Palestinians as a lower form of life, not hesitating to kill a great many of them." Parrot-like, highly selective media use of the "terrorism" label is providing top U.S. and Israeli officials with invaluable propaganda cover. Meanwhile, Brzezinski has it right: "You cannot define the loss of human life in terms of the number of Israelis killed by brutal, savage, inexcusable Palestinian terror. And it does take place. The fact of the matter is that three times as many Palestinians have been killed, and a relatively small number of them were really militants. Most were civilians. Some hundreds of children." The New York Times ended an April 3 editorial with this sentence: "Only the most bankrupt leadership -- spiritually, intellectually and politically -- allows this macabre, self-delusional act of ruin to pass without anguished condemnation." Those words referred to a recent suicide bombing. But they also apply to the U.S. government and major media outlets continuing to wink and nod while the Israeli military slaughters Palestinian people. SEE ALSO: FAIRNESS & ACCURACY IN REPORTING ACTION ALERT: In U.S. Media, Palestinians Attack, Israel Retaliates April 4, 2002 The numbers will have risen by the time you read this, but more than 300 Israelis and 1,200 Palestinians have been killed since the current Intifada began in September 2000 (Boston Globe, 3/31/02). Thousands more people have been injured. U.S. media coverage of the conflict has been intense in recent weeks, as the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) mounted a large-scale invasion of the West Bank and Palestinian militants carried out several major suicide bombings. Amnesty International (4/3/02) has condemned the targeting of civilians by both sides, voicing concern over "flagrant human rights abuses" by the IDF, including looting, mass detentions, the targeting of medical personnel and possible extrajudicial executions. Israel has tried to exclude the press from the entire area where the abuses are occurring; the Committee to Protect Journalists has expressed alarm (4/2/02) over the apparent targeting of reporters in "ongoing incidents in which IDF forces have opened fire on, or in the direction of, journalists attempting to cover events in the West Bank." With thousands of lives at stake and reporters risking their own lives, it's increasingly difficult-- but perhaps more urgent than ever-- to step back and examine how U.S. media have framed the story. To this end, FAIR has surveyed how the language of "retaliation" has been used on the nightly news shows on ABC, CBS and NBC. From the start of the Intifada in September 2000 through March 17, 2002, the three major networks' nightly news shows used some variation of the word "retaliation" (retaliated, will retaliate, etc.) 150 times to describe attacks in the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. About 79 percent of those references were to Israeli "retaliation" against Palestinians. Only 9 percent referred to Palestinian "retaliation" against Israelis. (Approximately 12 percent were ambiguous or referred to both sides simultaneously.) Both sides of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict routinely present their attacks as being retaliation for previous attacks or actions. Both sides portray their struggle as essentially defensive. Whether one regards these justifications as credible explanations or self-serving rhetoric, the fact is that reporters make choices about whether to report them. The network news shows have characterized Israeli violence as "retaliation" almost nine times more often than Palestinian violence. This disparity is meaningful. The term "retaliation" suggests a defensive stance undertaken in response to someone else's aggression. It also lays responsibility for the cycle of violence at the doorstep of the party being "retaliated" against, since they presumably initiated the conflict. Among the three major networks, ABC's World News Tonight was the closest to being balanced, with 64 percent of its uses of "retaliation" referring to Israeli actions and 21 percent to Palestinian actions-- a three-to-one ratio. CBS Evening News came next, with 79 percent of its uses of "retaliation" referring to Israeli actions and 7 percent to Palestinian actions. NBC Nightly News was the most imbalanced, never once referring to Palestinian retaliation. The devastating human toll of such "retaliations" makes these imbalances are all the more striking. According to the latest estimates from the Israeli human rights group B'Tselem, 897 of the Palestinians killed from September 29, 2000 though March 30, 2002 have been civilians. Israeli security forces killed 823 of those 897 people, including 192 children. B'Tselem records that 253 Israeli civilians were killed by Palestinians in the same period, including 48 children. At least 16 of those 253 people were killed by Palestinian National Authority security forces or persons reportedly linked to them. B'Tselem notes that these figures include neither suicide bombers nor Palestinians who "died after medical treatment was delayed" by Israeli forces. (See www.btselem.org.) Figures like these, highlighting the targeting of non-combatants and even children, make clear that it is simply inaccurate to cast either side as acting purely defensively. The language of retaliation is only one factor in reporting, of course, but FAIR's findings-- 79 percent to 9 percent-- are striking and indicate a tendency to define Israel's role as defensive, and the Palestinian role as aggressive. By doing so,ABC, CBS and NBC have oversimplified this complicated conflict and done a disservice to viewers. ACTION: Please urge the networks to examine why they apply the word "retaliation" almost exclusively to one side in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. ABC World News Tonight with Peter Jennings Phone: 212-456-4040 Fax: 212-456-2795 mail to: netaudr@abc.com CBS Evening News with Dan Rather Phone: 212-975-3691 Fax: 212-975-1893 mail to: audsvcs@cbs.com NBC Nightly News with Tom Brokaw Phone: 212-664-4971 Fax: 202-362-2009 mail to: nightly@msnbc.com As always, please remember that your comments are taken more seriously if you maintain a polite tone. Please cc fair@fair.org with your correspondence. ----- PALESTINIAN BACKERS URGE U.S. MEDIATION By Mary Mogan Edwards, The Columbus Dispatch, 4/4/2002 http://libpub.dispatch.com/cgi-bin/documentv1?DBLIST=cd02&DOCNUM=14674&TERMV=20752:3: The only hope for peace in the Mideast lies with the United States, local advocates for Palestinians said yesterday. At a news conference to decry Israeli military actions in Bethlehem and elsewhere, the Coalition for Palestine's call to action was directed toward the U.S. government. The United States must demand that Israeli forces withdraw from Palestinian cities and cut off aid to Israel until that happens, the group said. The government also must demand an international investigation of Israel's anti-Palestinian actions, it said. "It's not too late" for peace, said Jad Humeidan, executive director of the Ohio Council on American-Islamic Relations. "People have said it can't get any worse. It definitely can get worse…" The Coalition for Palestine plans to demonstrate at 3 p.m. Friday in front of the federal office building at 200 N. High St. The group's statements yesterday were prompted by the Israeli military's movements into major Palestinian cities in the West Bank during the past week. It said that tanks are blocking movement in and out of cities and that soldiers are shooting at anyone who defies a curfew… ----- ISRAELIS WHO WON’T JOIN THE FIGHT By Martin Fletcher, NBC NEWS, 4/3/2002 http://www.msnbc.com/news/733053.asp ATLIT, Israel, April 3 Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has declared that Israel is “at war,” but some reservists are refusing to fight when called up by their government facing the scorn of their countrymen, and jail terms. “WHY SHOULD I go to kill and to be killed for what?” says Ron, one of about 400 Israeli soldiers refusing to join the fight in the West Bank and Gaza. “This is a war that we have no chance to win,” he says. Lt. Itai Ryb got the call to serve on Friday. But this week he decided to pack not for war, but for jail, joining other refuseniks who have signed a letter saying they’d rather go to prison than serve in the military campaign. “This war is not acceptable to me,” he says. “I can’t take part in it.” The Israeli action in the West Bank is wrong, he says, because “it’s occupation, it’s illegal; mostly it harms the well-being of Israel. The sooner we end the occupation, the sooner we’re going to have peace in this country…” ----- A SPEECH LACED WITH OBSESSIONS AND LITTLE ELSE By Robert Fisk, The Independent, 4/5/2002 http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/story.jsp?story=281726 Ariel Sharon could not have done better. The heaping of blame upon an occupied people, the obsessive use of the word terror by my rough count there were 50 references in just 10 minutes and the brief, frightened remarks about "occupation" and (one mention only) to Jewish settlements and the need for Israeli "compassion" at the end were proof enough that President Bush had totally failed to understand the tragedy he is supposedly trying to solve. The mugger became the victim and the victim became the mugger. What, I wonder, is the exact distance between the Rose Garden and Bethlehem? So the US Secretary of State, Colin Powell, is travelling to "the region" next week. Next week? Why not now? But of course, the White House, which according to the Israeli press has repeatedly been asking Mr Sharon how long he intends to reoccupy the Palestinian cities of the West Bank, is to give the Israeli Prime Minister more time to finish his invasion, destroy the Palestinian infrastructure and dismantle the Palestinian Authority… Far more instructive than the Bush speech was the measured, fair way in which Terje Larson, the UN's special Middle East envoy, and Nigel Roberts, the local director of the World Bank, tried to describe the tragedy. In a short press conference they appealed to both sides to end violence and respect international law and cited Israel as well as the Palestinians for breaking it. The so-called Israeli "closed military areas" were, Mr Larson said, "illegitimate and in direct violation of the [Oslo] Agreements". Mr Roberts talked of the surge in violence as a threat that could "consign to history the unique opportunity for reconciliation''. But "closed military areas" achieved another Israeli victory over the Western television satellite stations. Yesterday, the BBC, Sky and CNN, with their own crews largely prevented from filming in the reoccupied Palestinian cities, all ran footage of the Bethlehem battle taken by Israeli soldiers. Rather than refuse to use the tape unless their own crews were permitted access to the carnage, the three channels all dutifully used the film taken by the army of occupation. Another milestone in the collapse of journalism in the Middle East. But not so serious as the collapse of America's peace-making. ----- SHARON'S SELF -DEFEATING VENDETTA By H.D.S. Greenway, The Boston Globe, 4/5/2002 http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/095/oped/Sharon_s_self_defeating_vendetta+.shtml IT IS IMPOSSIBLE to make sense out of the Middle East mess without understanding that Israel's Ariel Sharon, in his year in office, has been waging war not just against terrorism, but against the Oslo accords and a peace process that promised a two-state solution with Israel living beside a Palestinian state. Sharon, the architect of Israel's land-grabbing Israeli settlements in the occupied territories, essentially envisions a one-state solution with Israel maintaining its occupation and expanding Jewish settlements with, perhaps, one day a Palestinian state relegated to little Bantustan enclaves modeled on the apartheid South African model... ----- ISRAEL IS NOT AMERICA’S GREATEST ALLY By Michael Lind, Newsweek International, 4/8/2002 http://www.msnbc.com/news/731882.asp?cp1=1 Once again, conflict is raging between Israel and the Palestiniansand once again, the U.S. government can see fault only on one side. Even as Israeli soldiers were demolishing his compound and threatening his life, Palestinian Authority chairman Yasir Arafat was instructed by U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell to end terrorism against Israel, including that committed by groups Arafat cannot control. What passes in the United States as an evenhanded stance is perceived, not only in the Middle East but in Europe and throughout the world, as unquestioning American support of bully tactics by Israel. In fact, with his uncritical support of Israel, George W. Bush has managed to create an alliance of Arab states supporting Iraq against the United States. The Arab-Israeli conflict has also fueled divisions between the United States and its European allies over the war against Al Qaeda. One can only hope that the depth of the international opposition to America’s policies may slowly force a reappraisal of U.S.-Israel relationsfor the good of both countries… ----- A RIGHTWING BLUEPRINT FOR THE MIDDLE EAST Jim Lobe, AlterNet, 4/4/2002 http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=12785 George W. Bush's silence in the face of the destruction of the Palestine Authority (PA) -- and with it, the nine-year-old Oslo peace process -- marks a sweeping change in U.S. policy in the Middle East. The appeals of Arab allies to rein in Sharon have fallen on utterly deaf ears. The lack of response to date suggests that the Bush White House has now fully embraced the rightwing view that Israel is the U.S.' only strategic ally in the region. And that the interests of Arab states, such as Saudi Arabia and Egypt, will have to take second place to the broader "war against terrorism." This shift in perspective marks a huge and potentially decisive victory for a coalition of largely Jewish neo-conservatives and Christian Right Republicans both inside and outside the administration. They have argued with increasing vehemence in recent months that Washington's traditional deference -- which they label as "appeasement" -- to Arab rulers is ultimately counter-productive. Who is the Pro-Israel Lobby? Members of the anti-Arab lobby within the administration include: Paul Wolfowitz and Douglas Feith, the second and third in command at the Pentagon respectively; Lewis Libby, Vice President Cheney's chief of staff and national security adviser; Elliott Abrams, a senior member of the National Security Council Staff; John Bolton, Undersecretary of State for international security; and John Ashcroft, the evangelical Christian who heads the Department of Justice. It is also evident that Donald Rumsfeld and Dick Cheney generally share the views of their immediate deputies. Outside the White House, William Bennett-- the influential former Reagan and Bush Sr. appointee who often spans the divide between neo-cons and the Christian Right -- is one of the prominent advocates of Israel. "America's fate and Israel's fate are one and the same," he wrote two weeks ago. Criticizing the State Department for calling on Sharon to exercise restraint, Bennett claimed that "Israel is being pressured so that we can assuage countries such as Egypt and Saudi Arabia. Yet it just so happens that those countries are responsible for the reappearance of the worst forms of anti-Jewish propaganda since (Nazi Propaganda Minister) Joseph Goebbels." Bennett's article was one of dozens that have been churned out by the pro-Likud Right through publications such as the Wall Street Journal, the Weekly Standard, the National Review, and Washington Times, as well as the nationally syndicated columns of Charles Krauthammer, William Safire, and Michael Kelly… ----- TEEN ASKS TENNESSEE COUNTY TO DISPLAY ISLAMIC PILLARS By The Associated Press, 4/04/02 CLEVELAND, Tenn. Bradley County, one of several Tennessee counties to vote recently to post the Ten Commandments, has been asked to include the Five Pillars of Islam in its displays of religious documents in public places. The commission has been asked several times by Rachel Cate, a student at Cleveland High School, to post the Islamic document alongside the Old Testament one.” This is not only a Christian nation, but a nation for everyone," Cate told the commission at a meeting last month. "I think it is discriminatory not to decide on the Five Pillars of Islam ... just as you decided on the Ten Commandments." The commission has so far declined to grant Cate's request. "At this point, we have our agendas full and there's no point in the immediate future to address that," Commission Chairman Mike Smith told Cate. Smith said he respects Cate's beliefs but believes that, particularly since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks that have been blamed on extreme factions of Islam, it would be inappropriate to post the Five Pillars. One of the commissioners, Howard Thompson, debated with Cate during her last appearance over whether there are five or six pillars, contending the sixth pillar is "jihad," or holy war. There are actually five pillars, not six, according to The Columbia Encyclopedia. They are Shahadah, or the faith that "there is no god but God, and Muhammad is the Messenger of God"; Salah, the five daily ritual prayers; Zakat, the giving of alms; Sawm, the fast during the month of Ramadan; and Hajj, the pilgrimage to Mecca. ----- PRESS RELEASE Collections & Stories of American Muslims, Inc. FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT: Amir Muhammad Collections & Stories of American Muslims 202-678-6906 E-mail: amirmuhammad@juno.com FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CSAM’s“America’s Islamic Heritage Exhibition” --Presents Two Exhibits -- “THE HISTORY OF MUSLIMS IN WASHINGTON, DC” “A Look at Muslim Americans of Yesterday and Today” The Thurgood Marshall Center for Service and Heritage at 1816 12th Street NW, between S and T St. will host two exhibits. From April 5, 2002 to June 15, 2002. One of the exhibits highlights the history of Muslim Americans in the Washington, DC area which dates a Georgetown Muslim resident, backmore than 200 years, some turn of the century wills, and a look at the growth and development of a Muslim community from the Shaw area. The second exhibit, on the second floor, examines Muslim Americans of the early 20th Century and a glance at Muslim Americans of today. The exhibit is sponsored in part by the Humanities Council of Washington, DC, the Shaw Heritage Trust, and Collections & Stories of American Muslims, Inc. CSAM’s “America’s Islamic Heritage” exhibits has traveled and been on display in many cities and universities across America such as Harvard University, Rutgers, the University of Pittsburgh, the University of Indiana, and the University of Illinois at Chicago. As America begins to understand the various threads of culture, colors, religions, and lifestyles that make up America’s pluralistic quilt, the exhibition helps shed light on the depth, diversity, growth, and history of Muslim Americans. The exhibit is housed at the historical “12th Street Y,” the first YMCA for African Americans in the Washington, D.C. area, and is home to the exhibit on “African Americans early life in the Shaw Area.” The exhibit will open with a reception on Friday, April 12th, 6:00 pm - 8:00pm. The exhibit will run from April 12th - June15th 2002. Times are Monday - Saturday 10:00 am -5:00 pm. For group tours and further information contact Amir Muhammad at (202) 678-6906. ----- 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 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 ----- AMERICAN MUSLIM NEWS BRIEFS 4/6/2002 ----- HEADLINES: * ADVOCATE OF SLAUGHTERING PALESTINIANS TO APPEAR ON FOX * CAIR-LA SPOKESMAN HONORED FOR SEEKING PEACE * MUSLIM 9/11 HERO FINALLY RECOGNIZED (AP) - A FITTING HONOR; PAKISTANI-BORN WTC VICTIM REMEMBERED (Newsday) * SECRET EVIDENCE PERMITTED (Chicago Tribune) * HLF FILES MOTION FOR PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION * THE LOFTUS RECORD (Weekly Planet) * RIGHTS GROUP ACCUSES ISRAEL OF TORTURING PALESTINIANS (Washington Post) * MURDERED PALESTINIAN-AMERICAN REMEMBERED (Washington Post) * MUSLIM LEADER TO BE HONORED AT MOREHOUSE (Atlanta Journal) ----- ADVOCATE OF SLAUGHTERING PALESTINIANS TO APPEAR ON FOX Joseph Farah, a right-wing commentator who has approved of a proposal to slaughter 1,000 Palestinians for every Israeli death, will be a guest today on "Fox News Live." He will address the question, "Are American Muslims doing enough to help authorities track down terrorists both in the U.S. and abroad?" SEE: Farah on Fox today http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=27115 Farah is CEO and editor of Worldnetdaily.com, an online news site that many Muslims say frequently indulges in and promotes Islamophobic rhetoric. Worldnetdaily.com Washington Bureau Chief Paul Sperry once suggested that the United States “air-lift pigs” into Afghan mosques. (9/27/2001) The site also actively promotes the views of infamous Islamophobes such as Daniel Pipes and Steven Emerson. The segment is scheduled to air on Fox at approximately 4:20 p.m. Eastern, 1:20 p.m. Pacific. (Guests and topics are subject to change.) Farah recently rejected criticism of a Worldnetdaily.com article advocating that, “For every civilian, 100 non-combatant Palestinian adults will be slain, and for every child, 1,000 adults," Farah wrote that he found the proposal to be “a very thoughtful and quite responsible contribution to the Middle East debate.” He did not indicate whether those to be slaughtered would include his fellow Christians, or would be limited to Muslim Palestinians. Farah also failed to outline whether these killings would be carried out using firing squads, lethal injections, or other means. Neither Farah, nor the writer who made the original proposal, indicated how Israel would dispose of the mass of bodies resulting from the executions. In response to the flood of negative e-mails from concerned Muslims, Worldnetdaily.com Commentary Editor Tom Ambrose replied that “so-called Palestinians have no legitimate claim to Israel.” SEE: A real peace plan http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=26995 1,000 eyes for an eye http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=26870 ACTION REQUESTED: (As always, be firm but POLITE. Worldnetdaily.com has a history of using hostile comments to further defame Muslims and Islam.) Contact Fox to express your concerns about their use of a person with such offensive views to speak on subjects related to American Muslims. E-MAIL: live@foxnews.com, comments@foxnews.com COPY TO: cair@cair-net.org ----- CAIR-LA SPOKESMAN HONORED FOR SEEKING PEACE ANAHEIM MAN IS DRIVEN TO PROMOTE PEACE BY FAMILY'S SUFFERINGS IN MIDDLE EAST WAR Awards: Ra'id Faraj is among 20 who will be honored by the Orange County Human Relations Commission for helping bridge gaps. By DANIEL YI, The Los Angeles Times, 4/6/2002 http://www.latimes.com/editions/orange/la-000024566apr06.story The irony is not lost on Ra'id Faraj. Half a world away, in his native town of Bethlehem, his family is cowering under the advance of Israeli tanks in a perennial conflict that has escalated recently in a vicious cycle of suicide bombings and retaliations. Here in Orange County, Faraj, a spokesman for the Southern California chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, will be honored Sunday for seeking peace. "This is the very thing I hope we will never see in America," the 33-year-old Anaheim resident said of the tensions roiling his native land. "I suffered so much from it. My family continues to suffer. That is why I work so hard here." Faraj is among 20 people being recognized by the Orange County Human Relations Commission for their work in bridging gaps among diverse communities. The annual awards banquet will be at Garden Grove's Community Meeting Center... ----- MUSLIM 9/11 HERO FINALLY RECOGNIZED By Larry McShane, Associated Press/Chicago Tribune, 4/6/2002 http://www.chicagotribune.com For six months after Sept. 11, the family of Salman Hamdani had to endure the rumors that he was a fugitive terrorist or that he was in federal custody. On Friday, he was remembered for what he truly was: a hero who died in the rubble of the World Trade Center. His remains in a flag-draped coffin at a Manhattan mosque, the 23-year-old Muslim was praised at his long-delayed funeral for a selfless and fatal choice: heading to ground zero to help his fellow Americans. "We don't know how many people he helped, how many lives he saved," Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly told several hundred mourners at the Islamic Cultural Center of New York. "But if you look at his life, you know he was determined to make a difference--and he did. He was indeed a hero…" On Sept. 11, Hamdani left his Queens home and apparently saw the disaster in lower Manhattan unfold from the elevated tracks of the subway train. He immediately headed toward the scene. In the weeks after his disappearance, a newspaper linked him to the terrorist attacks, and a flier with his picture was circulated among city police officers, saying an FBI-Police Department joint terrorist task force wanted to speak with him. The fliers were unauthorized, and their source was unclear, police later said. But the rumors about his involvement in the attack spread. On Friday, his mother blasted the news reports, saying "If your name was David, the story would have been very different..." Mayor Michael Bloomberg joined the police commissioner in consoling the family. "We have an example of how one can make the world better," he said. "Salman stood up when most people would have gone in the other direction. He went in and helped people." SEE ALSO: A FITTING HONOR; PAKISTANI-BORN WTC VICTIM REMEMBERED By Merle English; Newsday (New York, NY), 4/6/2002 http://www.newsday.com/news/local/newyork/ny-fun0405.story Muhammad Salman Hamdani was born in Pakistan, but he so loved the United States he wished his adopted country was his birthplace. On Sept. 11, Hamdani, who was 23, gave his life at the World Trade Center, apparently trying to save others after the terrorist attacks. Rumors that proved to be unfounded had circulated among his Bayside neighbors after fliers were posted saying police wanted to question him in connection with the attacks. Police denied any knowledge of the fliers. Friday, Hamdani was eulogized as an American hero and martyr at funeral services befitting a hero. Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly were among nearly 1,000 people - including scores from the police cadet corps, of which Hamdani was a member - who turned out to pay tribute to him... ----- SECRET EVIDENCE PERMITTED National security cited in Bridgeview charity probe, but critics fear rights at risk By Laurie Cohen and David Mendell, Chicago Tribune, 4/6/2002 http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-0204060086apr06.story A federal judge ruled Friday that the government can use secret evidence in justifying its decision to freeze the assets of a Bridgeview-based Islamic charity that U.S. prosecutors suspect is linked to terrorism. U.S. District Judge Wayne R. Andersen cited "extraordinary circumstances" and "acute national security concerns" in his five-page ruling against Global Relief Foundation, which had sued the federal government after its assets were frozen and its records were seized. The charity has denied it is connected to terrorists and has asked the court to lift the financial sanctions. Andersen's ruling, while not precedent-setting, troubles civil libertarians and legal experts who worry that the government is overstepping constitutional boundaries during a period of heightened nationalism. Indeed, the charity argued that its constitutional rights would be breached by the government's request to present evidence to Andersen without Global Relief attorneys present. But Andersen upheld the government's contention that national security could be jeopardized if an adversarial hearing were held. Andersen issued a written opinion and didn't elaborate on his reasoning at a public hearing Friday. However, at the hearing, Andersen emphasized that despite his decision to view the secret evidence, he might not rely on the evidence when deciding the case. "I don't know whether or not the submissions the government plans to make are probative or admissible," the judge said. Andersen said he doesn't plan to look at the secret evidence for at least a week, so he can first examine four binders of public evidence filed last week by federal prosecutors. Global Relief attorneys criticized Friday's decision, pointing out that a federal judge in Detroit had ruled Thursday against prosecutors who were trying to keep an immigration hearing closed on the basis of protecting national security. "The emergency doesn't justify throwing out the Constitution," said Matthew Simmons, an attorney for Global Relief… ----- PRESS RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - APRIL 5, 2002 Contact: John Cline or John Boyd 505-842-9960 HOLY LAND FOUNDATION FOR RELIEF AND DEVELOPMENT FILES MOTION FOR PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION AND DECLARATORY RELIEF AS A RESULT OF THE SEIZURE OF ITS ASSETS AND PROPERTY RICHARDSON, TX (April 5, 2002) - The Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development (Holy Land), a United States non-profit charitable corporation that works to foster peace and opposes all forms of terrorism, has filed a motion for preliminary injunction and declaratory relief in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia arguing that the government's actions in seizing its assets have caused, and will continue to cause, irreparable harm to Holy Land, its employees, its donors, and thousands of Palestinians and other needy persons throughout the world. The defendants' actions of blocking the donated assets of Holy Land violate laws that specifically forbid interference with donations of humanitarian aid by American corporations and from American donors. The defendants have no credible evidence-and none exists-that Holy Land has any connection with terrorist organizations or has provided support to any terrorist organizations. The seizure has also violated Holy Land's fundamental constitutional right to protection against illegal searches and seizures because the defendants seized the funds, office equipment and all property of Holy Land without any warrant or even any probable cause. The seizure also violated the right of Holy Land and its donors to practice their religion, a practice that provides urgently needed relief to families around the world. As the documents filed in support of the motion show clearly, the Holy Land Foundation rejects terrorism by anyone. It is dedicated to alleviating the suffering of people who have been caught and injured in conflicts and disasters around the world, particularly in Palestine, where the suffering by the Palestinians is staggering. The blocked funds are all owned by Holy Land. The terrorist group, Hamas, has no interest in the funds that the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has blocked and Holy Land does not now act on behalf of Hamas and has never acted on behalf of Hamas. ----- THE LOFTUS RECORD BY JOHN F. SUGG, The Weekly Planet, 4/3/2002 http://www.weeklyplanet.com/2002-04-03/news_feature2.html Has John Loftus embellished his Justice Department credentials? Critics say the St. Petersburg man has exaggerated that, and more. What does that mean for the Loftus lawsuit against Sami Al-Arian?.. By all accounts, John Loftus has done a bang-up job in his most recent incarnation promoting St. Petersburg's Holocaust Museum. The museum has a sacred and laudable trust to remind the community about the horrors of Nazi Germany. Loftus, with much-proclaimed credentials as a prosecutor of Nazi monsters, has added spirit to the museum's efforts. But Loftus also has led the museum into a divisive political thicket… For those who want to trust Loftus, there are few caveats to be considered. His bosses on a U.S. Department of Justice team that hunted down and prosecuted Nazi war criminals say Loftus didn't do enough homework to bring any cases to trial. And critics of Loftus' books -- including America's foremost supporter of Israel -- condemn his conspiracy stories and lack of evidence… What's obvious to almost everyone with their feet on Planet Earth is that the government has done its damnedest to destroy Al-Arian -- mostly by insinuation and innuendo since, as Judge McHugh concluded, there were no facts. Yet, in the strange world of Loftus, he claims the United States has actually been carrying water for Saudi Arabia and Al-Arian in a bizarre plot to fund terrorism. "There is ample reason to question whether any criminal prosecution either of Defendant (Al-Arian) or his Saudi financiers will ever take place," asserts Loftus in his lawsuit against the USF professor. Loftus found a perfect ally in Steven Emerson. In the Tampa Bay area, it was Emerson who guided the Tribune on its biased crusade against Al-Arian and his community. In January, Loftus and the museum hosted Emerson, who made claims that were later echoed in the Loftus lawsuit. Just as few media now question Emerson's past, so too has Loftus been able to escape much scrutiny. Allan A. Ryan Jr. was Loftus' boss at the Justice Department's Office of Special Investigations. From 1979 to 1981, Loftus worked there, and that's been the basis of his Nazi-hunter laurels. "He's used that badge (the claim of prosecuting Nazis) since he left, and he doesn't deserve it," Ryan, now an attorney for Harvard University, told Weekly Planet. Loftus said that testimony he gave to a Congressional panel in the 1980s, plus scores of articles, describe him as prosecutor of Nazis. "I was a trial attorney and that's on the record," said Loftus, who represented the government in several appellate cases. Ryan said all Justice Department lawyers held the title of trial attorney. "He never prosecuted a case," Ryan said of Loftus. "He did a lot of research, but it didn't come close to (resulting in a) prosecution. His work was insufficient to support prosecution…" After leaving the OSI, Loftus wrote a book, The Belarus Secret, which claimed an extraordinary number of Nazis were given shelter in America. That concerned the government. "We sent historians to check Loftus' citations for the book," Ryan recalled. "There was nothing to them." In a scholarly review of the book, University of London professor James Dingley wrote: "Loftus is obviously a monoglot without any precise knowledge of the recent history of a people on which he pronounces judgment. ... His book abounds with illogicalities and unsupported statements." That pretty much sums up the general criticism of his writings. America, a Catholic magazine, dismissed his second work, The Unholy Trinity, as "feverish conspiracy-theorizing" and "totally discredited…" ----- RIGHTS GROUP ACCUSES ISRAEL OF TORTURING PALESTINIANS By Keith B. Richburg, The Washington Post, 4/6/2002 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A4461-2002Apr5.html JERUSALEM, April 5 -- The Israeli human rights group B'Tselem charged today that Israel has tortured Palestinians who have been detained for interrogation during the current military offensive. The group said in a statement that the interrogation methods included breaking the toes of prisoners. The detainees have also been prohibited from meeting with lawyers, the group said… ----- MURDERED PALESTINIAN-AMERICAN REMEMBERED SEEKING PEACE OF MIND, PEACE IN MIDDLE EAST At State Dept., Palestinian's Memory Invoked By Fredrick Kunkle and Manny Fernandez, The Washington Post, 4/6/2002 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A4034-2002Apr5.html The complexities of Middle East politics, the ancient grudges, questions about what steps the Israelis and Palestinians must take to find peace -- all this means nothing to Farhan Saleh. He knows only that his daughter Soraida, a Palestinian American born 21 years ago in the District of Columbia, now lies in a hastily dug mass grave outside a hospital in the occupied West Bank after the family's car was fired upon. Her husband, seriously injured by the same gunfire during the Israeli thrust into Ramallah on March 29, carries a bullet in his skull… ----- MUSLIM LEADER TO BE HONORED AT MOREHOUSE By JOHN BLAKE, The Atlanta Journal, 4/6/2002 http://www.accessatlanta.com/ajc/epaper/editions/saturday/faith_values_c3eac97ad17d10c300e9.html The improbable journey of Imam Warith Deen Mohammed makes its next stop at Morehouse College today. Mohammed, 68, is the son of Elijah Muhammad, who built up the Nation of Islam. Mohammed was raised to view whites as "blue-eyed devils" and to eventually succeed his father. But he broke with his father's teachings and embraced orthodox Islam, even after his father exiled him and enraged Nation members threatened his life. Today, he is the spiritual leader of one of the largest Sunni Islamic groups in the United States, the Muslim American Society. Muslim groups estimate that there are about 6.5 million Sunni Muslims in the country. Morehouse will honor Mohammed for his spiritual journey at 6 p.m. today when his portrait is hung in the Martin Luther King Jr. International Chapel. The painting will hang next to portraits of Nelson Mandela and Mohandas Gandhi. "Not only has he stepped outside of the Nation of Islam, but he's stepped outside a particular religion," says Plemon El-Amin, resident imam of the Atlanta Masjid of Al-Islam in Decatur. "He's embraced the universality of Islam, which requires us to work for universal peace…" ----- 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 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 ----- AMERICAN MUSLIM NEWS BRIEFS - 4/8/2002 ----- HEADLINES: * HADITH OF THE DAY: BELIEVERS ARE LIKE ONE BODY * ADVERTISERS MAY PULL ADS FROM RIGHT-WING JOURNAL (UPI) - EDITOR SUGGESTS "NUKING MECCA" * EDITORIAL: OPEN THE HEARINGS (Washington Post) * REMINDER: AMERICA MUST ACT TO STOP ISRAELI AGGRESSION * POWELL DEMANDS ISRAELIS WITHDRAW (AP) - OFFENSIVE WON'T STOP, SHARON SAYS * THIS WILL BE THE WEEK WHEN WE SEE WHO RUNS THE US-ISRAELI ALLIANCE (Independent) - 'JEWS MAY NOT WANT TO LOOK AT THIS' * ROUNDUPS OF PALESTINIANS CAUSES FEAR (AP) * RESOURCES: JEWISH ORGANIZATIONS THAT OPPOSE THE OCCUPATION * ZIONISTS ADOPT TACTICS THEY CLAIM TO ABHOR (Atlanta Journal) * CAMPUS TENSIONS GROWING WITH SUPPORT FOR PALESTINIANS (New York Times) * CHRISTIAN PALESTINIANS RALLY IN S.F. (San Francisco Chronicle) * ISRAELI FORCES INFLICT WIDESPREAD DAMAGE IN BETHLEHEM (Washington Post) * BULLDOZERS RULE BROKEN BETHLEHEM (The Scotsman) * AREA MUSLIMS PROTEST INHOFE'S STANCE (Tulsa World) * CRACKDOWN ON TERROR FUNDING IS QUESTIONED (Los Angeles Times) - THE AMERICAN DREAM BEGINS TO FADE (Middle East Times) * THE FACES OF THE FAITHFUL (New York Times) * SHAREEF ABDUR-RAHIM MAKING A DIFFERENCE (Sports Illustrated) ----- HADITH OF THE DAY: BELIEVERS ARE LIKE ONE BODY The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: "The believers, in their love, mercy and kindness to one another are like a body: if any part of it is ill, the whole body shares its sleeplessness and fever." Sahih Al-Bukhari, Volume 8, Hadith 40 ----- ADVERTISERS MAY PULL ADS FROM RIGHT-WING JOURNAL CANCEL MY SUBSCRIPTION United Press International, 4/8/2002 Word is traveling through editorial circles in Washington and New York that a major opinion journal is under fire because of intemperate remarks made by some of its writers about Muslims. The story is that some Islamic-American organizations have been leaning on major advertisers, complaining about anti-Islamic statements that have appeared in the magazine and on the Web site since Sept. 11. Some of the advertisers are reportedly considering pulling their ads from the journal in response to the complaints. FOR BACKGROUND, SEE: EDITOR SUGGESTS "NUKING MECCA" http://www.cair-net.org/asp/article.asp?articleid=687&articletype=2 A RESPONSE TO RICH LOWRY http://www.prospect.org/webfeatures/2002/03/lott-j-03-13.html ----- EDITORIAL: OPEN THE HEARINGS The Washington Post, 4/8/2002 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A11134-2002Apr7.html IT SHOULD NOT take a federal judge's order to get the Justice Department to open the deportation proceedings it has been conducting in secret as part of its Sept. 11 investigation. Ever since the attacks, the government has been seeking to deport large numbers of Arabs and Muslims whose deficient immigration status has come to light during the probe. Yet the government has conducted these "special interest" cases under a uniquely rigid set of rules: "no visitors, no family, no press." The cases are kept off the docket. Although they involve no classified information, they -- publicly, anyway -- don't officially exist. The department has defended this secrecy by insisting that opening the proceedings would reveal information about the direction of the investigation and could subject witnesses to intimidation by terrorists. Naming detainees also would, the government argues, stigmatize those among them who may have no connection to terrorism... The secrecy policy came before Judge Edmunds because of the case of Rabih Haddad, who ran a charity suspected of terrorist links. Mr. Haddad was detained for overstaying his visa and has both supporters and the press interested in his case, because none can attend his hearings, he sued, as did local media outlets. Such proceedings, the judge wrote, have historically been "presumptively open" to the press and public. And that openness serves a critical function. "It is important for the public, particularly individuals who feel that they are being targeted by the government as a result of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, to know that even during these sensitive times the government is adhering to immigration procedures and respecting individuals' rights," she argued. "Openness is necessary for the public to maintain confidence in the value and soundness of the government's actions, as secrecy only breeds suspicion as to why the government is proceeding against Haddad and aliens like him..." ----- REMINDER: AMERICA MUST ACT TO STOP ISRAELI AGGRESSION http://www.cair-net.org/asp/article.asp?articleid=695&articletype=2 ----- POWELL DEMANDS ISRAELIS WITHDRAW By BARRY SCHWEID, The Associated Press, 4/8/2002 CASABLANCA, Morocco (AP) - Secretary of State Colin Powell came under Arab pressure Monday to do more to halt Israeli incursions that have deepened in the West Bank despite President Bush's fresh call for a swift pullback. ``I meant what I said,'' the president declared in the United States. The king of Morocco bluntly told Powell on the first stop of his peacemaking mission that U.S. officials should focus on a withdrawal, saying, ``Don't you think it was more important to go to Jerusalem first?'' In response, Powell demanded "a clear statement from Israel that they are beginning to withdraw'' from Palestinian-held territories and "to do it now..." SEE ALSO: OFFENSIVE WON'T STOP, SHARON SAYS By MOHAMMED DARAGHMEH, The Associated Press, 4/8/2002 NABLUS, West Bank (AP) - Israel's offensive in the West Bank will continue, despite U.S. demands for an immediate withdrawal of troops, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon told parliament Monday, as helicopter gunships pounded a Palestinian refugee camp and a fire broke out during fighting near Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity... ----- THIS WILL BE THE WEEK WHEN WE SEE WHO RUNS THE US-ISRAELI ALLIANCE By Robert Fisk, The Independent, 4/8/2002 http://argument.independent.co.uk/commentators/story.jsp?story=282652 So why should Mr Sharon stop now? If Mr Bush wants to rein in his reckless ally, why doesn't he ask Mr Sharon a few questions? Why doesn't he ask what has happened to the more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners who have disappeared into Israel's hands over the past two weeks? What happened, for example, to the five men, blindfolded and trussed up like chickens whom I discovered in the Jewish settlement of Psagot? What happened to the masses of young men I saw being taken in a bus with its windows wired over, a bus that made its way around Jerusalem and headed west on the Tel Aviv highway. How many of these young men are now being tortured either in interrogation centers or in the Russian Compound, the main torture compound in West Jerusalem? But since Mr Bush's soldiers are experts in blindfolding and gagging Muslim prisoners - and putting them in front of drumhead military courts - why should Mr Sharon worry? For month after month, as Mr Sharon tore up the Oslo agreement, put the building of Jewish colonies on Arab land into overdrive and sent out his death squads to murder Palestinians, the Bush administration - fearful of offending the Israelis - allowed him to do what he wanted. In response to the wicked Palestinian suicide bombings, Bush expressed outrage. In response to Israel's aggression, he called for restraint - and then did nothing. Again, what's the surprise? For months the American media has refused to tell its viewers and readers what is going on in the occupied territories. Its newspapers have indulged the insanity of writers who have been encouraging Mr Sharon into ever-more-savage acts. What are we supposed to make - for example, of a recent article in The New York Times by William Safire, referring - as usual - to Jewish civilians murdered by Palestinians but to Arab civilians "caught in the crossfire'', "crossfire" being the nearest many journalists will dare to go in saying that the culprits were Israeli... But Safire adds a new threat to journalists who might wish to tell the truth: "These are disputed territories'' he writes, "to call them 'occupied' reveals a prejudice against Israel's right to what were supposed to be 'secure and defensible' borders.'' You can see the way the argument is going. If we have a 'prejudice' against Israel's rights, it's only a short step to call us anti-Semitic. But what is one to make of this nonsense? Am I supposed to pretend that the soldiers who blocked my car and pointed their guns at me in the West Bank last week were Swiss? Am I to believe that the rabble of soldiers shouting at Palestinian women desperate to leave Ramallah were Burmese? Safire regularly takes phone calls from Mr Sharon (and then insists on telling us of Mr Sharon's latest fantasies), but my old chum Tom Friedman in his ever-more-Messianic column in The New York Times, has almost gone one better. "Israel needs to deliver a military blow that clearly shows terror will not pay," he announced last week. What, in God's name, is an American journalist doing when he urges Mr Sharon to go to war? Friedman was with me in the Sabra and Chatila camps. Has he forgotten what we saw? Last week, however, Friedman was also amiably advising the Palestinians to turn to non-violent resistance à la Gandhi... So this week will be a crucial one in the American-Israeli relationship, a real test of the Bush presidency. We shall find out who - the US or Israel - runs America's policy in the Middle East. It would be nice to think that it was the former. But I'm not sure. SEE ALSO: 'JEWS MAY NOT WANT TO LOOK AT THIS' Tuesday is Holocaust Day in Israel: and the anniversary of a 1948 massacre that triggered the Palestinian refugee crisis at the heart of today's conflict. Robert Fisk meets an Auschwitz survivor living at the site of the atrocity By Robert Fisk, The Indenpendent, 4/7/2002 http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/story.jsp?story=282456 Givat Shaul is a friendly, bright neighbourhood of retired couples, small shops, flats, trees and some elegant old houses of yellow stone. Some of these are in a state of dilapidation, a few are homes. But one or two bear the scars of bullets fired long ago, on 9 April 1948, when another people faced their own catastrophe. For Givat Shaul used to be called Deir Yassin. And here it was, 54 years ago, that up to 130 Palestinians were massacred by two Jewish militias, the Irgun and the Stern Gang, as the Jews of Palestine fought for the independence of a state called Israel. The slaughter so terrified tens of thousands of Palestinian Arabs that they fled their homes en masse - 750,000 in all - to create the refugee population whose tragedy lies at the heart of the Middle East conflict today. Back in 1948, Palestinian women were torn to pieces by grenades around the old houses that still exist in Givat Shaul. Two truckloads of Arab prisoners were taken from the village and paraded through the streets of Jerusalem. Later, many of them would be executed in Deir Yassin. Their mass grave is believed to lie beneath a fuel storage depot that now stands at one end of the Jerusalem suburb... ----- ROUNDUPS OF PALESTINIANS CAUSES FEAR By LAURA KING, The Associated Press, 4/8/2002 RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) - It's become a common sight in West Bank cities: Palestinian men kneeling with hands clasped behind their heads, or marching handcuffed and blindfolded under Israeli soldiers' watchful eyes, or baring their bellies to show they have no weapons or explosives. More than 1,400 Palestinian males, from gawky teens to paunchy middle-aged men, have been rounded up for questioning during the 10-day Israeli military offensive in the major towns of the West Bank... Those caught up in the dragnet include teachers, doctors, students, laborers, accountants, policemen... Some of the detainees say they have been beaten, tortured or deprived of food and water. Four Israeli human rights groups - citing what they say are credible accounts of abuse provided by Israeli soldiers in military camps where detainees are being held - went to Israel's highest court to seek a guarantee of protection from torture and access to legal counsel for the detainees. The request was rejected Sunday by the Supreme Court, which said it could not consider the case unless it was made on behalf of a specific Palestinian complainant. With all the Israeli-held cities of the West Bank under tight military curfew, that was impossible, the human rights groups said... Many of the detainees reported nights spent in cold barracks, or under flimsy canvas shelters, with little food and water. Some said they were given only yogurt and matzoh, the unleavened crackers eaten by Jews during Passover. Among those singled out for the roughest treatment, several detainees said, were members of the Palestinian security forces. Khaled Hejjah, a 36-year-old policeman, said he and six colleagues were arrested in Ramallah on the first day of the incursion, March 29. "They beat me and kicked me when they asked me questions," he said. "They said to me, 'If we found out you shot at us, you injured any of us, you will be dead.' And they kept us handcuffed all the time, so our hands swelled up..." Some detainees said they felt the soldiers set out to humiliate them, even if they did not hurt them physically. Mahmoud Najar, a 42-year-old physician, said soldiers grabbed him when he and an ambulance crew tried to treat the wounded at the scene of a battle in the center of Ramallah last week between Palestinian gunmen and Israeli troops. "They made me strip to my underwear and stand in the street like that," he said. "They said, 'Now we'll do something you won't forget,' and then they made me lie down in the dirt. In my culture, in my mind, this is extremely shameful. I don't know how they would feel if someone did the same to them..." ----- RESOURCES: JEWISH ORGANIZATIONS THAT OPPOSE THE OCCUPATION Tikkun Magazine http://www.tikkun.org Not in Our Name Coalition http://www.nimn.org Jewish Voice for Peace http://www.jewishvoiceforpeace.org Gush Shalom http://www.gush-shalom.org Jews Against Occupation http://www.angelcities.com/members/jato Jewish Peace Fellowship http://www.jewishpeacefellowship.org Israeli Committee Against Home Demolitions http://www.salam.org/activism/home_demolitions.html B'Tselem (Israeli Human Rights Group) http://www.btselem.org Bat Shalom, Israeli Women for Peace http://www.batshalom.org Rabbis for Human Rights http://www.rhr.israel.net Association for Civil Rights in Israel http://www.nif.org/acri Visions for peace with justice in Israel/Palestine http://www.vopj.org Search for Justice and Equality in Palestine/Israel http://www.searchforjustice.org ----- ZIONISTS ADOPT TACTICS THEY CLAIM TO ABHOR By Cynthia Tucker, The Atlanta Journal, 4/7/2002 http://www.accessatlanta.com/ajc/opinion/tucker/2002/040702.html Cynthia Tucker is the editorial page editor. "Never let any man drag you so low as to make you hate him." From time to time, that imperative was pulled from the cupboard of cliches my mother kept handy for rearing four children. I think of it now because of the venom -- name-calling, denunciations and death threats -- heaped upon a Jewish family in Brooklyn, N.Y., after their son's impromptu breakfast last weekend with Yasser Arafat. The spate of hate-filled messages grew so threatening that Doreen and Stuart Shapiro have been forced to flee their home and go into hiding. The campaign of terror against the Shapiros started after news reports about their son Adam, 30, a Middle East humanitarian worker. A resident of Ramallah for three years, Adam has worked for "Seeds of Peace," a program for Arab and Jewish youth that teaches tolerance. In an interview on NBC's "Today" show, Adam said he helped to persuade Israeli military authorities to allow ambulances into Arafat's compound to tend the wounded after the Israeli siege began. Later, Adam found himself trapped inside the compound. Last Saturday morning, according to news accounts, Arafat offered Adam breakfast as a gesture of gratitude for his intervention. Simple enough, you'd think. While many might disagree with Adam's decision to live among Palestinians and advocate their nationalist aspirations, any people who believe in democratic values would support his right to hold those views, right? Apparently not. Noah Shapiro, Adam's brother, told reporters that e-mail messages wished a "fiery death" to his family; a Web site, he said, listed personal information about his family and urged action against them. Undoubtedly, those threats came from supporters of Israel, many of them Jewish, who have long denounced Arafat and the terrorism that he has, at the very least, tolerated. They probably consider themselves law-abiding and upright folk who would never sink to the tactics of bloodthirsty savagery and wanton destruction displayed by Palestinian suicide bombers who blow up shopkeepers, schoolchildren and families at Seder. Perhaps Shapiro's critics should take a good look in the mirror... Israel gambled on Ariel Sharon -- a notorious hard-liner whose military strategy in Lebanon in the 1980s had left Israel's reputation sullied -- because he promised to deliver peace and security. He has failed spectacularly. Worse, his heavy-handed tactics have started to corrode the decency, humanity and moral authority of the nation he seeks to defend. This is what my mother was trying to help me understand: Sinking to hatred only leads you to become that which you most despise. ----- CAMPUS TENSIONS GROWING WITH SUPPORT FOR PALESTINIANS By KATE ZERNIKE, The New York Times, 4/8/2002 http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/08/education/08CAMP.html As violence in the West Bank and Gaza has escalated over the last few weeks, pro-Palestinian groups on campuses across the country have asserted themselves with new vigor, organizing demonstrations and national campaigns to try to counteract what they see as a better-financed, better-established effort by pro-Israel student groups... "The ideal situation for the pro-Israel groups has been the status quo, where no one asks any questions," said Fadi Kiblawi, a University of Michigan student who was born in Kuwait and raised in this country by Palestinian parents. "This is a group of students who are fed up with how we are being portrayed. We've always been characterized as terrorists. But we present a logical argument, one based in international law and human rights..." "When people see images of tanks rolling into Palestinian cities, of ambulance drivers being shot at by Israeli defense forces, women giving birth at the checkpoints, it becomes clear that this is not just a case of two equally wrong sides fighting," said Snehal Shingavi, a Berkeley student and a member of Students for Justice in Palestine... ----- CHRISTIAN PALESTINIANS RALLY IN S.F. By Heather Knight, The San Francisco Chronicle, 4/8/2002 http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2002/04/08/MN120651.DTL A protest organized by Arab Christians drew about 500 demonstrators to San Francisco streets yesterday to call for the withdrawal of Israeli troops from the West Bank. The heated rally near San Francisco State University was among several around the nation that saw passionate crowds turn out for both sides in the Middle East conflict. In San Francisco, members of Arab Christian churches stressed that the divide is not solely between Jews and Muslims, but involves many Palestinian Christians as well. Marchers waved Palestinian flags and yelled chants including, "Sharon, Sharon, you can't hide, we charge you with genocide!" Many motorists passing through the intersection at Sloat Boulevard and 19th Avenue honked their support. Some protesters burned paper Israeli flags, and one grabbed an Israeli flag from a driver who raised it out her sunroof. Others carried signs equating Zionism with Nazism and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon with Adolph Hitler. Police broke up a minor scuffle after an Israel supporter carried that country's flag into the crowd. Saturday saw pro-Palestine demonstrations in Los Angeles, Boston and New York, while pro-Israel groups responded yesterday with their own rallies in each of those cities. In San Francisco, Baha Mogannam, 35, who moved to California 17 years ago and attends St. George Orthodox Church, said she called her sister's family in Ramallah every day to check on their safety. She said her sister began every conversation by saying, "Hold on, hold on. Let me sit on the floor because they're shooting around us..." ----- ISRAELI FORCES INFLICT WIDESPREAD DAMAGE IN BETHLEHEM Residents Describe Operation As Driven by Hatred, Revenge By Keith B. Richburg, The Washington Post, 4/8/2002 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A10921-2002Apr7.html BETHLEHEM, West Bank, April 7 -- When Israeli troops banged on the door of the Christmas Lutheran Church and International Center compound, the Rev. Mitri Raheb, the pastor and noted theologian, was confronted with a dilemma many Palestinians face each day: leave his residential quarters to talk to the troops and risk being arrested, or worse, stay huddled inside with his family and allow the soldiers to ransack his office. He took what he called the "calculated risk" and went out -- to find the soldiers bashing in the door. "I have all the keys!" he shouted at them in Hebrew, then English. "You can ask me as gentlemen, and I will open all the doors!" Instead, he said, the soldiers bashed in 31 doors and smashed 57 windows in the three-story compound as they searched for gunmen and weapons. In one office, he said, they ripped out a computer hard drive and demolished a refrigerator, tearing out its wiring. They broke windows in a ceramics workshop and a small gift shop. They left bullet holes in sinks. "They are not searching for people or ammunition," said Raheb, a German-trained scholar and native of Bethlehem. "They hate to see any positive sign of life in our town...They want to see us as the underdog. They don't want to see us as equal to them." "It's this evil power of revenge," he said. "I think it's hatred. They entered, and their aim was to destroy as much as possible." The extent of the destruction in Bethlehem became apparent today as reporters were able to wander through the city, which Israel has declared a closed military zone, to the edge of Manger Square. About 200 Palestinians, including armed fighters, and 60 clergy members are hunkered down in the adjacent Church of the Nativity, the site where Jesus is believed to have been born. [Palestinians inside the compound said that fighting erupted around the church early Monday, sparking a fire in the office of the Latin Patriarch, which is separated from the church by a wall. The Palestinians said the fire burned for nearly 30 minutes before Israeli forces allowed firefighters access to extinguish it. There were also reports that a Palestinian policeman inside the compound was killed by an Israeli sniper.] Bethlehem, which was spruced up with $200 million in foreign donations for the millennium celebrations, now has many shops with broken windows and doors ripped from hinges. Cars have been crushed by tanks, or their windshields have been shattered... Along with the destruction, Palestinians here spoke of what they considered unnecessary humiliation by the Israeli troops, despite President Bush's call Thursday for the Israeli army to show "compassion" and "concern about the dignity of the Palestinian people." Raheb, the Lutheran pastor, said some of the Israeli soldiers searching his compound heard him speaking in Arabic on his telephone, and shouted "Dirty Arab!" and "Why are you speaking Arabic? It's an ugly language." Maher Abu Aker, 24, said that he was detained for 24 hours by Israeli troops who blindfolded him and bound his wrists with tight cuffs. He said he was not fed for 24 hours, and had to sleep with 35 others in a small room on a concrete floor. He said a soldier brought blankets for the group because of the nighttime cold but then poured water over the blankets. "After the blankets were wet, we could not use them," Abu Aker said. "We just put them aside" and slept on the floor. Abu Aker, who works in his father's mechanics shop, said he was ordered to chant vulgar slogans about the Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat, but refused. He said he was slapped on the head and kicked in the legs while being interrogated. He said he was then released because he has never been a gunman and never been in trouble. "I was really humiliated," he said. "It wouldn't have felt as bad if I were a fighter. They arrested me two or three times before. It seems they don't learn, they just keep doing this. We had old people, doctors in our group -- we all received the same treatment..." ----- BULLDOZERS RULE BROKEN BETHLEHEM By Rory MacMillan, The Scotsman (Scotland), 4/8/2002 http://www.thescotsman.co.uk/international.cfm?id=376232002 "I could not believe my eyes.... What I saw yesterday...is beyond imagination THE Israeli army drives around Bethlehem, warning over loudspeakers that anyone in the streets will be shot. We remain in the hotel - a planned prayer march to the Church of the Nativity with Muslims and Christians has been cancelled - and the University of Bethlehem opposite has become an Israeli army base. We are hearing reports that the Israeli army is going from home to home in Bethlehem's suburbs of Beit, Jala and Beit Sahur arresting hundreds of young men. Ahmed, the hotel receptionist and now a good friend, has just heard his cousin has bled to death from a gunshot wound in Jenin Refugee Camp where there has been intense fighting. On Saturday, for the first time since I arrived here, I could not believe my eyes. Much of what you see in a war zone is as you would expect - not so different from the television pictures. Of course, the tanks are more sinister close up and simply terrifying when they point their barrels in your direction. You drop to the floor at the sound of gunfire close by. A town under foreign occupation after invasion is as smashed up as you would imagine. What I saw yesterday, however, is beyond imagination - Israeli bulldozers the size of houses. At the back of them, enormous claws were poised for ripping up streets and buildings to make way for tanks and to destroy the homes of suicide bombers. Israel's bulldozers have been central to its relationship with the Palestinians. Olive trees - a Palestinian symbol of life and hope - have been wrenched out of the soil in punishment for suicide bombings and resistance to Israel's 35-year illegal occupation of the Palestinian West Bank and Gaza. Around broken Bethlehem, water gushes down streets from destroyed mains pipes. Water is also central to this conflict, for the Israeli settlements consume by far the majority of its water, sprinkling the green lawns on the settlements in this arid, occupied land... ----- AREA MUSLIMS PROTEST INHOFE'S STANCE By OMER GILLHAM, Tulsa World, 4/6/2002 http://www.tulsaworld.com Muslim community members on Friday marched in front of Sen. Jim Inhofe's office in Tulsa, protesting the senator's Biblical position on the Middle Eastern conflict. About 200 protesters assembled at Woodward Park, then marched in rows of two down 21st Street to Inhofe's office suite at 1924 S. Utica. The peaceful group carried posters that depicted violent images from the Jewish and Muslim conflict. The Oklahoma Republican recently stated that God gave Hebron, the West Bank, to Abraham, and that the Jewish people have the uncontestable rights" to all the occupied territories, according to a Senate speech posted on Inhofe's Web site. To Houssam Soueissi, a Palestinian man who has lived in Tulsa about 22 years, that means that the senator opposes the peace process in the Middle East." He doesn't know his Bible or the Quran," said Soueissi, one of the march organizers. It doesn't say that. It says the Jew and the Arab are both sons of Abraham and that the land is to be used for good use and for justice. Muslims and Jews can both inhabit it." The march was sponsored by the Muslim Students Association of the University of Tulsa, the Islamic Society of Tulsa and the Council on American-Islamic Relations. After their four-block march to Inhofe's office, a group member delivered a letter asking the senator to change his stance, said Mujeeb Cheema, a Muslim raised in Pakistan and a Tulsa resident since 1980. The senator is making this a religious issue, and he is introducing a divine proclamation which means there is no hope for Palestinian (statehood) and there is no reason for peace talks," Cheema said. Inhofe, who was in Washington, said he believed in his position, which he said has been researched by Bible historians... Russell Bennett, pastor of the Fellowship Congregational Church, joined a handful of Westerners marching with the group. (Inhofe's) use of the Bible to reach his conclusion about the Jewish right to the land is the same as the Taliban using the Quran to justify their actions," Bennett said. TO VIEW INHOFE'S ORIGINAL STATMENT, GO TO: http://www.senate.gov/~inhofe/fl030402.html ----- CRACKDOWN ON TERROR FUNDING IS QUESTIONED By JOSH MEYER and ERIC LICHTBLAU, The Los Angeles Times, 4/7/2002 http://www.latimes.com/la-040702money.story WASHINGTON -- The U.S. government's much-touted financial war on terrorism has been hamstrung by bitter turf battles among federal agencies, questionable evidence against targeted Middle Eastern groups and a lack of cooperation by foreign allies, senior government officials said. In recent months, President Bush and his top Cabinet members have hailed the U.S. government's effort to "shut down the money pipeline" as an increasingly important, and successful, component of the broad counter-terrorism strategy in the United States and abroad. But privately some administration officials are voicing growing concern that the strategy isn't working as advertised. "You read the papers and it seems like everything is going great," said one senior law enforcement official. "But this is no way to run an investigation. And the worst part is that this is the biggest case in existence. And so much is at stake." Debate over the problems has occurred at the highest levels, according to interviews with more than a dozen law enforcement, intelligence and counter-terrorism officials familiar with the financial crackdown. Among the concerns:... * At least some of the financial crackdowns on groups with suspected terrorist ties, resulting in the freezing of tens of millions of dollars in assets, were launched prematurely or based on insufficient evidence. The asset seizures have triggered lawsuits from targeted groups, as well as a backlash from Muslims who say they are being unfairly branded as terrorists. Some prosecutors now say they are concerned about whether the seizure cases will hold up in court... Matthew Piers, an attorney for the Benevolence International Foundation USA, agreed to the request because, he said, the charity has nothing to hide. Piers said the episode struck him as bizarre and symptomatic of what he described as the flimsy case the Treasury Department has brought against the charity in freezing $800,000 in assets and crippling the organization's relief efforts in Asia and Europe. He called the Treasury Department's methods draconian and noted that no criminal charges have been filed against the charity or its employees. The Treasury Department alleges that Benevolence's chief executive has ties to radical Islamic fundamentalists. "They're wrong," Piers said. "It's just plain and simple a case of mistaken identity." If authorities think the executive has suspected terrorist ties, Piers asked, "why have they not even questioned him? Why haven't they picked him up?"... On Friday, a federal judge in Chicago supported the use of such evidence when he allowed government attorneys to present their case against another charity, Global Relief Foundation, without its lawyers present. The hearing was part of Global Relief's lawsuit to recover about $1 million in frozen assets. Dam and Treasury General Counsel David Aufhauser said they are satisfied that there is ample evidence underlying all of the Treasury Department's searches and its orders freezing assets. Aufhauser also said all of the orders were issued after thorough investigations and consultation with the Justice Department. But others within the administration dispute that. Sources who asked not to be identified said the Justice Department has expressed concerns to senior Treasury officials about the strength of the asset-freezing cases, as well as the lack of coordination. Some officials fear that any evidentiary weakness will become an embarrassment when organizations whose assets are frozen bring cases in court here and overseas--and the Justice Department has to defend the government's position. "There are going to be huge problems," one law enforcement official said. In many of the cases, "I don't think there's a lot there...It's pretty thin." An official at a separate agency said that, although there may be legitimate reasons to target many of these groups, he believes the Treasury Department's rush to take action last fall may have been "politically driven" and premature. "They were running and gunning," the official said... SEE ALSO: THE AMERICAN DREAM BEGINS TO FADE By Younus Mirza, Middle East Times http://www.metimes.com/2K2/issue2002-14/opin/american_dream_begins.htm Younus Mirza, a Muslim activist who resides in Herndon, VA, is a student at Georgetown University in the School of Foreign Service. My father repeatedly told me: "Be grateful because you live in America." He should know. He grew up in a small Middle Eastern village where school was taught in the middle of a field and the chalkboard was hung from the branch of a tree. He came to America in the early 1970s because he desired a better education, wanted to embrace greater opportunities and take advantage of American freedom of thought and religion. In short, he came here to live the American dream. In many ways, my father is the embodiment of the American dream, having obtained a scholarship to finish his education, climbed the corporate ladder through hard work, and established a family in his new homeland, America. His struggles and successes allowed his children greater opportunities and enabled us to pursue higher education so that we, too, could fulfill our personal dreams. Last week, however, those dreams were called into question. My mother called me, asking me to come home quickly. "Younus, U.S. Customs and Internal Revenue Service agents came to our house. They looked through everything and they took many of our belongings away," she told me... My mother described how she came back home to have agents surround her car and approach her at gunpoint. Family friends told me that the door to their house was broken down, and that they were handcuffed for five hours as agents searched their home. Even more humiliating, the Muslim women involved were denied the basic right to wear their religiously-mandated headscarves. My father's business, the one he and others built up from the ground, was searched; boxes of documents were seized and it was shut down for the day. Sadly, I realize that the experiences of my family and friends are not isolated incidents. Rather they are part of a larger struggle facing the greater American Muslim community in the aftermath of the September 11 terrorist attacks against our nation. Our charities, which supply vital aid to orphans and widows, have had their assets frozen. Our leaders and community organizations have become the targets of a vicious smear campaign. Our elected officials constantly remind us that Islam is a great religion, one that preaches peace and tolerance, yet they hesitate to act when Muslim rights and civil liberties are taken away... Regardless, our family loves this country, its values and its people, and we love our religion as well. It is these intangible possessions - American ideals and unwavering faith - that have helped make our dreams come true. And it is our dreams that the U.S. Customs and IRS agents can never take away. ----- THE FACES OF THE FAITHFUL By SETH KUGEL, The New York Times, 4/7/2002 http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/07/nyregion/07MOSQ.html Edward Grazda, a New York photographer, and Jerrilynn Dodds, a professor at the School of Architecture of City College, spent nearly a decade visiting mosques in the five boroughs built by New York's diverse Muslim communities, from Albanians to Afghanis to African-Americans. A result of their work, the book "New York Masjid: The Mosques of New York City," will be published next month by Powerhouse Books, and Mr. Grazda's photographs will go on view Tuesday at the Open Society Institute, 400 West 59th Street. The research gave the pair an understanding of the role and importance of the New York mosque... ----- SHAREEF ABDUR-RAHIM MAKING A DIFFERENCE Sports Illustrated, 4/8/2002 http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/ Shareef Abdur-Rahim is quiet by nature. But last July, when the Grizzlies sent him to his hometown team, the Hawks, in a multiplayer deal for the rights to rookie Pau Gasol, he resolved to become a vocal leader. "I'm the kind of person who looks at himself and asks, What could I have done better?" says Abdur-Rahim, 25, who grew up in suburban Marietta. His first project in Atlanta was to seek out 21-year-old guard DerMarr Johnson, who had endured a frustrating rookie season. "We had mutual friends who asked that I look out for him," says Abdur-Rahim, who had his locker moved next to Johnson's. After their first workout last summer, Johnson was on his way to a fast-food lunch when Abdur-Rahim headed him off. He brought Johnson home to eat and began to teach him about a proper diet. The 6'9" Johnson was averaging 9.4 points in 37 starts at week's end, offering hope that he'll develop into the spectacular slasher the Hawks envisioned when they picked him sixth out of Cincinnati. Abdur-Rahim attributes his maturity to his upbringing and to his devotion to Islam. After Sept. 11 he established a relief agency for families victimized by the attacks, Rebound America, to which he will contribute $ 100 for each of his boards this season ($ 62,700 through Sunday). To Abdur-Rahim, the terrorists had nothing in common with Islam. "The media puts out a misperception by calling them Muslim terrorists," he says. "They weren't Muslim terrorists any more than Timothy McVeigh was a Christian terrorist. They were misguided people..." ----- 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 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 MUSLIMS DEFEND JEWISH WOMAN FIRED FOR MARRYING PALESTINIAN (WASHINGTON, D.C., 4/9/2002) - A prominent American Muslim group today called on a Jewish newspaper in Kansas to apologize to a Jewish employee who was allegedly fired for marrying a Palestinian Muslim. The employee told the Washington-based Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) that she was terminated from her position as a staff writer at the Kansas City Jewish Chronicle one day after telling her supervisor who she had married. When informed of the marriage, the supervisor allegedly said: "I am going to have to think about this." SEE: http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?brd=1425 When the employee returned to work following her announcement of the marriage, she said her supervisor's behavior became increasingly hostile. The supervisor allegedly commented to a friend over the phone that, "There is no way Muslims can be friends with Jews, no way at all." When the employee asked why she was fired, newspaper officials claimed she was an unreliable worker, despite receiving many positive reviews from readers and her supervisor during seven months of employment. In a letter faxed to the Chronicle in Overland Park, Kansas, CAIR Executive Director Nihad Awad wrote: "The timing of the woman's termination, along with the Islamophobic comments of her supervisor, indicate that your publication's actions were motivated by anti-Muslim and anti-Arab prejudice. If these allegations are true, you must take immediate and concrete steps to demonstrate that bigotry will not be tolerated at the Chronicle or in Kansas." Awad asked the newspaper to initiate an investigation of the incident and provide the fired employee with a formal apology, back pay and monetary compensation for the emotional distress she suffered as a result of the incident. There are an estimated seven million Muslims in American and some 1.2 billion worldwide. SEE: "The Mosque in America: A National Portrait," http://cair-net.org/mosquereport/ - END - CONTACT: Ibrahim Hooper, 202-488-8787 E-MAIL - cair@cair-net.org Ms. Hodan Hassan, 202-488-8787 E-MAIL: hhassan@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 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 ----- AMERICAN MUSLIM NEWS BRIEFS - 4/9/2002 ----- HEADLINES: * HADITH OF THE DAY: A TREATMENT FOR EVERY DISEASE * CAIR POLL: SHOULD A PEACE-KEEPING FORCE BE SENT TO THE OCCUPIED TERRITORIES? * SUPPORT THE PRESIDENT'S CALL FOR AN END TO ATTACKS ON PALESTIANIANS * RIGHT-WING COLUMNIST CLAIMS QURAN IS "SUICIDE PLAYBOOK" * ELDERLY WERE USED AS HUMAN SHIELDS FOR TANK FORCES (Independent) * U.S. JEWS CANNOT ACQUIESCE TO SHARON'S MONSTROUS BEHAVIOR (Los Angeles Times) - STUCK IN THE MIDDLE (EAST) WITH YOU (Philadelphia Weekly) * EDITORIAL: ARIEL SHARON'S COSTLY DEFIANCE (New York Times) * EDITORIAL: STIFFING THE U.S. PRESIDENT IS DANGEROUS (Star-Tribune) * BLOODSHED BECOMES NABLUS' SCENERY (AP) * PALESTINIAN BAKER'S FAMILY GO UNFED UNDER SIEGE (Reuters) * POWELL: STALLING TO LET SHARON 'MOP UP' (Arab News) * WE BOUGHT AND PAID FOR CARNAGE OF PALESTINIANS (Houston Chronicle) * DETAINEE RIGHTS (NPR) * PROBE OF FIRE OPENS IN LOS ALTOS HILLS (San Jose Mercury News) * US RESISTS AGING DRAFT PLAN WORDING (AP) * MUSLIM VOTE GAINS POWER IN FRANCE (UPI) * EUROPE, PREPARE TO GREET ISLAM (Christian Science Monitor) * CAIR SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA OFFERS INTERNSHIP OPPORTUNITY ----- HADITH OF THE DAY: A TREATMENT FOR EVERY DISEASE The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: "There is no disease that God has created, except that He has also created its treatment." Sahih Al-Bukhari, Volume, Hadith 582 ----- CAIR POLL: SHOULD A PEACE-KEEPING FORCE BE SENT TO THE OCCUPIED TERRITORIES? TO VOTE, GO TO: http://www.cair-net.org ----- SUPPORT THE PRESIDENT'S CALL FOR AN END TO ATTACKS ON PALESTIANIANS GO TO: http://capwiz.com/cair/home/ ----- RIGHT-WING COLUMNIST CLAIMS QURAN IS "SUICIDE PLAYBOOK" THE KORAN: SUICIDE PLAYBOOK By Paul Perry, WorldNetDaily.com, 4/9/2002 http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=27149 Of course, the same media pundits who like to pretend Palestinians are fighting a political war for freedom and are only using suicide as a "cheap defense weapon," argue that the Koran forbids suicide. They claim clerics twist the meaning of the salient passages in the Koran to imply martyrdom paves the way to Paradise. But don't be fooled. Typical of Islam's apologists, they are merely cherry picking verses to try to make the Koran seem less violent than it is... ACTION REQUESTED: (As always, be POLITE. Whenever this web site's anti-Muslim stance is challenged, they take one hostile message out of hundreds and use it to further defame Islam and Muslims. NOTE: This is the same site that recently advocated slaughtering 1,000 Palestinians for every Israeli killed.) 