CAIR: Texas Medical Group Denies Muslim Doctor Right to Hijab
Muslim civil rights organization says ‘no hat’ policy must have religious exemption
(WASHINGTON, D.C., 10/30/09) - The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) today called on a major medical group in Texas to change its policy denying accommodation for Muslim employees who wear religious attire such as Islamic head scarves (hijab) or beards.
CAIR said a Muslim doctor being interviewed for a position with CareNow, a medical group with 22 facilities in the Dallas/Fort-Worth area, was told that a “no hat” policy would prohibit her from wearing hijab. She was also reportedly informed that CareNow prohibits employees from wearing beards. (Many Muslim men view wearing a beard as a religious requirement.)
In an e-mail to CareNow’s human resources department seeking confirmation of the denial of religious accommodation, the Muslim potential employee wrote:
“Being that I wear a head scarf to cover my hair as part of my religious practice, I felt very discriminated against. I have worked in many places that have a ‘no hat’ policy, and I have never been confronted with a problem regarding my head scarf. I can't imagine this being an issue with an organization like CareNow. Please confirm if this is really a policy at CareNow.”
An e-mail response from CareNow stated that the Muslim doctor had been given the correct information about the medical group’s denial of religious accommodation.
In a letter to CareNow, CAIR wrote:
“Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits employers from discriminating against individuals because of their religion in hiring, firing, and other terms and conditions of employment.The Act also requires employers to reasonably accommodate the religious practices of an employee, unless to do so would create an undue hardship upon the employer.CAIR has reviewed the facts of this case and determined that CareNow’s staff did not make an exemption to the ‘no-hat policy’ to accommodate [the applicant’s] religious practices, and thus is in direct violation of Title VII.”
CAIR is asking CareNow to 1) offer the Muslim applicant a position for which she is qualified and to allow her to wear her Islamic head scarf, 2) provide the applicant with a formal written apology, 3) clarify CareNow’s policy on religious accommodation issues and allow a religious exemption to the“no-hat” policy, 4) institute workplace sensitivity and diversity training for staff, and 5) compensate the Muslim applicant for the emotional distress she has suffered as a result of the discrimination.
CAIR offers a booklet, “An Employer’s Guide to Islamic Religious Practices,” designed to help prevent such incidents.
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.
SOLD-OUT CAIR BANQUET CELEBRATES 15 YEARS OF CIVIL RIGHTS WORK - TOP (WASHINGTON, D.C., 10/26/09) - The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) celebrated 15 years of civil rights and advocacy work Saturday with a sold-out banquet in Arlington, Va. At the banquet, some 750 Muslim community members and activists, interfaith leaders and diplomats from Muslim-majority nations heard addresses by CAIR Board Chairman State Senator Larry Shaw (N.C.), Rev. Jesse Jackson, former Congressman Paul Findley, Rabbi Steven B. Jacobs of Progressive Faith Foundation, Imam Mahdi Bray of MAS-Freedom, and Dr. Agha Saeed, chair of the American Muslim Taskforce on Civil Rights and Elections (AMT). “We thank all those who made CAIR’s 15th annual banquet such a success and we now rededicate ourselves to serving both the American Muslim community and our great nation,” said CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad, who also spoke at the banquet. 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: 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 or 202-341-4171, E-Mail: arubin@cair.com ----- The recent settlement in the case of the six imams, or Islamic religious leaders, who said their rights were violated in 2006 when they were removed from a US Airways flight in Minnesota should not prevent anyone from acting on legitimate security concerns. But reports based solely on anti-Muslim or anti-Arab bias and hysteria should not be used as the basis for a "flying while Muslim" incident. Absent actual suspicious behavior, merely offering one of the five-daily Islamic prayers in a terminal, speaking Arabic to a fellow passenger, wearing a head scarf, or "looking Muslim" is insufficient justification to detain passengers or remove them from a flight. In July, a federal judge agreed that the imams' actions before the flight did not justify their detention. She noted that the imams were subjected to "extreme fear and humiliation of being falsely identified as dangerous terrorists," and said "similar behavior by Russian Orthodox priests or Franciscan monks would likely not have elicited this response." American Muslims are just as concerned