OKLAHOMA MUSLIM SPRINT EMPLOYEE FIRED AFTER RECEIVING HATE CALL -TOP (OKLAHOMA CITY, OK, 10/22/09) - The Oklahoma chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-OK) today called for an apology to a Muslim employee of Sprint who was fired after receiving a hate call. On Saturday September 26, the Muslim customer service employee in Oklahoma City answered a call to Sprint during which the customer asked about the employee’s name and then asked if he is Muslim. After being told the Sprint employee is Muslim, the customer allegedly said, "Well I don't want to talk to you, and you can go to hell." The Muslim employee then hung up on the customer and reported the incident to his supervisor. A week after receiving the hate call, the Muslim worker was terminated without prior notice because he had hung up on the caller. Sprint says it has a policy in which employees are not allowed to hang up on customers under any circumstances. “It is unconscionable for Sprint to fire an employee merely for reacting as anyone would who received a hate call,” said CAIR-OK Executive Director Razi Hashmi. “We ask that Sprint review its policy on bias-motivated hate calls and to issue an apology to the Muslim employee.” Hashmi noted that a similar case in which an Arab-American restaurant manager was harassed by a customer because of his ethnicity was settled for $165,000 in 2008. In that case, the U.S.Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) stated: "The customer is not always right. Whether committed by customers, co-workers, or management, demeaning insults that target workers' national origin are completely unacceptable. The law requires management to step in and prevent this from happening.” 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. CONTACT: CAIR-OK Executive Director Razi Hashmi, 405-248-5853, E-Mail:rhashmi@cair.com; CAIR-OK Chair Michael Aziz Gipson, E-Mail:mgipson@cair.com;CAIR-OK Operations Coordinator Huda Abdul-Razzak, E-Mail:habdulrazzak@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 SEE ALSO: CAIR-OK: STATE CHURCH GROUPS PUSH HEALTH-CARE REFORM - TOP By Barbara Hoberock, Tulsa World, 10/20/09 OKLAHOMA CITY — Several faith groups on Tuesday urged passage of health care reform at the national level… Many statistics show the current health care system is broken, which is unacceptable in a country with such wealth and resources, said Razi Hashmi, a Muslim and executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, Oklahoma Chapter. The nation can’t stand by and let people suffer when there are ways to cure illnesses, he said. “It’s time for us to stop sitting on the sidelines and take action,” Hashmi said. “To allow this is to allow an injustice that should not be accepted by people of faith.” (More) ----- CAIR-MN CIVIL RIGHTS DIRECTOR ON BACKLASH AGAINST MUSLIMS - TOP Minnesota Department of Human Rights, 10/22/09 Taneeza Islam is the Civil Rights Director for CAIR-MN (Council on American Islamic Relations), a national organization with 35 chapters in the U.S. and one in Canada. The Minnesota Chapter advocates for the civil rights and civil liberties of Muslims in Minnesota, presents know-your-rights trainings for the Muslim community, and provides diversity presentations for employers. Islam elaborated on the organization's activities and on discrimination and backlash against Muslims in an interview. Read the interview here. ----- CAIR-MI REP DISCUSSES RELIGIOUS ATTIRE IN COURTS WITH LAW STUDENTS - TOP (SOUTHFIELD, MI, 10/22/09) A representative of the Michigan chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-MI) yesterday took part in a panel discussion for law students at Michigan State University in East Lansing examining accommodation issues relating to religious attire in that state’s courts. CAIR-MI Attorney Melanie Elturk spoke about the recent Michigan Supreme Court administrative rule that gives judges unrestricted discretion to regulated attire of individuals in court rooms and discussed how the rule is of major concern to civil libertarians. SEE: CAIR Seeks Clarification on Hijab in Michigan Courts 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 Attorney Melanie Elturk, 248-559-2247, E-Mail: Melturk@cair.com SEE ALSO: CAIR-OH: EXHIBIT TO FEATURE LYNCHING PHOTOGRAPHS - TOP By Mark Curnutte, Cincinnati Enquirer, 10/20/09 The question is one of relevancy. What does an exhibit of several dozen photographs of the lynching of African-Americans have to do with contemporary society? A lot, say museum executives and academic advisers to the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center. "Without Sanctuary: Lynching Photography in America," an exhibition of postcards, photographs and other memorabilia - including broadside advertisements of hangings that occurred from 1882 through 1968, will open at the downtown museum Jan. 19 and run through May 31... Several local organizations have pledged to sponsor community conversations in association with the exhibit. Among them: Council on American-Islamic Relations, Cincinnati Museum Center,Cincinnati Art Museum and Episcopal Diocese of Southern Ohio. (More) ----- CAIR: MUSLIM GROUP DEMANDS RELEASE OF FBI RULES - TOP Justice Department says it does not want to provide a "road map" for terrorists. By Sean Emery, The Orange County Register, 10/20/09 IRVINE A civil liberties group is fighting for full access to the FBI's guidelines on the surveillance of religious communities, arguing that the Justice Departments recent decision to release partially redacted versions of the guidelines left out key passages pertaining to spying in local mosques… Earlier this year a federal district court judge ordered the FBI to make available for review 48 pages of surveillance memos pertaining to Southern California Muslim organizations after a lawsuit demanding the information was brought by the ACLU on behalf of several organizations, including the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) and the Islamic Shura Council of Southern California. (More) ----- CAIR-NY: ANTI-ISLAMIC DUTCH LAWMAKER SPEAKS AT COLUMBIA - TOP VIRGINIA BYRNE, The Associated Press, 10/22/09 "Wilders has a long history of anti-Muslim bigotry," said Faiza Ali, Community Affairs Director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations in New York City. "He speaks on a platform of freedom of speech, yet has called for the banning of the Quran and taxing Muslim women who don the headscarf," she said. (More)