1. Let the writer and the site's editors know that they are spreading bigotry and hatred. E-MAIL: psperry@worldnetdaily.com, jfarah@worldnetdaily.com, tambrose@worldnetdaily.com COPY TO: cair@cair-net.org 2. Representatives of this site are making a big push to appear on TV and radio talk shows. Whenever you see or hear someone who represents Worldnetdaily.com, contact that media outlets to express your concerns about the bigoted background of their guests. For example, Worldnetdaily.com's Joseph Farah appeared last night on MSNBC's "Alan Keyes is Making Sense" program. SEE: http://www.msnbc.com/news/736275.asp SEND COMMENTS TO: AlanKeyes@msnbc.com ----- ELDERLY WERE USED AS HUMAN SHIELDS FOR TANK FORCES By Justin Huggler and Said Ghazali, The Independent, 4/9/2002 http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/story.jsp?story=283026 The sound of four explosions came down the phone line. A woman could be heard screaming in the background: "Come and save us." This was in the middle of an interview with a Red Crescent ambulance official. He said the woman's house had been hit by rockets fired from an Israeli helicopter. These were the voices that came out of Jenin refugee camp yesterday when it came under the heaviest attack since the Israeli army began its onslaught in the West Bank. The accounts are chilling: stories of Israeli forces using the elderly as human shields in front of their tanks, of women and children being rounded up, of homes being demolished, of bodies littering the streets... Abu Hussein, a 55-year-old man inside the camp, said: "They used women and old men as human shields. They were walking in front of the tanks and a bulldozer was destroying the houses on both sides." Apparently the houses were bulldozed to clear a path for tanks through the narrow alleys - an old tactic of Ariel Sharon when he was commander of the army in the Gaza Strip in the Seventies. Mr Hussein said he was sheltering in two rooms with 40 others. "The soldiers entered my neighbour's house," he said. "They killed him. His body is there for more than five days. Six missiles hit a three-floor building, just 200 metres away from my house. The house was full of families. I do not know how many people were there..." The Israeli authorities have been refusing to allow ambulances access to the wounded, which is a war crime under the Geneva conventions... ----- U.S. JEWS CANNOT ACQUIESCE TO SHARON'S MONSTROUS BEHAVIOR By Robert Scheer, The Los Angles Times, 4/9/2002 http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-000025268apr09.column Some of us make a deliberate effort to disassociate from the mayhem of Ariel Sharon's carnage, while others seem to wallow in it, as if displaying the awesome firepower of the Israeli army is necessary to the survival of the Jewish state. I would like to think that the peacemakers still outnumber the militarists among U.S. Jews, but my own e-mail and street-corner conversations no longer bear out that hope. While Jews are hardly monolithic, even in their views of Israel, their large presence in the media contrasts sharply with a near total exclusion of Palestinian Americans. Palestinian Americans in particular, and Arabs in general, are the ghosts haunting U.S. newsrooms by their embarrassing absence. As journalists, we do not know them as a people, we have little connection with their slights and sorrows, and we can only, even with the best of intentions, experience their suffering as an abstraction... Sharon himself is a man of barbaric impulse, demonstrated all too clearly in his terrorizing of civilians two decades ago in Lebanon and now on the West Bank. He has been a consistent provocateur, undermining peace efforts no matter their content, and now he is using his tanks to poison the ground for future generations... SEE ALSO: STUCK IN THE MIDDLE (EAST) WITH YOU By LIZ SPIKOL, Philadelphia Weekly, 4/3/2002 http://www.philadelphiaweekly.com/article.asp?ArtID=1998 In my experience as a Jewish reporter, I've heard a great deal about "not airing our dirty laundry." I have often been told--verbally, in Jewish publications and in synagogues--that even if I have doubts about the Israeli government and its treatment of Palestinians, I should keep quiet about it and be steadfast in my support of a nation that needs to exist. And I was happy to oblige, because wasn't it important, above all, that Israel endure--this vulnerable and a relatively new country penned in by nations that would like to make it disappear? But now Israel has crossed a line, and I--and many, many American Jews like me--will not be able to cross it with them... ----- EDITORIAL: ARIEL SHARON'S COSTLY DEFIANCE The New York Times, 4/9/2002 http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/09/opinion/_09TUE1.html The announcement last night that the Israeli military was pulling out of two Palestinian cities was welcome but it was far from clear that it signaled the start of the full, immediate withdrawal from the West Bank towns and refugee camps repeatedly requested by President Bush. Earlier in the day, Israel's prime minister, Ariel Sharon, brushed off Mr. Bush's demand in a defiant speech to the Knesset, insisting that the campaign would end only when its mission had been accomplished. Perhaps Mr. Sharon does not understand. The president of the United States, speaking out of profound friendship and growing impatience, has asked him to withdraw "without delay." This was not a request made lightly. Mr. Bush has expressed sympathy with Israel's plight and made clear that its security and well-being are of the highest concern. He has sent his secretary of state to the region to try to end the bloodshed. Yet Mr. Sharon says he will remove the tanks and troops whenever it suits him. This is an insult to Mr. Bush and the United States... ----- EDITORIAL: STIFFING THE U.S. PRESIDENT IS DANGEROUS Minneapolis Star-Tribune, 4/9/2002 http://www.startribune.com/stories/561/2216058.html Events in the Middle East are muddling. President Bush Friday called for Israel to withdraw from Palestinian areas "without delay," and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon indicated he would do that. Bush said Secretary of State Colin Powell would leave Sunday for the region, and Palestinians worried that Sharon would use the interim to intensify Israeli attacks... Only two possibilities present themselves: Bush and Powell are telling Sharon publicly to withdraw, but privately are offering him more latitude, including Powell's delayed arrival; or Bush and Powell mean what they say and Sharon is thumbing his nose at them. Between the two, it's difficult to decide which would be worse. The latter explanation is the simplest and therefore the most likely... ----- BLOODSHED BECOMES NABLUS' SCENERY Associated Press, 4/9/2002 NABLUS, West Bank (AP) -- Brandishing the bandaged stump that remained of his right arm after an emergency amputation in a mosque-turned-field hospital in the ruined heart of Nablus' Old City, the teen-age Palestinian gunman was still defiant. "I will keep fighting until we are liberated," 19-year-old Abed Taqouk said Monday, coolly smoking a cigarette as the groans of dozens of wounded men rose around him. Only yards away, Israeli troops were making their way through the winding alleyways of the casbah, kicking down doors and combing blasted-out buildings in their search for any fighter able to wield a weapon. Fighting still raged in the casbah's center Monday, with the staccato of heavy machine-gun fire and the roar of tank shells echoing against the surrounding hills. As Israeli troops took control of the outer edges of the Old City, a small group of journalists picked their way into the old quarter and spent two hours walking the casbah's debris-covered streets. Civilians, trapped in their homes for days by street battles, called out from behind barred windows, still afraid to come outside. "I need my heart medicine!" shouted one man. "I don't have any food for my children!" a woman cried out... ----- PALESTINIAN BAKER'S FAMILY GO UNFED UNDER SIEGE By Wael al-Ahmad, Reuters, 4/9/2002 JENIN, West Bank, April 9 (Reuters) - Palestinian baker Abu Hussein not only has little bread to feed his family -- he has not been outside his home in the Jenin refugee camp for a week, while his neighbours have flocked in to seek shelter. The camp has been under curfew since Israeli tanks rolled in as part of their incursion into the Palestinian-ruled West Bank. On Tuesday, house-to-house fighting and Israeli helicopter strikes made the streets a death zone. "We have no electricity, no water. We have hardly any food," Abu Hussein said by telephone from his home. "We have a little bread. We have some tinned food from our neighbours," he said, referring to people who sought refuge in his home after their own dwelling was destroyed. The camp of 13,000 inhabitants has been the scene of determined resistance to Israeli troops by Palestinian gunmen. Palestinians estimate that at least 100 people have been killed since fighting started on Wednesday... One woman in a nearby Palestinian Red Crescent compound, who asked not to be named, wept bitterly as she explained by telephone how she had been forced out of the camp. "The soldiers came with a bulldozer to my house. They threatened us. They said if we did not leave the house they would demolish it on our heads." She said her husband had been rounded up by Israeli forces and taken away, like hundreds of other Palestinians. Many have been released after questioning... ----- POWELL: STALLING TO LET SHARON 'MOP UP' By Barbara Ferguson, Arab News, 4/9/2002 http://www.arabnews.com/Article.asp?ID=14156 WASHINGTON, 9 April - The announcement that US Secretary of State Colin Powell will not arrive in Israel before Thursday or Friday sent many Mideast observers reeling with disbelief. The announcement seems to confirm rumors that Bush is allowing Israel's Prime Minister Ariel Sharon extra time to 'mop up' in the Occupied Territories. Bush's spinmeisters were sent out to buffer the shock on the airwaves on Sunday, while it was announced that Powell's first stop, Morocco, would include meetings with the country's King Mohamed and Crown Prince Abdullah of Saudi Arabia. Secretary Colin Powell said Sharon assured him Sunday that he was "trying to expedite" withdrawal of his troops in the occupied territories, but he gave no time frame. "He did not give me a specific timetable of the withdrawal, but I know he is trying to expedite the operation, to get it over with as soon as possible. And we'll see what happens in the next couple of days," Powell said on NBC's "Meet the Press..." ----- WE BOUGHT AND PAID FOR CARNAGE OF PALESTINIANS By ROBERT JENSEN, The Houston Chronicle, 4/8/2002 http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/story.hts/editorial/outlook/1351792 I helped kill a Palestinian today. If you pay taxes to the U.S. government, so did you. And unless the policies of the U.S. government change, tomorrow will be no different. It is easy for Americans to decry the "cycle of violence" in Palestine, but until we acknowledge our own part in that violence, there is little hope for a just peace in Palestine or the Middle East... ----- DETAINEE RIGHTS National Public Radio, 4/8/2002 http://search1.npr.org/opt/collections/torched/me/data_me/seg_141304.htm NPR's Greg Allen reports on the Muslim community in Patterson, New Jersey, and those in the community who are fighting to free the many Arab-Americans being detained by the government since the September 11th terrorist attacks. There's a sense of anxiety, anger, and frustration that Muslim Americans are being deprived of their constitutionally guaranteed civil rights, because of their religious faith and countries of origin. ----- PROBE OF FIRE OPENS IN LOS ALTOS HILLS By Sean Webby, San Jose Mercury News, 4/9/2002 http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/3026199.htm Rev. Samer Yousef of the Orthodox Church of the Redeemer in Los Altos listens to an investigator from the Santa Clara County Fire Department (name unavailable). Investigators from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms are treating the fire as a possible hate crime. Held back by police tape, members of the Antiochian Orthodox Church of the Redeemer in Los Altos Hills began to rebuild their church from the sidewalk Monday. They collected hastily scribbled checks, devotional candles and pledges of prayer and support. The church of mostly Arab American parishioners burned to the ground early Sunday. As tensions mount at home over the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, members were left hoping the fire was just a terrible accident. In Florida, a man has been charged with a hate crime after barreling his truck into a mosque in Tallahassee. None of the 225 Antiochian Orthodox churches in the United States have been a victim of vandalism since Sept. 11, said Deacon Hans Elhayek of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese in Englewood, N.J. But Ibrahim Hooper, a spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said Arabic Christians could be targeted. "With emotions running so high with the conflict going on, having a remote connection to the Middle East may have been enough," he said... ----- US RESISTS AGING DRAFT PLAN WORDING By JEROME SOCOLOVSKY, Associated Press, 4/9/2002 MADRID, Spain (AP) - In an echo of previous international meetings, the United States is resisting language that could be construed as critical of Israel in a draft plan on problems confronting the elderly around the world. Delegates on Tuesday are to agree on final wording of the 50-page "International Plan of Action on Aging" - which deals with matters such as pensions, affordable health care and discrimination and abuse. However, the United States is resisting proposals by some countries to include references to older persons affected by "foreign occupation" - considered a veiled slap at Israel and its treatment of the Palestinians, an American official said. Last year, the United States and Israel walked out of a U.N. racism conference in South Africa because of disagreements over references to the Middle East conflict. Conference site: http://www.un.org/ageing ----- MUSLIM VOTE GAINS POWER IN FRANCE By ELIZABETH BRYANT, United Press International, 4/9/2002 As she attends a campaign rally for her favorite presidential candidate in a rundown stadium in southwestern France, Malika Ahmed, represents a new, and slowly growing force in French politics. She is a 33-year-old ethnic Moroccan woman -- and the deputy mayor of a Paris suburb. The candidate is former minister Jean-Pierre Chevenement. "I like his convictions," Ahmed said. "I like his egalitarian approach." More precisely, Ahmed likes Chevenement's campaign promise, as head of the small, center-left Citizen's Movement Party, to offer equal opportunities for ethnic Moroccans like herself -- to say nothing of the memory of his 1991 resignation as defense minister over French involvement in the Gulf War against Iraq. "We second-generation immigrants are not looking for quotas," said Ahmed, who is deputy mayor of the Paris suburb of Aubervilliers. "We want our just place in this society." Such sentiments help explain the shifting tectonics of France's Muslim electorate. A new crop of second- and third-generation immigrants is edging into the political scene. Old political allegiances, once neatly split between aging conservatives and their leftist-oriented offspring, are dissolving. And as politicians gear up for this spring's presidential and legislative elections, few can afford to ignore the country's 5 million ethnic Arabs, Africans and Turks, Western Europe's largest Muslim community, who account for about 10 percent of the French population... Only about a third of French Muslims are eligible to vote. But as the population shops around this election season, an eclectic array of presidential candidates is scrambling for their support... ----- EUROPE, PREPARE TO GREET ISLAM By Juraj Kittler, The Christian Science Monitor, 4/9/2002 http://www.christiansciencemonitor.com/2002/0409/p09s01-coop.html Nearly every week brings news of another rusty boat loaded with refugees in the territorial waters of Italy, France, or Spain. Three hundred to five hundred "boat people" cross at a time - Kurds (from Turkey and Iraq), Afghans and Pakistanis, Tunisians and Moroccans. Risking it all in this dangerous game, they have only a miserable life to lose - but stand to gain a better life for themselves and their children. Because of official French policy toward minorities, it is not easy to find out how many Algerians, Moroccans, or Tunisians are already living in the country. The closest one can get are religious statistics that assess the number of French Muslims at 4 million. Roughly 1 million of them live in metropolitan Paris and their numbers are growing exponentially due to a high birthrate. In Italy, the center of the Arab/Muslim culture is in the country's financial capital, Milan. But growth of the Islamic population is accelerating mainly in the poorer south - around Naples and in Sicily. Germany chronically struggles with the cultural assimilation of second- and third-generation Turks and Kurds whose fathers came to the country as Gastarbeiter to work at jobs nobody else wanted. Benelux and Scandinavia became the home of huge Arab communities, too. And hundreds of thousands of Bosnian or Albanian Muslims flooded Western Europe as a result of the Balkan wars. In the meantime, the wealthy western part of Europe is beginning to feel the impact of a low birthrate trend. Countries like Germany, France, and Italy need an influx of hundreds of thousands of immigrants every year in order to maintain a balanced demographic structure... But after centuries of fighting each other, the followers of the two largest religions must start to build on peaceful coexistence. It won't be easy, especially for proud Europe. But any other alternative would lead sooner or later to total self-destruction. Lacking new ideas and new ideals, the old Continent has already lost the advantage of the first move in this high-stakes chess match. ----- CAIR SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA OFFERS INTERNSHIP OPPORTUNITY CAIR-LA is now accepting applications for its Summer 2002 internship program. The program is designed to empower our community by helping young Muslims gain skills in public relations, media relations, research and development, public outreach, government relations, and in defending civil/legal rights. Interns will receive college credit or financial compensation. Internships will be held at CAIR's office in Southern California. Interns must provide for their own travel, living expenses (housing & food) and transportation arrangements. Candidates must be pursuing a bachelor's degree or an advanced degree. (Exceptions may be made for highly qualified applicants.) Summer internships run from June 24 through August 16. Applications must be received by May 1. Contact cair_sca@cair-california.org for an application or further information. Tel: 714.776.1847 ----- 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 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 ----- AMERICAN MUSLIM NEWS BRIEFS - 4/10/2002 ----- HEADLINES: * HADITH OF THE DAY: MURDER * JUDGE FIRM ON OPEN HEARING FOR ACTIVIST (Detroit Free Press) * TOW TRUCK DRIVER SAYS MEN BEAT HIM ON I-495 (Washington Post) * WOMAN FOUND GUILTY OF ASSAULTING MUSLIM NEIGHBOR (AP) * CAIR-CALIF TALL HALL FORUM A SUCCESS * CAIR-NY CO-SPONSORS RALLY FOR PALESTINE * WHEN ISRAEL AND THE U.S. DON'T SEE EYE TO EYE (New York Times) * ISRAEL'S MYTH MACHINE (Ottawa Citizen) * WITH A WORD, ISRAELI-TURKISH STRAIN SURFACES (New York Times) * U.S. STUDENTS RALLY FOR PALESTINIANS (AP) * ATTORNEY WILL FIGHT TERROR AID CHARGE (AP) * MUSLIMS' VISAS TO U.S. SLOWED (AP) * EID STAMP SWAMPS VOTING IN MAGAZINE (AP) * SEPT. 11 CITED BY BOTH SIDES IN DRIVER'S LICENSE WRANGLE (Houston Chronicle) * THE STENCH OF BLOOD AND ROTTING CORPSES (Sydney Morning Herald) ----- HADITH OF THE DAY: MURDER The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: "A time will come when the murderer will not know why he has committed the murder, and the victim will not know why he has been killed." Sahih Muslim, Hadith 1356 ----- WANT PALESTINIANS TO SURRENDER? START KILLING THEIR CHILDREN By Adele Ferguson, The Eastside Journal, 4/7/2002 http://www.eastsidejournal.com/ "The next times a bunch of Arab youths are throwing rocks at the Israeli tanks, mow them down. Kill them. Keep doing it until the Arabs decide whether they really hate the Jews more than they love their children...I don't think the Israelis would have to dispose of many Arab children before the white flag would go up." NOTE: The Eastside Journal now says it "regrets publication of the column." ----- JUDGE FIRM ON OPEN HEARING FOR ACTIVIST BY DAVID ASHENFELTER, The Detroit Free Press http://www.freep.com/news/metro/haddad10_20020410.htm A judge in Detroit refused to back down Tuesday from her decision ordering the federal government to stop holding secret deportation proceedings for a Muslim activist from Ann Arbor who was detained after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. But as soon as U.S. District Judge Nancy Edmunds rejected the U.S. Justice Department's request to reconsider her decision or delay its enforcement, federal lawyers appealed to the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati. The outcome of the appeal could determine whether federal investigators will be allowed to continue conducting secret deportation hearings for hundreds of people swept up in the investigation resulting from the terrorist attacks. "I believe that the denial of press and public access to these hearings is a denial of the First Amendment," Edmunds said during a hearing... ----- TOW TRUCK DRIVER SAYS MEN BEAT HIM ON I-495 Iranian Victim Blames Ethnic Hatred By Tom Jackman, The Washington Post, 4/10/2002 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A23297-2002Apr10.html When two men in a pickup started waving at the tow truck driver on the Capital Beltway in Fairfax, the tow truck driver willingly pulled over, thinking the men needed some sort of assistance. It happens all the time, the tow truck driver said, and he's happy to help. But after they pulled to the side of busy Interstate 495, one of the men in the pickup truck walked over to the tow truck driver and said, "I have a license to kill you." The tow truck driver, who is Iranian, said he was confused. The assailant then head-butted the tow truck driver in the forehead, and he and his friend repeatedly punched the man and then choked him into unconsciousness as traffic whizzed by... ----- WOMAN FOUND GUILTY OF ASSAULTING MUSLIM NEIGHBOR Associated Press, 4/10/2002 MANCHESTER, N.H. (AP) - A woman has received a suspended sentence in an assault against a Muslim woman allegedly prompted by the terrorist attacks. Ecaterina Svet, 43, was found guilty of assaulting her neighbor in a stairwell and yelling racial slurs at her on Oct. 16. Police said Svet elbowed Fatima Deek in the ribs, causing her to fall onto the stairs, and then taunted her with comments about the Middle East and anthrax. Prosecutors said Svet assaulted Deek, a native of Jordan, because Deek is a Muslim. Svet was given a two- to five-year suspended sentence on a misdemeanor assault charge in Hillsborough County Superior Court on Tuesday. The case was reportedly the first incident of a hate-motivated crime in the state after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks... ----- CAIR-CALIF TALL HALL FORUM A SUCCESS CAIR Northern California and the Department of Justice successfully held a Town Hall Forum on April 4 with officials from the FBI, INS and US Attorney's office. The meeting addressed issues and concerns of Muslims living in the Bay Area. More than 800 community members packed the Muslim Community Center to listen to panel guests Larry Mefford, Associate Special Agent in charge of San Francisco Department of FBI, David Still, INS Director, Matthew Jacobs, Asst US Attorney and Martha Boersch, Lead Attorney on Terrorism from the US Attorney's office. Other organizations in attendance were the ACLU, NAACP, National Lawyer's Guild, AMA, ING, Lawyer's Committee on Civil Rights, and many more. The speakers provided attendees information on the current climate, laws, and activities of the operating agencies in the Department of Justice post September 11, 2001 and how they are affecting the Muslim community. "This event is part of CAIR' s mission to empower Muslims and build coalitions with public officials to improve the quality of life for all," said CAIR California President Fouad Khatib. ----- CAIR-NY CO-SPONSORS RALLY FOR PALESTINE WHEN: Friday, April 12, 11 a.m.-6 p.m. WHERE: Times Square, New York City NYC mosques are asked to bring their congregations to pray Jum'ah at Times Square itself. TO VIEW A FLYER FOR THE RALLY, GO TO: http://www.cair-ny.com/ ----- WHEN ISRAEL AND THE U.S. DON'T SEE EYE TO EYE By ARSALAN TARIQ IFTIKHAR, The New York Times, 4/10/2002 http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/10/opinion/L10MIDE.html (The writer is Midwest communications director, Council on American-Islamic Relations.) Re "Ariel Sharon's Costly Defiance" (editorial, April 9): It was Ariel Sharon's march on the Temple Mount in September 2000 that was the spark of the current intifada. And in his successful bid for prime minister, he vowed to negate the Oslo accords. Mr. Sharon was dismissed as defense minister by a commission of his own countrymen for his "indirect responsibility" in the refugee camp massacres at Sabra and Shatila in 1982. He haughtily asserts that Israel is the only democracy in the region. However, how democratic a society can you have if you continuously violate more than 60 United Nations resolutions and militarily rule over three million of your inhabitants? Granted, Yasir Arafat is also culpable in this conflict. The suicide bombings have to stop. However, if we cure the disease, only then can we truly quell the symptoms. Simply put, Israel must end its occupation of the Palestinian people. ----- ISRAEL'S MYTH MACHINE White South Africa used conquest and propaganda to keep the black population down. Israel is using the same logic with the Palestinians. By Riad Saloojee, Ottawa Citizen, 4/10/2002 Riad Saloojee is executive director of the Ottawa-based Council on American-Islamic Relations -- Canada. One ought to be wary of pictures, a social commentator once noted, for they cannot convey time or context. But sometimes there is nothing like the simple clarity of an image -- especially now, besieged as we are by the relentless discourse of Israel's need to "fight terror" and its need for "safety and security." (As if this newspeak is not itself sufficient to reveal the inner workings of a state obsessed with hiding its abuse of power. When Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon asserts that he intends to make Palestinians "beg for mercy," what other conclusion is deducible?) The picture: two very young Palestinian children in the foreground and behind them the looming hulk of a tank. The picture is stark in all its allusions. It presents the current asymmetry of a conflict that has been sanitized in a million and one ways as a "war between equals" and never for what it is: a 35-year-long occupation against a civilian population by the most powerful military in the Middle East, the fourth-largest army in the world, and the largest recipient of U.S. largesse, replete with its modern armoury of tanks, Apache helicopters and heavy artillery. The word occupation has become taboo. Hardly ever mentioned now, it has been confined to a memory hole. Listening to the pundits and self-styled experts, you would think the occupation is irrelevant to Israel's current predicament. But is it so unusual, so irrational, that a legacy of violence begets more violence -- that a cycle of violence simply eats into itself? We don't live in a world of disembodied reason but in a world of real cause and effect, a world of social consequences, of history. Archbishop Desmond Tutu observed during a Christmas visit to Israel on Dec. 25, 1989: "I am a black South African, and if I were to change the names, a description of what is happening in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank could describe events in South Africa (under apartheid)." This was the first intifada. Not much has changed since. Well, one thing has: Racist South Africa has been dismantled, so Israel can't be its military and political ally anymore. And from someone who was born in South Africa and whose family lived there for three generations, I am well aware of the logic of conquest: the targeting of civilians, the checkpoints, the daily humiliation, the illegal assassinations, the curfews, the collective punishments, the military abuse, the torture and the dismantling of social and economic institutions. I am also well aware of the steady export of propaganda to attain, maintain and retain illegitimate power. In an attempt to hold on to its illegally acquired territory and settlements, Israel has generated a steady diet of myths -- some so patently racist that they would make Hendrick Verwoerd, perhaps the foremost architect of apartheid, wince: that Palestinians use their children as "human shields"; that Palestinians, indeed all Arabs, have a pathological hatred for Israel; that Yasser Arafat, held up in a broken and battered headquarters without basic amenities, can quell all violence; and that Palestinians spare no stones in their attempt to push "Jews into the sea," and even use ambulances for violence. This latter argument, the latest attempt to victimize the victim, has been thoroughly debunked: one by lack of evidence and, two, by the Israeli human rights group B'Tselem. A March 14, 2002, report noted that it is Israeli Defence Forces soldiers that have fired at ambulances, killed on-duty Palestinian medical personnel, wounded several others and prevented medical treatment to the sick and wounded -- even leaving people to bleed to death. The screw of the occupation still turns. But now, it is a renewed occupation. Says Zbigniew Brzezinski, former U.S. national security adviser: "The Israelis are becoming increasingly like the white supremacist South Africans, viewing the Palestinians as a lower form of life, not hesitating to kill a great many of them." And the killing of civilians is just one part of the horrific equation. Amnesty International offered a trenchant critique of Israel's "flagrant human-rights violations" and cited the wanton destruction of houses, cars and buildings; the deliberate denial of food, water and medicine; the humiliating confinement and curfew of an entire population; arbitrary arrests, torture and other degrading treatment; and the closing of areas under siege to journalists, aid workers and humanitarian organizations. Remembering the picture, I think of my own father, a son of South Africa's occupation, and how he left South Africa to give his children a better future. I fear that Palestinian children might grow into their adulthood, the sons and daughters of a renewed and reinvigorated occupation. And even if we had the power to end the occupation here and now, it's not enough. History will never forgive what was done to the Palestinians. And history will never forgive our role in it. ----- WITH A WORD, ISRAELI-TURKISH STRAIN SURFACES By DOUGLAS FRANTZ, The New York Times, 4/10/2002 http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/10/international/middleeast/10TURK.html ISTANBUL, April 9 -- Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit of Turkey told a gathering of his political party last week that Israel's military raids into the West Bank were genocide. Israel might have ignored the statement had it come from another Muslim leader, but Turkey is Israel's best friend in the region. So Mr. Ecevit's choice of words set off protests that heightened strains in a relationship of strategic importance to both countries and to the United States... ----- U.S. STUDENTS RALLY FOR PALESTINIANS The Associated Press, 4/10/2002 http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/national/AP-Mideast-Campus-Protests.html Marching and handing out fliers, students who sympathize with Palestinians under siege from Israel rallied on a handful of the nation's campuses. Most events during Tuesday's loosely organized protests were modest and peaceful, though some demonstrators were heckled. A rally for the Palestinian cause drew about 1,000 supporters and spectators at the University of California, Berkeley, including pro-Israel demonstrators who shouted their disapproval while police kept watch. After the rally, campus police arrested 79 pro-Palestinian protesters who stormed into a classroom building. Some students hung a Palestinian flag from a third-story window, while others marched in the hallways of the building, which houses classrooms for Middle Eastern studies. Students for Justice in Palestine likened the current Mideast violence to the Holocaust -- only with the Palestinians as the victims. They also called for the university to divest any Israel-related investments... ------ ATTORNEY WILL FIGHT TERROR AID CHARGE By TOM HAYS, The Associated Press, 4/10/02 http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/national/AP-Terror-Indictments.html NEW YORK - A defense attorney with a reputation as a zealous advocate has become a defendant herself, accused of crossing the line by conspiring to help an imprisoned client relay messages to his radical Islamic followers. U.S. Attorney James B. Comey accused attorney Lynne Stewart and three men of aiding terrorism by assisting blind cleric Omar Abdel-Rahman, a leader of a terrorist organization linked to al-Qaida... Stewart pleaded "emphatically not guilty" Tuesday in a courtroom packed with fellow defense attorneys who labeled the case a political prosecution designed to discourage the vigorous defense of terrorist defendants... Stewart said she hoped the indictment becomes a "touchstone case ... something that points out the limits the government can go through in prosecuting people they don't like..." ----- MUSLIMS' VISAS TO U.S. SLOWED By GEORGE GEDDA, The Associated Press, 4/10/02 http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/national/AP-Visas-Muslims.html WASHINGTON - Prolonged security checks since Sept. 11 have caused a slowdown of almost 14 percent in the number of overseas Muslims granted permission to live in the United States through a special green card program, officials say. Under the program, citizens of countries with low rates of migration to the United States can try their luck in obtaining permanent U.S. residence visas through a lottery conducted annually by the State Department Visa approvals were granted to 16,308 lottery winners worldwide from Oct. 1, 2000 to Feb. 28, 2001, according to official figures. But for the identical period a year later, which occurred after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the number approved was just 14,074 - a decline of 2,234 or about 14 percent. Almost all of that was the result of lower numbers from Muslim countries, said a State Department official, who asked not to be identified... ----- EID STAMP SWAMPS VOTING IN MAGAZINE By RANDOLPH E. SCHMID, Associated Press, 4/09/02 An onslaught of online voting for the Muslim "Eid" stamp caused the magazine Linn's Stamp News to separate e-mail from mailed ballots in its annual poll of the most popular U.S. stamps. A colorful 20-stamp sheet of art by American illustrators won the traditional mail-in voting, collecting 368 votes, and prompting Linn's to declare it the overall favorite in its April issue. In the online balloting the Eid stamp, celebrating Muslim holidays, collected 13,815 votes. Carnivorous plants were second with 241. The powerful turnout came after the American Muslim Council e-mailed its members asking them to vote for the stamp, which is dark blue with gold calligraphy. "Given the stamp's importance to them, we can understand their desire to generate votes for it," Linn's editor Michael Laurence wrote in a column on the balloting. "But in the end their efforts were just too successful." Asked about the effort, Faiz Rehman, communications director of the council, said: "That's what activism is all about..." ----- SEPT. 11 CITED BY BOTH SIDES IN DRIVER'S LICENSE WRANGLE By EDWARD HEGSTROM, Houston Chronicle, 4/9/2002 http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/story.hts/metropolitan/1356309 AUSTIN -- A proposal to make it more difficult for some foreigners to obtain Texas driver's licenses drew heated debate Tuesday, with both sides calling on officials to learn the lesson of Sept. 11. The proposed regulations would make it impossible for people who have a foreign passport to get Texas driver's licenses unless they also have verifiable identification issued by the U.S. government. Refugees, some foreign students and other immigrants -- except those from Canada -- would be excluded from getting the state identification. Illegal immigrants already face difficulty getting licenses in Texas, and the proposed rules from the Department of Public Safety appear to make it virtually impossible for them. State officials say the proposed changes come in response to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Some terrorists obtained driver's licenses from various states, which they used as acceptable photo identification to board the planes they crashed in New York, Pennsylvania and Virginia. But critics -- including representatives of the Austin Police Department -- said security would be enhanced by offering driver's licenses to immigrants, establishing written records of immigrants' residences in the United States. Joseph Berra, an attorney with the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, said that after Sept. 11, "there is a greater need to ensure that people are properly licensed and identified..." ----- THE STENCH OF BLOOD AND ROTTING CORPSES By Suzanne Goldenberg, Sydney Morning Herald, 4/10/2002 http://www.smh.com.au/ The stench of blood and rotting corpses carried far beyond the green mosque where the bodies were laid out, tightly wedged together like firewood: young men, perhaps Palestinian fighters, and those with the sagging paunch of middle age. After five days of ferocious fighting in the vaulted stone alleyways of the old town, the Israeli Army on Monday allowed Palestinian medical workers to take the 62 wounded to hospital and carry away the dead. Twenty-six corpses awaited them. Five had bled their lives away into the stained mattresses strewn beneath the chandeliers of the Jamal Bek mosque - now a makeshift hospital and morgue. "The first dead [man] was here on the first day, Wednesday," said Nisar Smadi, a doctor. "He was killed by a shortage of medicine. It was an abdomen wound." The frenzied evacuation began at sundown. As medics scrambled down a crater at the entrance to the old city - the casbah - stretcher bearers collided in vaulted alleyways in a feverish effort to collect the dead before the army re-imposed its curfew... The corpses were stacked in a courtyard of the mosque. Some faces were blackened and pitted, apparently by an explosion. One wore the green bandana of Hamas. The face of another was masked with a black and white chequered keffiyeh (headdress), but it was impossible to say in the chaos how many of the dead were Palestinian fighters, and how many were civilians... ----- 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 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 ----- ACTION REQUESTED: Let elected officials and the media know that you support freedom for the Palestinian people. GO TO: http://capwiz.com/cair/home/ ----- FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE U.S. MUSLIMS SAY "WAR CRIMES" COMMITTED IN JENIN (WASHINGTON, D.C., 4/10/2002) - The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) today condemned what it called "war crimes" by Israeli occupation forces in the Palestinian refugee camp in Jenin. According to media reports, the Israelis are preparing to raze the camp using bulldozers. The Washington-based Islamic advocacy group asked that President Bush stop the destruction of Jenin in order to prevent civilian deaths and to keep evidence of atrocities from being destroyed. CNN's Rula Amin reported this morning: "...bulldozers now are knocking down houses there. And we have been hearing earlier in the day confirmed by units of officers in the field that the residents were asked through the loudspeakers by the Israeli army to leave their houses and to gather in locations on the outskirts of the camp. There is a lot of concern among the residents that what's happening is that Israeli bulldozers are bulldozing the houses. They are flattening the camp." The French news agency Agence France Presse (AFP) reports that the Israeli army expelled some 800 women and children from the Jenin refugee camp on Wednesday. AFP quoted UNICEF officials who said, "The women and children were forced out on the streets of Jenin, where they have no protection, food or clothing." The Palestinian Society for the Protection of Human Rights and the Environment cites eyewitness reports that Israeli forces are now digging what may be mass graves in the camp. Israel is refusing to allow aid groups or the media into Jenin. Even Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres termed the army's actions in Jenin a "massacre." SEE: http://www.jpost.com/Editions/2002/04/09/LatestNews/LatestNews.46578.html "These war crimes, carried out using American-taxpayer-funded weapons, are being driven by blood lust and a thirst for revenge. We call on President Bush to stop this state-sponsored terror against innocent Palestinian civilians," said CAIR Board Chairman Omar Ahmad. Ahmad added that Israel's actions recall the destruction of more than 400 Palestinian towns and villages since 1948 and the 1982 massacre at the Sabra and Shatila Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon. He reiterated Muslim support for President Bush's demand that Israel withdraw from the cities it has invaded, end settlement activity and cease its daily humiliation of Palestinian Muslims and Christians. - END - CONTACT: Ibrahim Hooper, 202-488-8787 E-MAIL - cair@cair-net.org Ms. Hodan Hassan, 202-488-8787 E-MAIL: hhassan@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 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 ----- AMERICAN MUSLIM NEWS BRIEFS 4/11/2002 ----- HEADLINES: * TROUBLED FAMILY IS SPLIT AS NEIGHBORS ASK WHY (Times-Union) * ISRAELI SOLDIERS NAME DOG “GEORGE W. BUSH” (Reuters) * U.S. SENATORS APPLAUD FOREIGN LEADER WHO CRITICIZES PRESIDENT’S POLICY (New York Times) * DEFIANT SHARON LOSING SUPPORT IN THE WHITE HOUSE (Washington Post) * THE ISRAEL LOBBY (New York Press) * THEFT, PILLAGING BY ISRAELI TROOPS (AFP) * JENIN: 'MY MOTHER RAN FOR HELP. A SOLDIER SHOT HER IN THE HEAD' (Independent) * LAW: EXTRA-JUDICIAL EXECUTIONS IN JENIN REFUGEE CAMP * BLAMING THE VICTIMS: HATING THE PALESTINIANS (Counterpunch) * COURT WEIGHS OPENING OF AN IMMIGRATION HEARING (New York Times) * SURVEY IN MUSLIM NATIONS SHOWS HATRED OF POLICIES BUT A LOVE OF THE CULTURE (Wall Street Journal) ----- TROUBLED FAMILY IS SPLIT AS NEIGHBORS ASK WHY By Steve Patterson, Jacksonville Times-Union, 4/11/2002 http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/041102/met_9110979.html Jacksonville police know Riccardo Young as a bad father, a man who let 11 children live in squalor and ran when authorities came to his house. His neighbors say they never met that man. The Young they described was a tireless worker and family man who kept his kids fed, healthy and happy -- even in a tiny, crowded box of a house with no electricity or running water. And they don't understand how life turned so bad this week for an East Arlington family they described as religious, loving and devoted to one another. "What happened just wasn't right," said Kevin Stafford, fuming a day after social workers put the children in emergency shelters and police locked up the children's mother on child-neglect charges. "The kids looked clean to me, they looked well-fed," said Joian Hopke, whose home backs up on a yard where the family cooked meals over a fire in a metal trash can. "He was really a nice guy, very polite. We never had any problem." Judges and prosecutors may decide whether the family will live together again. The wife, Antoinette Young, was in jail yesterday with a $25,000 bond, and police indicated they would seek an arrest warrant for Riccardo Young. But to determine the family's future, authorities will have to understand how a couple that seemed devoted to children ended up raising them in an aging cinder-block home that the city condemned. That started about five months ago, when the Youngs moved from New Jersey to a rented house on Airport Terrace Drive, a stone's throw from Craig Municipal Airport. The entire 13-member family moved into an 828-square-foot home, a building with one bathroom. "The only thing we worried about was the kids -- all those kids," Hopke said. "We were counting the kids and how many there were. Me and my husband were like, 'Dude, it's time to stop'." Antoinette Young, 39, stayed busy at home riding herd over eight boys and three girls, ranging from age 3 to 16. She was the quieter of the couple, often seen hanging laundry in the backyard, wearing a head covering that reflected the family's Islamic beliefs. Her husband of almost 20 years was a talker with a Yankee accent, neighbors said, a courteous man who stopped to visit as he regularly walked the neighborhood two blocks off St. Johns Bluff Road. Riccardo Young, 46, who was known to some as Rafik, was a car salesman who hopped from job to job in the maze of auto dealerships near Regency Square. He sometimes had weeks where he made good commissions, but lately he was short of money, the neighbors said. His own car was broken down, and he could be seen walking home late at night, both arms full of grocery bags. The family walked through the neighborhood together, and at times Riccardo Young took his sons to the Islamic Center of Northeast Florida, a couple of miles away. "He was a very nice man," said Aatif Barbari, the center's custodian, who said he didn't know of the family's problems. Whatever else was going on at the home, the family's electric bill wasn't being paid. Since the power was turned on in late November, there had been no payments at all, and the bill had climbed to $378, said Bruce Dugan, a JEA spokesman. Last month, the JEA cut off electricity, which also stopped the backyard pump that provided the home's water. Someone rigged the wiring to get electricity back, but the JEA noticed and seven days ago a workman shut off service again and locked the power box. There wasn't much choice, Dugan said: "If they had said to us, we're having a lot of trouble, can we work out a payment, that would have been different." With no water for a week, Stafford said, Young had come to his home each day to fill 20-gallon Gatorade vats that he carried back to the tiny, crowded house. He said Young had asked welfare officials for help, but was told he made too much money… On Tuesday, case workers from the Florida Department of Children and Families came to the house after someone reported the children were living in squalor. Police were called too, along with building inspectors. The city condemned the property that day, and social workers decided to take the children from their parents, a police report showed. The report said Young told his children to run away when he heard they would be taken, and that he ran off too. All but one son, described as either 16 or 17, eventually returned. ACTION REQUESTED: Florida's Department of Children and Families has tentatively assigned the Young family's case to a non-profit agency called the First Coast Family Center. They will help the family get better housing and possibly a new job for the father. Donations can be sent to the family can through them. Send donations to: First Coast Family Center For the family of Riccardo Young Attention: Connie Fussell 2747 Art Museum Drive, Suite 100 Jacksonville, FL 32207 Please let CAIR know if you send a donation so that we may follow-up on the case. ----- ISRAELI SOLDIERS NAME DOG “GEORGE W. BUSH” ISRAELIS INCREASINGLY RESENTFUL OF U.S. DEMANDS - CAUGHT OFF GUARD By Matt Spetalnick, Reuters, 4/10/02 http://nationalpost.com/search/story.html?f=/stories/20020410/597395.html ELON MOREH, West Bank, Occupied Palestine, - Members of an Israeli tank brigade waging an offensive in the West Bank found a unique way to show how they felt about the U.S. President -- they adopted a stray dog and named it "George W. Bush." "He's a cowboy," one soldier said as the brown pit-bull terrier prowled an Israeli hilltop encampment overlooking the city of Nablus. "He barks a lot," said a second. "But he's useless," another chimed in… ----- U.S. SENATORS APPLAUD FOREIGN LEADER WHO CRITICIZES PRESIDENT’S POLICY NETANYAHU SAYS POWELL MISSION 'WON'T AMOUNT TO ANYTHING' By ELAINE SCIOLINO, The New York Times, 4/11/2002 http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/11/international/middleeast/11POLI.html Benjamin Netanyahu, the former prime minister of Israel, branded the American peace initiative a failure today and called for the expulsion of the Palestinian president, Yasir Arafat, from the occupied West Bank… Mr. Netanyahu was warmly received by bipartisan groups of senators and congressmen. He also gave a news conference at the National Press Club and spoke before the American Enterprise Institute, a policy study group… ----- DEFIANT SHARON LOSING SUPPORT IN THE WHITE HOUSE By Mike Allen and John Lancaster, Washington Post, 4/11/02 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A28981-2002Apr10.html Israel's continued defiance of President Bush's demand for an immediate withdrawal of Israeli forces from Palestinian cities and towns is eroding support for Prime Minister Ariel Sharon inside the White House, administration sources said yesterday. After months of steadfast backing of Sharon by the Bush administration, senior White House aides are beginning to express doubts about whether the Israeli leader can be a long-term partner in achieving the administration's goals in the Middle East. White House aides also fear that Sharon's intransigence in the face of Bush's repeated demands over the past week for an end to the Israeli attacks could make the president appear ineffective and erode his standing in the world… The administration's tougher line on Israel is already facing resistance in Congress, with some lawmakers accusing the White House of compromising the moral clarity of its anti-terrorism crusade… Lobbyists for major American Jewish organizations have also been busy in Congress, "expressing concern about the kind of pressure that's being brought to bear" on Sharon's government by the administration, according to someone involved in the discussions… ----- THE ISRAEL LOBBY By Taki, The New York Press, 4/11/02 http://www.nypress.com/15/15/taki/taki.cfm On Easter Sunday, during lunch, the richest woman in Israel, Irithe Landeau, suddenly burst into my house and began to harangue my friends and family about Adam Shapiro. Despite the fact she's one of my wife's oldest friends and was invited to drop in after lunch, I was extremely annoyed. I reminded Irithe that my house was not Israeli occupied territory, that it was Easter, and knowing how I feel about the plight of the Palestinians, she should change the subject. Which she did, turning on the press, instead, and how they gave publicity to that godawful traitor Adam Shapiro… ----- THEFT, PILLAGING BY ISRAELI TROOPS Agence France Presse, 4/11/2002 Palestinian accusations of pillaging by Israeli occupation troops in Ramallah mounted on Wednesday, but the reports were unverifiable, as the army has made the area off-limits to journalists. Amal Masri, public relations officer for a Peugeot agent, said Wednesday that soldiers engaged in acts completely outside the scope of their mission of finding weapons and arresting Palestinian activists. "After blowing up the doors, they destroyed everything without reason. They tore apart the ventilation system. Our manager is an art collector. They stole some of the objects from her table,” she said. Masri said the Israelis also urinated and defecated in the new cars parked inside the exhibition hall. In the limited movements they are able to make around Ramallah during the lifting of curfews journalists are accosted by residents wishing to report similar incidents... Osama Abdoh told AFP that "soldiers came to search the house of one of my friends who lives in the refugee camp of Al Mari. When they left, he was missing 6,000 shekels that he left in a wardrobe as well as a necklace and some rings belonging to his wife". Majdi AL Malki, sociology professor at Bir Zeit University, whose apartment lies near the headquarters of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, left immediately when the Israeli army invaded Ramallah on March 29. Dozens of soldiers took up positions in his apartment for two days. “They went through everything, ate on the sofas and defecated on the ground. Despite the fact that I have no Palestinian flag and no pictures of the Palestinian leader", he explains. Even worse, Malki laments that "they stole everything they could take: My telephone charger, $4,000, the gold bracelets of my young daughters and my sun glasses.” Al Malki, a French national, said he had complained to the French consulate. He added that the same happened to his neighbour. "He noticed that they had stolen 450 shekels and he went and complained to the commander of the army, who returned the money to him", he continued. In the centre of Ramallah, Israeli soldiers painted in blue "leave, leave, Tsahal (Israeli army) units are arriving" in Hebrew on a massive portrait of Yasser Arafat. Rita Giacaman, researcher in public health, denounced the "systematic thefts" by soldiers, saying there could be three reasons behind such acts. "Either the soldiers received the order to do these things, or the chief of staff turns a blind eye and accepts them to compensate for the dangerous character of their mission, or the army does not know and has lost control over its men", she said… ----- JENIN: 'MY MOTHER RAN FOR HELP. A SOLDIER SHOT HER IN THE HEAD' By Justin Huggler, The Independent (UK), 4/11/2002 http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/story.jsp?story=283752 (UK) April 11, 2002 Abdullah Washai had to watch his 17-year-old brother, Munir, slowly bleed to death. He took several hours to die. A hole had been ripped in his shoulder by a round from an Israeli helicopter. When the boy's mother, Mariam, ran into the street screaming for help, Mr Washai says, Israeli soldiers shot her dead. These are typical of the claims of those who have managed to escape the carnage of Jenin refugee camp, the scene of the worst fighting of Israel's onslaught in the West Bank. The question that was facing Israel yesterday was: what will happen when the full story of what Israel has wreaked in the Jenin camp is revealed? As the Israeli newspaper Ma'ariv said in an editorial: "We can begin thinking today about the war after the war: the public relations war in the media in which Israel can be expected to be placed in the international defendant's seat, when the television screens around the world become filled with the spectacle of bodies lined up, destroyed houses and crying, distraught relatives..." As friends shuffled past to pay their respects, Mr Washai told his story, which cannot be confirmed, in the home of a friend who had taken the family in. "My brother was shot on Saturday afternoon," he said. "A helicopter round came through the wall. It went into his chest and out through the back of his shoulder. We called for an ambulance, but when it came outside the Israeli soldiers shot at it. It had to go…" ----- LAW: EXTRA-JUDICIAL EXECUTIONS IN JENIN REFUGEE CAMP LAW - The Palestinian Society for the Protection of Human Rights and the Environment, 4/10/02 SEE ALSO: Israel digs mass graves - covering up war crimes http://www.lawsociety.org/Press/Preleases/2002/April/apr10u.html Reports from witnesses in Jenin refugee camp to LAW indicate that from those Palestinian fighters resisting the Israeli military assault on Jenin refugee camp, a number of those sought to surrender to Israeli forces and were summarily executed. It has been difficult to confirm exact numbers of those executed, due to the fact that Israeli forces prevent any of the residents of the refugee camp or any independent monitors from returning or entering the refugee camp. However, LAW has received the names of two of those fighters, who were apparently executed after their surrender: Ala' Sabagh and Mahmoud al- Hilou. Reports indicate that other fighters remaining within the refugee camp, who have stopped their resistance, and seek to surrender, are being summarily executed. Witnesses report that when leaving the refugee camp, they saw bodies of residents that appeared to be run over by military bulldozers and bodies within the rubble of homes and shelters that had been destroyed. They expressed their fears that they did not know whether all the bodies in the rubble were dead or injured persons. LAW understands that the majority of the residents from the camp, after being forcibly expelled by Israeli forces, earlier today, have still not been allowed to return. These refugees are now currently scattered throughout the area, surrounding the refugee camp. Various sources from the refugee camp, estimate that at least 30 percent of the total area of the camp, including homes and shelters, have been totally destroyed… ----- BLAMING THE VICTIMS: HATING THE PALESTINIANS By M. Junaid Alam, Counterpunch, 4/10/2002 http://www.counterpunch.org/alam0410.html With Israeli troops currently ravaging entire Palestinian cities, urinating in homes, beating civilians, strapping them to tanks as human shields, shooting them like dogs in the streets--in a word, defending civilization--American pundits have come up with a timely answer to the situation: blame the Palestinians. Who is responsible for Sharon being put into power, but the wicked Palestinians who forced the poor Israelis to elect him; who is being called to "end terror" as Palestinian civilians starve and bleed to death in the streets, but a man literally hiding behind barb wires in a shelled-out compound, Yassir Arafat. The gravest offense of the dark-hearted and dark-skinned Palestinians, however, is suicide bombing. Op-ed writers feign absolute horror, disbelief, and disgust at this most inhumane act, assuring us that no people on earth now or ever before were capable of such hatred, save the Palestinians. A week and a half into an Israeli invasion that has left 200 Palestinian slaughtered, media experts invite representatives of the Palestinian people on television, only to interrogate them like Al-Qaeda detainees about this heinous crime of suicide bombing. Every assessment of the conflict begins and ends with denunciations of the suicide bombings, with nothing in between but the occasional clearing of the throat to emphasize the moral authority of the assertion. But do these moralistic tirades contain a single ounce of consistency, sincerity, or truth in them?.. ----- COURT WEIGHS OPENING OF AN IMMIGRATION HEARING By DANNY HAKIM, The New York Times, April 11, 2002 http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/11/national/11DETA.html A federal appeals court in Cincinnati agreed today to a speedy review of a lower court's decision to open to the news media an immigration hearing for a man seized in the government's terrorism sweep. News organizations, including The Detroit Free Press and The Detroit News, are seeking access to the hearings of the man, Rabih Haddad, the co-founder of a Muslim charity that has come under federal scrutiny as having ties to terrorist groups. The organizations, which have been joined in their efforts by the American Civil Liberties Union, are also seeking transcripts and documents from Mr. Haddad's past hearings. The United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit issued a temporary stay of the lower court's order, meaning that the government is not required at this time to release the transcripts and documents from past hearings. The court will probably decide next week whether to issue a lengthier stay to keep the past and future hearings closed while the appeals process continues… ----- SURVEY IN MUSLIM NATIONS SHOWS HATRED OF POLICIES BUT A LOVE OF THE CULTURE By Jim VandeHei, The Wall Street Journal, 4/11/2002 WASHINGTON -- Muslims in the Arab world largely dislike U.S. foreign policy, but a significant number of them enjoy American popular culture, a new poll has found. Contrary to perceptions that Arab and non-Arab Muslim nations hate everything American, the Zogby International poll, to be released today, found widespread Muslim approval of this country's consumer products, movies and television programs. For instance, 75% of Iranians polled and 54% of Kuwaitis surveyed have a favorable view of American movies and television shows. But only 1% of Iranians and 6% of Kuwaitis polled said they back U.S. policies toward Arab nations and Palestinians. The results of Zogby's latest "Impressions of America" survey are derived from face-to-face interviews with what Zogby describes as "randomly selected" people, conducted in March and early April in five Arab nations and three non-Arab Muslim nations… While leading a global war against terror, Mr. Bush has worked with Britain and other nations to better explain what he sees as U.S. altruism. He has highlighted foreign aid and offered more of it, and talked frequently of U.S. humanitarian efforts in Afghanistan and elsewhere. But Zogby's numbers suggest that those efforts have done little to allay hostility toward the U.S. "They don't hate us, but the policy does appear to be taking its toll," says John Zogby, the Utica, N.Y.-based pollster who oversaw the survey. ----- 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, 202-489-5108 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 ----- AMERICAN MUSLIM NEWS BRIEFS - 4/12/2002 ----- HEADLINES: * AID OFFERS FOR FAMILY FLOW IN (Times-Union) * DEADLINE FOR CAIR SUMMER INTERNSHIP FAST APPROACHING * JENIN: TRAILS OF DESTRUCTION, TALES OF LOSS (Washington Post) - AMID ISRAELI ATTACK, TALES OF ABUSE (Christian Science Monitor) * BILL O'REILLY: "I COULDN'T CARE LESS ABOUT THE MUSLIM WORLD" (WorldNetDaily) * CONTROVERSIAL SPEAKER GIVES TALK ON MIDEAST (Seattle Times) * CANADIAN MUSLIMS CONDEMN VANDALISM AGAINST JEWISH INSTITUTIONS ----- AID OFFERS FOR FAMILY FLOW IN Home condemned; 11 children taken By Steve Patterson, Jacksonville, Times-Union4/12/2002 http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/041202/met_9122761.html A Jacksonville couple separated from their 11 children when their home was condemned this week could receive state help finding housing and resolving financial problems. And a national Islamic organization yesterday began asking supporters to raise money for Riccardo and Antoinette Young, who were raising eight sons and three daughters in a cramped house with no electricity or running water. Social workers put the children in state custody Tuesday, although one son was reported to have evaded them. Late yesterday, five supporters of the Washington-based Council on American-Islamic Relations reported sending $1,700 for the family, who are Muslim. Hitting home: Additionally, 20 Times-Union readers yesterday called the newspaper seeking to contact the family and offer assistance. Antoinette Young, 39, remained in jail with a $25,000 bail yesterday, facing a child-neglect charge. Riccardo Young, a 46-year-old car salesman, has been missing since he ran from the home Tuesday. The family's situation -- neighbors generally described them as industrious, healthy and happy but cash-strapped -- has touched people from a variety of backgrounds and financial means. Neighbors near the Youngs' old home, an area of modest houses and mobile homes by Craig Municipal Airport, yesterday discussed ways to support Antoinette Young when she goes to court. Newspaper readers responded from affluent Ponte Vedra Beach to working-class North Jacksonville neighborhoods. And social service advocates expressed a desire to reunite the family if at all practical. Barbara Alexander, executive director of the non-profit First Coast Family Center, said she lobbied the state Department of Children and Families this week for a chance to work with the family. "It could be the only sin they committed is running out of money," said Alexander, whose center runs a pilot program to prevent child abuse and neglect by helping financially struggling families. Unless case workers find a deeper problem, she said, "this is exactly the kind of case that this [program] is set up for." Social workers took the Youngs' children, ages 3 to 16, after the family's electricity was cut off and a pump for a backyard well was disabled. The family had carried water from a neighbor's home, used hurricane lanterns for light and cooked meals over a fire in a trash can before the home was condemned Tuesday. The Family Center will begin by trying to find a larger home, in the hope that the children and parents will be reunited. The state-funded pilot program, the Neighborhood Partnership for the Protection of Children, can also help parents find new jobs and pay for utilities or other basic services... ACTION REQUESTED: 1) More funds are needed to provide housing so the family may be re-united. Donations to help the Young family should be mailed to: First Coast Family Center Attention: Connie Fussell 2747 Art Museum Drive, Suite 100 Jacksonville, FL 32207 Tel: 904-348-3251 Fax: 904-348-3256 URL: http://www.firstcoastfamilycenter.org/about.asp 2) NOTE on your check, made payable to "First Coast Family Center," that the funds should go to the Riccardo and Antoinette Young family. 3) INFORM CAIR about your donation so that we may follow up on this case. ----- DEADLINE FOR CAIR SUMMER INTERNSHIP FAST APPROACHING Interested in gaining valuable first-hand experience in the fields of: Community Outreach and Chapter Development, Public and Media Relations, Legal and Civil Rights, Research and Leadership Training? Then the CAIR Internship Program is made for you! The application deadline for the Summer 2002 Internship Session is April 29th. For more information, please visit our website: http://www.cair-net.org/downloads/internshipapplication.doc CALL: (202) 488-8787 ----- JENIN: TRAILS OF DESTRUCTION, TALES OF LOSS By Lee Hockstader, The Washington Post, 4/12/2002 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A34518-2002Apr11.html JENIN, West Bank, April 11 -- There is the Fashafsheh family. According to their relatives, the mother, father and 9-year-old son were killed when an Israeli tank fired a shell through their living room in downtown Jenin and an Israeli bulldozer plowed into the thick walls of their home, smashing it down on top of them. There is Rina Zayyed, 15, who said she was struck in the chest by a bullet as she sat at home with her father and brother. An Israeli helicopter gunship opened fire on a man in the street below who was recharging a cell phone with his car battery, she recounted, and a fragment hit her. And there is Khadra Samara, 33, who said she shepherded more than a dozen children as she fled from house to house to house in the adjacent Jenin refugee camp, under repeated assault from Israeli bulldozers and missiles that, house by house, nearly toppled the walls on top of them. These are some of the stories people told today in Jenin... Many refugees who had fled to town to escape the camp's dusty streets and cinder-block hovels where the bloodiest fighting unfolded said their homes had been pulverized. They described bodies lying in the streets... Israeli officials have estimated that 150 to 200 Palestinians died in the camp. Some Palestinians put the figure closer to 500 but acknowledged they had no hard count because the camp has been closed off by Israeli forces. Nearly 700 Palestinians were arrested in the camp, including many fighters... Palestinians emerged from their houses during the four-hour respite to gawk at the razed houses and shattered facades downtown. On Old Castle Street, where the Fashafsheh family lived, their corner house, with its walls three feet thick, was a wreck, half of it shorn away and turned to rubble. In the crater that was once the family's living room, the stench of death hung in the air. About 9 a.m. one day last weekend, an Israeli tank fired a shell into the house without warning, according to neighbors. Then an Israeli armored bulldozer pulverized the wall, possibly to clear a passage for the tank to pass. Ahmad Fashafsheh, 50, his wife, Sameera, and their son Hisham were killed. Two other sons, 11 and 13, were hurt. Issam Fashafsheh, a relative who lives across the street, watched the scene. "I heard the kids screaming, then the bulldozer came and started destroying the house," he said. "They were entombed under the wall in their living room where they sat..." "A few days ago a woman called from home and said, 'I'm in labor,' " said Ziad Ayaseh, the hospital director. "I told her what to do, but she said the child was not breathing. I said, 'He's dead. You can put him on the list of the martyrs like those in the refugee camp.' " When the curfew was lifted today, the family of a 52-year-old Palestinian woman arrived with her corpse. The woman had been shot in the face and chest by helicopter gunships, her family said; they needed a death certificate... Samara tried to get out the front door, but found it was blocked by rubble. She handed the children through a side window into a neighbor's house. "I was so furious I wanted to make a suicide bomb and use it on them," she said. "I picked up a cylinder of cooking gas to carry with me so I could blow it up. I was so scared I was screaming. I thought I was going to die. "When I picked up the cylinder my daughter said, 'Mom, don't do it! For God's sake don't do it!'"... SEE ALSO: AMID ISRAELI ATTACK, TALES OF ABUSE As Israel pulled out of some West Bank towns yesterday, Jenin, a center of Palestinian militancy, remained closed. By Cameron W. Barr, The Christian Science Monitor, 4/12/2002 http://www.csmonitor.com/2002/0412/p01s01-wome.html BURQIN, WEST BANK - From a rocky olive orchard above this West Bank village, Jenin and its refugee camp seemed placid yesterday. Almost nothing moved. A few Israeli tanks and armored personnel carriers rumbled along deserted streets. Inside the camp, two burning buildings sent streams of smoke into a hazy sky. But here in Burqin and several other nearby villages, refugees from Israel's 10-day-old invasion of Jenin and its camp spoke loudly and incessantly of horrors: a cigarette stubbed out on a man's skin, five young men executed in plain sight, mass burials by bulldozer. Sitting down to relate her story yesterday, Atra Nijmi looked at a handful of reporters and burst into tears. Her words came in torrents as well. "They destroyed the house, they killed children and they killed boys," she said, the "they" being Israeli soldiers... The young men had hidden in their homes rather than obey the orders of Israeli soldiers that men and boys come out for questioning. When the men were eventually discovered, the punishment for disobedience was death. She said the Israeli soldiers dragged the bodies away. Nijmi also said the Israeli soldiers had buried 13 bodies at a hospital, five at a mosque, and 15 to 20 bodies in mass graves dug by bulldozers. She said she had heard nothing from her husband and teenage son since they were taken away by Israeli soldiers on April 3... In one house, Khazem said he pulled down his blindfold and saw an Israeli soldier stub a cigarette out on the skin of a detainee who had ignored an order not to smoke. ----- BILL O'REILLY: "I COULDN'T CARE LESS ABOUT THE MUSLIM WORLD" PRAY FOR PEACE, POLISH THE WEAPONS By Bill O'Reilly, WorldNetDaily.com, 4/12/2002 http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=27189 If you strip all the side shows away, you are left with the fact that America will sooner or later have to defeat the Muslims who hate us, or be subjected to continuous terror and violence... Arabs are oppressed and poor, and their leaders blame that condition on Israel and the United States. That is fallacious, of course, but when you can't read or think outside of the Koran, it is easy to swallow hateful propaganda. Most Arabs live lives of poverty and hopelessness...Most Arabs have no money and no freedom. No wonder they are angry. All Americans should realize that these people are dangerous... I don't know about you, but I couldn't care less about the Muslim world... SEND NOTES OF CONCERN TO: Oreilly@foxnews.com, boreilly@worldnetdaily.com, Viewerservices@foxnews.com COPY TO: cair@cair-net.org ----- CONTROVERSIAL SPEAKER GIVES TALK ON MIDEAST By Sara Jean Green, The Seattle Times, 4/11/2002 http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=27189 As Daniel Pipes took the podium inside a packed University of Washington lecture hall last night, hundreds of people stood outside in the university's Red Square, unable to get in. Some attendees admitted they'd been nervous coming to hear Pipes because of the potentially volatile atmosphere surrounding the controversial Middle East expert. Pipes' writings on militant Muslims, which date back to the early 1980s, have garnered much attention since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. But aside from a few cat calls and one man's shouted assertion that Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat is a hero, those who came to hear Pipes' speech on "The War on Terrorism and Militant Islam" were attentive and civil. The dozen or so members of the UW Muslim Students' Association, who handed out information sheets as people filed into the hall, weren't interested in holding an angry protest. "He's a blatant, anti-Muslim bigot who's gone around and accused Muslims of doing things in the past," said student-association president Humza Chaudhry, pointing to Pipes' statements blaming Muslims in the days after the Oklahoma City federal building bombing. "Daniel Pipes knows better, but to make his money and keep his notoriety, he's willing to say just about anything against us. "I believe in free speech so I'm not all that upset (about Pipes' visit)," Chaudhry said, adding that the UW's Jackson School of International Studies should also sponsor speakers representing the Muslim viewpoint... SEE: WHO IS DANIEL PIPES? http://www.cair-net.org/misc/people/daniel_pipes.html ----- CANADIAN MUSLIMS CONDEMN VANDALISM AGAINST JEWISH INSTITUTIONS (Ottawa, Canada - 4/12/2002) - The Canadian office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-CAN) today condemned recent attacks against Jewish institutions and places of worship in Toronto, York Region, Ottawa and Saskatoon. In a statement released today, CAIR-CAN Board member Faisal Kutty wrote: "Canadian Muslims are very sensitive to the type of racist scapegoating directed against the Jewish community. Since September 11th, CAIR-CAN has documented widespread and unprecedented hate activity against Canadian Muslims that has included attacks against Muslim institutions and places of worship. "We strongly denounce the attacks against the Jewish community. Such violence is immoral and unacceptable. In times of heightened tension, it is the duty of all Canadians to protect religious tolerance and civic harmony. "We call on police services to investigate these hate-crimes against the Jewish community and apprehend the perpetrators." Contact: Riad Saloojee at 613-798-0003; E-mail: canada@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 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 ----- AMERICAN MUSLIM NEWS BRIEFS 4/14/2002 ----- HEADLINES: * SUPPORT CAIR’S IMPORTANT WORK, BECOME A MEMBER FOR ONLY $10 * DEMONSTRATORS SET TO DESCEND ON D.C. * CAIR EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR APPEARS ON NBC NIGHTLY NEWS * JENIN ATROCITIES COMING TO LIGHT - The Camp that Became a Slaughterhouse (Independent) - Israel Buries the Bodies, but Cannot Hide the Evidence - Refugee Camp Is a Scene of Vast Devastation (New York Times) - Jenin Prisoner Executed After Arrest (UPI) - Is this Proof of an Israeli Massacre? (Mail on Sunday) - Days of Bloody Fighting Leave Jenin Refugee Camp in Ruins (Reuters) - Israeli Army Accused of Atrocities (Los Angeles Times) - BBC Shows Israelis Preventing Aid for Elderly Woman in Jenin - Powell Cautions Israelis on West Bank Operations (AFP) - Tanks Bar Aid Agencies and Journalists from Camp (Guardian) - Israel’s War of Words Gets Dirty (Independent) - Despite Court's Decision, Israeli Forces Move Bodies from Jenin (LAW) * ISRAEL REOPENS NOTORIOUS DESERT PRISON CAMP (PCHR) * 'DIVEST IN ISRAEL' CALL SURFACES ON U.S. CAMPUSES (Reuters) * 5 MONTHS AFTER SANCTIONS AGAINST SOMALI COMPANY, SCANT PROOF OF QAEDA TIE (New York Times) * U.S. GIVEN 10 DAYS TO RELEASE DETAINEE DATA (Bergen Record) * JUDGE TO CONSIDER SECRET EVIDENCE (AP) * MUSLIMS HONOR BRIDGE BUILDER (Harrisburg Patriot) ----- SUPPORT CAIR’S IMPORTANT WORK, BECOME A MEMBER FOR ONLY $10 https://www.cair-net.org/asp/membership.asp ----- DEMONSTRATORS SET TO DESCEND ON D.C. By DAVID HO, The Associated Press, 4/14/2002 The White House protest is planned by International ANSWER, an anti-war coalition that originally intended to oppose the war on terrorism, but changed its focus after the increase in Mideast violence. Organizer Sarah Sloan said thousands of demonstrators, including many Arab and Muslim groups, will march in support of the Palestinians and against U.S. aid to Israel. SEE: International ANSWER (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism): http://www.internationalanswer.org ----- CAIR EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR APPEARS ON NBC NIGHTLY NEWS SHOW: NBC Nightly News (6:30 PM ET), April 12, 2002 Friday HEADLINE: Fund-raiser airing on Arab TV benefits Palestinian victims of Mideast violence ANCHORS: TOM BROKAW REPORTERS: KELLY O'DONNELL TOM BROKAW, anchor: Meanwhile, elsewhere in the Arab world the phones are ringing off the hook for an unusual around-the-clock fund-raiser airing on Saudi television. The Saudi Arabians say this telethon is to help the Palestinian victims of the violence. But some are asking, is this really a way to bankroll terror? More on that from NBC's Kelly O'Donnell tonight. KELLY O'DONNELL reporting: O'DONNELL: The government-sponsored event, a huge money maker, claiming $100 million and counting. The question, will donations support victims or more violence? A Saudi princess donated her Rolls Royce. Schoolchildren emptied their piggy banks. A billionaire prince gave $27 million, the same man whose $10 million gift was accepted, later rejected by then-Mayor Rudolph Giuliani when the donor criticized US support of Israel. The charity here, spelled out on that banner: the Palestinian people's campaign. Help for Palestinians and their families harmed in the violent conflict with Israel. Help some call suspicious, criticized as bankrolling suicide bombers. O'DONNELL: Much of the controversy is over the word 'martyr,' a term Palestinians use to describe all their casualties in the Israeli fighting, a term recognized by Saudis. A senior US government official tells NBC News Saudis give financial help to the families of all Palestinians killed, drawing no distinction between suicide bombers and others killed. Mr. NIWAD AWAD (Council on American-Islamic Relations): It is only controversial in the United States because people do not see the magnitude of the suffering. ----- JENIN ATROCITIES COMING TO LIGHT The Camp that Became a Slaughterhouse By Justin Huggler, The Independent, 4/14/2002 http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/story.jsp?story=284823 A woman with her leg all but ripped off by a helicopter rocket, the mangled remains hanging on by a thread of skin as she slowly bleeds to death. A 10-year-old boy lying dead in the street, his arm blown off and a great hole in his side. A mother shot dead when she ran into the street to scream for help for her dying son. The wounded left to die slowly, in horrible agony, because the ambulances were not allowed in to treat them. A terrible crime has been committed by Israel in Jenin refugee camp, and the world is turning a blind eye. Colin Powell, the US Secretary of State, visited the scene of a suicide bombing that murdered six Israelis in Jerusalem, but he did not visit Jenin, where the Israelis admit they killed at least 100 Palestinians. The Israel army claims all of the dead were armed men, that it took special care to avoid civilian casualties. But we saw the helicopter rockets rain down on desperately crowded areas: civilian casualties could not have been prevented. The Israeli army sealed off the entire area around Jenin yesterday, arresting journalists who ventured into it. That is because they have something to hide in Jenin: the bodies. The Israeli army has told the Israeli courts that it will not start burying the bodies until Sunday. But there are abundant eyewitnesses who say they have already seen the soldiers piling the bodies in mass graves. Hiding the bodies is what Slobodan Milosevic did in Kosovo. Either way, the Palestinians are not allowed to bury their own dead, because Israel does not want the world to see what happened inside Jenin refugee camp. The grieving have no way of knowing where to find the bodies of those they have lost. For nine days, Jenin camp became a slaughterhouse… --- Israel Buries the Bodies, but Cannot Hide the Evidence By Justin Huggler and Phil Reeves, The Independent, 4/13/2002 http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/story.jsp?dir=75&story=284436 Israel was trying to bury the evidence in Jenin refugee camp yesterday, but it cannot bury the terrible crime it has committed: a slaughter in which Palestinian civilians were cut down alongside the armed defenders of the camp. Israeli tanks circled journalists menacingly as foreign reporters tried to get into the camp, cutting off their approach. But a man who had just fled the camp said he had seen Israeli soldiers burying the bodies of the dead in a mass grave. "I saw it all with my own eyes," said the man. "I saw people bleeding to death in the streets. I saw a 10-year-old child lying dead. There was a big hole in his side and his arm had been blown away. "I saw them burying the bodies. They started work on the grave a few days ago. I recognised some of the bodies in it. I can give you the names." And he reeled them off: "Mohammed Hamed, Nidal Nubam and Mustafa Shnewa". He said the mass grave he saw was in a neighbourhood called Harat Al-Hawashiya. "They dug a big hole in the ground. I saw them filling it in today. They had a big bulldozer pushing dirt in on top of it." And so the grieving of Jenin will not be certain where their relatives lie. They will not return to bury their dead, however the Israeli army will have done that to keep the devastating sight of the carnage away from the eyes of the waiting world. Yesterday, though, they were unable to stifle the evil smell. The reek of putrefying bodies wafted out of the narrow, rubble-strewn alleys which were barred for a fifth day to international aid agencies trying to send ambulances and doctors to evacuate the many wounded, and recover the dead. One after another, international officials, angered by Israel's rampant violations of the Fourth Geneva Convention and the human misery that has resulted, confided to The Independent yesterday that they had reached the inevitable conclusion: a crime has been committed which Israel is trying to cover up. "It is clear they have something to hide that is the bottom line," said one senior diplomatic source. Red Cross and Red Crescent ambulances waited on stand-by for yet another day, without getting in to the camp… --- Refugee Camp Is a Scene of Vast Devastation By JAMES BENNET, The New York Times, 4/14/2002 http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/14/international/middleeast/14JENI.html JENIN REFUGEE CAMP, West Bank, April 13 - A three-hour tour here today, made with local guides who picked paths around Israeli tanks, showed destruction on a scale far greater than that seen in the other Palestinian cities that have fallen before Israel's offensive, its biggest ground operation in 20 years… Palestinians described hiding in caves, hearing a neighbor's handicapped son crying out as a house was demolished on top of him, piling mattresses over children so that Israeli patrols would not hear them wail. They rushed up to strangers to tell their stories. "My father, my brother, my son I have no one!" wailed a woman in a pink housecoat and pale blue head scarf, standing on the debris in the midday sun. "There are many bodies, many bodies, under the stones, under the sand!"