Verse: Speak in a Kindly Manner
Mom: Anti-Muslim Mob 'Terrified' My Kids (Salon)
Anti-Muslim Videos Spark Anger
NY: Pro-Muslim Rally Planned for March 6
The Ugly Face of Islamophobia in California
Gaffney, Jones Fight for Soul of Anti-Sharia Movement (Video)
Tenn. Muslim Challenges Smears of Islam at Tea Party Event
Legislation Would Ban Islamic Law in Alabama Courts
White Supremacist Behind GOP's Anti-Sharia Law Crusade
Video: Muslim Who Found FBI's GPS Device on Car Files Suit (CAIR)
GA: Justice Department Reviewing Mosque Controversy
NE: Judge Won't Throw Out Muslim Case Against Meatpacker (AP)
Islam Op-Ed: Peter King's Keystone Kops Hearing on Muslims
CAIR: Muslims Step Up Activism Ahead of Hearings (CNN)
Video Report: Meet Peter King -- Islamophobe
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VERSE OF THE DAY: SPEAK IN A KINDLY MANNER - TOP
"Tell My servants that they should speak in the most kindly manner (to
those who do not share their beliefs): For Satan is always ready to stir up
discord between humans."
The Holy Quran, 17:53
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MOM: ANTI-MUSLIM MOB 'TERRIFIED' MY KIDS - TOP
Justin Elliott, Salon.com, 3/4/11
By now, there's a good chance you've seen a video rocketing around the
Web of anti-Muslim protesters screaming at families entering an Islamic charity
event in Orange County last month. One of the most striking parts of the scene
is protesters continuing to shout "go home" and "Muhammed was a pervert!" even
as young children walk by with their parents. [Watch it here.]
On Thursday night, I talked to one of those parents, Orange County
resident Nusrap Kureishy, who had to walk through the gauntlet of protesters
with her three children. Kureishy, who is originally from India but has lived
in the U.S. for many years, has a 10-year-old daughter, a 5-year-old son, and a
2-and-a-half-year-old son. The parking area for the event, which was sponsored
by the Islamic Circle of North America [ICNA], was a bit of a walk from the
entrance to the community center -- and a valet service hired by ICNA backed
out when its employees saw the angry protesters.
Kureishy, who has been involved with ICNA programs for Haiti relief and
foster care, described what it was like to walk by the protesters:
"My daughter was so frightened that she just didn't say anything. She was
really terrified because she did realize that these people were against us. As
soon as we got out of the car, people started taking pictures and started
shouting, there was so much noise," she says. "My 2-and-a-half-year-old boy who
was sleeping got up and started crying."
Protesters were shouting, "Go back home." Says Kureishy: "I just thought,
'If you belong to America, then we belong to America as much as you do.'"
She describes her daughter as "traumatized." When they got inside,
Kureishy had to sit her down and talk to her. "I just said, 'It's OK, and these
people are not going to hurt you.'" They put down the blinds inside so the
children would not have to see the protesters. (More)
SEE ALSO:
ANTI-MUSLIM VIDEOS SPARK ANGER; PRO-MUSLIM RALLY PLANNED FOR MARCH 6 - TOP
By Melissa Bell, Washington Post, 3/4/11
A video compiled by the Council on American-Islamic Relations has sparked
anger across the Internet. Recorded a month ago, it shows an angry, vitriolic
protest directed at a group of Muslim-Americans gathering for a fundraiser.
The Muslim group, Islamic Circle of North America Relief USA, said it was
trying to raise $350,000 to start social programs establishing women's shelters
and fighting hunger and homelessness in the area, according to the Orange
County Register.
In the video, protesters are seen waving flag, shouting, "Go back home,"
and cursing at women and young children trying to pass.
The video shows Deborah Pauly, an Orange County councilwoman, saying, "I
know quite a few Marines who would be very happy to help these terrorists to an
early meeting in paradise." ...
With the videos swirling around the Internet, another rally is getting
attention: the "I am Muslim, Too" rally planned for March 6 in Times Square in
New York City. The rally was not planned in response to the videos, but rather
to protest the upcoming congressional hearings.