about flight safety and security as citizens of other faiths. They and their families take the same flights and are subject to the same risks as other members of the travelling public. Flight safety should be based on legitimate law enforcement techniques, not on racial or religious profiling. Our nation's civil rights movement has been advancing steadily for decades, despite calls to maintain the status quo or suggestions to curtail the rights of certain citizens. That movement toward justice for all must not be put into reverse because of post-9/11 fears. When anyone's rights are diminished, all Americans' rights are threatened. America is an increasingly diverse society in terms of race, religion and ethnicity. The best way to react to that increased diversity, and to prevent situations in which stereotypes or bias can create a snowball effect of escalating discrimination, is to learn more about the faith and background of our fellow Americans. Our nation's history has been marred by periods in which groups — whether Irish Americans, African Americans, Japanese Americans, or others — were deemed appropriate targets for discrimination. Thankfully, Americans are capable of looking beyond the prejudices of the moment to see a future of equal treatment for all. [Ibrahim Hooper is national communications director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR).] SEE ALSO: FLYING IMAMS IN THE REAR-VIEW MIRROR: WHAT WAS THE EVIDENCE AGAINST THEM? - TOP As you have probably heard, the case of the "flying imams" has been settled. The six Muslim clerics who were pulled off a U.S. Airways flight at the Twin Cities airport on Nov. 20, 2006 by Metro Airport Commission police will be paid an undisclosed sum by some combination of the MAC, U.S. Air and possibly the FBI in exchange for which the imams will drop their suit alleging improper arrest and other acts of discrimination or defamation… The case caused a huge hullabaloo around these parts on when the clerics were arrested. Congress even passed a law -- and the Minnesota case was discussed on the floor of the House as the motivation for the law -- designed to protect people from reporting their suspicions under circumstances like this. (The passengers who originally raised questions about the imams were not defendants and have not been named publicly. It is not a crime, nor a tort, for a passenger to report his suspicions to the airline crew.) The imams, and the way they were arrested, became for a time the symbol of the post-9/11 national nervousness about Middle Easterners on airplanes and for the allegation that you could get arrested for the "crime" of "flying while Muslim." The nervousness was understandable, but that didn't make it constitutional. The Fourth Amendment protects us against unreasonable seizures by the government, which in a case like this means that even the shock of the 9/11 attacks didn't repeal the simple rule that police cannot arrest someone unless they have probable cause to believe that the arrestees have committed a crime… As you review the facts of the case, ask yourself which of the "suspicious" actions of the imams would have been suspicious if they had not been Muslims. (More) ----- A former Oklahoma City Sprint employee who is Muslim is asking for an apology and a policy revision from Sprint after a claim of being fired for hanging up the phone on an abusive caller. The Oklahoma chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations said the employee wants Sprint to change its policy that states employees are not allowed to hang up on customers. The former customer service employee, who was not named, alleges termination without notice a week after receiving a hate call, said Razi Hashmi, executive director of the state chapter of the council, a Muslim civil liberties group. Hashmi said the employee answered a call Sept. 26. When the caller learned the Sprint representative was Muslim, he allegedly told the employee, "Well, I don’t want to talk to you, and you can go to hell.” The employee hung up and reported the incident to a supervisor, Hashmi said. The employee is not asking to be reinstated, Hashmi said, but just wants "to make sure this doesn’t happen to someone else ... it is unconscionable for Sprint to fire an employee merely for reacting as anyone would who received a hate call.” (More) ----- CAIR-OK: MUSLIM SPRINT EMPLOYEE FIRED AFTER RECEIVING HATE CALL - TOP OKLAHOMA CITY -- An Oklahoma man complains about losing his job after allegedly receiving a hateful phone call at work. A former Sprint worker says he was let go from Oklahoma City's call center after he hung up on a customer who told him he 'could go to hell' because he's Muslim. Click here to watch the video. ----- Click here to watch the video. ----- LILBURN RESIDENT: 'I DON’T LIKE MUSLIMS' - TOP LILBURN, Ga -- The Dar-E-Abbas Islamic center currently sits on a small plot of land on Highway 29 and Hood