… The evidence of the fighting was everywhere. Children had collected spent cartridges, some, from helicopter machine guns, the size of cans of frozen juice concentrate. A grenade pin lay in the dust, not far from a missile's steel fins. Palestinians displayed 18-inch rockets, marked in English as Tow missiles, that they said were fired into their homes. The slender filaments used to guide rockets hung from buildings and power lines… Beneath one house, its second floor pierced by a missile, was a dark cave. It was carved from the rock and it smelled of damp earth. Thirty-five people hid here for at least two days, according to Fatmeh Ahmed, who said she had stayed there with her four children. "Whenever we wanted to go out of the cave to bring water or food for the children, they opened fire on us," she said… Another resident of the camp, Umm Samir Sabbagh, said that a neighboring family escaped to her home when a bulldozer approached their house. They left behind a handicapped son, she said. She said she returned with his mother to retrieve the man, Jamal, but arrived in time only to hear him crying out as the house collapsed… --- Jenin Prisoner Executed After Arrest Palestinian Militant Killed in Jenin United Press International, 4/14/2002 A leading Palestinian militant was shot dead after he was arrested by Israeli troops in the West Bank refugee camp of Jenin on Saturday, Palestinian eyewitnesses said Sunday. The witnesses said that dozens of Israeli troops found Abu Jandal, the leader of militants in the camp, hiding in one of the houses. They said he was executed by Israeli troops in the center of the camp after being taken into custody. There was no immediate comment by Israeli officials. "I know Abu Jandal, I saw him being arrested, then the soldiers took him to a yard in the center of the camp and shot two bullets at his head after his hands were tied and his eyes were blindfolded," said the witness. Palestinian National Authority officials said that at least 500 Palestinians were killed in Jenin refugee camp since the Israeli army entered into Jenin area two weeks ago, and thousands were detained… Several international humanitarian organizations warned Sunday that disease would spread in the camp if the bodies left in the narrow streets of the camps were not removed immediately. The officials said that most of the bodies were buried in mass graves and their families were not allowed to receive the bodies and bury them. --- Is this Proof of an Israeli Massacre? By BOB GRAHAM, Mail On Sunday, 4/14/2002 http://www.mailonsunday.co.uk/ A CHARRED and deformed corpse lies amongst the rubble of what was once a family home. One arm clutching her chest, the other supporting herself in her terrible grief, stands an elderly woman… By yesterday, stories that Israeli soldiers had carried out indiscriminate slaughter in Jenin led to a growing international outcry and demands that the extent of their operations be revealed. As dusk fell over the refugee community of Palestinians, the Sharon government finally allowed journalists to see the devastation. Survivors interviewed by The Mail on Sunday spoke of cold-blooded assassinations of unarmed men - at least one carrying a white flag of surrender - and of systematic destruction of the camp, inhabited by around 10,000 people. One blind woman, Sabha Abu Sayidieh, wept openly as she told how her son and grandson were missing after leading her to safety when her house was attacked. 'Please, tell me you have found my son and his son,' she said. One of the original settlers in Jenin Refugee Camp in 1948, she sat in the house of a friend in a suburb of Jenin weeping and rocking backwards and forwards in prayer. 'I could not see the tanks or the soldiers but I could hear them,' she said. 'They were breaking everything with their explosions. I could hear them shooting and I could hear people screaming. I could also smell death, from bodies that had not been buried, that's how bad it was.' Another survivor, carpenter Nidal Abdul Rashid, spoke of watching his best friend Jamal al Samagh gunned down in cold blood by Israeli soldiers… Rashid, 32, who left his wife Rasha and two young children, Abdul, eight, and Maram, six, in the house to surrender believed he, too, would die. Instead, he endured a public humiliation, forced to strip naked and parade along the camp street in front of a tank. 'They were using us all as human shields in case the road had been booby-trapped or it was shot at,' Rashid explained. For 36 hours he was forced to lie naked on the ground, his hands tied behind his back, and bound together with four other men. Mousa Hasan Ali Ghoul, a 60-year-old grocer, told of soldiers and tanks firing indiscriminately. 'There was heavy shelling and firing of automatic weapons, hitting buildings and anyone in its way. They had no certain targets although there were some Palestinian fighters trying to stop them. If I had a gun I would also have fought... Ali Ghoul said that bodies were piled up and taken away by lorry. 'We believe they have been taken away to a place in the Jordan Valley where the army buries people they call terrorists. It is closed to the outside world. 'The soldiers are now treating us the way the Germans treated their ancestors. They should know better than to do this...' --- Days of Bloody Fighting Leave Jenin Refugee Camp in Ruins By Mark Heinrich, Reuters, 4/14/2002 http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/nation/3062087.htm JENIN, West Bank - A Reuters news team slipped past tanks roaring back and forth around the walled camp to find the closely packed concrete houses and labyrinth of alleyways smashed by tank and helicopter gunship fire and riddled with bullet holes. The contorted bodies of four Palestinian men lay in the ruins of a living room that had apparently been hit by a missile. In a room of a house 100 yards away, the bloated body of a middle-age man lay next to a bookcase… Some houses not damaged in the fighting appeared to have been ransacked… From the shattered upstairs window of one house, reporters could see the camp's central square. It had been pulverized to rubble and dust. It was not clear whether it had been destroyed in battle or bulldozed. But many residents said bulldozers had been busy in the camp for days. They could be heard at work overnight by reporters a few hundred yards from the camp entrance… No males from the ages of around 15 to 50 were seen in the camp. Women said males of that age had either been killed or taken prisoner. Women said they were surviving on basic food stores and had some access to well water, but there had been no electricity for over a week. Children were filthy and some looked ill… --- Israeli Army Accused of Atrocities Mideast: Residents of Jenin say soldiers targeted civilians and gunmen alike. By RICHARD BOUDREAUX, The Los Angeles Times, 4/13/2002 http://www.latimes.com/la-041202jenin.story JENIN, West Bank -- Khadra Samara, her family and closest neighbors lived in three adjacent cinder-block houses on Rwabe Street, a relatively quiet corner of the Palestinian refugee camp here. For 17 terrifying hours this week, she says, the 30 unarmed neighbors fled on hands and knees from one three-story home to the next, huddling together as Israeli helicopter gunships, tanks and bulldozers reduced the buildings to rubble in methodical succession… According to the accounts, which couldn't be independently verified, the Israelis fired on unarmed civilians, used them as human shields and obstructed medical workers trying to save the wounded. One camp resident, Ali Ramile, a 40-year-old truck driver, said he watched Israeli soldiers kill seven or eight disarmed Palestinian fighters execution-style and dump several loads of bodies in a mass grave within 100 yards of his home… But interviews with more than a dozen Palestinians from the Jenin camp indicated a heavy loss of civilian life there. Nearly everyone interviewed said they had watched neighbors die from Israeli shelling or sniper fire, or at least seen bodies in the street. And Palestinian human rights organizations, citing reports that they said came from camp residents and witnesses, have accused Israeli troops of executing prisoners and digging graves in the camp… When Israeli troops entered the camp on foot to search homes for armed militants, they sent captive Palestinian men ahead of them at gunpoint to knock on the doors or break through the walls. The army has acknowledged the practice, saying it discourages armed resistance… --- BBC Shows Israelis Preventing Aid for Elderly Woman in Jenin http://news.bbc.co.uk/olmedia/1920000/video/_1924313_mideast_guerin17_vi.ram --- Powell Cautions Israelis on West Bank Operations Agence France Presse, 4/13/2002 US Secretary of State Colin Powell on Saturday expressed concern over the humanitarian situation in the Jenin refugee camp and other Palestinian areas and called on Israeli forces to "refrain from the excessive use of force" on the West Bank… "Israeli forces must exercise their utmost restraint and discipline and refrain from the excessive use of force in the conduct of military operations in order to ensure that civilians are protected and to avoid worsening the already grave conditions inside Palestinian areas." "We are particularly concerned at the humanitarian situation in Jenin," he said, referring to the refugee camp in the northern West Bank where fierce fighting left hundreds of Palestinians dead. Powell called upon Israel "to allow full and unimpeded access to humanitarian organizations and services to provide basic humanitarian services, including the evacuation of the wounded and deceased." --- Tanks Bar Aid Agencies and Journalists from Camp By Suzanne Goldenberg in Jenin, The Guardian, 4/13/2002 http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/0,2763,683780,00.html The stench of death rose from the Fashafshe family home on Old Castle Street, or what remains of it: a five-foot high mound of rubble topped by a television aerial. A few days ago an Israeli army tank and a bulldozer prowling the narrow lanes of the town's main square were boxed in by this old stone house. So they demolished it, burying a Palestinian family of five beneath its two-foot thick stone walls. "They got stuck so the tank fired a shell at the house. I could hear the kids screaming," said Issam Fashafshe, a cousin who lives diagonally across from the home. "Then the bulldozers came and started bulldozing. The wall fell on people, and their blood was here," he said. The bodies of Ahmed Fashafshe, his wife Samira and their son Bassam were interred in the ruins until Thursday when a brief relaxation of the curfew allowed for a hurried burial. Two other children survived. The battle of Jenin is over. But a day after the Israeli army said it had crushed the last resistance from the Palestinian gunmen inside the refugee camp there was no clear picture yesterday of how many people were killed there, or where the bodies were buried... --- Israel’s War of Words Gets Dirty By Phil Reeves in Jerusalem, The Independent, 4/14/2002 http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/story.jsp?story=284812 Joel is a reserve captain in the Israeli army. He has a warm handshake and a line in rapid-fire patter that betrays his New York upbringing. He introduces himself as a "military source", but it swiftly emerges that he is a headline machine, churning out slurs. Joel is in the front line of a multi-million dollar propaganda drive by the Israeli government to try to prevent an international backlash over its military invasion into Palestinian-run parts of the occupied West Bank. They face their toughest challenge yet: limiting the damage to Israel over the atrocities committed in the Jenin refugee camp, where its army has killed and injured hundreds of Palestinians… We cut straight to the question of Jenin. "Believe me, we would love to let you guys into Jenin, but unlike the Palestinian terrorists, we respect the dignity of the dead," he said. "They want to gather up the bodies and show them off to the international media as evidence of a massacre that is typical of the sort of PR tricks they play." The press was also not being allowed into Jenin because of the "abundance of terrorists" looking for "Western targets". The Israeli army has frequently shot at journalists, injuring more than 40 and killing one. Suddenly, it was concerned for our safety… The propaganda war between the Israelis and Palestinians has always been a dirty business, but now it has sunk to new depths. Israel's media centre issued a statement boasting of "countless examples" of humanitarian aid to the Palestinians. This will be staggering news to the Red Cross and Red Crescent, who have been barred from entry, shot at and repeatedly humiliated, all in violation of the Geneva Convention... --- Despite Court's Decision, Israeli Forces Move Bodies from Jenin 14 April 2002 - LAW Statements from eyewitnesses, collected by LAW, confirm that despite Friday's Israeli High Court's interim order, Israeli forces have continued moving bodies outside Jenin refugee camp. Eyewitness accounts confirm reports that an Israeli truck was seen with bodies inside plastic bags. The bodies were taken out of the truck and put in holes dug by bulldozers. Later, eyewitnesses saw bulldozers coming back to the location, which is outside Jenin refugee camp, taking out an estimated thirty bodies from the holes and loading the bodies back on the truck. Reports indicate that the bodies were then taken in the direction of the 'Green Line', the demarcation line between Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Individuals, including next-door neighbors, have seen bulldozers demolishing homes and shelters in which there were still people, including women and children. Various eyewitnesses have seen bodies, including bodies of women and children, in the rubble of demolished homes. Eyewitnesses have seen bulldozers driving back and forward over bodies in Jenin refugee camp. Eyewitnesses told LAW they saw a family trying to flee from their home, that was about to be demolished by Israeli bulldozers. When the family, including a woman carrying her child, stepped outside their home in Jenin refugee camp, they were fired upon from an Apache helicopter with heavy machinegun fire. In this attack a 14-years old boy was killed. There have been consistent testimonies from residents of Jenin refugee camp who have been used by Israeli forces as human shields. These are similar testimonies to reports we received from other Palestinian cities, towns and refugee camps, describing similar use of human shields by the Israeli occupation forces… LAW - The Palestinian Society for the Protection of Human Rights and the Environment is a non-governmental organisation dedicated to preserving human rights through legal advocacy. LAW is affiliate to the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ), the Federation Internationale des Ligues de Droits de l'Homme (FIDH) and the World Organization Against Torture (OMCT). LAW - The Palestinian Society for the Protection of Human Rights and the Environment, PO Box 20873, Jerusalem, tel. +972-2-5833530, fax. +972-2- 5833317, email: law@lawsociety.org, web: www.lawsociety.org ----- ISRAEL REOPENS NOTORIOUS DESERT PRISON CAMP 14 April 2002 - Palestine Center For Human Rights This week, Israeli authorities reopened the Ketziot prison camp in the Negev desert in southern Israel, popularly known as “Ansar 3.” During the 1980s and 1990s, thousands of Palestinian prisoners were held in the facility. PCHR fears that the reopening of Ansar 3 indicates that mass arbitrary detentions in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT) will continue and is deeply concerned that detainees transferred to Ansar 3 may be subject to torture or other forms of ill-treatment. PCHR has received information that Ansar 3 is due to receive approximately 70 Palestinians currently being held in administrative detention in Megiddo prison in Israel. A further 281 Palestinians placed in administrative detention during Israel’s current military offensive in the West Bank will also be transferred to the facility. This latter group is currently being held at the Ofer military base in the West Bank. Administrative detention orders are issued by the military and allow Israeli forces to place Palestinians in detention for indefinitely renewable periods of six months without charge or trial. The transfer of Palestinian prisoners from the OPT into Israel is a grave breach under the Fourth Convention. Ansar 3 was opened on 16 March 1988 to absorb increasing numbers of Palestinians arrested during the first Intifada. At its peak, it was the largest prison in Israel, holding approximately 7,000 Palestinians, including 3,000 in administrative detention. At one time or another during its six years of operation, approximately 170,000 Palestinians were detained at the facility. The prison camp is administered by the Israeli army rather than the civil penal system. It consists of tents surrounded by barbed wire and watchtowers. Prisoners are confined with little or no protection from the harsh weather conditions of the Negev desert, including temperatures ranging from 54 degrees during the day to 0 degrees at night. Hygiene and sanitation conditions at the facility fail to meet minimum international standards of conditions of detention, including those specified in Article 85 of the Fourth Geneva Convention. According to PCHR’s documentation, guards at the camp regularly abused detainees when it was in operation. In a number of cases, soldiers in watchtowers fired at prisoners, including Asad Jaber Shawa from Gaza city, shot and killed on 16 August 1988. For years, Israeli authorities denied detainees in Ansar 3 the right to receive family visits. Palestinian lawyers seeking to visit their clients inside were regularly subject to degrading treatment and even beatings. PCHR believes that the reopening of Ansar 3 indicates that Israeli occupying forces will continue mass arbitrary detentions, especially under Israeli Military Order 1500, which grants army officers wide latitude to detain Palestinians without charge or judicial review. Israeli occupying forces are holding an estimated 4,000 Palestinians detained during the current offensive in the West Bank military bases of Ofer, Etzion (near Hebron), and Hawara (near Nablus). ----- 'DIVEST IN ISRAEL' CALL SURFACES ON U.S. CAMPUSES By Andrew Quinn, Reuters, 4/14/2002 BERKELEY, Calif., April 14 (Reuters) - As Middle East violence intensifies, a small but growing number of U.S. students are calling on universities to divest from companies that do business in Israel -- an echo of the successful drive to isolate South Africa's former apartheid regime. Led by activists at the University of California, Berkeley, a famous hotbed of student protest, pro-Palestinian and human rights groups are organizing demonstrations and staging sit-ins, hoping to force officials to pull billions of dollars out of investments in Israel. While their pleas have received a cool reception from university authorities -- and they themselves admit that the Israeli divestment would be a complicated endeavor -- they say the time has come for major U.S. investors to take what they call a moral stand for Palestinian human rights. "Something, no matter how small, must be done to express our utter opposition to what is being done by Israel," said Sarah Weir, a Berkeley senior and member of the group Students for Justice in Palestine (SJIP). While loudest at Berkeley, the divestment call has also been made at Princeton, the University of Illinois and several other large U.S. schools… Pro-Palestinian activists say Berkeley should be a leader in the drive to exert financial pressure on Israel. The school, the centerpiece of the vast University of California system, has long been one of the nation's most politically active, and played an important role in opposing the Vietnam War… Launched with the beginning of the latest Palestinian uprising in September 2000, Students for Justice in Palestine demanded the university's Board of Regents take steps to drop more than $6.4 billion invested in companies that do big business in Israel, including General Electric (GE.N), Raytheon (RTN.N), Hewlett-Packard (HWP.N), Cisco Systems (CSCO.O), AOL Time Warner (AOL.N) and Microsoft (MSFT.O). At Princeton, where a group called Students for Progressive Education and Action has mounted a pro-divestment petition, students say the university should ditch at least $100 million in investments in companies ranging from Johnson & Johnson (JNJ.N) to McDonalds Corp. (MCD.N)… ----- 5 MONTHS AFTER SANCTIONS AGAINST SOMALI COMPANY, SCANT PROOF OF QAEDA TIE By Tim Golden, Bill Berkeley, Donald G. McNeil Jr., The New York Times, 4/13/2002 http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/13/international/africa/13SOMA.html The Bush administration's assault on Somalia's biggest money-transfer company was swift and severe. In November, American officials announced that they had proof that the company, Al Barakaat, was providing as much as $25 million a year to Osama bin Laden's terrorists in weapons, cash and other support. With the help of dozens of countries, the Treasury Department froze nearly all the company's assets, paralyzing the biggest employer in one of the poorest countries. Five months later, however, some United States officials now acknowledge that the evidence of Al Barakaat's backing for terrorism is more tenuous. Some European countries that assisted in shutting down Al Barakaat say proof of a terror link has not materialized… ----- U.S. GIVEN 10 DAYS TO RELEASE DETAINEE DATA By MITCHEL MADDUX AND ELIZABETH LLORENTE, The Bergen Record, 4/13/2002 http://www.northjersey.com/page.php?level_3_id=45&page=3189229 A state judge on Friday ruled that information about immigration detainees being held in the Passaic and Hudson county jails must be released within 10 days unless an appeals court decides otherwise. Assignment Judge Arthur N. D'Italia in Superior Court in Hudson County issued the written ruling that expanded upon his decision two weeks ago. That decision already held that federal authorities had no right to keep secret the identities and other details about detainees being held as part of the Sept. 11 terror probe. "I'm pleased that the court recognized in expressed terms that the government cannot hide behind a cloak of secrecy," said Ed Barocas, legal director of the American Civil Liberties of New Jersey, which filed the case. The case was one of several the ACLU filed to force the federal government to grant human-rights activists and the public access to the detainees. At a previous court hearing before D'Italia, the organization had requested information on the detainees by citing a state law that mandates that the names and the dates of entry of all inmates in county jails "shall be open to public inspection." The judge's ruling now narrows the time the federal Justice Department has to persuade a higher court that the information should not be released. Justice attorneys had said they would appeal the earlier ruling; they would not say whether Friday's ruling would alter those plans… ----- JUDGE TO CONSIDER SECRET EVIDENCE By MIKE ROBINSON, The Associated Press, 4/13/2002 CHICAGO (AP) - A federal appeals panel has refused to stop a judge from considering secret evidence against an Islamic charity whose assets were frozen during the government's terrorism investigation. The decision came late Thursday in a lawsuit filed by the Global Relief Foundation, which is trying to regain control of its assets and an estimated 500,000 pages of records seized in a Dec. 14 government raid. U.S. District Judge Wayne Andersen is preparing to view secret evidence offered by the government in an effort to have the suit dismissed. The government says national security would be jeopardized if the evidence were to become public. A three-judge panel of the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said Global Relief's request was premature and there would be plenty of time to appeal after Andersen decides the case. The classified evidence has been shown only to the judge without Global Relief's lawyers present… Global Relief denies it has anything to do with terrorism… The government is due to file papers Tuesday explaining why it must use secret evidence against another Islamic charity, Benevolence International Foundation. Both charities are based in suburban Chicago. Benevolence International's assets were also frozen Dec. 14 and the group has filed a similar suit. ----- MUSLIMS HONOR BRIDGE BUILDER By MARY WARNER, The Harrisburg Patriot, 4/12/2002 http://www.patriot-news.com/ The Rev. Robert Stoudt's first thought after the attacks of Sept. 11 was for himself, his family, his congregation. But in the days that followed, he began to worry about the Muslims in his community and reached out to them. "For me, it was easy to recognize the fact that you were not the enemy," he told local Muslims last week. "I had been in your midst. I had prayed with you on a number of occasions. ... I had been the beneficiary of your hospitality." His sympathy, he said, came of an "informed felt kinship." Stoudt was honored Saturday by leaders of the local Muslim community as a bridge builder between their communities. His church, Penbrook United Church of Christ, was the first to invite local Muslims to speak in the wake of Sept. 11 -- and he helped to arrange contacts with other congregations. Parvez Ahmed, president of the Central Pennsylvania Chapter of the Council on American Islamic Relations, gave Stoudt a plaque before a capacity crowd of more than 100 at the Aangan restaurant in Susquehanna Twp. The dinner honored bridge builders and local residents who have returned from the recent annual pilgrimage to Mecca… Stoudt cautioned that the two communities must not stop short at "polite comfortableness" and seek instead a greater goal "of being able to embrace each other authentically as brothers and sisters…" ----- 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, 202-489-5108 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 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE ISRAEL RALLY SEEKS TO "SPIN" BRUTAL OCCUPATION SAY MUSLIMS (WASHINGTON, D.C., 4/15/2002) - A Washington-based Islamic advocacy group said today this afternoon's rally in support of Israel on Capitol Hill is a desperate attempt to put positive spin on that state's brutal occupation of another people and to distract attention from recent atrocities committed by Israeli forces in the Occupied Territories. A statement by Nihad Awad, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), read in part: (Awad and other CAIR representatives are available for interviews on this issue.) "Those who offer blind support for Israel's brutal policies do a disservice to our nation's interests worldwide and violate the values of freedom and justice that all Americans hold dear. No amount of public relations 'spin' will convince ordinary Americans that complicity in Israel's denial of Palestinian rights is anything but a strategic liability that serves to isolate the United States and harm the ongoing war on terrorism. In fact, a recent survey indicated that 60 percent of Americans believe the United States should cut off or reduce aid to Israel if it refuses to heed President Bush's call for withdrawal of Israeli troops from Palestinian territories. (Time/CNN Poll, 4/12/2002) "Rally organizers claim they are standing up for 'democratic values,' yet would deny Palestinians the right to choose their leaders. They call for an end to incitement and hate-filled rhetoric, while at the same time demonizing an entire culture and faith in a vain attempt to avoid discussion of the real source of the conflict, the occupation. They ask others to condemn attacks on civilians, but ignore or even deny atrocities committed by Israeli forces in places like Jenin and Nablus. SEE: "Residents of the Jenin refugee camp speak of the viciousness of the Israeli attack," http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-000026946apr15.story "Just today, the United Nations Commission on Human Rights condemned Israel for 'mass killings' of Palestinians. There is no moral equivalence between the war on terrorism and Israel's unjust and ultimately self-defeating war on Palestinian Muslims and Christians." Awad reiterated Muslim condemnation of terrorism and support for President Bush's demand that Israel withdraw from the cities it has invaded, end settlement activity and cease its "daily humiliation" of Palestinian Muslims and Christians. He also said that spontaneous rallies in support of Palestinian rights drew hundreds of thousands worldwide. - END - CONTACT: Ibrahim Hooper, 202-488-8787 E-MAIL - cair@cair-net.org, Ms. Hodan Hassan, 202-488-8787 E-MAIL: hhassan@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 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 ----- AMERICAN MUSLIM NEWS BRIEFS - 4/15/2002 ----- HEADLINES: * HADITH OF THE DAY: ENDURANCE IN AFFLICTION * SUPPORT CAIR'S IMPORTANT WORK, BECOME A MEMBER FOR ONLY $10 * CAIR POLL: SHOULD ARIEL SHARON BE TRIED FOR WAR CRIMES? * WOLFOWITZ BOOED AT PRO-ISRAEL RALLY (AP) * A PALESTINIAN STATE FROM ASHES OF JENIN (Arab News) * SHARON'S BRUTAL PHILOSOPHY (Rocky Mountain News) * TUTU CALLS US SOFT ON ISRAEL (Boston Globe) * ISRAEL SEEKS TO STEM OUTCRY OVER DESTRUCTION IN JENIN (New York Times) * UN RIGHTS BODY CONDEMNS ISRAEL FOR 'MASS KILLINGS' (Reuters) * PALESTINIAN CAPTIVES 'TORTURED AND HUMILIATED' AT ISRAELI ARMY BASE (Independent) * WHY BUSH DANCES TO SHARON'S TUNE (Toronto Sun) ----- HADITH OF THE DAY: ENDURANCE IN AFFLICTION The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: "Happy is the man who avoids dissension, but how fine is the man who is afflicted and shows endurance. Sunan of Abu Dawood, Hadith 1996 ----- SUPPORT CAIR'S IMPORTANT WORK, BECOME A MEMBER FOR ONLY $10 https://www.cair-net.org/asp/membership.asp ----- CAIR POLL: SHOULD ARIEL SHARON BE TRIED FOR WAR CRIMES? To vote, go to: http://www.cair-net.org/ Last week's poll: Should a peace-keeping force be sent to the Occupied Territories? Yes: 88% No: 12% Total Votes: 1186 ----- WOLFOWITZ BOOED AT PRO-ISRAEL RALLY By JIM ABRAMS, The Associated Press, 4/15/2002 WASHINGTON (AP) - A top administration official was interrupted and booed Monday when he told thousands of people gathered at the Capitol for a pro-Israel rally that Palestinians as well as Israelis have been victims of Mideast violence. Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz was drowned out by chants of "no more Arafat" and booed as he told a packed crowd of thousands that "innocent Palestinians are suffering and dying as well. It is critical that we recognize and acknowledge that fact..." ----- A PALESTINIAN STATE FROM ASHES OF JENIN By Uri Avnery, Arab News, 4/15/2002 http://www.arabnews.com/Article.asp?ID=14339 Uri Avnery is an Israeli journalist and former member of Knesset. Some 105 years ago, the day after the First Zionist Congress in Basel, Theodor Herzl, wrote in his diary: "In Basel I founded the State of the Jews." This week, Ariel Sharon should note in his diary: "In Jenin I founded the State of the Palestinians." Of course, he did not mean to. Quite the contrary, his intention was to destroy the Palestinian nation, its institutions and leadership, once and for all, leaving only bits and pieces, human wreckage that could be disposed of anywhere. In practice, something quite different happened. Faced with the onslaught of the biggest military machine in the region and the most modern arms in the world, submerged in a sea of suffering, surrounded by bodies, the Palestinian nation straightened its back as never before. In the small refugee camp near Jenin a group of Palestinian fighters from all the organizations gathered for a battle of defense that will be enshrined forever in the hearts of all Arabs... In the end, only one thing will be remembered: Our giant military machine assaulted the small Palestinian people, and the small Palestinian people and its leader held on. In the eyes of the Palestinians, and not only theirs, it will look like a tremendous victory, the victory of a modern David against Goliath. ----- SHARON'S BRUTAL PHILOSOPHY By HOLGER JENSEN, Rocky Mountain News, 4/12/2002 http://24hour.startribune.com/24hour/opinions/story/357826p-2907647c.html Holger Jensen is international editor of the Rocky Mountain News. Nicknamed "The Bulldozer," Israel's prime minister is a soldier-politician whose career has been dogged by persistent accusations of war crimes. But what kind of man is Secretary of State Colin Powell trying to persuade to make peace with the Palestinians?... During the Lebanese invasion, Sharon gave a revealing interview to Amos Oz, a leading Israeli author, in which he bluntly explained his military doctrine and railed against pacifist Jews who thought he was being too tough. It was published in the daily Davar on Dec. 17, 1982. Excerpts: "You can call me anything you like. Call me a monster or a murderer. ... Better a live Judeo-Nazi than a dead saint. "Even if you prove to me that the present war in Lebanon is a dirty immoral war, I don't care. Even if Galilee is shelled again by Katyushas in a year's time, I don't really care. We shall start another war, kill and destroy more and more, until they will have had enough. "Let them tremble, let them call us a mad state. Let them understand that we are a wild country, dangerous to our surroundings, not normal, that we might go crazy if one of our children is murdered, just one! If anyone even raises his hand against us we'll take away half his land and burn the other half, including the oil. We might use nuclear arms. "Even today I am willing to volunteer to do the dirty work for Israel, to kill as many Arabs as necessary, to deport them, to expel and burn them, to have everyone hate us. ... And I don't mind if after the job is done you put me in front of a Nuremberg Trial and then jail me for life. Hang me if you want, as a war criminal. "What you don't understand is that the dirty work of Zionism is not finished yet, far from it." Twenty years later, Sharon is still applying that brutal philosophy to a captive West Bank. And he is so obsessed with destroying Israel's enemies he won't listen to friends, including the President of the United States. ----- TUTU CALLS US SOFT ON ISRAEL By Steven Wilmsen, The Boston Globe, 4/14/2002 http://www.boston.com/globe/ Search using the term "Tutu." Lkening Israel's treatment of Palestinians to the oppression of blacks by the white apartheid government in South Africa, Nobel laureate Desmond Tutu yesterday chided the Bush administration for being too soft on prime minister Ariel Sharon... Tutu said the Bush administration should demand Israel withdraw from the Gaza and the West Bank, adding that Israel's isolation of Yasir Arafat was "bizarre and humiliating." ----- ISRAEL SEEKS TO STEM OUTCRY OVER DESTRUCTION IN JENIN By SERGE SCHMEMANN and JOEL GREENBERG, The New York Times, 4/15/2002 http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/15/international/middleeast/15JENI.html The soldiers acknowledged that they used Palestinian civilians as shields as they moved house to house. "Yes, because of the snipers. If the sniper sees his friend there, he won't shoot," a soldier said, adding that the Palestinians were instructed to open the doors... ----- UN RIGHTS BODY CONDEMNS ISRAEL FOR 'MASS KILLINGS' By REUTERS, 4/15/2002 http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/world/mideast-rights-resolution.html GENEVA (Reuters) - The United Nations top human rights body condemned Israel on Monday for ``mass killings'' of Palestinians and demanded it end its military offensive in the occupied territories. The annual session of the Geneva-based Commission on Human Rights approved a resolution from Arab and Muslim states that blasted Israel for ``gross violations'' of humanitarian law and affirmed the "legitimate right of Palestinian people to resist." The motion, backed by some European Union states including France, expressed grave concern at ``the killing of men, women and children'' in West Bank refugee camps, among them Jenin where Palestinians accuse Israeli troops of massacring Palestinian women and children as well as fighters... ----- PALESTINIAN CAPTIVES 'TORTURED AND HUMILIATED' AT ISRAELI ARMY BASE By Justin Huggler, The Independent, 4/15/2002 http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/story.jsp?story=285082 Hundreds of Palestinians have disappeared since Israel began its onslaught in the West Bank less than two weeks ago. Details are only now emerging about what has happened to them, and how they say they have been tortured and humiliated by Israeli forces... It appears that many of the disappeared are still alive. But that is where the good news ends. Inside Ofer up to 1,000 Palestinians are detained and have been regularly beaten with wooden batons. They are forced to spend nights sitting in the dirt outside in the cold, in their underwear. They are refused food for days at a time. This is according to evidence collected by respected Israeli human rights organisations, and interviews The Independent has conducted with released prisoners. Those held in Ofer are not allowed to see lawyers or anyone else from the outside world. Yesterday, the International Red Cross was trying to negotiate access after having an earlier request refused. The Israelis are opening more centres to hold the huge number of detainees. The Israeli authorities have admitted in an Israeli court that many of the men being held in Ofer are not suspected Palestinian militants, but innocent civilians who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Nour Hamed lives in Beit Rur, a small village close to the forbidding gates of Ofer. Mr Hamed has just been released after 10 days. His family did not know that, while they feared for his safety, he was near by in Ofer. Mr Hamed is a director of Ajaill, a Palestinian radio station in Ramallah. He was detained with 10 of his colleagues, on 31 March, after Israeli forces moved into Ramallah. "Nine soldiers came into the office and arrested us," Mr Hamed said. "They searched us and then blindfolded us. "They made us sit on the ground outside. There were between 300 and 400 of us sitting there waiting to go in and be questioned. There was heavy rain and a cold wind. We spent three days in that situation. We had no food. Every day the soldiers came and hit us very hard with wooden batons... Another recently released man, Mohammed, said Israeli soldiers told him and 16 others that they would be killed "in revenge for the Israelis". He recalled: "They made us stand in a group and drove an armoured personnel carrier at us. It swerved away at the last minute." It is impossible to verify the claims, not least because the Israeli authorities are refusing anyone access to Ofer. But many of the details are similar to accounts obtained by respected independent Israeli human rights organisations. An Israeli soldier inside Ofer told B'Tselem, the Israeli Information Centre for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories, that torture was being used inside the camp and that he had seen captives whose toes had been broken. Captives can be held without charge or evidence under Israeli military law. A warrant has been issued allowing the authorities to refuse access to lawyers for up to 18 days. ----- WHY BUSH DANCES TO SHARON'S TUNE By ERIC MARGOLIS, The Toronto Sun, 4/14/2002 http://www.canoe.com/Columnists/margolis_apr14.html Who really is running America's Mideast policy? Last week, the astounded world saw the grotesque spectacle of President George W. Bush pleading in vain with Ariel Sharon, leader of a nation of only 6.3 million people which receives almost $5 billion in annual U.S. aid, to cease laying waste the Occupied West Bank... President Bush and senior aides Condoleezza Rice and Colin Powell were left looking weak, indecisive, and inept. Bush clearly is a political soulmate of ultra-hawk Sharon; they share a mutual detestation for Yasser Arafat and, it would seem, for Arabs in general... In an act of sheer farce, Powell was sent on a slow boat to Israel, via Madrid and Morocco. Before Powell even arrived, former Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu summoned fawning U.S. senators and arrogantly informed them Powell's mission would fail. While the rest of the world condemned Israel's invasion and destruction of the Palestinian ghettos, not a peep was heard from the White House, Congress or America's media about Israel's violation of U.S. law in using U.S.-supplied armour and warplanes against civilians. Nor about Israel's violation of the Geneva Conventions and other international laws. There were no protests when Israel's Shimon Peres described massacres of Palestinian civilians by Israeli soldiers... To be sure, there is deep and justified sympathy in the U.S. for the frightful suffering Israel has endured at the hands of suicide bombers, and its need for self-defence. Still, why was America alone in defending Israel's ruthless punishment of the Palestinians? How could Bush, only a few weeks ago, still bathing in the bogus glory of a military "triumph" against a few thousand medieval tribesman in Afghanistan, be so suddenly made to look foolish and impotent by events in the Mideast? Simply put, Sharon's right-wing Likud party has come to dominate U.S. Mideast policy through its powerful American lobby, which "guides" Congress. Under pressure from the Israel lobby, 89 out of 100 senators and at least 280 congressmen recently demanded Bush give Sharon carte blanche to crush Palestine. As the Israeli writer Uri Avnery wryly noted, if the Israel lobby gave orders to repeal the Ten Commandments, Congress would vote in favour. America's media is strongly pro-Israel and averse to dissenting views. A coterie of hawkish, Israel-first neo-conservatives dominates media opinion-making and the Pentagon, leading the charge for a war against Iraq, Iran, and Syria. One even helped to write Bush's foolish "axis of evil" speech... ----- 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 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 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE DEPARTMENT STORE CHAIN SETTLES MUSLIM DISCRIMINATION COMPLAINT Conn. shoppers say they were falsely accused of shoplifting because of religious attire (WASHINGTON, D.C., 4/16/2002) - A national department store chain has settled a discrimination complaint by two Muslim shoppers in Connecticut who say they were falsely accused of shoplifting because of their Islamic attire. May Department Stores Company, the parent company of the Meriden, Conn., Lord & Taylor store in which the incident took place, reached the settlement with the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), a Washington-based Islamic advocacy group. That settlement includes an apology and monetary compensation. In September 2000, the two female shoppers were accused of shoplifting after exiting a ladies' fitting room. The Muslim women said that even after store security realized they had not stolen any merchandise, a security guard continued to accuse them of theft and attempted to remove the religiously-mandated headscarf of one of the women. "Although many companies have clear non-discrimination guidelines, the real test for any policy comes when an incident such as this takes place. May Department Stores passed that test by demonstrating that they value Muslim customers," said CAIR Civil Rights Manager Joshua Salaam. The May Department Stores Company currently operates 436 department stores in 44 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. There are an estimated seven million Muslims in America. SEE: CAIR's "The Mosque in America: A National Portrait" at: http://www.cair-net.org/mosquereport - END - CONTACT: Ibrahim Hooper, 202-488-8787 E-MAIL - cair@cair-net.org, Ms. Hodan Hassan, 202-488-8787 E-MAIL: hhassan@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 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 ----- AMERICAN MUSLIM NEWS BRIEFS - 4/16/2002 ----- HEADLINES: * HADITH OF THE DAY: JUSTICE * LETTER TO PALESTINIAN CHILDREN FROM AN AMERICAN MUSLIM CHILD * DOWNLOAD THE FLYER FOR THE APRIL 20 RALLY FOR PALESTINE IN DC - MUSLIM VOLUNTEERS NEEDED FOR THE RALLY * CAIR-NY OFFICIAL TO APPEAR ON CNN * O'REILLY: "AMERICANS DO NOT UNDERSTAND THE DANGER THAT IS BEING POSED BY THE MUSLIM WORLD" (Fox) * WOMAN SAYS TALE OF AFGHAN ORPHANS FALSE (Los Angeles Times) * THE DEAD AND THE ANGRY AMID JENIN'S RUBBLE (New York Times) * JENIN: INSIDE THE CAMP OF THE DEAD (The Times) * AMID THE RUINS OF JENIN, THE GRISLY EVIDENCE OF A WAR CRIME (Independent) * BLASTED TO RUBBLE BY THE ISRAELIS (Daily Telegraph) * THE LUNAR LANDSCAPE THAT WAS THE JENIN REFUGEE CAMP (Guardian) * CORRECTION: A MEA CULPA (SHNS) * MUSLIM SCHOOL LINKS LEARNING, FAITH (Deseret News) * JEWS AND MUSLIMS, LEARNING TO LIVE TOGETHER (Christian Science Monitor) ----- HADITH OF THE DAY: JUSTICE The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: "He who has been a ruler over ten people will be brought shackled on the Day of Resurrection, until the justice (by which he ruled) loosens his chains or tyranny brings him to destruction." Al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 1037 ----- LETTER TO PALESTINIAN CHILDREN FROM AN AMERICAN MUSLIM CHILD The following is a letter sent to CAIR by an American Muslim child: Dear Palestinian Children, Here in America, your fellow brothers and sisters are doing everything we can to stop the bloodshed. As for me, my family and I are going to try and give up some of our favorite things to support you. Inshallah, Palestine will be free from Israel, and inshallah, all Muslims in the world will be free from all bad things, and I hope you have a better life in the future. As-salaamu Alaykum Your brother ----- DOWNLOAD THE FLYER FOR THE APRIL 20 RALLY FOR PALESTINE IN DC http://www.internationalanswer.org/a20.pdf MUSLIM VOLUNTEERS NEEDED FOR THE RALLY There will be a meeting Wednesday, April 17 for Muslims who wish to volunteer for the rally in Washington. WHEN: Wednesday, April 17, 7 p.m. WHERE: ADAMS Center, Sterling, Virginia DIRECTIONS: Take Route 7 west, cross Sugerland Road, turn into Community Plaza Shopping Center, ADAMS is located behind the Burlington Coat Factory CONTACT: 202-879-6723 ----- CAIR-NY OFFICIAL TO APPEAR ON CNN CAIR-NY Executive Director Ghazi Khankan will appear tonight on CNN between 6 and 7 p.m. (Eastern). Please watch the program and contact Lou Dobbs to show your support for having invited a Muslim guest. Religious roundtable http://www.cnn.com/CNN/Programs/moneyline/ Secretary of State Colin Powell continues his push to end violence in the Middle East. We'll look beyond the politics to the impact on faith around the world in a discussion with Jewish, Muslim and Christian religious leaders. ----- O'REILLY: "AMERICANS DO NOT UNDERSTAND THE DANGER THAT IS BEING POSED BY THE MUSLIM WORLD" 'It's Shaping Up To Be a World War' The O'Reilly Factor, April 15, 2002 http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,50425,00.html BILL O'REILLY, HOST: Now for the Top Story tonight, a closer look at the merging of Islam and violent terrorism. Joining us now from Miami is Dr. Walid Phares, a professor of Middle East studies at Florida Atlantic University. What say you, professor? WALID PHARES, PH.D., FLORIDA ATLANTIC UNIVERSITY: Good evening, Bill. Islam originally had clerics, which at some point in history have legitimized the use of violence as a way of defending the Muslim societies. However, when they opened this Pandora box, then more radical clerics legitimized the use of violence not just against the perceived enemy but also in order to achieve political victories.... O'REILLY: That's right. So their religion, Islam, in that context has lost all credibility among clear-thinking people who see it as now a threat. PHARES: Actually Islam itself, if we go to the texts by themselves, does not condone suicide bombing or does not... O'REILLY: But it doesn't matter. PHARES: ... (UNINTELLIGIBLE) so... O'REILLY: It doesn't matter. The people who are in charge of it do... O'REILLY: ... for the entire world, it's dangerous because you have a holy war now directed at infidels, non-Muslims. And now we find ourselves in a modern crusade, pitting Christians and Jews against Muslims, do we not? O'REILLY: What do we do? I mean, we're, we're - it's shaping up to be a world war, and I'm not over-exaggerating here, because there are, what, 300 million Arabs in the world? All right? (UNINTELLIGIBLE) It's shaping it up to be a world war between Muslim fanatics and the rest of us, who don't want to be killed by people who say Allah wants it done... O'REILLY: That's an excellent point, professor. You just made one of the best points that I've heard on The Factor in quite some time. Americans do not understand the danger that is being posed by the Muslim world to our way of living right now... SEND NOTES OF CONCERN TO: Oreilly@foxnews.com, Viewerservices@foxnews.com COPY TO: cair@cair-net.org ----- WOMAN SAYS TALE OF AFGHAN ORPHANS FALSE By KIMI YOSHINO, The Los Angeles Times, 4/16/2002 http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-000027159apr16.story A Culver City woman who claimed hundreds of Afghan women and children are on their way to the United States now admits they don't exist. Speaking through her husband, she apologized for "building up the hopes in people wanting to adopt Afghan orphans." Julie Fahrer's descriptions of needy orphans at a meeting last month spawned federal investigations and prompted scores of Afghan families across the United States to sign up for foster-care licenses, even though officials warned it was likely a hoax... The Afghan-orphans story is a web of tales that Julie Fahrer went to lengths to make seem real. On several occasions, she told officials at University Christian Church--the church she rented space from--that children would be arriving and asked them to beef up security on the nights the orphans needed temporary housing. She even spent nights away from home--purportedly because she was greeting the children flown from Afghanistan by military transport. Then last month, she gathered a group of local Afghans and interested colleagues for a meeting in a Van Nuys church. She told them that 529 Afghan women and orphans were in the United States or on their way and 45 of them had already been placed in homes stretching from Fresno to San Diego. She passed out handwritten descriptions of several children. They were realistic, including tragic-sounding psychological and physical evaluations of children with "frequent crying episodes" or "severe scars." The Afghan community immediately began mobilizing. Mohammad Daoud Abedi, an Afghan American who lives in Calabasas, sent an e-mail after attending the meeting with Julie Fahrer. The e-mail spread rapidly through Afghan and Muslim Internet message boards. Hundreds of families responded, prompting calls to federal and local agencies. ----- THE DEAD AND THE ANGRY AMID JENIN'S RUBBLE By David Rohde, The New York Times, 4/16/2002 http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/16/international/middleeast/16JENI.html JENIN REFUGEE CAMP, West Bank - Palestinians returning to this ruined place recovered a wounded man today, skeletal and semiconscious, who said he had been lying in the rubble beside a body and waiting for help for nine days. Cradling the wounded man in a blanket, a dozen men carried him up a narrow alley where flies swarmed a corpse and over a mound of rubble that smelled of rotting dead. When the group emerged onto the vast field of destruction that was once the heart of this refugee camp, a woman began screaming, "Ambulance! Ambulance! Ambulance!" "It's a disaster," said Ruba Al Ruzi, a young woman who watched the scene. "I hope the Arab countries and the Americans who watched us being slaughtered will face the same situation..." United Nations officials said today that Israeli forces blocked a convoy carrying 25 tons of aid from entering the camp, where 2,000 of the camp's original 13,000 residents remain... ----- INSIDE THE CAMP OF THE DEAD By Janine di Giovanni, The Times (UK), 4/16/2002 http://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/0,,3-268533,00.html BASHIR died in agony. The hands of the 23-year-old Palestinian are clenched into tight fists, his body charred. He lies buried under rubble and cement, his head twisted towards the door as if crying out for help. His tomb is a wasted house that crashed around him after the Israelis tried to bulldoze it to make a road. Next door, up a blackened stairway and across shards of glass, is the body of Ashran Abu Hadel, also 23. Someone tried to pull him out of the rubble but gave up. His arm lies straight out, as though he tried to push himself away from the cement as he lay dying. Elsewhere in the Jenin refugee camp I saw bodies of men who were clearly fighters, replete with ammunition belts and other paramilitary trappings. Bashir and Ashran had nothing. The refugees I had interviewed in recent days while trying to enter the camp were not lying. If anything, they underestimated the carnage and the horror. Rarely, in more than a decade of war reporting from Bosnia, Chechnya, Sierra Leone, Kosovo, have I seen such deliberate destruction, such disrespect for human life.... This was not only a town of fighters, as Israeli soldiers told me. It was a town of women, children and old men, who have seen the camp grow into a warren of ramshackle homes over half a century. Amnesty International called for an immediate investigation into "the killings of hundreds of Palestinians," saying crucial evidence may be destroyed as Israel "continues to impede access... The dead are everywhere. Kamal Anis, a labourer, leads us to an area called Harat al-Hawashim, a mound of rubble the size of four football pitches where 200 houses once stood. He says the Israelis levelled the place; he saw them pile bodies into a mass grave, dump earth on top, then ran over it to flatten it. There are still bulldozers and tanks at work, sending us fleeing into destroyed buildings. There is the sound of children crying. There are people looking for survivors under rubble... ----- AMID THE RUINS OF JENIN, THE GRISLY EVIDENCE OF A WAR CRIME By Phil Reeves in Jenin, The Independent (UK) 4/16/2002 http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/story.jsp?story=285413 A monstrous war crime that Israel has tried to cover up for a fortnight has finally been exposed. Its troops have caused devastation in the centre of the Jenin refugee camp, reached yesterday by The Independent, where thousands of people are still living amid the ruins. A residential area roughly 160,000 square yards about a third of a mile wide has been reduced to dust. Rubble has been shovelled by bulldozers into 30ft piles. The sweet and ghastly reek of rotting human bodies is everywhere, evidence that it is a human tomb... We could not see the bodies. But we could smell them. A few days ago, we might not have believed Kamal Anis. But the descriptions given by the many other refugees who escaped from Jenin camp were understated, not, as many feared and Israel encouraged us to believe, exaggerations. Their stories had not prepared me for what I saw yesterday. I believe them now.... We were welcomed by people desperate to tell what had occurred. They spoke of executions, and bulldozers wrecking homes with people inside. "This is mass murder committed by Ariel Sharon," Jamel Saleh, 43, said. "We feel more hate for Israel now than ever. Look at this boy." He placed his hand on the tousled head of a little boy, Mohammed, the eight-year-old son of a friend. "He saw all this evil. He will remember it all..." ----- BLASTED TO RUBBLE BY THE ISRAELIS By David Blair, The Daily Telegraph (LONDON), 4/16/2002 http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;$sessionid$IWRB3RYAAF115QFIQMGSFF4AVCBQWIV0?xml=/news/2002/04/16/wmid16.xml&sSheet=/portal/2002/04/16/ixport.html ISRAEL'S onslaught on the Palestinian refugee camp in Jenin has led to the systematic devastation of once teeming streets inhabited by 15,000 people. Inside the camp, a vast open space 400 yards by 400 yards has been pounded, blasted and ground to rubble by tanks, helicopters and bulldozers... When we penetrated into the exclusion zone yesterday, by walking across a hilltop and finding an unguarded flank, it became clear why the Israelis had done their utmost to shield Jenin camp from prying eyes. The camp, still a closed zone, lies in the heart of Jenin Town that once consisted of tightly packed flat-roofed houses. All but a few streets have been blown apart. As machinegun fire echoed outside, the frightened girls huddled together for comfort... ----- THE LUNAR LANDSCAPE THAT WAS THE JENIN REFUGEE CAMP By Suzanne Goldenberg, The Guardian (UK), 4/16/2002 http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/0,2763,685133,00.html A fortnight ago, before Israeli forces invaded, this was a crowded, bustling place. The narrow alleys between the cinderblock homes - spanning barely the width of outstretched arms - were packed with children. Yesterday, the Hart al-Hawashin neighbourhood, the heart of the Jenin refugee camp, was a silent wasteland, permeated with the stench of rotting corpses and cordite. The evidence of lives interrupted was everywhere. Plates of food sat in refrigerators in houses sheared in half by Israeli bulldozers. Pages from children's exercise books fluttered in the breeze...After the 13 soldiers were killed, Israel appears to have abandoned foot patrols. Instead, the army began knocking houses down indiscriminately, creating a vast plaza of rubble in the centre of the camp, a crossroads for the Israeli tanks. "They just started demolishing with the people inside," said Hania al-Kabia, a mother of six whose flat is on the edge of the lunar landscape. "I used to hear them on the loudspeaker saying come out, come out. Then they stopped doing that, but they went on bulldozing..." ----- CORRECTION: A MEA CULPA By Holger Jensen, Scripps Howard News Service, 4/15/02 This is a mea culpa. I made a grievous error in not verifying the authenticity of 20-year-old quotes attributed to Ariel Sharon that I used in my April 12 column on the Israeli leader. As it turns out, they were made not by Sharon but another unnamed Israeli soldier who died 11 years ago. The interview in question was conducted by Amos Oz, one of Israel's leading authors and prominent in the Peace Now movement. He had access to many Israeli generals and politicians of that era but identified some of his interview subjects only by letters of the alphabet, leaving it up to his readers to decide who they were... (Holger Jensen is international editor of the Rocky Mountain News. E-mail: hjens@aol.com) ----- MUSLIM SCHOOL LINKS LEARNING, FAITH By Elaine Jarvik, Deseret News, 4/15/2002 http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,380012344,00.html Iman El-Shahidi draws a letter on the board: two half circles connected to a bigger half circle. See, she says. "It's the happiest letter in the Arabic language because it has the most smiles. Isn't that a happy letter?" To teach Arabic to 4-year-olds means teaching not just a second language but a second alphabet, a whole new set of intricate symbols that must be decoded and mastered. El-Shahidi has the children try their own hands at making a smiling letter; then she cheerfully erases their squiggles and helps guide their pencils across the page, right to left. At Iqra Academy of Utah, the state's only Muslim day school, preschoolers, kindergartners and first-graders learn Arabic as well as English, because Arabic is the language of the Quran, Islam's holy book. Like the nearly 500 other Muslim schools in the United States, the Iqra Academy tries to create a bridge between American culture and Islam -- because America is where the children live and Islam is their moral compass. Kergaye, who attended Catholic schools in Jordan and Cypress, then American public schools in California, thinks that a Muslim school has more to offer -- and less to distract -- a Muslim child. "Our moral standards are much higher than in public schools," she says. There is no swearing, no disrespect, no peer pressure to smoke, do drugs or wear the kinds of revealing clothes or tattoos or piercings that Islam prohibits... ----- JEWS AND MUSLIMS, LEARNING TO LIVE TOGETHER By Alexandra Marks, The Christian Science Monitor, 4/16/2002 http://www.christiansciencemonitor.com/2002/0416/p03s01-ussc.html Mehrba Kahn is dependent on his hands. As a barber, he makes his living with them. But they're also his tools to help explain why his Brooklyn neighborhood a bustling 10 square blocks where more Orthodox Jews and Muslims live closely together than in almost any other place in the country - works so well as a community. That, despite the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and heightened tensions in the Middle East. "See these hands?" asks Mr. Kahn at his shop on Coney Island Avenue. "The Jews, the Christians, the Muslims here, they're like these fingers: They work together because they have to. We're all connected." Called Midwood, this is a place where Jewish and Muslim women shop side by side, wearing slightly different head coverings but often pushing the same brand of strollers. Admittedly, the community is sometimes tense. But through work, dedication, and a tacit agreement to disagree, it has, on the whole, remained productive and peaceful. ----- 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 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 #327 LARGEST-EVER RALLY FOR PALESTINE - APRIL 20 (WASHINGTON, D.C., 4/17/2002) - On Saturday, April 20, thousands of concerned Americans will gather in Washington, D.C., on the White House Ellipse to protest Israel's brutal attacks on Palestinian civilians and to call on our government to adopt a Mideast policy that is based on justice and on American, not Israeli interests. It is essential Muslims and people other faith turn out to make our voices heard on this important issue and to counter the disinformation being put out by the pro-Israel lobby. Organizers expect this to be the largest-ever rally in support of Palestine in the United States. "It is our duty to show our solidarity with the suffering Muslims and Christians of Palestine," said CAIR Board Chairman Omar Ahmad. The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: "He who amongst you sees something abominable should modify it with the help of his hand; and if he has not strength enough to do it, then he should do it with his tongue; and if he has not strength enough to do it, (even) then he should (abhor it) from his heart and that is the least of faith." Sahih Muslim, Hadith 16 WHEN: Saturday, April 20, 11 a.m. WHERE: The White House Ellipse (South side of the White House, 16th and Constitution N.W.) DOWNLOAD A FLYER FOR THE RALLY AT: http://www.internationalanswer.org/a20.pdf FOR INFORMATION ON GETTING TO WASHINGTON, GO TO: http://www.internationalanswer.org/campaigns/april/logistics.html IMMEDIATE ACTION REQUESTED: 1) Plan to attend the 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. 4) Organize bus or car caravans from your community to the rally. 5) Distribute this alert at local mosques and community centers following Friday prayers. 6) Make Du'ah for the Palestinian people suffering under Israeli occupation. THERE WILL BE A SIMULTANEOUS RALLY FOR PALESTINE IN SAN FRANCISCO, SEE: http://www.internationalanswer.org/a20sf1.pdf TO TAKE IMMEDIATE ACTION IN SUPPORT OF THE PALESTINIAN PEOPLE, GO TO: http://capwiz.com/cair/home/ TO SUPPORT CAIR'S WORK BY BECOMING A MEMBER, GO TO: https://www.cair-net.org/asp/membership.asp - PLEASE ANNOUNCE, POST AND DISTRIBUTE AT FRIDAY PRAYERS - ----- 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 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 ----- AMERICAN MUSLIM NEWS BRIEFS - 4/17/2002 ----- HEADLINES: * HADITH OF THE DAY: GOOD CHARACTER * IS THE PRO-ISRAEL MEDIA LOBBY LOSING ITS GRIP? (Salon.com) * INTERNET USED BY ORGANIZERS OF PALESTINIAN, ISRAELI RALLIES (Washington Post) * CIVIL RIGHTS GROUP TO SUE OVER U.S. HANDLING OF MUSLIM MEN (New York Times) * 3 IN SEPT. 11 PROBE SAY THEY WERE ABUSED IN TOP SECURITY (Washington Post) * TREASURY BOSS MAY LET THROUGH SOME DONATIONS (Detroit Free Press) * CANADIAN MUSLIM RETURNS TO TORONTO AFTER BEING DETAINED IN NYC AFTER SEPT. 11 (CP) * GUNMEN DEFIANT IN BETHLEHEM CHURCH, SAYS ESCAPEE (Reuters) * U.N.'S ROBINSON PRESSES ISRAEL OVER RIGHTS PROBE (Reuters) * WITHDRAW SUPPORT AND ASSIST THE PALESTINIANS (St. Paul Pioneer Press) * EVIDENCE OF ISRAELI CONTEMPT FOR GENEVA CONVENTION (The Guardian) * AID GROUPS CRITICIZE ISRAEL OVER RESCUE EFFORT IN JENIN (New York Times) * SICK PALESTINIANS DIE AT ISRAELI CHECKPOINTS, UNABLE TO GET TO HOSPITAL (AFP) * SPIELBERG TARGET OF BOGUS REPORT (Hollywood Reporter) * PAYMENT, APOLOGY FOR STORE INCIDENT (AP) ----- HADITH OF THE DAY: GOOD CHARACTER The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: "By his good character, a believer will attain the degree of one who prays during the night and fasts during the day." Abu Dawood, Hadith 2233 ----- IS THE PRO-ISRAEL MEDIA LOBBY LOSING ITS GRIP? By Eric Boehlert, Salon.com, 4/17/2002 http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2002/04/17/media/index_np.html The current chaos in the Middle East has left partisans on both sides angry and bitter. Among the most frustrated, though, may be the pro-Israel pundits who have dominated the debate in the U.S. for decades. Israel's aggressive incursion into the West Bank, in which 5,000 Palestinians have been arrested and hundreds killed, may mark a turning point in how the conflict is seen in the United States. Suddenly the pro-Israel media mantra -- that Israel's fight is America's fight, and that the two countries aren't simply allies, but brothers in arms with inseparable goals -- is being viewed with some new skepticism. Polls show Americans remain strongly committed to Israel's security. Yet there's evidence that the nation's cadre of relentlessly pro-Israeli commentators, most of them neoconservatives, have quietly lost their corner on American public opinion. Instead of shaping it, they're caught chasing it. Their media crusade to topple Iraq's Saddam Hussein, for instance, seems to be foundering, thanks to weeks of Israeli/Palestinian chaos. A majority of Americans told NBC/Wall Street Journal pollsters that an Iraqi invasion should be delayed until Middle East violence subsides. And other major national polls show that Americans increasingly question the premises of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's incursion into the West Bank, Israel's most aggressive military operation in two decades, and how it will achieve peace... But it was odd on Monday to hear the mostly Jewish crowd boo longtime pro-Israel hawk Paul Wolfowitz, now a deputy defense secretary, merely for suggesting at a Washington rally that innocent Palestinians hurt in the current conflict deserve some sympathy too. The crowd clearly opposed Secretary of State Colin Powell's peace mission, as well as President Bush's attempts to get Sharon to rein in his military operation. The boos for Wolfowitz were a measure of how embattled many pro-Israel American Jewish hawks feel, especially given Bush's call last week for Israel to withdraw from the Palestinian territories "without delay" (a call, it must be noted, that Sharon has ignored with impunity). Clearly Israel's media lobby is not having the success it once did calling the shots in Washington and maintaining public support. The dynamics could soon change, particularly if another wave of suicide bombers is unleashed. But for now, a Palestinian perspective that was once almost completely absent from America's mainstream press is being heard by Americans... It's already clear that an increasingly open debate is underway here about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It's a debate the conservative press has long tried to stifle. As Eric Alterman recently wrote at MSNBC.com, "For reasons of religion, politics, history and genuine conviction, the punditocracy debate of the Middle East in America is dominated by people who cannot imagine criticizing Israel." SEE: Intractable Foes, Warring Narratives http://www.msnbc.com/news/730905.asp?cp1=1#BODY You know who they are: William Safire of the New York Times; George Will, Charles Krauthammer and Michael Kelly at the Washington Post; Lally Weymouth of Newsweek; Martin Peretz of the New Republic; Daniel Pipes and Andrea Peyser at the New York Post; Peggy Noonan and Robert Bartley at the Wall Street Journal; William Kristol of the Weekly Standard; Mortimer Zuckerman at U.S. News and World Report; Morton Kondracke, Fred Barnes, Brit Hume and Tony Snow at Fox News; and William Bennett, a paid CNN contributor, just to name a few. They still cannot imagine criticizing Israel. But others can. Conservatives could not have enjoyed watching pro-Israel advocate Daniel Pipes getting grilled recently by Fox News' self-styled blue-collar moderate Bill O'Reilly. In what until recently would have been considered an unthinkably aggressive stance regarding Israel, O'Reilly, who's made no secret of his suspicion of American Muslims post-Sept. 11, belittled Pipes' claim that the Israeli incursion into the West Bank was analogous to America's bombing of Afghanistan, took issue with his suggestion that 90 percent of Palestinians "want Israel destroyed," and pressed Pipes about what people were supposed to think when they saw Page 1 photographs of Israeli policemen clubbing peace activists in Tel Aviv... SEE: Who is Daniel Pipes? http://www.cair-net.org/misc/people/daniel_pipes.html Meanwhile, MSNBC's Chris Matthews, usually a fan of the mainstream's conventional wisdom, recently derided the claim that Arab leaders would privately welcome a U.S. action in Iraq, as "neo-con claptrap." Matthews has gotten increasingly fed up with uncritical defenders of Israel as well as proponents of an immediate Iraq invasion. Both O'Reilly and Matthews pride themselves on their scrappy, common-sense approach to politics, so their change of heart spells trouble for staunch defenders of Ariel Sharon. Perhaps more worrisome for the Israeli media lobby is that, at least for the moment, it has lost some of its pull inside the White House. And worse, lost it to its least favorite Cabinet member, Secretary of State Colin Powell. Just as the current crisis was unfolding, the Weekly Standard's Kristol, along with more than two dozen other conservatives, sent Bush an open letter advising him how to proceed. The letter suggested that the U.S. treat Arafat as a terrorist, that Bush give Israel unconditional support, and that he move ahead swiftly on his plans to topple Saddam Hussein. To date, none of those recommendations have been embraced, which is why the Israeli punditocracy in America has been lashing out at the White House, washing its hands of Powell's trip and publicly ridiculing the administration. While there's some suspicion that Powell does not have full White House backing for his peace mission, the fact that he's there at all, meeting with Arafat, riles pro-Israel hawks in the press... Perhaps most surprising is the fact that nearly 40 percent of Americans consider the violence committed by Israel against Palestinians to be terrorism, according to an ABC News poll. The Israeli lobby's pundits have for weeks argued relentlessly that Israel is merely fighting terrorism alongside Uncle Sam. Yet 4 out of 10 Americans think Israel is conducting terrorism in the West Bank... ----- INTERNET USED BY ORGANIZERS OF PALESTINIAN, ISRAELI RALLIES By Mary Beth Sheridan, The Washington Post, 4/17/02 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A63371-2002Apr17.html The pro-Israeli and pro-Palestinian demonstrations organized in Washington this week represent the emotional culmination of weeks of smaller rallies across the country, indications of how the violence in the Middle East has alarmed many Americans. The proliferation of demonstrations reflects the strength of Jewish organizations and efforts by much smaller Muslim and Arab American groups to play a bigger role in U.S. politics. Adding to the mix is the power of the Internet, both to pull together rallies and to connect Americans with those suffering in the Middle East... Some pro-Palestinian activists said the rallies are a sign of the political maturing of Arab Americans and Muslims, who represent a small but rapidly growing percentage of the U.S. population. "I've noticed, compared to previous protests [over Middle East crises], that these are a lot more. You find them all over the country -- Michigan, California, Texas, the Northwest," said Hodan Hassan, communications coordinator for the Council on American-Islamic Relations... ----- CIVIL RIGHTS GROUP TO SUE OVER U.S. HANDLING OF MUSLIM MEN By SUSAN SACHS, The New York Times, 4/17/2002 http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/17/national/17MUSL.html In a new challenge to the Bush administration's prolonged detention of hundreds of Muslim men after Sept. 11, a civil rights group says it will ask a federal court to declare the government's treatment of the men biased and unconstitutional. A class-action lawsuit prepared by the group, the Center for Constitutional Rights, accused the government of arbitrarily holding Muslim detainees in prison for months on minor immigration violations, with no hearings to determine whether the government had probable cause to hold them. They have also been subjected to excessively harsh treatment in jails in New Jersey and Brooklyn, the complaint said, and in some cases could not practice their religion, contact their families or seek the help of their consular officials. The lawsuit will be filed today in United States District Court in Brooklyn, said Barbara J. Olshansky, a lawyer for the center. "We want the world to know that we are treating students, tourists, people here for short period of time, as criminals," Ms. Olshansky said. "We're putting them into arbitrary detention, just like the worst totalitarian regimes we cry out all the time about in this country." About 1,200 Muslim men were arrested in the first weeks after the terror attacks, most eventually charged with minor immigration violations such as overstaying a visa... One detainee named in the lawsuit said that guards at the Metropolitan Detention Center bent his thumbs back, pushed him and kicked him in the face when he first arrived there. For the first week, he said, he did not have a bar of soap or a towel and he did not get his eyeglasses back from the guards for three months. The detainee, Asif-ur-Rehman Saffi, said in the lawsuit that guards constantly called him a terrorist and insulted his religion. Mr. Saffi, who was born in Pakistan, is a French citizen and last month was released from prison and deported to France. The only charge against him was working while in the United States on a tourist visa... Another detainee named as a plaintiff, Syed Amjad Ali Jaffri, was held in the Metropolitan Detention Center for nearly seven months, four months after an immigration judge ordered him deported. He said a guard at the federal prison slammed his head against a wall, loosening some of his teeth... ----- 3 IN SEPT. 11 PROBE SAY THEY WERE ABUSED IN TOP SECURITY By Steve Fainaru, The Washington Post, 4/17/2002 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A62853-2002Apr16.html NEW YORK, April 16 -- Inside the Special Housing Unit of the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, dozens of detainees held for months in connection with the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks have been confined to their cells nearly 24 hours a day. The lights are always on, making it difficult to sleep. The prisoners are subject to body cavity searches after each meeting with their attorneys. They are transported in shackles, handcuffs and waist chains. In some cases, the detainees have been subject to harassment by prison guards and rough treatment that has left them bloodied. The conditions were described by three detainees recently released from the Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC) who offered a rare glimpse of life inside the federal prison's maximum security unit, supposedly reserved for some of the most important suspects in the government's terrorism investigation... Although the Justice Department has conducted its investigation in total secrecy, the government has announced no terrorism-related charges against any of those held under maximum security conditions at MDC... ----- TREASURY BOSS MAY LET THROUGH SOME DONATIONS By NIRAJ WARIKOO, Detroit Free Press, 4/17/02 http://www.freep.com/news/nw/treas17_20020417.htm Speaking to Arab-American leaders in Dearborn on Tuesday, U.S. Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill said he would consider allowing donors to give money to certain people through charities that have been frozen by the U.S. government for alleged links to terrorism. But he didn't say who could give and receive the money, and he stopped short of unfreezing all of the assets. According to people who attended the meeting, O'Neill said he was concerned that donors could not give money to needy people in the Arab and Muslim worlds. After the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the U.S. Treasury froze the assets of two Muslim charities -- the Global Relief Foundation, cofounded by Rabih Haddad of Ann Arbor, and the Holy Land Foundation, based in Texas. "I told him we've been looted as a community," said Osama Siblani, publisher of the Arab-American News. "We can't donate money to our brothers and sisters." Siblani was among about a dozen Arab-American and Muslim leaders who met with O'Neill and Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge at La Shish restaurant in Dearborn for 90 minutes. Over plates of humus and rice, the meeting started with a prayer in English by Imam Hassan Qazwini, head of the Islamic Center of America. Qazwini told the officials that he was concerned about the profiling of Arab Americans and Muslims at airports. He also expressed concern about what he saw as the U.S. government's bias against Palestinians... Haddad was arrested in December for overstaying a 6-month tourist visa that expired in 1999. He was detained the same day that federal officials raided Global Relief offices. He is currently in custody in Chicago pending a deportation hearing. Speaking briefly outside the restaurant, O'Neill said the meeting went well, but didn't comment further. ----- CANADIAN MUSLIM RETURNS TO TORONTO AFTER BEING DETAINED IN NYC AFTER SEPT. 11 BY ANGELA PACIENZA, The Canadian Press, 4/16/02 TORONTO (CP) _ A Canadian man who was detained for seven months in the United States in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks was deported home to Toronto on Tuesday and now plans to sue U.S. authorities. Surrounded by reporters in the middle of Toronto's busy airport, Shakir Baloch, a Canadian citizen born in Pakistan, appeared relaxed and calm as he said he felt safe for the first time in months. Clad in an oversized white T-shirt and baggy brown prison-issued track pants, a frail Baloch said he felt dejected trying to understand why he was singled out from the thousands of South Asians living in the United States. "I'm depressed. Why did they do it to me?" he said, clutching the only belonging given to him by American authorities _ a manila envelope containing his airline ticket and deportation certificate. "I don't have any answer for that." The 39-year-old Torontonian was arrested in Queens, N.Y., two weeks after the deadly Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. He was plucked from a classroom in a taxi driver school where he was trying to renew his licence. At that time, American authorities had rounded up about 1,500 men of Middle Eastern or South Asian descent in the aftermath of the attacks. Most were held on immigration charges. Baloch said American police officers often shackled him, roughed him up, called him a terrorist and threatened to keep him in jail indefinitely. He spent five of his seven months in jail in solitary confinement. "I couldn't talk to my family, couldn't talk to my lawyer, nobody," he said. It was three months after his initial arrest that authorities allowed Baloch access to a lawyer and charged him with illegally entering the United States... ----- GUNMEN DEFIANT IN BETHLEHEM CHURCH, SAYS ESCAPEE By Michael Georgy, Reuters, 4/17/2002 BETHLEHEM, West Bank, April 17 (Reuters) - A teenager who escaped from Bethlehem's besieged Church of the Nativity said on Wednesday that Palestinian gunmen inside were defiant even after two weeks of psychological warfare waged by Israeli troops. Sixteen-year-old Jihad Abu Qamil said an Israeli soldier who detained him minutes after he climbed over the church's walls on Monday had been eager to know if people inside were cracking. "First he made me strip off my clothes in the street. Then he asked me if we were scared of the shooting over the church at night, if the sound of ambulance sirens or the sounds of a screaming girl from the loudspeakers scared us," said Abu Qamil. "I said no, it was not working. The people inside were not scared," he told Reuters at his family home at Deheisheh refugee camp, near Bethlehem... "The soldier asked me who was bringing us food. I told him the monks inside the church, and he was very angry," he said. Abu Qamil, earlier reported as aged 14, said he had tried to bring bread and cans of fish to friends in the church on the second day of the siege, only to find himself trapped there... ----- U.N.'S ROBINSON PRESSES ISRAEL OVER RIGHTS PROBE Reuters, 4/17/2002 GENEVA, Switzerland (Reuters) - United Nations human rights chief Mary Robinson pressed Israel Wednesday to let a U.N. mission visit the occupied territories and the Jewish state amid rising international concern at recent violence. Robinson was asked by the U.N. Human Rights Commission to lead the team of inquiry and report back before the end of its annual six-week session in Geneva on April 26... "It is important that the visiting mission should be able to leave as soon as possible (and) meet with people from both sides of the conflict," Robinson said in a statement. The Commission, which Israel accuses of bias against it, wants the mission to probe the humanitarian situation in the Palestinian refugee camps, where some aid agencies warn of a catastrophe if help does not get through soon... The Palestinians have accused Israeli forces of a massacre of women and children as well as Palestinian fighters during a military offensive in the West Bank that began on March 29. Israel says the offensive is to round up those it considers responsible for a wave of suicide bombings in Israel... The U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees said Wednesday Israel security forces were still denying them entry into Jenin refugee camp, scene of the heaviest fighting in the offensive. "We have dozens of trucks ready to go and distribute aid, medical supplies and shelters. We are ready, but we are not getting the necessary cooperation (from the Israelis)," Rene Aquarone, a Geneva-based UNRWA spokesman, said. ----- WITHDRAW SUPPORT AND ASSIST THE PALESTINIANS BY TIMOTHY BRENNAN and DOUG ROSSINOW, St. Paul Pioneer Press, 4/16/2002 http://www.twincities.com/mld/pioneerpress/news/opinion/3070397.htm What we have witnessed in recent days in the Middle East is not a law-abiding nation defending itself against terror, but rather "asymmetric warfare" between a nation, Israel, armed with the most modern weapons and a people, the Palestinians, armed with their willingness to die while taking others with them. Although Americans have seen extensive press coverage of the violence, few readers grasp its actual character. In the last week, the Israeli military dragged people from their homes and indiscriminately shot them in the streets. Able-bodied men and boys were rounded up, arbitrarily incarcerated and physically abused. Snipers stationed in Ramallah killed anyone attempting to leave their homes to resist the march of Israeli tanks. There are, in short, deeply disturbing similarities between what Israel is doing to the Palestinians at this very moment and what was roundly condemned only a few years ago as "ethnic cleansing" in Serbia.This historical lack of context makes it difficult for Americans to understand why Israel has so enraged Arabs and Muslims both. Few Americans appreciate, for example, that non-Jews within the state of Israel are not accorded the same rights under the law as Jews. It is an openly discriminatory state, and in this sense shares features with what we used to call "apartheid" in South Africa... ----- EVIDENCE OF ISRAELI CONTEMPT FOR GENEVA CONVENTION By Suzanne Goldenberg, The Guardian, 4/17/02 http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,685594,00.html The accusation from British and Palestinian politicians that Israel has been involved in war crimes raises questions about the extent to which its military incursion into the occupied territories may have broken the terms of the Geneva convention. Human rights workers say the definition of a war crime hinges on a cardinal principle of a body of international humanitarian law, including the Geneva convention. "The spirit and soul is to limit the effect of armed violence on those not taking part in the fighting," said Antonella Notari, a spokeswoman for the International Committee of the Red Cross in Geneva. "It is primarily the responsibility of those fighting the war to look after the wellbeing of civilians." On that count, Israel has failed on a massive scale - and not just in Jenin. Nineteen days of curfew and siege on West Bank towns have deprived one million Palestinians of access to medical care, food and drinking water. Israeli tanks trundled over water mains, and ploughed through electricity and phone wires, depriving most neighbourhoods of basic services. In Ramallah, Bethlehem, and Nablus, as well as Jenin, there is indisputable proof that the Israeli army denied Palestinian civilians the basic protection of medical care. Bodies rotted in homes and streets for days; the wounded bled to death because the Israeli army banned ambulances from entering the battle zones. In Jenin, junior surgeons performed brain surgery from phone instructions given by leading practitioners in Jordan. Likewise in Ramallah several mothers were talked through the delivery of their children over mobile phones. There are also widespread accounts from Palestinians in Ramallah, Nablus and Jenin that the Israeli army regularly seized male civilians from their homes and used them as human shields. They forced the men to walk ahead of soldiers as they searched homes in camps and towns, putting them first in the line of fire from Palestinian fighters... ----- AID GROUPS CRITICIZE ISRAEL OVER RESCUE EFFORT IN JENIN By DAVID ROHDE, The New York Times, 4/17/02 http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/17/international/middleeast/17JENI.html Aid workers, who were allowed to move back into the bomb- and rubble-strewn refugee camp at Jenin two days ago, said today that Israeli officials have failed to keep their promises to provide the specialized rescue teams and heavy excavation equipment needed to search for survivors, remove bodies and feed and reunite families. The aid groups also said that, even though the fighting here ended seven days ago, a strict Israeli military curfew is still in place that interferes with the movement of food, aid and men separated from their families during the Israeli operation... ----- SICK PALESTINIANS DIE AT ISRAELI CHECKPOINTS, UNABLE TO GET TO HOSPITAL By Imad Saada, Agence France-Presse, 4/17/2002 NABLUS, West Bank, April 16 (AFP) - Mohammad Oudeh watched his 18- month-old niece die as he waited in vain to get her through an Israeli army checkpoint on the outskirts of Nablus for urgent treatment in hospital. "Leila died at the checkpoint. We went back to the village to bury her," he said, her name joining a swelling list of Palestinians paying with their lives because Israel's occupation of the West Bank denied them access to ambulances and hospitals. The victims include children unable to receive treatment for bullet wounds and kidney patients prevented from receiving access to dialysis, they said. The problem has become critical since Israel invaded the West Bank on March 29, with the army shutting down whole cities and imposing strict curfews. Leila underwent open-heart surgery six months ago and needed regular hospital treatment. "We are suffering a humanitarian disaster. Dozens of people are dying each day from the closure of the villages," Mustafa Barghuti, head of Palestinian medical relief, told AFP... ----- SPIELBERG TARGET OF BOGUS REPORT By Gregg Kilday, Hollywood Reporter, 4/16/02 http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hollywoodreporter/morenews/brief_display Steven Spielberg was hit Monday by a false report circulating on the Internet claiming that he is planning a DreamWorks feature film sympathetic to the Palestinian cause. The director's spokesman, Marvin Levy, called the report "an obvious, vicious hoax." The bogus news story was attributed to The Hollywood Reporter and carried the bylines of fictitious reporters. It was posted on several news lists and also forwarded to several Canadian-based news organizations as well as Jewish political-action groups and other activists. Under a headline that read "Spielberg to direct feature based on Palestinian Uprising," the false news story purported to quote Spielberg speaking out on behalf of the Palestinians and criticizing both Israel and Hollywood. The original source of the story, which circulated by e-mail, could not be determined. ----- PAYMENT, APOLOGY FOR STORE INCIDENT Associated Press, 4/17/2002 MERIDEN, Conn. (AP) - Two Muslim women detained after being accused of stealing merchandise have received an apology and a payment from a clothing store in a Meriden mall. May Department Stores Co., the parent of the Lord & Taylor outlet in the Westfield Shoppingtown mall, agreed to apologize and offer a cash settlement. "Settlements of $3,700 were reached with two customers who claimed they were falsely arrested and accused of shoplifting," May Co. officials said in a prepared statement. The women filed a discrimination complaint after they were detained, but never charged with a crime in the September 2000 incident. The two shoppers, who were dressed in traditional Islamic garb, were stopped as they left a fitting room, according to Hodan Hassan, a spokeswoman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, which represents the women. A store security guard checked their merchandise and sales receipts and determined they had taken nothing. However, another guard insisted they were guilty of shoplifting and tried to remove the head coverings that the Islamic faith requires of all women believers, said Hassan. "This happened in front of many people and it was very embarrassing for the two women," Hassan said. Meriden police officers arrived a short time later and the women were allowed to go. No charges were filed, Hassan added. ----- 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 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 ----- AMERICAN MUSLIM NEWS BRIEFS - 4/18/2002 ----- HEADLINES: * HADITH OF THE DAY: MARRIAGE INCREASES LOVE * STEVEN EMERSON SAYS ISLAM NEEDS "REFORM," IS "OUTMODED" - TERRORISTS UNDER THE BED (Salon.com) - WHO IS STEVEN EMERSON? - STEVEN EMERSON'S CRUSADE (FAIR) * RIGHT-WING WEB SITE SAYS U.S. MUSLIM IMMIGRATION HARMS ISRAEL - MUSLIM INVASION? (National Review) * INS ORDERS STATE, LOCAL AGENCIES TO KEEP DETAINEE INFO SECRET (AP) * ANTI-TERRORISM BILL FOCUSES ON IMMIGRANTS (Denver Post) * PALESTINIANS SIFT THROUGH JENIN RUBBLE FOR CORPSES (Reuters) * ISRAELI ARMY WAS "MORALLY REPUGNANT" IN JENIN, UN ENVOY SAYS (AFP) * AT STONY BROOK, A CALL FOR PEACE IN MIDEAST (Newsday) * ISRAEL QUIETLY SETS UP PERMANENT HOMES IN HEBRON (AP) * ISRAELI SIEGE OF JESUS' BIRTHPLACE UNITES PALESTINIAN CHRISTIANS (AFP) * ISRAELI ARMY USING CIVILIANS AS HUMAN SHIELD: US RIGHTS REPORT (AFP) * COMMENTARY: START WITH PALESTINIAN STATEHOOD (Los Angeles Times) * FRESH EVIDENCE OF JENIN ATROCITIES (Independent) - Jenin camp 'horrific beyond belief' (BBC) - Jenin massacre 'evidence growing' (BBC) * MUSLIM WOMEN BRUTALIZED IN INDIA'S GUJARAT - REPORT (Reuters) * AFTER 9-11, OFFICIAL TERROR KICKS IN VICTIMS OF THE DRAGNET (Village Voice) * FROM TANKS TO TALKS, WILL FUTURE HOLD CONFLICT OR CALM? (Tyler Morning Telegraph) ----- HADITH OF THE DAY: MARRIAGE INCREASES LOVE The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: "You have seen nothing like marriage for increasing the love between two people." Al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 921 ----- STEVEN EMERSON SAYS ISLAM NEEDS "REFORM," IS "OUTMODED" EXPERT ON TERRORISM WARNS ABOUT GENOCIDE By Emilie Astell, TELEGRAM & GAZETTE, 4/16/2002 http://www.telegram.com/extra/terror/html/10expert.html WORCESTER - ...During an address yesterday, author Steven Emerson said the Islamic religion needs to undergo a reformation just as Christianity did to have a center of gravity and a separation of church and state. "Without reformation, much of the Islamic world is mired in outmoded philosophy," Mr. Emerson told an audience at Clark University. He was the featured speaker during a celebration of a new name for the university's nationally-recognized Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies... His book, "American Jihad: The Terrorists Living Among Us," details his discoveries of the inner workings of Islamic extremists... SEE: TERRORISTS UNDER THE BED "Terrorism expert" Steven Emerson paints a terrifying picture of lethal Muslim fundamentalists among us in "American Jihad." But he doesn't know the difference between Osama bin Laden and Yasser Arafat. By Eric Boehlert, Salon.com, 3/5/2002 http://www.salon.com/books/feature/2002/03/05/emerson/index.html WHO IS STEVEN EMERSON? http://www.cair-net.org/html/emerson.htm STEVEN EMERSON'S CRUSADE: "Why is a journalist pushing questionable stories from behind the scenes?" http://www.fair.org/extra/9901/emerson.html ----- RIGHT-WING WEB SITE SAYS U.S. MUSLIM IMMIGRATION HARMS ISRAEL MUSLIM INVASION? By Mark Krikorian, National Review, 4/17/2002 http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/comment-krikorian041702.asp Mark Krikorian is executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies and an NRO contributor. Support for Israel has been a cornerstone of our foreign policy, backed by Republicans and Democrats, for close to four decades, but it is increasingly being challenged, partially because of Muslim immigration...Muslim immigration is helping shape a less pro-Israel policy, for a few reasons: The first, and most important, is that more Muslim immigration means more Muslim voters and campaign contributors. This is more than simply a matter of numbers; because politically active Muslims are so focused on changing U.S. policy in the Middle East, and because they are relatively well-educated and prosperous, their intensity and commitment can have a disproportionate affect on policy... A final, longer-term threat to Israel from U.S. Muslim immigration comes from the possibility of terrorism fatigue. Muslim immigration helps facilitate domestic terrorism, with immigrant communities serving, as Mao might have said, as the sea within which the terrorists swim as fish... U.S. support for Israel at a crossroads - we can continue with our current policy of high immigration and guarantee a steady erosion of support for Israel; or we can reduce immigration, slowing the growth of the Muslim population and allowing America's powerful assimilative forces to work. We can't have both. SEE ALSO: "The Jewish Stake in America's Changing Demography: Reconsidering a Misguided Immigration Policy" http://www.cis.org/articles/2001/back1301.html NOTE: An editor of this same publication recently made the "sarcastic" suggestion that "nuking Mecca" would send a "signal" to Muslims. In response to Muslim concerns about that statement, major advertisers considered pulling their ads from the National Review. SEE: CANCEL MY SUBSCRIPTION United Press International, 4/8/2002 Word is traveling through editorial circles in Washington and New York that a major opinion journal is under fire because of intemperate remarks made by some of its writers about Muslims. The story is that some Islamic-American organizations have been leaning on major advertisers, complaining about anti-Islamic statements that have appeared in the magazine and on the Web site since Sept. 11. Some of the advertisers are reportedly considering pulling their ads from the journal in response to the complaints. ACTION REQUESTED: (As always, be POLITE. The National Review has a history of taking one or two hostile comments out of hundreds of messages and using them to paint a negative image of Islam and Muslims.) CONTACT ONE OF THE NATIONAL REVIEW'S ADVERTISERS to express your concerns about the anti-Muslim content of the publication in which they advertise. CONTACT: THOMPSON CIGAR COMPANY 5401 Hangar Court, P.O. Box 30303, Tampa, FL 33630-3303 800-216-7107 FAX 813-882-4605 http://www.thompsoncigar.com/ E-MAIL: (through the web site) COPY TO: jonahemail@aol.com, letters@nationalreview.com, sbudd@nationalreview.com, cair@cair-net.org ----- INS ORDERS STATE, LOCAL AGENCIES TO KEEP DETAINEE INFO SECRET By WAYNE PARRY, The Associated Press, 4/18/2002 NEWARK, N.J. - The U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service issued an order barring state and local governments from releasing the identities of post-Sept. 11 detainees. A New Jersey judge has ordered the identities of those being held in county jails to be made public, but gave the federal government until Monday to seek a stay of his ruling from a higher court. Asserting that national security and the safety of the detainees could be endangered by releasing their names, the agency issued a new rule Wednesday, claiming that federal law supersedes any state or local claims to the information. The order by INS Commissioner James W. Ziglar clarifies what had been INS policy already, according to a government official who spoke on condition of anonymity. It came five days before the deadline set by a New Jersey judge for the U.S. Justice Department and authorities in Hudson and Passaic counties to release the names of detainees being held in their jails. "This is the government codifying its right to secretly arrest and detain people," said Deborah Jacobs, executive director of the Newark chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union... Sohail Mohammed, an immigration attorney who has represented dozens of detainees, said the INS is making an argument that was already rejected in state court. "The federal government made that argument before the judge, and the judge wasn't impressed," he said. "To carve out a distinction for one class of prisoners is playing with fire. This is just another roadblock they're trying to throw up..." According to the most recent count by the INS, 327 detainees remained in custody in mid-February, most of them in jails in northern New Jersey... ----- ANTI-TERRORISM BILL FOCUSES ON IMMIGRANTS Those without papers could be detained By Trent Seibert, The Denver Post, 4/17/2002 http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1002,61%257E532293,00.html The legislature will consider an anti-terrorism measure to give Colorado law enforcement officers the power to detain those who may be in violation of immigration laws. "In light of 9/11, we need to do our part to help regulate the illegal immigrants in this country," said the bill's sponsor, Rep. Don Lee, R-Littleton. Critics of his proposal are gearing up for a fight. They say Lee's House Bill 1448 gives police too much power and would allow officers to lock up immigrants for nothing more than simply forgetting to keep their paperwork with them... ----- PALESTINIANS SIFT THROUGH JENIN RUBBLE FOR CORPSES By Christine Hauser, Reuters, 4/18/2002 JENIN REFUGEE CAMP, West Bank (Reuters) - Broken concrete hung precariously above dusty Palestinians as they sifted through the rubble of a home in Jenin refugee camp Thursday in a grisly search for corpses. "Careful, careful, look for the body parts," said one of the excavators as he handed up a sheet filled with dirt to helpers standing on the heaped remains of the house. Using household brooms, Palestinians wearing green surgical face masks to ward off the stench gently brushed away the dust, gradually uncovering chunks of flesh and bones. Above them, the upper story of the shattered building threatened to cave in. Flies swarmed as what appeared to be a broken rib cage and other body pieces were lifted from the ruins, loaded onto a stretcher, and carted off across the hillocks of rubble that now make up much of the center of the camp... Those nearby handed out perfume bottles to workers to try to sweeten the acrid air... Palestinians have struggled to find enough places to keep the decomposing corpses. In the garden of Abu Ghali's hospital, small mounds of earth mark the temporary graves of some 15 bodies recovered from the camp... Islam Abed pulled a shredded Koran from a window sill of one broken building and leafed through its pages, kissing it gently and touching the Muslim holy book to his forehead in respect... ----- ISRAELI ARMY WAS "MORALLY REPUGNANT" IN JENIN, UN ENVOY SAYS By CLAIRE SNEGAROFF, Agence France Presse, 4/18/2002 JENIN REFUGEE CAMP, West Bank, - Israel faced growing scrutiny on Thursday over its assault on Palestinians in the West Bank after the UN Middle East envoy said the Jewish state had been "morally repugnant." Terje Roed-Larsen denounced Israel for blocking aid to the wounded at a Palestinian refugee camp in one of the fiercest battles of its military campaign, now easing slightly after three weeks. The accusations came a day after US Secretary of State Colin Powell wrapped up a would-be peace mission that failed to hammer out a truce between Israel and the Palestinians. "It is totally unacceptable and horrific beyond belief," Roed-Larsen told AFP as he toured the Jenin camp. The Palestinians claim around 500 people were massacred in Jenin, many of them women and children, and that some were summarily executed after surrendering... "It is totally unacceptable that the government of Israel for 11 days did not allow search and rescue teams to come. This is morally repugnant," said Roed-Larsen, UN Special Coordinator for the occupied Palestinian territories. "The stench of death is horrible," he said. "We have expert people here who have been in war zones and earthquakes and they say they have never seen anything like it." Meanwhile the US group Human Rights Watch issued a report claiming Israeli soldiers have used Palestinians as human shields, forcing them to open suspicious packages, orchestrate raids on houses, and inform on their neighbours... ----- AT STONY BROOK, A CALL FOR PEACE IN MIDEAST By Olivia Winslow, Newsday (New York, NY), 4/18/2002 http://www.newsday.com/mynews/ny-limusl182674608apr18.story About 100 people gathered near the fountain on the SUNY Stony Brook campus yesterday, their signs proclaiming: "Stop the Apartheid," "End the Killings," "End Media Bias Against Palestine," "No U.S. $$$ for Occupation." The rally for "a just peace in the Middle East" was sponsored by three student groups: the Muslim Student Association, Students for Peace and Humanity and Radicals Against War. "We thought on campus there wasn't a voice heard from the other side, said Azlan Tariq, president of the Muslim Student Association. Tariq said the group wanted to "bring awareness" to people about the Palestinians' plight. The demonstration followed a pro-Israel rally on the campus Tuesday, which took note of Memorial Day in Israel, when the nation remembers its dead. At yesterday's rally, many speakers said Israel should withdraw its military and settlers from the occupied territories, and said the United States should end military aid to Israel to force it to do so. Ghazi Khankan, executive director of the tristate chapter of the Council on American Islamic Relations and director of interfaith affairs at the Islamic Center of Long Island, told the crowd that Islam stood for peace. He condemned acts of violence and offered condolences to the families of Palestinians and Israelis killed in the conflict. However, he said, "The Palestinians are an occupied people and the occupation is brutal. It is apartheid." In an interview earlier, Khankan said, "It's about time we implement all the UN Security Council resolutions calling on Israel to withdraw." He sought students' support for a petition calling on President George W. Bush to end military aid to Israel in light of Israel's refusal to bow to Bush's demand it withdraw its military from the West Bank... ----- ISRAEL QUIETLY SETS UP PERMANENT HOMES IN HEBRON The Associated Press, 4/18/2002 Israel has granted final approval for the construction of permanent housing in a Jewish settlement in the center of the West Bank city of Hebron, defense officials said Thursday. Palestinian officials in the city did not immediately comment on the decision, but local Palestinians had tried to block the move in Israeli courts. Eighteen homes are to be built on the site in the Tel Romeida neighborhood, said a leader of the Hebron settlers, Noam Arnon. The city is divided, with Israeli troops controlling 20 percent in the center where about 450 Jewish settlers live. Palestinians number 130,000... Nationalist Jews moved into Hebron the year after it was captured from Jordan in the 1967 war and established the first Jewish settlement in the newly occupied territories. ----- ISRAELI SIEGE OF JESUS' BIRTHPLACE UNITES PALESTINIAN CHRISTIANS By SEBASTIEN BLANC, Agence France Presse, 4/18/2002 RAMALLAH, West Bank, April 18 - Israel's campaign in the West Bank, and especially the siege of the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, has united the dwindling number of Palestinian Christians. Each day, as the curfew is lifted briefly in this Israeli-occupied town, groups of people gather in front of the city's churches. As humanitarian aide is distributed, voices rise in condemnation of the army. "The Israeli offensive, notably at the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem unites all the Christians in the West Bank and upsets those abroad," says one man at the Greek Orthodox Convent of the Transfiguration. Churchgoer Rabab Sous says "the Nativity is not just a building of stone, but a sacred place that they (the Israelis) do not respect." Yacoub Khoury, a priest, says "this war has united us all the more." Just over a century ago, Christians made up about 13 percent of the population of what are now Israel and the Palestinian territories, but emigration has reduced that figure to only about two percent today. Most of them are Palestinian Arabs. There are about three million people in the Palestinian territories, but only some 50,000 Christians. Ramallah is an exception to the general rule. Khoury says Christians were in a majority there until the war that followed the creation of Israel in 1948 drove many Muslims out of their homes. But even today, there are an estimated 10,000 to 12,000 Christians out of a total population of about 40,000... ----- ISRAELI ARMY USING CIVILIANS AS HUMAN SHIELD: US RIGHTS REPORT By DMITRY ZAKS, Agence France Presse, 4/18/2002 JERUSALEM, April 18 - A leading US rights group issued a damning report Thursday on the Israeli army's conduct, accusing soldiers of routinely forcing Palestinian civilians to open suspicious packages and search homes of suspected militants. New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) said witness testimony suggests discipline among Israeli troops has unraveled severely over the past six months, and that some recent army violations on the West Bank amounted to war crimes. The 24-page report concludes that the army regularly ignores international conventions by placing the life of civilians in jeopardy by forcing them -- often at gunpoint -- to help orchestrate house raids and inform on their neighbors. "We think that such incidents continue in more or less every raid conducted by the Israeli army on the West Bank," said Peter Bourkhaerdt, a senior HRW researcher for emergency situations who led the investigation. "The IDF (Israeli Defense Forces) must stop using civilians in these very dangerous and inappropriate roles," Bourkhaerdt told AFP. "They are placing civilians in serious risk." He said only Russian forces in the separatist Muslim republic of Chechnya have been known to engage in similar practices in recent years... In the Beit Rima raid of October 24, HRW quoted a woman named Radi Yusuf Ahmad Hajjaj as saying the Israeli army "broke down the door of my house, took my husband, and compelled him to assist them in carrying out arrests." In Salfit, Amal, a 30-year-old nurse, reported Israeli soldiers "pointing a gun at my son and threatening my husband. They told him they would take his wife and children hostage and kill them if he did not do what we say." The report said Israeli troops demolished dozens of buildings with civilians still inside in Tulkarem, while in Artas at least one civilian was shot after initially failing to lead soldiers to his brother, a suspected militant. An Israeli soldier shot Ahmad al-Yas Aysh "in the upper leg in order to pressure his brother to surrender to IDF forces," the report said... ----- COMMENTARY: START WITH PALESTINIAN STATEHOOD A European plan to end the occupation first is the best formula. By GRAHAM E. FULLER, The Los Angeles Times, 4/18/2002 http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/opinion/la-000027505apr18.story Graham E. Fuller is former vice chairman of the National Intelligence Council at the CIA. What does it take to recognize failure? Secretary of State Colin Powell's trip has ended in complete collapse, as the administration remains mired in a "peace process" that is empty of content. We are back to a brutal and hopeless impasse. The reason for continuing failure? Let's reduce it to a bumper sticker: "It's the occupation, stupid." Until that issue is addressed, nothing else will fall into place. It is time for some radical new thinking. The European foreign ministers in February unanimously backed a proposal that reverses the sequence of the whole game, calling for the establishment of a Palestinian state as the starting point of a negotiating process. The new state would receive immediate international recognition by the world's states, including the U.S. and Israel, a seat at the United Nations and immediate global financial assistance and would be empowered to negotiate with Israel on terms of legal equality... ----- FRESH EVIDENCE OF JENIN ATROCITIES By Phil Reeves in Jerusalem, The Independent, 4/18/2002 http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/story.jsp?story=286197 Evidence of atrocities by Israeli troops in Jenin refugee camp grew yesterday when a British pathologist said he found "highly suspicious" wounds during the first autopsy on a victim. Derrick Pounder, professor of forensic medicine at Dundee University, who is working with Amnesty International, visited the ruined camp and said: "Claims that a large number of civilians died and are under the rubble are highly credible. It is not believable that only a few people have been killed, given the reports we have that a large number of people were inside three and four-storey buildings when they were demolished." The autopsy on the 38-year-old Palestinian revealed that "he was either shot in the foot, and then in the back, or shot in the back first - receiving a fatal wound - and his corpse was for some reason shot in the foot," he said. "Whichever order the shots occurred in, it was highly suspicious..." Richard Cook, head of operations for Unrwa - the UN agency for Palestinian refugees - visited the camp yesterday. He said: "I was absolutely appalled. I anticipated it to a degree but the devastation was much greater than I expected." The Foreign Office said "disproportionate and excessive" force had been used by Israel, and "clearly civilians were not properly protected". SEE ALSO: Jenin camp 'horrific beyond belief' http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/middle_east/newsid_1937000/1937387.stm Jenin massacre 'evidence growing' http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/middle_east/newsid_1937000/1937048.stm ----- MUSLIM WOMEN BRUTALIZED IN INDIA'S GUJARAT - REPORT By Sugita Katyal, Reuters, 4/18/2002 NEW DELHI (Reuters) - The day after 59 people were burnt alive in a train in India's western state of Gujarat last month, a screaming mob chased Sultani Sheikh and her family with sticks, swords and cans of kerosene in their hands. "My clothes were stripped and I was left stark naked. One by one the men raped me," Sultani, a Muslim woman from Delol village told a panel examining the impact on Muslim women of the country's worst religious bloodshed in a decade. "I lost count after three," a report by the panel quotes her as saying. "All the while I could hear my son crying." According to the report by a coalition of women's groups, many Muslim females suffered the most "bestial forms of sexual violence" including rape, insertion of objects into their bodies and burning in the violence. More than 750 people, most of them belonging to India's minority Muslim population, have died in a wave of reprisal killings and communal clashes in Gujarat since a Muslim mob torched the train carrying Hindu activists in Godhra. The six-member team of women's activists spoke to hundreds of witnesses and survivors of the religious mayhem to prepare the report, entitled "How has the Gujarat Massacre Affected Minority Women: The Survivors Speak." "Many of the women who were raped were then burnt to death," Malini Ghose, a member of the team, told Reuters on Thursday. But survivors and witnesses had horrific tales to tell the panel. Saira Banu, living in a refugee camp in Ahmedabad, Gujarat's main city which bore the brunt of the violence, says a group of men cut open her nine-month pregnant relative's stomach, took out her fetus with a sword and threw it into a blazing fire. Medina Mustafa Sheikh, another refugee in an Ahmedabad camp, says she heard her young daughter screaming for help as a group of men raped her in a maize field where her family had hidden to escape a bloodthirsty mob of 500 people. "My daughter was screaming in pain asking the men to leave her alone. My mind was seething with fear and fury. I could do nothing to help my daughter from being assaulted sexually and tortured to death," Medina told the women's panel. "My daughter was like a flower, still to see life...the monsters tore my beloved daughter to pieces," she said. Activists working at a relief camp in Ahmedabad said many women arrived naked at the camp. One woman was brought to the camp unconscious, bleeding profusely, her body covered with bites and marks and relief workers dressing her wounds said they had to removed pieces of wood that had been pushed up her vagina... ----- AFTER 9-11, OFFICIAL TERROR KICKS IN VICTIMS OF THE DRAGNET By James Ridgeway, The Village Voice, 4/17-23/2002 http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0216/ridgeway.php Syed Ali likes to tell the story of taking his family down to Washington to attend President George W. Bush's inauguration. He had contributed to Bush's presidential campaign. As a Pakistani immigrant who came to the U.S. more than 20 years ago, Ali is the model immigrant success story, working his way up to being a partner in a Manhattan security firm. A half-million-dollar home in the suburbs, three cars, kids in private schools, trips to France, Sweden, and Great Britain. He also contributed money to Al Gore, but he has a picture of Bush on his computer. He was waiting for his citizenship papers to come through. But September 11 brought an end to Ali's dream. He sat in a New York City courtroom listening to himself described as a likely terrorist. He is one of perhaps 1200 Muslim men who have been held in New Jersey and New York jails, often on the pretext of violating the immigration laws. The FBI, using the INS as a "front," as one attorney puts it, pulled in every Muslim it thought to be suspicious. A police check of a car parked in front of a fire hydrant led to one arrest. Another detainee had renewed his driver's license in a Florida motor-vehicle office shortly after one of the September 11 terrorists renewed his license. An executive was pulled over for a traffic violation and suddenly found half a dozen cops all over him, screaming, "Terrorist!"... ----- FROM TANKS TO TALKS, WILL FUTURE HOLD CONFLICT OR CALM? By LAURIE DAVIES, The Tyler Morning Telegraph, 4/16/2002 http://www.tylerpaper.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=3867294&BRD=1994&PAG=461&dept_id=226369&rfi=6 With a violent past behind them and a nervous present at hand, one thing is sure for the inhabitants of the sliver of land on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea: They will have a future. The question is, what kind of future will it be? Even as U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell reported progress in talks with Israelis and Palestinians Tuesday, Israeli tanks rolled into three Palestinian suburbs of Jerusalem and re-entered a fourth West Bank city. And while Israelis prepared to observe Israel Independence Day Wednesday, Red Cross teams began gathering bodies in what Palestinians called a "massacre" at the Jenin refugee camp on the northern edge of the West Bank. There are those who believe Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat is not a nation-builder but a bloodstained terrorist. Then again, there are those who believe Israel Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is not a peace-broker but a bully sending tanks to face rock-throwing protesters. Will there ever be a solution? If so, what will it cost?... ----- 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 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 ----- AMERICAN MUSLIM NEWS BRIEFS - 4/19/2002 ----- HEADLINES: * VERSE OF THE DAY: LIGHT UPON LIGHT * MUSLIM WOMEN IN VA MARK ANNIVERSARY OF RAIDS WITH VIGIL * REP. MCKINNEY REQUESTS HEARING ON PALESTINIAN RELIEF RESTRICTIONS * PALESTINIAN SAYS ISRAEL ROADBLOCKS COST BABY'S LIFE (Reuters) * DOZENS OF BODIES FOUND IN WEST BANK REFUGEE CAMPS (Scottish Daily Record) * ONCE-PROUD CIVIL RIGHTS GROUP DEFENDS ATROCITIES OF FOREIGN ARMY * AGENTS OF INFLUENCE (Antiwar.com) * POLL: AMERICANS CONTINUE TO PLACE EQUAL BLAME ON PALESTINIANS AND ISRAELIS * ARABS FUEL A BOYCOTT OF U.S. GOODS (Wall Street Journal) * PALESTINIANS IN US LAMENT THE UNHEARD SIDE IN CONFLICT (Los Angeles Times) * U.S. CAMPAIGNERS PROMISE BIGGEST EVER PRO-PALESTINIAN DEMO (AFP) * PALESTINIANS BURY THEIR DEAD BURY THEIR DEAD IN COMMON GRAVES (Reuters) * ARE THE ISRAELIS GUILTY OF MASS MURDER? (The Scotsman) * JENIN CAMP A SURREAL WASTELAND OF SURVIVAL, DEATH (Reuters) * US MAY VETO U.N. RESOLUTION ON PROBE OF JENIN (Reuters) * PALESTINIAN SURVIVES 10 DAYS BURIED BENEATH JENIN RUBBLE (AFP) * FAMILIES SCRABBLE IN THE DUST TO FIND THEIR DEAD (Independent) * U.S. LAWMAKERS TO PUSH MEASURES BACKING ISRAEL (Reuters) * SECRECY IS SWEPT FROM HEARING (Detroit Free Press) * STATES ARE TOLD TO KEEP DETAINEE INFORMATION SECRET (New York Times) * ISRAELIS REJECT VISIT FROM BAY AREA 'SHIELDS' (San Francisco Chronicle) * EXECUTIVE'S SUIT ALLEGES ETHNIC BIAS (San Jose Mercury News) * FBI's DALLAS BOSS IS RETIRING (Fort Worth Star-Telegram) ----- VERSE OF THE DAY: LIGHT UPON LIGHT 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 a brilliant star, lit from a blessed Tree, an Olive neither of the East nor of the West whose Oil is well-nigh luminous though fire scarce touched it. Light upon Light! God doth guide whom He will to His Light. The Holy Quran, Chapter 24, Verse 35 ----- - MEDIA ADVISORY - MUSLIM WOMEN IN VA MARK ANNIVERSARY OF RAIDS WITH VIGIL WHAT: On Sunday, April 21, Sisters in Solidarity, an interfaith and inter-community women's group, will hold a candle-light prayer vigil and "teach-in" to mark the one-month anniversary of government raids on Muslim institutions and homes in Northern Virginia and Georgia. Islamic advocacy groups expressed outrage over the March 20th raids and called them a "fishing expedition" that used McCarthy-like tactics and unconstitutional procedures against highly-respected members of the Muslim community. At the evening event, civil rights activists will discuss how citizens can proactively defend their legal rights and will outline the negative civil liberties implications of the Patriot Act. Event participants will also create a quilt representing "Sisters Stand Firm" to show strength through unity. WHEN: Sunday, April 21, 6-8 p.m. (Vigil will take place rain or shine.) WHERE: Herndon Town Green, Downtown Herndon, 717 Lynn St., Herndon, VA CONTACT: Tel: 571-217-4034, E-mail: afeefas@aol.com, umjibreel@yahoo.com ----- REP. MCKINNEY REQUESTS HEARING ON PALESTINIAN RELIEF RESTRICTIONS April 18, 2002 The Honorable Ileana Ros-Lehtinen Chair, Subcommittee on International Operations and Human Rights 2160 Rayburn House Office Building Washington, DC 20515 Dear Chairwoman Ros-Lehtinen: I would like to request that our subcommittee hold a hearing on restrictions on the proper functioning of the United Nations Relief Works Agency (UNRWA), the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), and other international relief agencies operating in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip. Since the start of the violence in fall 2000, there have been numerous reports of UNRWA, ICRC, and other relief agencies being prevented from reaching, evacuating, and treating the sick and wounded throughout the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The Jenin refugee camp, for example, which is administered by UNRWA, has been the scene of massive devastation and as yet unknown numbers of civilian casualties. Both UNRWA and ICRC officials, along with other relief agencies were denied access to the camp for 15 days while curfews have prevented the camp's residents from accessing what little aid has been allowed to enter. UNRWA officials report that many of the wounded have been allowed to bleed to death and that many wounded and dead are still trapped underneath the rubble. The camp has been without water for more than 2 weeks and there are growing concerns about the spread of disease. In addition, UN and other international agencies' personnel and property have themselves been targets of military attack. UNRWA and ICRC ambulances have been shot at and, in some cases, confiscated. Internationally accredited medical personnel have also been shot at and sometimes are arrested. UNRWA's facilities in Jenin sustained widespread damage, including to its school and clinic, and its Camp Services Office and Sanitation Stores were leveled to the ground. As you know, international humanitarian law prohibits such attacks, as well as restrictions on access to water, food, medicine, emergency assistance, and medical attention during times of conflict. Yet these attacks and restrictions are carried out routinely in the Occupied Territories and have increased dramatically since March 29. The U.S. government has called on Israeli authorities to allow humanitarian aid workers and supplies to reach affected civilian populations. Secretary of State Colin Powell told reporters in Jerusalem on April 13, "The United States is deeply concerned about the serious humanitarian situation of the Palestinian people...We call upon Israel to respect international humanitarian principles and to allow full and unimpeded access to humanitarian organizations and services to provide basic humanitarian services, including evacuation of the wounded and deceased. In this regard, we are particularly concerned at the humanitarian situation in Jenin." Likewise, on April 14, President Bush's national security advisor Condoleezza Rice told NBC's Meet the Press that she too has informed the Israeli government "about the importance of getting the International Committee of the Red Cross into the area as soon as is physically possible." The United States contributed $115 million to the ICRC worldwide in FY 2001, and provides over $100 million (or roughly 20-25% of its annual budget) to UNRWA each year. A hearing by the International Operations and Human Rights subcommittee should look at the current restrictions on UNRWA, ICRC, and other international relief agencies and consider ways to facilitate the proper functioning and protection of these international agencies. Sincerely, Cynthia A. McKinney Member of Congress SEND NOTES OF THANKS TO: The Honorable Cynthia A. McKinney U.S. House of Representatives 124 Cannon Building Washington, DC 20515 Tel: 202 225 1605 Fax: 202 226 0691 E-MAIL: cymck@mail.house.gov COPY TO: cair@cair-net.org URL: http://www.house.gov/mckinney/ ----- PALESTINIAN SAYS ISRAEL ROADBLOCKS COST BABY'S LIFE Reuters, 4/19/02 NABLUS, West Bank, April 19 (Reuters) - A Palestinian photographer said on Friday his newborn daughter had died overnight because delays at Israeli army checkpoints had prevented him from getting her to a Nablus hospital. "I have lost my only baby -- whom I called Dunya, Arabic for life -- because of these damned roadblocks," Nasser Shtayyeh, 32, who covers Nablus for The Associated Press, told reporters... Shtayyeh said he had tried to get the five-day-old infant to hospital in the West Bank town of Nablus from the family home in the village of Salem, about five km (three miles) away... ----- DOZENS OF BODIES FOUND IN WEST BANK REFUGEE CAMPS Scottish Daily Record & Sunday Mail Ltd., 4/19/02 http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/news/page.cfm?objectid=11801450&method=full MORE horrific evidence of Israel's continuing massacre in the West Bank emerged yesterday. In the Nablus refugee camp, 35 bodies were found. In Jenin, Palestinians looking for survivors clawed with bare hands at the ruins of their refugee camp. They believe hundreds may be buried beneath the rubble. The UN envoy to the Middle East called the scene in Jenin "horrifying beyond belief". Terje Roed-Larsen added: "It looks like there's been an earthquake here and the stench of death is over many places where we are standing." He said 300 buildings had been destroyed and 2000 people left homeless. He added: "Not any objective can justify such action with colossal suffering". Jenin hospital director Muhammed Abu Ghali said 36 bodies had been recovered so far. Israel, who lost 23 soldiers during their two- week military operation, claim 70 people have been killed - all militants. US President George Bush, meanwhile, praised Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon as "a man of peace." ----- ONCE-PROUD CIVIL RIGHTS GROUP DEFENDS ATROCITIES OF FOREIGN ARMY ADL SAYS UN ENVOYS COMMENTS ABOUT CONDITION IN JENIN 'ONE-SIDED' U.S. Newswire, 04/18/2002 NEW YORK, N.Y., April 18 /U.S. Newswire/ -- The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) today expressed concern with U.N. envoy to the Middle East Terje Roed-Larsen's one-sided comments about conditions in the Jenin refugee camp without further reference to Jenin's use as a base for anti-Israel terrorist planning and operations. Abraham H. Foxman, ADL national director, issued the following statement: "Unfortunately, Mr. Roed-Larsen's one-sided comments contain no reference to Jenin's use as a planning and operations base by terrorists striking at Israeli targets, nor to the fierce battles necessitated by the armed offensive by Palestinians in these locations. "Israel is doing all it can to improve conditions in Jenin. However, the Israeli Army needed to ensure that the area was safe and that all threats from snipers and booby traps were removed before full access to aid agencies could be granted... The Anti-Defamation League, founded in 1913, is the world's leading organization fighting anti-Semitism through programs and services that counteract hatred, prejudice and bigotry. ----- AGENTS OF INFLUENCE By Justin Raimondo, Antiwar.com http://www.antiwar.com/justin/j041902.html Israel Firsters rally against Bush-Powell peace plan We don't really need to know much about the recent "We stand with Israel, now and forever" rally held in Washington, D.C., except the following report from Associated Press: "A top administration official was interrupted and booed Monday when he told thousands of people gathered at the Capitol for a pro-Israel rally that Palestinians as well as Israelis have been victims of Mideast violence. Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz was drowned out by chants of 'no more Arafat' and booed as he told a packed crowd of thousands that 'innocent Palestinians are suffering and dying as well. It is critical that we recognize and acknowledge that fact...'" "On September 12th, the day after the terrorist attack on our country, my neighbor and friend, Bill Bennett, said to me, 'Now we are all Israelis.'"Here is the perfect device to evade the present conflict between American and Israeli interests in the Middle East: simply deny the divergence by proclaiming that, somehow, Americans are Israelis. But is America really analogous to an occupying power, one that, furthermore, finds itself in natural collision with the entire Arab-Muslim world?... Israel wants the right to be left alone - as long as the US foots the bill. Those IDF tanks, those modern weapons, those bloody bulldozers - all were paid for by the US taxpayers. That's $90 billion-plus since 1949. Oh, yes, I'm sure they want to be left alone to spend our money on building "settlements" over bulldozed Palestinian communities - and attack helicopters to do battle with stone-throwing children - and yet surely the US has some interest in not being seen as an accomplice to Sharon's crimes. But since "we are all Israelis now," there are no American interests, only Israeli interests... The outrageousness of sending Benjamin Netanyahu to openly lobby the US Senate, and make a direct appeal to the Democrats - who flocked to support him - was equaled only by the nerve of inviting Natan Sharansky, Israel's deputy prime minister, to address the rally. The spectacle of a high Israeli official at an American political rally, on American soil, not-so-implicitly scolding an American President for his Mideast policy, was an act of brazen insolence, the sort of behavior that wouldn't be tolerated from any other country... Whether or not the Israeli government was directly involved, or merely encouraged and indirectly supported these activities, the reality is that the Israel Firsters are little more than a small, somewhat wacky, albeit vociferous fifth column, whose influence is way out of proportion to their actual numbers. A Time-CNN poll, released April 12, shows that most Americans would reduce or completely eliminate aid to Israel if Sharon doesn't withdraw his troops from Palestinian areas. 60 percent would cut or eliminate aid; and a full 75 percent support America's diplomatic initiative. As such a great believer in the virtues of "democracy," will Bennett now accede to the wishes of the majority and accept the end of aid to Israel? I thought not... ----- AMERICANS CONTINUE TO PLACE EQUAL BLAME ON PALESTINIANS AND ISRAELIS Harris Interactive Survey Shows Only Slight Support For Saudi Arabian Peace Plan ROCHESTER, N.Y., April 19 - (PR Newswire) As U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell heads home, after nearly a week of unproductive "shuttle diplomacy" between Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian Chairman Yasser Arafat, more Americans continue to blame both sides equally for the violence there. Furthermore, both Sharon's and Arafat's ratings continue to be very negative, although slightly improved from their high negatives a month ago. Americans seem to favor -- but only slightly -- the recent peace initiative proposed by Saudi Arabia and endorsed by The Arab League which states that all Arab states would recognize and make peace with Israel in return for the creation of an independent Palestinian state on the West Bank and Gaza. A very slight majority (51%) of the American public supports this plan with 22% opposing it. Just over a quarter (26%) are not sure reflecting, perhaps, the complexity and the fluidity of the events in the Middle East. These are some of findings of the latest issue of The Harris Poll(R), conducted by telephone by Harris Interactive(SM) among a national cross-section of 1,021 adults aged 18 or over, between April 9 and 15, 2002. Other key findings include: While it seems that Americans are slightly more negative to the Palestinians, this doesn't mean that support for Israel is increasing. The ratings of both Prime Minister Sharon (66% negative, 23% positive) and Chairman Arafat (85% negative, 6% positive) have worsened in the past four weeks. This might be attributed to the perceived intransigence of both men... ----- ARABS FUEL A BOYCOTT OF U.S. GOODS By Hugh Pope, The Wall Street Journal, 4/19/02 Calls for a boycott of U.S. products are spreading in the Middle East amid anger over U.S. policies that many Arabs say favor Israel. So far, boycotts haven't cut noticeably into sales, say U.S. companies doing business in the Middle East. Still, the persistent appeals differ from past boycott efforts, which were often organized by governments. The current efforts arise from women's groups, citizen committees, trade unions and other grass-roots organizations -- sources some executives fear will inflict longer-lasting damage to U.S. franchises and brand names. "We expect that it will have an impact," says Ahmed Linjawi, manager of Procter & Gamble Co.'s joint venture in Saudi Arabia. "The biggest concern is our image." Consumers shunning U.S. products could eventually hit sales, contributing to a projected 10% to 15% fall in U.S. exports to Saudi Arabia this year, diplomats say. U.S. companies, from Coca-Cola Co. to McDonald's Corp., sold $6 billion worth of goods and services to Saudi Arabia in 2001 and $3.7 billion worth to Egypt -- two of the region's biggest economies. Overall, exports to the Arab world make up about 3% of the U.S. total... "It's not organized," says Saudi businesswoman Suzan al-Dakhil. "I felt it from inside. It spreads by word of mouth." Ms. Dakhil says she won't buy U.S. goods in supermarkets or eat at Kentucky Fried Chicken outlets. When her son wanted to buy a car two weeks ago, she steered him away from the GMC Yukon he was considering, she said. He chose a Toyota... Participants and callers on "For Women Only," a chat show on the popular pan-Arab television program al-Jazeera, were unanimous this week on Arab women's duty to boycott Israeli and American products. "Women must break with American capitalist culture," said Amuza Ghabbash of al-Quds University in the United Arab Emirates... ----- PALESTINIANS IN US LAMENT THE UNHEARD SIDE IN CONFLICT By JOHANNA NEUMAN, Los Angeles Times, 4/19/02 http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-000027973apr19.story Laguna Beach shop owner Samera Sood is reluctant to discuss politics with patrons of her Native American art store. So when a customer recently noted her accent and asked where she was from, Sood said simply that she was born near Jerusalem. Taking Sood for an Israeli, the customer said she was glad the Palestinians were "getting what they deserved." Sood told the customer of the recent Israeli assault on the West Bank town of Jenin and the 1982 massacre of hundreds of Palestinians by Israeli allies at refugee camps in Lebanon. History, she said, should not be repeating itself. Jews, "of all people, should stand up," said Sood, who is president of the Palestinian American Women's Assn. of Southern California... "People are being killed," Sood said. "Why is the world not saying anything? Is their blood so cheap?"... "The core problem for us as citizens of this country is this disparity: Every effort by Palestinians to resist occupation is seen as an act of terrorism and every effort by Israel is seen as self-defense," said Nihad Awad, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations in Washington. They are also angry that their tax dollars, in the form of U.S. military aid to Israel, are helping finance the Apache attack helicopters and M-16s used in the current Israeli offensive, which has resulted in the deaths of relatives and the destruction of property. ----- U.S. CAMPAIGNERS PROMISE BIGGEST EVER PRO-PALESTINIAN DEMO Agence France Presse, 4/18/02 Campaigners are promising the biggest-ever pro-Palestinian demonstration in the United States on Saturday, hoping to wrest influence from the mighty pro-Israel lobby in US politics. Organisers of a coalition of pro-Palestine pressure groups are promising that tens of thousands of demonstrators will gather here to denounce US Middle East policy... Opponents of US foreign policy in the Middle East believe it is slanted too far towards Israel and hope to erode the power of the pro-Israel lobby, which musters strong support in Congress and the US government. "It doesn't take a rocket scientist to know that the Palestinians have been suffering at the hands of the Israelis helped by the American government," said Nihad Awad, Executive Director of the Council on American-Islamic relations. Awad said he has sensed an "awakening" among the US public to the Palestinian cause during more than 18 months of Israeli-Palestinian violence. The Palestinian protest, which hopes to draw marchers from across the United States, is to begin near the White House (White House Ellipse, Saturday, 11 a.m.), before tracing a course through the streets of Washington... ----- PALESTINIANS BURY THEIR DEAD BURY THEIR DEAD IN COMMON GRAVES By Christine Hauser, Reuters, 4/19/02 JENIN REFUGEE CAMP, West Bank - Thirty-five Palestinians swathed in white shrouds and some decked with purple flowers were buried on Friday in common graves in an olive grove on the edge of the Jenin refugee camp... Hospital officials believe the toll will climb into the hundreds as corpses are recovered from the rubble of the camp. Women in Muslim headscarves sat on the edges of five trenches carved into the olive field. Men, faces covered with green surgical masks to ward off the stench of rotting corpses, stood neck-deep in the trenches, arranging bodies head to foot... Women screamed and wailed as flatbed trucks bearing the bodies drove up to the graves. They ran up alongside the trucks as they were still moving, grabbing at the edges to hold on and trying to clutch at the bodies stacked on top. Arabic calligraphy in red was scrawled across the bodies, proclaiming the dead as martyrs. It was not possible to confirm how many of the 35 bodies buried were fighters or civilians. The bodies had been provisionally covered in shallow soil in the back lot of the main hospital before being dug up for a proper burial after Israeli forces withdrew from town. As women cried, a group of men sat silently with blank stares in a semi-circle under the shade of an olive tree. Women were carried away from the pits, their feet dragging in the dust. Others covered their heads with the dirt of the grave and some sobbed silently, turning their heads away. Mohammad Ali Ghali, director of Jenin's main hospital, said the final death toll could climb to anywhere between 200 and 400 once all corpses had been extracted from the rubble... ----- ARE THE ISRAELIS GUILTY OF MASS MURDER? By Ben Lynfield And Rory Macmillan, The Scotsman, 4/19/02 THEY left as departing heroes, waving victory salutes and grinning as they went. But even as Israel's forces pulled out of the Jenin refugee camp on the West Bank, relief workers were claiming the carnage and destruction left behind was like an earthquake. They spoke of a war crime on the scale of the Bosnia and Kosovo wars. The United Nations, allowed access after 12 days during which ambulances were turned away and scores of injured bleed to death, struggled to find words to describe the devastation. Terje Roed-Larsen, the UN special envoy, said simply: "We have expert people here who have been in war zones and earthquakes and they say they have never seen anything like it. It is horrifying beyond belief." The UN was at last beginning to extract the corpses and search for survivors beneath the rubble, as well as provide food, water and shelter to camp residents. Its officials were unable to bring to mind a time when they had been so obstructed as they had been by the Israelis. Peter Hansen, head of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency , who had served in the Balkans, said: "I and my colleagues working in crisis situations for decades do not recall a situation where co-operation from the authorities has been less than what we have experienced from the Israeli government. It is beyond any human decency to let ambulances, food and water stand outside the camp, as has been the case." Mr Hansen said soldiers had shot up the UN clinic in the camp. Destroyed, along with everything else, was a storage container for vaccines. He was shaken by what he had seen: "I today have seen decomposed bodies dug out. One was an 11-year-old child, judging from the size of his rib-cage..." ----- JENIN CAMP A SURREAL WASTELAND OF SURVIVAL, DEATH By Christine Hauser, Reuters, 4/19/02 JENIN REFUGEE CAMP, West Bank, April 19 (Reuters) - What do you say to a Palestinian refugee drenched with sweat from the effort of digging out his bombed house with a garden hoe, filling bucket after bucket with rubble? "Trust in God," were the only words a neighbour found to tell Yahya Salih as the 42-year-old stood ankle-deep in a hole he had made atop a mountain of dirt and concrete wreckage in the centre of the Jenin refugee camp in the West Bank. "My house is under here," said Salih, straightening up from his toils under the hot sun. "This was our bedroom," he said, plucking at an edge of foam rubber -- the corner of a mattress still buried deep in the ruins. "That is our pillow," he continued, pointing to the dusty stuffing where his little girl sat watching him from the edge of the shallow pit he had dug. "I am trying to find our identity cards at least, and to get to my wife's jewellery. My children need their clothes." For now, all Salih, who had worked as a car painter, had were the tools he was using to save his home, wife and children. He sat in the dirt to rest next to his five-year-old son Ahmed, who cuddled close to kiss his father's dusty beard... ----- US MAY VETO U.N. RESOLUTION ON PROBE OF JENIN Reuters, 4/19/200 UNITED NATIONS, April 19 (Reuters) - The United States appeared headed toward a veto on Friday of an Arab-drafted Security Council resolution that demands a probe of the devastation in the Jenin refugee camp by Israeli troops. Although the White House said it was not against some kind of investigation of Jenin, U.S. Ambassador John Negroponte said Washington wanted no resolution at all, despite compromises made by Arab delegates after discussions with Britain. "Alleviating the situation in Jenin should be our priority humanitarian objective at this time. Further Security Council action is not the best way to meet this objective," he told an open council meeting. "Rather, we can make more of an impact by working directly with the parties on the ground," Negroponte said. Israel has opposed all council measures, calling them unbalanced. Diplomats said Negroponte threatened a veto in private consultations, a step the United States in recent weeks has been loathe to do, presumably to avoid further inflaming tensions in the Arab world... U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan told reporters on Thursday he would approve an investigation but his first priority was to help the living in the Jenin camp, administered by the Palestinian Authority. He called on Israel to allow humanitarian workers full access, describing the destruction as "horrific." U.N. officials visiting the camp found "people digging out corpses from the rubble with bare hands," Annan said. "Meanwhile, no major emergency rescue operation has been allowed to begin. The destruction is massive and the impact on the civilian population is devastating," he said. Despite Israeli and U.S. opposition, Annan also renewed appeals for a "robust" international force in Palestinian territory to halt the latest upsurge of violence that begin in September 2000. But Aaron Jacob, Israel's deputy U.N. ambassador, immediately said "no" and White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said "the president thinks the purpose of America's military is to fight and win wars..." ----- PALESTINIAN SURVIVES 10 DAYS BURIED BENEATH JENIN RUBBLE Agence France Presse, 4/19/02 JENIN REFUGEE CAMP, West Bank - A Palestinian man was recovered alive Friday 10 days after being buried beneath rubble in the Jenin refugee camp in the West Bank, site of the heaviest fighting in Israel's three-week military offensive, a Palestinian Red Crescent official said. Hossam Sharkawi, who is in charge of emergency services, said the survivor had been taken to hospital but he had no information on his condition. He said it was the first true case of a survivor being pulled from the debris of the camp which was devastated during an Israeli army incursion. "Others were half-trapped in the remains or were afraid to come out," he told AFP, adding an international aid team had arrived in Jenin to assist with attempts to locate other survivors. Sharkawi said 26 bodies had been found in the ruins, including four children, two women and two elderly people who were more than 65 years old. An additional 10 bodies were unearthed from shallow, sand-covered graves in the grounds of the camp hospital Friday to be given a formal burial in the cemetery. Several other bodies were to be disinterred later... ----- FAMILIES SCRABBLE IN THE DUST TO FIND THEIR DEAD By Justin Huggler, The Independent (UK), 4/19/02 http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/story.jsp?story=286615 WHEN THEY found the body it was in pieces and so they gathered it all up out of the rubble, great chunks of blackened, rotting flesh with bits of bone sticking out, and piled them up on a blanket. The smell made us retch and stumble away gasping for clean air. The Palestinians said the pile of putrefying flesh and bone was Mohammed Massoud Abu Sb'a. The people of Jenin refugee camp returned to look for their dead yesterday amid the devastation that the Israeli army had made of their homes. The destruction here was more devastating than an earthquake, yet the Israelis have not allowed any heavy lifting equipment in here, so the Palestinians dug out the bodies with their hands, scrabbling in the dust and heaving away the broken blocks. They had brought a stretcher for the body we saw being dug up but a stretcher was not needed for fragments so they bundled them all up in a blanket and carried them away. Aid workers and human rights monitors have started to call this ground zero. The television pictures do not convey the devastation. You have to come here to walk over the dust and rubble that used to be people's homes, picking your way through the little pieces of their lives, the children's schoolbooks and discarded clothing. You have to smell the stench of death that clings to certain corners. The piles of rubble tower high above your head and the work of removing the bodies is nerve-racking and haunting... Another woman stopped us angrily outside the hospital. She was saying something had happened to her sister, but would not explain what. "See what Sharon has done to us," she said hysterically. "America is with Sharon, Britain is with Sharon." ----- U.S. LAWMAKERS TO PUSH MEASURES BACKING ISRAEL By Vicki Allen, Reuters, 4/18/02 WASHINGTON, April 18 (Reuters) - Key members of the House of Representatives said on Thursday they would seek up to $200 million in emergency aid to Israel, as U.S. lawmakers pushed bipartisan measures to support the Jewish State amid its campaign in Palestinian cities. Separately, two senators offered a bill that would impose sanctions on Palestinian President Yasser Arafat and the Palestine Liberation Organization, and two House members introduced a non-binding resolution expressing solidarity with Israel and citing Arafat's "ongoing support and coordination of terror..." Rep. Nita Lowey of New York, the top Democrat on the House Appropriations foreign aid subcommittee, said she and other members of the panel would push for up to $200 million in emergency aid for Israel as part of a $27 billion counter-terrorism package moving through Congress. Israel already receives $3 billion in U.S. assistance annually, and had sought up to $800 million more. ----- SECRECY IS SWEPT FROM HEARING By DAVID ASHENFELTER, Detroit Free Press, 4/19/02 http://www.freep.com/news/mich/haddad19_20020419.htm A U.S. appeals court dealt the Justice Department a blow Thursday in its efforts to conduct secret deportation hearings against people swept up in the federal terrorism probe. A three-judge panel of the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati gave the Free Press and other Detroit-area newspapers access to transcripts and documents from deportation proceedings against Ann Arbor Muslim activist Rabih Haddad. The judges also said Detroit Immigration Judge Elizabeth Hacker must open Haddad's court appearances to the public, while the appeals court considers the Justice Department's appeal to keep them private. The judges concluded that open hearings won't compromise the federal terror probe as the Justice Department contends. The appeals judges -- Martha Daughtrey, Karen Moore and Guy Cole -- said they decided to give the newspapers immediate access to Haddad's deportation hearings because the government isn't likely to win its appeal, which will be heard in coming weeks. The judges said deportation hearings enjoy the same constitutional protections as civil and criminal trials, which are presumptively open. ----- STATES ARE TOLD TO KEEP DETAINEE INFORMATION SECRET By DANNY HAKIM, The New York Times, 4/19/02 http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/19/national/19HEAR.html The Bush administration ordered state and local officials today not to release information about immigration detainees even as the government lost a crucial related battle in federal appeals court. The new directive was issued by James W. Ziglar, the commissioner of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, in consultation with the Justice Department. The rule prohibits state and local employees from disclosing the names of immigration detainees in their custody. The regulation follows a ruling last month by a New Jersey judge that ordered two county jails to release the names of immigrants detained after Sept. 11. The order is part of the government effort to keep secret the names of people taken into custody after Sept. 11 and bar access to their immigration hearings. That effort was dealt a legal setback today when a federal appeals court in Cincinnati said the government must release transcripts of past immigration court hearings in the case of Rabih Haddad, a detainee and a co-founder of a Muslim charity whose assets the government has frozen. The court, the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, said there was just a "slim likelihood" that it would reverse a lower court decision that compelled the government to open Mr. Haddad's future immigration hearings. Michigan newspapers, including The Detroit Free Press and The Detroit News, have sued to open the hearing of Mr. Haddad, a native of Lebanon who lived with his family in Ann Arbor. The newspapers were joined in the suit by the American Civil Liberties Union and Representative John Conyers Jr., Democrat of Michigan... ----- ISRAELIS REJECT VISIT FROM BAY AREA 'SHIELDS' By Ilene Lelchuk, The San Francisco Chronicle, 4/19/02 http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2002/04/19/MN140893.DTL Eight Americans, most from the Bay Area, who tried to reach the Palestinian territories this week to act as "human shields" were turned away at the Tel Aviv airport by Israeli officials, relatives and friends said yesterday... ----- EXECUTIVE'S SUIT ALLEGES ETHNIC BIAS By Howard Mintz, San Jose Mercury News, 4/19/02 http://www.bayarea.com/mld/bayarea/business/3093849.htm A former top executive at Advanced Micro Devices sued the chip giant Thursday, claiming company founder Jerry Sanders and other leaders humiliated him and forced him out after Sept. 11 because he is an Arab-American. Walid Maghribi claims Sanders and AMD President Hector Ruiz repeatedly directed ethnic slurs and jokes at him, according to a complaint filed in U.S. District Court in San Jose. ----- FBI's DALLAS BOSS IS RETIRING By BILL MILLER and JACK DOUGLAS JR., The Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 04/18/2002 DALLAS - Danny Defenbaugh, the top FBI official who innovated anti-terrorism units in North Texas but was sharply criticized for his role in the Oklahoma City bombing investigation, is retiring. Defenbaugh, an Ohio native, has been special agent in charge of the Dallas field office since 1998. He joined the FBI in 1969 and became a bomb expert. He was sent to Beirut to investigate the 1983 terrorist explosion that killed 241 U.S. military personnel. Defenbaugh, 51, was unavailable to comment Wednesday, but in a Tuesday e-mail obtained by The Associated Press, Defenbaugh told colleagues: "I have been so fortunate to live a dream beyond my dreams. I plan on staying in the area and begin my search for a new and challenging career." Council on American-Islamic Relations, praised Defenbaugh's prompt deployment of the bureau's hate crime specialists when the lives, property and mosques of Arab-Americans in North Texas were targeted for retaliation after Sept. 11. ----- 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, 202-489-5108 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 ----- AMERICAN MUSLIM NEWS BRIEFS - 4/20/2002 ----- HEADLINES: * RALLY FOR PALESTINE ATTRACTS 100,000 AMERICANS * TENS OF THOUSANDS GATHER FOR LARGEST PRO-PALESTINIAN PROTEST IN US (AFP) * THOSE WHO COULD NOT ATTEND THE RALLY CAN STILL HELP STOP ISRAELI AGGRESSION (Action Alert #328) ----- RALLY FOR PALESTINE ATTRACTS 100,000 AMERICANS (WASHINGTON, D.C., 4/20/02) - An estimated 100,000 Americans from diverse ethnic, religious and political backgrounds turned out today in the nation's capital to call for an end to the Israeli occupation of Palestinian land. The largest-ever national rally in support of the Palestinian people filled the White House Ellipse and poured into streets leading to Capitol Hill during the six-hour gathering. "Today's event brought together Muslims, Christians, Buddhists, and Jews, as well as people from a rainbow of ethnic backgrounds and political philosophies. The tremendous success of the rally shows that elected officials who offer blind support for Israel's brutal polices are out of step with their constituents," said Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) Executive Director Nihad Awad, who spoke on the Ellipse. Awad noted that rally participants included Korean-Americans, Filipinos, Native Americans and Hispanics. They chanted: "We are all Palestinians." "Today marks the beginning of a national broad-based coalition that will seek to put America's interests before those of a foreign government engaged in an Apartheid-like occupation of another people," said Awad. CAIR, a Washington-based Islamic advocacy group, called on all those at the rally to contact their elected representatives and demand an end to billions of American tax dollars being sent to Israel and an international investigation of the Israeli massacre of Palestinian civilians in the Jenin refugee camp. The main organizer of the protest was International A.N.S.W.E.R. SEE: http://www.internationalanswer.org NOTE: The rally was carried live on C-SPAN. Go to http://www.c-span.org to see if the rally video will be re-run over the weekend. ----- TENS OF THOUSANDS GATHER IN WASHINGTON FOR LARGEST PRO-PALESTINIAN PROTEST IN US By LAUREN GELFAND, Agence France Presse, 4/20/2002 WASHINGTON, April 20 - In the largest pro-Palestinian demonstration ever in the United States, tens of thousands of protesters gathered here Saturday to condemn what they saw as the US administration's pro-Israeli bent in the Mideast conflict... Police estimated that around 50,000 people took part in the peaceful protest although organizers, a coalition of pro-Palestinian pressure groups, put the figure at 100,000. Saturday's pro-Palestinian demonstration was billed as an answer to a mass protest by a reported 100,000 supporters of Israel Monday at the US Capitol, where speakers linked the Israeli offensive against the Palestinians to the US-led war on terror. The pro-Palestinian protesters came from across the United States, including chapters of Muslim American Societies from New Jersey, New York, Maryland, Virginia and Michigan, the Muslim Public Affairs Council, the Islamic American Institute and the Council on American-Islamic Relations. While Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz spoke at Monday's pro-Israel rally, there was no representative of George W. Bush's administration at Saturday's pro-Palestinian protest. Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney, a Democrat from Georgia, was due to address the crowd at the Capitol and the protesters heard a tape message of jailed former Black Panther member Mumia Abu-Jamal in support of the Palestinian cause. Iyad Hindi, 42, was in a group of some 400 who bussed in from Raleigh, North Carolina to participate in the event. Hindi, who belongs to Raleigh's Muslim-American Society, said the crowd was in Washington "to tell the Israelis there should be no occupation" of Palestinian territories -- and "as long as there is (occupation) there will be resistance." The group's "other message is to the United States government to stop the clear bias towards Israel," he said... Speakers took to the podium to decry the two billion dollars in military assistance the United States provides Israel annually. Among the protesters were members of "Orthodox Jews against Zionism" who led chants of "Judaism: yes, Zionism: No". Some families traveled from far to lend their support to the Palestinian cause and add their voices to the chorus for peace. Jesmin Saikh, 15, came with a group of 200 from Gaithersburg, Maryland. She said she wears a head scarf at school, and "obviously disagree(s)" with her Jewish friends at school over events in the Middle East. "But the thing that we share is that we know that both sides want peace," she said... ----- CAIR ACTION ALERT #328 THOSE WHO COULD NOT ATTEND THE RALLY CAN STILL HELP STOP ISRAELI AGGRESSION The media and elected officials need to hear from you (WASHINGTON, D.C., 4/20/2002) - As Israeli forces rampage throughout Palestine and attempt to cover-up their massacres in places like the refugee camp of Jenin, elected officials harm American interests by blindly supporting Israel's brutal actions. CAIR is calling on people of conscience to take positive steps in defense of the Palestinian people and in support of America's real interests in the region. Take two minutes to make your voice heard. Ask for the following: * An immediate and impartial investigation of the Israeli massacre committed in Jenin * An end to U.S. taxpayer dollars being used to kill innocent civilians, including Americans * An end to Israel's illegal use of American-taxpayer-funded weapons * An international peacekeeping force to protect the Palestinian people * A promise not to block U.N. resolutions that seek to investigate Israeli atrocities * A meeting with American Muslim leaders to discuss the Mideast crisis IMMEDIATE ACTION REQUESTED: 1) CONTACT: President George W. Bush, The White House, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20500 TEL: 202-456-1414, Press 1 FAX: 202-456-2461 E-MAIL: president@whitehouse.gov, secretary@state.gov, cair@cair-net.org 2) CONTACT your elected representatives to make the same point. To obtain contact information for your representative, go to: http://capwiz.com/cair/home/ or call 202-224-3121. Have your Zip Code ready. 3) CONTACT local and national media outlets to express your concerns. TALKING POINTS: * The occupation is the source of the conflict. Until the occupation ends, there can never be peace. * America's true interests are served by standing up for freedom and justice, not by blindly following the dictates of a foreign government and its domestic lobby. American officials must stop parroting the Israeli line and step in as honest brokers. * Palestinians will not stop resisting the Israeli occupation until they feel there is a just political solution in sight. * Israel has committed massacres in places like Jenin refugee camp. This fact has been witnessed by the international media, relief agencies and United Nations representatives. * Israeli attacks are a form of collective punishment, not strikes on perpetrators of crimes. * American weapons are supplied on the premise that they will be used only in self-defense, not in revenge attacks or to enforce an illegal military occupation. * This conflict pits one of the world's strongest armies against an unarmed civilian population. * Israeli actions could lead to a wider war in the region. ----- 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, 202-489-5108 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 ----- NOTE: Please send CAIR e-mail addresses of anyone who would like to be added to CAIR-NET. Send to: cair@cair-net.org ----- CAIR ACTION ALERT #329 CONGRESS SEEKS $200 MILLION IN ADDITIONAL MILITARY AID FOR ISRAEL Your tax dollars would reward Israeli aggression (WASHINGTON, D.C., 4/22/2002) - CAIR is calling on members of the Muslim community and other people of conscience to contact President Bush and state representatives to ask that they not support an effort in Congress going over the president's head to gain an additional $200 million in aid for Israel's military. That aid, if approved, would in effect be a reward for the recent aggression against Palestinian civilians. The congressional effort came to light today in a Washington Post article, "Supporters Consider How to Increase Military Aid for Israel." SEE: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A25511-2002Apr21.html The call for additional aid comes as former President Jimmy Carter said that a possible REDUCTION in American taxpayer aid to Israel could be used as pressure to achieve peace in the region. Carter wrote Sunday in the New York Times: "[Ariel Sharon's] rejection of all peace agreements that included Israeli withdrawal from Arab lands, his invasion of Lebanon, his provocative visit to the Temple Mount, the destruction of villages and homes, the arrests of thousands of Palestinians and his open defiance of President George W. Bush's demand that he comply with international law have all been orchestrated to accomplish his ultimate goals: to establish Israeli settlements as widely as possible throughout occupied territories and to deny Palestinians a cohesive political existence... "There are two existing factors that offer success to United States persuasion. One is the legal requirement that American weapons are to be used by Israel only for defensive purposes, a premise certainly being violated in the recent destruction of Jenin and other villages...The other persuasive factor is approximately $10 million daily in American aid to Israel...The existing situation is tragic and likely to get worse. Normal diplomatic efforts have failed. It is time for the United States, as the sole recognized intermediary, to consider more forceful action for peace..." SEE: America Can Persuade Israel to Make a Just Peace http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/21/opinion/21CART.html The 2002 foreign aid program provides Israel with more than $2 billion in military aid and some $730 million in financial assistance. This is nearly one-fifth of total U.S. foreign aid. Israel has been the largest annual recipient of U.S. foreign assistance since 1976 and the largest cumulative recipient of assistance since World War II, according to government statistics. (AFP, 4/21/2002) "It is unconscionable that Congress would consider rewarding Israel with American tax dollars for its ongoing atrocities in the Occupied Territories. America is sending relief aid to the devastated Palestinian refugee camp in Jenin. Taxpayers should not be forced to send more weapons to those who caused that devastation," said CAIR Governmental Affairs Director Jason Erb. Erb noted that recent polls show public broad support for a reduction in aid to Israel. (Time/CNN Poll, 4/12/2002) IMMEDIATE ACTION REQUESTED: (As always, be polite.) 1) CONTACT President Bush to request that he veto any additional taxpayer aid to Israel and instead CUT aid to that state and its military. CONTACT: President George W. Bush The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Washington, DC 20500 TEL: 202-456-1414, Press 1 FAX: 202-456-2461 E-MAIL: president@whitehouse.gov, secretary@state.gov, nita.lowey@mail.house.gov, jim.kolbe@mail.house.gov, cair@cair-net.org 2) CONTACT your elected representatives to make the same point. To get contact information for your representative, go to: http://capwiz.com/cair/home/ or call 202-224-3121. Have your Zip Code ready. 3) CONTACT local and national media outlets to express your concerns. - 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 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 ----- AMERICAN MUSLIM NEWS BRIEFS - 4/22/2002 ----- HEADLINES: * GOOD NEWS: MUSLIM MOTHER OF 11 FREED IN FLORIDA * DANIEL PIPES SMEARS IMAM W.D. MOHAMMED (Worldnetdaily.com) * WEEKLY STANDARD SAYS "THERE ARE NO PALESTINIANS" * AMNESTY CALLS FOR WAR CRIMES PROBE OVER JENIN (AFP) * U.N. MIDDLE EAST ENVOY STANDS BY JENIN COMMENTS (Reuters) * UN NAMES JENIN INQUIRY TEAM (BBC) * FRESH KILLINGS IN WESTERN INDIA BRING DEATH TOLL TO 850 (AP) * TRANSCRIPTS OFFER FIRST LOOK AT SECRET FEDERAL HEARINGS (New York Times) * [ISRAELI] SOLDIERS ARE ACCUSED OF LOOTING (Washington Post) * EVANGELICAL MISSIONARIES UNDERCOVER IN MUSLIM WORLD (Mother Jones) * APRIL 22ND PROTEST AT AIPAC CONFERENCE * DEMONSTRATORS RALLY TO PALESTINIAN CAUSE (Washington Post) * SHARON PLAN FOR WEST BANK CONFIRMED (Washington Times) * FRONTLINE'S "MUSLIMS" WILL AIR MAY 9, AT 9 PM ----- GOOD NEWS: MUSLIM MOTHER OF 11 FREED IN FLORIDA MOM OF 11 FREED; JUDGE QUESTIONS NEGLECT CASE By Steve Patterson, Jacksonville Times-Union, 4/20/2002 http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/042002/met_9195937.html A Jacksonville woman who was jailed for raising 11 children in a crowded house without power or water was released yesterday on a judge's order. Antoinette Young had been locked up for 11 days, unable to pay a $25,000 bond. Circuit Judge Henry Davis ordered her released on her own recognizance and expressed confusion about why Young, 39, is facing a felony child-neglect charge. "I'm just trying to figure out the charge...Why is this case in court?" Davis asked rhetorically during a brief hearing. At least 10 of Young's children have been in the Florida Department of Children and Families' custody since April 9, when city housing inspectors condemned their rented 828-square-foot home in East Arlington. A teenage son is thought to have eluded social workers and left with Young's husband, Riccardo Young. An arrest warrant charges Riccardo Young with child neglect as well, but he hasn't been located, Assistant State Attorney Mac Heavener said. The family's problems have sparked an outpouring of sympathy, with people and charities around Northeast Florida offering help. A Washington-based Islamic group sought help for the family, who are Muslim. "We've had a huge amount of support, especially from the Islamic community," said Barbara Alexander, executive director of the non-profit First Coast Family Center, a group trying to aid the family. She said the center, which has a Children and Families contract, has received more than $6,000 in donations for the Youngs and is trying to arrange for a larger home... The court hearing was attended by members of the Islamic Center of Northeast Florida, who arrived ready to speak on Young's behalf. Supporters arranged temporary housing for her and were trying to assist the family center, said Shakur Bolden, the Islamic center's president. Donations labeled as help for the Youngs can be mailed to: First Coast Family Center Attention: Connie Fussell 2747 Art Museum Drive, Suite 100 Jacksonville, FL 32207 Make checks payable to "First Coast Family Center." Note on the check that the donation is for the Riccardo Young family. ----- DANIEL PIPES SMEARS IMAM W.D. MOHAMMED U.S.-Saudi oil imports fund American mosques By Paul Sperry, WorldNetDaily.com, 4/22/02 http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=27327 Bilal is just one of many black mosques funded by Saudi. Most of them, including Bilal, are associated with Imam W. Deen Mohammed, head of the Chicago-based Muslim American Society, or MAS, which has been credited with helping convert more than a million U.S. blacks to Islam... Mohammed originally took over the Nation of Islam after the death of his father, Elijah Muhammad, who founded the group...But [Daniel] Pipes notes that Mohammed has recently been steering MAS toward fundamentalism to cater to the growing number of immigrants attending his mosques... Though he expressed "shock" at the Sept. 11 terrorism, W. Deen Mohammed didn't categorically condemn the attacks in a statement to MAS members... SEE: Who is Daniel Pipes? http://www.cair-net.org/misc/people/daniel_pipes.html ----- WEEKLY STANDARD SAYS "THERE ARE NO PALESTINIANS" Whosoever Blesses Them The intifada and its defenders. By Larry Miller, The Weekly Standard, 4/22/2002 http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/001/161yaihr.asp There are no Palestinians. It's a made up word. Israel was called Palestine for two thousand years. Like "Wiccan," "Palestinian" sounds ancient but is really a modern invention...As soon as the Jews took over and started growing oranges as big as basketballs, what do you know, say hello to the "Palestinians," weeping for their deep bond with their lost "land" and "nation." So for the sake of honesty, let's not use the word "Palestinian" any more to describe these delightful folks, who dance for joy at our deaths until someone points out they're being taped. Instead, let's call them what they are: "Other Arabs From The Same General Area Who Are In Deep Denial About Never Being Able To Accomplish Anything In Life And Would Rather Wrap Themselves In The Seductive Melodrama Of Eternal Struggle And Death..." ----- AMNESTY CALLS FOR WAR CRIMES PROBE OVER JENIN Agence France Presse, 4/22/02 Amnesty International called Monday for an international war crimes probe into the events surrounding the recent Israeli incursion into Jenin, following a recent fact-finding mission to the West Bank town. "We have concluded that very serious breaches of international law were committed, and we are talking here of war crimes," said Amnesty delegate Javier Zuniga, who visited Jenin last week as part of a three-day survey by the human rights group. A second Amnesty delegate, Derrick Pounder, added: "The claim that only fighters were killed is simply not true -- a mixture of bodies were clearly civilians and combatants." He said what was needed was "the same type of investigation as in the Balkans." SEE: Preliminary findings of Amnesty International delegates' visit to Jenin http://www.amnesty.org ----- U.N. MIDDLE EAST ENVOY STANDS BY JENIN COMMENTS Reuters, 4/22/2002 BEIRUT, Lebanon (Reuters) - U.N. Middle East envoy Terje Roed-Larsen Monday stuck by his criticism of Israel's assault on the Jenin refugee camp, saying he reacted as any decent human being would have. His remarks came a day after Israel's cabinet discussed cutting ties with Roed-Larsen, who Thursday accused its army of using "morally repugnant" means in Jenin. The refugee camp was the scene of fierce fighting during Israel's incursion into Palestinian areas of the West Bank, which it said was to crack down on militants responsible for a wave of suicide bombings against Israelis. "What I did -- on the basis of what I saw, what I heard, what I smelt -- was to say that this was shocking and horrifying and I think that any decent human being with a heart would have reacted the same way I did and used similar words," Roed-Larsen said after a meeting with Lebanon's Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri. "I described what I saw, people with their bare hands digging deformed bodies out of the rubble," he told reporters. "I stand by what I said." ----- UN NAMES JENIN INQUIRY TEAM BBC Worldservice, 4/22/02 http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/middle_east/newsid_1944000/1944434.stm UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has appointed Finland's former President Martti Ahtisaari head of a team to probe events at the refugee camp in Jenin, where Palestinians say the Israeli army "massacred" civilians. The commission will investigate claims of human rights abuses during Israel's eight-day incursion into the camp. Palestinians say hundreds of civilians died, but Israel insists the number of dead was fewer than 100, and that most of them were gunmen. Criticism of Israel has also come the Red Cross and the UN relief agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) which on Monday accused it of violating international humanitarian laws during its operation in the Jenin camp. The UN commission also includes Sadako Ogata of Japan, former head of the UN refugee agency, and Cornelio Sammaruga, the Swiss former head of the International Red Cross. Retired US General William Nash, a former UN regional administrator in Kosovo, will be military adviser to the team, and Peter Fitzgerald of Ireland, a former UN civilian police officer, will be police adviser. Mr Annan said: "The team will start its work without delay. It will first assemble in Europe this week and then travel to the region as soon as possible... The decision to send a commission was agreed by the UN Security Council. The US agreed to it on the condition that the team would report to Mr Annan and not to the Security Council, which Israel regards as biased against it. ----- FRESH KILLINGS IN WESTERN INDIA BRING DEATH TOLL TO 850 By RUPAK SANYAL, Associated Press, 4/22/02 AHMADABAD, India - Police fired into a crowd when Hindus and Muslims clashed in western Gujarat state. At least 17 people were killed in the new wave of sectarian fighting, including nine Muslims who were shot to death by officers, officials said Monday. Sunday's violence took the death toll from India's worst religious rioting in a decade to 850. At least 91 people also were seriously injured, with burns and bullet wounds, said police in Ahmadabad, the commercial hub of Gujarat state. The renewed violence came on the same day that Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee vowed to protect Muslims... According to the police control room in the state capital Gandhinagar, groups were assembling for a Hindu festival in Ahmadabad when clashes started between Hindu and Muslim neighbors. Stones were thrown and petrol bombs were hurled from both sides. Police said they had to fire at the mob in an attempt to end the violence. Nine Muslims were killed... The inability of the state government to stop the rioting, and allegations that police have supported the Hindu rioters, have provoked widespread demands for the dismissal of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, the top elected official... The opposition blames the Hindu-nationalist party of Vajpayee and its ideological affiliates for the carnage. Vajpayee's Bharatiya Janata Party has declined Modi's offer of resignation and insists he is doing everything he can to end the attacks. ----- TRANSCRIPTS OFFER FIRST LOOK AT SECRET FEDERAL HEARINGS By DANNY HAKIM, The New York Times, 4/22/02 http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/22/national/22DETA.html DETROIT - The first glimpse into the secret immigration hearings of Arab men came after the federal government reluctantly agreed on Friday to make public partial records of its case against a Muslim cleric. The cleric, Rabih Haddad, 41, has been held since December on charges of overstaying his visa. Mr. Haddad, a native of Lebanon who lived with his family in Ann Arbor, Mich., is the chairman of the Global Relief Foundation, a Muslim charity whose assets were frozen after it came under federal scrutiny. His case file -- parts of which were made public as the result of a court ruling -- includes transcripts of his past immigration hearings as well as numerous documents and exhibits, though material considered sensitive by the government was withheld. In making its case, the government said Mr. Haddad had been seen in places affiliated with the Qaeda terrorist network during stays overseas in the late 1980's and early 1990's. But a detailed account of the charges, made in a declaration by a Federal Bureau of Investigation agent, was not included in the documents made public. Mr. Haddad's lawyer, Ashraf Nubani, said in an interview that the purpose of Mr. Haddad's travels, mostly to Pakistan, was to take part in relief efforts. "At the time he was in Pakistan, Al Qaeda didn't exist," Mr. Nubani said. "It was a bunch of people going to fight the Soviets in Afghanistan..." Mr. Nubani contends that Mr. Haddad is a cleric who has been harshly punished for a minor offense. The Global Relief Foundation has denied it has ties to terrorist organizations and has sued several news media organizations for defamation, including The New York Times Company. The group has also brought a civil suit against the government. Many of the documents that were made public reveal legal skirmishing over issues that offer no clear evidence of serious wrongdoing... Mr. Haddad's immigration file became public after several Michigan newspapers, along with Mr. Conyers, sued the government to force them to open the hearings. They have been represented by, among others, the American Civil Liberties Union. The suit, and similar ones filed by news media organizations in New Jersey, pit First Amendment rights against a law passed after the Sept. 11 attacks that permits the secret detention of immigrants. But Mr. Haddad's case is the first in which the federal courts have ruled... Mr. Haddad's next immigration hearing is set for Wednesday, but the government could seek to delay it as the federal appeals process proceeds. ----- [ISRAELI] SOLDIERS ARE ACCUSED OF LOOTING By Doug Struck, Washington Post, 4/21/02 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A25727-2002Apr21.html RAMALLAH, West Bank, April 21 -- Israeli tanks clanked out of the center of two major West Bank cities today as Prime Minister Ariel Sharon declared "we have finished this stage" of the military operation. Palestinians said they found the buildings that had been occupied by Israeli soldiers ransacked, vandalized and looted... Office managers said computer equipment had been stolen. Shop owners said their businesses had been vandalized. Residents alleged that soldiers had taken money or valuables from their homes. Attempts were made to break open the safes at a bank. "I'm shaken. I have no words to say how I feel," said Salwa Diabis, 41, as she surveyed her office at Mattin, a human rights organization that Israeli troops had left only hours before. The furnishings had been heaped in a pile and littered with garbage. The fax machine had been thrown onto a ledge. Photos of Diabis's family had been stripped from the wall. A reporter saw that in their place was a message written in English with a marker, starting with an obscenity and adding: "Arabs, never mess with us again..." Upstairs, in a room strewn with broken glass, Amar Khudiri, a computer specialist in a white shirt and tie, fussed over his mainframe computer, opened and stripped of much of its electronic guts. Seven of eight hard drives had been taken, as well as the hard drives from about 50 other computers in the bank, he said. "This was professional looting. They are thieves," Khudiri said. ----- EVANGELICAL MISSIONARIES UNDERCOVER IN MUSLIM WORLD THEIR MISSION: TO WIPE OUT ISLAM By Barry Yeoman, Mother Jones, May/June 2002 "The Stealth Crusade," Mother Jones magazine's May/June cover story, takes readers inside a Southern university where evangelical Christians are trained to go undercover in the Muslim world and win converts. Reporter Barry Yeoman wrote the article after attending an intensive two-week course at Columbia International University in South Carolina. The CIU course, taught by Rick Love, international director of a Christian group called Frontiers, focused on stealth strategies for winning converts while disguised as teachers, aid workers, or businesspeople. Love acknowledges that Muslim converts face "imprisonment, torture, even martyrdom," and critics point out that stealth proselytizing disrupts the delivery of humanitarian aid and fuels resentment of Westerners. "But to those at the heart of the movement, including Rick Love's students," writes Yeoman, "any damage done by their work is outweighed by the importance of their mission: to wipe out Islam." As one fellow student who worked undercover as an English teacher in Kazakhstan put it to Yeoman, "Satan has deceived [Muslims] away from a relationship with their creator God." One of the more controversial tactics taught by Love and others is "contextualization," a technique that calls on missionaries to take on Muslim names, dress in veils and other local clothing, prostrate themselves during prayer, and even fast during Ramadan. As CIU Professor David Cashin put it, "We must become Muslims to reach Muslims." This practice is particularly troublesome to other religious groups that provide humanitarian relief without proselytizing. As Donna Derr of Church World Service told Mother Jones, "Groups that have the need to proselytize color us all with the same brush," making it harder to win the trust of communities her group is trying to help. Mother Jones reports that the number of missionaries trying to convert Muslims has increased fourfold in the past decade, to more than 3,000. The urgency they feel about their mission is underscored by Warren Larson, who directs Muslim studies at CIU. "Islam is biologically taking over the world," Larson told his class. Excerpts from the article: "We see Islam as the final frontier," says David Cashin, a professor of Intercultural Studies at CIU [Columbia International University] who used to don Muslim clothing and pursue converts in the tea shops of Kalioloir, Bangladesh. Like many of his fellow evangelicals, Cashin regards the Islamic world as the hinterland that must be penetrated before the Messiah can return" "The issue is the disproportional power relationship," says Ibrahim Hooper, a spokesman for the Council On American-Islamic relations, a Washington, D.C.- based organization that works to promote a positive image of Muslims. "They use their resources to coerce people to do what they want them to do." To read entire article, pick up the May/June 2002 Mother Jones magazine at your local newsstand or go to http://market.motherjones.com/ ----- AMERICAN MUSLIMS FOR JERUSALEM APRIL 22ND PROTEST AT AIPAC CONFERENCE We urge all who are able to attend a protest on Monday, April 22nd at 6:15 PM outside of the Washington Hilton Hotel where AIPAC is holding its annual convention. Former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will be addressing the crowd that evening on the topic "Celebrating the US-Israel Relationship." WHEN: MONDAY, APRIL 22 WHAT: Pro-Palestine, Pro-Peace Rally WHEN: Assemble at 6:15 pm WHERE: Washington Hilton, Connecticut and T Streets, NW - 4 blocks north of the Dupont Circle Metro (red-line) ----- DEMONSTRATORS RALLY TO PALESTINIAN CAUSE Arab Americans, Supporters Drown Out Other Issues By Manny Fernandez, Washington Post, 4/21/02 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A22230-2002Apr20.html Tens of thousands converged on downtown Washington yesterday to demonstrate for a variety of causes, but it was the numbers and passion of busloads of Arab Americans and their supporters that dominated the streets. Eager to make their presence felt and their voices heard in the nation's capital as never before, Arab and Muslim families marched and chanted for an end to U.S. military aid to Israel, overwhelming the messages of those with other causes in a peaceful day of downtown rallies and marches. Young men wore the Palestinian flag around their necks like a cape. Arabic was heard nearly as often as English, and cardboard signs held by women and children denounced Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and President Bush. Protesters rallying against corporate wrongs and the global economy found themselves tweaking Vietnam War-era chants to the Palestinian cause, shouting, "One, two, three, four: We don't want no Mideast war!" "The message here is we must support the Palestinian people against a military occupation and an apartheid state," said Randa Jamal, a graduate student at New York's Columbia University who joined thousands at a pro-Palestinian rally near the White House. She said her cousins were killed in Ramallah, and her 16-year-old sister has been unable to attend school because of the Israeli occupation. "What they are going through," she said, "is crimes against humanity..." ----- SHARON PLAN FOR WEST BANK CONFIRMED By Joyce Howard Price, THE WASHINGTON TIMES, 4/22/2002 http://www.washtimes.com/national/20020422-8855812.htm Israel's foreign minister yesterday confirmed a report that Prime Minister Ariel Sharon wants to annex up to half of the West Bank. But Shimon Peres said he does not see this as a permanent solution to the crisis in the Middle East. Interviewed yesterday on NBC's "Meet the Press," the foreign minister was asked about the accuracy of a report yesterday in the London Sunday Telegraph, also published in The Washington Times, that Mr. Sharon has a plan calling for Israel to annex 50 percent of land in the West Bank. "It's accurate for a while, because that's what Sharon suggests as an interim agreement," Mr. Peres said. "My judgment is they know this is not a solution" and that this is an "unofficial proposal." Existence of the Sharon plan was disclosed by Ephraim Sneh, the Israeli transport minister, who, like Mr. Peres, is a member of the Labor Party, not Mr. Sharon's Likud Party. Mr. Sneh told the London paper that the annexation plan is "incompatible with a two-state solution" since it suggests Mr. Sharon wants a Palestinian entity with far less land than envisioned under other peace plans. "It is not realistic," Mr. Sneh said. ----- FRONTLINE'S "MUSLIMS" WILL AIR MAY 9, AT 9 PM http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/muslims/ The events of September 11 left many Americans asking how such atrocities could be perpetrated in the name of religion: specifically, the religion of Islam. Yet even as U.S. opinion polls reflect a collective sense of mistrust toward a religion few Americans know much about, Islam continues to be one of the fastest growing religions in the United States and around the world today. What does it mean to be a Muslim? How does their faith shape their lives, identities, and politics? Does Islam deserve its reputation as a patriarchal, authoritarian, and anti-Western religion? And what role does militancy play in the Muslim world? FRONTLINE and the Independent Production Fund join forces to explore these and other questions in "Muslims," a special two-hour film investigating the different faces of Islam's worldwide resurgence. Reporting from Iran, Nigeria, Egypt, Malaysia, Turkey, and the United States, FRONTLINE tells the stories of Muslims struggling to define how Islam will shape their lives and societies... ----- 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 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 ----- AMERICAN MUSLIM NEWS BRIEFS - 4/23/2002 ----- HEADLINES: * HADITH OF THE DAY: EVIDENCE * EDITORIAL CARTOON DEFAMES PALESTINIAN MOTHERS (Palm Beach Post) * MUSLIM CHARITY'S LAWSUIT RAISES 'DISTRESSING' ISSUES, JUDGE SAYS (Washington Post) * PUBLIC VOICES DOUBTS ON U.S. MIDEAST ROLE (Washington Post) * BUSH REACHES OUT TO ARAB WORLD (AP) * MUSLIM AND ARAB-AMERICANS FIGHT AGAINST DISCRIMINATION AFTER SEPTEMBER 11TH ATTACKS (CBS) * A CHRISTIAN-MUSLIM DIVIDE CLOSES (Christian Science Monitor) * THE PALESTINIAN SIDE MUST BE TOLD (Los Angeles Times) * PLAZA HOTEL ACCUSED OF BIAS (New York Times) * ISRAELI PULL-OUT STRATEGY CRITICIZED (AP) * WHAT ISRAEL HAS DONE (The Nation) * ROUNDUP UNNERVES OKLAHOMA MUSLIMS (Chicago Tribune) * PALESTINIANS SAY TROOPS VANDALIZED, LOOTED WEST BANK (Washington Times) * NOBEL REGRETS PERES PRIZE (AP) * DASCHLE DEMANDS SUPPORT FOR ISRAEL (Washington Times) * CRITICISM LEADS CANADIAN JEWISH CONGRESS TO PULL OUT OF INTERFAITH GROUP (Ecumenical News) ----- HADITH OF THE DAY: EVIDENCE The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: "Should I not tell you of the best witness? He is the one who produces his evidence before he is asked for it." Sahih Muslim, Hadith 799 ----- MUSLIM CHARITY'S LAWSUIT RAISES 'DISTRESSING' ISSUES, JUDGE SAYS By Neely Tucker, The Washington Post, 4/23/02 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A31094-2002Apr22.html A federal judge said yesterday that a lawsuit filed by the nation's largest Muslim charity raised "significant and distressing allegations" about government actions in its war on terror. U.S. District Judge Gladys Kessler said in Washington that the government's decision to shut down the Texas-based Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development in December -- on allegations that the charity was a fundraising front for the Islamic Resistance Movement, known as Hamas -- was a matter of "great significance." She also warned government lawyers that she would not look favorably on their request to keep classified information concealed from public view. "I'll make no secret that the government is going to have a very heavy burden to submit information ex parte [in secret, in the judge's chambers]," Kessler said. "In a case with as many serious ramifications as this one, unless the law is crystal clear...everything should be in public and on the record..." The Holy Land Foundation, based in Richardson, Tex., was shut down Dec. 4. The government alleged that the foundation funneled at least $ 13 million in 2000 to Hamas, the hard-line Muslim organization that for years has used terrorism to combat Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip... In an internal memorandum that drew heavily on information supplied by the Israeli government, Dale L. Watson, the FBI's executive assistant director for counterterrorism and counterintelligence, described the foundation as "the primary fund-raising entity for Hamas." Parts of the memo are included in Holy Land's legal filings. But John D. Cline, the charity's attorney, said the allegations are false, misleading and may draw on testimony elicited by Israeli intelligence officers using torture, which would make it illegal in U.S. courts. "Holy Land unequivocally, flatly denies" the charges, he told Kessler. "Isn't this much more than an administrative procedures case?" Kessler asked, not pausing for an answer. "Aren't there very serious legal issues involved here?...It seems the government's approach is too simplistic..." ----- EDITORIAL CARTOON DEFAMES PALESTINIAN MOTHERS http://www.gopbi.com/partners/pbpost/opinion/wright_gallerywed.html The Palm Beach Post cartoon, titled "Kids and Parents" is made up of four panels with kids from various ethnic groups stating what their mothers would like them to be when they grow up. The last panel shows a Palestinian child who says: "My mother wants me to be a martyr, exploding into a thousand pieces." Please contact the editors of the Palm Beach Post to express your concerns about the offensive depiction of Palestinian mothers. CONTACT INFO FOR THE PAPER: Letters to the Editor The Palm Beach Post P.O. Box 24700 West Palm Beach, FL 33416-4700 Fax: (561) 820-4728 E-MAIL: letters@pbpost.com, randy_schultz@pbpost.com, don_wright@pbpost.com, lou_ann_frala@pbpost.com, john_bartosek@pbpost.com COPY TO: cair@cair-net.org Include your complete home address and telephone number, along with a daytime telephone number, in case our staff needs to contact you? ----- PUBLIC VOICES DOUBTS ON U.S. MIDEAST ROLE Poll Finds Blame for Israel, Palestinians By Richard Morin and Claudia Deane, Washington Post, 4/23/02 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A30757-2002Apr22.html As the Israeli military operation on the West Bank winds down, the American public is wary of seeing the United States continue to take the lead in brokering deals between the two warring sides, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News Poll. A narrow majority -- 54 percent -- said the United States should stand aside and let Israel and the Palestinian Authority take the lead role in crafting a peace agreement. Six in 10 say they want Israel to negotiate directly with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat to end the current conflict -- a move rejected by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. A majority also fault both sides for failing to control the bloodshed that has enveloped the region in recent months, the survey found. Most Americans blame Israel for not doing enough to prevent Palestinian civilian casualties during its military incursion into the West Bank and Gaza Strip. But an even larger majority fault Arafat for not doing more to end the wave of terrorist attacks against Israeli citizens. In question after question, the poll suggests the American public is frustrated and largely confused about what, if anything, the United States can or should do to bring Israel and the Palestinians closer to peace. Many Americans doubt that either side is truly serious about reaching an agreement... ----- BUSH REACHES OUT TO ARAB WORLD By BARRY SCHWEID, The Associated Press, 4/23/2002 WASHINGTON (AP) - Reaching out to the Arab world, President Bush renewed his call Tuesday for a Palestinian state and said Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon should keep pulling back on the West Bank. Bush, in an exchange with reporters while seeing King Mohammed VI of Morocco in the Oval Office, also insisted that Palestinian leader Yasser Aafat renounce and fight terror. But the weight of his remarks seemed to respond to Arab demands. ``Our government means what we say, and we said that the only way for there to be lasting peace is for there to be two states, living side by side with each other.'' On Thursday, Bush will receive Crown Prince Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, whose proposal for a settlement between Israel and the Arabs already has been embraced by the president... ----- MUSLIM AND ARAB-AMERICANS FIGHT AGAINST DISCRIMINATION AFTER SEPTEMBER 11TH ATTACKS CBS Evening News, 4/21/02 JOHN ROBERTS, anchor: Arab-Americans and Muslims, in this country, say the alleged discrimination that started soon after the September 11th terrorist attacks is still going strong. Joie Chen tells us the experience has them frustrated and angry. JOIE CHEN reporting: The man, who plowed his pickup truck into a Tallahassee mosque just before evening prayers, said he did it because he hated Muslims. No one was hurt, but for many Arab-Americans and Muslims, the attack underlies a growing sense of discrimination against them. Mr. IBRAHAM HOOPER (Council on American-Islamic Relations): We hear now links to this, ties to that. It--it becomes like the Kevin Bacon game, where no one is more than six degrees away from Kevin Bacon. It seems no Muslim is more than six degrees away from Osama bin Laden, and we object to that. CARLSON: Last month, federal agents swept through Islamic homes and businesses in suburban Washington looking for ties to terrorist organizations. There were no arrests. And Islamic advocacy groups accused the government of conducting fishing expeditions against law-abiding Muslims. Ms. LAURIE JAGHLIT (Muslim-American): They had surrounded the entire house with their weapons drawn. CARLSON: Though the warrant didn't spell out exactly why they were selected, Jaghlit believes it is because her Palestinian husband, a naturalized US citizen, is a doctor who's done some charity work for Arab organizations, including some that the government is keeping a watch on for possible ties to terrorism. Ms. JAGHLIT: What happened here was--is they're basically trying to terrorize people, citizens, Americans, and it--it's wrong... ----- A CHRISTIAN-MUSLIM DIVIDE CLOSES By Danna Harman, The Christian Science Monitor, 4/23/02 http://www.christiansciencemonitor.com/2002/0423/p06s01-wome.html BETHLEHEM, WEST BANK - The food in the besieged Church of the Nativity is running out. The priests, nuns, monks, and friars trapped between Israeli soldiers stationed in Manger Square and some 200 Palestinians gunmen hiding inside the church have almost gone through their stocks of beans and spaghetti - and are reportedly rationing pretzels and drinking well water... "Before, our identity as a Christian minority within the Palestinian community was threatened - so we held onto it tight. Today, what is being threatened is our national identity as Palestinians, and that is the important struggle," says Nuha Khoury, a Christian Palestinian professor at Bethlehem University. "Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon never heard of divide and rule," she says sarcastically. "He started with an assault on Al Aqsa," she explains, referring to Sharon's trip in September 2001 to the holy Muslim site in Jerusalem which sparked the current intifada. "And now he is ending with the Church of the Nativity. Nothing is sacred to him. We are all the same to him. Palestinians. The enemy..." Peter Qumri, the Christian Palestinian director of Bethlehem's general hospital points at another aspect of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that is pushing the Christians here closer to their Muslim brothers. "The support of the Christian right in the US for Israel has embarrassed us and forced us to prove our identity and become even more nationalistic," he says. Sitting in his office surrounded by a framed photograph of himself kissing the pope's hand on one side and a giant poster of Arafat on the other, Dr. Qumri says that "any Christian that comes to support Israel is not a real Christian." ----- THE PALESTINIAN SIDE MUST BE TOLD By ROBERT SCHEER, The Los Angeles Times, 4/22/02 http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/opinion/la-000028852apr23.story Is there media bias against Israel? The claim, hotly expressed in thousands of angry e-mails and subscription cancellations, that the U.S. media are anti-Israel is so absurd as to suggest hysteria. Are American Jews in such deep denial about the brutality of Israel's recent actions that they would damn those who report the truth? Certainly the American media are far more sympathetic to Israel than publishers and journalists in the rest of the world. This is particularly true in Western Europe, perhaps reflecting the widespread public sympathy there for the Palestinians, as measured in recent polls. Not that sympathy for Israelis, bloodied repeatedly by a merciless bombing campaign targeting civilians, is not equally warranted... Moreover, no group is so safely denigrated in the mass media of this country, particularly in film, as "the Arabs," who became the enemy of choice in post-Cold War movie-making in such films as "True Lies." And no group is as underrepresented in the media work force; there are more than 3 million Arab Americans, yet it is exceedingly rare to find one working as a newspaper reporter or TV news personality... To humanize a people does not mean to apologize for the behavior of murderous individuals, movements or institutions representing the dark revenge fantasies of a people's consciousness, of course. But to blindly endorse the outrage of one side while ignoring the pain of the other does both a disservice... ----- PLAZA HOTEL ACCUSED OF BIAS By Susan Sachs, The New York Times, 4/23/02 http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/23/nyregion/23MBRF3.html Eight present and former employees of the Oak Room in the Plaza Hotel, all of them Muslims, have accused supervisors at the hotel of insulting and mistreating them immediately after Sept. 11. In a discrimination complaint filed yesterday, the employees said they were called terrorists and "dumb Muslims," had their work hours cut and, in the case of two men, were dismissed -- all because of their religion and national origins... ----- ISRAELI PULL-OUT STRATEGY CRITICIZED By BARRY SCHWEID, The Associated Press, 4/23/2002 WASHINGTON (AP) - Israel's strategy of keeping some army troops on the outskirts of Palestinian-controlled territory was rejected on Monday by the State Department, which renewed a U.S. demand for a total withdrawal from the West Bank. The department also did not support Israel's demand that the Palestinians surrender suspects in terror attacks. Spokesman Richard Boucher said Yasser Arafat's Palestinian Authority claims jurisdiction over the wanted men, and it is up to the two sides to work out a settlement. The department's position on Israeli troop deployments and on terror arrests gave further evidence that, after tilting in Israel's direction for months, the Bush administration has taken a more neutral stance. President Bush's chief of staff, Andrew Card, told more than 4,000 members of a pro-Israel lobbying group that "real sacrifices by all sides" are required to achieve peace. ----- WHAT ISRAEL HAS DONE By EDWARD W. SAID, The Nation, 5/6/02 http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20020506&s=said Despite Israel's effort to restrict coverage of its destructive invasion of the West Bank's Palestinian towns and refugee camps, information and images have nevertheless seeped through. The Internet has provided hundreds of verbal as well as pictorial eyewitness reports, as have Arab and European TV coverage, most of it unavailable or blocked or spun out of existence from the mainstream US media. That evidence provides stunning proof of what Israel's campaign has actually--has always--been about: the irreversible conquest of Palestinian land and society... By what inhuman calculus did Israel's army, using dozens of tanks and armored personnel carriers, along with hundreds of missile strikes from US-supplied Apache helicopter gunships, besiege Jenin's refugee camp for over a week, a one-square-kilometer patch of shacks housing 15,000 refugees and a few dozen men armed with automatic rifles and no missiles or tanks, and call it a response to terrorist violence and a threat to Israel's survival? There are reported to be hundreds buried in the rubble, which Israeli bulldozers began heaping over the camp's ruins after the fighting ended. Are Palestinian civilian men, women and children no more than rats or cockroaches that can be attacked and killed in the thousands without so much as a word of compassion or in their defense?... ----- ROUNDUP UNNERVES OKLAHOMA MUSLIMS By Cam Simpson, Chicago Tribune, 4/21/02 http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/showcase/chi-0204210346apr21.story NORMAN, Okla. -- To his friends, Hussein Ali Hassan Alattas was a gentle young man who used his precise knowledge of the Koran to tutor children and adults alike at the small mosque here. But to law enforcement he became something more threatening after Sept. 11, when they began investigating his close relationship with Zacarias Moussaoui, the man now alleged to be the "20th hijacker," and learned of Alattas' apparent interest in armed jihad. As federal investigators searched for terrorist cells across America last fall, they conducted an intense sweep in this college town. The probe landed Alattas and at least 17 other Muslims in jail and left in its wake fear, anger and disrupted lives. As the Alattas case illustrates, the law-enforcement actions in Norman, where Moussaoui attended flight school, were rooted in legitimate concerns about national security. But what happened in Norman also provides a glimpse into the lives of countless others nationwide who, despite having no apparent connection to terrorism, were jailed in the frenzy to thwart further attacks... ----- PALESTINIANS SAY TROOPS VANDALIZED, LOOTED WEST BANK By Betsy Pisik, The Washington Times, 4/23/02 http://www.washingtontimes.com/world/20020423-76370332.htm RAMALLAH, West Bank - Palestinians returning to homes and offices in the West Bank after Israel's pullout yesterday accused Israeli soldiers of looting and vandalism. They said computers and television cameras had been taken and that money was stolen from safes. Reporters saw graffiti scrawled in English and Hebrew, much like the graffiti scrawled by soldiers in other military campaigns... Ramallah is the site of Al Quds University, where staff of the Center for New Media returned to their offices and television studio on Sunday for the first time since learning the building had been used by Israeli forces as barracks and for sniper positions. During a tour of the premises yesterday, the staff showed a reporter three empty tripods that they said had held television cameras, an empty classroom where they said 12 computers had stood, a ransacked library and offices, and graffiti saying, "No Palestine. Ever." Wassim Abdullah, the technical director for educational television at the university, described the damage as evidence of "pure hatred." ----- NOBEL REGRETS PERES PRIZE By Doug Mellgren, The Associated Press, 4/23/2002 http://www.washingtontimes.com/world/20020423-73728078.htm OSLO - The committee that awards the century-old Nobel Peace Prize, spurred by violence in the Middle East, has broken with a tradition of never second-guessing itself in public. Some of its five members are saying the 1994 prize shouldn't have gone to Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres. The trigger was committee member Hanna Kvanmo, a retired left-wing politician who broke with the tradition of silence in early April. Replying to a newspaper's questions, she said she wished Mr. Peres' prize could be revoked, because as a member of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's coalition government, he was party to the Israeli military incursion... ----- DASCHLE DEMANDS SUPPORT FOR ISRAEL By Ben Barber, The Washington Times, 04/23/02 http://www.washtimes.com/world/20020423-99885272.htm Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle yesterday said U.S. backing for Israel must remain "absolute," and he criticized European, Arab and U.N. officials for anti-Semitism and unfairness toward the Jewish state. "Our commitment to Israel must be unshakable - it must be absolute," he told a luncheon crowd of several thousand at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), the country's largest pro-Israel lobbying group..."The United States must honor a commitment to preserve Israel's military superiority," he said... "As long as I am majority leader of the United States Senate, we will be a friend to Israel in fair weather and in foul..." ----- CRITICISM LEADS CANADIAN JEWISH CONGRESS TO PULL OUT OF INTERFAITH GROUP By Ferdy Baglo, Ecumenical News International, 4/23/02 Vancouver, 23 April (ENI)--Canada's most prominent Jewish organisation has withdrawn its participation of 30 years from an interfaith consultation following the appearance of a website message critical of Israeli policy written by a church dialogue partner. The Canadian Jewish Congress (CJC) announced on 10 April that it was mulling out of the inter-religious Canadian Christian Jewish Consultation (CCJC). A message on the Anglican Church of Canada's website was "the straw that broke the camel's back", said Manuel Prutschi, the CJC's national director of community relations, who accused the Anglican church and the United Church of Canada of being "one-sided". In the message, Archbishop Michael Peers, head of the Anglican Church of Canada, wrote: "The current violence in Palestine has deep roots, but Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory in defiance of United Nations resolutions is at its heart...When Israel withdraws from its illegal occupation of Palestine, when Palestinians are free to return in peace to their homeland, when civilians are no longer the targets of terror, either for suicide bombers or government tanks, then healing will begin..." Archbishop Peers expressed regret about the Jewish Congress's decision to withdraw from the interfaith consultation. He said the message that appeared on the church's website was rooted in policies and resolutions of the church's synod and in statements by governing bodies of the world-wide Anglican communion. It reflected the church's attempt "to stand with the church leaders in Jerusalem in particular," Peers said. That's the principle that we have used in places like South Africa and other places around the world. That kind of solidarity is important." ----- 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, 202-489-5108 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 ----- AMERICAN MUSLIM NEWS BRIEFS - 4/24/2002 ----- HEADLINES: * HADITH OF THE DAY: DO NOT HATE ONE ANOTHER * CAIR OFFICIAL MEETS WITH KING OF MOROCCO * LETTERS: LAND DEAL FOR COTLER (Globe and Mail) * EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES AT CAIR * DR. LAURA SAYS MUSLIMS HAVE "PLAN" TO DOMINATE WORLD * OREGON COALITION CHALLENGES HATE RADIO - OREGON-WASHINGTON GROUPS CALLS FOR END TO 'HATE RADIO' (AP) * BATTLE FOR THE TRUTH IN JENIN (The Guardian) * LETTERS: DRIVEN TO WAR (Dallas Morning News) * ISRAEL BEGINS WEST BANK CONSTRUCTION (AP) * PALESTINIANS SAY ISRAEL AIMS TO HIDE JENIN 'CRIMES' (Reuters) * ANNAN REFUSES JENIN MISSION DELAY (AP) * TERRORISM AND NATIONALISM (Washington Post) * VOA TARGETS WIDER ARAB AUDIENCE (AP) * FUNDRAISING DINNER FOR MUSLIMS VICTIMS OF GUJARAT VIOLENCE * MUSLIMS SURROUND POLICE STATION, DEMAND END TO MOB VIOLENCE IN GUJARAT (AP) * ABC'S "NIGHTLINE" PROFILES IRANIAN FILM-MAKER * TIME TO CONSIDER PRAYER ROOMS? (HRFocus) * SECRETARY MINETA SAYS RACIAL PROFILING IS WRONG AND INEFFECTIVE ----- HADITH OF THE DAY: DO NOT HATE ONE ANOTHER The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: "Do not hate one another, and do not be jealous of one another, and do not desert each other...It is not permissible for any Muslim to desert (not speak to) his brother (because of a dispute) for more than three days." Sahih Al-Bukhari, Volume 8, Hadith 91 ----- CAIR OFFICIAL MEETS WITH KING OF MOROCCO CAIR Executive Director Nihad Awad, along with other American Muslim and Arab-American leaders, met yesterday with King Mohammed VI of Morocco in Washington, D.C. Awad thanked the king for his strong support for the Palestinian people and offered a briefing on issues related to the American Muslim community. ----- LETTERS: LAND DEAL FOR COTLER By SHEEMA KHAN, The Globe and Mail, 4/24/2002 http://www.globeandmail.com Search using the term "Sheema Khan." (Khan is chair of the Council on American-Islamic Relations Canada.) Ottawa -- Re: Sounding The Alarm On Hate (April 22): While occupiers of Irwin Cotler's offices were removed within a matter of hours, Palestinians have been waiting for 35 years while their occupiers break numerous United Nations resolutions, build roads and settlements on their land, uproot trees, install checkpoints, and receive $10-million (U.S.) daily to sustain such illegal activity. Mr. Cotler has often stated that, in 2000, the Palestinians walked away from a "generous" offer to reclaim 95 per cent of the occupied land, omitting the fact that Palestinians would have been left with loosely connected cantons, rather than a viable state. Would Mr. Cotler have agreed to the occupiers of his office returning 95 per cent of his real estate, while maintaining control of the doors, hallways, stairs and elevators in the building? ----- EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES AT CAIR Position: CHAPTER & INTERNSHIP COORDINATOR CAIR has an immediate opening for an experienced dynamic person to fill the position of Chapter & Internship Coordinator. This person will be responsible for developing, coordinating and managing chapter marketing and development, as well as CAIR's internship program. Successful candidates will have a college degree, (Management or related field will be preferred), substantive organizational and supervisory skills and experience working with non-profit organizations and Muslim groups will be an asset. This position also requires working knowledge of MS Office that includes data management. Experience with developing, organizing and conducting other internship and training programs will be an asset. Salary Range: Based on education, skills and experience CAIR offers an excellent health and dental benefit for its full-time employees. All those interested and eligible to work in the U.S. (citizens or those with employment visas) are encouraged to apply before May 3, 2002 via e-mail to: hr@cair-net.org, or by fax 202-488-0833. When applying via e-mail, please write the position title "Chapter and Internship Coordinator" in the subject of the e-mail. Position: WEBMASTER CAIR has an immediate opening for an experienced web designer responsible for developing, and updating CAIR's website. The successful applicant should have: 1. A bachelors degree or a minimum of 5 years web development experience, including advanced experience in ASP (VB script), HTML, Java Script, SQL, MS Access and Photoshop. 2. Experience in programming web databases with knowledge of database driven content management. 3. An eye for developing a clean user interface with experience in graphics design using Adobe Photoshop and Macromedia Flash. 4. Familiarity with streaming audio and video using Windows Media Player and Real Player. 5. Good working knowledge of how to integrate office components to create charts, graphs, and reports using Excel, Word, and Power Point. 6. Ability to work independently and formulate an exhaustive and extensive plan to keep the website current and maintaining content that is fresh. 7. An understanding of online security including credit card processing and online shopping cart. 8. An ability to juggle multiple tasks and be deadline oriented. 9. Knowledge of Internet applications as they apply to civil rights / activism driven organization, effective writing, presentation, and interpersonal skills. This position requires travel and weekend work. Salary Range: Based on education, skills and experience CAIR offers an excellent health and dental benefit for its full time employees. All those interested and eligible to work in the U.S. (citizens or those with employment visas) are encouraged to apply before May 10, 2002 via e-mail to: hr@cair-net.org, or by fax 202-488-0833. When applying via e-mail, please write the position title "Webmaster" in the subject of the e-mail. ----- DR. LAURA SAYS MUSLIMS HAVE "PLAN" TO DOMINATE WORLD CAIR expressed concern over remarks by syndicated radio talk-show host Dr. Laura Schlessinger who claimed today that there is a "Muslim plan" to take over the world. In a letter to Schlessinger, CAIR Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper wrote: "Many Muslim listen to your program and appreciate your emphasis on morality and righteous behavior. "However, it is my unfortunate duty to bring to your attention our concerns about remarks you made on today's program that could negatively impact the lives of ordinary American Muslims. "In a segment promoting the controversial views of Worldnetdaily.com CEO Joseph Farah, you claimed that there is a 'Muslim plan' to dominate the world. "One has to wonder how you would react to anyone who made a similarly offensive reference to a 'Jewish plan' to take over America and Europe. Your comments can only serve to promote anti-Muslim prejudice and bigotry. "I would therefore respectfully request that you take a moment on tomorrow's program to clarify your remarks and to mitigate the damage done to interfaith relations. At this time of international crisis and conflict, we all must seek to unite, not divide Americans. "It should also be noted that Mr. Farah is on record as approving of a proposal to slaughter 1,000 Palestinians for every Israeli death. (He did not indicate whether those to be slaughtered would include his fellow Christians.) Farah wrote that he found the proposal to be 'a very thoughtful and quite responsible contribution to the Middle East debate.' I am sure you do not wish to be associated with such genocidal views. SEE: 'A real peace plan,' Worldnetdaily.com, 3/28/2002 http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=26995 I realize that instead of addressing the issues raised in this letter, you could use your program to once again attack our organization, Muslims and Islam. But I would ask that you search your conscience and then 'do the right thing.' ----- OREGON COALITION CHALLENGES HATE RADIO WHAT: The Coalition Against Hate Radio, a group of more than 20 faith-based and community organizations in the Portland metro area, will announce the beginning of a campaign against local hate radio, talk and call-in radio programs that promote bigotry and prejudice. WHEN: The press conference will be held at 10:00 a.m., on Wednesday, April 24th, WHERE: Portland State University's Campus Ministries (Koinonia House), at 633 SW Montgomery in downtown Portland. The focus of the coalition's campaign is Paul Allen's Blazers Station, KXL (750AM), and its daily program, Savage Nation, hosted by Michael Savage. The Coalition is calling on the station owner, Paul Allen, and on station managers at KXL to find an alternative to the hate-mongering programming of Michael Savage. Savage's statements against Muslims include declaring that the 1.2 billion world Muslim population could handle the extermination of 200 million given how large the population is; referring to Hispanics as 'leaf blowers," comparing immigrants to geese who defecate all over the country, and stating that America was on the wrong side in Kosovo, apparently meaning that the U.S. should have backed those engaged in overt genocide. For more information, please contact: Antihateradio@aol.com or (503) 888-7455 SEE ALSO: OREGON-WASHINGTON GROUPS CALLS FOR END TO 'HATE RADIO' By JOHN ENDERS, Associated Press, 4/24/02 PORTLAND, Ore. - Church, community and political groups in Oregon and Washington are demanding an end to what they call 'hate radio' and have called on a station owned by billionaire Paul Allen to drop talk show host Michael Savage. Savage, whose home base is KSFO in San Francisco, is syndicated on more than 350 radio stations nationwide. He is featured on KXL radio in Portland during the key afternoon drive-time slot, 4-7 p.m. "The content is an unbroken stream of hate and chauvinism directed against women, people of color, liberals, immigrants and in particular people of Middle Eastern heritage and people of the Muslim faith. We condemn this message of hate..." said Tom Nelson, spokesman for the Coalition Against Hate Radio. The coalition consists of the Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon, the Interfaith Councils of Greater Seattle and Greater Portland, the Islamic Societies of Southwest Washington and Portland, the Multnomah County Democratic Party, the Muslim Educational Trust, Oregon Friends of the Middle East, Jews for Global Justice, the Catholic Archdiocese of Portland, Centro Cultural and several other churches and groups. "The message that KXL is sending to communities of color, immigrants, and in particular to all people of Middle Eastern ancestry and to Muslims, is that you are not wanted in this country, that you have no value and that you should not expect any respect here," said Mona Goode, spokeswoman for the newly formed Coalition Against Hate Radio... Members of the coalition said they will ask corporate advertisers to withhold their support from KXL until the station drops Savage. "We're going to engage with the corporations that advertise on the radio station and appeal to their sense of corporate responsibility," Goode said. "In a sense, Michael Savage has done us a favor. He's kind of united the coalition in and of himself," she said. ----- BATTLE FOR THE TRUTH IN JENIN By Brian Whitaker, The Guardian (UK), 4/23/02 http://www.guardian.co.uk/elsewhere/journalist/story/0,7792,689398,00.html Israel insists it has nothing to hide in Jenin. So why is it trying to prevent the world discovering its innocence, asks Most people would know a massacre if they saw one. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, "massacre" is a noun meaning "general slaughter, carnage; utter defeat and destruction" or a verb meaning to "murder cruelly or violently a number of persons." The Israeli government objects to the word "massacre" being used to describe what happened in Jenin refugee camp earlier this month. "Only" 40 or so Palestinians were killed, it says, and they were all terrorists. There are good reasons for believing both these Israeli claims to be false but, even if they were true, the nature of the act is no less important than its scale. Both the International Committee of the Red Cross and Amnesty International say there is enough evidence to justify a full-scale investigation for war crimes. Amnesty has collected a number of witness statements alleging, among other things, that extra-judicial executions took place, that some Palestinians were shot while in the process of surrendering or even afterwards, that detainees were used as human shields and that medical workers were attacked in circumstances where there was no reason to suspect they were terrorists in disguise... ----- LETTERS: DRIVEN TO WAR By Karen de Olivares, Dallas Morning News, 4/23/02 http://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/letters/stories/042302dnedituesdayletters.9ff9c.html Letter to the Editor: After listening to how the Israeli army was bulldozing orchards, I started to ask questions. Maybe it's because members of my family are farmers and ranchers. I grew up eating fruit from trees my grandparents planted. I spent vacations watching cattle and wrestling hay bales off wagons at my great-aunt's ranch. The land will always be part of who and what we are now. We knew the hard work that went into taking care of what grew on the land. Thus, the abject sorrow choking the voice of a Palestinian woman as she described the churned-up, bare ground seemed very real. Bits of broken branches were all that remained of her family's groves of olive and fruit trees. Her pain and anger were as deeply piercing as any victim of this tragic war. After I heard about the deliberate destruction of orchards, homes and farms, I didn't have to think very hard about what my family would have done if they saw groves of trees falling beneath the blade. Before the first tree fell, they would have taken out their guns. I'm not saying that this justifies suicide bombings, but it makes me wonder if all of those desperate people can be dismissed as insane terrorists. It makes me wonder about cruel and repressive policies that breed violence. When you've worked nights trying to save your crop or an animal going through a difficult birth, when your sweat and tears have mingled with the soil, what is anchored in the earth is also rooted in your soul. Karen de Olivares, Irving ----- ISRAEL BEGINS WEST BANK CONSTRUCTION By CELEAN JACOBSON, The Associated Press, 4/24/02 JERUSALEM (AP) - The first stages of construction work are under way to connect two West Bank settlements by building housing for 480 Jewish families, an Israeli official said Wednesday. The settlement linking the Elkana and Shaarei Tikva settlements near Tel Aviv will cover about 90 acres, making it among the largest in the northern West Bank region, said Marcel Ganz, mayor of the Elkana Council, which is responsible for the development. Ganz said the construction was approved by the Israeli government more than two years ago and ground preparations are well under way. Building is to start in a few months and families could begin moving in within a year, he said. About 700 Jewish families now live in Elkana and Shaarei Tikva settlements. Throughout the West Bank and Gaza Strip, about 200,000 Jews live in 150 settlements among 3 million Palestinians. The settlement issue is one of the main stumbling blocks in the search for a lasting Israeli-Palestinian peace. The Palestinians demand removal of settlements from West Bank land they consider part of any future state... ----- PALESTINIANS SAY ISRAEL AIMS TO HIDE JENIN 'CRIMES' By Rawhi Abeidoh, Reuters, 4/24/02 JERUSALEM - The Palestinian Authority said on Wednesday that Israel's threat to block a U.N. fact-finding mission showed its government was trying to hide its "crimes" in the Jenin refugee camp. After agreeing to the mission approved by the U.N. Security Council last week, Israel said overnight the team would not be allowed to visit unless it included military and counter-terrorism experts. "The Israeli government is trying to hide the contours of its crimes at Jenin camp and...prevent the world from witnessing its continuous massacres against the Palestinian people," the Authority, led by Yasser Arafat, said in a statement. U.N. and European officials have said was Israel's disproportionate use of force against Palestinian militants and television footage of houses flattened by Israeli bulldozers in the Jenin camp. ----- ANNAN REFUSES JENIN MISSION DELAY By EDITH M. LEDERER, Associated Press, 4/24/02 UNITED NATIONS - Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Tuesday refused Israel's demand to delay and change a U.N. team that will investigate Israel's assault on the Jenin refugee camp, directing its members to arrive in the Mideast by Saturday. The U.N. Security Council held emergency consultations Tuesday night after Israel suddenly announced it was delaying the fact-finding mission... The secretary-general said the mandate of the team was the Security Council's resolution adopted unanimously last Friday which welcomes the fact-finding mission. It also expresses concern at "the dire humanitarian situation of the Palestinian civilian population," especially in Jenin. At the end of a nearly two-hour meeting, the council issued a statement saying it expects "fast implementation" of Friday's resolution - and Israel's "full cooperation" with the secretary-general and the team... ----- TERRORISM AND NATIONALISM Washington Post Editorial, 4/24/02 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A38046-2002Apr24.html ISRAELI PRIME Minister Ariel Sharon has insisted that his army's offensive in the West Bank has been aimed at uprooting the infrastructure of Palestinian terrorism, in the same way that the United States has used military force to drive al Qaeda from Afghanistan. That seems a worthy goal, and to some a valid comparison -- and yet it doesn't explain why Israeli troops would have raided and deliberately destroyed the civilian ministries of the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah. At the Ministry of Higher Education, the Israelis stripped all the computers of their hard drives, then piled them together and blew them up. They also destroyed Palestinian television studios, knocked down radio antennas and looted Palestinian banks. Perhaps some of these acts were carried out by undisciplined troops. But the pattern of destruction also suggests a crucial distinction between Israel's campaign and that of the United States. Both invasions are aimed at crushing terrorist organizations that have carried out savage attacks on innocent civilians. But Israel also has another target: the Palestinian national movement, which aims at ending the Israeli military occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip and creating a Palestinian state in its place. The problem with equating Israel's campaign against terrorism with that of the United States, as Mr. Sharon and some of his American supporters do, is that it overlooks this contest for territory and sovereignty underlying the Israeli-Palestinian bloodshed... ----- VOA TARGETS WIDER ARAB AUDIENCE By GEORGE GEDDA, Associated Press, 4/24/02 WASHINGTON (AP) - Newton Minow, a former chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, complained not long ago that Voice of America broadcasts to the Middle East were so ineffectual they amounted to "barely a whisper..." That may be changing with the advent of VOA's Middle East Radio Network, which went on the air March 23 with the avowed aim of getting the ear of Arabs from Morocco to Oman - more than a dozen countries. The AM-FM station is known in the region as "Radio Sawa," which means "Radio Together" in Arabic. The music features American favorites such as Jennifer Lopez and the Back Street Boys - and Arab pop stars from Egypt, Lebanon and other countries. "Music is a tool," says Norman Pattiz, a member of the Broadcasting Board of Governors, the government entity that oversees U.S. foreign broadcast operations. "The target audience is 25 and under. The best way to reach them is with music." If music is the bait, the main dish for listeners, as the U.S. government sees it, is the airing of U.S. policy. Next week, Sawa will begin broadcasting policy programs, editorials and reviews and critiques of Arab press reports. ----- FUNDRAISING DINNER FOR MUSLIMS VICTIMS OF GUJARAT VIOLENCE WHAT: The Tragedy of Gujarat and the Muslim Ummah - A lecture given by Dr. Omar Khalidi, Professor at MIT WHERE: Muslim Community Association, MCA, 3003 Scott Blvd., Santa Clara (between San Tomas & Central Expressways) WHEN: Saturday, April 27th, 7 - 10 p.m. (Relief funds raised will be given to the Indian Muslim Relief Committee [IMRC] for distribution in India) SPONSORS: Muslim Community Association (MCA), South Bay Islamic Association (SBIA), India Muslim Action Committee (IMAC), Muslim American Society (MAS), Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) and American Muslims for Global Peace and Justice (AMGPJ) Dinner will be served at $10 per person at the door; babysitting provided. ----- MUSLIMS SURROUND POLICE STATION, DEMAND END TO MOB VIOLENCE IN GUJARAT By RUPAK SANYAL, Associated Press, 4/24/02 AHMADABAD, India - About 3,000 people, mostly Muslims, surrounded a police station in western Gujarat state on Wednesday, demanding officers stop sectarian violence after rampaging Hindus burned much of the neighborhood. The death toll in nearly two months of violence in the state rose to at least 863 on Wednesday when a body with multiple stab wounds was found in the exclusive Law Garden area of Ahmadabad, the commercial capital, and a burned body was found near a temple in the Khanpur area of the city, police said. The officers did not know the religion of the two dead or how they were killed. More than 500 Hindu and Muslim women and children were sheltering inside the besieged station in the Shahibaug area of Ahmadabad after the night of violence, as India's worst religious riots in a decade continued. On Tuesday night, an armed mob of 5,000 Hindus tore through Shahibaug, blowing up cooking gas canisters to ignite fires in the mostly Muslim area. They destroyed 30 shops and a Muslim shrine. Some of the mob burst into the office of the local police commissioner and demanded the closing of a relief camp housing 4,500 Muslims who were burned out of their homes earlier in the sectarian violence. The Gujarat violence began on Feb. 27, when Muslims set fire to a train carrying Hindu activists returning from a pilgrimage aimed at building a Hindu temple on the site of a mosque destroyed by a Hindu mob in 1992. Since then, most of those killed have been Muslims, many burned alive and their businesses and homes destroyed by Hindu mobs. ----- ABC'S "NIGHTLINE" PROFILES IRANIAN FILM-MAKER http://abcnews.go.com/Sections/Nightline/ WHAT: 2nd part in four-part series that explores Islam, Muslims, and the West. Tonight's program is a profile of Iranian film-maker Bahman Farmanara. He reflects on recent events and the impact of western influence on Iranian and Islamic culture and tradition. WHEN: Tonight at 11:35 p.m. (Eastern) ----- TIME TO CONSIDER PRAYER ROOMS? HRfocus, May 2002 Employers with Muslim employees are beginning to add prayer rooms, according to Ibrahim Hooper, spokesperson for the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR; Washington, D.C.; 202-488-8787; www.cair-net.org). Having a space set aside for prayer can save time and disruption, Hooper said, since devout Muslims pray five times a day. The rooms are usually designated for prayer at the request of an informal employee committee, Hooper said. For help in addressing issues related to Muslim religious practices and possible accommodations, CAIR has published An Employer's Guide to Islamic Religious Practices. TO OBTAIN A COPY OF CAIR'S GUIDE, SEND A REQUEST TO: publications@cair-net.org ----- SECRETARY MINETA SAYS RACIAL PROFILING IS WRONG AND INEFFECTIVE REMARKS FOR THE HONORABLE NORMAN Y. MINETA U.S. SECRETARY OF TRANSPORTATION ARAB COMMUNITY CENTER FOR ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL SERVICES DETROIT, MICHIGAN, APRIL 20, 2002 http://www.dot.gov/affairs/042002sp.htm It is very tempting to take false comfort in the belief that we can spot the bad guy based on appearance alone. Some are yielding to that temptation in their arguments for racial profiling, but false comfort is a luxury we cannot afford. It is true that each of the hijackers involved in the September 11th hijackings had some characteristics in common -- they were all young men of Arab ancestry. But we cannot, we must not, and we will not assume that all future terrorists will fit that particular profile. Without more information, we simply cannot tell -- and it certainly has not been true in the past... ----- 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 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 ----- AMERICAN MUSLIM NEWS BRIEFS - 4/25/2002 ----- HEADLINES: * FOR MANY AMERICAN MUSLIMS, COMPLAINTS OF QUIET BUT PERSISTENT BIAS (New York Times) * RIGHTS GROUPS TEAM UP TO AID ARABS, MUSLIMS (Chicago Tribune) * OPENNESS: THE AMERICAN WAY (Toledo Blade) * THE NEW YORK SUN'S NOT-SO-BRIGHT DEBUT (Salon.com) * ONCE UPON A TIME IN JENIN (The Independent) * PALESTINIANS IN JENIN CAMP TURN DOWN U.S. RELIEF AID (Reuters) * SHARON'S BEST WEAPON (The Guardian) * OPERATION DESTROY THE DATA (Haaretz) * PRO-ISRAEL LOBBY TAKES A RIGHT TURN (Time) * ADL FOUND GUILTY OF SPYING BY CALIFORNIA COURT (Arab News) * WHITE HOUSE OPPOSES ISRAELI AID IN EMERGENCY BILL (Reuters) ----- FOR MANY AMERICAN MUSLIMS, COMPLAINTS OF QUIET BUT PERSISTENT BIAS By SUSAN SACHS, The New York Times, 4/25/02 http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/25/nyregion/25MUSL.html In ways large and small, from perceived prejudice in the workplace to a heightened sense of anxiety at home, the events of Sept. 11 continue to reverberate in the lives of American Muslims. State and federal civil rights agencies have been flooded with complaints from Muslims who contend that their employers and co-workers openly denigrated Islam after the terror attacks, sneeringly labeled them terrorist and, in some cases, fired them solely because of religion or national origin. Many other Muslims say they see evidence of a quiet but persistent discrimination against them in their everyday social transactions. It is not necessarily tangible. A once-friendly acquaintance no longer says hello. A child is repeatedly teased over his Arabic name. A customer calls the police to suggest that a foreign-looking merchant might be a terrorist... In a national survey by the Zogby International polling company in March 2000, 35 percent of the American Muslims polled reported having experienced discrimination because of their religion. Thirty-nine of Arab-Americans polled said they had experienced prejudice based on their ethnic heritage. But feelings appeared to have shifted significantly after Sept. 11. In November 2001, another Zogby poll found that 57 percent of American Muslims believed Americans held unfavorable opinions of Muslims and Arabs. The unease that many people now feel is not necessarily linked to a concrete event or overt behavior. "What we have now is a feeling of insecurity, a feeling that I can't really describe in words," said Zaheer Sharaf, a grocer and service station owner who immigrated from Pakistan six years ago... ----- RIGHTS GROUPS TEAM UP TO AID ARABS, MUSLIMS By Oscar Avila, Chicago Tribune, 4/25/02 http://www.chicagotribune.com Search using the Term "Oscar Avila." Motivated by post-Sept. 11 hostility toward Muslims and Arab-Americans, a diverse network of civil-rights groups is starting an initiative to offer them better legal education and representation through training and more efficient referrals to legal-aid organizations. Muslim and Arab-American activists say they hope the yearlong project, to be announced Thursday, will combine their community connections with the legal and political expertise of partners such as the American Civil Liberties Union and National Lawyers Guild. Launching Project LINC is vital, they said, in an environment of hate crimes, discrimination and a law-enforcement focus on Muslims and Arab-Americans since Sept. 11... Kausar Ahmad, executive director of the Muslim Civil Rights Center in Hickory Hills, said the new project formalizes talks that started before Sept. 11. "It's not that the Muslim community has not been reaching out, but this is the first massive and unified effort we've had," Ahmad said. In addition to helping Muslims and Arab-Americans tap into a network of civil-rights lawyers, the project will enlist the Leadership Council for Metropolitan Open Communities to improve the groups' reporting of hate crimes and housing discrimination... ----- OPENNESS: THE AMERICAN WAY The Toledo Blade, 4/25/02 http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?Site=TO&Date=20020425&Category=OPINION02&ArtNo=104250118&Ref=AR At last our federal courts are showing themselves willing to buck the Star Chamber mentality that John Ashcroft's Justice Department has foolishly tried to establish in the name of fighting terrorism. Hopefully they will consistently uphold our Constitution as the department continues to try to thwart an April 3 decision by U.S. District Judge Nancy Edmunds. Judge Edmunds ordered the release of transcripts of immigration hearings involving Rabih Haddad, 41, a Lebanese citizen and Muslim activist picked up in Ann Arbor in December for overstaying his six-month visa as a Chicago-based charity he helped found was shut down. Judge Edmunds struck down the department's new policy of keeping immigration court hearings closed, an act by the attorney general that can only be called anathema to the most basic of American ideals. In reviewing the judge's ruling, which had been stayed briefly, the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said it was highly unlikely that releasing the data would affect the government's probe of terrorists. That remark attests to the dangers of Mr. Ashcroft's blanket claims to secrecy. It also explains why southeast Michigan's Congressman John Conyers and news publications in the area - the Detroit News, the Detroit Free Press, the Ann Arbor News, and the weekly Metro Times - rightly pressed for access on behalf of themselves and the public they serve... ----- THE NEW YORK SUN'S NOT-SO-BRIGHT DEBUT By Eric Boehlert, Salon.com, 4/25/02 http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2002/04/25/nysun/index.html The Sun's president and editor, Seth Lipsky, recently told an interviewer that he wanted the Sun's editorial page to champion "limited government, individual liberty, constitutional fundamentals, equality under the law, economic growth...standards in literature and culture, education." But the paper's primary passions are clearly Israel and Jewish causes. Lipsky once edited the Forward, the New York Jewish daily newspaper, and has been described by the New Yorker as a "Jabotinskyite Zionist." The Sun's worldview was summed up on launch day in an unsigned editorial, "The War Against the Jews." Decrying anti-Semitism, "a virus that has claimed millions of lives over the centuries," the editorial drew a parallel between the Holocaust and recent pro-Palestinian demonstrations held in America, because they "are by and large rallies that support an anti-Semitism that is unthinkable to those who know the history." Elsewhere in the Sun's limited news hole last week, there were stories about Jewish book awards, a synagogue cantor facing sexual assault charges, Jean-Marie Le Pen wooing Jews in France, an upcoming book about Anne Frank, additional editorials about Israel, as well as ads purchased by the Anti-Defamation League, Peace4israel.com and the Zionist Organization of America. And of course there was plenty of coverage of the violence in the Middle East. The Sun reported on Page 1 last Thursday that by backing a U.N. resolution, "Austria, Belgium, France, Portugal, Spain and Sweden are throwing their support behind the PLO's terrorist attack on Israeli civilians." The next day a Sun headline reported that U.S. "Taxpayers Send $92 Million More to Palestinians." The accompanying article explained that the White House had waived restrictions on aid to Palestinians, but it never explained where the $92 million figure came from. In fact, the figure never even appeared in the article. A related editorial suggested the White House waiver "will open the way for something like $100 million in taxpayer funding to make its way to the Palestinians..." ----- ONCE UPON A TIME IN JENIN What really happened when Israeli forces went into Jenin? Just as the world is giving up hope of learning the truth, Justin Huggler and Phil Reeves have unearthed compelling evidence of an atrocity By Justin Huggler and Phil Reeves, The Independent (UK), 4/25/02 http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/story.jsp?story=288592 The Israeli army insists that its devastating invasion of the refugee camp in Jenin earlier this month was intended to root out the infrastructure of the Palestinian militias, particularly the authors of an increasingly vicious series of suicide attacks on Israelis. It now says the dead were mostly fighters. And, as always - although its daily behaviour in the occupied territories contradicts this claim - it insists that it did everything possible to protect civilians. But The Independent has unearthed a different story. We have found that, while the Israeli operation clearly dealt a devastating blow to the militant organisations - in the short term, at least - nearly half of the Palestinian dead who have been identified so far were civilians, including women, children and the elderly. They died amid a ruthless and brutal Israeli operation, in which many individual atrocities occurred, and which Israel is seeking to hide by launching a massive propaganda drive... ----- PALESTINIANS IN JENIN CAMP TURN DOWN U.S. RELIEF AID REuters, 4/25/02 JENIN, West Bank (Reuters) - Palestinian officials at Jenin refugee camp Thursday turned down a U.S. aid shipment of tents, food and children's toys, saying the camp had been destroyed by Israel with U.S.