CAIR ALARMED BY FBI RAIDS OF PEACE ACTIVISTS' HOMES - TOP
(WASHINGTON, D.C., 9/30/2010) - The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), a Washington-based Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today expressed alarm over recent FBI raids on the homes of nearly a dozen peace activists in Chicago and Minneapolis. CAIR has also received reports of related FBI intimidation of activists in California, North Carolina and Wisconsin.
SEE: FBI searches homes as part of terrorism probe
Attorney: Feds trying to quiet anti-war activists
The raids were conducted under the pretext of investigating potential "material support" and "terrorism" charges. CAIR executives have expressed concern that the raids were an attempt to silence dissent and chill free speech, particularly regarding U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East and South America.
The targeted individuals included leaders of the Arab American Action Network, the Colombia Action Network, and the Twin-Cities Anti-War Committee.
"Even the Justice Department's Inspector General criticized FBI domestic terrorism investigations of nonviolent left-leaning groups," said CAIR Chicago Executive Director Ahmed Rehab. "The recent FBI raids on well-known peace activists raise concerns that individuals may be targeted based on political rather than security considerations."
"These raids shine a light on an overbroad material support statute that can easily result in First Amendment activities becoming criminal," said CAIR-Minnesota President Lori Saroya. "Groups with political opinions, whether liberal or conservative, must be vocal in expressing concern over the raids."
CAIR frequently reminds Muslims and other Americans of their rights and responsibilities with law enforcement agencies.
SEE: Action Alert #609 -- FBI Visits Prompt Reminder of Muslims' Legal Rights
SEE ALSO: Your Rights and Responsibilities as an American Muslim
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-Chicago Executive Director Ahmed Rehab, 312.212.1520 or 202.870.0166, E-Mail: arehab@cair.com; CAIR-Chicago Communications Coordinator Amina Sharif, 312.212.1520 or 630-935-5562, E-Mail: asharif@cair.com, CAIR-MN Civil Rights Director Taneeza Islam, Esq., 651-587-4712, E-Mail: tislam@cair.com; CAIR-MN President Lori Saroya, 612-327-6700, E-Mail: lsaroya@cair.com
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CAIR-CHICAGO: ACTIVISTS PROTEST FBI RAID - TOP
By Serena Maria Daniels and Andy Grimm, Chicago Tribune, 9/27/10
About 350 anti-war activists, clergy members and trade union members demonstrated Monday outside the FBI's Chicago headquarters and condemned federal authorities for their raids last week of the homes of activists in Chicago and Minneapolis. . .
The FBI also searched the Jefferson Park home of Hatem Abudayyeh, executive director of the Arab American Action Network. . .
Ahmed Rehab, executive director of the Chicago chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said Monday that the investigation into Abudayyeh's organization was "a waste of taxpayer dollars."
"Hatem is a longtime, respected leader in the community. It is unthinkable that he would have any connections to terrorism," Rehab said. "This is a new low. ... This is an example of FBI overreach when it comes to activism or commentary on the (Middle East) conflict." (More)
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CAIR-ST. LOUIS: 'WORSHIP SATAN' SPRAY-PAINTED ON MOSQUE IN SECOND ACT OF VANDALISM IN AS MANY WEEKS - TOP
By Zaid Jilani, Think Progress, 9/29/10
Two weeks ago, vandals spraypainted the words "Worship Satan" and drew a pentagon along the side of the Masjid Qooba mosque in St. Louis. The FBI immediately began investigating the incident, but made no arrests.
Now, vandalism has once again befallen the mosque. The words "Worship Satan" were spray-painted over a different wall of the same mosque, alarming its worshippers. The FBI and St. Louis Police are both investigating the incident, and suspect the same vandals from the incident two weeks earlier may be responsible. . .
Jim Hacking, a local attorney for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, told local news station KMOX that right-wing figures have helped gin up the hatred against Muslims that is leading to vandalism. "Nationally on things like FOX News, you have people like Newt Gingrich comparing Muslims to Nazis," Hacking said. "Just really negative, stereotypical hatred that's been spewing out, and it's really at its worst level, even worse than after 9/11." (More)
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CAIR-IL: MUSLIM CIVIL RIGHTS GROUP AMONG THOSE SUSPICIOUS OF DUPAGE ZONING PROPOSAL - TOP
By Bob Spoerl, Medill, 9/29/10
Concerned citizens and civil rights groups are calling a proposed zoning amendment in DuPage County a potentially unconstitutional infringement on religious freedom. . .
