POWELL BACKS OBAMA, OPPOSES MCCAIN TACTICS - TOPStephen Ohlemacher, Associated Press, 10/19/08
Colin Powell, a Republican who was President George W. Bush’s first secretary of state, endorsed Democrat Barack Obama for president today and criticized the tone of Republican John McCain’s campaign.
The former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said either candidate, both of them senators, is qualified to be commander in chief. But he said Obama is better suited to handle the nation’s economic problems as well as help improve its standing in the world. . .
In his comments, Powell also criticized what he saw as repeated attacks on Muslim-Americans during the campaign.
Powell’s comments were welcomed by at least one Muslim leader in metro Detroit, which has one of the biggest Muslim communities in the United States.
Dawud Walid, assistant imam at Masjid Wali Muhammad in Detroit, said he was pleased by Powell’s remarks.
“Gen. Powell’s remarks are what the Muslim community have been waiting for from the GOP leadership this entire election,” Walid said. (MORE)
---
NY: ARAB MUSLIMS IN BROOKLYN FIND POWER IN THE VOTING BOOTH - TOPJames Estrin, New York Times, 10/08/08
As they pressed their foreheads to the sidewalk in front of the Islamic Center of Bay Ridge, a group of Arab men finished their noon prayers on a recent Friday. Unable to squeeze inside the mosque, they worshiped alongside a bright red table that held voting literature and buttons that said, “I’m Arab and I vote.”
“Yalla vote, Yalla vote,” Jihad Kifayeh, 17, shouted as he pressed voter registration forms into the hands of his elders outside the mosque in Brooklyn. Yalla means “hurry up” or “let’s go” in Arabic.
He is among several dozen Arab Muslim teenagers in South Brooklyn who are volunteering for voter registration drives, campaigning for local politicians and taking neighbors to the polls. Many, like Mr. Kifayeh, a senior at Fort Hamilton High School, have persuaded their parents to register to vote for the first time.
Their efforts are part of a political awakening, stirred by the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks, that has brought a growing number of Muslims into the electoral process.
“Some of my people are scared to vote,” said Mr. Kifayeh, whose family moved to New York from the West Bank city of Ramallah when he was 3. “They think their opinions might be criticized, particularly after 9/11. But it’s better that our voices are heard by the politicians.”
During the 1980s and 1990s, as a large Arab Muslim community took root in South Brooklyn, its leaders struggled to get their voices heard. Their events were rarely attended by local office holders. The community could not deliver many votes because older immigrants tended to stay away from the polls, doubting their ballots would matter.
“We came from countries where the government changed the votes,” said Zein Rimawi, 54, one of the founders of the Islamic Society of Bay Ridge. “Here in our country, the votes count, and votes can change a government. We had to convince older people that their votes would count.”
While leaders of the Arab Muslim community were skilled at running mosques, a local school and several civic groups, they were relatively unsophisticated when it came to politics, Mr. Rimawi said. But after Sept. 11, many of those leaders realized they needed to become more politically astute to gain the respect and attention of elected officials.
With the help of a few supportive neighbors, they discovered a basic truism of American politics: “You vote, you exist. You don’t vote, you don’t exist,” Mr. Rimawi said.
Ralph Profetto, 74, a district leader for the Democratic Party, was among those who helped the local Muslim community after the attacks. “I am an Italian-American,” he said. “When I grew up, people said all Italians were Mafia. I knew how they felt when people said they were all terrorists.”
Mr. Profetto went around the neighborhood, taking off his shoes as he walked into mosques and explaining to worshipers the importance of forming a voting bloc, and what arguments to make to persuade neighbors to vote. Mr. Profetto covered the basics, like how a voting machine works. (MORE)
-----
CAIR-CHICAGO: MUSLIMS FIGHTING CITIZENSHIP DELAYS MAY HAVE RAY OF HOPE - TOPMadhu Krishnamurthy, Daily Herald, 10/20/08
After 12 years living, studying, and working legally in the United States, Sheeraz Iqbal sought to trade in his Pakistani citizenship and swear allegiance to America for good.
Iqbal applied for his U.S. citizenship, and has been waiting two years for his application to move through a bureaucratic immigration system bogged down by a surge of immigrant petitions and added scrutiny post-Sept. 11, 2001.
The Elgin man said he asked immigration authorities about expediting his case because he wants to sponsor his elderly parents in Pakistan for citizenship. He awaits a date for his final immigration interview.
"It's very frustrating," said the 32-year-old senior financial consultant for a Chicago firm. "I really want to sponsor my parents, and when I hear they are getting sicker and sicker, it bothers me so much."