Road. They want to raze the current building and build a two-story mosque. It’s that expansion that has residents living in the area up in arms. “I am prejudice, I just don’t like Muslims and I don’t want them taking over our neighborhood,” said one resident who lives near the mosque. He did not want to be identified for fear of retaliation. “I don’t want someone coming to my house and burning it down.” (More) ----- STOCKTON - The Islamic Center of Stockton's imam and three of his associates may have been the subject of an FBI terrorism probe that netted little more than tax evasion charges, attorneys for the men said Wednesday. Saeed Ur Rahman, 44, has been indicted on three counts of tax evasion, the U.S. Attorney's Office in Sacramento announced Tuesday. A separate indictment names three other members of the Islamic Center. His brother, Obed Ur Rahman, 57, Mohammad Nasir Khan, 51, and Shaker Ahmed, 36, have been indicted on charges they conspired to avoid paying taxes on a 2004 duplex sale. The indictments were unsealed Tuesday. Each of the four men face the potential of spending time in federal prison if convicted. They're free for now after securing property bonds. The four are expected back in a Sacramento federal courtroom early next month. Sacramento attorney Bruce Locke, who represents Khan, said he learned that an FBI joint anti-terrorism task force initiated the probe. "It leads me to believe that the agents didn't have anything to charge them with," Locke said. "Rather than admit wasting time during the investigation, they charged them with tax offenses." (More) SEE ALSO: Most days, not much happens in this sleepy farming community, population: 100. Yet for a few short, dramatic hours last week, Kinsman doubled in size as scores of armed and armoured federal agents swept in. U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation agents some carrying assault rifles raided an Islamic slaughterhouse, which opened in the village four years ago. There, the FBI questioned a handful of immigrants, and has kept a conspicuous silence ever since. The locals say the butchery, located on the outskirts of Chicago, was owned and managed by Pakistanis hailing from Canada including its owner, who is now in jail under mysterious circumstances. Faced with this paucity of information, the villagers complain that they are now left to fear a different kind of slaughter may have been in the works. “Our biggest concern is, ‘Is everybody safe?'” said Mark Harlow, a corn farmer who doubles as the village mayor. “Don't you think the FBI would tell the community a little something, to relieve the pressure a little bit?” The FBI has not said why dozens of its agents arrived in more than 40 dark cars and vans on Oct. 18, or why the raid involved a helicopter, surveillance plane and a mobile “command centre” trailer on the ground, complete with a satellite uplink. For a day, this scrutiny was brought to bear on the ramshackle slaughterhouse, from which the agents pulled records and computer files after getting a search warrant. Strangely, save for FoxNews.com and the local press, this dragnet made barely a ripple in the news. Either it had to have been a pressing national-security investigation, or a raging paranoia that had gotten completely out of hand. Tahawar Hussein Rana, a 48-year-old Chicago entrepreneur whom some locals describe as a Canadian, is the only person in custody. A federal U.S. database places him as a current inmate of a Chicago prison, yet there are no publicly filed charges against him. Nor, for that matter is there even mention of a “sealed” indictment. (More) ----- Sometimes, politics is so entwined with community-based good works and elected officials' public service that it can be hard to separate them. The eighth annual Howard County Muslim Council food drive and picnic last week is a good example. The event, conceived after the Sept. 11 attacks to help combat stereotypes, combined the local Muslim community's desire to help the poor and be a vital part of the county's public life with the Community Action Council's need for help with its food bank. The annual event attracts many public officials, who go to offer support and, by their presence, perhaps attract some, too. The next election is just a year away, and most candidates are busily raising money. County Executive Ken Ulman, Rep. John Sarbanes and all four Democratic County Council members stopped by. They were joined by Democratic state Sen. James N. Robey, who as county executive worked to reach out to area Muslims after 9/11; Democratic Del. Guy Guzzone; and county police, fire and school officials, including Superintendent Sydney L. Cousin, school board Chairman Frank Aquino and three other elected board members. Two candidates for the House of Delegates, Democrats Jon Weinstein and Maryann Maher, attended. The county's Muslim community, led by its council's president, Dr. Rashid A. Chotani, collected about 10,000 pounds of nonperishable food for the struggling Howard County Food Bank through personal donations and from gifts solicited at area food stores over the previous week. Sunday's rain and cold pushed the group's annual picnic and celebration across Route 108 from Cedar Lane Park to the Dar-al-Taqwa Mosque, whose leaders donated use of their building. "You see Muslims, Christians and Jews," Chotani said, looking around as children scurried about clutching pink cotton candy and popcorn, while adults sat at tables eating grilled chicken and hamburgers and chatting. "I just want this to grow and bring all Muslims together" with the rest of the county, Chotani said. (More) |
