AMT TO HOST TOWN HALL ON 2010 ELECTIONS ON JUNE 13 - TOP

On Sunday, June 13, the American Muslim Taskforce on Civil Rights and Elections will host a town hall meeting on the role of Muslims in the 2010 elections in Falls Church, Va.

TOPIC: The political landscape and the role of the Muslim community in the 2010 elections
WHEN: Sunday, June 13, 2 – 4:45 p.m.
WHERE: Dar al-Hijra Islamic Center, 3159 Row St. Falls Church, VA

For information, contact: (703) 536-1030

Speakers will include Nihad Awad, Naeem Baig, Corey Saylor, Ibrahim Ramey, Dr. Esam Omeish, Dr. Imad-ad-Dean Ahmad and Muhammad Salim Akhtar.

Sponsors of for the event include: American Muslims for Palestine, Council on American-Islamic Relations, Islamic Council of North America, Muslim Alliance in North America, Muslim American Society-Freedom Foundation Muslim Legal Fund of America, Muslim Student Association-National, Muslim Ummah of North America, North American Imams Foundation and United Muslims of America.

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CAIR: CALIF. RELIGIOUS LEADERS OFFER CONDOLENCES AT TURKISH CONSULATE - TOP
Delegation concerned about loss of innocent life in Israeli attack on Gaza flotilla

(LOS ANGELES, CA, 6/11/10) -- Representatives from the Greater Los Angeles Area office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-LA) and other faith-based groups yesterday visited the Turkish Consulate in Los Angeles to offer condolences from the American people to the Turkish people and government for their recent losses of innocent lives at the hands of the Israeli soldiers.

The delegation visit follows Israel's May 31 attack on a Gaza flotilla of ships that was delivering much-needed humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza.

The delegation featured leading Southern California Muslim, Jewish and Christian leaders who met with Turkish Consul General R. Hakan Tekin. Those taking part in the meeting expressed a strong desire to bring an end to the brutal Israeli siege of Gaza and its occupation of Palestinian territories.

CAIR-LA Executive Director Hussam Ayloush stated: "We also want to offer support and praises for the efforts and leadership the Turkish people and their elected government have been playing to end the inhumane and illegal siege on Gaza's over 1.5 million residents. We wanted them to know that while our government might not have been supportive, many Americans, including Muslims, Christians and Jews, are very supportive."

Rick Chertoff of LA Jews for Peace spoke of Turkey's historical role in protecting the rights of Jewish people, including during the Spanish Inquisition and Nazi rule in Germany. He also said that Israel's actions do not speak for the many Jewish and Israeli people who do not condone the state's collective punishment of the Palestinians and its disregard for international law.

Ahmad Azam, West Coast MAS Freedom leader, praised the Turkish people's leadership in standing up for justice and human rights and expressed the organization's determination to end the embargo, which has caused horrific suffering for Gazans.

Consul General Takin said: "This has been a great tragedy for us. The brutal reaction by the Israeli Defense Forces on a civilian group of people was never expected. . .Such a needless use of force, the timing, and the place, being in international waters and under darkness, and with serious reports that Israelis fired first, have made us call for an independent investigation. We are disappointed with the U.S. reaction. It was not unexpected, but it was disappointing that the U.S. is not consistent and holds different standards for Israel."

Those participating in the visit were Hussam Ayloush, CAIR-Greater Los Angeles Area; Rev. Jerry Stinson, 1st Congregational Church of Long Beach; Shakeel Syed, Islamic Shura Council of Southern California; Sana Ibrahim, Palestinian American Women's Association; Ahmed Azam, MAS Freedom – LA; Marcy Winograd, Progressive Democrats of America - LA chapter; and representatives of LA Jews for Peace Rick Chertoff, Lillian Laskin, Dick Platkin, and Jeff Warner.

The delegation visit was organized by CAIR-LA.

The Israeli attack has garnered worldwide condemnation, and analysts believe that the incident will spark a positive shift toward ending the Gaza siege.

SEE: Obama Urges Israel to End Palestinian 'Siege'
Groups Hope Flotilla Raid Could Lead to Change in Gaza Blockade
Do Actions of the 'Jewish state' Represent Jewish values?

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 or 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, 202-341-4171, E-Mail: arubin@cair.com

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ORDINARY GAZANS HURT IN 3-YEAR BLOCKADE - TOP
By Karin Laub and Diaa Hadid, Associated Press, 6/11/10

Three out of four factories in Gaza have closed because they can't import or export. Legitimate businesses have been replaced by a Hamas-controlled black market economy. Millions of gallons of sewage are pumped into the sea every day because a lack of spare parts holds up infrastructure repairs. (More)

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VIDEO: CAIR-FL REP SAYS GAZA BLOCKADE ILLEGAL - TOP
CBS4, 6/810/10

View the video.

