U.S. MUSLIMS CALL FOR 'A WEEK OF DIALOGUE' TO COMBAT BIGOTRY AND PROMOTE RELIGIOUS TOLERANCE - TOP

(NEW YORK, NY, 9/20/2010) –- A number of local and national American Muslim leaders today issued a call for "A Week of Dialogue" in October to combat bigotry and promote understanding and religious tolerance in civil society.

The call follows a summit of Muslim leaders in New York City held on Sunday, September 19, to discuss concerns stemming from opposition to the building of the Park51 community center in lower Manhattan and to mosques elsewhere in the country, as well as concerns about the rising level of anti-Muslim bigotry in American society.

In a joint statement released today, the Muslim summit participants said:

"We stand for the constitutional right of Muslims, and Americans of all faiths, to build houses of worship anywhere in our nation as allowed by local laws and regulations.

"Also, we stand against the racism, hatred, religious intolerance and ethnic bigotry, directed at Islam and American Muslims.

"We call upon local and national elected officials to join their colleagues in denouncing and rejecting inflammatory rhetoric that endangers the lives of Muslim Americans.

"Further, we call for a nationwide "Week of Dialogue" around October 22, 23 and 24, during which Muslim leaders will conduct open houses at their places of worship. It is our hope and desire that these events will help to allay tensions in civil society caused by the Park51 controversy and will build bridges of understanding that unite and strengthen our nation."

Signatories:

Imam Al-Amin A. Latif, The Majlis Ash-Shura of NY; Imam Muhammad Majid; Vice President Islamic Society of North America (ISNA); Dr. Zahid Bukhari, President, Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA); Dr. Ahmed Elbendary, President, Muslim American Society (MAS); Mr. Nihad Awad, Executive Director, Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR); Imam Siraj Wahhaj, Ameer, Muslim Alliance in North America (MANA); Dr. Muzammil Siddiqi, Chairman, The Fiqh Council of North America; Imam Al-Tayyab Abuel Yamaan, Chairman, North American Imams Federation; Imam Mahdi Bray; Executive Director, MAS Justice & Peace Foundation; Imam Asim A. Rashid, Amir of Majlis Philadelphia; Mr. Haris Tarin, Director, Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC); Mr. M. Salim Akhtar, Executive Director, American Muslim Taskforce (AMT); Ms. Aisha Al-Adawiya, Founder & Exec. Director, Muslim Women in Islam, Inc.; Mr. Muhammad Nasir, Executive Director, Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago; Mr. Abdul-Malik Mujahid, Chairman, The Parliament of World Religions

PRESS CONTACT: Zaheer Uddin, Executive Director Majlis Ash-Shura of New York, 718-848-8952 (o); 917-608-7637 (c)

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MESSAGE TO MUSLIMS: I'M SORRY - TOP
By Nicolas D. Kristof, New York Times, 9/19/2010

Many Americans have suggested that more moderate Muslims should stand up to extremists, speak out for tolerance, and apologize for sins committed by their brethren.

That's reasonable advice, and as a moderate myself, I'm going to take it. (Throat clearing.) I hereby apologize to Muslims for the wave of bigotry and simple nuttiness that has lately been directed at you. The venom on the airwaves, equating Muslims with terrorists, should embarrass us more than you. Muslims are one of the last minorities in the United States that it is still possible to demean openly, and I apologize for the slurs.

I'm inspired by another journalistic apology. The Portland Press Herald in Maine published an innocuous front-page article and photo a week ago about 3,000 local Muslims praying together to mark the end of Ramadan. Readers were upset, because publication coincided with the ninth anniversary of 9/11, and they deluged the paper with protests.

So the newspaper published a groveling front-page apology for being too respectful of Muslims. "We sincerely apologize," wrote the editor and publisher, Richard Connor, and he added: "we erred by at least not offering balance to the story and its prominent position on the front page." As a blog by James Poniewozik of Time paraphrased it: "Sorry for Portraying Muslims as Human."

I called Mr. Connor, and he seems like a nice guy. Surely his front page isn't reserved for stories about Bad Muslims, with articles about Good Muslims going inside. Must coverage of law-abiding Muslims be "balanced" by a discussion of Muslim terrorists?

Ah, balance — who can be against that? But should reporting of Pope Benedict's trip to Britain be "balanced" by a discussion of Catholic terrorists in Ireland? And what about journalism itself? (More)

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CAIR: SUMMER'S ISLAM DEBATE SEEN AS TOO HOT TO TOUCH IN THIS CAMPAIGN SEASON - TOP
By Jordy Yager, The Hill, 9/19/10

After a scorching summer consumed with controversy over issues centering on Islam spilling into the political arena, the topic has quickly turned to political dynamite and threatens to derail midterm campaigns if politicians dare touch it.