"We're concerned the hearings will send the wrong message and alienate
American Muslims instead of partnering with them, potentially putting their
lives at risk by inciting fear and enmity," Russell Simmons, chairman of RUSH
Communications told the Hip-Hop blog Global Grind. (More)
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THE UGLY FACE OF ISLAMOPHOBIA IN ORANGE COUNTY, CALIFORNIA - TOP
A profoundly depressing video of protesters hurling abuse at attendees
at an Islamic fundraising event in Orange County
Richard Adams, Guardian, 3/4/11
The Southern California chapter of the Islamic Circle of North America
Relief USA organised a fundraising dinner in Orange County, last month. But
guess who also turned up? A motley collection of protesters who can be seen
here chanting in the above video distributed by the Council on American-Islamic
Relations civil rights group:
As the video shows, the rhetoric of the protesters became increasingly
venomous toward the families and children who came to attend the ICNA Relief
fundraising dinner. Protesters shouted invective statements such as "Go home
terrorist," "Muhammad is a pervert, Muhammad is a child molester," "Go home and
beat your wife, she needs a good beating," at the event-goers.
One of the protesters' guest speakers, seen in the video, is a local
councilwoman who denounces the event as "pure, unadulterated evil," and
continues:
I know quite a few Marines who would be very happy to help these
terrorists to an early meeting in paradise. (More)
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GAFFNEY, JONES FIGHT FOR SOUL OF ANTI-SHARIA MOVEMENT AT RALLY BY WHITE
HOUSE (VIDEO) - TOP
Ryan J. Reilly, TPM Muckraker, 3/4/11
Rev. Terry Jones, the man who rose to national prominence last fall when
he announced (but later backed off of) a plan to burn copies of the Koran, was
clad in a beat-up black leather jacket when he showed up to a park across the
street from the White House a few minutes before noon on Thursday.
His black sunglasses resting a few inches above his signature handlebar
mustache, Jones hopped up on a bench in Lafayette Park and announced that his
organization Stand Up America was holding a rally.
An aide to Frank Gaffney, the founder and president of the American
Center for Security Policy, didn't take kindly to that and quickly told the
National Park Service that Jones wasn't a part of their group and didn't have a
permit for his rally. So Jones and his crowd, many of them decked out in biker
gang gear, set up shop in the midst of Pennsylvania Avenue.
The common enemy of both groups was radical Muslim Anjem Choudary, a
London-based preacher who has been dubbed a "media whore" and has already made
the rounds on Fox News promoting his "Sharia4America" rally, which was
postponed just a few hours before it was supposed to begin on Thursday. (More)
-----
TENN. MUSLIM CHALLENGES SMEARS OF ISLAM AT TEA PARTY EVENT - TOP
Joel Davis, The Daily Times, 3/4/11
Bill French, a self-taught expert on "political Islam," spoke to the
Smoky Mountains Tea Party Patriots Thursday about what he sees as the rise of
the Muslim religious code --" Sharia law " -- in Tennessee.
French warned that Sharia law seeks the submission of all other laws to
it, saying there was an ongoing ideological struggle between Islam and the
non-Muslim world. "Sharia law talks about me, the non-Muslim," he said.
At a couple of points, French, who goes by the alias "Bill Warner" when
giving his talks on political Islam, said that there was no Golden Rule in the
religion.
"The two driving forces of our civilization are the Golden Rule and
critical thought," French said. "There is no Golden Rule in Islam.... There is
not really even a Ten Commandments."
This was news to William Coley, a Blount County Muslim, and his wife,
Farah, who brought their two sons, three-week-old Jalal and 14-month-old
Shuaib, to the meeting. For Coley, Islam is a source of guidance and comfort
that has much in common with the core principles of other religions. "In
Christianity and in Judaism, it's 'Do unto others as you would have done unto
you. In Islam, no man truly believes until he loves for others what he loves
for himself."
Caring for your neighbor and the unfortunate in the community is an
obligation for Muslims, according to the dictates of their faith, Coley said.
"You are your brother's keeper.... Everything is about your neighbor and your
family and those around you. It's about building a stronger community."
Coley wants Blount County residents to know the true face of Islam in
Tennessee. It looks a lot like their own. "Most of us are natives," Coley said.
"Most of us are from here. My family has been here for a coon's age."
