CAIR: NY BUS ADS SPONSORED BY ANTI-ISLAM EXTREMISTS - TOP
Founder of group sponsoring ads has advocated killing all Muslims

(WASHINGTON, D.C., 8/10/2010) –- The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) said today that controversial advertisements on New York buses opposing a planned Islamic community center in that city are being sponsored by groups and individuals with long histories of promoting anti-Islam hate.

The advertisements, which juxtapose a plane flying toward a flaming World Trade Center with a photoshopped image of the Islamic center planned for Lower Manhattan, are being paid for by a hate group founded by an anti-Islam extremist who has called for the killing of all Muslims.

SEE: City Buses to Get Ads Opposing Islam Center

John Joseph Jay, founder of American Freedom Defense Initiative (AFDI), wrote: “[T]here are no innocent muslims. islam is subject to killing on grounds of political expediency on the same basis as islam kills its victims, and islam cannot ethically and morally claim otherwise.” [Note: Grammatical errors in the original text have be maintained.]

SEE: SIOA Co-Founder: Kill Your Liberal Relatives and All Muslims

The group's other founders include anti-Islam extremists Pamela Geller and Robert Spencer.

Spencer, co-founder with Geller of another hate group, Stop the Islamization of America (SIOA), has called Islam's Prophet Muhammad a "con man." SIOA is an outgrowth of a similar group in Europe that seeks to block the construction of mosques on that continent. SIOA's sister organization, Stop the Islamization of Europe, "considers Islamophobia to be the height of common sense."

Spencer's group has invited anti-Islam Dutch extremist Geert Wilders to speak at a September 11 protest against the proposed Islamic community center in New York City.

The independent national media watch group Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR) identified Spencer as one of "Islamophobia's Dirty Dozen" who systematically "spread fear, bigotry, and misinformation." In its report, FAIR said, "By selectively ignoring inconvenient Islamic texts and commentaries, Spencer concludes that Islam is innately extremist and violent."

SEE: FAIR Unmasks the Smearcasters - Robert Spencer

Pamela Geller has claimed that "Hitler and the Nazis were inspired by Islam" and offered rhetorical support to both accused Serbian war criminal Radovan Karadzic and slain Apartheid-era leader Eugene Terre'blanche.

SEE: Pamela Geller: The Looniest Blogger Ever

She has posted images on her blog that include a fake photograph of Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan in a Nazi uniform, another fake image of President Obama urinating on an American flag and drawings purporting to depict Islam's Prophet Muhammad as a pig. In a June 25 blog entry, Geller posted a video claiming that Muslims engage in bestiality.

CAIR Video: TV Host Exposes Pamela Geller's Anti-Muslim Bigotry
SIOA is an Anti-Muslim Hate Group
Fox Opens Its Airwaves to Anti-Muslim Activist Geller

The United States Patent and Trademark Office refused to grant SIOA a trademark because: "The applied-for mark refers to Muslims in a disparaging manner because by definition it implies that conversion or conformity to Islam is something that needs to be stopped or caused to cease."

The attorney who sued the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority on behalf of the anti-Islam bus ad sponsors is David Yerushalmi.

Yerushalmi heads a group that has advocated prison terms for "adherence to Islam." In a 2007 commentary, he called for a “war against Islam and all Muslim faithful.” He wrote in part: "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.”

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.

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

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VIDEO: CAIR-CHICAGO REP ON MSNBC WITH ANTI-MUSLIM NY CANDIDATE - TOP
MSNBC, 8/10/10

View the video.

CAIR-Chicago Executive Director Ahmed Rehab talks to MSNBC's Tamron Hall about the Islamophobia that is at the heart of the "Ground Zero Mosque" controversy. Rehab also discusses the growing anti-Muslim network in the United States which seeks to delegitimize American Muslims.

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GROUND ZERO CONTROVERSY FUELED ATTACKS ON TEXAS MOSQUE, ISLAMIC CENTER PRESIDENT SAYS - TOP
Fox News, 8/9/10

The president of an Islamic Center in Texas says backlash against the proposed mosque at Ground Zero has made its way over to the Lone Star State and is manifesting itself in acts of hatred against his congregation.