The debate has focused around a Manhattan Islamic center – including a mosque – located two blocks from Ground Zero and numerous threats -- some carried out -- to burn or rip pages out of copies of the Muslim holy book the Quran. The political nature of the storm escalated to such heights that nearly every public figure weighed in on one side or another...

Ibrahim Hooper, the spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), worries that the anti-Islamic tones that became pronounced during the debate would continue until a public outcry was heard by the public figures.

"Obviously a number of right-wing politicians think bashing Muslims is a winning political strategy," said Hooper. "It'll continue to play a role as long as these politicians perceive it to be a winning strategy.

"If it's clear that the American voters are rejecting Islamophobia and Muslim-bashing, then it'll change." (More)

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TEMECULA: ANTI-MOSQUE GROUP TO HOLD LECTURE ON ISLAM - TOP
By Aaron Claverie, The Californian, 9/17/10

Local authors critical of Islam and a pastor from a church in Simi Valley will speak at a lecture Monday that organizers say will attempt to explain why residents should oppose plans for a mosque in Temecula's Nicolas Valley, a rural community in the northwest corner of the city.

The mosque is being proposed by the Islamic Center of Temecula Valley, which serves a group of about 150 Muslim families in the area who have been saving money for years to bankroll the project. The plans could go before the Planning Commission in mid-November if a traffic study is completed on time...

Bakh is scheduled to be joined Monday by James Horn, author of a book about Islamic influence in U.S. government, and Kevin Diekilman, a pastor at Simi Hills Christian Church in Simi Valley. Diekilman, who identified himself as a nondenominational Christian, is scheduled to talk about, what he called, the "Christian" perspective on Islam.

"What is it that Islam wants from us?" he said.

The imam of the Islamic Center, Mahmoud Harmoush, has said that if people want to learn about Islam, they should go to the source material.

"The Christian response or definition of Islam will not help if they don't take it from the sources of the religion: the Quran and the Sunnah, teaching of the prophet Muhammad. Otherwise, it will be their definition, like any other group definition," he wrote in an e-mail to The Californian. (More)

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CAIR-CA: BURNT QURAN FOUND OUTSIDE TENDERLOIN MOSQUE - TOP
By Brent Begin, The Examiner, 9/18/10

Police are investigating the discovery of a burnt Quran outside a Tenderloin mosque.

Workers discovered the charred holy book on Sept. 12 inside an emptied trash bin that was on the sidewalk outside the Islamic Society of San Francisco, according to the center's administrator, Khaled Olaibah.

The Bay Area chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations is condemning the act as a hate crime and notified San Francisco police Tuesday after Olaibah contacted the group.

Police spokesman Officer Albie Esparza confirmed that police are investigating the incident but did not release any further information...

Burnings of the Muslim holy book have been reported across the nation around the anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks. A Florida pastor's call to burn Qurans led to international outrage, and the planned construction of an Islamic center near the former World Trade Center set off a fury of protest.

But this is the first incident to occur in the perceived tolerance of San Francisco and the Bay Area, according to outreach director for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, Zahra Billoo. (More)

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CAIR-CA: QURAN BURNING COMES TO SAN FRANCISCO - TOP
Bay City News, 9/18/10

... "This is so un-American, and so un-Bay Area-like," said Zahra Billo, programs and outreach director of the Bay Area chapter of CAIR. "It's the last thing you'd expect here."

She said recent events, such as protests over the proposed Islamic community center near the World Trade Center site, and a plan, later scrapped, by a Florida pastor to burn copies of the Quran, have put many members of the Muslim community on edge.

"They think it's almost worse now than right after 9/11," Billo said.

She said CAIR is asking the Muslim community to be vigilant about other possible hate crimes, and for "interfaith communities and people of conscience to be supportive of our community." (More)

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CAIR-FL: PASTOR BEHIND QURAN PLAN MAY FACE $200,000 BILL - TOP
The Associated Press, 9/19/10

The preacher from Gainesville who ignited a firestorm of criticism over his plan to torch 200 copies of the Quran says he wants to move his church to the Tampa Bay area by the end of the year, NBC affiliate WFLA reported...

