ISLAMIC ADVOCATE HOLDS A MEETING WITH DOVE OUTREACH PASTOR OVER SIGN - TOP
Megan Rolland, Gainesville Sun, 7/29/09

Click here to watch a short video interview.

An advocate for the Muslim community in Florida, during a one-on-one meeting Tuesday, was unable to persuade the senior pastor of Dove World Outreach Center in Gainesville to remove a sign that reads "Islam is of the devil."

"I was pleased that at least he was making the bridge to meet with me," said Ramzy Kiliç, Tampa's executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations. "It doesn't seem like (taking down the sign) is going to happen, and he didn't want to know more about Islam."

Kiliç met with Jones for about 25 minutes Tuesday at the Dove World Outreach Center, 5805 N.W. 37th St., which has a series of hand-painted signs that read in red "Islam is of the devil." …

Kiliç said his concern isn't based on the fact that the sign is offensive to him personally, but rather the fear that it might galvanize a subset of the population to act violently against a Mosque or even worse a Muslim individual.

"I don't think (Terry Jones) had any intent to be hateful to Muslims, but I just think he sees the Bible as the only way to God," Kiliç said of Jones and the church.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations, or CAIR, is a national non-profit organization that works on civil rights issues on behalf of Muslim Americans.

The center in Tampa received calls from concerned citizens in Gainesville and Kiliç said that prompted him to set up the meeting Tuesday to try to convince Jones to remove the sign.

Kiliç said that Jones demonstrated very little knowledge about Islam during the meeting.

Jones has an honorary doctorate in theology from the California Graduate School of Theology.

"A lot of the things he was raising were not even about Islam. They were about countries with Muslim majorities," Kiliç said. "Many Muslims come to America so they can practice Islam freely. I don't even consider Osama bin Laden a Muslim." (More)

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THE NEXT WAVE IN CIVIL RIGHTS HEROES: CAIR-NEW YORK’S ALIYA LATIF CHANNELS A BIT OF ERIN BROCKOVICH - TOP
Yara Souza, Elan Magazine, 7/23/09

“Law and Order” might be her go-to television show, but CAIR NY’s Civil Rights Director Aliya Latif asserts Jack and Abbie had nothing to do with her choice to lunge at a law degree. The tough time she endured wading through law school prepared her that much more to be dedicated and commited to organizing and mobilizing American Muslims. Plus, her work for CAIR (Council of American-Islamic Relations) has enhanced her exposure to the spectrum of discrimination cases facing the community.

The utmost professional and modest to a tee, the only time Latif slips is when she says the word “water” in her native New Jersey accent. In this Profile interview with elan, Latif takes her noteworthy duties and accomplishments all in stride.

Q: How has your experience working for CAIR been thus far?

A: The experience has made me into a tanner, more clothed version of Julia Roberts from Erin Brockovich! By that comparison, my role as CAIR-NY’s civil rights director has given me an opportunity to experience the realities on the ground through meaningful interactions with my clients, community leaders and advocates, and as such has allowed me to better vocalize the concerns and aspirations of the New York Muslim community to offending agencies, elected officials and media.

The past two years have definitely been EMOTIONAL: I’ve met the human faces behind the statistics. It’s hard not to become desensitized and compare the egregiousness of one case to another. To mention a few: I remember talking to the father of a Yemeni student who was locked in a closet by classmates, telling him to go back to his country while his teacher was well aware of the whole ordeal. (More)

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CAIR-LA SEEKS ASPIRING MUSLIM SCREENWRITERS FOR ‘WRITING FOR HOLLYWOOD’ SEMINAR - TOP

(LOS ANGELES, CA, 7/29/09) - On Tuesday, August 11, CAIR’s Greater Los Angeles Area chapter (CAIR-LA) and the Writers Guild of America-West will host a “Writing for Hollywood” seminar for Muslim college students and recent graduates who are pursuing writing and filmmaking careers in the entertainment industry.

WHAT: ‘Writing for Hollywood’
WHERE: TBA
WHEN: Tuesday, August 11 at 2:30 p.m.
WHO: Speakers include leading Hollywood filmmaker & writer

The seminar will go over how to become a successful screenwriter, qualities industry executives are looking for, and various opportunities available for American Muslims in Hollywood. The program will also feature an overview of resources and opportunities available at the Guild and a tour of the Writers Guild Foundation library.

Spaces are limited and will be filled on a first-come-first-served basis. If you are interested, please contact CAIR-LA Communications Manager Munira Syeda via e-mail at msyeda@cair.com. Include your full legal name, major, and year in college or year of graduation.

Deadline for RSVP is Thursday, August 6, 2009 at 5 p.m.

CONTACT: CAIR-LA Communications Manager Munira Syeda via e-mail, msyeda@cair.com. Deadline for reserving your spot is Thursday, August 6, 2009 at 5 p.m.

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CAIR: VIRGINIA MUSLIMS FEED THE HOMELESS - TOP

(WASHINGTON, D.C., 7/29/09) Northern Virginia Muslims gathered today at a local mosque to prepare and deliver lunches to homeless shelters in Herndon and Reston. The “Feed the Homeless” program is co-sponsored by the All Dulles Area Muslim Society (ADAMS), the Al-Kareem Foundation and the Washington-based Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR).

CAIR’s sponsorship of the event is part of its ongoing "Muslims Care" initiative, which is designed to encourage volunteerism in the American Muslim community.

CAIR is America's largest Muslim civil liberties and advocacy organization. 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.

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CAIR-MI: ABOLISH TORTURE WITHOUT EXCEPTIONS - TOP
The Rev. Wendell N. Gibbs, Imam Dawud Walid and Rabbi Robert Dobrusin, Detroit News, 7/29/09

The recently released White House legal torture memos call us as religious leaders to speak out against torture.