But the timing of the current proposal seems suspicious to some since several Muslim groups have filed recent requests for building and land-use permits in DuPage.
"Regardless of the purpose of the ordinance, the effect is clearly going to burden Islamic organizations the most," Kevin Vodak, the staff attorney for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said.
Vodak said the Council, a leading Muslim civil rights group, would potentially file a lawsuit against the County if the zoning amendment becomes law. . .
"Muslims are kind of the new kids on the block in DuPage and they are going to face the highest burden in having to go to commercial areas, buy more expensive land, create larger developments and be completely away from their neighbors," Vodak said. (More)
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CAIR-MI FILES EEOC COMPLAINT AGAINST POPEYES - TOP
(SOUTHFIELD, MI, 9/28/10) - The Michigan chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-MI) today filed an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) complaint against a Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen restaurant in that state on behalf of a Muslim who alleges denial of employment based on his religion.
The Muslim job applicant reported to CAIR-MI that he recently applied for employment at a Popeyes franchise in Detroit, Mich. On September 11, he was hired, but then reportedly told to shave his beard before beginning employment. The complainant reportedly informed the general manager that he wore his beard for religious reasons, after which he was allegedly told that he could not begin employment until he shaved.
On September 21, the complainant arrived for orientation and again explained the religious significance of his beard but was sent home by the manager.
On September 27, he approached the manager with a letter from CAIR-MI explaining the religious significance of the beard while addressing safety and health considerations. The complainant told the manager he was willing to wear a covering such as a hair net or mask. The complainant was again denied employment.
"We urge Popeyes to take immediate action to bring its hiring policies into compliance with long-established legal guidelines for reasonable religious accommodation in the workplace," said CAIR-MI Staff Attorney Lena Masri.
Masri said Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits employers from discriminating against individuals because of their religion in hiring, firing and other terms and conditions of employment. The act also requires employers to reasonably accommodate the religious practices of an employee, unless doing so would create an "undue hardship" for the employer.
In 2008, the EEOC issued new guidelines on accommodating religious beliefs and practices in the workplace. The guidelines offer protection for workers who wear religious attire such as hijab.
SEE: New Religious Discrimination Manual Released (USA Today)
CAIR offers a booklet called "An Employer's Guide to Islamic Religious Practices" to help corporate managers gain a better understanding of Islam and Muslims.
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 Staff Attorney Lena Masri, 248-390-9784, E-Mail: lmasri@cair.com; CAIR-MI Outreach Coordinator Raheem Hanifa, 248-559-2247, rhanifa@cair.com
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CAIR: DISNEYLAND ACCOMMODATES RELIGIOUS HEADSCARF REQUIREMENT - TOP
By Manya A. Brachear, Chicago Tribune, 9/29/10
Every Muslim-American daughter raised on Disney dreams of becoming a princess. But when that little girl grows up and gets a job at Disneyland, the headscarf prescribed for Muslim women could present a problem. . .
At least that was the case for Noor Abdallah, 22, of Mundelein, who reached an agreement this week with Disneyland Resort to wear a blue beret atop a company-designed headscarf when selling tickets in a resort box office.
"Walt Disney Parks and Resorts has a long history of accommodating a variety of religious requests from cast members of all faiths, with more than 200 accommodations made over the last three years," Disneyland Resort spokeswoman Suzi Brown said.
But a lawyer for the Council on American-Islamic Relations contends Abdallah is the fourth woman to challenge the theme park's policies this year. . .
Ameena Qazi, a lawyer for CAIR, said the civil rights group is urging Disney to integrate the religious requirement into its dress code. After all, Disney's own Muslim princess, Jasmine, even wore a headscarf occasionally in the movie "Aladdin."
"We dream of being princesses someday too," Qazi said. "When we go to Disney as employees, we don't feel any differently. But to tell us who we are might scare away customers, that's really a jab. ... It's kind of killing two visions at once." (More)
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CAIR-LA: DISNEY ALLOWS EMPLOYEE TO WEAR HEADSCARF -- WITH A BERET - TOP
By Rosemary Black, The Daily News, 9/29/10
A beret may resolve a dispute between a Muslim woman and Disneyland, where she works as a vacation planner.