Ramzy Kilic, communications director of the Tampa chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, told WFLA that if Jones does move to the Tampa Bay area, he hopes the preacher will show tolerance. (More)

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CAIR-OK: FOR MUSLIMS, BONFIRE THAT WASN'T STILL CARRIES IMPLICATIONS - TOP
By Omar Sacirbey, The Oklahoman, 9/18/10

The crowd-control barriers and TV satellite trucks are gone after a Florida pastor called off a bonfire to burn 200 Qurans. But American Muslims say the political firestorm in Gainesville was more than a momentary flare-up.

The incident laid bare the wildly different perceptions of Islam's sacred text between Americans — or at least some of them — and rank-and-file Muslims, not to mention the differing responses among Muslims here and abroad.

But perhaps most troubling, Muslim leaders say the sacrilege of burning a holy text is less dangerous than the hatred or misunderstanding that motivated it, even after nine years of concerted outreach following the 9/11 attacks...

the U.S., many Muslim leaders tried to ignore the threats, not wanting to give Jones additional attention. Others tried to intervene, including Imam Muhammad Musri of the Islamic Society of Central Florida, who showed up at Jones' office unannounced to try to broker a cease-fire.

"Instead of protesting the Quran burnings — and playing into the hands of extremist publicity-seekers like Pastor Jones — American Muslims and Muslims around the world should ... reach out to people of other faiths and beliefs to build bridges of respect and understanding," said Nihad Awad, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations. (More)

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CAIR-WA: TERROR THREAT TO SEATTLE CARTOONIST SHOULD DRAW RESPONSE - TOP
By Danny Westneat, The Seattle Times, 9/18/10

he case of the Seattle cartoonist who used to be named Molly Norris makes me wonder: Shouldn't we be sturdier than this?

Last week Norris made worldwide news, when it was announced she was "going ghost" because she had been put on an Islamic terror hit list...

One of her biggest defenders turns out to be the director of the local chapter of a Muslim rights group, the Council on American-Islamic Relations. It's all a misunderstanding, he says, a sign of the inflamed times.

"She drew cute pictures of tea cups and spools of thread, asking, 'Am I Mohammed?'" says Arsalan Bukhari. "The idea of the 'Draw Mohammed Day' was insensitive, and she apologized for that. But she wasn't the founder of any anti-Muslim movement."

The two went to dinner after Norris apologized, and they became friends.

Bukhari says the real threat isn't in Yemen. It's that someone here will be incited by the terrorist in Yemen. The way to combat infectious radicalism, especially when it's based on a false premise, is to be strong, publicly, against it. While not marginalizing an entire faith.

"It's essential that we stand by her side, as a community, Muslims along with everyone else," Bukhari said. "We should stand up to people who make these kinds of threats, not look the other way." (More)

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TEXAS STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION SHOULDN'T BUY DUBIOUS CLAIMS OF PRO-ISLAMIC AGENDA IN WORLD HISTORY BOOKS - TOP
Star-Telegram, 9/19/10

Members of the Texas State Board of Education must be craving attention.

The uproar they caused over social-studies curriculum standards has barely died down and now they're considering warning textbook publishers not to give Islam more lines of type than Christianity.

And if the board approves a resolution on their meeting agenda later this week, members will have given enormous influence to a former board candidate who couldn't even win a Republican primary.

The claims by failed candidate Randy Rives of Odessa that "pro-Islamic/anti-Christian bias" has tainted Texas world history textbooks are based on a false premise. And his concerns focus on books that aren't even being used in Texas classrooms.

Still, it's possible the board will uncritically accept as fact his assertions about "gross pro-Islamic/anti-Christian distortions in world history texts."

The resolution before the board is almost verbatim what Rives presented during public comment at a July meeting. It states that the board will reject books that "offend Texas law with respect to treatment of the world's major religious groups by significant inequalities of coverage space-wise and/or by demonizing or lionizing one of more of them."

The resolution even parrots Rives' incendiary and misleading warning that "more such discriminatory treatment" could occur "as Middle Easterners buy into the U.S. public school textbook oligopoly."

Certainly, Texas schools should be presenting students with the most accurate, complete, balanced and age-appropriate information possible. And care is particularly needed with subjects that are most likely to be sensitive, complex and nuanced. (More)

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FATHI OSMAN, SCHOLAR OF ISLAM, DIES AT 82 - TOP
WILLIAM GRIMES, New York Times, 9/20/10

Fathi Osman, an influential scholar who articulated a liberal version of Islam and published an authoritative guide to the Koran for non-Arabic readers, died on Sept. 11 at his home in Montrose, Calif. He was 82. (More)