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ELLISON DENOUNCES CALLS FOR PROBE OF ISLAMIC GROUP - TOP Speaking on the House floor last night, Rep. Keith Ellison read a statement denouncing a group of conservative lawmakers who think an Islamic group may be sending spies into Congress. The statement, which was co-authored by several minority caucuses, criticized four representatives for seeking an investigation into the Council on American-Islamic Relations in response to claims in a new book, "Muslim Mafia," that CAIR is trying to plant interns on Capitol Hill. One of the representatives calling for the investigation, North Carolina Republican Sue Myrick, wrote the forward to the book. Ellison, the first Muslim member of Congress, has had a long relationship with CAIR, which called the allegations "racist." Ellison related the probe to McCarthyism in the 1950s. (More) SEE ALSO: VIDEO: ELLISON READS TRI-CAUCUS SUPPORT FOR MUSLIMS ON HOUSE FLOOR - TOP View the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=STSqmcs-Y_U Mr. ELLISON. Madam Speaker, I come here to read a statement that was recently issued by an organization here in our own Congress, our own body, known as the Tri-Caucus. The Tri-Caucus includes members of the Black Caucus, Hispanic Caucus and the Asian Caucus, and is made up of about 87 Members of this body. The statement says as follows: “Four of our colleagues, Representatives JOHN SHADEGG of Arizona, PAUL BROUN of Georgia, TRENT FRANKS of Arizona and SUE MYRICK of North Carolina recently requested the House Sergeant at Arms to launch an investigation of the civil rights group CAIR, or Council on American-Islamic Relations, to determine whether it was placing staff and interns in key congressional offices who they fear are acting as `spies.' “This proposed investigation coincides with the launch of a book by Dave Gaubatz, an anti-Islamic activist and author of the book `Muslim Mafia: Inside the Secret Underworld that's Conspiring to Islamize America.' It features an introduction by Representative Myrick and was written after Gaubatz posed as an intern at CAIR in an effort to `infiltrate' the group. “These charges smack of an America 60 years ago where lists of `un-American' agitators were identified. We should be affirming the importance of diversity and tolerance for all interns and staff who serve in Congress without suspicion of being identified as `spies.' (More) --- ELLISON TAKES TO HOUSE FLOOR TO SPEAK OUT AGAINST MUSLIM 'INTERN SPY' HUNT - TOP ----- BACKGROUND: RACHEL MADDOW EXPOSES ANTI-ISLAM EXTREMISTS IN CONGRESS -TOP CAIR REP DISCUSSES 'MANCHURIAN INTERNS' WITH CNN'S RICK SANCHEZ - TOP ----- CAIR-LA, CALIF. MUSLIMS JOIN RALLY AGAINST NEO-NAZIS - TOP (ANAHEIM, CA, 10/27/09) The Greater Los Angeles Area office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-LA), along with members of the Riverside Muslim community, joined a rally on Saturday against neo-Nazis who had gathered to protest undocumented day laborers. The organizers of the counter-protest said more than 600 members of diverse faiths and backgrounds joined the rally to speak out against the hatred and bigotry espoused by the neo-Nazis. CAIR-LA Executive Director Hussam Ayloush, who attended the rally with his children, said: “It’s important for all Americans -- whether Muslim, Jewish, Christian, Asian, Latino, African-American, or other -- to strongly and vehemently speak out against the hatred and bigotry of those who seek to dehumanize others. “I brought my teenage children with me to the counter-protest to make sure they never take for granted the sacrifices of early civil rights activists such as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X and Cesar Chavez. “With the continued economic downturn, anti-immigrant and racist groups are increasingly promoting anti-immigrant sentiment by unfairly blaming immigrants documented or otherwise for ‘stealing’ American jobs. “CAIR-LA rejects such scapegoating and calls for immigration reforms that preserve the dignity and respect of immigrants and their families.” SEE: A Muslim Perspective on Illegal Immigration The neo-Nazi group, National Socialist Movement, held a rally last month but was met with hundreds of counter-protesters. Earlier this month, Jewish worshipers at Temple Beth El in Riverside were intimidated and harassed by neo-Nazis who held signs and flags bearing Nazi swastikas in front of the synagogue. SEE: Calif. Muslims Condemn Neo-Nazi Harassment The counter-protest was organized by 50 community organizations, including CAIR-LA and the Islamic Center of Riverside. 