Noor Abdallah, 22, wanted to wear her hijab, a religious head scarf, at her job at a Disneyland Resort Esplanade ticket booth in Anaheim, Calif., reports the Daily Mail. But the theme park objected, and Abdallah refused another position where she would not be seen by the public, according to the Council on American-Islamic relations.
As a compromise, she has agreed to wear a blue beret that will partly cover her hijab. . .
Imane Boudial, 26-year-old employee from Morocco, is still batting Disney for over a year in order to be able to wear her hijab.
Last August, Boudial, who worked at the Storyteller's Cafe in Disney's Grand Californian Hotel and Spa claimed that her supervisors had told her either to take off the hijab she had worn to work to observe Ramadan, to go home or to work in a position where customers would not see it.
It was only when Boudial began studying for her U.S. citizenship that she realized that she could fight for her right to wear the hijab, Ameena Qazi, a Council on American-Islamic Relations attorney told the Mail.
The case is still ongoing.
The Council told the Los Angeles Times that it has received other complaints over the years from Muslim women who said they have been denied "front-stage jobs" with Disney because of their hijabs. (More)
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KINGSBOROUGH COMMUNITY COLLEGE HONCHOS SLAPPED FOR FIRING MUSLIM PROFESSOR HANAA KHALIL - TOP
By Erin Durkin and Corky Siemaszko, The Daily News, 9/29/10
Honchos at Kingsborough Community College have been ordered to take a workplace discrimination class after a chemistry professor charged she was fired for being a Muslim.
Hanaa Khalil, who filed a complaint with the city's Human Rights commission, was also awarded $7,700 in back wages and $10,000 in damages.
"I am hoping that I will be the last one to go through this at this school," she told the Daily News.
A 46-year-old Egyptian immigrant who lives in Queens, Khalil said things soured when she showed up at the Department of Physical Sciences and the secretary spotted her head scarf.
"She turned her face when she looked at me ... she turned her face like she saw something real bad," Khalil told The News. "It was clear to me it was because they found out that I was a Muslim."
In court papers, Khalil said she had posted her resume on a CUNY website and Kingsborough secretary Maureen Sharkey hired her sight unseen in March 2009.
Khalil said she wanted to meet with department head John Mikalopas, but Sharkey "stated that they needed someone to start immediately," court papers state.
When Khalil arrived the next day, she claimed Sharkey took one look at her and asked for her ID "in a dismissive tone."
Sharkey gave her a hard time about not having her Social Security card, even though she produced a green card, passport and driver's license, Khalil said.
"Between you and me, do you really have a Social Security number?" Mikalopas later asked her, the professor claimed. (More)
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MA: CONTROVERSIAL ANTI-MUSLIM SIGN IN PALMER CHANGED - TOP
The Daily Hampshire Gazette, 9/30/10
WWLP's Jackie Brousseau follows the story of the Palmer business owner who had a sign in front of his shop that targeted Muslims.
Russell Baker's original sign, at Baker's Autobody and Self Storage Shop, along Route 20, outraged many. It had read: "Muslims will destroy us from within." It prompted two visits from the FBI.
The sign now reads: "We are on the eve of destruction" on one side, and "Mosque at Ground Zero 73% say no!" on the other. (More)
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CAIR-MI: MUSLIMS: IT'S THE FAMILY, STUPID - TOP
By Jeffrey Hadden, The Michigan View, 9/27/10
Two religious leaders dropped by the office the other day to talk about social conditions in Detroit. They were worried about the lack of family formation in the city, the high rate of illegitimate births and the cultural breakdown that has led to a high rate of violence.
But they weren't ministers. They were Muslim religious leaders -- Dawud Walid of the Council on American Islamic Relations and Imam Abdullah El-Amin. Imam El-Amin spoke of having to enforce proper dress codes in his place of worship and his disappointment, at a high school dance, of a lack of adult supervision of what he considered lewd dance movements. For young men whose baggy pants were slipping down too far and didn't have belts to cinch them up when they entered his mosque, the imam said, he would supply wire coat hangers to be twisted into service as pants-holders. Walid made similar comments.
