MOSQUE'S 1ST FEMALE LEADER TACKLES STEREOTYPES - TOP
David Yonke, Toledo Blade, 6/9/09

Toledo mosque Masjid Saad has elected a female president, the first woman to hold the leadership position at the 30-year-old mosque.

Salmenna Sediqe, a businesswoman and mother of five, was elected last month and will serve a one-year term as president of the mosque on Alexis Road in Sylvania. The administrative position is separate from the mosque's religious leadership.

Mrs. Sediqe said Monday hers was not a landmark election for Muslims, but she hopes it will change some negative stereotypes among non-Muslims.

"For local Muslims, there is no doubt in the minds of the mass majority that they are supportive of a female in a leadership position. For non-Muslims, this will help them break down misperceptions they have about Islam," she said.

It is the second time a woman has been elected president of a Toledo-area mosque. In 2001, when the Islamic Center of Greater Toledo in Perrysburg Township elected Cherrefe Kadri as president, it was believed to be the first time a U.S. mosque elected a woman to that position.

Mrs. Sediqe said Islam has a long history of treating women equally and with respect, beginning with the Prophet Mohammed, who founded Islam 1,400 years ago.

There have been some misinterpretations of the Prophet's teachings and the Qur'an, including in her native Afghanistan, she said.

Women at times have been denied equality, but that is a distortion of Islam, she asserted…

Julia Shearson, executive director of the Cleveland chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said, "We're very pleased, of course, and I think it's important that competent women are advanced in our community. But I don't think it's an anomaly.

"There have been four women presidents or prime ministers of Muslim-majority nations, and we have yet to have a woman president in the United States." (More)

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FBI PLANS TO CONTINUE MOSQUE MONITORING DESPITE CONCERNS IN ORANGE COUNTY - TOP
Shelby Grad, Los Angeles Times, 6/9/09

The FBI plans to continue using informants to monitor mosques in America despite strong criticism over such programs leveled this year by Muslim American leaders in Orange County.

The Times revealed this year that an FBI informant claimed agents monitored popular gyms throughout Orange County to gather intelligence on members of several local mosques. Some Muslim leaders in area condemned the practice.

But FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III is now defending the practice.

"We don't investigate places, we investigate individuals," Mueller told the Associated Press. "To the extent that there may be evidence or other information of criminal wrongdoings, then we will ... undertake those investigations. We will continue to do it."

In April, informant Craig Monteilh told The Times he posed as a Muslim convert at the request of the FBI to gather intelligence that might aid anti-terrorism investigators.

Monteilh said he was instructed to lure mosque members to work out with him at local gyms. FBI agents, he said, later would obtain security camera footage from the gyms and ask him to identify the people on the tapes and to provide additional information about them. He said he was told that the agents then conducted background checks on the men, looking for anything that could be used to pressure them to become informants. (More)

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U.S. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT: N.J. WOMAN FIRED FOR WEARING MUSLIM HEAD SCARF -TOP
Joe Ryan, The Star-Ledger, 6/8/09

NEWARK -- The Justice Department filed a lawsuit today accusing Essex County officials of illegally firing a Muslim corrections officer for refusing to remove her head scarf.

The suit, filed in federal court in Newark on behalf of Yvette Beshier, asks for a court order forcing the county to accommodate religious observances as part of its uniform code for corrections officers.

"Employees should not have to choose between their religious beliefs and their economic livelihood," said Loretta King, acting assistant attorney general for the civil rights division. (More)

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CAIR-FL VIDEO: DOUBLE DEPORTEE JEOPARDY - TOP
Kelly Cobiella, CBS News, 6/8/09

Many understand that if you are found not guilty by a jury, you can walk free. That's not what happened in a terrorism case in Florida. Family members call it double jeopardy.

Click here to watch the video.

SEE ALSO:

CAIR VIDEO: CONTROVERSY OVER RELIGIOUS ATTIRE IN MARYLAND COURTHOUSES -TOP

Click here to watch the video.