Jamal Qaddura, president of the Dar El-Eman Islamic Center in Arlington, says it started with a disturbing act of vandalism.

“On a Friday, early morning, somebody came and sprayed extremely obscene graffiti in the parking lot. It’s a huge graffiti drawing of Uncle Sam having sex with God, with Allah,” Qaddura told FoxNews.com.

That same weekend, Qaddura said, somebody tried to burn down the mosque by cutting old gas lines and, when they were unsuccessful, went after the playground instead. (More)

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GROUND ZERO MOSQUE CONTROVERSY HIGHLIGHTS ISLAMOPHOBIA - TOP
Ibrahim Hooper, New America Media, 8/9/10

Given the political right's hate-filled and hysterical response to all things Muslim, one has to ask whether American Muslims face a future in which they will no longer be treated as equal citizens.

The best example of the right's campaign to deprive American Muslims of the civil liberties enjoyed by citizens of other faiths is the neo-McCarthyite response to a planned Islamic cultural center in New York City.

Newt Gingrich , who fancies himself a possible 2012 presidential candidate, justifies his opposition to the New York Islamic center because "America is experiencing an Islamist cultural-political offensive designed to undermine and destroy our civilization." (More)

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CAIR: CINCINNATI MUSLIMS TO PROVIDE SCHOOL SUPPLIES FOR NEEDY STUDENTS - TOP

(CINCINNATI, OH, 8/10/10) -- The Cincinnati office of Council on American-Islamic Relations-Ohio (CAIR-OH), in conjunction with the Islamic Association of Cincinnati Clifton Mosque, today launched a ”School Supplies for Students” project that will provide supplies for all the students at a local elementary school. The project is being funded by a donation from the Cincinnati Muslim community.

The two organizations will distribute the school supplies at 11 a.m. on August 19 to some 440 students attending Hays-Porter Elementary School in Cincinnati’s Over the Rhine neighborhood. All the students at this elementary school participate in the free lunch program.

"This project will benefit students and teachers alike,” said CAIR-Cincinnati Director Karen Dabdoub. “According to a 2009 news report, teachers typically spend $1000-$1500 per year out of their own pocket buying supplies for their students. This project will help students succeed in school and allow teachers to concentrate on teaching.”

The supplies will include pens and pencils, notebooks, folders, crayons, pencil sharpeners, and other items.

This project is one of many from the Muslim community that responds to those in need.

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 Cincinnati, Karen Dabdoub, 513-281-8200, E-mail: kdabdoub@cair.com; Roula Allouch, E-mail: rallouch@cair.com

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CAIR: CINCINNATI MUSLIM COMMUNITY TO FEED THE HUNGRY IN RAMADAN - TOP

(CINCINNATI, OH, 8/10/10) – On August 15 (4-6 p.m.), the Cincinnati office of Council on American-Islamic Relations-Ohio (CAIR-OH), in conjunction with several other Cincinnati area Muslim organizations, will hold the 8th Annual Feed the Hungry event.

CAIR-Cincinnati, Islamic Association of Cincinnati, Islamic Center of Greater Cincinnati, Ihsan Center, Muslim Clinic of Ohio and Muslim Student Association are combining effort to provide a hot meal, free health checks, non-perishable food items and clothing to people in the Over-the-Rhine neighborhood of Cincinnati.

"Volunteers from across the Tri-State have served a hot meal to more than 400 people at this event each year since 2003,” said CAIR-Cincinnati Director Karen Dabdoub “The Cincinnati Muslim community feeds people in this neighborhood every day during Ramadan and every Friday and Sunday during the year.”

This service project is one of many provided by the Muslim community in Cincinnati that seeks to meet some of the needs of fellow Cincinnatians. CAIR-Cincinnati and the Cincinnati Muslim community will also be providing school supplies to all the children of Hays-Porter Elementary School in the city’s West End next week, just as school begins.