Iqbal is not alone. But there finally may be light at the end of the tunnel for longtime legal permanent residents waiting for citizenship.
Authorities under fire from immigration activists and legislators for dragging out the process are responding to class action lawsuits filed by Muslim immigrants in several states claiming discrimination. They say they are redoubling efforts to clear old cases by November. . .
Yet, what forced the change was dozens of class action lawsuits filed nationwide. Without them, federal agencies would not have devoted more resources to clear the backlog, said Christina Abraham, civil rights coordinator for the Chicago chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, the nation's largest Muslim civil rights advocacy group.
Since 2005, the group has documented about 380 cases of citizenship delays in the Chicago-area Muslim community, and filed dozens of lawsuits on behalf of suburban Muslims like Iqbal facing "unreasonable" delays in being naturalized.
A class-action lawsuit filed by the group in May 2006 was just recently resolved with all the plaintiffs being naturalized.
In June, the group won a lengthy legal battle in the high-profile case of Iranian-born Mohammed Reza Ghaffarpour, a 53-year-old University of Illinois at Chicago chemical engineering professor who waited six years for his citizenship approval.
Immigration authorities painted Ghaffarpour as a potential threat to national security based on multiple visits to Iran in recent years, an argument the court threw out while granting his citizenship.
The case heightened fears that prejudice against applicants with Muslim or Arab-sounding names, and general ignorance about those communities, were the underlying causes behind the delays. (MORE)
-----
CAIR: VIDEO GAME DOOMED BY QURAN VERSE - TOPSony pulls back game for including lines in backing musicMisha Davenport, Chicago Sun Times, 10/18/08
It was supposed to be one of the biggest games this holiday season for the PlayStation 3, a kid-friendly romp in which players take control of a knitted sock creature and steer him to his goals.
Now "LittleBigPlanet" finds itself orbiting around some unwanted controversy.
In the first level of the third world in the game ("Swinging Safari"), the song "Tapha Niang," by world music artist Toumani Diabate, plays in the background. Two verses of the Quran are spoken in Arabic in the song. Loosely translated, the passages are: "Every soul shall taste of death" and "All that is on earth shall perish." The text is meant to convey that everyone dies and nothing built by man is permanent.
Four days before the game was to go on sale, Sony voluntarily recalled all copies and pushed the release back to Oct. 28 to remove the song.
Patrick Seybold, director of communications for Sony Computer Entertainment of America, did not return calls. In a statement on an official PlayStation blog, he said: "We sincerely apologize for any offense that this may have caused."
Ibrahim Hooper, national communications director for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said he appreciated Sony's sensitivity to Muslim issues, but he's concerned about backlash over the recall. "Many Americans already feel that Muslims want to censor everything," he said. "Yes, some Muslims might feel that the use of the Quran . . . might be an inappropriate use of the text, but we did not ask for this recall. In fact, we haven't received any complaints about this game." (MORE)
-----CAIR: ‘SMEARCASTING: HOW ISLAMOPHOBES SPREAD FEAR, BIGOTRY AND MISINFORMATION’ - TOPDemocracy Now, 10/16/08
In the last few weeks, 28 million copies of a DVD titled Obsession: Radical Islam’s War Against the West have been distributed in key battleground states. The film features graphic, violent images and makes comparisons of Islam to Nazism. The DVD comes amidst concerns of increasing levels of ethnic and religious bias in US politics and the stoking of Islamophobia. We speak to Ibrahim Cooper of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, and Isabel Macdonald of Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting, co-author of the new report “Smearcasting: How Islamophobes Spread Fear, Bigotry and Misinformation.”
Click here to watch the video.
Click here to listen to the audio.
Click here to read the rush transcript.
SEE ALSO:
MO: HATEFUL SPEECH CANNOT STAND UNCHALLENGED - TOPWashington University Student Life, 10/20/08
This week, student groups across the country are hosting speakers, panel discussions and film screenings as a part of the third annual nationwide Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week. Sponsored nationally by the Terrorism Awareness Project, Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week fuels the dangerous and hateful lie that Islam is a violent religion and undermines the values of tolerance that lie at the core of the Washington University community.
As a part of the week, our campus will play host to author and historian Daniel Pipes, a commentator whose views on Islam approach bigotry. Although he rightly believes that it is possible to fight terrorism by supporting moderate Muslims, Pipes has consistently ignored the reality that the vast majority of Muslims belong to this category. In an April 2007 column in the New York Sun, Pipes wrongfully asserted that moderate Muslims “constitute a very small movement when compared to the Islamist onslaught”; this statement is characteristic of the intolerant attitude that Pipes has consistently espoused in appearances at colleges around the country—and that he is likely to share tomorrow night.
