AMONG U.S. RELIGIOUS GROUPS, MUSLIMS SEEN AS FACING MORE DISCRIMINATION -TOP Loralei Coyle, +1-202-419-4556, lcoyle@pewforum.org, or Robbie Mills, 1-202-419-4564, rmills@pewforum.org; both of Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life SEE ALSO: U.S. SURVEY: MORE KNOW ABOUT ISLAM, FEWER THINK IT'S VIOLENT - TOP Ibrahim Hooper, spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said Pew's findings back up his own group's research. He blamed a "vocal minority" in the U.S. for fanning anti-Muslim bias with increasingly harsh rhetoric since 9/11. "Unfortunately, people have focused on that tiny, tiny minority of Muslims who have carried out violent acts, and claim to act in the name of Islam," he said. "Ninety-nine point nine, nine percent of all Muslims will live and die without coming near an act of violence." (More) --- NEW POLL FINDS MUSLIM AMERICANS STILL STRUGGLING FOR ACCEPTANCE - TOP Eight years after the terrorist attacks on 9/11, Muslim Americans — particularly Muslim-American women — continue to face battles in their struggle for acceptance and the right to wear religious garb in public settings. A new poll from the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life finds that Americans see Muslims as encountering more discrimination than any other religious group. But while Americans are more likely to be familiar with Islam or personally know a Muslim than they were at the time of the attacks, levels of tolerance are lower today than they were in the months immediately following Sept. 11… Today, the broad tolerance that existed in the days following 9/11 has largely evaporated. Nearly 40% of Americans still say they think Islam is more likely to encourage violence, according to a new Pew Forum survey, and only a minority hold favorable views of Muslims (the latest poll does not distinguish between Muslims and Muslim Americans). Muslim Americans are also increasingly battling to adhere to their religious beliefs in the workplace and other public spaces. In Philadelphia, the police department disciplined an officer for wearing a hijab (a headscarf that covers hair and sometimes the neck), and the move was upheld in court. Legislators in Oklahoma and Minnesota have proposed legislation that would prohibit women from wearing a hijab for drivers-license photos. And in Oregon, the state legislature just affirmed a law prohibiting public school teachers from wearing religious garb. The law was originally developed in the 1920s as an anti-Catholic measure aimed at priest collars and nun habits, and it was supported by the Ku Klux Klan. Now some Muslim advocates worry that they are being targeted the same way. "Attire is always a red flag," says Ibrahim Hooper, spokesman for the Council for Islamic-American Relations. "But what we're seeing is the overall trend of a vocal minority in our society trying to block any accommodation to Muslims." (More) ----- MUSLIMS TO HOLD INTERFAITH 9/11 VIGIL OUTSIDE WHITE HOUSE - TOP On September 11, 2009, the American Muslim Voice Foundation, along with interfaith groups and community organizations, will host a "Light the Night for Peace and Friendship" candle-light vigil and Ramadan fast-breaking meal (iftar) outside the White House in memory of the victims of the 9/11 terror attacks. What: Interfaith Candle-Light Vigil and Iftar A press conference announcing the vigil and iftar will be held 11 a.m. September 10 at the New York Avenue Presbyterian Church in Washington, D.C. Speakers: Rev. Dr. David Ensign, pastor, Clarendon Presbyterian Church, Arlington, Va., and Christian Peace Witness, Medea Benjamin, Nihad Awad, National Executive Director of Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), Co-Founder of Code Pink, Rabbi David Shneyer. Bill Galvin, National Committee of the Presbyterian Peace Fellowship. (His children lost their uncle on Sept. 11-He worked in the World Trade Center.) Samina Sundas, Founding Executive Director of the American Muslim Voice When: On Thursday, September 10, 2009 We will honor the 9/11 victims and their families by sowing the seeds of peace and friendship. Together we can build a safe secure, peaceful and harmonious world. Please join hands with us as we walk on the path Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. paved for us. Become full partners in "The Miracle Movement of Peace and friendship." We will foster friendships among all Americans and the world by bridging the cultural and religious gap. To become a part of this movement please click "Light the Night for Peace and friendship" athttp://www.amuslimvoice.org/. Sponsor: American Muslim Voice Co-Sponsors: Multifaith Voices for Peace and Justice Our Peace Partners: September 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows ----- NYPD CLARIFICATION OF RADICALIZATION REPORT CALLED ‘WELCOME FIRST STEP’ -TOP (NEW YORK, NY 9/9/09) A coalition of Muslim advocates, lawyers and community leaders today called the NYPD decision to add a “Statement of Clarification” (Clarification) to its 2007 report, “Radicalization in the West: The Homegrown Threat” a “welcome first step.” They urged the NYPD to publicize the Clarification and engage in deeper dialogue with the group to ensure effective security policy. The Clarification, which followed ongoing meetings and consultation with the New York based Muslim American Civil Liberties Coalition (MACLC), stated