NEW SURVEILLANCE RULES THREATEN FBI RELATIONSHIP WITH MUSLIM GROUPS -TOP
Daphne Eviatar, Washington Independent, 5/5/09

Muslim groups are rethinking their previous commitments to work with the FBI in light of growing concerns that mosques and other Islamic centers are under surveillance or being infilatrated -- without any evidence they’ve participated in a crime, The Associated Press reports.

That decision should come as little surprise to the Justice Department, given that, as I reported in April, a last-minute rule adopted by the Bush administration in December gives the FBI unprecedented powers to conduct surveillance of targets without any basis for suspicion of criminal activity. That wasn’t likely to sit well with Muslim groups, who believe they’re often the targets of such surveillance. (Because the Department of Justice doesn’t reveal how it uses the FBI authority, it’s impossible to confirm or deny those claims.)

Under the new Attorney General Guidelines -- adopted by former Attorney General Michael Mukasey, and which the Obama administration has not revoked -- the FBI may use physical surveillance; interview a person’s neighbors, landlord, colleagues or friends; retrieve personal data from commercial databases; and recruit and assign informants to spy at political, religious or other meetings -- all without evidence that the target of the investigation has done anything wrong. (More)

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TX: MOTIVES OF AMERICAN MUSLIMS DEBATED AT REPUBLICAN MEETING IN FORT WORTH - TOP
Aman Batheja, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 5/5/09

What are the intentions of Muslims in America? A local activist told a Republican club Monday night that Muslims are intent on overthrowing America. But the Tarrant County medical examiner, who is Muslim, denounced such remarks as hate speech.

Dorrie O’Brien was booked months ago to speak to the North Tarrant Republican Club. She riled local Muslims last month when she delivered a speech to a Republican club in Hurst in which she said most or all American Muslims support terrorism.

After hearing that O’Brien was going to give a similar presentation to another Republican club, Medical Examiner Nizam Peerwani requested time to deliver a rebuttal, North Tarrant Republican Club president Paul Enlow said.

In her presentation to about 80 people, O’Brien said that Muslims are intent on converting the Western world to Islam. She described as "stealth jihad" a malicious effort by Muslims to subvert schools, local governments and banks throughout the country.

O’Brien reviewed the five pillars of Islam, noting that one of them is zakat, which means to give a percentage of one’s income to charity. "There is a tremendous amount of proof out there that the zakat is now funding terrorism," she said.

O’Brien also compared the Quran to the Bible and dismissed any suggestion that atrocities committed by Christians in the past were relevant to a debate about the present.

"I am not going to get into a theological discussion tonight, but I will flatly say, no, there is no way we are praying to the same God," she said.

O’Brien left the meeting before Peerwani’s talk.

He spent part of his speech correcting factual errors in O’Brien’s presentation and reminding the audience of the history of religious persecution, including the Holocaust.

"We need to be vigilant because hate speech can destroy our country," Peerwani said. "I find out today I am part of a sleeper cell and some day someone is going to wake me up and I am going to declare jihad. That is news to me."

Peerwani also said that much of his donations to charity went to groups such as the Red Cross and the Salvation Army. (More)

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CA: JEWISH, MUSLIM TEENS COLLABORATE TO HELP COMMUNITY - TOP
Paly senior Aaron Lerner, B'nai Brith Youth Organization work to eliminate negative stereotypes
Kavitha Subramanian, Paly Voice, 5/4/09

Seventy high school students scurry between a crafts table and a telephone table, trying to finish multiple tasks in time. One boy asks for canned food donations over the phone while his friend puts the finishing touches on greeting cards for senior citizens. Meanwhile, Paly senior Aaron Lerner organizes the next hour's events as he continues to oversee the current proceedings.

Lerner, with the help of his Jewish youth group, B'nai Brith Youth Organization, organized a successful interfaith community service day that took place on April 26 at the San Mateo Marriott hotel.

The event, titled Volunteer Jam Across the Bay, called for Jewish and Muslim teenagers from around the San Francisco Bay Area to partake in various community service activities as a unified group of committed students.

"The goal of this project was to put political differences aside and come together for a common goal — to help the community," Lerner said.

Together, the volunteers conducted several small-scale projects that included collecting canned food, assembling care packages and making cards for disadvantaged people. (More)

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BRITAIN PUBLISHES LIST OF PEOPLE BANNED FROM ENTRY - TOP
Associated Press, 5/5/09

Britain for the first time has published a list of people barred from entering the country for what the government says is fostering extremism or hatred.

The list includes popular American talk-radio host Michael Savage, who has called the Muslim holy book, the Quran, a "book of hate." Savage also has enraged parents of children with autism by saying in most cases it's "a brat who hasn't been told to cut the act out." (Full article)

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NAMED AND SHAMED: TALK SHOW HOST, NEO-NAZIS AND MUSLIM PREACHERS OF HATE AMONG LIST OF 16 BANNED FROM BRITAIN - TOP
Daily Mail, 5/5/09

Sixteen people banned from entering the UK were 'named and shamed' by the Home Office today.

Home Secretary Jacqui Smith said she decided to make public the names of 16 people banned since October so others could better understand what sort of behaviour Britain was not prepared to tolerate.

The list includes hate preachers, anti-gay protesters and a far-right US talk show host.

'I think it's important that people understand the sorts of values and sorts of standards that we have here, the fact that it's a privilege to come and the sort of things that mean you won't be welcome in this country,' Ms Smith told GMTV.

'Coming to this country is a privilege. If you can't live by the rules that we live by, the standards and the values that we live by, we should exclude you from this country and, what's more, now we will make public those people that we have excluded.

'We are publishing the names of 16 of those that we have excluded since October. We are telling people who they are and why it is we don't want them in this country.'

She said the number of people excluded from Britain had risen from an average of two a month to five a month since October.

The list of the 16 'least wanted' includes radio talk show host Michael Savage, real name Michael Weiner.

'This is someone who has fallen into the category of fomenting hatred, of such extreme views and expressing them in such a way that it is actually likely to cause inter-community tension or even violence if that person were allowed into the country,' Ms Smith told BBC Breakfast. (More)

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CAIR: TAKING A STAND FOR THE IRAN JOURNALIST - TOP
Daily Illini Editorial Board, 5/5/09

In an effort to support American journalist Roxana Saberi, some faculty and students at Northwestern started a hunger strike Friday. Iran denies it, but Saberi herself has been on a hunger strike since April 21, protesting her eight-year prison sentence.

She was arrested in late January, initially accused of working without press credentials. But in early April, an Iranian judge charged her with espionage. She was then sentenced after a one-day trial behind closed doors. Her lawyer appealed the ruling. The case has caused tension between Washington and Iran, straining an already contentious relationship.

As difficult, foreign and far away as the case may be, it hasn't stopped people from trying to free her and get her story told. The Rev. Jesse Jackson is trying to get a visa to travel to Iran to negotiate Saberi's release. The Council on American-Islamic Relations is working on delegations, and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has already asked Iran for Saberi's release. The case has also touched students back at Northwestern. (More)