Like all major religions, Islam leads its adherents along a path of value, service and faith—a fact to which Washington University students can testify through firsthand observation. Muslim students at the University are an integral part of our community and should be commended for their commitment to bringing together students of all faiths to facilitate religious dialogue. That a radical and miniscule faction has superficially cloaked itself with the rhetoric of an otherwise peaceful religion is a painful reality of contemporary society but not a reason to condemn that religion outright. (MORE)
---
RI: HOROWITZ LAMBASTES ISLAM IN NEAR-EMPTY MACMILLAN - TOPBen Schreckinger, Brown Daily Herald, 10/17/08
David Horowitz opened his lecture on terrorism - part of "Islamofascism Awareness Week," a program of the David Horowitz Freedom Center - with a joke.
"I hope you checked your pies at the door," he quipped, recalling the incident in which New York Times Columnist Thomas Friedman was pied as he began his lecture in Salomon 101 last spring.
Three uniformed officers at the back and three at the front of the largely empty MacMillan 117 and Horowitz's own private bodyguard made any pies-to-the-face unlikely.
Horowitz, a Jewish writer and activist who holds adamantly pro-Israel views, said the purpose of his lecture was to counter "liberal orthodoxy" on campus. "You have one of the worst faculties in the United States," he said. "These people are communists - they are totalitarians." (MORE)
---
THREE MEN CHARGED WITH TERRORIZING MUSLIM FAMILIES - TOPDan O’Brien, The Daily Item, 10/20/08
Three North Shore men have been charged in federal court with terrorizing two Revere families just because they practice Islam.
Prosecutors of the U.S. Attorney’s Office have charged Adam J. Bonito, 21, of Revere, Christopher D. Giaquinto, 22, of Winthrop and a juvenile male with criminal conspiracy to commit a hate crime.
Christina DiIorio-Sterling, spokeswoman for U.S. Attorney Michael Sullivan’s Office, announced Friday that the suspects would be charged with vandalizing and damaging the vehicles of the two Muslim families, who lived in the same Revere duplex, in 2004 and 2005.
A press release about the case did not specify where in the city the victims lived.
Prosecutors allege, “it was the plan and purpose of the conspiracy to vandalize a van, believed to belong to one of the residents, in order to interfere with the victim’s housing rights because of race,” DiIorio-Sterling said. “The intended victim was an Arab Muslim person of Middle Eastern origin who lived at the duplex in Revere.” (MORE)
---
COPS SEARCH FOR PORT PERRY MOSQUE VANDALS - TOPChris Hall, Port Perry Star, 10/20/08
PORT PERRY - Investigators have begun canvassing a north end Port Perry neighbourhood in search of clues that may lead to those responsible for scribbling racist remarks near a makeshift mosque, say police.
In the wake of a recent vandalism spree that saw "blatant racist remarks" scrawled on a fence and driveway near a neighbourhood mosque on Carlan Drive, Durham officers have been going door-to-door in search of leads that could point them in the direction of those responsible, said Detective-Sergeant Herb Curwain of the Durham police force's North Durham detachment.
"Any time there is graffiti that is clearly racist we take that very seriously," said Det.-Sgt. Curwain. (MORE)
-----
SPEAKER CHALLENGES PUBLIC'S STEREOTYPES OF ISLAM, MUSLIMS - TOPRachel Steingard, Daily Woildcat, 10/17/08
Ahmed Rehab of the Council on American-Islamic Relations spoke to UA students at the Holsclaw Recital Hall on Tuesday about the dangers and misconceptions facing Muslims in today's society. "It is my belief that Islam and Muslims are highly misunderstood in America. This is mostly because of a slapstick approach to learning about them. The great majority of the American people have a misunderstanding of the culture," Rehab said.
Over the past few decades, the reputation of Muslims in America has been tarnished because of a series of unfortunate events, said Rehab. While making no excuses for these actions, he suggests that they were portrayed through a filter that would strike fear into the hearts of American citizens.
"You have to know there is good and bad to all people. 99.9 percent of Muslims are not terrorists, never have been and never will be," Rehab said.
He says the foundation of this prejudice is directly linked to basic principles in psychology. Rehab believes that average Americans do not get information from the proper sources; instead they are casually provided with half-truths and exaggerations. (MORE)
-----
CAIR-OH: COMMUNITY FORUM SHOWS OPPOSITION TO “OBSESSION” DVD - TOP
(COLUMBUS, OH, 10/17/08) - On Wednesday, October 15, some 50 community members from different faiths attended a panel discussion and community forum hosted by the Unitarian Universalist Church in Columbus on the distribution of "Obsession, Radical Islam’s War against the West,” which was recently sent to more than 28 million homes in newspapers nationwide, including in the Columbus Dispatch.