Coley said that Tennessee is in no danger of being engulfed by Sharia
law. "One of the tenets of Sharia law itself is you honor the trust you are
given, and you obey the laws of the land in which you reside....It's a good
myth for scaring up votes in midterm elections." (More)
SEE ALSO:
LEGISLATION WOULD BAN ISLAMIC LAW IN ALABAMA COURTS - TOP
Tim Lockette, Star Assistant, 3/4/11
A bill introduced Tuesday in the Alabama Senate would ban the use of
Islamic law in Alabama courts.
The bill's sponsor said the measure was designed to protect future
generations from erosion of the Constitution. One Birmingham area Muslim leader
said the move was an effort to "demonize Islam and Muslims."
But no one -- not even Sen. Gerald Allen, who sponsored the bill -- can
point to examples of Muslims trying to have Islamic law recognized in Alabama
courts. (More)
---
WHITE SUPREMACIST BEHIND GOP'S ANTI-SHARIA LAW CRUSADE - TOP
Jamilah King, Color Lines, 3/3/11
Last month Colorlines.com took a note from Think Progress and rounded up
the 13 states that have introduced useless bills to ban Sharia law. Oklahoma's
voter-approved constitutional amendment, which was later overturned by a
federal judge, is the most commonly cited among the crop. But Tennessee has
since joined the list after lawmakers there introduced SB 1028, a radical bill
that Tim Murphy at Mother Jones writes could make benign activities like
re-painting the exterior of a mosque or bringing food to a potluck felony
crimes.
Murphy notes that all these bills have one common thread: they originate
with white supremacist David Yerushalmi, an Arizona-based lawyer and founder of
SANE [Society of Americans for National Existence] who's previously called for
a "war against Islam." But it's not just Muslims who Yerushalmi is after. He's
also criticized the universal suffrage movement, at one point saying, "there's
a reason the founding fathers did not give women of black slaves the right to
vote." Murphy writes: (More)
-----
VIDEO: MUSLIM WHO FOUND FBI'S GPS DEVICE ON CAR FILES SUIT (CAIR) - TOP
Robert Handa, KTVU, 3/4/11
A Santa Clara man who found an FBI GPS device on his car filed suit
against the agency Wednesday -- Robert Handa reports.
Watch the video.
-----
GA: JUSTICE DEPARTMENT REVIEWING MOSQUE CONTROVERSY - TOP
Mark Winne, WSBTV, 3/3/11
ATLANTA -- Channel 2 Action News has learned that a mosque controversy in
Gwinnett County is now the focus of a federal civil rights investigation.
Channel 2 investigative reporter Mark Winne confirmed that the U.S.
Department of Justice Civil Rights Division is investigating the city of
Lilburn's treatment of a local mosque seeking to expand.
The mosque filed a federal civil lawsuit that alleges the city of Lilburn
discriminated against the mosque when the city denied the mosque's request for
expansion.
The federal lawsuit reads:
"The Five Acre Restriction on its face discriminates against Plaintiff on
the basis of religion. Defendants had no constitutionally reasonable basis for
their refusal to approve the Applications."
The Lilburn City Council voted several times to deny the Dar-e Abbas Shia
Islamic Center's applications for a rezoning and special use permit that would
allow the mosque to move to a larger property on Lawrenceville Highway and
build a cemetery. (More)
-----
NE: JUDGE WON'T THROW OUT MUSLIM CASE AGAINST MEATPACKER - TOP
Associated Press, 3/4/11
Omaha, NE - (AP) - A federal judge won't dismiss a lawsuit against a
JBS Swift & Co. plant in Nebraska that alleges mistreatment of Somali Muslim
workers. (More)
-----
ISLAM-OPED: PETER KING'S KEYSTONE KOPS HEARING ON MUSLIMS - TOP
ISLAM-OPED is a syndication service of the Council on American-Islamic
Relations (CAIR) designed to offer an American Muslim perspective on current
political, social and religious issues. ISLAM-OPED commentaries are offered
free-of-charge to one media outlet in each market area. Permission for
publication will be granted on a first-come-first-served basis.
Please consider the following commentary for publication.
CONTACT: Ibrahim Hooper, [email protected], Tel: 202-488-8787,
202-744-7726 (c)
---
Peter King's Keystone Kops Hearing on Muslims
By Corey Saylor
Word Count: 511
Rep. Peter King's fumblings around his planned hearings on Muslim
"radicalization" may one day raise amused eyebrows. However, since he is
positioned to do some real damage, his inept handling of the hearings raises
nothing but alarm.