CAIR, America's largest Islamic civil liberties and advocacy group, has over 30 offices and chapters nationwide and in Canada. 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: Karen Dabdoub, 513-281-8200, E-mail: kdabdoub@cair.com; Roula Allouch, E-mail: rallouch@cair.com

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CAIR-OK: MUSLIM YOUTH GATHER FOR NETWORKING PROGRAM - TOP
William F. O’Brien, The Edmond Sun, 8/9/10

The Muslim Youth Leadership Symposium of Oklahoma recently had its networking dinner program at the Meinders School of Business at Oklahoma City University. The event was sponsored by the Oklahoma Chapter of the American Council on American Islamic Relations that is known by the acronym CAIR to encourage activism among young Muslims in Oklahoma and also to work to foster a positive public image of Muslims in America. . .

Razi Hashmi, the executive director of the Oklahoma CAIR chapter, welcomed the young people from throughout the state to the two-day event.

Dawud Walid, the executive director of the Michigan CAIR chapter and an imam at a Detroit mosque, addressed the gathering and reminded them that many leaders, including Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks, began their activism while they were still in their 20s. He also spoke about Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft, who began that company while he was under 30.

Walid said that all issues in American life would impact them and their families, and urged them to become involved in the political process as a result. An authentic Muslim culture is currently being created in the U.S., the imam asserted, and the young people who were participating in the youth leadership symposium are part of it. (More)

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CAIR-WA: MUSLIMS' MONTH OF FASTING ALSO MEANS FUNDRAISING - TOP
Janet I. Tu, Seattle Times, 8/9/10

Each year, in the weeks before Ramadan, Michaela Corning gets an uptick in the number of invitations to fundraisers for this mosque or that school.

This year, she's received a veritable flurry.

"There are so many different functions going on, especially during Ramadan," said Seattle resident Corning, 35, who works at a research company and also owns a clothing company for Muslim women. "I think part of it is a sign that people in the community are becoming more and more active" . . .

In the past several years, it was not unusual for a few large local Islamic groups to hold fundraisers around Ramadan. But this year, local Muslims say, many more are doing so.

It's an indication of the growth both in the numbers of local Muslims and in the new organizations and buildings they're creating (including plans for new mosques in Shoreline, Sammamish and Redmond), as well as a sign of the community's maturity.

"There are more organizations that have started now that are at a level that can hold banquets," said S. Arsalan Bukhari, executive director of the state chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations. (More)

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VIDEO: CAIR-MI FILES MORE LAWSUITS IN SLAIN IMAM PROBE - TOP
Fox 2, 8/9/10

View the video.

CAIR-MI has sued more police agencies for failing to release information about the killing of a Detroit imam during a shootout with the FBI.

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CAIR-MI: GROUP SUES FOR DETAILS ON IMAM'S DEATH IN RAID - TOP
Alex P. Kellogg, Wall Street Journal, 8/9/10

A leading Muslim advocacy group is accusing local and state law-enforcement agencies of improperly withholding information about an FBI-led raid last fall in which a local Muslim cleric suspected of running a criminal gang was fatally shot by agents.

In three separate lawsuits filed Monday and last week in Wayne County Circuit Court, the Michigan chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations alleges that the Dearborn, Mich., and Detroit police, as well as the Michigan State Police, have denied or ignored at least 10 Freedom of Information Act filings made by CAIR, including requests for surveillance tapes, witness testimony and a recording of a 911 call.

"It is our organizational position that there has been systematic suppression of public information," Dawud Walid, CAIR-MI's executive director, said Monday. "We believe that the people of Michigan, the people of the United States and the people of the world have a right to know what happened in this case."

The police agencies didn't return calls seeking comment. The Justice Department, which also didn't return calls for comment, hasn't released the results of its investigation into the October 2009 raid. (More)

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CAIR-MN: ISLAM AND THE 2012 ELECTIONS- TOP
By Ben Smith, Politico, 8/9/10

A former Bush aide, watching the GOP's current discussion of Islam with some interest, noted to me today that the crucial thing will be how the 2012 presidential candidates handle mosques and Muslims rhetorically: With the deliberate embrace that Bush chose just post September 11, or by seeking to rally parts of the Republican base with religious confrontation.

Tim Pawlenty offers an early sign that he doesn't seem much downside in stoking the conflict:

A dozen Minnesota Muslim groups have called for Gov. Tim Pawlenty to retract the statement he made Friday slamming a proposed mosque near Ground Zero in New York City.