The memos authorize slamming detainees into walls, placing them in "cramped confinement" in coffin-like boxes and placing insects in the confinement box. The memos say "the use of waterboarding (a form of simulated drowning) constitutes a threat of imminent death." Nevertheless, they authorize its use.

These practices violate core teachings of our different traditions, as well as the U.S. Constitution's ban on cruel and unusual punishment, the Geneva Conventions and the United Nations Convention Against Torture.

As religious leaders, our primary concerns are moral and spiritual, but we are also concerned about the practical issues of torture.

Some people support torture, believing that it will make them safe. Torture will not keep us safe. It puts us more at risk.

Torture does not provide sound intelligence, and there are more reliable ways to get information. Brad Garrett, the former FBI special agent who repeatedly obtained uncoerced confessions from terrorist suspects, explains "If we want the intel, there are approaches that will render the information without torture."

What's worse, torture puts U.S. citizens and Americans abroad at greater risk. As 38 retired military leaders, including two former chairmen of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, explain, "If degradation, humiliation, physical and mental brutalization of prisoners is decriminalized or considered permissible ... we will forfeit all credible objections should such barbaric practices be inflicted upon American prisoners."

We need to face the truth about U.S.-sponsored torture. That is why we call for an impartial, nonpartisan Commission of Inquiry to study to what extent our interrogation practices have constituted torture and "cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment." (More)

[The Rev. Wendell N. Gibbs is bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Michigan, Imam Dawud Walid is executive director of the Council of American-Islamic Relations-Michigan and Robert Dobrusin is an Ann Arbor rabbi.]

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CAIR: VALLEY IMAMS WIN RIGHT TO SUE FEDS OVER AIR ARRESTS - TOP
Le Templar, East Valley Tribune, 7/28/09

Six Valley imams who were ejected from an U.S. Airways flight, then detained and questioned for hours, have received permission from a federal judge to seek a jury’s ruling on possible violations of their constitutional rights.

The month-old court ruling from U.S. District Court in Minnesota hasn’t attracted nearly as much attention as when the imams and the Council on American-Islamic Relations filed the lawsuit claiming religious discrimination. In November 2006, the imams were removed from a flight before it left for Phoenix after they attended a clerical conference in Minneapolis. The imams were accused of “suspicious behavior” for praying to Allah in the terminal before the flight, for sitting in seats spread throughout the plane, for criticizing the U.S. involvement in Iraq, and for requesting seat belt extenders. (More)

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CAIR-CHICAGO: MOCKED FOR ARAB ROOTS, GUARD AWARDED $200K - TOP
FEDERAL COURT | Officer sued sheriff's office over slurs via radio, graffiti
Art Golab, Chicago Sun-Times, 7/25/09

A Cook County correctional officer who claimed he was harassed by colleagues because of his Arab ancestry was awarded $200,000 in damages by a federal jury Friday.

Officer Abraham Yasin sued the Cook County sheriff's office in 2007, saying he was constantly targeted by fellow officers with slurs such as "camel jockey," "bin Laden," and "shoe bomber" -- over the the radio and via graffiti scrawled on his locker.

Once, according to the court documents, a correctional officer called Yasin on the radio, and when Yasin did not respond, somebody said that "he's making a bomb."

The sheriff's office did not respond to his repeated complaints, according to the suit, which was filed on Yasin's behalf by the Chicago chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

"This was an unprecedented decision," CAIR staff attorney Kevin Vodak said. "The case stands as a legal precedent and a symbol of hope for Arab Americans to expect to be free of harassment in their workplace." (More)

SEE ALSO:

MAINE POLICE ATTEND TRAINING TO LEARN MUSLIM CULTURE - TOP
David Hench, Portland Press Herald, 7/29/09

PORTLAND, Maine — Police officers planning to interview members of a Muslim household approached the door, only to spot a woman inside dashing into a back room. Was she grabbing a weapon? Warning a suspect? Fleeing out a back door?

''She did not want to answer the door without getting her head covering,'' said Foria Younis, a former terrorism investigator with the FBI. In many Muslim cultures, ''if a woman doesn't have a head scarf on, it's almost as if she's nude.''

Younis tells the true story to help illustrate the importance of understanding Muslim traditions if police are to work effectively within their local Muslim communities.

Younis was the key presenter Tuesday at a daylong training program at the University of Southern Maine, attended by 62 officers from across the state.

Organized by the Cumberland County Sheriff's Office, the training was provided by the U.S. Department of Justice in hopes of helping local and state authorities build ties with people in Muslim communities. It's also meant to give officers the tools to conduct investigations in those populations.

''People want to know how to do it right rather than being told they did it wrong,'' said Sheriff Mark Dion, who has worked in recent years to develop relationships with members of the local Muslim community. ''You don't have to become an Islamist expert, but all we have now are stereotypes, which don't work for anyone.'' (More)

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HUNDREDS TURN OUT FOR CAIR-CINCINNATI COMMUNITY COOKOUT - TOP

(CINCINNATI, OH, 7/29/09) - More than 250 people turned out on Sunday for a “Community Cookout” hosted by the Cincinnati office of CAIR-Ohio. Attendees enjoyed the picnic and received CAIR civil rights literature. There were crafts, games and prizes for the children and an Islamic quiz competition for the adults.

“Every year, this event attracts a wide array of people from the Cincinnati-area Muslim community and brings participants together in an atmosphere of friendship and cooperation,” said CAIR-Cincinnati Executive Director Karen Dabdoub,

CAIR is America's largest Muslim civil liberties and advocacy organization. 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: Karen Dabdoub, 513-281-8200, E-mail: kdabdoub@cair.com; Zeinab Schwen, zschwen@cair.com