-made weapons. They said residents refused to unpack the shipment, which included 800 tents and other relief supplies from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), after it arrived in U.N. trucks Tuesday. "Residents do not accept this assistance presented by the United States because their camp has been demolished, its youth killed by American weapons in Israeli hands," said Fakhri Turukman, a Palestinian legislator from the camp. "We would rather die of hunger than be fed by our killers," said Ibrahim Hussein, a member of the camp's relief committee... ----- SHARON'S BEST WEAPON Anti-semitism sustains Israel's brutal leader - the fight against it must be reclaimed Naomi Klein, The Guardian, 4/25/02 http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/comment/0,10551,690227,00.html The primary and familiar fear that Sharon draws on, the one that allows him to disguise all aggressive actions as defensive ones, is the fear that Israel's neighbours want to drive the Jews into the sea. The secondary fear Sharon manipulates is the fear among Jews in the diaspora that they will eventually be driven to seek a safe haven in Israel. This leads millions of Jews around the world, many of them sickened by Israeli aggression, to shut up and send their cheques, a down-payment on future sanctuary. The equation is simple: the more fearful Jews are, the more powerful Sharon is. Elected on a platform of "peace through security", Sharon's administration could barely hide its delight at Le Pen's ascendancy, immediately calling on French Jews to pack their bags and come to the promised land. For Sharon, Jewish fear is a guarantee that his power will go unchecked, granting him the impunity needed to do the unthinkable: send troops into the Palestinian Authority's education ministry to steal and destroy records, bury children alive in their homes, block ambulances from getting to the dying, sabotage all international attempts to get at the truth of what happened in Jenin. Jews outside Israel now find themselves in a tightening vice: the actions of the country that was supposed to ensure their future safety are making them less safe right now. Sharon is deliberately erasing distinctions between the terms "Jew" and "Israeli", claiming he is fighting not for Israeli territory but for the survival of the Jewish people. When anti-semitism rises at least partly as a result of his actions, it is Sharon who is positioned once again to collect the political dividends... ----- OPERATION DESTROY THE DATA By Amira Hass, Haaretz, 4/25/02 http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=155181&contrassID=2&subContrassID=4&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y It's a scene that is repeating itself in hundreds of Palestinian offices taken over by IDF troops for a few hours or days in the West Bank: smashed, burned and broken computer terminals heaped in piles and thrown into yards; server cabling cut, hard disks missing, disks and diskettes scattered and broken, printers and scanners broken or missing, laptops gone, telephone exchanges that disappeared or were vandalized, and paper files burned, torn, scattered, or defaced - if not taken... Let's not deceive ourselves; this was not a mission to search and destroy the terrorist infrastructure....There was a decision made to vandalize the civic, administrative, cultural infrastructure developed by Palestinian society. ----- PRO-ISRAEL LOBBY TAKES A RIGHT TURN By Douglas Waller, Time, 4/23/02 http://www.time.com/time/columnist/waller/article/0,9565,233157,00.htm Who's the current darling of the pro-Israel lobby? Who fired up more than 2,000 delegates attending the convention of the American Israeli Public Affairs Committee in Washington on Tuesday morning? Who had them standing on their feet cheering after practically every sentence he uttered? Not a liberal Democrat, as you might expect. It was a conservative Republican from Sugar Land, Texas, a born-again Christian whose nickname is the "Hammer." Tom DeLay, the take-no-prisoners House Republican Whip, has already lapped Democrats in the race to prove who is Israel's strongest ally on Capitol Hill... ----- ADL FOUND GUILTY OF SPYING BY CALIFORNIA COURT By Barbara Ferguson, Arab News, 4/25/2002 http://www.arabnews.com/Article.asp?ID=14650 WASHINGTON, 25 April - The San Francisco Superior Court has awarded former Congressman Pete McCloskey, R-California, a $150,000 court judgment against the Anti-Defamation League (ADL). McCloskey, the attorney in the case, represented one of three civil lawsuits filed in San Francisco against the ADL in 1993. The lawsuit came after raids were made by the San Francisco Police Department and the FBI on offices of the ADL in both San Francisco and Los Angeles, which found that the ADL was engaged in extensive domestic spying operations on a vast number of individuals and institutions around the country. During the course of the inquiry in San Francisco, the SFPD and FBI determined the ADL had computerized files on nearly 10,000 people across the country, and that more than 75 percent of the information had been illegally obtained from police, FBI files and state drivers' license data banks. Much of the stolen information had been provided by Tom Gerard of the San Francisco Police Department, who sold, or gave, the information to Ray Bullock, ADL's top undercover operative. The investigation also determined that the ADL conduit, Gerard, was also working with the CIA. Two other similar suits against ADL were settled some years ago, and the ADL was found guilty in both cases, but the McCloskey suit continued to drag through the courts until last month... ----- WHITE HOUSE OPPOSES ISRAELI AID IN EMERGENCY BILL Reuters, 4/25/2002 WASHINGTON, April 25 (Reuters) - The Bush administration is considering additional aid to Israel, which already receives about $3 billion in U.S. aid annually, but does not want to include it in a counterterrorism bill moving through Congress, the White House's budget chief said on Thursday. "From a foreign policy standpoint it's under review, but not right now and not in this bill," budget director Mitchell Daniels told reporters. "This is not the time. We want to confine this supplemental bill to things that we feel are immediately necessary," Daniels said after addressing a conservative judicial group. Rep. Nita Lowey of New York, the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee on foreign aid, last week said she would push for up to $200 million for Israel in the emergency spending bill. That move was expected to pick up support among lawmakers from both parties eager to back Israel in the conflict with Palestinians. The Republican-led House of Representatives is expected to vote next week on a resolution expressing solidarity with Israel and supporting more aid. ----- 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 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 ----- AMERICAN MUSLIM NEWS BRIEFS - 4/26/2002 ----- HEADLINES: * HADITH OF THE DAY: CONTENTMENT * REPORT ON AMERICAN MUSLIM CIVIL RIGHTS TO BE RELEASED * U.S. EVADES CURBS IN TERROR LAW (Newsday) * CAIR-NY OFFICIAL ON CNN'S MONEYLINE WITH LOU DOBBS * WINNING THROUGH INTIMIDATION (Antiwar.com) * UNION SEES USF SHIFT ON AL-ARIAN (Tampa Tribune) * BUSH SAYS NOW IS TIME FOR ISRAEL TO WITHDRAW (Reuters) * POLICY DIVIDE THWARTS POWELL IN MIDEAST EFFORT (Washington Post) * CARTOON: ISRAEL V. PALESTINE: WHERE DO YOU STAND? (New York Times) * ISRAEL'S HISTORIC MISCALCULATION (New York Times) * BUSH'S DOMESTIC POLITICS AND THE PRO-ISRAELI TILT (Union-Tribune) * WHITE HOUSE AND DELAY AT ODDS (Washington Post) * IN THE EYE OF THE BEHOLDER (Haaretz) * CONFERENCE TO HELP MUSLIM WOMEN, GIRLS DEAL WITH CHALLENGES (Tennessean) ----- HADITH OF THE DAY: CONTENTMENT The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: "Being rich does not mean having a great amount of property, but [it] is being content [with what one has]." Sahih Al-Bukhari, Volume 4, Hadith 453 ----- FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - MEDIA ADVISORY - REPORT ON AMERICAN MUSLIM CIVIL RIGHTS TO BE RELEASED Study includes impact of September 11 attacks on Muslim civil liberties WHAT: On Tuesday, April 30, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), a Washington-based Islamic advocacy group, will hold a news conference in the nation's capital to release its seventh annual report on the status of Muslim civil rights in the United States, titled "Stereotypes and Civil Liberties." The report, the only national study of its kind, details incidents and experiences of anti-Muslim violence, stereotyping, discrimination, and harassment during the past year. It also outlines the Islamophobic backlash that occurred following the September 11 terrorist attacks and examines the impact anti-terrorism policies prompted by the attacks have had on American Muslim civil liberties. Policies examined by the report include passenger profiling, post-9/11 detentions, the closure of Muslim relief organizations, the use of secret evidence, so-called "voluntary" interviews of legal visa-holders, and the recent raids on Muslim homes and institutions in Virginia and Georgia. "There is a growing sense of apprehension in the Islamic community about what are viewed as unconstitutional policies targeting ordinary Muslims. American Muslims have been thrust to the forefront of the civil rights movement in this country," said CAIR Research Director Dr. Mohamed Nimer. CAIR began documenting anti-Muslim incidents following the 1995 attack on the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City. There are an estimated 7 million Muslims in this country and some 1.2 billion worldwide. WHEN: Tuesday, April 30, 2002, 10:30 a.m. (Eastern) WHERE: CAIR's Capitol Hill Headquarters 1st Floor, 453 New Jersey Avenue, S.E., Washington, D.C. - END - CONTACT: Ibrahim Hooper, 202-488-8787 E-MAIL - cair@cair-net.org Ms. Hodan Hassan, 202-488-8787 E-MAIL: hhassan@cair-net.org ----- U.S. EVADES CURBS IN TERROR LAW By Tom Brune, Newsday (NY), 4/26/02 http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/nation/ny-usjust262684101apr26.story Washington - In its first report to Congress required by the sweeping anti-terrorism law passed six months ago, the Justice Department said this week it has not invoked its new powers to certify or detain any noncitizens as terrorists. The report, one of the few required by the 326-page USA Patriot Act, prompted a sharp response yesterday from congressional critics and civil liberties advocates who have protested Attorney General John Ashcroft's domestic war on terrorism. "The entire justification for Ashcroft's dragnet approach to detaining Arab and Muslim Americans has collapsed with this admission that he hasn't been able to identify a single terrorist," Rep. John Conyers of Michigan said yesterday. "I believe it reflects the Bush administration's arrogant disregard for the Constitution and the haphazard response to Sept. 11," added Conyers, the ranking Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee... The report is not totally surprising, civil liberties advocates and experts said, because the FBI has already indicated it had found no Sept.11 accomplices among the 1,200 aliens arrested and detained... The law that passed and became the Patriot Act allows the attorney general to certify aliens as terrorists and detain them. But it also requires the government to file charges against aliens in seven days, limits detention of them to renewable six-month periods and requires reports to Congress on them every six months. This week's report, Edgar and other civil liberties advocates said, shows the Justice Department avoided the law by instead charging aliens under existing immigration law and using rewritten administrative rules to hold aliens without charges... ----- CAIR-NY OFFICIAL ON CNN'S MONEYLINE WITH LOU DOBBS - 4/25/02 DOBBS: ...We`re rejoined, I`m glad to say, by Rabbi Eric Yoffie. He`s the president of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations. And Al-Haj Ghazi Khankan, executive director of the Council of American Islamic Relations here in New York. And, Haj, it is good to have you with us. HAJ GHAZI KHANKAN, COUNCIL ON AMER. ISLAMIC RELATIONS: Thank you. DOBBS: Let me begin first with a very simple question. This area, so important to so many religions, why is religion not making its force felt in this conflict? It seems to be the one element in all of this contest that it is not -- it is not public. It is not at the forefront. It`s not the leading expression of view. Haj, could I ask you that question first? KHANKAN: Possibly because our cousins don`t recognize that Ismail is also the son of Abraham, and indeed, is an inheritor of the gift that God is giving the children of Abraham. "To thy seed, Abraham, I give this land," includes the children of Ismail. And Ismail is the Arab side of the equation. DOBBS: Haj Khankan, the question of the role of humanitarianism and what your religion can do to relieve the suffering. KHANKAN: I think we -- all religion, because the religion with God is one. Jews, Christians and Muslims must sit down and talk. But should not use words that are aggressive and antagonistic. And therefore, we need to work together. We do a lot of, through the Islamic Center of Long Island and other organizations, we do a lot of interfaith dialogue between Jewish, Christians and Muslims. And when it comes to the problem of Jerusalem, nobody knows why Jerusalem is so important for Muslims. And that is a subject by itself which makes many in the United States think that it`s only important for Jews and Christians but not for Muslims. ----- WINNING THROUGH INTIMIDATION By Justin Raimondo, Antiwar.com, 4/19/02 http://www.antiwar.com/justin/j042602.html There's a move afoot to stifle political discourse in this country: Israel's lobby in the US is trying to drag us into a war with Iraq, and the entire Muslim world, without a national debate, by smearing anyone who opposes their agenda as an "anti-Semite." But it won't work. Americans don't like being told what to think and what to write; they don't like pushy lobbyists with not-so-hidden agendas - and, contra Tunku, they do indeed believe the First Amendment serves their best interests, and aren't likely to get rid of it any time soon. ---- UNION SEES USF SHIFT ON AL-ARIAN By BEN FELLER, Tampa Tribune, 4/25/02 http://tampatrib.com/ TAMPA - The University of South Florida's president shows signs she will let a banished professor return to work, and the school will almost certainly be censured if she doesn't, according to a report for the nation's leading voice on academic freedom. President Judy Genshaft's recent language and actions show she is poised to "back away from the brink' of firing Sami Al-Arian and tarnishing her school, wrote the lawyer heading the American Association of University Professors' investigation of USF... Genshaft said Wednesday the characterization is wrong. She stands by her announced intention Dec. 19 to fire Al-Arian, and she said her deliberate pace in making a final decision does not mean she is wavering. Genshaft said she will make a decision by August. The story keeps moving, she said, with developments such as law enforcement's confirmed investigation of Al-Arian. Al-Arian, meanwhile, draws his $67,500 salary and waits for resolution. His attorney, Bob McKee, said he hopes the AAUP report will help show USF it should reconsider... ----- BUSH SAYS NOW IS TIME FOR ISRAEL TO WITHDRAW Reuters, 4/26/02 CRAWFORD, Texas, Reuters) - U.S. President George W. Bush on Friday said the time had now come for Israel to complete its withdrawal from Palestinian areas occupied in a campaign to halt suicide bombings. "There has been some progress but it's now time to put it all together. It's time to end this. Well, we'll see what happens. I know they've heard us," Bush told reporters at his ranch in Texas. Bush's comments came a day after he met with Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah and was warned U.S. ties with the Arab world were at risk over Middle East violence. ----- POLICY DIVIDE THWARTS POWELL IN MIDEAST EFFORT By Alan Sipress, Washington Post, 04/26/02 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A51099-2002Apr25.html State Department officials say Secretary of State Colin L. Powell has been repeatedly undercut by other senior policymakers in his effort to break the Middle East deadlock, warning this has left U.S. diplomacy paralyzed at an especially volatile moment... They partly fault what they said was the administration's unwillingness to stand behind Powell, especially in pressuring Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to withdraw his forces from West Bank cities and hold accelerated talks with the Palestinians. Department officials said they continue to face objections as they seek to fashion a diplomatic initiative aimed at creating a Palestinian state. Powell has displayed little public frustration. But his employees' complaints, reflecting their own exasperation and deep loyalty to him, reveal the depth of divisions inside the administration, especially between the State Department and the Pentagon. Many in the State Department cite resistance to their diplomatic efforts coming from Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, who has more of a voice in shaping Middle East policy than his predecessors. The opinions of Rumsfeld and his key lieutenants, notably Deputy Defense Secretary Paul D. Wolfowitz and Undersecretary of Defense Douglas J. Feith, figure prominently because the Pentagon has been given a seat at interagency discussions over the Middle East conflict. In recent years, the peace process was largely the purview of the State Department and the White House. The rift in President Bush's inner circle, some State Department officials said, has left the administration's policy "dead in the water." These officials use words like "despondent" and "disheartened" to describe the mood in Foggy Bottom, saying they cannot remember a time in recent years when they have felt so badly beaten up. ----- CARTOON: ISRAEL V. PALESTINE: WHERE DO YOU STAND? http://www2.uclick.com/client/nyt/tr/ ----- ISRAEL'S HISTORIC MISCALCULATION The New York Times, 4/26/02 http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/26/opinion/_26FRI1.html Late last week, senior Israeli Army officers called for uprooting several dozen isolated Jewish settlements in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip because of the military burden involved in protecting them. Even though the proposal was focused on Israeli security interests, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon angrily dismissed it at a cabinet meeting, saying that as long as he was in power there would be no discussion of removing a single settlement. It is hard to imagine a more dispiriting statement for those hoping for a negotiated land-for-peace end to hostilities in the Middle East. If Mr. Sharon sticks to this view he will leave little hope for peace between Israel and the Palestinians. We recognize that this is an exceptionally painful moment in a region where the focus has been on death and human suffering rather than on land. But ultimately this dispute is over land. Just as terror is the greatest Palestinian threat to Middle East peace, so are settlements on territory captured in the 1967 war the greatest Israeli obstacle to peace. They deprive the Palestinians of prime land and water, break up Palestinian geographic continuity, are hard to defend against Palestinian attack and complicate the establishment of a clear, secure Israeli border... ----- BUSH'S DOMESTIC POLITICS AND THE PRO-ISRAELI TILT By James Goldsborough, San Diego Union Tribune, 4/25/02 http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/uniontrib/thu/opinion/news_1e25golds.html How are Americans to understand President Bush's kowtowing to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon? Told to withdraw Israeli forces from the West Bank "without delay," Sharon refused. As Israel reduced the Jenin refugee camp to rubble using U.S.-supplied arms, Bush praised him as a "man of peace." The man of peace now wants to dictate the composition of a U.N. fact-finding mission, approved with U.S. support, into Jenin. As former President Carter pointed out Sunday, presidents don't just spin their wheels. Presidents have power levers. In the case of Israel, said Carter, the levers are two: We provide $10 million per day in aid to Israel; we supply Israel weapons for defensive purposes only, not for attacks on refugees... ----- WHITE HOUSE AND DELAY AT ODDS By Mike Allen and Juliet Eilperin, Washington Post, 4/26/02 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A50644-2002Apr25.html House Majority Whip Tom DeLay (R-Tex.) is promoting a strongly worded declaration of congressional support for Israel over the objection of Bush administration officials, who contend it would further alienate Arab states crucial to the war on terrorism and the Middle East peace process. A White House official said the administration has warned DeLay that he could hamper the U.S. effort to persuade Israel's Arab neighbors -- including Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia -- to help curb Palestinian violence. "Nobody doubts our support for Israel, but putting it in neon lights and throwing it in the face of moderate Arab states is not helpful," the official said... ----- IN THE EYE OF THE BEHOLDER By Sara Leibovich-Dar, Haaretz, 4/26/02 http://news.haaretz.co.il/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=155638&contrassID=2&subContrassID=5&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y&itemNo=155638 More than 1,000 foreign journalists have arrived in Israel in the past several weeks. While they have reported from war zones all over the world, many say they have never encountered such rough treatment as they are receiving from the Israeli army. ----- CONFERENCE TO HELP MUSLIM WOMEN, GIRLS DEAL WITH CHALLENGES By ANITA WADHWANI, The Tennessean, 4/25/02 http://www.tennessean.com/local/archives/02/04/16573935.shtml Sabina Mohyuddin remembers the day she first covered her head to go to junior high. It was 1983 and when she walked into J.T. Moore Middle School, she became the first and only Muslim girl in Nashville public schools to wear the traditional hijab, or head scarf - a symbol of womanhood and religious devotion. "It was isolating," she said. The memory of that experience led Mohyuddin, now 30, to help organize a conference for Muslim women and girls Saturday at Tennessee State University. The Muslim community in Nashville has changed considerably since Mohyuddin's childhood, when there was no mosque for area Muslims. Today, there are at least four mosques in Nashville, and mosques in surrounding counties, as well as prayer rooms in local universities. About 15,000 Muslims live in Middle Tennessee. There is also a Muslim school. But, while the sight of a Muslim girl wearing a hijab is no longer uncommon in Nashville public schools, conference leaders say there are still many challenges for Muslim women in the Bible Belt, especially since Sept. 11... ----- 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 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 MOURNS THE LOSS OF DR. HALA MAKSOUD The board and staff of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) offer their heartfelt condolences to the family of Dr. Hala Salaam Maksoud who died Friday after a long illness. Dr. Maksoud served as president of American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) from 1996 to 2001. She held a Ph.D. in political theory and an M.A. in government from Georgetown University, and an M.A. in mathematics from the American University of Beirut.She taught courses at George Mason University and at Georgetown. In addition to her academic career, Dr. Maksoud was a prominent Arab-American leader and participated in the founding of several organizations, including the American Committee on Jerusalem, the Association of Arab-American University Graduates, and the Arab Women's Council.Dr. Maksoud was a nationally recognized advocate of civil and human rights, and was the recipient of a lifetime achievement award from the American Immigration Law Foundation in March 2002. Dr. Maksoud is survived by her husband, Dr. Clovis Maksoud, former Ambassador of the League of Arab States to the United States and the United Nations, and current professor of international relations at American University. ----- FUNERAL ARRANGEMENTS FOR DR. MAKSOUD A prayer service will be held on Saturday, April 27, during midday prayers (1 p.m. EST) at the Islamic Center, located at 2551 Massachusetts Ave., NW, in Washington, DC.A private burial ceremony will be held after the prayer service. The family will receive condolences on Saturday (April 27) in the late afternoon, Sunday (April 28) and Monday (April 29) at their home located at: 2815 Ellicott St. NW, Washington, DC 20008 ----- 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, 202-489-5108 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 ----- AMERICAN MUSLIM NEWS BRIEFS - 4/28/2002 ----- HEADLINES: * MORE NEBRASKANS CONVERTING TO ISLAM AFTER SEPT. 11 (AP) * ISRAEL BANS U.N. MISSION TO JENIN (AP) * TEENAGERS SHOT BY ISRAELIS, THEN RUN OVER WITH A TANK (Independent) * ACROSS WEST BANK, DAILY TRAGEDIES GO UNSEEN (Guardian) * SHOUTING FIRE: CIVIL LIBERTIES IN A TURBULENT AGE (The Nation) * UP CLOSE: TAYYIBAH TAYLOR (Atlanta Journal) * CONTROVERSIAL SHEIK DRAWS CRITICISM FOR PRO-ISRAEL VIEWS (Ottawa Citizen) * BOOK REVIEWS: FIGHTING SPIRITS (Washington Post) * PBS FRONTLINE AIRS “MUSLIM” MAY 9 ----- MORE NEBRASKANS CONVERTING TO ISLAM AFTER SEPT. 11 By MARGERY BECK, Associated Press, 4/27/2002 OMAHA, Neb. (AP) - For much of his life, Leslie Craig struggled to reconcile being a black man with an Anglican name. Then came the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Little more than a month later, the 46-year-old Omaha man became Bilal Rohman Abdul-Shakour. He officially converted to Islam and adopted his new name on Oct. 19. Abdul-Shakour is not the only new Muslim in Nebraska. Islamic leaders say more people in the state have converted since the attacks, and many also have adopted traditionally ethnic Muslim names. "As the spotlight has been focused on Islam, people have said, `I want to learn more about this.' A number of those people have found Islam to be something they like and want to follow," said Ahmad Ghosheh, president of Islamic Center in Omaha. Just as the increase in hate crimes against U.S. Muslims can be traced to the attacks, so can the growing number of converts, Ghosheh said. "This gives Muslims in America a chance to show the world what Islam is all about," Abdul-Shakour said. "Osama bin Laden is not Islam." Abdul-Shakour, who was raised Baptist and began studying Islam in earnest as a teen during the 1960s civil rights movement, said he took the attacks and a car accident he was involved in shortly thereafter as a divine sign. "The end is coming, and I'm out here in the cold," he said. "I saw it as Allah sending me a message…" Some officials at the Omaha mosque say the number of converts since the attacks is about 50 percent to 60 percent higher than the same period last year. They did not release exact numbers… Saidi Liwaru, vice president of the Islamic Center in Omaha, has noticed an increase in Muslims in Nebraska adopting habits prescribed by the Islamic faith, including more Muslim women covering their hair with scarves. "Whenever there's turmoil, especially when Muslims are around it, the increase in the number of people accepting Islam is phenomenal," Liwaru said. Zahra Cheema, a 20-year-old journalism student at the University of Nebraska at Omaha, has been a Muslim all her life, but only began covering her head in March. The terrorist attacks were not the sole reason she made the decision, but were a factor, she said. "After Sept. 11, every Muslim almost became an ambassador for their religion," Cheema said… On The Net - Islamic Center of Omaha: http://www.ico-ne.org/ ----- ISRAEL BANS U.N. MISSION TO JENIN By JACK KATZENELL, The Associated Press, 4/28/2002 JERUSALEM (AP) - Israel's Cabinet decided Sunday not to allow a U.N. fact-finding team to come to the region to look into the battle in the Jenin refugee camp, a Cabinet minister said… Rivlin, speaking for the Cabinet, criticized the team's composition and said it was inevitable that the mission's report would blame Israel. “This awful United Nations committee is out to get us and is likely to smear Israel and to force us to do things which Israel is not prepared even to hear about, such as interrogating soldiers and officers who took part in the fighting,” Rivlin said… In an eight-day battle that ended April 11, the center of the Jenin refugee camp was devastated by Israeli bulldozers and tanks. Palestinians charged that Israeli soldiers massacred hundreds of civilians… After an international outcry, the United Nations, following a U.S. initiative, put together the inquiry team to look into what happened at the camp. At first Israel agreed, but then objected to the framework and procedures the team was to follow, as well as the composition of the team. ----- TEENAGERS SHOT BY ISRAELIS, THEN RUN OVER WITH A TANK By Robert Fisk in Gaza City, The Independent UK, 4/26/2002 http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/story.jsp?story=288987 Two of the schoolboys were 14, the other was 15; they were internet surfers in the local cyber cafe, one of them idling his hours away drawing children's cartoons; all three were football enthusiasts. Hours after they had been shot dead by the Israeli army near the Jewish settlement of Netzarim, their fathers received the three young bodies. They had been driven over by an armoured vehicle which in 14-year-old Ismail Abu-Nadi's case cut his corpse in half… ----- ACROSS WEST BANK, DAILY TRAGEDIES GO UNSEEN Suzanne Goldenberg reveals the extent of abuses against civilians in Israel's four-week military offensive The Guardian (London), The Guardian (London), 4/27/2002 http://www.guardian.co.uk/Archive/Article/0,4273,4402751,00.html Arif Said Ahmed's life ended at 5.05am on April 9 when two Israeli helicopter gunships soared over the hillside, firing a rocket at him and his cousin Naif as they walked home from morning prayers. The helicopters returned, firing their machine guns for several terrifying minutes as Arif's wife, Samira, stumbled out to their bodies with her infant daughter. Mother and daughter were saved from serious injury by her brother Farooq, who flung himself over them. A bullet pierced his side and fragments ripped his leg. That was the beginning of the invasion of Dura, a village south-west of Hebron which marks the southernmost extent of the Israeli army's offensive in the West Bank. The Jenin refugee camp, whose physical erasure has come to symbolise the devastation and death inflicted by the Israeli army in the past four weeks, lies at the northern extremity of the territory. While the world has been preoccupied with the camp, the stories beginning to unfold from the Palestinian cities, towns, refugee camps and villages that lie between Jenin and Dura show that the Israeli army has been engaged in systematic abuse the length of the West Bank… ----- SHOUTING FIRE: CIVIL LIBERTIES IN A TURBULENT AGE By WILLIAM F. SCHULZ, The Nation, 5/13/2002 http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20020513&s=schulz Alan Dershowitz prides himself on his credentials as a civil libertarian, and to judge by most of the essays in his latest book, Shouting Fire: Civil Liberties in a Turbulent Age, he has good reason to do so. The Harvard law professor has built a considerable reputation on his defense of free speech, due process and the separation of church and state, to say nothing of his propensity for controversial clients and clamorous talk shows… If this were all Dershowitz had done in Shouting Fire, the book might have received its share of kind reviews and headed off to Remainderland. But in less than two of the book's 550 pages, he manages to guarantee the collection a longer shelf life. For in an addendum to a 1989 article in the Israel Law Review, Alan Dershowitz, civil libertarian, champion of progressive causes, counsel to human-rights hero Anatoly Shcharansky, makes a case for torture or, more exactly, for the creation of a new legal device that he dubs a "torture warrant." And then, through a deft combination of newspaper editorials, public appearances and an extended interview on 60 Minutes, Dershowitz has expanded upon that proposition in a way designed to make talk of torture routine and, not incidentally, banter about his book robust… ----- UP CLOSE: TAYYIBAH TAYLOR Muslim magazine gives women a sense of self By SUSAN HARTE, The Atlanta Journal, 4/28/2002 http://www.accessatlanta.com/ajc/epaper/editions/sunday/business_c3bca72d2022f0190066.html "I grew up singing 'God Save the Queen,'" says Tayyibah Taylor of her cosmopolitan Canadian background. The Trinidad native grew up in Toronto and has lived in the Caribbean and in Saudi Arabia. It was in Seattle that she conceived the idea of a magazine for Muslim women. She began publishing the quarterly Azizah in Atlanta a year and a half ago. "I wanted it to be for all ethnicities," Taylor recalls, "a forum where the Muslim woman's interests, issues and voices could find expression. I wanted it to be inspiring, informative and filled with ideas for the Muslimah striving for spiritual and personal growth in today's world." The contents have touched on a range of topics, including helping disabled Muslims, examining successful marriages and investment strategies. Spotlights have been shone on a doctoral candidate in Islamic studies at Duke University, a judge in the Baltimore City Circuit Court and a clinical psychologist focusing on depression. The relationship between feminism and Islam is examined in the current issue. Future issues will look at marriage contracts, AIDS in the Muslim community, acupuncture and Muslim summer camps for children. Standing features include fashion, food, decor, well-being, travel, books and money. Last year, Azizah even made a little money… SEE: http://www.azizahmagazine.com/ ----- CONTROVERSIAL SHEIK DRAWS CRITICISM FOR PRO-ISRAEL VIEWS Italian Imam uses Koran to back his ideas, but U.S. expert calls stance 'not credible' By David Rider, The Ottawa Citizen, 4/28/2002 http://www.canada.com/ottawa/ottawacitizen/story.asp?id={696C734A-65B9-4E15-BA86-0D62D3A02C5C} TORONTO -- A Muslim cleric who says Israel should control Jerusalem and that the U.S. is anti-Semitic for urging Israel to withdraw from Palestinian settlements is drawing praise and condemnation on his first Canadian speaking tour. Sheik Abdul Hadi Palazzi is being hailed as a beacon of sanity by the Canadian Institute for Jewish Research, which is hosting the tour, and an "anti-Islam campaigner" by the Canadian Islamic Congress… While decrying Palestinian violence, he says Israel is fully justified in its current incursion into the West Bank. Complaints about it from Canada, the U.S. and the United Nations are fuelled by anti-Semitism, he says... The cleric spoke in Montreal last Thursday, and will appear at a Toronto synagogue tomorrow and a University of Toronto seminar on Tuesday… The Canadian Institute for Jewish Research, a Montreal-based pro-Israel, think-tank, says hosting Sheik Palazzi is giving voice to a peaceful Muslim tradition that is drowned out by fundamentalist voices… But John Esposito, author of Unholy War: Terror in the Name of Islam and a professor of Islamic studies at Georgetown University in Washington, said Sheik Palazzi's Koran interpretations are "not credible." "I'm not too sure who, other than Palazzi, supports his position" that the Koran endorses Jerusalem as an Israeli-held capital, said Mr. Esposito, who is also editor of the Oxford History of Islam. "I understand why Jewish groups like him -- he's got a good product to sell -- but when you talk about top scholars on Islam, I've never heard his name mentioned." ----- BOOK REVIEWS: FIGHTING SPIRITS Reviewed by Benjamin Schwarz, The Washington Post, 4/28/2002 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A51282-2002Apr25.html WHY WE FIGHT Moral Clarity and the War On Terrorism By William J. Bennett Doubleday. 160 pp. $19.95 WHAT'S SO GREAT ABOUT AMERICA By Dinesh D'Souza Regnery. 218 pp. $27.95 PERPETUAL WAR FOR PERPETUAL PEACE How We Got to Be So Hated By Gore Vidal Thunder's Mouth. 144 pp. Paperback, $10 A steady stream of books has been chronicling the immediate horror of the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, but only now are commentators stepping forward to spell out the wider ramifications of the attacks and the ensuing war on terrorism. What does the present conflict seem to presage for the use of American power across the globe? And how does the war on terrorism play out in a cultural framework, with all the ways it resonates as a clash of beliefs if not, as is often asserted, of entire civilizations? To judge by this first trio of such books, it's still too soon to be hazarding confident answers; patient readers will be hard-pressed to imagine any less thoughtful and illuminating efforts to place the dramatically new atmosphere into perspective… ----- PBS FRONTLINE AIRS “MUSLIM” MAY 9 http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/muslims/ The events of September 11 left many Americans asking how such atrocities could be perpetrated in the name of religion: specifically, Islam. On Thursday, May 9, at 9 P.M. on PBS (check local listings), FRONTLINE and the Independent Production Fund present "Muslims," a two-hour examination of one of the fastest growing religions in the world today. Through the lives of ordinary Muslims from Egypt, Iran, Malaysia, Turkey, Nigeria, and the United States, "Muslims" illuminates the diverse interpretations of Islam and the many facets of its worldwide resurgence. ----- 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, 202-489-5108 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 ----- AMERICAN MUSLIM NEWS BRIEFS - 4/29/2002 ----- HEADLINES: * HADITH OF THE DAY: ACTS OF GOODNESS * DESMOND TUTU: APARTHEID IN THE HOLY LAND (The Guardian) * ISRAELI TROOPS KILL NINE PEOPLE IN HEBRON RAID (Reuters) * EDITORIAL: FREE PASS ON CHECHNYA (Washington Post) * DISCORD OVER KILLING OF INDIA MUSLIMS DEEPENS (New York Times) * IN HOWARD, IMMIGRANTS WINNING EAR OF POLITICIANS (Washington Post) * MIDEAST: WHAT'S REALLY GOING ON THERE (Sacramento Bee) * ARAB CAMPAIGN TO BOYCOTT U.S. GOODS PICKS UP STEAM (Reuters) * ISRAEL'S JEWISH CRITIC'S AREN'T SELF-HATING (Los Angeles Times) * HILLEL LAUNCHES PRO-ISRAEL CAMPAIGN ON U.S. CAMPUSES (Ha'aretz) * "SUSPICIOUS ACTIVITY" PROMPTS AUTHORITIES TO TURN US AIRWAYS FLIGHT AROUND (AP) ----- HADITH OF THE DAY: ACTS OF GOODNESS The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: "He who sets a good example in Islam, there is a reward for him for this (act of goodness) and (added to it the) reward of those also who acted according to it subsequently, without any deduction from their rewards." Sahih Muslim, Hadith 501 ----- DESMOND TUTU: APARTHEID IN THE HOLY LAND By Desmond Tutu, The Guardian (UK), 4/29/02 http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,3604,706878,00.html In our struggle against apartheid, the great supporters were Jewish people. They almost instinctively had to be on the side of the disenfranchised, of the voiceless ones, fighting injustice, oppression and evil. I have continued to feel strongly with the Jews. I am patron of a Holocaust centre in South Africa. I believe Israel has a right to secure borders. What is not so understandable, not justified, is what it did to another people to guarantee its existence. I've been very deeply distressed in my visit to the Holy Land; it reminded me so much of what happened to us black people in South Africa. I have seen the humiliation of the Palestinians at checkpoints and roadblocks, suffering like us when young white police officers prevented us from moving about... Injustice and oppression will never prevail. Those who are powerful have to remember the litmus test that God gives to the powerful: what is your treatment of the poor, the hungry, the voiceless? And on the basis of that, God passes judgment... Desmond Tutu is the former Archbishop of Cape Town and chairman of South Africa's truth and reconciliation commission. This address was given at a conference on Ending the Occupation held in Boston, Massachusetts, earlier this month. A longer version appears in the current edition of Church Times. ----- ISRAELI TROOPS KILL NINE PEOPLE IN HEBRON RAID By Mazen Dana, Reuters, 4/29/02 HEBRON, West Bank, April 29 (Reuters) - ...Palestinian security sources said nine people, including at least two militants and three security men, were killed after Israeli forces backed by helicopter gunships surged into Hebron overnight and began house-to-house searches. In Washington, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said Israel should "finish its withdrawal" from reoccupied Palestinian areas and "refrain from further incursions..." Israeli tanks and armoured vehicles prowled the hilly streets of Hebron, where some 400 militant Jewish settlers live in heavily guarded enclaves among 120,000 Palestinians. Troops ransacked homes, smashing equipment and emptying cupboards, amid loudspeaker warnings a curfew was in force. "They damaged everything. The children were crying," Ahmed Atiya, a 31-year-old Palestinian policeman said. He told Reuters 10 soldiers had smashed through his front door. All men of fighting age were ordered to stand in the street with their hands raised for more than two hours. ----- EDITORIAL: FREE PASS ON CHECHNYA By Jackson Diehl, The Washington Post, 4/29/02 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A64783-2002Apr28.html Watching the rapidly escalating pressure on Israel from the safe distance of Moscow -- the hostile delegations of U.N. investigators, the demands for an international conference, the talk of European sanctions -- Vladimir Putin might afford himself a secret smile. Even as Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is pilloried for using a campaign against terrorism to assault Palestinian civilians and their self-government, Putin is quietly getting away with almost exactly the same crime... ----- DISCORD OVER KILLING OF INDIA MUSLIMS DEEPENS By CELIA W. DUGGER, The New York Times, 4/29/02 http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/29/international/asia/29INDI.html NEW DELHI - Leaders of the Hindu nationalist-led government have warned Western nations in recent days to stop lecturing India about the official failure to prevent Hindu mobs from killing hundreds of Muslims. But the issue refuses to die. In the last week, more than 40 people have perished in the continuing violence, in the western state of Gujarat. The official death toll in the last two months has risen to 900. More than 100,000 people, mostly Muslims, are estimated to have fled to relief camps. On Tuesday, Parliament will debate whether the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party -- which has led a national coalition government for most of the last four years and controls the state of Gujarat, its last major state stronghold -- has been complicit in the carnage... Indian officials were particularly stung by the leak of a confidential assessment by British diplomats who estimated the death toll at 2,000, more than twice the official tally, and said the anti-Muslim violence had been planned and carried out with the state government's support... ----- IN HOWARD, IMMIGRANTS WINNING EAR OF POLITICIANS By Christian Davenport, The Washington Post, 4/29/02 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A64364-2002Apr28.html In many ways, it was just another political fundraiser. Businessmen passed their cards around, politicians exchanged gossip and the hosts gave rah-rah speeches about how their candidate was going to win the coming election. But this event, held recently for Howard County Executive James N. Robey (D), was something new -- for him and for the county. The speeches were laced with Arabic, pauses for prayer and praise for Allah. The attendees, in suits and shawls, were members of the new Muslim Council of Howard County. For them, extending Robey's political career was only part of the evening's agenda: The group was also proclaiming its newfound involvement and influence in local politics. That night, Robey collected about $ 12,000, not nearly as much as the $ 60,000 he got at a previous fundraiser hosted by more familiar players in local politics -- developers and business leaders. But as Robey seeks a second term, he knows he can't afford to ignore the growing number of immigrants in Howard who are beginning to stake a claim in the political process... ----- MIDEAST: WHAT'S REALLY GOING ON THERE By Ron Unz, The Sacramento Bee, 4/28/02 http://www.sacbee.com/content/opinion/story/2409891p-2860142c.html In support of this dream [Greater Israel], Israeli governments have for decades encouraged some 200,000 Jewish settlers to make their homes in these Palestinian territories, and the ultimate disposition of these settlers is regularly cited as the most nettlesome part of any future peace agreement... If Ariel Sharon continues to wantonly sacrifice the lives of his people for messianic expansionism, then his arms are the ones elbow-deep in the blood of innocent Jews. He faces the world not as a David Ben Gurion or as our own Washington or Lincoln, but instead as someone whose extremism leads his own followers to their doom. ----- ARAB CAMPAIGN TO BOYCOTT U.S. GOODS PICKS UP STEAM By Nadim Ladki, Reuters, 4/29/02 AMMAN - From cigarettes to Big Macs, a growing number of ordinary Arabs are shunning U.S. goods in protest against Washington's perceived pro-Israel policies. But a grassroots campaign across the Arab world to support the Palestinians by boycotting everything American appears so far to be having a symbolic rather than economic impact. Arabs enraged by Israel's crackdown on Palestinians have taken to the streets of Arab capitals in recent weeks in the most widespread demonstrations in decades to demand action against Israel and the United States. Unable to influence the policies of their undemocratic governments, non-governmental and civic organisations, student bodies and professional associations have urged citizens to buy local and European alternatives to U.S. goods... Boycott organisers have drawn up lists of companies, mainly American, that are alleged to channel aid to Israel. American fast-food chains appear to be suffering the most. Managers at KFC and McDonald's branches in the Omani capital Muscat said sales had fallen by 45 and 65 percent respectively since January... In Bahrain, which has seen some of the most violent protests in the Gulf against Israel's military offensive, many ordinary people have started boycotting U.S. goods following calls by hundreds of protesters during the past three weeks. Bahrain is the headquarters of the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet... Even in Kuwait, the emirate liberated from Iraqi occupation in 1991 by U.S.-led forces, the boycott call is making waves. "If we get an offer from a non-U.S. firm we will consider it seriously and will now think twice before taking U.S. equipment," a contractor said. "We will look and see what is available, no matter who is our partner." ----- ISRAEL'S JEWISH CRITIC'S AREN'T SELF-HATING By Michael Lerner, Los Angeles Times, 4/28/02 http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/suncommentary/la-000030064apr28.story SAN FRANCISCO -- Every day, I receive anguished letters, e-mails and phone calls from members of my congregation and others who have been tagged with the label "self-hating Jews." Why? Solely because they've raised questions about Israel's policy toward Palestinians. There is something deeply hurtful about that term and about the way the Jewish community is treating its dissenters, something reminiscent of the cultural repressiveness of 1950s McCarthyism and its labeling of dissidents as "anti-American..." ----- HILLEL LAUNCHES PRO-ISRAEL CAMPAIGN ON U.S. CAMPUSES AFTER CRITICISM HERE By Yair Heleg, Ha'aretz, 4/29/02 http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=157013&contrassID=2&subContrassID=1&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y The Jewish student organization Hillel has launched a pro-Israel campaign on American campuses after the Israeli foreign ministry criticized the low level of solidarity demonstrated by Jewish American students in recent months... Hillel is also planning half-page solidarity advertisements in dozens of American student newspapers under the banner "Zionism is the National Liberation Movement of the Jewish People." The ads will also express support for Israel in its "continuing quest for peace" and invite readers to visit Hillel's Internet site to find out more about Israel and how to take supportive action. Two weeks ago, Ha'aretz published a report on a meeting between the foreign ministry and the Jewish Agency in which the participants criticized the low level of pro-Israeli activity on American campuses, especially given strong pro-Palestinian activity. Following the criticism, the United Jewish Communities, the umbrella organization of Jewish communities in North America, said it would advise Hillel branches on campus to increase pro-Israel activities... ----- "SUSPICIOUS ACTIVITY" PROMPTS AUTHORITIES TO TURN US AIRWAYS FLIGHT AROUND By PATRICK WALTERS, Associated Press, 4/29/02 PHILADELPHIA - The FBI told passengers on a flight forced to return after takeoff that their plane was rerouted because several passengers of Middle Eastern descent had purchased one-way tickets for cash that day, passengers said Monday. FBI spokeswoman Linda Vizi would not confirm the passengers' accounts but said the suspicious passengers on Sunday's Florida-bound flight were interviewed and released early Monday without being charged. "We were able to determine their travel plans were legitimate and their identities were legitimate," Vizi said. "We have checked out the documentation of these individuals, and everything is in order." Passenger Glenn Mattes, 48, and Jack Clark, 55, said FBI agents also told passengers that two other planes, one in Houston and the other in Baltimore, were grounded because passengers of Middle Eastern descent had bought one-way tickets that day for cash... ----- 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, 202-489-5108 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 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE ANTI-MUSLIM INCIDENTS UP THREE-FOLD IN PAST YEAR Report shows 60,000 U.S. Muslims impacted by government policies (WASHINGTON, D.C., 4/30/2002) - A report released today by a prominent Islamic advocacy group indicates that reports of anti-Muslim incidents in the United States increased three-fold over the previous year. (Up from 366 validated reports in 2001 to 1125 this year.) The only national study of its kind also shows that almost 60,000 American Muslims have been negatively impacted by U.S. government policies since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. The Council on American-Islamic Relations' (CAIR) seventh annual study, titled "Stereotypes and Civil Liberties," outlines 1516 reports of denial of religious accommodation, harassment, discrimination, bias, threat, assault, and even several murders. That figure represents more than 2,200 individuals targeted because of actual or perceived religion and ethnicity. The majority of violent incidents occurred in the period immediately following the September 11 attacks. If post 9-11 backlash incidents are eliminated from the count, the remaining reports (525) still show a 43 percent increase over the 2001 study. CAIR's report covers the period from March 2001, to March 2002. It is available online at http://www.cair-net.org/civilrights2002/ In addition to the direct acts of discrimination and violence, the report shows that the civil rights of almost 60,000 American Muslims were negatively impacted by government policies instituted following the 9-11 attacks. Those affected include some 1,200 Muslims who were detained nationwide, mostly on immigration charges, but who were treated as if they were terrorists, 5,000 legal visa-holders who were asked to submit to "voluntary" interrogations and an estimated 50,000 individuals who donated to American Muslim relief agencies shut down by the government. "Muslims, like all Americans, support policies that result in genuine increases in security. Unfortunately, many of the government actions prompted by 9-11, particularly those based on ethnic and religious profiling or stereotypes, merely create a false sense of security and preclude effective initiatives," said CAIR Executive Director Nihad Awad. "Now is the time for the judiciary to step in and reaffirm the constitutionally-protected rights that all Americans hold dear," said Awad. Awad added that Muslims were among the victims of the September 11 attacks, they died rescuing other victims and they died in the anti-Muslim hysteria that followed the attacks. CAIR issued its first civil rights report, called "A Rush to Judgment," within a month of the 1995 attack on the Murrah Federal Building. There are an estimated seven million Muslims in the United States. - END - CONTACT: Ibrahim Hooper, 202-488-8787 E-MAIL - cair@cair-net.org Ms. Hodan Hassan, 202-488-8787, ext. 6058 E-MAIL: hhassan@cair-net.org ----- SEE ALSO: IN AFTERMATH OF HIJACKINGS, AIR TRAVEL JITTERS REMAIN By Dan Eggen and Katherine Shaver, The Washington Post, 4/30/02 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A3614-2002Apr29.html At Dulles International Airport on Sunday, flight crews told of 11 Pakistanis acting suspiciously as their flight was delayed by inclement weather. Then in Houston, four Saudi men on the way back to Washington were detained because they had no luggage. In Philadelphia, a half-dozen passengers of Middle Eastern descent had bought one-way tickets to Orlando with cash. Although none of the incidents was particularly alarming by itself, the unusual number of incidents on the same day prompted FBI and airline security officials to delay flights, pull passengers from airplanes and run checks of other passengers to ensure that a hijacking was not in the works. Also over the weekend, FBI officials in Baltimore were asked to check the names of seven Middle Eastern men flying to Dallas. Three Saudi men were pulled off a Delta flight at Dulles on Saturday for questioning... Mohamed Nimer, research director for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said most of the discrimination cases reported to the council involve "outright prejudice." "There's no other way to put it," Nimer said. "Some people are not comfortable flying in an airplane that has people of Middle Eastern, Arab or Muslim backgrounds." ----- 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 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 ----- AMERICAN MUSLIM NEWS BRIEFS - 5/1/2002 ----- HEADLINES: * VERSE OF THE DAY: ALL CREATURES DEPEND ON GOD * CAIR CALLS FOR U.S. ACTION ON GUJARAT KILLINGS (Action Alert) * GUJARAT OFFICIALS TOOK PART IN ANTI-MUSLIM VIOLENCE (Human Rights Watch) * USA PATRIOT ACT POWERS PROMPT SECOND LOOK (The Hill) * JUDGE REJECTS JAILING OF MATERIAL WITNESSES (The Washington Post) * CHARITY FUNDED TERROR, U.S. SAYS (Los Angeles Times) * NEWS COVERAGE ON CAIR'S ANNUAL CIVIL RIGHTS REPORT: - Muslim Group Sees Sept. 11 Backlash (Associated Press) - Bias Incidents Against Muslims Are Soaring (New York Times) - CAIR Report on ABC World News Tonight - President Bush Rejects Hatred of Muslims and Arabs * COMMUNITY FORUM ON NATIONAL ORIGIN DISCRIMINATION IN ARIZONA * PALESTINE UPDATE: - Palestinian Cause Described As 'Just' (Washington Times) - IDF Admits 'Ugly Vandalism" Against Palestinian Property (Ha'aretz) - Arab Boycott Campaign Worries U.S. Business (Agence France-Press) - Who is Anti-Semitic? (Washington Post) - More Bodies, Bombs May Lurk in Jenin Rubble - U.N. (Reuters) ----- VERSE OF THE DAY: ALL CREATURES DEPEND ON GOD "On Him depend all creatures in the heavens and on earth; (and) every day He manifests Himself in yet another (wondrous) way." The Holy Quran, Chapter 55, Verse 29 ----- ACTION ALERT: CAIR CALLS FOR U.S. ACTION ON GUJARAT KILLINGS GO TO: http://capwiz.com/cair/home/ ----- INDIA: GUJARAT OFFICIALS TOOK PART IN ANTI-MUSLIM VIOLENCE By Smita Narula, Human Rights Watch, 4/30/02 http://www.hrw.org/press/2002/04/gujarat.htm State officials of Gujarat, India were directly involved in the killings of hundreds of Muslims since February 27 and are now engineering a massive cover-up of the state's role in the violence, Human Rights Watch charged in a new report released today... "What happened in Gujarat was not a spontaneous uprising, it was a carefully orchestrated attack against Muslims," said Smita Narula, senior South Asia researcher for Human Rights Watch and author of the report. "The attacks were planned in advance and organized with extensive participation of the police and state government officials." The police were directly implicated in nearly all the attacks against Muslims that are documented in the 75-page report, 'We Have No Orders to Save You': State Participation and Complicity in Communal Violence in Gujarat. In some cases they were merely passive observers. But in many instances, police officials led the charge of murderous mobs, aiming and firing at Muslims who got in the way. Under the guise of offering assistance, some police officers led the victims directly into the hands of their killers. Panicked phone calls made to the police, fire brigades, and even ambulance services generally proved futile. Several witnesses reported being told by police: "We have no orders to save you." Three weeks after the initial attacks, Human Rights Watch visited Ahmedabad, a site of large-scale destruction, murder, and several massacres, and spoke to both Hindu and Muslim survivors of the attacks. The report also provides testimony on retaliatory attacks against Hindus, which Human Rights Watch strongly condemned... Human Rights Watch also urged the international community to put pressure on the Indian government to comply with international human rights and Indian constitutional law and end impunity for orchestrated violence against Indian minorities ----- USA PATRIOT ACT POWERS PROMPT SECOND LOOK By Noelle Straub, The Hill, 5/1/02 http://www.thehill.com/050102/patriot.shtm Secret court subpoenas, examinations of bookstore records, revised immigration policies and other uses of sweeping new powers have some Senate Democrats taking a new critical look at the USA Patriot Act, enacted in the aftermath of Sept. 11. Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wis.), the lone senator to vote against the measure last fall, has been its most vocal critic, warning that the act infringes on constitutional freedoms. "I would cast the same vote today, but even more confidently, as we see how law enforcement is beginning to use the new powers in the bill and how the Department of Justice has proceeded on a variety of fronts not directly addressed in the bill," he said last week. But Feingold is not alone in his concerns. He has been joined by other Democratic senators, including Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (Vt.), Richard Durbin (Ill.) and Maria Cantwell (Wash.). The act was hurriedly signed into law with overwhelming approval within six weeks of the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington - without hearings or without being marked up by a congressional committee. Particularly troubling to Feingold is a business records provision that gives the FBI new powers to subpoena records in its investigations of international terrorism. "The subpoenas are obtained from a secret court, and the records sought don't even have to be records directly connected to a suspect in such an investigation," Feingold noted. "We now know that bookstores and libraries have received such subpoenas asking for the purchase or lending records of their patrons. It is a truly frightening day in America when bookstores are considering destroying their records so when the government comes knocking at the door to find out what their customers have been reading they will have nothing to turn over," he said. Feingold and Rep. Patsy Mink (D-Hawaii) joined a coalition of groups to talk about infringements on constitutional freedoms in the wake of the act. Feingold told The Hill that he might hold hearings to examine the issue, but that he was not yet ready to announce his plans... ----- JUDGE REJECTS JAILING OF MATERIAL WITNESSES By Steve Fainaru and Amy Goldstein, Washington Post, 5/1/02 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A11562-2002Apr30.html NEW YORK, -- A key legal tactic employed by the government in its post-Sept. 11 war on terror is illegal, a federal judge ruled today, delivering a potential blow to the Justice Department's methods of detaining suspects and gathering evidence. The judge, Shira A. Scheindlin, ruled that the Justice Department has overreached in imprisoning as "material witnesses" men the authorities believe might have information for grand juries investigating terrorism. She dismissed perjury charges against a Jordanian student, Osama Awadallah, 21, concluding that the information the government collected in its investigation must be suppressed because the suspect had been "unlawfully detained." "If the government has probable cause to believe a person has committed a crime, it may arrest that person," Scheindlin wrote. "But since 1789, no Congress has granted the government the authority to imprison an innocent person in order to guarantee that he will testify before a grand jury conducting a criminal investigation." Legal experts predicted the ruling could have far-reaching implications because the material-witness statute has emerged as a key tool in the government's investigation of terrorism after last year's attacks on the Pentagon and World Trade Center. In addition to detaining people as material witnesses, authorities have arrested hundreds of others on charges of immigration violations and crimes unrelated to terrorism -- though the exact number is not known because of the Justice Department's policy of secrecy in the inquiry... ----- CHARITY FUNDED TERROR, U.S. SAYS By JOSH MEYER and ERIC LICHTBLAU, Los Angeles Times, 5/1/02 http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-000030979may01.story U.S. authorities arrested the Syrian-born head of an international Islamic charity Tuesday, alleging that his group has funded terrorist activities for years and has ties to militants who have tried to acquire nuclear and chemical weapons for Osama bin Laden. Enaam Arnaout, 39, executive director of the Benevolence International Foundation, was taken into custody at his home in the Chicago suburbs and charged with lying under oath in documents his group had filed in federal court... It also infuriated Islamic leaders in the United States, who said Arnaout's arrest fits a pattern of Justice Department harassment against Muslims since the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. "If you've got evidence of him having breakfast with Osama bin Laden, then charge him with terrorism, not perjury," said Ibrahim Hooper, a spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations. "Bring the evidence into court and let him rebut it." Matt Piers, an attorney for Benevolence International, said the charges against his client are an unjustified effort by the U.S. government to make the public believe it is successfully cracking down on terrorists. He scoffed at the notion that Arnaout is an associate of Bin Laden, and said Arnaout's efforts to cooperate with the FBI were rebuffed... Charging Arnaout with perjury for defending his group's reputation in court "is a back-door legal technicality," said Hooper, of the Council on American-Islamic Relations. "It creates the impression there's nothing" of substance to the government's charges. "This certainly won't help" the Bush administration's effort to mend fences with the Muslim community over the detention and interrogation of thousands of Muslim Americans after Sept. 11, Hooper said. ----- MUSLIM GROUP SEES SEPT. 11 BACKLASH Associated Press, 4/30/02 http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/wire/sns-ap-us-muslims0430apr30.story WASHINGTON -- Violence and harassment against Muslims have multiplied in part because of the government's war on terrorism, a private group says. "Unfortunately, in the past government acts have sent the wrong message," said Nihad Awad, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations. He said government ethnic and religious profiling as well as detentions and interrogations "send a green light to mistreat Muslims." As evidence, his group released a report based on complaints it has received from Muslims about mistreatment ranging from harassment to vandalism and murder. The complaints, Awad said, increased threefold over the past year to 1,516, the vast majority reported after Sept. 11. Even without counting the post-terrorism outbreak, anti-Muslim incidents increased by 43 percent from a year earlier, according to the complaints. ----- BIAS INCIDENTS AGAINST MUSLIMS ARE SOARING, ISLAMIC COUNCIL SAYS The New York Times, 5/1/02 http://www.nytimes.com/2002/05/01/national/01IMMI.html The Council on American-Islamic Relations said today that bias incidents against Muslims soared nationwide after Sept. 11, with two-thirds of the incidents reported in the last year occurring less than six months after the terrorist attacks. Even the more than 500 cases of discrimination and attacks unrelated to the terrorist attacks constituted a 43 percent increase over the preceding year, when 366 were filed, said an annual survey that the council released today. One-fourth of the complaints involved ethnic and religious profiling at airports and workplaces, and nearly 20 percent involved government agencies, including the Immigration and Naturalization Service, the F.B.I. and local law enforcement authorities, the report said. The council pointed to civil rights abuses against Muslims that it considered results of government policies, including the detention of more than 1,000 people and the questioning of thousands of others, the closing of Muslim relief agencies and charities and raids on Muslim-owned houses and businesses. Though their number in the United States has generally been estimated to be as high as six million, Muslims tend to be more loosely organized than people in some other major religions and do not often speak with a unified national voice, advocates say... ----- CAIR REPORT ON ABC WORLD NEWS TONIGHT ABC News: World News Tonight 04/30/2002 PETER JENNINGS, anchor: Just one more item in this regard today, the Council on American/Islamic Relations reports today more than 1700 incidents of what they call backlash against Muslims in America, last year, including more than 300 acts of violence. There were, they say, almost 50 percent more reports of discrimination after the 11th of September. ----- PRESIDENT BUSH REJECTS HATRED OF MUSLIMS AND ARABS GEORGE W. BUSH DELIVERS REMARKS ON COMPASSIONATE CONSERVATISM 4/30/02, SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA BUSH: ...In America, we've not always lived up to our ideals, yet we always reach for them. We believe that everyone deserves a chance, that everyone has value, that no insignificant person was ever born. We believe that all are diminished when any are hopeless. We are one people committed to building a single nation of justice and opportunity. (APPLAUSE) America rejects bigotry. (APPLAUSE) We reject every act of hatred against people of Arab background or Muslim faith...Race and color should not divide us because America is one country. ----- COMMUNITY FORUM ON NATIONAL ORIGIN DISCRIMINATION IN ARIZONA * Have you been refused a job, harassed at work, or fired because of your national origin, race, religion, or citizenship status? * Have you been paid less than what you expected or had lawful work papers rejected? * Have you or your child been denied access to education because of your national origin, race, or religion? * Have you or a member of your family been denied housing, or have you been charged a higher interest rate for a loan, because of your national origin, race, or religion? *Have you, a member of your family, or your property been physically attacked because of your national origin, race, or religion? The U.S. Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division is a branch of the federal government that enforces federal civil rights laws. Please join staff from the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and other agencies for a discussion about your rights and how to file a discrimination complaint with the appropriate agency. A question and answer period will follow agency presentations. Materials will be available, and staff will be present to receive complaints. WHEN: Wednesday, May 8, 2002 at 7 p.m., Doors Open at 6:30 p.m. WHERE: Phoenix College, Dome Conference Room, 3310 North 10th Avenue, Phoenix, AZ Complimentary parking is available at the Phoenix College campus on Osborne Road, between 10th and 11th Avenues. The conference room is wheelchair accessible. If you need further accommodation, please contact Naheed Qureshi at (202) 514-3831 or at naheed.qureshi@usdoj.gov by April 30, 2002. ----- PALESTINIAN CAUSE DESCRIBED AS 'JUST' IN POLICY DEBATE By Robert Stacy McCain, The Washington Times, 5/1/02 http://www.washtimes.com/national/20020501-91611235.htm Palestinians have a "just cause" in their conflict with Israel, former presidential candidate Pat Buchanan said yesterday in a debate on U.S. policy in the Middle East. The Palestinians "have a right to use force if necessary" in resisting Israeli occupation, said Mr. Buchanan, who twice sought the Republican presidential nomination before making a third-party run on the Reform ticket in 2000. "The cause of the present intifada," Mr. Buchanan said, referring to the Arab name for the uprising that began in September 2000, "is the Israeli control and occupation" of Palestinian territory. ----- IDF ADMITS `UGLY VANDALISM' AGAINST PALESTINIAN PROPERTY By Amos Harel, Ha'aretz Daily, 4/30/02 http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/objects/pages/PrintArticleEn.jhtml?itemNo=157479 Israel Defense Forces sources have admitted that Palestinian claims of the systematic destruction of property, particularly computers, during the recent military operations in Ramallah are, for the most part, true. "There were indeed wide-scale, ugly phenomena of vandalism," a senior military sources told Ha'aretz yesterday. The IDF sources explained that because various PA institutions, including civil authorities, were involved in terror, some of the computers had indeed included valuable intelligence. However, the sources admitted that in many cases the searches had turned into systematic vandalism, without any justification... "The result," the source continued, "was damage running into hundreds of thousands of dollars. Soldiers smashed computer monitors and destroyed keyboards. There were places in which bank branches were destroyed and automatic tellers were raided. In some cases, theft accompanied the vandalism. It was significant damage, widespread and totally illogical."