Both religious leaders, not surprisingly, sounded like Protestant ministers or Catholic priests, worried about staying youth in their flocks. Both of the Muslims leaders said young members of their organizations were able, through the strength of their religious beliefs and the attention and concern of their families, to avoid some of the problems besetting Detroit through lack of family formation. (More)
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LEADERS OF SIDNEY, TINY UPSTATE TOWN, DEMAND MUSLIMS DIG UP BODIES AT CEMETERY ON LAND THEY OWN - TOP
By Corky Siemaszko, The Daily News, 9/27/10
The leaders of a tiny upstate town some 180 miles from Ground Zero are demanding that a Muslim group dig up and remove two bodies they buried on their land.
They say the group, a Sufi religious order, is maintaining an illegal cemetery in Sidney, N.Y., - pop. 5,993.
A spokesman for the Osmanli Naksibendi Hakkani order claims the town okayed the burial ground five years ago and is singling them out now simply because they're Muslims.
"I think it's out of bigotry," said Hans Hass, who also is the head of the local EMS unit. "They don't like us being here, even though we've been here since 2002."
Town supervisor Bob McCarthy raised objections to their cemetery right around the time protests erupted in downtown Manhattan over plans to build an Islamic Center near Ground Zero, Hass said.
"I don't think it's a coincidence," he told The Daily News.
McCarthy, a Republican, said his objections have nothing to do with whether or not they are Muslim. "People just can't go bury a body in a field," he told The News. (More)
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HIP HOP GROUP CONFRONTS RISE OF ISLAMOPHOBIA IN MUSIC VIDEO - TOP
My Faith My Voice, 9/29/10
Native Deen Releases New Song as Part of "My Faith My Voice" Campaign
WASHINGTON -- Native Deen, one of the most well-known and respected Muslim hip-hop groups in the international community, today released a music video in response to the rising tide of Islamophobia facing America, especially in the wake of the New York Islamic cultural center controversy.
The music video, released as part of the "My Faith My Voice" campaign from which it takes its title, highlights many of the concerns Muslims have regarding the vilification of Islam and the heavy-handed focus given to extremist voices.
"As American Muslims, we feel like our voices have been drowned out by the extremists on both sides," said Abdul Malik Ahmad, one of three young African-American Muslim men who comprise Native Deen. "We have always called to the middle path, but moderate voices like ours don't make headline news. As musicians, we know the power of music and hope to reach out to our fellow Americans through this song."
In the opening verse, Ahmad sings: "They're saying we are savages, uncivilized/ Me, my community we work hard, / Every opportunity to break walls, / The fight, the lunacy that they cause, ..."
Later in the song, Ahmad adds: "Go use the same steam, for youth to stay clean,/ Our earth to stay green, we want the same thing,/ 'Stead of burning books, extinguish disease,/ Help spark the flame to help children in need."
View the video.
Native Deen, a fusion hip-hop group, has inspired millions of people of all ages and ethnicities from around the world. It has toured more than 60 cities in America, Africa, Asia, Europe and the Middle East, promoting Islam and positive interfaith relations. Over 4 million people have viewed its videos on YouTube, and its album, "Not Afraid to Stand Alone" is ranked #2 in the DC area on independent music site cdbaby.com. In October 2010, Native Deen will release its newest album, "The Remedy." For more information, visit www.nativedeen.com.
About: My Faith My Voice (MFMV) is a grassroots effort by American Muslims to present the diverse voices and faces of its community. MFMV offers Muslims a platform to reach out and speak directly to America through video messages at www.myfaithmyvoice.com.
Media Contact: Israa Dawood at 202-439-1441 or myfaithmyvoice@gmail.com
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RELIGIONS STAND TOGETHER FOR RESPECT - TOP
By Leah Beno, FOX 9 News, 9/28/10
MINNEAPOLIS - The Minnesota Council of Churches brought followers of every religion across the metro for a Multi-Faith Prayer Service for Respect.
The prayer service is in response to the controversy around the mosque near Ground Zero in New York and the threats to burn the Qur'an.
The president of the Islamic Resource Group, Zafar Siddiqui, says there are approximately 100,000 to 150,000 Muslims in Minnesota. Many have voiced concerns following the recent attacks on their faith. Siddiqui says seeing so many people of different faiths come together to pray beside Muslim-Americans helps those concerns heal. (More)
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