Muhammed Malik holds a different opinion of the facts. Malik is the Director of CAIR, the Council on American Islamic Relations. "I think it demonstrated, especially the aftermath, that the world is really seeing that what Israel did was hypocritical and was a double standard," said Malik. "The world is really looking for accountability at this point which Israel is resisting and international investigation."

Malik insisted the ship was carrying life saving supplies. "I think it was a ship that was basically trying to take needed supplies to people that have been under an illegal blockade," he said. "So I think it was heroic they defied laws I think in the spirit of Martin Luther King and we're trying to say look we're just trying to get aid to where it's needed."

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VIDEO ALLEGEDLY SHOWS ISRAELI BEATING, KILLING OF TURKISH-AMERICAN - TOP

View the video.

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CAIR-CT: MUSLIMS PRAY FOR END TO GULF DISASTER - TOP
New Haven Register, 6/10/10

Muslims in Connecticut will gather today to pray for an end to the disastrous oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and for the environment.

Imams also have been asked to focus their sermons at Friday prayers on seeking a quick end to the calamity. (More)

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CAIR-NY: MUSLIM-AMERICANS DISCUSS OBAMA'S CAIRO SPEECH - TOP
By Polina Portnaya, New York City Independent Media Center, 6/10/10

June 4, 2010 marked the one-year anniversary of President Obama's speech made in Cairo, Egypt regarding relations between Muslims and Americans. Obama made statements like, "American Muslims have enriched the United States." And "Islam is a part of America." He touched upon violent extremism, the Israeli/Palestine conflict, and democracy, among other topics. He ended his speech quoting both the Koran and the Bible.

The Council on American Islamic Relations - NY (CAIR-NY) gathered in a round table discussion on June 4, 2010 with a group of prominent members of the New York Muslim community to discuss whether they believe there is evident progress made by the Obama Administration thus far.

CAIR-NY is one division of CAIR, which is spread throughout the US in 19 states. It is a nonprofit organization and the biggest Muslim civil rights group, "dedicated to empowering the NY Muslim community through relentless advocacy, media engagement, coalition building and grassroots mobilization," cair-ny.org.

"I helped elect the current president," said Faiza Ali, Community Affairs Director at CAIR-NY. "I want to be able to at least have a discussion to see where we are,one year after the many commitments that were made in his Cairo speech." (More)

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'SEX AND THE CITY 2' HINDERS MUSLIM OUTREACH - TOP
By Nicole Neroulias, The Salt Lake Tribune. 6/10/10

As Carrie Bradshaw might write in her "Sex and the City" column, when it comes to America's relationship with the Muslim world, do the actions of a beautiful woman speak louder than the words of a powerful man?

A year after President Barack Obama proposed a "new beginning" with the Islamic world, now comes Samantha Jones, the provocative and saucy vixen from "Sex and the City 2" who, during a visit to Abu Dhabi, throws wads of condoms at a crowd of men on their way to prayer and simulates oral sex on a hookah pipe.

Meanwhile, the first Muslim-American Miss USA, Rima Fakih, parades around in a bikini to win her crown and "South Park" pushes the envelope with an episode that asks why Muslims are so sensitive about depicting the Prophet Muhammad.

In short, America's cultural exports are making Obama's efforts at Muslim bridge-building a little more complicated. . .

Yet even as the White House has made some progress -- lifting travel bans on Muslim scholars such as Tariq Ramadan, phasing out hostile terms like "Islamic terrorism" and staging a recent entrepreneurship summit for Muslim businessmen -- it all has been overshadowed by a sense of disappointment, said Corey Saylor, spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

Obama's friendly phrases still carry more weight than Samantha's crude gestures, but if U.S. foreign policy remains largely unchanged and U.S. media keep exporting outdated or negative messages about Islam, Saylor added, it will take more than a few speeches to win over Muslims.

"We have to see more positive depictions -- or at least more balanced depictions -- of Muslims," he said, "but I don't see that changing anytime in the future." (More)

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NY: HEATED OPPOSITION TO A PROPOSED MOSQUE - TOP
By Paul Vitello, New York Times, 6/11/2010

A church may be a church, and a temple a temple, but through the prism of emotion that still grips many New Yorkers almost a decade after 9/11, a mosque can apparently represent a lot of things.

In the last few months, Muslim groups have encountered unexpectedly intense opposition to their plans for opening mosques in Lower Manhattan, in Brooklyn and most recently in an empty convent on Staten Island.

Some opponents have cited traffic and parking concerns. But the objections have focused overwhelmingly on more intangible and volatile issues: fear of terrorism, distrust of Islam and a linkage of the two in opponents' minds.

"Wouldn't you agree that every terrorist, past and present, has come out of a mosque?" asked one woman who stood up Wednesday night during a civic association meeting on Staten Island to address representatives of a group that wants to convert a Roman Catholic convent into a mosque in the Midland Beach neighborhood.

"No," began Ayman Hammous, president of the Staten Island branch of the group, the Muslim American Society — though the rest of his answer was drowned out by catcalls and boos from among the 400 people who packed the gymnasium of a community center. (More)