... Reservists who served in the Ramallah and Bethlehem areas said they had witnessed many instances of deliberate damage caused by soldiers to Palestinian property. Some also spoke of cases of looting. "The extent of the looting is much greater than could have been expected in advance," a senior legal source told Ha'aretz. "This is an ugly and serious phenomenon." ----- ARAB BOYCOTT CAMPAIGN WORRIES U.S. BUSINESS By Lachlan Carmichael, Agence France-Presse, 04/30/2002 CAIRO, April 30 (AFP) - A campaign by the Arab masses to boycott US brand names is intensifying amid growing rage over Israel's invasion of Palestinian land and alleged US corporate donations to the Jewish state. It is especially hurting business at fast food franchises, but also sales of soft drinks, as well as a range of supermarket and pharmaceutical products in Egypt and other Arab countries, industry sources said. The campaign is being waged on the television, in the newspapers, by e-mail and mobile telephone text messages as well as pamphlets on the streets and mosques of Cairo and other Arab capitals. Lists are circulating with hundreds of brand names to be boycotted, including McDonald's and Burger King outlets, Tide and Ariel detergents, Pampers, Coca Cola and Pepsi, Marlboro cigarettes, and Heinz ketchup. "Boycott a product, save a Muslim," reads a statement in a leaflet obtained in Cairo. Leading the campaign are religious clerics, members of Arab parliaments and leaders of professional associations and unions, including journalists, artists, pharmacists, engineers, and many others. The campaign also includes calls to boycott Israeli goods and gives tips about how to identify Israeli products exported from third countries... Sales at most of the 562 fast food restaurants in Egypt dropped 20 percent since Israel's invasion of the West Bank on March 29, on top of the five percent decline just after the intifada erupted on September 28, 2000, he said. In the Saudi Arabian city of Jeddah, Ibrahim Mahrous, sales manager at the Ben Dawood supermarket, said Coca Cola was the worst hit of all US brands, down 60 percent, with Pepsi Cola next at 45 percent, and Procter and Gamble products such as Pampers diapers down by 30-35 percent. In Bahrain, Abdulmunem al-Meer, general manager of the Al- Muntaza supermarket chain, the biggest in Bahrain with eight stores in the tiny kingdom, sees sales opportunities in boycotting US goods. "We are not selling American products anymore, we have cleared our shelves (of one million dollars in) US products and returned them to the importers," he told AFP when contacted by telephone from Cairo. "When we did this, our customers increased in number, and people have been calling to express solidarity with al-Muntaza," he said. ----- WHO'S ANTI-SEMITIC? By Richard Cohen, The Washington Post, 04/30/02 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A5425-2002Apr29.html If I weren't a Jew, I might be called an anti-Semite. I have occasionally been critical of Israel. I have occasionally taken the Palestinians' side. I have always maintained that the occupation of the West Bank is wrong and while I am, to my marrow, a supporter of Israel, I insist that the Palestinian cause -- although sullied by terrorism -- is a worthy one... I cannot say the same about America. Here, criticism of Israel, particularly anti-Zionism, is equated with anti-Semitism. The Anti-Defamation League, one of the most important American Jewish organizations, comes right out and says so... But that hardly means that anti-Zionism -- hating, opposing, fighting Israel -- is the same as anti-Semitism, hating Jews anywhere on account of supposedly inherent characteristics. If I were a Palestinian living in a refugee camp, I might very well hate Israel for my plight -- never mind its actual cause -- and I even might not like Jews in general. After all, Israel proclaims itself the Jewish state. It officially celebrates Jewish holidays, including the Sabbath on Saturday. It allows the orthodox rabbinate to control secular matters, such as marriage, and, of course, it offers citizenship to any person who can reasonably claim to be Jewish. This so-called right of return permits such a person to "return" to a place where he or she has never been. Palestinians must find this simply astonishing. To equate anti-Zionists or critics of Israel in general with anti-Semites is to liken them to the Nazis or the rampaging mobs of the pogroms. It says that their hatred is unreasonable, unfathomable, based on some crackpot racial theory or some misguided religious zealotry. It dismisses all criticism, no matter how legitimate, as rooted in prejudice and therefore without any validity. ----- MORE BODIES, BOMBS MAY LURK IN JENIN RUBBLE - U.N. By Mark Heinrich, Reuters, 5/1/02 JENIN, West Bank, May 1 (Reuters) - More bodies are likely to surface in the rubble of Jenin's refugee district as it is sifted for explosives and cleared for rebuilding after Israel's blitz against Palestinian militants, the U.N. said on Wednesday. Between $20 million to $30 million will be needed to reconstruct Jenin camp, said Richard Cooke, regional director of the U.N. Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), which cares for Palestinian refugees. But the hills of rubble in the centre of the once teeming camp would have to be swept for unexploded ordnance first, and care must be taken in removing debris, a task now under way as corpses probably still lay underneath, he said. "We do expect to find more bodies under the rubble, but it's impossible now to estimate how many," he said. "We have to be very careful removing rubble out of respect for the dead..." ----- 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 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 ACTION REQUESTED: Contact local and national elected representatives to offer your views on these resolutions. GO TO: http://capwiz.com/cair/dbq/officials/ ----- FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE U.S. POLITICIANS "PLEDGE ALLEGIANCE" TO ISRAEL SAY MUSLIMS (WASHINGTON, D.C., 5/2/2002) - The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) today condemned planned congressional resolutions in support of Israel's brutal invasion of Palestinian territory that the Islamic advocacy group said amounted to American elected officials "pledging allegiance" to a foreign government. Despite President Bush's assertion that such a move would negatively-impact American foreign policy interests, Democratic and Republican congressional leaders say they would today go ahead with votes on the pro-Israel resolutions. Yesterday, White House spokesman Ari Fliescher said the president is concerned that "no foreign policy can survive 535 different secretaries of state." Associated Press reports that the administration urged that if introduced, the resolutions should at least make reference to the need to "alleviate the occupation of the suffering Palestinian people." A statement by CAIR Executive Director Nihad Awad read in part: "It is truly disturbing to see American elected officials falling over themselves in an unseemly attempt to 'pledge allegiance' to a foreign government and its domestic lobby. Perhaps these same politicians should be reminded that they were elected by American, not Israeli voters. "At a time when the president and secretary of state are trying to encourage peace and stability in the Middle East, our elected representatives are undercutting that effort by engaging in crass political maneuvering that promotes their own prospects of re-election over America's national and security interests. "Americans should not offer unconditional support to a brutal invasion that even the Israelis admit involved killings of noncombatants, looting by soldiers, denial of relief supplies to entire population centers, and the use of Palestinian civilians as human shields in military operations." Awad added that the one-sided congressional resolutions send a false message to the Muslim and Arab world that the American people do not support justice, human rights or a peaceful resolution to the Middle East conflict. He cited a recent USA Today/CNN/Gallup poll in which 71 percent of respondents said the U.S. government should not take either side in the Mideast conflict and asked voters to make their representatives aware of that fact. The most strongly-worded congressional resolution is being sponsored by House Majority Whip Tom DeLay (R-Tex.), who just last week announced at the annual conference of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee that: "As long as I'm in Congress, I'll use every tool at my disposal to ensure that the Republican conference in the House of Representatives continues to preserve and strengthen America's alliance with the state of Israel." Last night on the MSNBC cable news network, House Majority Leader Dick Armey (R-TX) went further than even right-wing Israeli politicians by calling for the ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people from the Occupied Territories. These statements, and the rush to introduce the non-binding resolutions, are viewed by many political observers as an effort by both major parties to out-bid each other in appealing to Jewish voters and campaign contributors. SEE: "Hill Leaders Plan Votes On Pro-Israel Resolutions" http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A18084-2002May1.html - END - CONTACT: Ibrahim Hooper, 202-488-8787 E-MAIL - cair@cair-net.org Ms. Hodan Hassan, 202-488-8787, ext. 6058 E-MAIL: hhassan@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 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 #330 CONGRESSMAN CALLS FOR ETHNIC CLEANSING OF PALESTINIANS Muslims urged to contact congressman to demands retraction, apology (WASHINGTON, D.C., 5/2/2002) - CAIR is calling on all people of conscience to contact House Majority Leader Dick Armey (R-TX) to demand that he retract his call for ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people. Last night on MSNBC's "Hardball," host Chris Matthews had the following dialogue with Rep. Armey: ARMEY: I'm content to have Israel grab the entire West Bank. MATTHEWS: Well, where do you put the Palestinian state, in Norway? Once the Israelis take back the West Bank permanently and annex it, there's no place else for the Palestinians to have a state. ARMEY: No, no, that's not--that's not at all true. There are many Arab nations that have many hundreds of thousands of acres of land and--and soil and property and opportunity to create a Palestinian state. MATTHEWS: So you would transport--you would transport the Palestinians from Palestine to somewhere else and call it their state? ARMEY: I would be perfectly content to have a homeland, just as--most of... MATTHEWS: But not in Palestine? ARMEY: Most of the people who now populate Israel were transported from all over the world to that land and they made it their home. The Palestinians can do the same, and we're per--perfectly content to work with the Palestinians in doing that... MATTHEWS: Right, no. No, that's not the question and that's not your answer. The question here is: What is the future of the Palestinians who are fighting Israel right now? You say there future is somewhere besides Palestine. That runs in the way of US policy going back to 1948. It runs--it runs completely against the president's policy and every policy I've heard a president take, which is that Israel has to give up its settlements on the West Bank and give it back to the Arabs in exchange for peace. You say the deal should be the Palestinians leave? ARMEY: That's right...I happened to believe that the Palestinians should leave. MATTHEWS: Have you ever told George Bush, the president from your home state of Texas, that you think the Palestinians should get up and go and leave Palestine and that's the solution? ARMEY: I'm probably telling him that right now. MATTHEWS: Well, just to repeat, you believe that the Palestinians who are now living on the West Bank should get out of there? ARMEY: Yes. "It is beyond belief that Representative Armey would openly call for the ethnic cleansing of the entire Muslim and Christian Palestinian population, something that violates every norm of international law and human rights. Even the most extreme Israelis are reluctant to publicly advocate such an insane policy," said CAIR Governmental Affairs Director Jason Erb. Erb demanded an immediate retraction and apology from Armey. He said CAIR has received many complaints about Armey's remarks. IMMEDIATE ACTION REQUESTED: (As always, be POLITE.) Contact Rep. Armey to ask that he retract his call for ethnic cleansing and that he apologize for advocating a policy that would violate all norms of international law and human rights. CONTACT:(A personal call is best, followed by a fax, followed by an e-mail message. Inform CAIR of what you are told, or how you are treated, by Armey's staff.) Congressman Dick Armey 301 Cannon House Office Building Washington, DC 20515-4326 TEL: (202) 225-7772 or 202-225-4000 Fax: (202) 226-8100 (District Office) 9901 East Valley Ranch Parkway, Suite 3050 Irving, TX 75063 TEL: (972) 556-2500 ONLINE: http://capwiz.com/cair/home/ E-MAIL: Brian.Gunderson@mail.house.gov, terry.holt@mail.house.gov COPY TO: 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 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 TENN. MUSLIMS ACCUSE WHIRLPOOL OF RELIGIOUS DISCRIMINATION Class action lawsuit alleges harassment, denial of accommodation (WASHINGTON, D.C., 5/3/02) A group of 16 current and former Muslim employees at a Whirlpool plant in La Vergne, Tenn., filed suit this week against the household appliance giant, alleging a consistent pattern of religious discrimination. The class action lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court for the Middle of Tennessee, claims that Muslim employees were denied the right to pray at work, despite repeated requests for religious accommodation. SEE: "Muslims charge discrimination at Whirlpool plant in La Vergne" http://www.tennessean.com/local/archives/02/05/17022232.shtml The plaintiffs also allege that supervisors at the plant followed Muslim employees to the restroom to ensure that they did not pray during their breaks. In addition, employees allege they were terminated after being discovered praying. According to the complaint, "Whirlpool has created and fostered an extremely hostile and humiliating work environment for those of the Muslim faith, particularly amongst its Somali workers, subjecting them to personal humiliation and emotional distress." The suit was initiated after one of the employees contacted the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), a Washington-based Islamic advocacy group. Repeated attempts at mediation were rejected by Whirlpool. "CAIR has received numerous reports of discrimination from former and current Muslim employees of the plant in Tennessee. In each instance, Whirlpool has refused to engage in any meaningful dialogue," said CAIR Communications Coordinator Hodan Hassan. The suit seeks an order forcing Whirlpool to provide reasonable accommodation for the plaintiffs' religious practices, $310,000 in compensatory damages, as well as punitive damages for the emotional pain and suffering caused by the discrimination. Whirlpool Corporation is the world's leading manufacturer and marketer of major home appliances. Headquartered in Benton Harbor, Mich., the company manufactures in 13 countries and markets products under 11 major brand names in more than 170 countries. CAIR publishes a booklet, called "An Employer's Guide to Islamic Religious Practices," designed to prevent workplace discrimination. - END - CONTACT: Ibrahim Hooper, 202-488-8787 E-MAIL - cair@cair-net.org Ms. Hodan Hassan, 202-488-8787 E-MAIL: hhassan@cair-net.org ACTION REQUESTED: Contact Whirlpool to ask that they resolve this issue to the satisfaction of all parties and that they institute a company-wide policy allowing reasonable religious accommodation in the workplace. Mr. David Whitwam Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer Whirlpool Corporation 2000 North M-63 Benton Harbor, MI 49022 Phone: (616) 923-5000 Fax: (616) 923-5341 E-mail: monica_r_brunkel@email.whirlpool.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, 202-489-5108 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 #331 THANK THOSE IN CONGRESS WHO DID NOT VOTE FOR PRO-ISRAEL RESOLUTIONS (WASHINGTON, D.C., 5/3/2002) - CAIR is calling on Muslims nationwide to contact elected representative who did not vote in favor of yesterday's congressional resolutions offering unconditional support to Israel for its recent brutal invasion of Palestinian territory. A total of 84 senators and representatives did not vote in favor of the resolutions, including 82 in the House (21 opposed, 29 present, 32 no vote) and two in the Senate. Sens. Ernest F. Hollings (D-S.C.) and Robert C. Byrd (D-W.Va.), the only senators to vote against the resolution, said it was not even-handed in criticizing violence. SEE: "Lawmakers Endorse Israel's Offensive" http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A23459-2002May2.html In a similar December 5, 2001, vote on a pro-Israel House resolution, just 49 representatives did not offer their support. This is an indication that uncritical congressional backing for Israel's actions is beginning to decrease. Political observers say the resolutions, and recent extreme pro-Israel statements by congressional leaders, are part an effort by both major parties to out-bid each other in appealing to Jewish voters and campaign contributors. IMMEDIATE ACTION REQUESTED: 1. Please review the list below to see if your representative voted against HR 392. (You may also go to http://capwiz.com/cair/home/ to find your elected representatives.) 2. If your representative voted NO, please contact his or her office to show thanks for supporting a balanced US role in the Middle East, and for protecting US interests. 3. If your representative voted PRESENT, please contact his or her office to show thanks for supporting a balanced U.S. role in the Middle East and to encourage the representative to vote NO on future unbalanced and counterproductive resolutions. 4. If your representative is not listed below, he or she voted YES on the resolution. Please contact his or her office to express disappointment that he or she supported a resolution that harms America's efforts to bring a just settlement to the conflict and that harms U.S. interests in the region. Go to: http://capwiz.com/cair/dbq/officials/ 5. Save the list below to stay in touch with your representatives. - PLEASE ANNOUNCE, POST AND DISTRIBUTE - NOES - 21 Rep. Neil Abercrombie (D-HI 1st) Web Site: www.house.gov/abercrombie E-mail: neil.abercrombie@mail.house.gov Phone: (202) 225-2726 Fax: (202) 225-4580 Rep. David Bonior (D-MI 10th) Web Site: davidbonior.house.gov E-mail: david.bonior@mail.house.gov Phone: (202) 225-2106 Fax: (202) 226-1169 Rep. Rick Boucher (D-VA 9th) Web Site: www.house.gov/boucher E-mail: ninthnet@mail.house.gov Phone: (202) 225-3861 Fax: (202) 225-0442 Rep. Gary Condit (D-CA 18th) Web Site: www.house.gov/gcondit E-mail: http://www.house.gov/writerep/ Phone: (202) 225-6131 Fax: (202) 225-0819 Rep. John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI 14th) Web Site: www.house.gov/conyers E-mail: john.conyers@mail.house.gov Phone: (202) 225-5126 Fax: (202) 225-0072 Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-OR 4th) Web Site: www.house.gov/defazio E-mail: http://www.house.gov/writerep/ Phone: (202) 225-6416 Fax: (202) 225-0032 Rep. John Dingell (D-MI 16th) Web Site: www.house.gov/dingell E-mail: http://www.house.gov/writerep/ Phone: (202) 225-4071 Fax: (202) 226-0371 Rep. Earl Hilliard (D-AL 7th) Web Site: www.house.gov/hilliard E-mail: http://www.house.gov/writerep/ Phone: (202) 225-2665 Fax: (202) 226-0772 Rep. Jay Inslee (D-WA 1st) Web Site: www.house.gov/inslee E-mail: jay.inslee@mail.house.gov Phone: (202) 225-6311 Fax: (202) 226-1606 Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr. (D-IL 2nd) Web Site: www.jessejacksonjr.org E-mail: jjackson@jessejacksonjr.org Phone: (202) 225-0773 Fax: (202) 225-0899 Rep. Jerry Kleczka (D-WI 4th) Web Site: www.house.gov/kleczka E-mail: http://www.house.gov/writerep/ Phone: (202) 225-4572 Fax: (202) 225-8135 Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA 9th) Web Site: www.house.gov/lee E-mail: barbara.lee@mail.house.gov Phone: (202) 225-2661 Fax: (202) 225-9817 Rep. Cynthia McKinney (D-GA 4th) Web Site: www.house.gov/mckinney E-mail: cymck@mail.house.gov Phone: (202) 225-1605 Fax: (202) 226-0691 Rep. George Miller (D-CA 7th) Web Site: www.house.gov/georgemiller E-mail: george.miller@mail.house.gov Phone: (202) 225-2095 Fax: (202) 225-5609 Rep. David Obey (D-WI 7th) Web Site: www.house.gov/obey E-mail: http://www.house.gov/writerep/ Phone: (202) 225-3365 Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX 14th) Web Site: www.house.gov/paul E-mail: rep.paul@mail.house.gov Phone: (202) 225-2831 Fax: (202) 226-4871 Rep. Thomas Petri (R-WI 6th) Web Site: www.house.gov/petri E-mail: http://www.house.gov/writerep/ Phone: (202) 225-2476 Fax: (202) 225-2356 Rep. Nick Rahall II (D-WV 3rd) Web Site: www.house.gov/rahall E-mail: nrahall@mail.house.gov Phone: (202) 225-3452 Fax: (202) 225-9061 Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA 45th) Web Site: www.house.gov/rohrabacher E-mail: dana@mail.house.gov Phone: (202) 225-2415 Fax: (202) 225-0145 Rep. Nick Smith (R-MI 7th) Web Site: www.house.gov/nicksmith E-mail: rep.smith@mail.house.gov Phone: (202) 225-6276 Fax: (202) 225-6281 Rep. Fortney Stark (D-CA 13th) Web Site: www.house.gov/stark E-mail: http://www.house.gov/writerep/ Phone: (202) 225-5065 Fax: (202) 226-3805 PRESENT - 29 Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI 2nd) Web Site: www.house.gov/baldwin E-mail: tammy.baldwin@mail.house.gov Phone: (202) 225-2906 Fax: (202) 225-6942 Rep. Bob Barr (R-GA 7th) Web Site: www.house.gov/barr E-mail: barr.ga@mail.house.gov Phone: (202) 225-2931 Fax: (202) 225-2944 Rep. Xavier Becerra (D-CA 30th) Web Site: www.house.gov/becerra E-mail: http://www.house.gov/writerep/ Phone: (202) 225-6235 Fax: (202) 225-2202 Rep. Sanford Bishop, Jr. (D-GA 2nd) Web Site: www.house.gov/bishop E-mail: bishop.email@mail.house.gov Phone: (202) 225-3631 Fax: (202) 225-2203 Rep. Sherrod Brown (D-OH 13th) Web Site: www.house.gov/sherrodbrown E-mail: sherrod@mail.house.gov Phone: (202) 225-3401 Fax: (202) 225-2266 Rep. Michael Capuano (D-MA 8th) Web Site: www.house.gov/capuano E-mail: http://www.house.gov/writerep/ Phone: (202) 225-5111 Fax: (202) 225-9322 1232 Longworth House Office Building Washington, D.C. 20515-2108 Rep. Eva Clayton (D-NC 1st) Web Site: www.house.gov/clayton E-mail: http://www.house.gov/writerep/ Phone: (202) 225-3101 Fax: (202) 225-3354 Rep. Sam Farr (D-CA 17th) Web Site: www.house.gov/farr E-mail: http://www.house.gov/writerep/ Phone: (202) 225-2861 Fax: (202) 225-6791 Rep. John Hostettler (R-IN 8th) Web Site: www.house.gov/hostettler E-mail: john.hostettler@mail.house.gov Phone: (202) 225-4636 Fax: (202) 225-3284 Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-OH 9th) Web Site: www.house.gov/kaptur E-mail: rep.kaptur@mail.house.gov Phone: (202) 225-4146 Fax: (202) 225-7711 Rep. Carolyn Kilpatrick (D-MI 15th) Web Site: www.house.gov/kilpatrick E-mail: carolyn.cheeks.kilpatrick@mail.house.gov Phone: (202) 225-2261 Fax: (202) 225-5730 Rep. Ron Kind (D-WI 3rd) Web Site: www.house.gov/kind E-mail: http://www.house.gov/writerep/ Phone: (202) 225-5506 Fax: (202) 225-5739 Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH 10th) Web Site: www.house.gov/kucinich E-mail: http://www.house.gov/writerep/ Phone: (202) 225-5871 Fax: (202) 225-5745 Rep. Jim McDermott (D-WA 7th) Web Site: www.house.gov/mcdermott E-mail: http://www.house.gov/writerep/ Phone: (202) 225-3106 Fax: (202) 225-6197 Rep. Patsy Mink (D-HI 2nd) Web Site: www.house.gov/mink E-mail: http://www.house.gov/writerep/ Phone: (202) 225-4906 Fax: (202) 225-4987 Rep. Alan Mollohan (D-WV 1st) Web Site: www.house.gov/mollohan Phone: (202) 225-4172 Fax: (202) 225-7564 Rep. James Moran (D-VA 8th) Web Site: www.house.gov/moran E-mail: http://www.house.gov/writerep/ Phone: (202) 225-4376 Fax: (202) 225-0017 Rep. James Oberstar (D-MN 8th) Web Site: www.house.gov/oberstar E-mail: http://www.house.gov/writerep/ Phone: (202) 225-6211 Fax: (202) 225-0699 Rep. Donald Payne (D-NJ 10th) Web Site: www.house.gov/payne E-mail: http://www.house.gov/writerep/ Phone: (202) 225-3436 Fax: (202) 225-4160 Rep. Collin Peterson (D-MN 7th) Web Site: www.house.gov/collinpeterson E-mail: http://www.house.gov/writerep/ Phone: (202) 225-2165 Fax: (202) 225-1593 Rep. Martin Olav Sabo (D-MN 5th) Web Site: www.house.gov/sabo E-mail: martin.sabo@mail.house.gov Phone: (202) 225-4755 Fax: (202) 225-4886 Rep. Bernard Sanders (I-VT At-Large) Web Site: bernie.house.gov E-mail: bernie@mail.house.gov Phone: (202) 225-4115 Fax: (202) 225-6790 Rep. Hilda Solis (D-CA 31st) Web Site: www.house.gov/solis Phone: (202) 225-5464 Fax: (202) 225-5467 Rep. Mike Thompson (D-CA 1st) Web Site: www.house.gov/mthompson E-mail: http://www.house.gov/writerep/ Phone: (202) 225-3311 Fax: (202) 225-4335 Rep. Karen Thurman (D-FL 5th) Web Site: www.house.gov/thurman E-mail: http://www.house.gov/writerep/ Phone: (202) 225-1002 Fax: (202) 226-0329 Rep. Melvin Watt (D-NC 12th) E-mail: http://www.house.gov/writerep/ http://www.house.gov/watt/ Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-CA 6th) Web Site: www.house.gov/woolsey E-mail: lynn.woolsey@mail.house.gov Phone: (202) 225-5161 Fax: (202) 225-5163 NOT VOTING Rep. Doug Bereuter (R-NE 1st) Web Site: www.house.gov/bereuter Phone: (202) 225-4806 Fax: (202) 225-5686 Rep. Michael Bilirakis (R-FL 9th) Web Site: www.house.gov/bilirakis E-mail: http://www.house.gov/writerep/ Phone: (202) 225-5755 Fax: (202) 225-4085 Rep. Corrine Brown (D-FL 3rd) Web Site: www.house.gov/corrinebrown E-mail: http://www.house.gov/writerep/ Phone: (202) 225-0123 Fax: (202) 225-2256 Rep. Dan Burton (R-IN 6th) Web Site: www.house.gov/burton E-mail: http://www.house.gov/writerep/ Phone: (202) 225-2276 Fax: (202) 225-0016 Rep. Sonny Callahan (R-AL 1st) Web Site: www.house.gov/callahan E-mail: http://www.house.gov/writerep/ Phone: (202) 225-4931 Fax: (202) 225-0562 Rep. Chris Cannon (R-UT 3rd) Web Site: www.house.gov/cannon E-mail: cannon.ut03@mail.house.gov Phone: (202) 225-7751 Fax: (202) 225-5629 Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA 7th) Web Site: cantor.house.gov E-mail: http://www.house.gov/writerep/ Phone: (202) 225-2815 Fax: (202) 225-0011 Rep. John Cooksey (R-LA 5th) Web Site: www.house.gov/cooksey E-mail: congressman.cooksey@mail.house.gov Phone: (202) 225-8490 Fax: (202) 225-5639 Rep. Philip Crane (R-IL 8th) Web Site: www.house.gov/crane Phone: (202) 225-3711 Fax: (202) 225-7830 Rep. Calvin Dooley (D-CA 20th) Web Site: dooley.house.gov E-mail: http://www.house.gov/writerep/ Phone: (202) 225-3341 Fax: (202) 225-9308 Rep. Terry Everett (R-AL 2nd) Web Site: www.house.gov/everett E-mail: terry.everett@mail.house.gov Phone: (202) 225-2901 Fax: (202) 225-8913 Rep. Chaka Fattah (D-PA 2nd) Web Site: www.house.gov/fattah E-mail: http://www.house.gov/writerep/ Phone: (202) 225-4001 Fax: (202) 225-5392 Rep. Peter Hoekstra (R-MI 2nd) Web Site: www.house.gov/hoekstra E-mail: tellhoek@mail.house.gov Phone: (202) 225-4401 Fax: (202) 226-0779 Rep. Darlene Hooley (D-OR 5th) Web Site: www.house.gov/hooley E-mail: http://www.house.gov/writerep/ Phone: (202) 225-5711 Fax: (202) 225-5699 Rep. Ernest Istook, Jr. (R-OK 5th) Web Site: www.house.gov/istook E-mail: istook@mail.house.gov Phone: (202) 225-2132 Fax: (202) 226-1463 Rep. William Jefferson (D-LA 2nd) Web Site: www.house.gov/jefferson E-mail: jeffersonmc@mail.house.gov Phone: (202) 225-6636 Fax: (202) 225-1988 Rep. William Jenkins (R-TN 1st) Web Site: www.house.gov/jenkins E-mail: http://www.house.gov/writerep/ Phone: (202) 225-6356 Fax: (202) 225-5714 Rep. Chris John (D-LA 7th) Web Site: www.house.gov/john E-mail: christopher.john@mail.house.gov Phone: (202) 225-2031 Fax: (202) 225-5724 Rep. John McHugh (R-NY 24th) Web Site: www.house.gov/mchugh E-mail: http://www.house.gov/writerep/ Phone: (202) 225-4611 Fax: (202) 226-0621 Rep. Juanita Millender-McDonald (D-CA 37th) Web Site: www.house.gov/millender-mcdonald E-mail: millender.mcdonald@mail.house.gov Phone: (202) 225-7924 Fax: (202) 225-7926 Rep. John Murtha (D-PA 12th) Web Site: www.house.gov/murtha E-mail: murtha@mail.house.gov Phone: (202) 225-2065 Fax: (202) 225-5709 Rep. Michael Oxley (R-OH 4th) Web Site: www.house.gov/oxley E-mail: mike.oxley@mail.house.gov Phone: (202) 225-2676 Fax: (202) 226-0577 Rep. Bob Riley (R-AL 3rd) Web Site: www.house.gov/riley E-mail: bob.riley@mail.house.gov Phone: (202) 225-3261 Fax: (202) 225-5827 Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL 18th) Web Site: www.house.gov/ros-lehtinen E-mail: http://www.house.gov/writerep/ Phone: (202) 225-3931 Fax: (202) 225-5620 Rep. Marge Roukema (R-NJ 5th) Web Site: www.house.gov/roukema E-mail: rep.roukema@mail.house.gov Phone: (202) 225-4465 Fax: (202) 225-9048 Rep. Charles Stenholm (D-TX 17th) Web Site: www.house.gov/stenholm E-mail: http://www.house.gov/writerep/ Phone: (202) 225-6605 Fax: (202) 225-2234 Rep. John Sullivan (R-OK 1st) Web Site: www.house.gov/sullivan E-mail: ok01.sullivan@mail.house.gov Phone: (202) 225-2211 Fax: (202) 225-9187 Rep. Charles Taylor (R-NC 11th) Web Site: www.house.gov/charlestaylor E-mail: http://www.house.gov/writerep/ Phone: (202) 225-6401 Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS 2nd) Web Site: www.house.gov/thompson E-mail: thompsonms2nd@mail.house.gov Phone: (202) 225-5876 Fax: (202) 225-5898 Rep. James Traficant, Jr. (D-OH 17th) Web Site: www.house.gov/traficant E-mail: telljim@mail.house.gov Phone: (202) 225-5261 Fax: (202) 225-3719 Rep. Zach Wamp (R-TN 3rd) Web Site: www.house.gov/wamp E-mail: http://www.house.gov/writerep/ Phone: (202) 225-3271 Fax: (202) 225-3494 Rep. C.W. Young (R-FL 10th) Web Site: www.house.gov/young E-mail: bill.young@mail.house.gov Phone: (202) 225-5961 Fax: (202) 225-9764 ----- 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, 202-489-5108 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 ----- AMERICAN MUSLIM NEWS BRIEFS - 5/5/2002 ----- HEADLINES: * THE LATEST CAIR ACTION ALERTS * ANN COULTER ATTACKS, DATES MUSLIMS * QUOTE OF THE DAY: 1-IN-4 SUPPORT RANDOM SEARCHS OF MUSLIMS (Wash. Post) * ON WHICH WHAT PAGE WOULD THIS STORY HAVE APPEARED IF MUSLIMS HAD BEEN INVOLVED? * A PENCHANT FOR SECRECY (New York Times) * MAN FACES DEPORTATION AFTER SEPT. 11 TESTIMONY (Washington Post) * PREJUDICE ALSO CLAIMED VICTIMS IN SEPT. 11'S WAKE (Chicago Tribune) * U.S. MAGISTRATE DENIES MUSLIM GROUPS' REQUEST (Washington Post) - Muslims' Evidence Sits Unexamined (AP) * U.S. SEEKS SECRECY IN MUSLIM CHARITY CASE (Dallas Morning News) * ILL. MUSLIMS SUPPORT ISLAMIC CHARITY (AP) * SENIOR REPUBLICAN CALLS ON ISRAEL TO EXPEL WEST BANK ARABS (Guardian) * ANGER OVER ARMEY'S COMMENTS (Newsday) * MEDIA COVERAGE OF MUSLIM-WHIRLPOOL LAWSUIT - Muslims sue Whirlpool (AP) - Suit Says Company Discouraged Religion (New York Times) - Muslims allege discrimination at Whirlpool plant (Reuters) ----- FOR THE LATEST CAIR ACTION ALERTS ON GUJARAT, PALESTINE AND OTHER IMPORTANT ISSUES, GO TO: http://capwiz.com/cair/home/ ----- ANN COULTER ATTACKS, DATES MUSLIMS French Voters Tentatively Reject Dynamiting Notre Dame By Ann Coulter, FrontPageMagazine.com, 5/2/02 http://www.frontpagemagazine.com/columnists/coulter/index.html LIBERALS HAVE FINALLY found a people even more worthy of their admiration than the adulterous French: synagogue-burning, genital-mutilating, terrorist-cheering Muslims… Whenever liberals are frustrated, they accuse their opponents of "xenophobia" which is, admittedly, a step up from Muslims who express frustration by strapping dynamite to children… In addition to mutilating girls and burning synagogues, another popular Muslim pastime in France is to steal cars, set them on fire and push them off cliffs… SEE ALSO : Reliable Source: Ann Coulter’s New Muslim Man Lloyd Grove, The Washington Post, 3/13/02 …Ann Coulter's notorious post-Sept. 11 column for National Review Online -- in which she suggested that the proper U.S. response to Muslim terrorists was to "invade their countries, kill their leaders and convert them to Christianity" -- is still making waves six months later. But now the controversy features a jaw-dropping twist involving Coulter's love life… We hear that shortly after her September tirade proposing a modern-day crusade in Islamic countries, she began dating a gentleman of the Muslim persuasion, a well-to-do financier in New York. Word is that they met by chance four months ago on a Manhattan street and have been an item ever since. Coulter, an Episcopalian, declined to comment directly on this surprising circumstance. She refused to reveal the lucky guy's identity… ----- QUOTE OF THE DAY: HALF OF ALL AMERICANS STILL FEEL UNSAFE By Richard Morin, Washington Post, 5/3/02 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A24599-2002May2.html “One in four [Americans] -- 24 percent -- supported giving police the power to conduct random searches of "anyone who appears to be Arab or Muslim." ----- ON WHICH WHAT PAGE WOULD THIS STORY HAVE APPEARED IF MUSLIMS HAD BEEN INVOLVED? The New York Times, May 5, 2002, Sunday, Late Edition - Final, SECTION 1; PAGE 33; Column 5; National Desk, 920 words, More Pipe Bombs Are Found In Mailboxes in Nebraska, By SAM DILLON, TIPTON, Iowa, May 4 The Washington Post, May 05, 2002, Sunday, Final Edition, A SECTION; PG. A12, 562 words, Five More Pipe Bombs Found in the Midwest, Robert E. Pierre, Washington Post Staff Writer, CHICAGO, May 4 Newsday (New York, NY), May 5, 2002 Sunday, NASSAU AND SUFFOLK EDITION, PG. A04, 370 words, More Mailbox Bombs Found ; 5 more turn up in Nebraska, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS ----- A PENCHANT FOR SECRECY By LINDA GREENHOUSE, The New York Times, 5/5/02 http://www.nytimes.com/2002/05/05/weekinreview/05GREE.html A FEDERAL judge's decision last week that the Justice Department's detention of a Jordanian student was a misuse of the material witness statute served as a reminder that nearly eight months after Sept. 11, the balance between individual liberty and national security remains highly unstable. It was never in doubt that the terrorist attacks would alter the balance between these two values. American history is filled with examples of how domestic and foreign threats, perceived or -- as today -- real, provoked shifts in power away from the rights of the individual and toward the promise of safety and order. Even against that background, the Bush administration's pursuit of the domestic war on terrorism into uncharted and ambiguous legal territory is striking. Many of its choices reveal the same instinct for secrecy and penchant for unilateral executive-branch action that the administration has displayed on political fields of battle unrelated to terrorism. In fact, long after judges have ruled on challenges to the prolonged detentions, closed immigration hearings and other policies that Attorney General John Ashcroft is defending in courts around the country, the legacy of this chapter of the perennial effort to calibrate the balance between liberty and security may lie in whatever verdict the political as well as the legal system renders on the value of transparency in government. Secrecy is at the heart of an escalating battle over the identities of hundreds of detainees, mostly Muslim men from Arab and Asian countries, being held for the federal government in New Jersey county jails. Responding to a suit by the American Civil Liberties Union, a state court applied New Jersey's right-to-know law and ordered the names made public. The secret detentions were "odious to a democratic society," ruled Judge Arthur N. D'Italia of Superior Court… ----- MAN FACES DEPORTATION AFTER SEPT. 11 TESTIMONY By Brooke A. Masters, The Washington Post, 5/5/02 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A33701-2002May4.html Alrababah, 29, says his experiences since Sept. 11 also should serve as a cautionary tale. Since he came forward voluntarily, Alrababah has spent seven months in federal custody -- almost entirely in solitary -- first as a material witness and then charged and convicted in an unrelated identification fraud case. Now, a man who is engaged to a U.S.-born citizen and who once hoped to make his life here is facing deportation as soon as he gets out of prison. "It's pretty much been a nightmare," said his 32-year-old fiancee, who asked not to be named because she fears negative publicity could hurt her career as a professional figure skater. "He lost his business. He lost friends. It's really disrupted our lives completely." There is no public evidence tying Alrababah to terrorism beyond his limited contact with the hijackers, and he passed an FBI polygraph last fall, his lawyer, Frank Salvato, said. But federal sources cautioned that they are continuing to investigate Alrababah. The U.S. attorney's office declined to comment on the case... ----- PREJUDICE ALSO CLAIMED VICTIMS IN SEPT. 11'S WAKE By Jon Yates, The Chicago Tribune, 5/5/02 http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/perspective/chi-0205050256may05.story Balbir Singh Sodhi was gunned down Sept. 15 in the flower garden of his Mesa, Ariz., gas station--targeted, police say, because of his turban and beard. His family considers the 49-year-old Sikh Indian a victim of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, just like those who died in the World Trade Center or the Pentagon. But so far, neither the federal government nor charitable organizations agree. Now, help has come from a most unlikely source: an Evanston activist named Anya Cordell who has made it her mission to convince the Red Cross and the September 11th Fund that they should pay families of those who died in backlash hate crimes. Cordell, 51, calls her effort the Campaign for Collateral Compassion, and her argument is simple. Arabs who were killed in hate crimes after Sept. 11 are victims of terror too… "I don't think [Almansoop] would have died if his name were John Smith." Ibrahim Hooper, spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations in Washington, said hate crimes are difficult to investigate because there is often little evidence of bias, but he considers Cordell's efforts important and said any effort to discount racial hatred as a motive in some killings after Sept. 11 may be misguided. Hooper points to a case in Dallas of a Pakistani Muslim, Waqar Hasan, who was killed while cooking hamburgers in his grocery store on Sept. 15. "Nobody wrote `death to Arab scum' on the wall," he said. "But the strong belief in the community is it was bias-related." Hooper said victims like Hasan were "just as innocent as those who were killed in New York and Washington…" ----- U.S. MAGISTRATE DENIES MUSLIM GROUPS' REQUEST Return Sought of Property Seized in Va. By Brooke A. Masters, The Washington Post, 5/4/2002 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A29879-2002May3.html A federal magistrate judge ruled yesterday that government agents can continue to examine the property they seized in March from three Northern Virginia Muslim groups and 10 homes as part of a terrorism probe. Attorneys for the International Institute of Islamic Thought, the Graduate School of Islamic and Social Sciences, Sterling Management Group Inc. and 10 individuals had alleged that the raids violated their free speech and privacy rights. They asked U.S. Magistrate Judge Theresa C. Buchanan to order the 500 boxes of records returned. She denied the attorneys' request and also turned down their petition to see the evidence the government used to obtain search warrants for the homes and businesses. "We have students who can't turn in their papers. Our businesses are harmed. Our customers are going away…It's as though the government thinks they can go into people's homes and businesses and take everything away for no reason," said Nancy Luque, an attorney for the Muslim businesses and individuals… SEE ALSO: Muslims' Evidence Sits Unexamined By MATTHEW BARAKAT, The Associated Press, 5/4/02 ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) - Hundreds of boxes of evidence seized from Muslim organizations and homes in northern Virginia during government raids in March are still awaiting review by investigators, court records show. Lawyers for those targeted in the raids said the government is still holding onto children's games and puzzles, cash and computers that it never should have seized in the first place. “This is just an attempt to get our property back. We were shocked as to why these houses were searched. We have no idea why,” said Nancy Luque, an attorney for three organizations and 10 individuals targeted in the raids. At a court hearing Friday, the targets of the raids asked a judge to unseal the government affidavits that explain why the homes and organizations were targeted. U.S. Magistrate Judge Theresa C. Buchanan refused to unseal the affidavits, saying she was satisfied that the government had reason to conduct the raids and seize evidence… No criminal charges have been filed as a result of the March 20 raids. The Customs Service said they were conducted as part of an operation to investigate and cut off terrorist funding... Luque said the fact that government agents seized so much material suggests they were on a fishing expedition, rather than looking for specific evidence of criminal conduct. “Clearly they don't know what they're looking for,” she said. “They could have avoided taking the puzzles and games of children.” ----- U.S. SEEKS SECRECY IN MUSLIM CHARITY CASE By Michelle Mittelstadt , The Dallas Morning News, 5/3/02 http://www.dallasnews.com/waronterrorism/stories/050302dnnatholyland.597d0.html WASHINGTON _ Tapping a little-used and controversial legal strategy, the Justice Department is trying to offer secret evidence to justify the financial freeze imposed on a Richardson, Texas-based Muslim charity after the Sept. 11 attacks. In a filing late Wednesday night in federal court in Washington, Justice Department attorneys said they need to use classified information _ which is not shared with lawyers for the other side _ to make their case that the government was correct when it froze the assets of the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development. The foundation, which sued in March to force the government to unblock its funds, will "energetically" oppose any attempt to use secret evidence, said John Boyd, a Holy Land Foundation attorney… "We are, of course, going to resist as energetically as we can any use of secret evidence to take away the property and funds of an American organization that is operated by American citizens for charitable purposes," Boyd said. "We have, at this point, no idea what secret evidence the government is referring to, but we are certainly going to take the position that depriving people of their property based on secret evidence we have no opportunity to know about _ much less rebut _ is not consistent with the Constitution or the American way of dealing with issues." At a hearing last month, U.S. District Judge Gladys Kessler warned that she would not look favorably on any request to keep classified information concealed from Holy Land Foundation's lawyers and the public, saying the government would have a "very heavy burden" in making its case... "The use of secret evidence just really makes, in most situations, the legal process a meaningless process," said Niels Frenzen, a University of Southern California law professor who has represented several defendants in secret-evidence cases. "In our system, we fundamentally believe that the truth is obtained through cross-examination. And classified evidence eliminates that ability." ----- ILL. MUSLIMS SUPPORT ISLAMIC CHARITY By DON BABWIN, The Associated Press, 5/3/02 BRIDGEVIEW, Ill. (AP) - Janaan Hashim doesn't care what federal prosecutors say about the Benevolence International Foundation. She doesn't believe the Islamic charity has ties to Osama bin Laden and terrorists who tried to get their hands on nuclear weapons. “I've worked with them,” said Hashim, as she dropped off her two young daughters at an Islamic school in this Chicago suburb. “I know what they do is help a lot of people, they get into countries and help people where other organizations don't have access to.” In Brigeview, where protesters questioned Muslims' patriotism and angrily tried to march on a mosque after the Sept. 11 attacks, many Muslims are not about to believe the allegations against the charity. The protesters “said the same thing about us,” said Said Hasan, after he drove from his home in nearby Hickory Hills to drop his daughter off at the school where she teaches. “Some of us were (soldiers) in Korea and Vietnam.” Hasan, whose faith calls on him to give to charity, said he is not about to stop giving to Muslim charities… The Palos Hills-based charity and executive director Enaam M. Arnaout were charged with perjury Tuesday for denying they had provided assistance to terrorists. Prosecutors say the organization funneled large sums of money to bin Laden's al-Qaida network. In December, the U.S. government froze the assets of Benevolence and another Chicago-area charity… ----- SENIOR REPUBLICAN CALLS ON ISRAEL TO EXPEL WEST BANK ARABS By Matthew Engel, The Guardian (London), 5/4/2002 http://www.guardian.co.uk/Archive/Article/0,4273,4407293,00.html The most senior Republican in the House of Representatives has called for Palestinians to be expelled from the West Bank, which should be annexed in its entirety by the state of Israel. Dick Armey, majority leader in the House, shocked a primetime television audience when he said in a chat-show interview, that East Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza - all occupied by the Israeli army since the 1967 war - should be considered a part of Israel proper. He was "content to have a Palestinian state", but argued that such an entity could be set up inside other Arab countries. "There are many Arab nations that have many hundreds of thousands of acres of land and soil and property and opportunity to create a Palestinian state. I happen to believe the Palestinians should leave." Mr Armey later backed down slightly and said he did not believe "peaceful Palestinian civilians should be forcibly expelled" but only those who supported terrorist acts. His original extremist com ments underline the extent of President Bush's dilemma of plotting a balanced course… Mr Armey's views have been scarcely reported in America. The only mention was a passing reference in the deepest recesses of yesterday's New York Times and Washington Post. The Council on American-Islamic Relations called Mr Armey's views "beyond belief". Spokesman Jason Erb said that "even the most extreme Israelis are reluctant to publicly advocate such an insane policy". When Ari Fleischer, Mr Bush's spokesman, was asked for the president's view on what appeared to be an argument for ethnic cleansing, he changed the subject. However, Mr Armey's views were not far out of line with on Thursday night's debate in the House, which overwhelmingly passed a 920-word resolution entirely in favour of Israel, save for a call to pursue peace and a reference to the "humanitarian needs of the Palestinian people" - tacked on at the White House's request... ----- ANGER OVER ARMEY'S COMMENTS By William Douglas and Elaine S. Povich, Newsday (New York, NY), 5/4/02 http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/world/ny-woarme042693418may04.story Washington - Even in dealing with a hot issue like the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Osama Siblani considers himself an even-tempered guy not normally prone to yelling at his television set. But Siblani could not contain himself when he heard House Majority Leader Dick Armey (R-Texas) declare in a television interview Wednesday that Palestinians should get out of the West Bank and that Israel should "grab the entire West Bank." "I couldn't sleep all night I was so angry" said Siblani, editor of the Arab American News in Dearborn, Mich., which has one of the nation's largest Muslim populations. "A lot of Arab-Americans are angry." Several Arab-American groups lashed out at Armey Friday, accusing him of supporting ethnic cleansing and advocating an action that they say would amount to a war crime. "Even the most extreme Israelis are reluctant to publicly advocate such an insane policy," said Jason Erb, governmental affairs director for the Council on American-Islamic relations… ----- MEDIA COVERAGE OF MUSLIM-WHIRLPOOL LAWSUIT Muslims sue Whirlpool, citing religious discrimination at Tennessee plant The Associated Press, 5/4/02 LAVERGNE, Tennessee - Sixteen Muslims have filed a religious discrimination lawsuit claiming managers at a Whirlpool plant yanked scarves off women's heads and followed workers into restrooms to make sure they weren't praying. The current and former workers at the factory sued Whirlpool seeking dlrs 310,000 in damages, along with a court order forcing the company to "reasonably accommodate" the workers' religious practices, as required by law. Tom Kline, a spokesman at Whirlpool's corporate headquarters in Benton Harbor, Michigan, declined to comment. Hodan Hassan of the Council on American-Islamic Relations in Washington said workers at the refrigerator and air conditioner plant outside Nashville had been complaining about discrimination for five years… --- Suit Says Company Discouraged Religion The New York Times, 5/4/02 Sixteen Muslims, current and former workers at the Whirlpool plant in La Vergne, filed a federal lawsuit against the company, saying supervisors warned workers not to pray on their breaks, followed them to restrooms to see if they were praying, fired those found praying and pulled scarves from women's heads. The suit seeks damages of $310,000 each, and "reasonable accommodation" of religious practices and beliefs. Whirlpool officials said that nine similar grievances filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission have been dismissed. --- Muslims allege discrimination at Whirlpool plant. Reuters, 5/3/02 WASHINGTON, May 3 (Reuters) - A group of current and former Muslim employees of Whirlpool Corp. are suing the biggest U.S. appliance maker, alleging religious discrimination at a Tennessee factory. A group of 16 employees at a factory in La Vergne, Tennessee, filed a lawsuit against Whirlpool alleging a "consistent pattern of religious discrimination," according to a statement released on Friday from the Council on American-Islamic Relations. The suit, filed on Monday in U.S. District Court for the Middle of Tennessee, claims that Muslim employees were denied the right to pray at work, despite repeated requests for religious accommodation, the Council said. The suit seeks an order forcing Whirlpool to provide reasonable accommodation for the plaintiffs' religious practices, $310,000 in compensatory damages, and punitive damages for the emotional pain and suffering caused by the discrimination. The plaintiffs in the suit allege that plant supervisors followed Muslim employees to the restroom to ensure that they did not pray during their breaks, the Council said. Employees also allege they were terminated after being discovered praying… Whirlpool said in a statement that the company has not yet seen the suit and it does not comment on pending legal action… Shares of Whirlpool were down 61 cents to $76.98 on the New York Stock Exchange on Friday. ----- 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, 202-489-5108 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 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE U.S. PHYSICIAN DETAINED BY ISRAELIS AFTER REPORTING FROM JENIN Islamic advocacy group says torture likely, asks American officials to intervene (WASHINGTON, D.C., 5/5/2002) An American physician from California who was visiting the Occupied Territories on a fact-finding mission for a medical relief organization has been detained by Israeli authorities after reporting on the death and destruction he witnessed in the Jenin refugee camp. (MEDIA ADVISORY: A news conference on this issue will be held 9:30 a.m., Monday, May 6, in the Murrow Room of the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. CAIR has also learned of American citizen from Texas, Dallel Mohammed with the relief group Kinder USA [http://www.kinderusa.org], who has also been detained by the Israelis. Details of her detention will be released at the Monday news conference. For information about the news conference, contact 202-256-2000.) The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) tonight announced that Santa Monica-born Dr. Riad Abdelkarim was detained this weekend at Ben Gurion Airport and has now been transferred to a prison in Tel Aviv. The Washington-based Islamic advocacy group is calling on American officials to demand his immediate release and to prevent the Israelis from torturing him, a practice commonly used in that state’s prisons. Human rights groups say that the vast majority of detained Palestinians face torture or abuse. A number of those cases have involved Americans of Palestinian heritage. The State Department’s web site says U.S. citizens arrested in Israel on alleged security offenses “may be prevented from communicating with lawyers, family members, or consular officers for lengthy periods…U.S. citizens have been subject to mistreatment during interrogation and pressured to sign statements in Hebrew which have not been translated. Under local law they may be detained for up to six months at a time without charges.” SEE: http://travel.state.gov/israel_westbank_gaza.html According to his family, Abdelkarim is in the Middle East on a fact-finding mission for Los Angeles-headquartered International Medical Corps (IMC), a global humanitarian nonprofit organization that supports health care training and relief programs in a number of countries, including Angola, Burundi and Serbia. (In December of last year, IMC was named as one of the "100 American philanthropies most likely to save the world" by Worth Magazine. SEE: http://www.imc-la.com/) A medical colleague traveling with Abdelkarim was held and later released by Israeli authorities. Abdelkarim was detained as he was returning to the United States after having witnessed the devastation caused by Israeli forces in the Jenin refugee camp, details of which he reported widely on the Internet. Though born in the United States, he is a Palestinian-American whose family traces its roots to a village near Ramallah in the Occupied Territories. “It seems the Israelis will go to any length to hide their war crimes in Jenin, including imprisoning medical relief workers. This fits a pattern in which Israel forces first prevented aid from reaching the victims in Jenin and then blocked a U.N. investigation into their brutal actions in the camp,” said CAIR Board Chairman Omar Ahmad. Along with his medical duties, Abelkarim is active with a number of American Muslim relief and political advocacy organizations. He is a board member of the CAIR chapter in Southern California and was on the board of the now-closed Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development. Abdelkarim also coordinates the Independent Writers Syndicate, an editorial service that offers a Muslim perspective on current political, social and religious issues. His commentaries have been published in newspapers nationwide. - END - CONTACT: Ibrahim Hooper, 202-488-8787 E-MAIL - cair@cair-net.org Ms. Hodan Hassan, 202-488-8787 E-MAIL: hhassan@cair-net.org ----- FEELING LIKE THE ENEMY WITHIN: Since the attacks, the Abdelkarims of Orange County have been taunted at school and questioned by the FBI. Even a trip to the mall raises fears. By TERESA WATANABE, Los Angeles Times, 9/20/2001 Her four children in tow, the suburban mom climbs out of her Toyota minivan and heads into the MainPlace mall in Santa Ana. She wears a red, white and blue button, "USA All the Way!" as a symbol of her loyalty. But as she approaches the entrance, she murmurs in Arabic: "May God protect us." For all her American trappings, Wijdan Abdelkarim is conspicuous in her Islamic head scarf, and she knows it. In fallout that has unnerved countless other Muslims and Arab Americans, last week's terrorist attacks have upended the family life of Wijdan and her husband, Riad. Wijdan's routine shopping trips are now tension-wracked forays into the fearful unknown. FBI agents have questioned Riad, a prominent Anaheim physician, about his Muslim associations in encounters he says first intimidated, then angered him… The tall, articulate physician, a Santa Monica native of Palestinian descent, is used to standing up to anti-Arab sentiment and succeeding despite it. He grew up in Torrance, the oldest of six children. His father ran a grocery store in Hermosa Beach named after him, Riad's Market. One of the only Arab families in town at the time, the Abdelkarims had to weather the Arab oil embargo of the 1970s, the Iranian hostage crisis of 1979-81, the Persian Gulf War of 1991 and the slurs that went along with such events: Towel Head. Oil Can. Exhortations to "go back home." The Abdelkarims' cars were vandalized, their lawn destroyed by thugs pouring gasoline on it or driving their cars over it. The boys frequently got into fights, Riad recalled. And the day he won the local spelling bee, garnering front page coverage in the community newspaper, someone called his home and terrorized his mother with a false claim that he had been kidnapped. All the Trappings of American Success Story In 1986, Riad made class valedictorian at Torrance High School with a perfect grade point average. He applied to UCLA, UC Berkeley, Stanford and Yale and got into all of the schools. He says he chose UCLA because he got a free ride, winning every scholarship he applied for. He graduated summa cum laude, went to medical school at UC San Diego, and became a doctor of internal medicine. Last year, he made partner with the Southern California Permanente Medical Group in Anaheim. The family bears all the marks of an American success story. Wijdan drives the Sienna minivan; he drives a Lexus. Their abode is a perfectly kept, 3,200-square-foot expanse with soaring ceilings, skylights and a marbled entryway with stunning city views in an Orange County neighborhood of $500,000 homes. The yard bursts with color--impatiens, roses, fruit trees, all products of Wijdan's green thumb. Plastic U.S. flags now adorn their front entrance and Riad's office. At work, Riad appears to be a popular doctor, even with patients he meets for the first time… The physician says the attacks have not caused him any problems at work; to the contrary, they have engendered support and sympathy for him. Eileen Simpson, a nurse practitioner at Riad's medical clinic in Anaheim, says one of her first thoughts after the attack was of her friend's safety and her fear of a "backlash, big time" against him and other Muslims. Simpson says the physician has been a good-humored professional mentor who has reshaped her views of Muslims. Before, she said, "I thought they were a radical group of people who wanted to kill Americans." Now she says she sees Muslims as simply average Americans. "We need more people like him in the Islamic community to enlighten us," Simpson says. Riad spends most of his hours outside his busy medical practice engaged in Muslim community activities. His first visit to Palestine in 1986 was a turning point, he says. As a UCLA student in psychobiology, he began organizing lectures and other events on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict… He also writes and speaks on American Muslim affairs, trying to demystify the faith for the broader public. In these days of terror, that activist role has landed him on the FBI's radar screen. On Sunday, as he was downing Chicken McNuggets at home, two FBI agents knocked on the door. "I'm a confident person, but my voice cracked talking to them," he said. He asked the agents to meet him the next evening at the Council on American-Islamic Relations' Anaheim office. The agents never showed up. The rendezvous was rescheduled for Tuesday at the Tustin Marketplace shopping center. This time, FBI special agents Jeffrey Palumbo and George Krumpotich were there, conspicuous in their dress shirts, ties and sunglasses. They questioned him for an hour. Riad later says they asked about his political views: "Are we the bad guys in all this?" Riad says he told them that he condemns the terrorism and wants the perpetrators brought to justice but that American "one-sided, unconditional, blind support of Israel" is fueling widespread resentment in the Mideast against the United States… ----- 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, 202-489-5108 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 ----- AMERICAN MUSLIM NEWS BRIEFS - 5/6/2002 ----- HEADLINES: * HADITH OF THE DAY: REMEMBERING GOD * GO TO THE LATEST CAIR ACTION ALERTS * AT $3,100 AN HOUR, SOLIDARITY HAS WINGS (Washington Post) * CALIF. NEWS CONFERENCE IN SUPPORT OF U.S. PHYSICIAN DETAINED BY ISRAELIS * KINDER-USA DEMANDS RELEASE OF AMERICANS DETAINED BY ISRAELI FORCES * IN MICHIGAN, ANTI-TERRORISM EFFORT GOES PUBLIC (Washington Post) * CHRISTIANS SPEED EXODUS FROM BETHLEHEM (Washington Post) * ISRAEL, PATRIOTISM AND THE BIG WHAT NEXT (San Francisco Chronicle) * MUSLIMS IN LAW ENFORCEMENT FORM NEW GROUP (Washington Times) * EDITORIAL: LIBERTY VS. SECURITY (St. Louis Post-Dispatch) * SHOWDOWN WITH SHARON (Antiwar.com) ----- HADITH OF THE DAY: REMEMBERING GOD The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) narrated: "God says: 'I am to my servant as he expects of Me, I am with him when he remembers Me. If he remembers Me in his heart, I remember him to Myself, and if he remembers me in an assembly, I mention him in an assembly better than his...and if he comes to me walking, I rush to him at [great] speed.'" Fiqh-us-Sunnah, Volume 4, Number 99 ----- FOR THE LATEST CAIR ACTION ALERTS, GO TO: http://capwiz.com/cair/home/ ----- AT $3,100 AN HOUR, SOLIDARITY HAS WINGS By Al Kamen, The Washington Post, 5/6/02 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A37400-2002May5.html When congressional delegations (aka codels) travel overseas, the usual justifications involve fact-finding or attending diplomatic events. So it was a bit unusual last week to see Reps. Peter Deutsch (D-Fla.) and Jack Kingston (R-Ga.) announce a codel to "show solidarity with Israel." Early press accounts had Deutsch saying it was "not a diplomatic mission" and meeting with senior Israelis was not the goal and there would be no visits to areas controlled by the Palestinians. Congressional resolutions of support for Israel last week apparently didn't go far enough. No, a better way to show solidarity is to find a bunch of members, get a military plane, a security team and a few aides and fly over there for a long weekend. The two lawmakers, joined by Reps. Joseph M. Hoeffel III (D-Pa.) and Jim Saxton (R-Pa.), left Thursday (due back today) to go to hospitals and visit Israelis and Israeli Arabs injured in the conflict, a Deutsch aide said. The aide added that meetings with Israeli leaders had indeed been scheduled. Many more members were interested in going, we were told, but some had scheduling problems and the only plane available was one of those smaller Gulfstream beauties. Too bad. The U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv, no doubt just sitting around with nothing to do these days, would have loved taking care of a much larger group. The Gulfstream only costs about $3,100 an hour to fly over. ACTION REQUESTED: (As always, be POLITE.) Contact the elected representatives who spent $3,100 per hour of American tax dollars to offer blind support to a brutal foreign government. CONTACT: (Calls are most effective.) Rep. Peter Deutsch (D-FL) 2421 Rayburn House Office Building Washington, D.C. 20515-0920 Phone: (202) 225-7931 Fax: (202) 225-8456 Main District Office: Phone: (954) 437-3936 Fax: (954) 437-4776 E-mail: fl20townhall@mail.house.gov Copy to: cair@cair-net.org Web Site: www.house.gov/deutsch -- Rep. Jack Kingston (R-PA) 1034 Longworth House Office Building Washington, D.C. 20515-1001 Phone: (202) 225-5831 Fax: (202) 226-2269 Main District Office: Phone: (912) 352-0101 Fax: (912) 352-0105 E-mail: jack.kingston@mail.house.gov Copy to: cair@cair-net.org Web Site: www.house.gov/kingston -- Rep. Joseph M. Hoeffel III (D-PA) 1229 Longworth House Office Building Washington, D.C. 20515-3813 Phone: (202) 225-6111 Fax: (202) 226-0611 Main District Office: Phone: (610) 272-8400 Fax: (610) 272-8532 Web Site: www.house.gov/hoeffel E-mail: http://www.house.gov/hoeffel/letstalk.htm Copy to: cair@cair-net.org -- Rep. Jim Saxton (R-PA) 339 Cannon House Office Building Washington, D.C. 20515-3003 Phone: (202) 225-4765 Fax: (202) 225-0778 Main District Office: Phone: (609) 261-5800 Fax: (609) 261-1275 Web Site: www.house.gov/saxton E-mail: jim.saxton@mail.house.gov Copy to: cair@cair-net.org ----- - MEDIA ADVISORY - CALIF. NEWS CONFERENCE IN SUPPORT OF U.S. PHYSICIAN DETAINED BY ISRAELIS WHAT: New conference in support of American physician from Orange County, California, who was visiting the Occupied Territories on a fact-finding mission for a medical relief organization and has been detained by Israeli authorities after reporting on the death and destruction he witnessed in the Jenin refugee camp. WHEN: Monday, May 6, 2002 at 11 a.m. WHERE: 3255 Wilshire Blvd, Suite 603, Los Angeles, CA 90015 CONTACT: Sabiha Khan - 714-776-1847 or 714-390-0334 (Cell) NOTE: This press conference is jointly sponsored by the Council on American-Islamic Relations, Southern California (CAIR-LA) and the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC). ----- KINDER-USA Kids in Need of Development, Education and Relief For Immediate Release Contact: Dr. Basil Abdel Karim (310) 493-8055 KINDER-USA DEMANDS IMMEDIATE RELEASE OF TWO AMERICANS DETAINED BY ISRAELI FORCES As part of an ongoing campaign to block humanitarian assistance to the Palestinians, Israeli forces this weekend detained two board members of KinderUSA, a non-profit relief organization based in the United States. The detainees are American-born US citizens. At the time of this release, Israeli authorities have denied them access to US consular or embassy officials. Dr. Riad Abdel Karim, a southern California physician and President of the Board of Directors of KinderUSA, had just finished a fact-finding mission with the International Medical Corps, which was conducting a needs-assessment of medical services available to Palestinians in the West Bank. Dalell Mohamed, Executive Director of KinderUSA, had just arrived in Jerusalem to begin distribution of badly needed food, water and blankets to Palestinian refugees recently affected by Israeli attacks throughout the West Bank. These arrests are further evidence of continued egregious human rights violations by the Israeli government which denies the basic needs of the civilian Palestinian population by barring humanitarian aid under the guise of fighting terrorism. By harassing and arresting humanitarian aid workers, Israeli authorities are engaged in a chilling attempt to terrify and intimidate Americans and others to prevent them from providing relief to Palestinians living under occupation. As an American organization, we demand that the Government of the United States: * Order the immediate release of Dr. Abdel Karim and Ms. Mohamed from Israeli detention. * Obtain guarantees from the government of Israel for immediate and safe passage for humanitarian aid workers in the Occupied Territories in accordance with international law. * Demand transparency and accountability from Israeli authorities for the unlawful arrest of American citizens who must be entitled to unhindered access to legal representatives and American officials. KinderUSA is a non-profit, legally registered American organization dedicated to providing relief and development assistance to Palestinian children and their families, regardless of religious background. For more information, see our website at www.kinderusa.org KinderUSA, 264 Arapaho, Suite 711, Dallas, Texas 75248-4005 ----- IN MICHIGAN, ANTI-TERRORISM EFFORT GOES PUBLIC Haddad Case Forces Rare Glimpse of Secret U.S. Campaign By Dan Eggen and Kari Lydersen, The Washington Post, 5/6/02 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A37210-2002May5.html When three immigration agents knocked on his apartment door in Ann Arbor, Mich., in December, Rabih Haddad already had his attorney on the phone. Earlier on Dec. 14, federal agents raided the Illinois offices of the Global Relief Foundation, the Islamic charity that Haddad had helped found, freezing its assets and accusing it of funding terrorists. That afternoon, they took him into custody. Haddad, 41, has been in jail ever since. In court papers, U.S. officials have accused him of having contact with groups and individuals associated with the al Qaeda terrorist network. But they have not charged him with a terrorism-related crime, and they have declined to provide details of the allegations to him or to his legal team. They have held him on the comparatively minor charge of overstaying his visa. Haddad's attorneys and supporters, including Rep. John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.), say he is a gentle man, a Muslim who has worked to bring together people of different faiths. They say he is a victim of an overzealous Justice Department that has targeted innocent Arab and Muslim men since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Haddad's case is like those of hundreds of other post-Sept. 11 detainees, except in one important aspect: At least part of his fight is being waged in public. Last month, federal judges ordered that documents and hearing transcripts from Haddad's immigration case be made public. When the Justice Department reluctantly complied, Haddad's case became the first of the Sept. 11-related prosecutions to be unsealed... ------ CHRISTIANS SPEED EXODUS FROM BETHLEHEM By Doug Struck, The Washington Post, 5/6/02 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A37498-2002May5.html BETHLEHEM, West Bank, May 5 - Grace and Maher Handal met in the Church of the Nativity. They were married there. Their twins were christened there. They gave up an opportunity to move to the United States and stayed in Bethlehem, where the church is so central to their lives. But today, their Easter, they have had enough. With a ring of Israeli tanks keeping them out of the church compound, their livelihood lost to an Israeli military curfew and their children confined to their house for a month by the siege, they are desperate to leave the Holy Land. "I want to live a normal life, where my children are not afraid," said Grace Handal, 27. "Where shells don't go over our house and tanks don't come into our yard. My kids used to draw pictures of birds. Now they draw tanks..." Even before tonight's announcement of an agreement to end the standoff around the church, Christian leaders worried that the hardships of the past month would accelerate an exodus that has shrunk the last Christian enclaves in the places where Jesus is believed to have been born, preached and died... Bethlehem was once said to be 98 percent Christian. Now Christians are a minority in the Palestinian-ruled town, as well as in the Israeli city of Nazareth, and reduced to a few thousand in Jerusalem. The long Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories, with its economy-strangling curfews and border closures, and an underlying tension with Muslims, have all fed the outflow... Accurate census numbers do not exist, but in the early 1900s, Christians were thought to make up about 20 percent of the population of what is now Israel, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Now they are less than 2 percent, according to Charles Sennott, author of "The Body and the Blood," a book about Christian flight from the Holy Land. "It is indisputable that the Christian presence has dwindled dramatically," Sennott wrote... ----- ISRAEL, PATRIOTISM AND THE BIG WHAT NEXT By JON CARROLL, The San Francisco Chronicle, 5/6/02 http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2002/05/06/DD93586.DTL IT IS POSSIBLE to be a patriotic American and still be against the policies of the current government of Israel. I'm not sure that point gets made enough. Hell, it is possible to be a patriotic American and to be against the state of Israel as an idea. American interests are not Israeli interests. Israeli interests are not American interests. Two different countries. Allies, friends, whatever, but different. Likewise, it is possible to be Jewish and to be against the policies of the current government of Israel. The current government of Israel does not reflect the views of all Jews. Being against the policies of the current government of Israel does not make one an anti-Semite... ----- MUSLIMS IN LAW ENFORCEMENT FORM NEW GROUP By J.A. Brown, The Washington Times, 5/6/02 http://www.jrn.columbia.edu/cns/2002-04-10/367.asp A group of Muslim police and correction officers in New York has formed a group to improve relations between the community and police as the country continues to confront the impact of the terrorist attacks more than six months ago. Its founders want the group, the American Muslim Law Enforcement Officers Association, believed to be the first such national organization, to serve the double purpose of improving police effectiveness and reassuring the Muslim community. "We are a communication bridge," said Officer Adil Almontaser, 27, a Yemeni-American who grew up in Brooklyn and joined the New York Police Department five years ago. "We wanted to show the community we are here. We want them to realize it and feel proud. They don't have to feel afraid or feel intimidated." Although the organization, formed in December, has not begun formally recruiting yet, Almontaser and the five other founding members estimate there are around 200 Muslims working in law enforcement in New York and 4,000 nationwide -- as everything from FBI agents to correction officers... ----- EDITORIAL: LIBERTY VS. SECURITY The St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 5/6/02 http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/News/Editorial/D55859D2D7A0390586256BB100406A97 IN this country, we don't imprison people unless there is evidence they committed a crime. We don't hold detention hearings behind closed doors. We don't imprison people for crimes they might commit in the future. All these things are fundamental. Yet since Sept. 11, Attorney General John D. Ashcroft has used the federal material witness law in exactly those ways, locking up two dozen people. Last week, a federal judge in New York called Mr. Ashcroft's tactics "illegitimate..." But even if Mr. Ashcroft's use of the law was justified in the first confusing days after Sept. 11, it certainly has been abused since. Consider the case of Abdallah Higazy, an Egyptian-born student who was arrested as a material witness on Dec. 17 when he returned to a hotel near the World Trade Center to retrieve possessions left behind on Sept. 11. The FBI confronted him with a ground-to-air radio found at the hotel. After three weeks of detention, Mr. Higazy seemed to confess and was charged with interfering with an investigation. But a few days later, another hotel guest claimed the radio. The government released Mr. Higazy in prison garb and with a $3 subway fare. Compounding these abuses is the secrecy that has shrouded the use of the law. The Justice Department won't say how many people have been held as material witnesses. Nor are the court proceedings involving material witnesses open to the public. We all want to be safe, but in this country, we hold certain values fundamental. The Justice Department's tactics are fundamentally wrong. ----- SHOWDOWN WITH SHARON By Justin Raimondo, Antiwar.com http://www.antiwar.com/justin/justincol.html Who runs US foreign policy? We'll soon find out.... Who runs America's foreign policy? The answer to this vexing question seems to vary, depending on the day of the week - which could mean it has something to do with the position of the Moon. Some days, it's Colin Powell over at the State Department. Other times, control is ceded to the super-hawks in the Defense Department. And, on occasion, it seems no one is at the helm, with different factions of the government each enunciating their own foreign policy, giving the odd impression of an administration talking out of both sides of its mouth... The recent turn in US policy, away from unconditional support for the Sharon's policies, and toward a more even-handed position, is a gauntlet thrown in Sharon's path - and he did not hesitate to take up the challenge. A showdown is imminent. General Sharon has mustered his troops - especially the brigade stationed in Washington, D.C. - and I hope George W. Bush is prepared for the all-out assault, because it is going to be merciless... ----- 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, 202-489-5108 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 MPAC, CAIR & AMJ Call on U.S. Government to Protect Americans from Illegal Israeli Detentions Joint Action Alert: MPAC, CAIR and AMJ May 6, 2002 U.S. Government Must Protect Americans from Illegal Israeli Detentions ACTION: Call and Write Undersecretary of State William Burns, Congressman Christopher Cox, and Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson and urge that they put pressure on Israel to release innocent Americans from Israeli prisons and detention facilities. As members of Congress who represent Dr. Riad Abdelkarim and Dallel Mohamed, Representatives Cox and Johnson can and should weigh in to ensure that their constituents are not being abused by a foreign government. Please call their offices and urge them to do so. Undersecretary of State William Burns Phone: (202) 647-5150 E-mail: askpublicaffairs@state.gov 2201 C St. NW Rm 6242 Washington, DC 20520 Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX) (Dallel Mohamed's Congresswoman) Washington office: Phone: (202) 225-8885 Fax: (202) 226-1477 E-mail: rep.e.b.johnson@mail.house.gov 1511 Longworth House Office Building Washington, DC 20515-4330 Texas Office: Phone: (214) 922-8885 Fax: (214) 922-7028 2501 Cedar Springs Rd., # 550 Dallas, TX 75201 Congressman Christopher Cox (R-CA) (Riad Abdelkarim's Congressman) Washington Office: Phone: (202) 225-5611 Fax: (202) 225-9177 E-mail: christopher.cox@mail.house.gov 2402 Rayburn House Office Building Washington, D.C. 20515-0547 Main District Office: Phone: (949) 756-2244 Fax: (949) 251-9309 One Newport Place, # 420 Newport Beach, CA 92660 CC: President George Bush E-mail: president@whitehouse.gov Phone: (202) 456-1414 Fax: (202) 456-2461 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20500 Colin Powell, Secretary of State E-Mail: secretary@state.gov Phone: (202) 647-4000 Fax: (202) 261-8577 2201 C St NW Washington, DC 20520 Muslim Public Affairs Council Phone: (213) 383-3443 Fax: (213) 383-9674 Contact: Sarah Eltantawi E-mail: sarah@mpac.org Council of American Islamic Relations Contact: Ibrahim Hooper Phone: 202-488-8787 Fax: 202-488-0833 Email: cair@cair-net.org American Muslims for Jerusalem Phone: (202) 548-4200 Fax: (202) 548-4201 E-mail: amj@amjerusalem.org May 6, 2002 The Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC), the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) and American Muslims for Jerusalem (AMJ) are asking all American Muslims and people of conscience to take the time now to hold the U.S. Government accountable for the safety and security of American citizens. In a shocking assault on International standards protecting medical relief workers, Israeli authorities have detained without charge several high-profile Americans, sometimes in conditions of solitary confinement, for no reason other than their relief work and peaceful activism on behalf of besieged Palestinians. In a packed press conference today at the Muslim Public Affairs Council in Los Angeles, American Jewish activist Adam Shapiro, who made international headlines when his peace group in the West Bank spent several days in Yassir Arafat's compound, detailed human rights abuses he personally witnessed in the Jenin refugee camp. Shapiro also told the story of his fiancé, Huwaida Arraf, and a British activist, who are currently detained by the Israeli authorities outside Tel Aviv with no charges against them. According to Shapiro, when Ms. Arraf asked the Israeli authorities why several international citizens were being detained and dropped off in the middle of the night without identification or cellular phones (these were confiscated by the Israelis) on the outskirts of Jerusalem, she was met with a "hard slap". Shapiro, whose wedding was scheduled for later this month, has found the American consulate and embassy in Israel to be "slow to respond and not sufficiently following up on these cases." Executive Director of MPAC Salam Al-Marayati then detailed the breaking story of highly respected American Muslim activist Dr. Riad Abdelkarim of Orange County, CA, and Dallel Mohammed of Richardson, TX. Dr. Abdelkarim and Ms. Mohammed were detained this weekend at Ben Gurion Airport and have now been transferred to a prison on the outskirts of Tel Aviv. Abdelkarim was detained as he was returning to the United States after witnessing the devastation caused by Israeli forces in the Jenin refugee camp, details of which he reported extensively on the internet. According to a statement from Dr. Abdelkarim's family, "Riad has been denied access to an attorney, and he has not been allowed to contact his family. At this time, our family is shaken and frightened by this incident. Riad's four children are traumatized and are asking for their father. Again, we demand Riad's immediate release and request that U.S. government officials take steps to protect Riad as an American citizen who was born and bred in Santa Monica and the South Bay area." Americans must rise and demand that our government protect our citizens against Israel's illegal detentions, not only of Palestinians they imprison in a system of apartheid, but now against American citizens whose relief work on behalf of Palestinian orphans is not to their liking. Our government, particularly in the halls of Congress, must stop its shameful displays of blind support for any and all of Israel's excesses, including the assault and detention of innocent Americans. Enough is enough. Call the above governmental representatives now and urge them to demand the immediate release of these Americans and all Americans unlawfully detained by the State of Israel. ----- SEE ALSO: ISRAEL ARRESTS TWO AMERICANS ASSOCIATED WITH RELIEF GROUPS The Associated Press, 5/6/02 WASHINGTON - Israeli authorities have arrested two Americans affiliated with relief organizations, including a Muslim commentator who recently described by telephone and in e-mails the destruction he saw in Jenin, a supporter said Monday. Riad Abdelkarim, a physician from the Los Angeles area, was detained Sunday at Israel's Ben-Gurion International Airport while trying to return to the United States, said Khalid Turaani of the Washington-based American Muslims for Jerusalem. Israeli authorities called his wife in California on Sunday and urged her to hire an attorney, Turaani said. Abdelkarim, who has written opinion pieces on Muslim issues for major U.S. newspapers, serves on the board of American Muslims for Jerusalem and chairman of a new charity, Kinder-USA, organized to provide aid to Palestinian children. Abdelkarim also is the Western region communications director for the Washington-based Council on American-Islamic Relations. The other person arrested during the weekend was Dallal Muhammad of Dallas, Texas, Turaani said. Ms. Muhammad is president of the Kinder-USA organization, he said. The U.S. State Department could not confirm the arrests, an official said. But a U.S. diplomatic source, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed the arrests and said consular officials in Israel were being given proper access. Turaani said Abdelkarim was touring damaged areas in Jenin with International Medical Corps, a relief organization based in Los Angeles. Abdelkarim's family traces its history to a village near Ramallah, where Israeli troops kept Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat in isolation for weeks during their incursion into Palestinian areas… --- GROUP SEEKS RELEASE OF CALIF. MUSLIM HELD IN ISRAEL By Sarah Tippit, Reuters, 5/6/02 LOS ANGELES, May 6 (Reuters) - A California Islamic group said on Monday that a Muslim-American doctor has been jailed in Israel after conducting a fact-finding mission for a medical relief organization in the Palestinian Jenin refugee camp. The Southern California chapter of the Washington, D.C.