The groups, who sent a letter to Pawlenty’s office Monday, wrote that the Minnesota governor should respect freedom of religion, and asked that he meet with local Muslim leaders to “understand how his comments have negatively impacted the Minnesota Muslim community.”

“Our governor has engaged in collective guilt by saying that all Muslim activities and images anywhere near Ground Zero are degrading and disrespectful,” Taneeza Islam, civil rights director for Minnesota’s chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), said in a statement. (More)

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CAIR-MN: MUSLIM GROUPS TELL PAWLENTY TO RETRACT MOSQUE REMARK- TOP
By Jeremy Herb, Star Tribune, 8/9/10

A dozen Minnesota Muslim groups have called for Gov. Tim Pawlenty to retract the statement he made Friday slamming a proposed mosque near Ground Zero in New York City.

The groups, who sent a letter to Pawlenty’s office Monday, wrote that the Minnesota governor should respect freedom of religion, and asked that he meet with local Muslim leaders to “understand how his comments have negatively impacted the Minnesota Muslim community.”

“Our governor has engaged in collective guilt by saying that all Muslim activities and images anywhere near Ground Zero are degrading and disrespectful,” Taneeza Islam, civil rights director for Minnesota’s chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), said in a statement. (More)

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CAIR-MN: ELECTROLUX AGREES TO ACCOMMODATE MUSLIMS DURING RAMADAN - TOP
Appliance Magazine, 8/9/10

Electrolux has agreed to accommodate Muslim employees at its St. Cloud., MN freezer plant during the upcoming Ramadan fast.

In July, the Minnesota chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-MN) assisted employees in filing an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) complaint against Electrolux after the company threatened Muslim workers with termination if they broke their Ramadan fast on the production floor, as eating on the production floor violates plant rules.

Under the new agreement, the company will shift employees' 30-minute break to coincide with sunset during the month of Ramadan. This will allow Muslim employees to break their fast immediately after sunset, pray their sunset prayer, and eat their Ramadan meal off the production floor. (More)

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CAIR: SOUTH BRUNSWICK SCHOOLS TO CLOSE FOR TWO MUSLIM HOLY DAYS - TOP
By Tom Haydon, The Star-Ledger, 8/10/10

As a Muslim growing up in East Brunswick, Atiya Aftab missed classes and had to make up school work to be with her family on two important holidays: Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of Ramadan, the Islamic holy month of fasting, and Eid al-Adha, the Feast of Sacrifice.

As a mother of three in South Brunswick, Aftab has seen her children go through the same thing.

Until now.

In a decision that sent ripples of hope across the Muslim community well beyond New Jersey, the South Brunswick Board of Education has approved school closings in the 2010-11 school year for two Islamic holy days.

To Aftab, it was an acknowledgment Muslims "are part of the community fabric."

To South Brunswick school board president Matthew Speesler, it was time the district needed "to recognize" the two Muslim holy days and the Hindu new year, Diwali.

About 10 of the nearly 600 school districts in New Jersey acknowledge Muslim holy days as official school holidays, according to the New Jersey School Board’s Association. Paterson’s school calendar recognizes them. . .

New Jersey is also home to an estimated 100 mosques and between 400,000 to 600,000 Muslims, according to the Council on American-Islamic Relations. (More)

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QUR’AN BURNING WORRIES US ENVOY IN JAKARTA - TOP
CathNews India, 8/10/10

A top official at the US Embassy in Jakarta has publicly promised an apology after receiving a letter of protest against a Florida church’s plans for an international burn a Qur’an day.

The Dove World Outreach Center of Gainesville, Florida, plans to stage the event on Sept. 11 to mark the 2001 terrorist attacks in the USA. The notion has triggered outrage among Muslims in Indonesia and worldwide.

“We are deeply concerned, and many Americans of all faiths disagree with the initiative,” said Ted Lyng, the embassy’s chief of political affairs, at a meeting with representatives of Pluralism Care Movement on Aug. 9. “We are pleased to receive this letter and the communication from the Indonesian religious leaders.” (More)