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: CAIR-LA Communications Manager Munira Syeda, 714-776-1847, 714-851-4851, E-Mail: info@losangeles.cair.com; 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 or 202-341-4171, E-Mail: arubin@cair.com ----- CAIR-MI OFFERS ‘KNOW YOUR RIGHTS’ INFO TO HAJJ TRAVELERS - TOP (SOUTHFIELD, MI, 10/27/09) The Michigan chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-MI), along with the Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Services (ACCESS), yesterday offered a “Know Your Rights” presentation to travelers who are about to make Hajj, or the pilgrimage to Mecca, from the Islamic Center of America in Dearborn. The presentation included information on how to request same-gender screening in private rooms instead of going through full-body screening machines and how to file complaints if a traveler believes he or she has been subjected to ethnic or religious profiling. In 2007, a Hajj group from the Islamic Center of America was barred from boarding a Northwest Airline plane. Northwest Airlines later apologized and gave compensation to those who were barred. SEE: Northwest Apologizes to ‘Bumped’ Hajis (Arab News) CAIR-MI encourages all who plan on leaving for Hajj in November to review CAIR’s American Muslim Civic Pocket Guide. SEE: Your Rights and Responsibilities as an American Muslim 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: CAIR-MI Executive Director Dawud Walid, 248-842-1418, 248-559-2247, E-Mail: dwalid@cair.com ----- FAIRMONT COPLEY ACCUSED OF BIAS AGAINST 7 WORKERS - TOP Seven current and former employees are suing the Fairmont Copley Plaza in Boston and its parent company for discrimination, alleging that hotel managers treated them unfairly and failed to act when other workers verbally abused and physically threatened them because of their Moroccan descent and Muslim religious beliefs. “There became a pattern of harassment and after the attacks on Sept. 11, the level of harassment increased,’’ said Rahsaan Hall, an attorney with the nonprofit Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law of the Boston Bar Association, which filed the complaint against the Fairmont Copley yesterday in US District Court. (More) | |
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DRESDEN, Germany – The husband of a pregnant Egyptian woman knifed to death in a German courtroom testified Monday that the alleged attacker continued stabbing his wife even after she was on the ground.
The suspect, 29-year-old Alexander W., arrived for his trial in the same court room Monday with his face concealed beneath a hood, hat, sunglasses and a mask. Only after several urgings by the judge did he remove the mask, hat and hood, but he was fined for contempt of courtfor keeping the sunglasses on.
He faces charges of murder, attempted murder and dangerous bodily harm for the July slaying of 31-year-old Marwa al-Sherbini. As in all criminal cases in Germany, Alexander W.'s surname will be withheld by the court unless the defendant is convicted.
The attack has outraged Muslims, who dubbed al-Sherbini "the headscarf martyr" and lambasted it as evidence of Islamophobia in Europe.
The glories of Istanbul have arrived in Paris.
From white marble statues of Greek and Roman gods to gleaming medieval Christian icons to a huge red Ottoman tent, an exhibition devoted to Istanbul seeks to expand French awareness of the city's multicultural heritage in a country deeply skeptical of Turkey's European aspirations.
Some 300 works of art from museums in 14 countries in Europe, Turkey and Qatar cap two years of work to create the exhibit "FromByzantium to Istanbul" at the Grand Palais. Some of the pieces from Turkish museums have left their country for the first time.
Bathed in subdued red light, the exhibition takes the visitor through 8,000 years of history of the "city of a hundred names" known as Byzantium, then Constantinople and now Istanbul. It focuses on its role linking Europe and Asia as "one port for two continents."
The exhibition, opened this month by French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Turkish President Abdullah Gul, is the centerpiece of the "Year of Turkey," a panoply of some 400 Turkish cultural events over nine months offering everyone a chance to become better acquainted with Turkey's culture.
Even though the dinner is sold out, CAIR still needs your support. With all the challenges currently faced by the American Muslim community, now is the time to send in a generous donation, become a CAIR member or renew your membership.
