CAIR-CHICAGO: COFFEE AND CONVERSATION FINDS COMMON GROUND BETWEEN MUSLIMS AND JEWS - TOP
Brianna McClane, Medill News Service, 5/12/10

Religious conversations between Muslims and Jews take place in coffee shops across Chicago. They gather every other month to discuss religious text and its application to daily life, an attempt to bridge cultures with distinct differences and similarities.

Discussions over Coffee is one of many events hosted by the Jewish-Muslim Community Building Initiative. The Jewish Council on Urban Affairs established the organization in 2001 as a response to an increase in hate crime against Muslims after Sept. 11. The two religions unite through culture, education and joint actions with a focus on how to improve the Chicago community...

There is no set structure but the audience dictates the conversation through questions and reflections. A clerical representative of each religion presents a portion of scripture or religious text then the group breaks up into smaller groups to discuss. Coming back together as a large group, audience members can present insights gained and ask additional questions.

Religion has interested Carol Goldbaum since she spent a summer in Pakistan in 1962. She sought answers to questions about Islam tradition at the event...

Unrest between Palestine and Israel causes a conception of Muslims and Jews as uncommunicative, said outreach coordinator Gerald Hankerson of the Council on American-Islamic Relations-Chicago. But he said groups involved in the initiative attempt to break this misconception.

"There may be differences in political viewpoint and cultural viewpoint, but there’s often far more similarities," he said. "We really cultivate the idea that we should be proactive based on our faith traditions to make a better society here in Chicago." (More)

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CAIR VIDEO: SOMALI STUDENTS HARASSED IN MINN. SCHOOLS - TOP

View the video.

Liz Collin (WCCO), 5/13/10 - A St. Cloud school says a handful of its students harassed their Somali classmates, but some of the allegations have been difficult to prove.

For the past two months, school leaders in St. Cloud have been trying to get to the bottom of some serious allegations.

Minnesota's Council on American-Islamic Relations says, in the past year, Somali students were targeted by non-Somali students or teachers at St. Cloud Apollo High School on eight separate occasions.

When, the report was turned over to the U.S. Department of Education, the school district did its own investigation.

On top of the eight reports, it found 13 more that involved white students picking on Somali kids and the other way around. (More)

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SOUTH FLORIDA GROUP OFFERS REWARD IN JACKSONVILLE MOSQUE EXPLOSION AND FIRE - TOP
Sun Sentinel, 5/12/10

The South Florida chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations on Wednesday spoke out against a suspicious explosion and fire that happened at a Jacksonville mosque Monday night.

CAIR is offering a $5,000 reward for anyone who provides information leading to an arrest and conviction in the incident at the Islamic Center of Northeast Florida. (More)

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FBI FINDS PIPE BOMB USED IN BLAST AT FLA. MOSQUE - TOP
David Knowles, AOL News, 5/12/10

AOL News (May 12) -- FBI officials in Jacksonville, Fla., say they have found the remnants of a pipe bomb used in a possible hate crime at a mosque during evening prayers.

Along with local police, the FBI launched an investigation after an explosion shook the Islamic Center of Northeast Florida at 9:35 p.m. Monday, when approximately 60 people were inside praying. No one was injured.

"They heard a loud explosion and went out an emergency exit in the back," Muhammad Mansoori, a Jacksonville resident who worships at the mosque, told AOL News. "There was a fire, and a wall where the bomb was left was blackened. Otherwise, the building is sturdy, no real damage."

Mansoori said the Muslim population in Jacksonville totals around 5,000 families and that most who practice the religion do so at the Islamic Center mosque.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations held press conferences in Miami and Tampa today, and announced a $5,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction of the person who planted the bomb.

"This incident comes after a man was seen barging into the mosque on April 4, shouting anti-Muslim slurs and threatening to come back later," Ibrahim Hooper, the council's communication director, told AOL News. "We're not sure if he is involved with this latest attack." (More)

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FBI INVESTIGATING MOSQUE PIPE-BOMBING AS POSSIBLE DOMESTIC TERRORISM -TOP
Tiffany Griffith, WOKV, 5/12/10

FBI Agents re-emphasizing the seriousness of a possible hate crime at a Jacksonville mosque.

The FBI is looking at this case as a possible hate crime, and now they're analyzing it as a possible act of domestic terrorism. (More)

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VIDEO: ART EXPOSING HATE CRIMES AGAINST MUSLIMS DEFACED - TOP
CBS, 5/12/10

CHICAGO - An art exhibit intended to call attention to hate crimes may have been the target of one. A Muslim student at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago says her artwork, on display in a student gallery, was defaced.

The graduate student returned after a five-day hiatus to find her hate-crime themed art installation defaced with the words "Kill all Arabs" on Tuesday.

Police said the vandalism happened sometime between May 6 and 11, according to News Affairs Officer Anne Dwyer.

The student told police she had painted a wall installation as part of an art project on May 6 and returned to class Tuesday to find a portion of the work painted over.

The exhibit addressed racial profiling and the rise of violence and hate directed at Muslims in the post-9/11 era, according to a release from Chicago's chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations. (More)

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CAIR-AZ EVENT TO EXAMINE NEW IMMIGRATION LAW - TOP

The Council on American Islamic Relations – Arizona Chapter cordially invites you to attend the following event:

Implications of the New Immigration Law on You and Me
Arizona State University - Memorial Union Building – Room 230

Key Note Speakers:

Ed Ableser & Ben R Miranda
Arizona House of Representatives

Alessandra Soler Meetze
Executive Director – ACLU of Arizona

Antonio Bustamante
Attorney at Law

SATURDAY – MAY 15, 2010
PROGRAM BEGINS 4:30 P.M.

For a full campus map, see:
http://asu.edu/parking/pdf/asu_map_tempe_2010_parking.pdf

For more information, please contact
CAIR-AZ: (602) 312-2223
Email: ahlayhel@cair.com

This Event is hosted by the ASU Human Rights Coalition

This event is free and open to the public
Please invite your family and friends

SEE ALSO:

CAIR ACTION ALERT: CONTACT MI REP. ABOUT PROPOSED IMMIGRATION BILL- TOP

(SOUTHFIELD, MI, 5/12/10) - The Michigan chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-MI) is calling on all people of conscience to contact Michigan State Representative Kim Meltzer to express concerns about an immigration bill she plans to propose, which is patterned on of the recent controversial bill passed in Arizona.

Arizona’s law gives legal authority to local and state law enforcement officers request proof of citizenship, a practice that many politicians and civil rights advocates believe will invite racial profiling.

SEE: Arizona Immigration Law SB1070 2010 Another Arizona-ish Law in...Michigan? (CNN)

"The proposal for an Arizona-type immigration law in Michigan is unconscionable and irresponsible," said CAIR-MI Executive Director Dawud Walid. "Not only would the passage of such a law invite ethnic and religious profiling in Michigan, it would tax our local and state law enforcements decreasing resources, involving them in enforcing federal immigration law. We urge people of good conscious to express their concerns to State Rep. Meltzer."

IMMEDIATE ACTION REQUESTED: (As always, be POLITE and RESPECTFUL.)

CONTACT Michigan State Rep. Meltzer to express concern over her proposed Arizona type immigration law that will invite ethnic and religious profiling.

CONTACT:

MI State Representative Kim Meltzer
N-797 House Office Building
P.O. Box 30014
Lansing, MI 48933

Phone: (517) 373-0820
Toll Free: (800) 209-3300
E-mail: kimmeltzer@house.mi.gov, info@cair.com