As chairman of the U.S. House Homeland Security Committee, King announced
his hearings by reciting his allegation that "over 80 percent of mosques in
this country are controlled by radical imams." In January, he said he will
"stand-by" that number.
When asked, King points to no authoritative source for his 80 percent
allegation.
Instead he cites a speech given at the U.S. Department of State in the
late 1990s by Hisham Kabbani, a figure who is unknown to most U.S. Muslims.
One man's opinion. Kabbani to this day does not respond to inquiries
about his source for this allegation.
A person in King's position should seek higher quality evidence than one
person's unsubstantiated allegation. Such lax "one person's opinion" standards
led to bad things during the Salem witch trials and the McCarthy hearings.
(King, by the way, also believes "there are too many mosques in America.")
Next, Politico reported that according to King, Ayaan Hiirsi Ali was a
potential witness at the hearing.
During the course of a single 2007 interview with Reason Magazine Ali
said, "I think that we are at war with Islam" and called for Islam to be
"defeated." Later in the interview, Ali suggested that the U.S. Constitution
should be amended to allow for discrimination against Muslims.
Once such facts became public, Ali was dropped.
Most recently, a National Review article -- posted on the House Homeland
Security Committee's website so presumably King felt it was accurate --
announced that Walid Phares was a planned witness for the hearings.
Phares is a former official with a Christian militia implicated, by
Israel's official Kahan inquiry and other sources, in the 1982 massacre of
civilian men, women and children at the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps in
Lebanon.
In the late 1990s, leading members of Phares' World Lebanese Organization
included the deputy commander of a group known for systematically torturing
prisoners. Another leading member headed a militia known for atrocities during
the Lebanese civil war.
Once such facts became public, Phares was dropped as well. Even after
learning of Phares' past associations, King issued a statement saying he will
rely on Phares "for his advice and counsel as these hearings go forward."
King could have saved himself, his committee and his party a lot of
embarrassment by doing a basic internet search on either of these extreme
individuals. Even more embarrassment could have been saved by checking the
factual basis of any allegations before casually tossing them out in public.
The threat of violent extremism, from whatever source, to our nation is a
profoundly serious issue.
However, King's baseless allegations and extremist witnesses raise
reasonable questions about the credibility of the hearings as a force to oppose
the threat.
It is time for House Speaker Boehner and other Republicans to rein King
in. King's fumbling is not only embarrassing, but distracts from a serious
issue.
Corey Saylor is national legislative director at the Council on
American-Islamic Relations (CAIR). He may be contacted at: [email protected]
SEE ALSO:
MUSLIMS ANXIOUS, ACTIVE AHEAD OF RADICALIZATION HEARINGS - TOP
Dan Gilgoff, CNN Belief Blog, 3/4/11
Editor's Note: CNN's Soledad O'Brien chronicles the dramatic fight over
the construction of a mosque in the heart of the Bible belt. "Unwelcome: The
Muslims Next Door", airs Sunday, March 27 at 8 p.m. E.T.
When Akbar Ahmed, an Islamic studies professor at American University,
learned that Congress would be holding hearings on the radicalization of
American Muslims, he vowed to help influence their direction.
"The community is anxious, uncertain and even fearful in terms of what
this could become in this environment," says Ahmed, who is Muslim. "There is a
generalized sense of Islamophobia floating around, and the hearings are not
doing anything to assuage Muslim fears."
So the professor scheduled an appointment with the staff of House
Homeland Security Committee Chairman Peter King, who convened the hearings -
the first of which is Thursday - and presented his detailed research on the
views and experiences of American Muslims. (More)
---
VIDEO REPORT: MEET PETER KING -- ISLAMOPHOBE - TOP
Think Progress, 3/4/11
Rep. Peter King (R-NY), chairman of the House Homeland Security
Committee, has scheduled his hearings on "The Extent of Radicalization in the
American Muslim Community and that Community's Response" for March 10 of next
week. The plan has already set off a chorus of criticisms -- from leaders of
various faiths, religious and community leaders in King's own district,
everyday Americans, Muslim political advocacy groups, and even King's fellow
congressmen -- that King is indulging an Islamophobic fixation and casting
collective guilt and aspersions on the entire Muslim American community. (More)
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