Interstellar News Service

CAIR: MUSLIM WOMAN VERBALLY ASSAULTED IN NC WALMART - TOP

(WASHINGTON, D.C., 10/28/10) -- The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) today said a Muslim woman was verbally assaulted Tuesday in a Oxford, N.C., Walmart by a man shouting religious slurs. CAIR is calling for additional hate crime charges to brought against the alleged assailant.

Become a Fan of CAIR on Facebook
Follow CAIR on Twitter

A 31-year-old African-American Muslim who wears an Islamic head scarf reported to CAIR that an older white man first asked her, "Hey, are you Muslim?" When the Muslim woman replied that she is Muslim, the alleged attacker then reportedly shouted, "God damn you. F*ck you. Go the f*ck back wherever you came from."

The man also reportedly spit in the woman's direction and approached her in a manner she perceived as threatening. He was charged with ethnic intimidation and released. A November 29 court date has been set. The victim says she is now living in fear of retaliation from the alleged perpetrator or his friends.

"An American Muslim woman should be able to go about her daily routine without fear of being assaulted because of her faith," said CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper. "We urge local prosecutors and the FBI to consider additional charges based on the apparent bias-motive of the alleged assailant."

Earlier this week, CAIR's New York office called for stepped-up police protection for a mosque that has been targeted by vandals four times in recent months.

Last week, CAIR's Washington State office held a news conference in Seattle with two Muslim women who were allegedly attacked at a gas station by an assailant shouting racial and religious slurs.

Other recent anti-Muslim incidents include an attack on a New York Muslim mother and child, the arrest of New York teens who allegedly harassed a Muslim student because of his faith and the defacement of a South Carolina mosque.

Mosques in California, Tennessee, New York, Illinois, Wisconsin, Arizona, Louisiana, Kentucky, Texas, and Florida have faced vocal opposition or have been similarly targeted by hate incidents in recent months.

SEE: CAIR-NY Seeks Hate Crime Charges in Attack on Muslim Mother, Child
CAIR-NY Seeks Federal Charges for Hate Attacks on Muslim Student
FBI Meets with Members of S.C. Mosque Defaced with Pork
Hate Packages Sent to U.S. Mosques

CAIR's national office recently announced the launch of a department devoted to addressing the alarming rise of Islamophobic sentiment in American society.

American Muslim individuals and institutions are being urged to review advice on security procedures contained in CAIR's "Muslim Community Safety Kit."

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 National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-744-7726, or 202-488-8787, E-Mail: ihooper@cair.com; CAIR Communications Coordinator Amina Rubin, 202-488-8787, 202-341-4171, E-Mail: arubin@cair.com

SEE ALSO:

EXPOSING THE INFRASTRUCTURE OF ANTI-MUSLIM HATE - TOP
By Frankie Martin, Washington Post, 10/28/10

The dismissal of Juan Williams' from NPR once again exposes the difficulty America is having discussing Islam in a cool or rational manner. Williams' exchange with Bill O'Reilly featured much of the usual ignorance, with both agreeing that, although undefined "good Muslims" do exist, all Muslims must be considered potential soldiers in an Islamic war against America. This ludicrous belief is not only a distortion of reality, but also poses a serious threat to the well-being and security of the United States. In adopting this position, Williams and O'Reilly were reflecting the climate of hatred against Muslims that is fueled by prejudice and lack of knowledge.

The controversy comes in the context of the conflict around the Islamic center near Ground Zero, Pastor Terry Jones' desire to burn the Quran, a growing belief that sharia law is being imposed on America by Muslims, and increasing attacks on mosques in the United States. The interminable wars in Muslim countries like Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as the upcoming midterm elections, in which campaigns have employed heavy doses of anti-Muslim bile, also contribute to the darkening storm.

Today's high anti-Muslim antipathy is the latest wave of xenophobia in a nation that has seen many, especially when a threat was perceived to the country. While current anti-Islamic voices, like the hatemongers of previous eras, frequently attempt to co-opt the Founding Fathers' ideals to support their agenda, there can be no reconciling the vision of a pluralistic nation with the spewing of hate against a particular ethnic or religious group, in this case Muslims. While the debate stirred by these hateful voices is on one level about Islam and how to depict and understand it, it is also about the very definition of American identity.

Much of this bigotry and misinformation can be traced directly to what I am calling the infrastructure of hate, an industry which connects venomous anti-Islamic blogs, wealthy donors, powerful think tanks, and influential media commentators, journalists, and politicians. The most visible component of the infrastructure is the hate blogs, which have recently grown exponentially in number, influence, and stature.