At the event, CAIR-Ohio President Dr. Asma Mobin-Uddin discussed concerns about the misleading and hateful content of the movie, referring people to www.obsessionwithhate.com for more information. She talked about the interfaith community’s challenges in conveying concerns to the Dispatch and also discussed the support many community leaders have given, standing against hate and in opposition to the DVD’s distribution.
“We are grateful for the support of the community as we stand together against bigotry and the spread of hatred against any group,” said Mobin-Uddin. “Through education and dialogue, we need to address the damage done by the distribution of this hateful propaganda.”
CAIR, America's largest Muslim civil liberties group, has 35 offices and chapters nationwide and in Canada. CAIR’s mission is to enhance understanding of Islam, encourage dialogue, protect civil liberties, empower American Muslims, and build coalitions that promote justice and mutual understanding.
CONTACT: CAIR-Ohio President, Dr. Asma Mobin-Uddin, 614-560-0272, E-Mail: amobinuddin@cair.com; CAIR-Ohio Staff Attorney, Romin Iqbal 614-451-3232, riqbal@cair.com
-----
MORRISTOWN HOMELESS CENTER'S GOAL: INVOLVE THE COMMUNITY - TOPInvites participation as it tells local groups about new programsMinhaj Hassan, Daily Record, 10/17/08
Our Place Inc., the daytime drop-off center for homeless individuals that runs from the basement of First Baptist Church on Washington Street, Thursday invited houses of worship, organizations and local businesses to an informational luncheon in hopes the different groups could further enhance the center's services.Zamir Hassan, vice president of the organization, said the center has launched two new programs.
One program consists of a book sale that will take place weekly outside the church. While Hassan hopes passersby will make a donation when picking up a book, he hopes it accomplishes another goal. "We hope that it raises awareness" in people about homelessness, he said…
Afsheen Shamsi, a public relations director for the Council on American Islamic Relations, said her organization will also help Our Place Inc. by providing volunteers and raising funds. The council provides volunteers to Muslims Against Hunger, which helps out several times a year at the soup kitchen on South Street. Several Our Place clients use the soup kitchen. (MORE)
SEE ALSO:
TN: SOME MUSLIMS EMBRACE CHRISTIAN HOMEBUILDER CHARITY - TOPTRAVIS LOLLER, Associated Press, 10/17/08
Mohamed Nurhussien faced the usual challenges of a low-income worker trying to buy a home, with one big difference: As a Muslim he was forbidden by his religion to pay interest.
The 54-year-old Eritrean immigrant with five children thought his only option was to save enough money to purchase a home outright, with cash earned from his job at a security company.
Then he heard about Habitat for Humanity. For some Muslim immigrants like Nurhussien, the Christian homebuilding charity that offers zero-interest loans has become a real godsend.
"The way Habitat deals fits exactly to our requirements," said Nurhussien, who bought a home earlier this year from the northern Virginia chapter of the group. "It's not free. It is no interest. It's good for me and whoever has the same belief."
In northern Virginia, a majority of 12 families who bought condominiums at the local Habitat's latest development, including Nurhussien, are Muslim. In Nashville, local Habitat executive director Chris McCarthy said the city's large population of Muslim Kurdish immigrants has embraced the nonprofit. Over 10 percent of the group's mortgage holders are Kurdish.
And Muslim leaders are responding by offering labor to build homes, financial support and more to Habitat. Since 1976, the nonprofit has offered homes based on people's need, their ability to pay and their willingness to help build the houses and attend classes on topics such as budgeting.
Habitat homes also help fill a void in the U.S., where Islamic loans for strict Muslims are not widely available, said Samuel Hayes, professor emeritus of finance at the Harvard Business School and an expert on Islamic finance. (MORE)
---
MUSLIMS: A NEW LIFE IN CONNECTICUT - TOPConnecticut Post
Sheik shares Muslim teachings with kidsThe children sit in a semicircle, some crosslegged, others on their knees. But it's their eyes that catch your attention. Some are brown, some are blue.
Muslim population is growingLook down the street. They are here. And they are among us, making contributions to the community the way immigrants always have -- by paying their dues -- often starting at the bottom and working Barber offers lessons and a sense of caring
All around him are signs of society in despair. Emptied bottles of vodka, beer and wine are scattered in the weeds and shrubs that have claimed the nearby vacant lots.