ARIZ. SENATOR ASKED TO INVITE MUSLIM REPS TO BALANCE ANTI-ISLAM FILM - TOPCAIR-AZ urges Sen. Kyl to recognize that there are ‘Muslims in his own state’
(PHOENIX, AZ, 2/24/09) - The Arizona chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-AZ) today called on one of that state’s senators to invite Muslim representatives to offer a balancing perspective to a screening of an anti-Islam film he is hosting in Congress.
On Thursday, Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ) will host a closed-door screening of a 15-minute film by Dutch lawmaker Geert Wilders. Wilders was recently denied entry to Britain because of his extreme anti-Muslim views, including urging that the Quran, Islam’s revealed text, should be banned. One of the event’s co-sponsors, the Center for Security Policy headed by Frank Gaffney, is linked to an anti-Islam group that has advocated prison terms in the U.S. for “adherence to Islam.”
SEE: US Lawmaker Hosts Anti-Islamic Dutch Lawmaker (AP)
“It seems that Senator Kyl is oblivious to the fact that there are Muslims in his own state who will take offense at this cheap anti-Islam publicity stunt designed to promote a person who is under indictment for inciting religious hatred,” said CAIR-AZ Executive Director Ahmad Daniels. “Geert Wilders is just one of many self-promoting Islamophobes traveling the world in search of attention for their hate-filled views. We ask that Americans of all faiths ignore Mr. Wilders, thereby depriving him of the attention he so desperately seeks. Wilders has the right to spew his hate, but he does not have the right to a taxpayer-funded platform in the United States Congress.”
Daniels urged Sen. Kyl to join the ongoing efforts to end partisan politics in Congress and to reach out to the Islamic world by inviting speakers with a differing viewpoint to that of Wilders.
He added that, following a request by CAIR’s Los Angeles chapter, a California synagogue that screened a film claiming “confrontation between Islam and the Jews” agreed to invite a Muslim representative who could offer a balancing perspective of interfaith understanding.
He said CAIR’s Tampa chapter also called on a local synagogue to invite a representative of the Muslim community who could offer a balancing perspective to a controversial speaker who claims wearing an Islamic head scarf, or hijab, is related to the “growth of terrorism.”
CAIR, America's largest Muslim civil liberties group, has 35 offices and chapters nationwide and in Canada. Its 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-AZ Executive Director Ahmad Daniels, 602-312-2223, 602-262-2247, CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-488-8787 or 202-744-7726, E-Mail: ihooper@cair.com; CAIR Communications Coordinator Amina Rubin, 202-488-8787, 202-341-4171, E-Mail: arubin@cair.com
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CAIR-LA: MAN WITH ALLEGED TERROR TIES AIDED POLICE IN 2007 - TOPGillian Flaccus and Amy Taxin, Associated Press, 2/23/09
The Council of American-Islamic Relations, or CAIR, scheduled a news conference following Niazi's court appearance Tuesday to announce it would ask it would ask the attorney general to investigate whether Niazi's arrest stemmed from his refusal to help the FBI.
Council officials said in a statement that they met with Niazi in 2007 and he told them the FBI threatened to make his life a "living hell" if he did not become an informant. (MORE)
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CAIR-LA: BAIL OK'D FOR ALLEGED IN-LAW OF AL-QAIDA OFFICIAL - TOPGillian Flaccus, Associated Press, 2/24/09
An alleged brother-in-law of Osama bin Laden's bodyguard was ordered to be released on $500,000 bail Tuesday, and a Muslim advocacy group said it wants a federal investigation into whether he was arrested because he had refused to become an FBI informant. (MORE)
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CAIR-MN: MUSLIM GROUP INVITES FBI DIRECTOR TO MOSQUE - TOPAssociated Press, 2/24/09
A Muslim advocacy group is inviting FBI Director Robert Mueller to an open house at a controversial Minneapolis mosque.
The Minnesota chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations made the public invitation on Tuesday to the dinner on Wednesday at the Abubakar As-Saddique Islamic Center. (MORE)
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VIDEO: CAIR-MN INVITES FBI DIRECTOR TO MINNEAPOLIS MOSQUE - TOP
Click here to watch the video.
-----CAIR-NJ: COMMISSION HEARS TALES OF SCHOOL BULLYING - TOPMegan DeMarco, Philadelphia Inquirer, 2/24/09For more than two hours, speaker after speaker approached the microphone at Lawrence High School to tell the 14-member Governor's Commission on School Bullying personal stories about children being bullied.
Wednesday's hearing was the first of three as commissioners gather testimony from the public about the problem of childhood bullying throughout the state. The next hearing will be tomorrow in Gloucester County.
Formed in October, the commission will submit a report and recommendations to the governor in July. It could suggest specific policies on bullying or enhanced training for school officials, among other possibilities. . .
Afsheen Shamsi, representing the New Jersey chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said New Jersey ranked among the top 10 states for bullying incidents against Muslim students.
One student, she said, came to school last year and found a scrawled message on his locker calling him a terrorist and telling him to "go home."
"This is a kid who's grown up here. He doesn't have another home," Shamsi said.
Other incidents include a student named Osama repeatedly being harassed, and a history teacher making derogatory remarks about Muslims and Arabs. (MORE)
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CAIR-OK: SCARF EXPOSES NORMAN WOMAN’S BELIEFS - TOPReligion: Covering gives testimony to Muslim faithCarla Hinton, Oklahoman, 2/24/09
Lobna Hewedi welcomes questions about her hijab, a traditional head scarf worn by Muslim women.
The hijab serves as a symbol of her Muslim faith and an entry point for interfaith dialogue when people at fuel stations and grocery store checkout lines stare at the Norman woman’s apparel.
"My feeling is that most of the time when people look, they are just curious,” Hewedi said.
She said many non-Muslims may be unaware of the significance of hijabs.
Recently, another metro area Muslim woman, said she refused to take her driver’s license photograph at a Norman tag agency when an employee there required her to push her hajib back past her hairline, exposing a portion of her hair.
Monique Barrett, 21, of Norman renewed her driver’s license at the Oklahoma Department of Public Safety headquarters last week after contacting the Council on American-Islamic Relations Oklahoma chapter. A chapter leader and public safety department officials said Barrett only had to show her face from hairline to chin to comply with the law.
Barrett, a student at Oklahoma City Community College, said she believes most people do not understand Muslim customs, which can lead to misunderstandings.
"People are afraid, and they fear things they don’t know,” she said.
Razi Hashmi, Oklahoma director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said Muslim women who wear the head scarves draw attention because their everyday apparel easily identifies them as Muslim.
"Unfortunately they are the easiest to discriminate against, but our Muslim sisters are very strong in the faith,” he said. (MORE)