CAIR Banquet Sold Out, Congressional Coalition Blasts Anti-Muslim Reps
(WASHINGTON, D.C., 10/23/09) - The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) announced today that its 15th annual banquet on October 24th in Arlington, Va., is sold out. (The banquet registration site will close tonight at 9 p.m. Eastern. No tickets will be sold at the door.)
At the dinner on Saturday, hundreds of Muslim community members and activists, interfaith leaders and diplomats from Muslim nations will hear addresses by Rev. Jesse Jackson, formerCongressman Paul Findley, Imam Mahdi Bray of MAS-Freedom, and Dr. Agha Saeed, chair of the American Muslim Taskforce on Civil Rights and Elections (AMT). Muslim comedian Ahmed Ahmed will perform at the banquet.
CAIR also announced that the Congressional Tri-Caucus, a coalition made up of theCongressional Black Caucus, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, released a statement blasting far-right House members who recently promoted a Muslim-bashing book to insinuate that Muslims in Congress are “spies.”
The Congressional Tri-Caucus statement reads in part:
“These charges smack of an America of sixty years ago where lists of “un-American” agitators were identified. We should be affirming the importance of diversity and tolerance for all interns and staff who serve in Congress without suspicion of being identified as ‘spies.’
“The idea that we should investigate Muslim interns as spies is a blow to the very principle of religious freedom that our founding fathers cherished so dearly. If anything, we should be encouraging all Americans to engage in the U.S. political process; to take part in, and to contribute to, the great democratic experiment that is America.
“We all have experienced the sting of discrimination and we know that there will be challenges ahead. But our message should be firm that the America we believe in welcomes people of all backgrounds to the U.S. Congress.”
SEE: 87-Member Minority Caucus: Muslim 'Intern Spy' Hunt Smacks Of McCarthy Era
SEE ALSO: Rachel Maddow Exposes Anti-Islam Extremists in Congress
Paul David Gaubatz, the co-author of the book launched by the far-right elected officials, is the former “Director of Intelligence and Counter-terrorism Studies” of the racist hate group Society of Americans for National Existence (SANE) and its associated Mapping Shari’a in America Project. The Mapping Shari’a in America Project is devoted to spying on mosques and other Islamic institutions in the United States.
SANE’s 2007 IRS Form 990 indicates that Gaubatz was paid $148,898 for “research.”
Gaubatz has a long history of bigotry targeting Islam and Muslims. He has called Islam an “evil ideology” and a “terminal disease.” Along with his past rhetorical attacks on CAIR and Islam, Gaubatz has called President Obama a “crack head” and wrote that “a vote for Hussein Obama is a vote for Sharia Law.”
A 2007 commentary by the head of SANE, David Yerushalmi, called for a “war against Islam and all Muslim faithful.” Yerushalmi wrote in part:
“…The following can be considered the SANE War Manifesto. On the so-calledGlobal War on Terrorism, GWOT, we have been quite clear along with a few other resolute souls. This should be a WAR AGAINST ISLAM and all Muslim faithful…At a practical level, this means that Shari’a and Islamic law are immediately outlawed. Any Moslem in America who adopts historical and traditional Shari’a will be subject to deportation. Mosques which adhere to Islamic law will be shut down permanently. No self-described or practicing Muslim, irrespective of his or her declarations to the contrary, will be allowed to immigrate to this country…”
Another SANE “manifesto” called for making “adherence to Islam” punishable by a 20-year prison term.
SANE’s website once contained the following white supremacist language as part of its mission statement:
“America was the handiwork of faithful Christians, mostly men, and almost entirely white, who ventured from Europe to create a nation in their image of a country existing as free men under G-d.”
Other articles on the SANE website made racist statements such as: “There is a reason the founding fathers did not give women or black slaves the right to vote,” and "Race matters and affects your intelligence. Jews are the smartest white people around. Orientals smarter than Whites. Latinos next. Then Blacks.”
Another SANE article stated:
“Is there something unique about the Black American (or, at least the Black New Yorker) that leads him to murder so disproportionately and to most often kill and victimize his own?”
Since the launch of the Muslim-bashing book by the far-right officials, CAIR has reported that that one of its directors received a death threat apparently prompted by the book’s Islamophobic content.
SEE: Death Threat Against CAIR Official
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.