-based Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) said that Dr. Riad Abdelkarim, who has a practice in Anaheim, California, about 30 miles (48 km) south of Los Angeles, was detained at Israel's Ben Gurion Airport over the weekend and later transferred to a Tel Aviv jail. CAIR said that his arrest allegedly occurred after he reported in an e-mail to relatives that he saw "death and destruction" in the West Bank camp that had been under siege by Israeli army troops seeking to root out alleged terrorist networks and suicide bombers. CAIR, which said it did not know what he had been charged with or why he was detained, asked U.S. officials to demand Abdelkarim's immediate release to "prevent the Israelis from torturing him." A CAIR official said later that U.S. diplomatic officials had told the group that he was in good condition. Abdelkarim was working for the Los Angeles-based International Medical Corps, a nonprofit organization that supports relief programs in strife-torn countries, including Angola, Burundi and Serbia, CAIR said. A Medical Corps spokesman confirmed that Abdelkarim worked with the group but had no other details. A medical colleague traveling with Abdelkarim was held and later released by Israeli authorities, CAIR said… A warning to U.S. citizens traveling in the West Bank posted on the U.S. State Department's Web site said that U.S. citizens arrested in Israel on alleged security offenses "may be prevented from communicating with lawyers, family members, or consular officers for lengthy periods. The U.S. Consulate General and the Embassy are often not notified of such arrests, or are not notified in a timely manner…" ----- 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, 202-489-5108 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 ----- AMERICAN MUSLIM NEWS BRIEFS - 5/7/2002 ----- HEADLINES: * HADITH OF THE DAY: A WAY OUT OF DISTRESS * THE LATEST CAIR ACTION ALERTS * PROTEST ARIEL SHARON'S VISIT TO THE WHITE HOUSE * EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY AT CAIR: CIVIL RIGHTS COORDINATOR * THE ISRAELI "ART STUDENT" MYSTERY (Salon.com) * CONGRESSMEN TELL FOREIGN GOVERMENT TO REBUFF PRESIDENT (Jerusalem Post) * HELP THE VICTIMS OF ETHNIC CARNAGE IN GUJARAT * MEDIA COVERAGE OF ISRAEL'S ARREST OF TWO AMERICAN RELIEF WORKERS - Israelis arrest two Americans associated with relief groups (AP) - Dallas woman arrested in Jerusalem hotel (Star-Telegram) - O.C. doctor held in Israel (Orange County Register) - US Muslim group claims Israel arrested American doctor (AFP) - Israel arrests 2 Americans (Dallas Morning News) - California doctor one of 3 Americans detained (City News Service) - Israeli Detention of 2 Americans Questioned (Los Angeles Times) * LETTERS: CIVIL LIBERTIES INCLUDE MUSLIMS (Patriot News) ----- HADITH OF THE DAY: A WAY OUT OF DISTRESS The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: "If anyone continually asks pardon, God will appoint for him a way out of every distress, and a relief from every anxiety, and will provide for him from where he did not reckon." Abu Dawood, Hadith 599 ----- FOR THE LATEST CAIR ACTION ALERTS, GO TO: http://capwiz.com/cair/home/ ----- PROTEST ARIEL SHARON'S VISIT TO THE WHITE HOUSE WHEN: Tuesday, May 7, 4-7 p.m. WHERE: Pennsylvania Avenue and 17th Street at the White House ----- EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY AT CAIR: CIVIL RIGHTS COORDINATOR CAIR has an immediate opening for an experienced, dynamic person to fill the position of CIVIL RIGHTS COORDINATOR. This position involves handling of civil rights cases, researching issues pertaining to civil and religious rights in America and maintaining a civil rights database system. The successful candidate should have a bachelor's degree in a related field, with general knowledge of the U.S. Constitution and the Civil Rights Act of 1964. He or she should be proficient in spreadsheet and database applications and must be able to communicate effectively, both verbally and in writing. Some travel is required in this position. Salary Range: Based on education, skills and experience CAIR offers an excellent health and dental benefit for its full time employees. All those interested and eligible to work in U.S. (Citizens or proper work visa holders) are encouraged to apply in confidence via email to: jsalaam@cair-net.org or by fax to 202-488-0833. When applying via email please ensure to write the position title "Civil Rights Coordinator" in the subject of the email. ----- THE ISRAELI "ART STUDENT" MYSTERY By Christopher Ketcham, Salon.com, 5/7/02 http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2002/05/07/students/index_np.html HIGHLIGHT: For almost two years, hundreds of young Israelis falsely claiming to be art students haunted federal offices -- in particular, the DEA. No one knows why -- and no one seems to want to find out. In January 2001, the security branch of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency began to receive a number of peculiar reports from DEA field offices across the country. According to the reports, young Israelis claiming to be art students and offering artwork for sale had been attempting to penetrate DEA offices for over a year. The Israelis had also attempted to penetrate the offices of other law enforcement and Department of Defense agencies. Strangest of all, the "students" had visited the homes of numerous DEA officers and other senior federal officials. As a pattern slowly emerged, the DEA appeared to have been targeted in what it called an "organized intelligence gathering activity." But to what end, and for whom, no one knew. Reports of the mysterious Israelis with an inexplicable interest in peddling art to G-men came in from more than 40 U.S. cities and continued throughout the first six months of 2001. Agents of the DEA, ATF, Air Force, Secret Service, FBI, and U.S. Marshals Service documented some 130 separate incidents of "art student" encounters. Some of the Israelis were observed diagramming the inside of federal buildings. Some were found carrying photographs they had taken of federal agents. One was discovered with a computer printout in his luggage that referred to "DEA groups." In some cases, the Israelis visited locations not known to the public -- areas without street addresses, for example, or DEA offices not identified as such -- leading authorities to suspect that information had been gathered from prior surveillance or perhaps electronically, from credit cards and other sources. One Israeli was discovered holding banking receipts for substantial sums of money, close to $180,000 in withdrawals and deposits over a two-month period. A number of the Israelis resided for a period of time in Hollywood, Fla. -- the small city where Mohammed Atta and three terrorist comrades lived for a time before Sept. 11... According to one account, some 140 Israeli nationals were detained or arrested between March 2001 and Sept. 11, 2001. Many of them were deported. According to the INS, the deportations resulted from violations of student visas that forbade the Israelis from working in the United States. (In fact, Salon has established that none of the Israelis were enrolled in the art school most of them claimed to be attending; the other college they claimed to be enrolled in does not exist.) After the Sept. 11 attacks, many more young Israelis -- 60, according to one AP dispatch and other reports -- were detained and deported. The "art students" followed a predictable modus operandi. They generally worked in teams, typically consisting of a driver, who was the team leader, and three or four subordinates. The driver would drop the "salespeople" off at a given location and return to pick them up some hours later. The "salespeople" entered offices or approached agents in their offices or homes. Sometimes they pitched their artwork -- landscapes, abstract works, homemade pins and other items they carried about in portfolios. At other times, they simply attempted to engage agents in conversation. If asked about their studies, they generally said they were from the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design in Jerusalem or the University of Jerusalem (which does not exist). They were described as "aggressive" in their sales pitch and "evasive" when questioned by wary agents. The females among them were invariably described as "very attractive" -- "blondes in tight shorts or jeans, real lookers," as one DEA agent put it to Salon. "They were flirty, flipping the hair, looking at you, smiling. 'Hey, how are you? Let me show you this.' Everything a woman would do if she wanted to get something out of you." Some agents noted that the "students" made repeated attempts to avoid facility security personnel by trying to enter federal buildings through back doors and side entrances. On several occasions, suspicious agents who had been visited at home observed the Israelis after the "students" departed and noted that they did not approach any of the neighbors... On the face of it, this was a blockbuster tale, albeit a bizarre and cryptic one, full of indeterminate leads and fascinating implications and ambiguous answers: "Like a good Clancy novel," as one observer put it. Was it espionage? Drug dealing? An intelligence game? The world's wackiest door-to-door hustle? Yet the mainstream media has almost entirely ignored the allegations or accepted official "explanations" that explain nothing. Even before the DEA memo was leaked, however, some reporters had begun sniffing around the remarkable story. On Oct. 1 of last year, Texas newswoman Anna Werner, of KHOU-TV in Houston, told viewers about a "curious pattern of behavior" by people with "Middle Eastern looks" claiming to be Israeli art students. "Government guards have found those so-called students," reported Werner, "trying to get into secure federal facilities in Houston in ways they're not supposed to -- through back doors and parking garages." Federal agents, she said, were extremely "concerned." The "students" had showed up at the DEA's Houston headquarters, at the Leland Federal Building in Houston, and even the federal prosecutor's office; they had also appeared to be monitoring the buildings. Guards at the Earle Cabell Federal Building in Dallas found one "student" wandering the halls with a floor plan of the site. Sources told Werner that similar incidents had occurred at sites in New York, Florida, and six other states, "and even more worrisome, at 36 sensitive Department of Defense sites..." Post-9/11, this should have been the opening thrust in an orgy of coverage, and the scoop of a lifetime for Werner: Here she'd gotten a glimpse into a possible espionage ring of massive proportions, possibly of terrorists scouting new targets for jihad -- and those terrorists were possibly posing as Israelis. KHOU's conclusions were wrong -- these weren't Arab terrorists -- but at the time no one knew better. And yet the story died on the vine. No one followed up. Just about the same time that KHOU was stabbing in the dark, reporter Carl Cameron of the Fox News Channel was beginning an investigation into the mystery of the art students that would ultimately light the way into altogether different terrain. In a four-part series on Fox's "Special Report With Brit Hume" that aired in mid-December, Cameron reported that federal agents were investigating the "art student" phenomenon as a possible arm of Israeli espionage operations tracking al-Qaida operatives in the United States. Yes, you read that right: a spy ring that may have been trailing al-Qaida members in the weeks and months before Sept. 11 -- a spy ring that according to Cameron's sources may have known about the preparations for the Sept. 11 attacks but failed to share this knowledge with U.S. intelligence. One investigator told Cameron that "evidence linking these Israelis to 9/11 is classified. I cannot tell you about evidence that has been gathered. It's classified information." According to Cameron, some 60 Israeli nationals had been detained in the anti-terrorism/immigrant sweeps in the weeks after Sept. 11, and at least 140 Israelis identified as "art students" had been detained or arrested in the prior months. Most of the 60 detained after Sept. 11 had been deported, Cameron said. "Some of the detainees," reported Cameron, "failed polygraph questions when asked about alleged surveillance activities against and in the United States." Some of them were on active military duty. (Military service is compulsory for all young Israelis.) Cameron was careful to note that there was "no indication that the Israelis were involved in the 9/11 attacks" and that while his reporting had dug up "explosive information," none of it was necessarily conclusive. Cameron was simply airing the wide-ranging speculations in an ongoing investigation... But inside the DEA, the Fox piece reverberated. An internal DEA communique obtained by Salon indicates that the DEA made careful note of Cameron's reports; the communique even mentions Fox News by name. Dated Dec. 18, four days after the final installment in the Fox series, the document warns of security breaches in DEA telecommunications by unauthorized "foreign nationals" -- and cites an Israeli-owned firm with which the DEA contracted for wiretap equipment -- breaches that could have accounted for the access that the "art students" apparently had to the home addresses of agents. It wasn't until nearly three months after the Fox reports that the "art student" enigma resurfaced in newsrooms, this time in Europe. On Feb. 28, the respected Paris-based espionage newsletter Intelligence Online reported in detail on what turned out to have been one of Cameron's key source documents: the 60-page DEA memo. The memo itself, which Salon obtained in mid-March, went no further than to speculate in the most general terms that the "nature of the individuals' conduct" suggested some sort of "organized intelligence gathering activity." The memo also pointed out that there was some evidence connecting the art students to a drug ring. "DEA Orlando has developed the first drug nexus to this group," the memo read. "Telephone numbers obtained from an Israeli Art Student encountered at the Orlando D.O. District Office have been linked to several ongoing DEA MDMA (Ecstasy) investigations in Florida, California, Texas and New York..." Six of the "students" were apparently carrying cell phones purchased by a former Israeli vice consul to the United States. According to Le Monde, two of the "students" had traveled from Hamburg to Miami to visit an FBI agent in his home, then boarded a flight to Chicago and visited the home of a Justice Dept. agent, then hopped a direct flight to Toronto -- all in one day. According to Intelligence Online, more than one-third of the students, who were spread out in 42 cities, lived in Florida, several in Hollywood and Fort Lauderdale, Fla. -- one-time home to at least 10 of the 19 Sept. 11 hijackers. In at least one case, the students lived just a stone's throw from homes and apartments where the Sept. 11 terrorists resided: In Hollywood, several students lived at 4220 Sheridan St., just down the block from the 3389 Sheridan St. apartment where terrorist mastermind Mohammed Atta holed up with three other Sept. 11 plotters. Many of the students, the DEA report noted, had backgrounds in Israeli military intelligence and/or electronics surveillance; one was the son of a two-star Israeli general, and another had served as a bodyguard to the head of the Israeli army... To someone not familiar with the 60-page DEA memo, or to reporters who didn't bother to obtain it, the fact that a disgruntled employee leaked a memo he wrote himself might seem like decisive proof that the whole "art student" tale was a canard. In reality, the nature of the memo makes its authorship irrelevant. The memo is a compilation of field reports by dozens of named agents and officials from DEA offices across America. It contains the names, passport numbers, addresses, and in some cases the military ID numbers of the Israelis who were questioned by federal authorities. Pointing a finger at the author is like blaming a bank robbery on the desk sergeant who took down the names of the robbers. Of course, the agent (or agents) who wrote the memo could also have fabricated or embellished the field reports. That does not seem to have been the case. Salon contacted more than a half-dozen agents identified in the memo. One agent said she had been visited six times at her home by "art students." None of the agents wished to be named, and very few were willing to speak at length, but all confirmed the veracity of the information. Despite such obvious holes in the official story, neither the Post nor any other mainstream media organization ran follow-up articles. The New York Times has not yet deemed it worth covering -- in fact, the paper of record has not written about the art student mystery even once, not even to pooh-pooh it. One or two minor media players did some braying -- Israel had been caught spying, etc. ' and the bonko conspiracy fringe had a field day, but the rest of the media, taking a cue from the big boys, decided it was a nonstarter: the Post's "debunking" and the Times' silence had effectively killed the story. So complete was the silence that by mid-March, Jane's Information Group, the respected British intelligence and military analysis service, noted: "It is rather strange that the U.S. media seems to be ignoring what may well be the most explosive story since the 11 September attacks -- the alleged break-up of a major Israeli espionage operation in the USA..." In the case of Israel, there are far stronger reasons to hide any unseemly cracks in the special relationship. The powerful pro-Israel political constituencies in Congress; pro-Israel lobbies; the Bush administration's strong support for Israel, and its strategic and political interest in maintaining close ties with the Jewish state as a partner in the "war against terror"; the devastating consequences for U.S.-Israeli relations if it was suspected that Israeli agents might have known about the Sept. 11 attack -- all these factors explain why the U.S. government might publicly downplay the art student story and conceal any investigation that produces unpalatable results. The pro-Israel lobby is a vast and powerful force in American politics; the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC, is the No. 1 foreign-policy lobby and the fourth most powerful lobby in Washington, according to Fortune Magazine. Michael Lind, a senior fellow of the New America Foundation and a former executive editor of the National Interest, calls the Israel lobby "an ethnic donor machine" that "distorts U.S. foreign policy" in the Middle East... Some of the same pressures that keep government officials from criticizing Israel may also explain why the media has failed to pursue the art student enigma. Media outlets that run stories even mildly critical of Israel often find themselves targeted by organized campaigns, including form-letter e-mails, the cancellation of subscriptions, and denunciations of the organization and its reporters and editors as anti-Semites... The extreme sensitivity of the Israeli art student story in government circles was made clear to this reporter when, in the midst of my inquiries at DEA and elsewhere, I was told by a source that some unknown party had checked my records and background. He proved it by mentioning a job I had briefly held many years ago that virtually no one outside my family knew about. Shortly after this, I received a call from an individual who identified himself only by the code name Stability. Stability said he was referred to me from "someone in Washington." That someone turned out to be a veteran D.C. correspondent who has close sources in the CIA and the FBI and who verified that Stability was a high-level intelligence agent who had been following the art student matter from the inside. Stability was guarded in his initial conversation with me. He said that people in the intelligence committee were suspicious about my bona fides and raised the possibility that someone was "using" me. "Your name is known and has been known for quite a while," Stability said. "The problem is that you're going into a hornet's nest with this. It's a very difficult time in this particular area. This is a scenario where a lot of people are living a bunker mentality." He added, "There are a lot of people under a lot of pressure right now because there's a great effort to discredit the story, discredit the connections, prevent people from going any further in investigating the matter. There are some very, very smart people who have taken a lot of heat on this -- have gone to what I would consider extraordinary risks to reach out. Quite frankly, there are a lot of patriots out there who'd like to remain alive. Typically, patriots are dead..." "I will tell you that there is still great debate over what the art students' specific purposes were and are," Stability went on. "When you take an individual who picks up a group of individuals from an airport, individuals who supposedly have no idea what they're doing in-country, who fly on over from a foreign land, whose airline tickets could in some instances total a value greater than $15,000 -- and who get picked up at the airport and drive specifically to one individual's home, which they know the exact directions to: Yeah, you could say there's a problem here. You don't need to be a rocket scientist to understand that. The overarching item is that a lot of work went into going to people's houses to sell them junk from China in plastic frames..." So let's draw out the chaff ourselves and see if we can at least speculate. In intel circles, there are a number of working theories, according to Stability. "Profiling of federal agents is one," said Stability. "Keeping tabs on other people, other foreign nationals, is another. A third is that they were working for organized crime -- that's an easy one, and it almost sounds more like a cover than a reality. The predominant thought is that it was a profiling endeavour, and from a profiling aspect, also one of intimidation..." That's where you enter truly dark territory: Theory No. 3, the Art Student as Agent as Art Student Smoke Screen. It has major problems, but let's roll with it for a moment. This theory contends that the art student ring was a smoke screen intended to create confusion and allow actual spies -- who were also posing as art students -- to be lumped together with the rest and escape detection. In other words, the operation is an elaborate double fake-out, a hiding-in-plain-sight scam. Whoever dreamed it up thought ahead to the endgame and knew that the DEA-stakeout aspect was so bizarre that it would throw off American intelligence. According to this theory -- Stability's "Victor/Victoria" scenario -- Israeli agents wanted, let's say, to monitor al-Qaida members in Florida and other states. But they feared detection. So to provide cover, and also to create a dizzyingly Byzantine story that would confuse the situation, Israeli intel flooded areas of real operations with these bumbling "art students" -- who were told to deliberately stake out DEA agents... What about the crucial Washington Post article, in which anonymous federal agents alleged the DEA memo was the work of a disgruntled employee? "The Washington Post article was a plant -- that's obvious. The story was killed," Stability told me. Who planted the story? Stability claimed the FBI was behind it. "Every organization is running scared," Stability added, "because they're afraid of the next shoe to drop. There are many smoking guns out there, many. So consequently every one is at a level of heightened anxiety, and when they're anxious they make mistakes..." ----- CONGRESSMEN TELL FOREIGN GOVERMENT TO REBUFF PRESIDENT Visiting congressmen advise Israel to resist US administration pressure By Arie O'sullivan, The Jerusalem Post, 5/6/02 http://www.jpost.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=JPost/A/JPArticle/Full&cid=1020337092750 A visiting delegation of US congressmen believes that Prime Minister Ariel Sharon should rebuff attempts by the Bush administration for him to deal with Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat. "Yasser Arafat is a terrorist. He is a leader of the terrorists. As a matter of fact he is a motivator of terrorism," said Jim Saxton (R-NJ). "If I were in [Sharon's] position, I would find someone else to talk to." Another member of the bipartisan team, Joe Hoeffel (D-PA) said America needed to seek another leader of the Palestinian people. "It is time for the United States to indicate that it would look for a different leadership in the Pales-tinian Authority and that we would welcome a leadership of the PA that would recognize Israel's fundamental right to exist as a Jewish state," Hoeffel said... A member of the House Appropriations Committee and the Foreign Operation Sub-Committee which deals with foreign aid for Israel, Kingston said very many Americans don't understand how badly the Palestinians are violating the Oslo Accords. Hoeffel, who is a member of the House International Relations Committee, said seeing the weapons made him feel as if Israel was engaged in a "second war of independence." "There should be no Yasser Arafat exception to that zero tolerance to terrorism rule," he said. The four congressmen embarked to Israel after successfully working to push through a resolution pushing through a strongly worded resolution of solidarity for the Israeli government in Congress by a vote of 352-21 with 29 abstentions. Hoeffel said that when he got back to Washington he would seek out those 21 representatives who voted against the resolution, tell them about what he saw here, and try to win them over. Saxton displayed a copy of the resolution to reporters which he said they wanted to "hand deliver" to the Israeli people. ACTION REQUESTED: (As always, be POLITE.) Contact these elected representatives to let them know it is inappropriate to challenge the policies of their own president while on a taxpayer-funded junket to "pledge allegiance" to a foreign government. The jet that carried the four representatives to the Middle East cost $3,100 per hour. SEE: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A37400-2002May5.html CONTACT: (Calls are most effective.) Rep. Peter Deutsch (D-FL) 2421 Rayburn House Office Building Washington, D.C. 20515-0920 Phone: (202) 225-7931 Fax: (202) 225-8456 Main District Office: Phone: (954) 437-3936 Fax: (954) 437-4776 E-mail: fl20townhall@mail.house.gov Copy to: cair@cair-net.org Web Site: www.house.gov/deutsch -- Rep. Jack Kingston (R-PA) 1034 Longworth House Office Building Washington, D.C. 20515-1001 Phone: (202) 225-5831 Fax: (202) 226-2269 Main District Office: Phone: (912) 352-0101 Fax: (912) 352-0105 E-mail: jack.kingston@mail.house.gov Copy to: cair@cair-net.org Web Site: www.house.gov/kingston -- Rep. Joseph M. Hoeffel III (D-PA) 1229 Longworth House Office Building Washington, D.C. 20515-3813 Phone: (202) 225-6111 Fax: (202) 226-0611 Main District Office: Phone: (610) 272-8400 Fax: (610) 272-8532 Web Site: www.house.gov/hoeffel E-mail: http://www.house.gov/hoeffel/letstalk.htm Copy to: cair@cair-net.org -- Rep. Jim Saxton (R-PA) 339 Cannon House Office Building Washington, D.C. 20515-3003 Phone: (202) 225-4765 Fax: (202) 225-0778 Main District Office: Phone: (609) 261-5800 Fax: (609) 261-1275 Web Site: www.house.gov/saxton E-mail: jim.saxton@mail.house.gov Copy to: cair@cair-net.org ----- HELP THE VICTIMS OF ETHNIC CARNAGE IN GUJARAT The Association of Indian Muslims of America Earnestly requests you to join this noble cause. Fund-raising dinner & Awareness program By Northern Virginia families WHEN: Saturday, May 18 2002, at 7 PM WHERE: Sterling Community Center (Near Sterling DMV & First Virginia Bank), 120 Enterprise St, Sterling, VA 20164. Speaker: Dr. Islam Siddiqui (Former Deputy Secretary, USDA) Please attend the dinner, see glimpses of tragic events, meet family members of martyred Ehsan Jaffrey; former member of Parliament/equivalent to US Congressman - mercilessly burned alive with hundreds of others. For further information, please go to: http://www.geocities.com/peaceandharmonyinworld Directions From Beltway I-495: Take Exit 47 A for Leesburg Pike (Rt. 7 West) for Tyson's Corner. Drive 10-12 miles turn left on Sterling Blvd (Rt. 846). Turn left on 3rd traffic light Holly Ave. Turn right on Commerce St. Turn left on Enterprise St. and enter into Sterling Community Center. From Fairfax County Parkway: Take exit for Leesburg Pike (Rt. 7 West). Turn left on 4th traffic light on Sterling Blvd (Rt. 846). Turn left on 3rd traffic light on Holly Ave. Turn right on Commerce St. Turn left on Enterprise St. and look for Sterling Community Center. ----- MEDIA COVERAGE OF ISRAEL'S ARREST OF TWO AMERICAN RELIEF WORKERS Israelis arrest two Americans associated with relief groups By CHRISTOPHER NEWTON, The Associated Press, 5/7/02 WASHINGTON (AP) - Israeli authorities have arrested two American citizens affiliated with relief organizations, including a Muslim commentator who recently described by telephone and in e-mails the destruction he saw in Jenin, a supporter said. Riad Abdelkarim, a physician from the Los Angeles area, was detained Sunday at Israel's Ben-Gurion International Airport while trying to return to the United States, said Khalid Turaani of the Washington-based American Muslims for Jerusalem. The other person arrested during the weekend was Dallal Muhammad of Dallas, Texas, Turaani said Monday. Muhammad is president of a new charity, Kinder-USA, organized to provide aid to Palestinian children, he said. Abdelkarim's family released a statement calling for his release. He has a wife and four children living in Orange, Calif. "The past 36 hours have been an extremely difficult time for our family," the statement said. "Our greatest fear right now is for Riad's safety, given Israel's acknowledged policy of using 'physical pressure' in questioning suspects, including American citizens. We urge U.S. government officials and human rights organizations to actively become engaged in this case in securing Riad's safe and immediate release." Abdelkarim, who has written opinion pieces on Muslim issues for major U.S. newspapers, serves on the board of American Muslims for Jerusalem and is chairman of Kinder-USA. He also is the Western region communications director for the Washington-based Council on American-Islamic Relations. The U.S. State Department could not confirm the arrests, an official said. But a U.S. diplomatic source, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed the arrests and said consular officials in Israel were being given proper access. Turaani said Abdelkarim was touring damaged areas in Jenin with International Medical Corps, a relief organization based in Los Angeles. Abdelkarim's family traces its history to a village near Ramallah, where Israeli troops kept Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat in isolation for weeks... --- Dallas woman arrested in Jerusalem hotel By BILL MILLER, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 5/7/02 http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/news/world/3212144.htm DALLAS - A Dallas woman who has been affiliated with Palestinian relief efforts in the United States was arrested Sunday by Israeli authorities. Dalal Mohammed, a former fund-raiser and spokeswoman for the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development, was arrested in her Jerusalem hotel room, according to a supporter. Khalid Turaani of the Washington-based American Muslims for Jerusalem said Mohammed was being held at an Israeli prison, but the reasons for her arrest were unclear on Monday. Turaani said Mohammed was in Israel on behalf of a new charity, Kinder-USA, based in Richardson and organized three months ago to provide aid to Palestinian children . He said the group's founder, Riad Abdelkarim, was also detained Sunday at Israel's Ben-Gurion International Airport while trying to return to the United States... "I am really concerned for both of them," Turaani said. "I think the American State Department should intervene immediately. The fact that Dalal is an American citizen won't stop her from facing abuse..." --- O.C. doctor held in Israel By VIK JOLLY, ANN PEPPER and BILL RAMS, The Orange County Register, 5/7/02 http://www.ocregister.com/news/arrest00507cci4.shtml Israeli officials are detaining a doctor from north Orange County who Islamic advocacy groups say had just concluded a fact-finding mission at the Jenin refugee camp attacked by Israeli forces in April. Riad Abdelkarim, 34, had completed work for a physicians' group and his own relief agency, Kinder USA, when he was picked up Sunday at Israel's Ben Gurion Airport, the Council on American Islamic Relations and the Muslim Public Affairs Council announced Monday... --- US Muslim group claims Israel arrested American doctor on humanitarian trip Agence France Presse, 5/7/02 A leading US Muslim group on Monday claimed that Israel was illegally detaining an American doctor who had gone to help Palestinian victims of violence in the decimated Jenin refugee camp. The Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC) said doctor and activist Dr. Riad Abdelkarim, who lives near Los Angeles, and at least one other American had been picked up at Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion airport as they tried to leave Israel. He was detained as he was returning to the United States "after witnessing the devastation caused by Israeli forces in the Jenin refugee camp, details of which he reported extensively on the Internet," MPAC said in a statement. "In a shocking assault on International standards protecting medical relief workers, Israeli authorities have detained without charge several high-profile Americans," it added. Such prisoners were sometimes being held "in conditions of solitary confinement, for no reason other than their relief work and peaceful activism on behalf of besieged Palestinians," the statement continued. MPAC, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) and American Muslims for Jerusalem (AMJ) denounced the alleged illegal detentions of US citizens by Israel and called on the US government to work to protect them. The Muslim group quoted the doctor's family as saying that he had been illegally detained and denied basic civil rights. "Riad has been denied access to an attorney, and he has not been allowed to contact his family," a statement from the family issued by MPAC said. --- Israel arrests 2 Americans with past ties to area group Supporters say they are worried about torture and isolation By MICHELLE MITTELSTADT, The Dallas Morning News, 5/7/02 http://www.dallasnews.com/latestnews/stories/050702dnnatdetain.2ebc.html WASHINGTON - Two Americans associated with a Dallas-area relief organization recently established to help Palestinian children were arrested in Israel over the weekend, supporters said Monday. KinderUSA's executive director and the president of the board of directors were separately detained in Jerusalem on Sunday, the Council on American-Islamic Relations and others said... "Our primary concern at this early stage is that they both face torture. The Israelis have a long and well-documented history of torture and abuse," said Ibrahim Hooper, a council spokesman... Dr. Abdelkarim, whose account of the devastation caused by the Israeli occupation of Jenin has circulated on the Internet, was detained at the airport while trying to return to the United States, said Nidal Ibrahim, a family friend. Ms. Mohmed, who had arrived in Jerusalem last week and had not made her way to the West Bank, was arrested in her hotel room, human-rights lawyer Lea Tsemel said in Jerusalem... --- California doctor one of 3 Americans detained by Israel City News Service, 5/6/02 A Southland Islamic group said today that a Santa Monica-born Palestinian-American physician was arrested by Israeli authorities over the weekend after making a fact-finding visit to the Jenin refugee camp. The Southern California chapter of the Washington, D.C.-based Council on American-Islamic Relations said that Dr. Riad Abdelkarim, who practices in Anaheim, was detained at Ben Gurion Airport and later transferred to a prison in Tel Aviv. The State Department is looking into the matter. "We heard (Abdelkarim) has been detained and we're checking into gaining access to him," Kelly Shannon of the Bureau on Consular Affairs said in a telephone interview from Washington, D.C. There was no immediate comment from Israeli authorities. The Council on American-Islamic Relations said in a statement that it is calling on U.S. officials to demand Abdelkarim's immediate release and "prevent the Israelis from torturing him." --- Israeli Detention of 2 Americans Questioned By GREG KRIKORIAN, The Los Angeles Times, 5/7/02 http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-000032382may07.story Two Arab Americans were detained by Israeli authorities over the weekend for unspecified reasons after visiting refugee camps in the West Bank, government officials and associates of the pair said Monday. Although a spokeswoman for the Israeli Foreign Ministry said she could not confirm the detentions, U.S. government officials and others said Dr. Riad Abdelkarim, an Anaheim physician, was taken into custody Saturday at Ben Gurion Airport as he attempted to board a plane heading home. Dalell Mohmed, director of the Dallas-based charity KinderUSA--founded by Abdelkarim--was detained on Sunday morning at her hotel in Jerusalem, according to interviews. Both Abdelkarim, a Santa Monica-born Palestinian American, and Mohmed, a second-generation Lebanese American, went to Israel as part of separate humanitarian aid efforts, family members and others said... "There is a pattern of Israel blocking humanitarian aid to the Palestinians. They did so during the siege, and now they are hampering the efforts of Americans to provide aid," said Khalid Turaani, executive director of the Washington-based advocacy group American Muslims for Jerusalem... In addition to maintaining a medical practice, Abdelkarim is an author and lecturer who has long been openly critical of both terrorism and America's "one-sided" support of Israel. He is in the Middle East, according to family members and associates, as part of a fact-finding effort by the Los Angeles-based International Medical Corps, a nonprofit organization founded in 1984 by volunteer doctors and nurses in the U.S. The trip was one of many that Abdelkarim, a married father of four, has made to the region in recent years--a fact that made his current detention all the more baffling for friends and family... ACTION REQUESTED: Call and Write Undersecretary of State William Burns, Congressman Christopher Cox, and Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson and urge that they put pressure on Israel to release innocent Americans from Israeli prisons and detention facilities. As members of Congress who represent Dr. Riad Abdelkarim and Dallel Mohamed, Representatives Cox and Johnson can and should weigh in to ensure that their constituents are not being abused by a foreign government. Please call their offices and urge them to do so. Undersecretary of State William Burns Phone: (202) 647-5150 E-mail: askpublicaffairs@state.gov 2201 C St. NW Rm 6242 Washington, DC 20520 Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX) (Dallel Mohamed's Congresswoman) Washington office: Phone: (202) 225-8885 Fax: (202) 226-1477 E-mail: rep.e.b.johnson@mail.house.gov 1511 Longworth House Office Building Washington, DC 20515-4330 Texas Office: Phone: (214) 922-8885 Fax: (214) 922-7028 2501 Cedar Springs Rd., # 550 Dallas, TX 75201 Congressman Christopher Cox (R-CA) (Riad Abdelkarim's Congressman) Washington Office: Phone: (202) 225-5611 Fax: (202) 225-9177 E-mail: christopher.cox@mail.house.gov 2402 Rayburn House Office Building Washington, D.C. 20515-0547 Main District Office: Phone: (949) 756-2244 Fax: (949) 251-9309 One Newport Place, # 420 Newport Beach, CA 92660 CC: President George Bush E-mail: president@whitehouse.gov Phone: (202) 456-1414 Fax: (202) 456-2461 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20500 Colin Powell, Secretary of State E-Mail: secretary@state.gov Phone: (202) 647-4000 Fax: (202) 261-8577 2201 C St NW Washington, DC 20520 Muslim Public Affairs Council Phone: (213) 383-3443 Fax: (213) 383-9674 Contact: Sarah Eltantawi E-mail: sarah@mpac.org Council of American Islamic Relations Contact: Ibrahim Hooper Phone: 202-488-8787 Fax: 202-488-0833 Email: cair@cair-net.org American Muslims for Jerusalem Phone: (202) 548-4200 Fax: (202) 548-4201 E-mail: amj@amjerusalem.org ----- LETTERS: CIVIL LIBERTIES INCLUDE MUSLIMS By PARVEZ AHMED, The Patriot News (PA), 5/7/02 Parvez Ahmed is Chairman, Central Pennsylvania Chapter of Council on America-Islamic Relations A recently released report by the Council on American-Islamic Relations indicates that anti-Muslim incidents are at all-time highs, increasing nearly three folds over previous years. The vast majority of these incidents came after 9-11. Part of the backlash is understandable. Hate-mongers will use the flimsiest of excuses to violate the civil liberties of others. SEE: STEREOTYPES AND CIVIL LIBERTIES http://www.cair-net.org/civilrights2002/ The majority of these incidents follow callous statements from several public figures. The insensitive public statements have ranged from calculated misinformation to suggesting genocide. For example, Franklin Graham, stood by remarks in which he falsely claimed: "The God of Islam is not the same God. ... I believe it (Islam) is a very evil and wicked religion." Syndicated columnist Ann Coulter called for the "mass deportation of Muslims." Many including our local congressmen sadly argue in favor of racial profiling to ensure security. However, most responsible law enforcement experts suggest that race is an inaccurate indicator of crime or terrorism. When we stand up for someone else's rights we become the defenders of human rights. The illusion of security is not worth anything if built on the silent graves of trampled civil liberties. ----- 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 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 ----- AMERICAN MUSLIM NEWS BRIEFS - 5/8/2002 ----- HEADLINES: * HADITH OF THE DAY: GUIDELINES FOR LIFE * THE LATEST CAIR ACTION ALERTS * ONLINE REGISTRATION NOW AVAILABLE FOR JUNE 1ST CAIR-LA LEADERSHIP TRAINING CONFERENCE * MEDIA COVERAGE OF DR. RIAD ABDELKARIM'S DETENTION - Anaheim Doctor Still Held in Israel (Los Angeles Times) - Israelis Arrest Californian Associated With Relief Groups (AP) - California Doctor Arrested in Israel (Orange County Register) * SOMEONE EVEN MANAGED TO DEFECATE INTO THE PHOTOCOPIER (Ha'aretz) * BUSINESSES IN SAUDI ARABIA FEEL PINCH OF "BOYCOTT US" CAMPAIGN (AFP) * CANADIAN SOLDIERS MIMIC U.S. MOCKING OF ENEMY DEAD BODIES (Edmonton Journal) * 'MUSLIMS': A CLEAR PICTURE OF ISLAM (Los Angeles Times) - 'Muslims' on Frontline, May 9 (PBS) * THERE IS A SOLUTION TO THIS FILTHY WAR - FOREIGN OCCUPATION (Independent) ----- HADITH OF THE DAY: GUIDELINES FOR LIFE The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said, "God has forbidden you to be undutiful to your mothers, to withhold (what you should give), or demand (what you do not deserve), and to bury your daughters alive [a pre-Islamic practice]. And God has disliked that you talk too much about others, ask too many questions or waste your property." Sahih Al-Bukhari, Volume 8, Hadith 6 ----- FOR THE LATEST CAIR ACTION ALERTS, GO TO: http://capwiz.com/cair/home/ ----- ONLINE REGISTRATION NOW AVAILABLE FOR JUNE 1ST CAIR-LA LEADERSHIP TRAINING CONFERENCE Online registration is now available for the day-long CAIR Southern California Leadership Training Conference at www.cair-california.org. WHEN: June 1, 2002, 8:00 a.m. WHERE: Sequoia Conference Center, 7530 Orangethorpe Avenue, Buena Park, CA 90621 ----- MEDIA COVERAGE OF DR. RIAD ABDELKARIM'S DETENTION ANAHEIM DOCTOR STILL HELD IN ISRAEL By TERESA WATANABE and GREG KRIKORIAN, Los Angeles Times, 5/8/02 http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-000032602may08.story Israeli officials confirmed Tuesday that an American Muslim physician from Anaheim has been arrested in Tel Aviv on suspicion of involvement with terrorist activities. David Douek of the Israel Consulate in Los Angeles could provide no details on the arrest Sunday of Riad Abdelkarim, an Anaheim physician who associates said had traveled to the Palestinian territories for medical relief work. Also detained over the weekend on suspicion of terrorism was Dalell Mohmed, director of KinderUSA, a Dallas-based charity for Palestinian children... Family members of the two detainees expressed disbelief that their relatives would be involved in terrorism, fear for their safety and outrage over what they called Israeli harassment of medical relief workers. "These are ridiculous allegations," said Abdelkarim's brother Basil, a Bellflower physician. "There is no evidence to support these claims." In Dallas, Mohmed's older sister, Alice El-Jundi, said Tuesday that she was appalled by the charges. She said her sister is a humanitarian aid worker who has delivered wheelchairs to orphans throughout the Mideast and other relief to Bosnia and elsewhere. "If she was involved in terrorism, why would she go back there on a mission of aid? Why would she stay there? She's not an idiot," El-Jundi said. Some details of the detentions were provided Tuesday by Rushdie Abdel Cader, a San Luis Obispo physician who traveled with Abdelkarim to assess the medical needs in the Palestinian territories at the invitation of the International Medical Corps, a Los Angeles-based global humanitarian organization. Cader said that he was also detained at Ben Gurion Airport with Abdelkarim but was released 16 hours later after an interrogation. Cader said Israeli security officials would not allow him to sleep during the ordeal and constantly called him a liar when he answered questions such as where he had traveled and whether he had brought money into the Palestinian territories. Cader said he told officials that he had distributed between $2,000 and $3,000 to needy Palestinians in Jenin and elsewhere, money collected from his American neighbors, and was told such acts were illegal... "They said: 'We don't care if you're an American, and we don't care what Americans think,'" Cader said. "There is no due process over there. It's really scary..." ----- ISRAELIS ARREST CALIFORNIAN ASSOCIATED WITH RELIEF GROUPS By CHRISTOPHER NEWTON, Associated Press, 5/8/02 Israeli officials confirmed Tuesday that an Orange County physician has been arrested in Tel Aviv on suspicion of involvement in terrorist activity, a charge his relatives called ridiculous. David Douek of the Israeli Consulate in Los Angeles said he could offer no details about why Dr. Riad Abdelkarim and another American citizen were arrested over the weekend. Both are affiliated with relief organizations. Abdelkarim, who was trying to return to the United States when he was detained, was arrested Sunday at Israel's Ben-Gurion International Airport. The Santa Monica-born doctor is a Muslim commentator who recently described by telephone and in e-mails the destruction he saw in the Jenin refugee camp, said Khalid Turaani of the Washington-based American Muslims for Jerusalem. Abdelkarim is a member of the board of that group and the chairman of a new charity, Kinder-USA, organized to provide aid to Palestinian children. Relatives of Abdelkarim and the other detainee, Dalell Mohmed of Dallas, the president of Kinder-USA, strongly denied any links to terrorism Tuesday. "Unless it is a crime to aid impoverished people, my brother has not committed a crime," said Abdelkarim's brother, Dr. Basim Abdelkarim. In Dallas, Alice El-Jundi said Mohmed, her younger sister, is a humanitarian aid worker who has delivered wheelchairs to orphans throughout the Mideast. "If she was involved in terrorism, why would she go back there on a mission of aid? Why would she stay there? She's not an idiot," El-Jundi said. Rushdie Abdel Cader, a San Luis Obispo physician, had been traveling with Abdelkarim and was also detained, but was released 16 hours later after an interrogation. Cader said he and Abdelkarim were assessing medical needs in the Palestinian territories at the invitation of the International Medical Corps, a Los Angeles-based global humanitarian organization... ----- CALIFORNIA DOCTOR ARRESTED IN ISRAEL CHARGED WITH TERRORIST INVOLVEMENT By Vik Jolly and Ann Pepper, The Orange County Register, 5/8/02 http://www.ocregister.com/news/arrest00508cci2.shtml SANTA ANA, Calif. _ A California doctor detained by Israel has been charged with involvement with terrorist acts, an Israeli official said Tuesday. Riad Abdelkarim, 34, of Orange, Calif., was detained Sunday at Ben Gurion Airport as he was leaving the region. David Douek, spokesman for the Israeli consulate general in Los Angeles, said he did not know the evidence against Abdelkarim, a physician at Anaheim's Kaiser Permanente. "It could be either that he was engaged in terrorism or has helped to support terrorism," Douek said... Family members said Abdelkarim's attorney _ a high profile Israeli human rights lawyer _ was not allowed to see him Monday. The Santa Monica, Calif.-born doctor has been in the region for nearly two weeks, visiting relatives and touring the Jenin refugee camp where Israeli forces killed at least 52 people in an anti-terrorist offensive last month. He is a father of four, and frequent commentator on Middle East issues in major U.S. newspapers. Abdelkarim was on a fact-finding mission for the International Medical Corps and relief group KinderUSA. He is also a member of the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development, cited by President Bush as a front for terrorism. "Unless it is a crime to aid impoverished people, my brother has not committed a crime," said Dr. Basim Abdelkarim. "Where is the evidence?" said Dr. Basil Abdelkarim, also one of Riad Abdelkarim's brothers, when he heard of the charges. "Why after 72 hours are they throwing out an allegation like this?" Abdelkarim's extended family has rallied to help him as have doctors from across Southern California, some of whom are attempting to work out ways to assist his patients. Some patients also have called asking if they can help. "He's a nice guy," said Anaheim resident Dan Pack, 51. "He'd talk sometimes about going to Palestine. He'd say that he was afraid. That he was afraid of the danger. Then he decided to go... Israelis also detained two other Americans, KinderUSA director Dalell Mohmed of Dallas, Texas, and Dr. Rushdi Cader of San Luis Obispo, Calif. Cader was released after 16 hours. Mohmed is being held. Mohmed's sister, Alice El-Jundi, also of Dallas, said Tuesday that the U.S. State Department told her Israeli authorities were checking if Mohmed was involved with terrorist activity... Abdelkarim and Mohmed's Holy Land Foundation work is an excuse for their detention, said Salaam Al-Marayati, director of the Muslim Public Affairs Council. "This is a violation of human rights," Al-Marayati said. "If any other country did that to any other American, if Pakistan did that to any other American, we'd be outraged. We're demanding that the administration do more to pressure for the immediate release of these individuals." Al-Marayati said MPAC on Wednesday would ask U.S. Rep. Christopher Cox, R-Calif., to demand Abdelkarim's release. Cox is one of several lawmakers Abdelkarim's family has asked to intercede... ----- SOMEONE EVEN MANAGED TO DEFECATE INTO THE PHOTOCOPIER By Amira Hass, Ha'aretz Daily, 5/8/02 http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=159923&contrassID=2&subContrassID=5&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y No one deluded himself that the Palestinian Ministry of Culture, which takes up five of the eight floors of a new building in the center of El Bireh, would be spared the fate of other Palestinian Authority offices in Ramallah and other cities - that is, the nearly total destruction of its contents and particularly its high-tech equipment. ...In other offices, all the high-tech and electronic equipment had been wrecked or had vanished - computers, photocopiers, cameras, scanners, hard disks, editing equipment worth thousands of dollars, television sets. The broadcast antenna on top of the building was destroyed. Telephone sets vanished. A collection of Palestinian art objects (mostly hand embroideries) disappeared. Perhaps it was buried under the piles of documents and furniture, perhaps it had been spirited away. Furniture was dragged from place to place, broken by soldiers, piled up. Gas stoves for heating were overturned and thrown on heaps of scattered papers, discarded books, broken diskettes and discs and smashed windowpanes. In the department for the encouragement of children's art, the soldiers had dirtied all the walls with gouache paints they found there and destroyed the children's paintings that hung there. In every room of the various departments - literature, film, culture for children and youth books, discs, pamphlets and documents were piled up, soiled with urine and excrement. There are two toilets on every floor, but the soldiers urinated and defecated everywhere else in the building, in several rooms of which they had lived for about a month. They did their business on the floors, in emptied flowerpots, even in drawers they had pulled out of desks... ----- BUSINESSES IN SAUDI ARABIA FEEL PINCH OF "BOYCOTT US" CAMPAIGN By OMAR HASAN, Agence France Presse, 5/8/02 A grass-roots campaign to boycott US products in Saudi Arabia has already taken its toll on many local businesses, with sales dropping drastically, executives and activists said Wednesday. The campaign, a protest against perceived US support for Israel, is being conducted from mosques, schools and universities, and through newspapers, the Internet and mobile phone text messages urging consumers to shun products originating from the United States. The Saudi "boycott US" drive mirrors a similar campaign which gathered momentum in several parts of the Arab world at the peak of Israel's invasion of Palestinian lands that began on March 29. Imams at Saudi mosques have been delivering fiery sermons urging worshippers to drop US consumer goods in favor of other products, ruling that supporting the US economy amounts to killing Palestinians and other Muslims under attack. Young Saudi boys stand in front of major shopping malls to distribute flyers and leaflets containing a long list of brand names that must be boycotted "in support of our Palestinian brothers." "I have never seen such an organized anti-US campaign in the kingdom. It looks as if everyone is involved, from school students to religious clerics," a Saudi businessman told AFP. "Two days ago, a carefully-prepared 20-page file was thrown into my house, containing all the information about US products that we should stop buying. They are organized," the businessman added... ----- CANADIAN SOLDIERS MIMIC U.S. MOCKING OF ENEMY DEAD BODIES By Mark Spector, Edmonton Journal, 5/8/02 http://www.canada.com/edmonton/edmontonjournal/ The American military is setting a bad example that Canadian soldiers are following in their treatment of Afghan prisoners of war, a University of Alberta expert in international law said Tuesday. "Go through history. Look at the knights of the 12th, 13th, 14th centuries," Leslie Green recounted at an Amnesty International event in his address entitled "What Is a Prisoner of War?" "Yes, they killed each other, but they paid (the dead) due respect. And when they found the corpse of a soldier, they buried it with military honour. "They did not put a cigarette in his mouth and a discourteous label on his stomach. Nor did they photograph him, or draw a picture of him, to walk around with for their friends to ridicule." Green's criticism stems from charges against Master Cpl. Arron Perry, who allegedly participated in a "calling card" photograph of a dead Afghan fighter. A cigarette had been stuck in the corpse's mouth and a sign on its chest read "F... terrorism." One of the Canadian explanations cited by Green was that American soldiers took similar photographs of dead adversaries. "The trouble seems to be that we have become so close to Big Brother, we have forgotten what our obligations are towards prisoners of war," he said. ----- 'MUSLIMS': A CLEAR PICTURE OF ISLAM By MARK SACHS, Los Angeles Times, 5/8/02 http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/printedition/calendar/la-000032466may08.story It's taken decades upon decades for the global forces in play to create a world-changing event on the scale of the Sept. 11 terrorists attacks. Yet in one two-hour block tonight, "Muslims" manages to bring a crystalline focus to issues of kaleidoscopic complexity, resulting in an all-too-rare "special" that is worthy of that tag. The "Frontline" production (9 p.m., KCET) takes viewers on an international tour of the religion's strongholds in places such as Egypt, Iran, Malaysia, Nigeria and Turkey, showing the myriad gradations and interpretations that exist, helping to shatter the monolithic mask that Islam wears for many here in the West. "With the events of Sept. 11," says Nigerian attorney Muzzammil Hanga, "the West is frantically trying to establish two worlds--the forward-looking Western world and backward, uncivilized Islamic world." But the program also outlines the conflicts that exist within many of the countries between Muslim traditionalists and those in the religion who favor more personal freedom and equality between the sexes. "We found that it is not Islam that discriminates against women," says feminist activist Zainah Anwar in Malaysia. "It is not the verses in the Koran, it is the way that these verses have been interpreted by men living in patriarchal societies who wish to maintain their dominance, and their superiority and control over women." In the second hour, the focus shifts from the taxis festooned with images of Osama bin Laden in Nigeria to the cars and homes in the U.S. draped in American flags, and what the post-9/11 political climate means to Muslims here. "I look at Muslims in the U.S. as being in a very unique position to be able to produce a model for how Islam can be lived [alongside] other religions," says an Illinois man, perhaps echoing the hopes of all of us. SEE ALSO: 'Muslims' on Frontline, May 9, 2002 http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/muslims/ http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/press/2020i.html Send comments about the program to frontline@wgbh.org ----- THERE IS A SOLUTION TO THIS FILTHY WAR - FOREIGN OCCUPATION Robert Fisk, The Independent (UK), 5/8/02 http://argument.independent.co.uk/commentators/story.jsp?story=292865 Ariel Sharon's "peace" plan presented to President Bush in Washington last night - get rid of Arafat, devise a more obedient Palestinian Authority and keep building settlements for Jews and Jews only on Palestinian land - is fantasy. That the Americans should smooth his way by claiming that Arafat's need to reform his authority is more important than a halt to settlement-building - the gormless contribution of Condoleezza Rice, the US National Security Adviser, to this sterile debate - shows just how out of touch the Bush administration is... And if the Palestinians have to go on watching the Jewish settlements surrounding them on their land, they are not going to make peace with Israel. And contrary to song, myth and legend, the Israeli army has been behaving more like a militia than a disciplined military force. The reports of mass looting by Israeli troops in Ramallah, especially of jewellery and cash, have reached epic proportions. Israel may publicly claim that this is Palestinian propaganda, but the Israeli army's high command knows the stories are true - one officer referred to it as "the wide-scale, ugly phenomenon of vandalism"... The question has to be asked: is this army any more capable of defending Israel than the Palestinians are capable of defending themselves? A seminar at the Steinmetz Peace Research institute in Tel Aviv threw up some fascinating data last month. Over 40 per cent of Israel's Jewish population, the institute found, said they were prepared to have international intervention in the conflict. More astonishingly, 35 per cent of interviewees said that intervention could involve foreign troops who would physically separate Israel and the Palestinian Authority... So I'll make a rash, fearful prediction. After Bosnia and Kosovo and East Timor, we have grown tired of regional wars. And I think that, in time, we will close down the Middle East war. With Russian and EU and UN support, there will, eventually, be American and Nato troops in Jerusalem. There will be a Western protection force in the West Bank and Gaza - and in Israel. The Israeli and Palestinian armies will have to return to barracks. Jerusalem will be an international city. The Palestinians will have security. So will the Israelis. Yes, it will be a form of international colonialism. Yes, it will mean foreign occupation for both sides. But it will put an end to this filthy war. ----- 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, 202-489-5108 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 ----- AMERICAN MUSLIM NEWS BRIEFS - 5/9/2002 ----- HEADLINES: * VERSE OF THE DAY: BENEFITS OF CHARITY * AMERICAN DETAINEE IN ISRAEL ON HUNGER STRIKE * ACTION ALERT: URGE THE STATE DEPARTMENT AND CONGRESS TO SECURE RELEASE OF TWO AMERICANS HELD IN ISRAEL * DETENTION PUZZLES DOCTOR'S FAMILY (Los Angeles Times) * ISRAEL MAY HOLD CALIF. DOCTOR UP TO 5 MORE DAYS, MEMO SAYS (Orange County Register) ----- VERSE OF THE DAY: BENEFITS OF CHARITY 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. The Holy Quran (F. Malik translation), Sura 2, Verse 361 ----- AMERICAN DETAINEE IN ISRAEL ON HUNGER STRIKE The Council On American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) has learned today that Dalal Mohammed, an American Muslim from Texas who was detained in Israel since Saturday (5/4/02) is on a hunger strike. Mohammed’s attorney told CAIR that she has not eaten since she was detained at a Jerusalem hotel. Ms. Mohammed, now in a prison outside Tel Aviv, was in the Occupied Territories on a relief mission to deliver much needed supplies to Palestinian towns devastated by recent Israeli military incursions. Also arrested by Israel was Dr. Riad Abdelkarim, an California physician who was on a fact-finding mission on behalf of the international medical group, International Medical Corps. “We are concerned for Dalal Mohammed’s health and safety not only because of the hunger strike, but also because of the widespread use of torture in Israeli prisons.” said CAIR’s Communication Coordinator Hodan Hassan. Hassan added, “ Various human rights groups have documented the consistent use of torture of Americans of Arab descent by Israel. We are urging our government to demand the immediate release of Mohammed and Abdelkarim.” ----- ACTION ALERT: URGE THE STATE DEPARTMENT AND CONGRESS TO SECURE RELEASE OF TWO AMERICANS HELD IN ISRAEL The Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC) and Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) urge all people of conscious, Muslims and non-Muslims to keep pressure on our administration to free two American hostages in Israel. Dr. Riad Abdelkarim, 34, is an Orange County, CA physician born in Santa Monica, CA. Dr. Abdelkarim is an exemplary American who is very active in the American Muslim community, organizing community forums, publishing widely in American newspapers, and volunteering for several medical relief missions. Ms. Dallal Mohamed is an American-born young woman from Texas, whose deep compassion and commitment to helping those less fortunate have fueled her involvement in relief missions and charitable organizations. Both Dr. Abdelkarim and Ms. Mohamed have absolutely no criminal record and have never been accused by their government, the United States, of any wrongdoing. These individuals are humanitarians whose compassion for the plight of the Palestinian people have taken them to the region several times to document destruction and offer relief to the suffering. ACTION: 1. Call and write YOUR Congressman/ Senator, with special emphasis on Congressman Cox (Dr. Abdelkarim's Congressmen) and Congresswoman Johnson (Ms. Mohammed's Congresswoman). To find your representative, log onto www.congress.org or www.mpac.org/action 2. Call the "Israel/Palestine Issues" Desk of the State Department: (202) 647-3672 3. CC your letters to the Secretary of State, the President of the United States, MPAC (sarah@mpac.org) and CAIR (cair@cair-net.org) TALKING POINTS: 1. Based on telephone conversations between MPAC and Riad Abdelkarim's family with the State Department, no knowledge of official charges have been made by the State of Israel against Dr. Riad Abdelkarim of Orange County, CA or Ms. Dallal Mohammed of Richardson, TX, who have been held in a prison outside Tel Aviv since Sunday. 2. News media sources have reported, based on information released by the Israeli Consulate in Los Angeles, Dr. Abdelkarim has been charged with committing "terrorist acts". Both, Dr. Abdelkarim's Israeli lawyer Leah Tsemel and State Department officials repeatedly denied knowledge to such charges. Such attempts aim to morally assassinate the character of Dr. Abdelkarim and to divert the attention from Israel's crimes that Dr. Abdelkarim reported during his fact-finding mission. Dr. Abdelkarim's report on Jenin was distributed while Israel repeatedly blocked the arrival of the UN fact-finding mission to investigate the Israeli war crimes committed in Jenin. 3. Abdelkarim and Mohamed were detained on Sunday, May 5 by Israeli forces - Dr. Abdelkarim as he attempted to leave the country, and Ms. Mohamed as she was having breakfast in Jerusalem. Dr. Abdelkarim was in the West Bank, Palestine on a delegation with a southern California-based medical relief to assess damage done to Palestinian civil society and Palestinian civilians in places like Jenin and Nablus. Dr. Abdelkarim then publicized his findings widely over the Internet, probably angering Israel. Ms. Mohamed was in the region taking preliminary steps to distribute badly needed relief to Palestinians under the auspices of a new American relief organization, KinderUSA. 4. Americans who have called the State Department and their Congressmen have been told that there is nothing the United States can do to pressure Israel. THIS IS NOT TRUE. A. When two Americans were held hostage in Afghanistan, the United States put tremendous pressure on Afghanistan to release them. The same pressure must immediately be placed on Israel. B. The United States has been able to pressure foreign governments in the past to release hostages and political prisoners. The United States, in fact, has special leverage over Israel. Israel is heavily dependent on United States foreign aid (over three billion U.S. dollars per year), legal support, and U.S. political support against the will of the U.N. and the international community. THE UNITED STATES HAS PLENTY OF LEVERAGE OVER ISRAEL AND MUST TAKE THIS CASE SERIOUSLY ENOUGH TO EXERCISE IT FORCEFULLY. 5. Israel has absolutely no evidence against these two individuals. Rumors that Dr. Abdelkarim and Ms. Mohamed are being charged with "ties to terrorism" are trumped up and ridiculous. Both individuals are American born professionals with scores of witnesses to testify as to their exemplary characters. 6. Israel is trying to intimidate Americans from coming to the region to gather evidence of the terrible damage it has caused to Palestinians homes, institutions and lives. Israel is trying to make delivering humanitarian assistance to Palestinians costly and prohibitive. THESE ARRESTS ARE PART OF AN ISRAELI INTIMIDATION CAMPAIGN AND AMERICA MUST PROTECT ITS CITIZENS AGAINST THIS OUTRAGEOUS BEHAVIOR. 7. The United States cannot send the message to Israel that it can detain our citizens with impunity. Enough is enough: Americans are Americans and we must all stand up in defense of one another. Our Congress, State Department and Executive Branch call for the immediate release of Dr. Abdelkarim and Ms. Mohamed. Contacts: Undersecretary of State William Burns Phone: (202) 647-5150 E-mail: askpublicaffairs@state.gov 2201 C St. NW Rm 6242 Washington, DC 20520 Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX) (Dallel Mohamed's Congresswoman) Washington office: Phone: (202) 225-8885 Fax: (202) 226-1477 E-mail: rep.e.b.johnson@mail.house.gov 1511 Longworth House Office Building Washington, DC 20515-4330 Texas Office: Phone: (214) 922-8885 Fax: (214) 922-7028 2501 Cedar Springs Rd., # 550 Dallas, TX 75201 Congressman Christopher Cox (R-CA) (Riad Abdelkarim's Congressman) Washington Office: Phone: (202) 225-5611 Fax: (202) 225-9177 E-mail: christopher.cox@mail.house.gov 2402 Rayburn House Office Building Washington, D.C. 20515-0547 Main District Office: Phone: (949) 756-2244 Fax: (949) 251-9309 One Newport Place, # 420 Newport Beach, CA 92660 CC: President George Bush E-mail: president@whitehouse.gov Phone: (202) 456-1414 Fax: (202) 456-2461 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20500 Colin Powell, Secretary of State E-Mail: secretary@state.gov Phone: (202) 647-4000 Fax: (202) 261-8577 2201 C St NW Washington, DC 20520 Muslim Public Affairs Council Phone: (213) 383-3443 Fax: (213) 383-9674 Contact: Sarah Eltantawi E-mail: sarah@mpac.org Council on American Islamic Relations Contact: Ibrahim Hooper Phone: 202-488-8787 Fax: 202-488-0833 Email: cair@cair-net.org ----- DETENTION PUZZLES DOCTOR'S FAMILY By TERESA WATANABE, Los Angeles Times, 5/9/02 http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-000032899may09.story For the family and friends of Riad Abdelkarim, these days of waiting are filled with questions and dread, questions and fear, questions and more questions. Since the Anaheim physician was detained Sunday in Israel and subsequently arrested on suspicion of terrorist activities, Abdelkarim's supporters have heard nothing about what he has allegedly done wrong... The silence has magnified the puzzling character of the doctor's case. Abdelkarim, 34, was a board member of the Holy Land Foundation, a Dallas-based Islamic charity that was shut down in December by the U.S. government on charges that it funneled funds to the militant group Hamas. But Abdelkarim was found to be clean by the FBI after questioning last fall and had frequently traveled to Israel without incident, as recently as January. Unlike the shadowy men of the terrorist network Al Qaeda, Abdelkarim was a highly public figure who wrote more than 200 articles, spoke at community forums and volunteered for medical relief missions. In his most recent trip, he had traveled to Israel at the invitation of the International Medical Corps, a Los Angeles-based global humanitarian organization, to assess health needs in the Palestinian territories. His family says this Santa Monica native of Palestinian descent was a quintessential American who played Little League baseball, favored hamburgers over hummus, made high school valedictorian and led his class in the Pledge of Allegiance. He was also a typical Californian, his family says, who swam and bodysurfed growing up around his father's market in Hermosa Beach and considered himself a die-hard Los Angeles Lakers fan. "Riad is as American as they come," said his brother Basil, a Bellflower physician. "This is almost like a smear campaign to present him as a terrorist. The most important thing to understand about Riad is that he is a humanitarian, and this should not be a crime." The physician's supporters have engaged in a flurry of activity to win his freedom. On Wednesday, the Muslim Public Affairs Council in Los Angeles and the Anaheim office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations asked Abdelkarim's congressional representative, U.S. Rep. Christopher Cox (R-Newport Beach), to appeal for his immediate release. Lacking essential facts about the case, Cox said it was "not my role" to press for Abdelkarim's release. But Cox said he was working to ensure that Abdelkarim was afforded due process and other legal rights. In Chicago, Najee Ali said he would represent the Muslim American Society, the nation's leading organization of African American Muslims, in traveling to Israel next week to make a religious appeal for Abdelkarim's freedom. And in Orange County, a retired Christian minister who credits Abdelkarim with saving her husband's life said she intends to raise the issue of how to help the doctor and his family at an interfaith meeting today. Connie Regener of Irvine said the man she knows only as a compassionate healer had cared for her husband's diabetes, heart irregularities and other problems a few years ago. Now, she said, it was time to return the kindness. "He was so very supportive and kind to us in our emergency, and now I'd like to see the same treatment extended to him," said Regener, a member of a Christian-Muslim women's group that meets monthly at the Crystal Cathedral. As the activities mount, so do questions about what might have triggered Abdelkarim's detention. After U.S. authorities shut down the foundation, Abdelkarim started a new charity, KinderUSA, in March aimed at helping children in the West Bank and Gaza. The new charity sent out its first e-mail appeal last month for $1 million to buy food, household items and medical supplies. In an April 10 e-mail to The Times, Abdelkarim said founders of the new charity included such prominent U.S. Muslim physicians as Laila Al-Marayati of Glendale, a former member of the U.S. religious freedom commission. The charity was in no way involved with Holy Land members who were under the most scrutiny by investigators, he wrote. "They have their own problems to deal with," he wrote. "As for me, I'm 'clean' as far as I'm concerned, and I couldn't sit by and watch as the situation in Palestine worsened, with nobody there to help the people." Others wonder if an impassioned letter Abdelkarim wrote from the Jenin refugee camp displeased the Israelis. His April 29 letter spoke of the stench of death, stories of executions and destruction, and his shame at being a U.S. taxpayer subsidizing the Israeli military arsenal. "They are trying to silence him," said Ibrahim Hooper of the American-Islamic council in Washington. "To use the bogeyman of terrorism is to keep people from assisting the Palestinians and making their lives so miserable that they will buckle under." His four young children's questions are more immediate. Is Dad going to make the Angels baseball game and the "Star Wars" film opening, as he had promised? As the long days turn into sleepless nights, the children have stayed out of school and the family has secluded itself. During a visit to his Orange County home this week, the children described how they had decorated the home with balloons for his homecoming, and were looking forward to visits to Disneyland and the