clearly that the NYPD’s 2007 report “should not be read to characterize Muslims as intrinsically dangerous or intrinsically linked to terrorism, and that it cannot be a license for racial, religious, or ethnic profiling.” To read the clarification (pp 11-12) in full, go here. A joint statement issued today by MACLC and the Brennan Center of Justice at NYU’s School of Law read: “The Statement of Clarification is a welcome first step in the NYPD’s response to the Muslim community’s concerns about the NYPD Report. “However, we are troubled that the NYPD did not alert stakeholders or the public to the Clarification. It is not clear whether the NYPD informed prior report recipients including the federal and local law enforcement agencies that rely on the report about the Clarification. Indeed, the lack of publicity surrounding the Department’s release of its Clarification substantially undermines its potential impact. “Furthermore, the new Clarification section is lost in the full report, which, despite including numerous errors and harmful stereotypes, remains unchanged. As a result, the standing report now sends unsettling, mixed messages: the clarifying statement delinks Islam and radicalization, but the original text implies a strong connection between Muslim beliefs and tendencies toward extremism and violence. “Issuance of the Clarification provides a perfect opportunity for the NYPD to publicly and clearly articulate the purpose of the report and the NYPD’s theories on how to combat violent extremism in the United States. “We ask Commissioner Kelly to make it plain to New Yorkers and the world at large that his department does not regard traditional religious practice as the cause of violent acts or terrorist tendencies. We encourage to the Department intensify dialogue with the Muslim communities in New York to ensure that the NYPD’s further study of this issue is based on a real understanding, not on stereotypes.” A full account of MACLC’s opinion on the NYPD’s Statement of Clarification is available here. CONTACT: Sarah Sayeed, MACLC, 917-414-8453, E-Mail: zfsanmsm@yahoo.com; Faiza N. Ali, CAIR-NY, 212-870-2002, 718-724-3041, E-Mail:fali@cair.com; Faiza Patel, Brennan Center for Justice, 212-998-6328, E-Mail:PatelF@exchange.law.nyu.edu * * * * * The Muslim American Civil Liberties Coalition is a New York-based coalition of Muslim advocates, attorneys and community leaders created in 2007, in the wake of the New York City Police Department report, “Radicalization in the West: The Homegrown Threat.” MACLC exists for the purpose of articulating a New York-specific Muslim perspective on homeland security, civil liberties, and counterterrorism decision-making. In the fall of 2008, it issued a counter-report “CounterERRORism Policy: MACLC’s Critique of the NYPD’s Report on Homegrown Radicalism.” The Brennan Center for Justice serves as legal adviser to the Coalition. ----- Ignorance is the real enemy, and in an effort to mend fences and grow relationships Muslims and Jews in Chicago have been part of the Jewish-Muslim Community Building Initiative for several years now. Ramadan is the holy month when Muslims fast and abstain from eating or drinking anything (and from marital relations) from pre-dawn hours to dusk. Iftar is the Arabic word for the meal Muslims have as they break their fast during Ramadan. It was the month that the Holy Quran, was first revealed to the Prophet Mohammed. Ramadan is an opportune time to share one's traditions, especially inter-faith efforts. On September 13, the Jewish Council on Urban Affairs and Anshe Shalom Bnai Israel Congregation are hosting 'Iftar in the Synagogue,' where they will play host to Chicago’s Muslims and Jews in a communal iftar for an evening of what both traditions do best: eating, praying, discussing and schmoozing in a unique interfaith setting. Ramadan, this year, coincides with the Jewish month of Elul, which is a time of repentance in preparation for the high holidays. Participants in the event include Council on American-Islamic Relations, a member of the JMCBI. Attendees from The Inner-City Muslim Action Network (IMAN), a community-based Muslim nonprofit that works for social justice, will also be there. (More) ----- Dearborn -- CIA Director Leon Panetta plans to visit Dearborn on Sept. 16 for an invitation-only dinner and speech with 150 leaders of the Arab and Muslim communities, officials confirmed Tuesday. The visit comes amid an unprecedented outreach effort by the Central Intelligence Agency and as Panetta seeks to double the number of CIA analysts who are proficient in Arabic and other Mideast languages. But the date chosen for the meeting -- the 27th night of Ramadan or "night of power," when many devout Muslims and imams spend the entire night worshiping in the mosque -- is drawing criticism. "They picked the entirely wrong night on this," said Dawud Walid, executive director of the Michigan chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations. "This is our leading intelligence agency who doesn't know this." (More) ----- WAL-MART AND A LOCAL ACCOUNTING FIRM FIRE A MUSLIM FOR PRAYING, SUIT SAYS -TOP But no. That was too much for the folks at Wal-Mart and Deloitte Consulting. Instead, they canned Memon. (More) | |
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Thursday, September 10, 2009
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