From my position as a research fellow working with American University's Chair of Islamic Studies, Professor Akbar Ahmed, I have watched with horror as the hate blogs have begun to diffuse from their online cesspool to infect mainstream media, political rhetoric, and the larger discussion about Islam in America. There are hundreds, if not thousands of such blogs on the Internet. (More)

------

CAIR-NY: GROUPS REACH OUT TO ATTORNEY GENERAL; FAHAD HASHMI IMPRISONED UNDER DEPLORABLE CONDITIONS - TOP
http://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2010/10/27-13

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 27, 2010

CONTACT: Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR)
press@ccrjustice.org

Groups Reach Out to Attorney General; Fahad Hashmi Imprisoned Under Deplorable Conditions
Special Administrative Measure Set to Expire Friday for Man Whose Acquaintance Allegedly Sent Waterproof Socks, Rain Ponchos to Al-Qaeda

NEW YORK - October 27 - Today, the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR), the Council on American-Islamic Relations of New York (CAIR-NY), and Educators for Civil Liberties, and Muslim Justice Initiative wrote Attorney General Eric Holder to request that the unduly harsh unjustifiably severe Special Administrative Measures (SAMs) regulations under which Syed Fahad Hashmi is being held under not be continued renewed when they expire this Friday. Mr. Hashmi has already suffered was kept under these harsh deplorable conditions of confinement for three years while of detention awaiting his trial last April, and has remained in solitary confinement and under SAMs since then. The impact on his mental health has been devastating.
The letter reads in part:

Scholarly and medical research has overwhelmingly demonstrated the severe health effects of prolonged solitary confinement; military officials and Vietnam veterans including Senator John McCain have testified to its damaging results. The use of prolonged solitary confinement puts the United States increasingly out of step with world opinion and is an affront to American values of civil rights and humane treatment. Other people convicted of terrorism-related charges, including John Walker Lindh, Richard Reid, and Matt Hale have seen their SAMs not renewed. We ask the U.S. Department of Justice to not renew Syed Hashmi's SAMs and to end his solitary confinement.

The material support and services charges against Mr. Hashmi were based on the allegation that he allowed an acquaintance, Junaid Babar, to use his cell phone and to stay with him at his apartment in London where he was pursuing a Master's degree. According to Mr. Hashmi's indictment, he allowed Babar to store waterproof socks and rain ponchos in his luggage apartment that he Babar later allegedly later delivered to Al Qaeda in South Waziristan. Mr. Hashmi denies any intentional involvement with any violent organization, but accepted a 15-year sentence in a plea bargain when he faced a possible 70-year sentence.

For more information about Syed Fahad Hashmi's case, click here. To download a PDF of the letter click here.

###

The Center for Constitutional Rights is dedicated to advancing and protecting the rights guaranteed by the United States Constitution and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Founded in 1966 by attorneys who represented civil rights movements in the South, CCR is a non-profit legal and educational organization committed to the creative use of law as a positive force for social change.

-------

VIDEO: IS FBI USING GPS DEVISES TO SPY ON MUSLIMS? - TOP

Zahra Billoo, an attorney and director of CAIR's San Francisco Bay Area chapter, discusses the FBI's use of GPS surveillance devices to track Muslims without warrants.

Watch the video.

-----

PINK HIJAB DAY A HEADS UP TO BREAST CANCER AWARENESS - TOP
Tricia L. Nadolny, Chicago Tribune, 10/27/10

If you noticed women throughout the Chicago region donning pink headscarves Wednesday, they weren't making a fashion statement.

They were participating in Pink Hijab Day, a growing campaign that is part of Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

What started in 2004 as a small health effort in Missouri has gone global, with Muslim women in several countries wearing the pink head covering to raise awareness about the cancer.

In Bridgeview, every girl at the Aqsa School showed up for classes Wednesday wearing the same-color headscarf. Girls too young to wear the hijab wore pink clothes. Boys in the elementary school sported pink armbands.

"It is an opportunity to use a symbol that we cherish to also promote a cause," said Tammie Ismail, principal of Aqsa School. (More)

-----

CAIR WELCOMES UN RESOLUTION DECLARING 'WORLD INTERFAITH HARMONY WEEK' - TOP

(Washington, D.C., 10/28/10) -- The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) today welcomed a resolution passed yesterday by the United Nations urging member states to declare the first week of February every year World Interfaith Harmony Week.

SEE: Why did the U.N. proclaim World Interfaith Harmony Week? (Reuters)

The resolution encourages member states to “support, on a voluntary basis, the spread of the message of interfaith harmony and goodwill in the world’s churches, mosques, synagogues, temples and other places of worship during that week based on Love of God and Love of the Neighbour, or based on Love of the Good and Love of the Neighbour, each according to their own religious traditions or convictions.”

SEE: Text of the UN resolution on World Interfaith Harmony Week

The idea was proposed to the General Assembly in September by Jordan’s King Abdullah, and Jordan’s Prince Ghazi bin Muhammad presented the resolution before the vote on Wednesday. Prince Ghazi is the coordinator of the Common Word group, which promotes dialogue and understanding between Muslims and Christians worldwide.

CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad is a member of the Common Word group and was a signatory, along with 137 other Muslim leaders and scholars, to an open letter titled "A Common Word Between Us and You," which was sent to Pope Benedict XVI, Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams and more than 20 other Christian leaders in 2007.

SEE: CAIR Joins in Message of Peace to Christian Leaders
SEE ALSO: A Common Word website

Interstellar News Service

Saturday, October 30, 2010

No comments:

Pages You should Visit

Blog Archive

About Me