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CAIR-SAN DIEGO HOLDS ‘KNOW YOUR RIGHTS’ WORKSHOP FOR SOMALI COMMUNITY -TOP

(SAN DIEGO, CA, 6/9/09) - On June 6, the UMI Learning Center hosted a workshop titled “Know Your Rights: A Workshop for the Somali Muslim Community” sponsored by the San Diego chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-San Diego).

The workshop featured an informative video in Somali on guidelines when dealing with law enforcement officials and airport security. The video was followed by a questions and answers session. CAIR “Know Your Rights” materials translated into Somali were also distributed to workshop participants.

Speakers included Edgar Hopida, public relations director of CAIR-San Diego and Sean Riordan, Skadden Fellow with American Civil Liberties Union San Diego and Imperial Counties who focuses on advocacy and impact litigation to combat civil rights abuses in San Diego's East African refugee community.

Hopida said, “Unfortunately and all too often, new refugee communities who come to the United States are unaware of their legal rights when dealing with law enforcement agencies. We hope that this workshop helps alleviate this problem.”

CAIR, America's largest Islamic civil liberties group, has 35 offices and chapters nationwide and in Canada. Its mission is to enhance the understanding of Islam, encourage dialogue, protect civil liberties, empower American Muslims, and build coalitions that promote justice and mutual understanding.

CONTACT: CAIR-San Diego Public Relations Director Edgar Hopida, 619-913-0719 or 858-278-4547, ehopida@cair.com

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CAIR-IL: RECENT VIOLENCE IN CHURCHES EXPOSES LACK OF SECURITY, EXPERTS SAY - TOP
Churches that shrug off safety provide false sense of security, experts say
Manya A. Brachear, Chicago Tribune, 6/8/09

Dr. George Tiller wore a bulletproof vest as he handed out bulletins in his church's lobby on May 31. But it wasn't enough to save the abortion provider when a man aimed a gun at his head and pulled the trigger.

Fortunately for the other members of Reformation Lutheran Church in Wichita, Kan., the gunman turned and walked away instead of carrying out his vendetta on the congregation.

But experts say that as congregations offer shelter for victims of domestic violence, protest gun laws or take controversial stands on abortion, gay rights and the Middle East conflict, houses of worship have become battlegrounds and targets for attack. The prevailing false sense of security only adds to the danger, they say.

"Our society has deteriorated to the point where people will take the battle right into the church," said Jeffrey Hawkins, executive director of the Christian Security Network, a national organization focused on helping churches plan for emergencies. "People see it as a soft target rather than see it as a place of reverence anymore."

But Hawkins and others say U.S. churches are loath to admit they have safety concerns for fear they might scare members away. Some don't take precautions. Others that have safeguards such as bodyguards or cameras hide them from congregations. Others simply stay silent on social issues, illustrating the chilling effect such danger can have on ministry…

Muslim congregations have been on higher alert since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, which prompted a backlash against Muslims.

"When certain reports are in the media about terrorist attacks, the 'Vigilante Joes' become provoked," said Ahmed Rehab, executive director for the Chicago chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR). "At those times, we hear incidents of people attacked."

But statistics gathered by the Anti-Defamation League, CAIR and the Christian Security Network show that synagogues and mosques in the U.S. aren't the scenes of violent crimes as often as churches. (More)

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CAIR-IL: IRAQ DEATH TOLL AN IMPORTANT REMINDER - TOP
Letter to the Editor, Chicago Tribune, 6/8/2009

Thank you for bringing the catastrophic number of Iraqi casualties to America's attention.

Your article, "Secret tally: At least 87,215 Iraqis dead since 2005," served as a much needed reminder for Americans that U.S. soldiers are not the only ones who are losing their lives in great numbers because of the Iraq War.

The true cost of this war cannot be understood without knowing about the men, women and children in Iraq who are suffering from heartbreaking losses due to a war started by our country.

Nicholas Short
Council on American-Islamic Relations
Chicago

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ISLAM-BASHER COMPARES PRESIDENT TO HITLER - TOP
Ben Smith, Politico, 6/9/09

And the Muslim attack comes roaring back from the political fringe today with a Washington Times op-ed by Frank Gaffney that concedes while he isn't -- "necessarily" -- a Muslim, there is a valid Hitler comparison to make: (More)