TSA SCANNERS, PAT-DOWNS PARTICULARLY VEXING FOR MUSLIMS, OTHER RELIGIOUS GROUPS - TOP
By Tara Bahrampour, Washington Post, 12/22/10

As Erum Ikramullah prepared to head to National Airport on Thursday for a flight out of town, she mulled over two distasteful choices: The body scanner or the pat-down?

Ever since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, a trip to the airport has been fraught for Muslims, who sometimes feel they are being unfairly scrutinized because of their religion. The addition of full-body scanners, which many say violate Islam's requirements for modesty, has upped the stakes, especially for women.

Ikramullah, who is 29 and wears a headscarf, was reluctant to go through the new scanners, which reveal the contours of the human body in glaring detail.

In Islam, "a woman's body and a man's body are both pretty much private," she said. "I choose to cover myself and dress in loose-fitting clothing so the shape of my body is not revealed to everyone in the street."

The other choice, an "enhanced" pat-down in which security agents touch intimate body parts, was hardly more appealing, said the College Park resident. In recent years, she said, she has been pulled aside for a milder version of the pat-downs almost every time she flies. The reason, she believes, is her headscarf.

"It can be humiliating when you're standing there and people are walking by, seeing you get the pat-down," she said. "You just feel like you have a target on your head."

Muslims aren't alone in their antipathy toward the new security measures. A number of other religious groups, including Sikhs, Orthodox Jews and some evangelical Christians, say the measures also make them uncomfortable or violate the tenets of their faith.

About 430 advanced imaging technology machines are in use in the United States, with plans for 1,000, in roughly half the nation's security checkpoint lanes, by the end of 2011.

Opponents and civil libertarians have likened the scanning to a virtual strip search, and it has caused some to rethink their holiday travel.

"I've had a lot of Muslims, and particularly Muslim women, say they're going to put off travel plans as much as is humanly possible because they just can't take the humiliation of it all," said Ibrahim Hooper, a spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR). "They're tired of being singled out for their attire. We have reports of Muslim women in tears." (More)

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CAIR-SAN ANTONIO: JESUS AND MARY HOLD POSITIONS OF RESPECT - TOP
Sarwat Husain, MySanAntonio.com, 12/20/10

"O People! Verily We have created you from a man and woman and We made you into various tribes and creeds for the purpose of mutual recognition (not discrimination and racial pride). Verily the most prestigious and honored amongst you is he who fears God most. Verily, God is All Knowing, All Aware."

QURAN ON EQUALITY [49:13]

The above quote is one of the favorite verses of mine in the Quran. It proves that all people are created equal by the same creator; we can call him by different names.

As the festivities of Christmas celebrations are going on, it is also time to reflect on the peaceful teachings of Jesus, peace be upon him, and how other faiths view him. By doing so we all can learn that there is so much more in common between Islam and Christianity than the dividers want us to know. (More)

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CAIR-NJ: NJ DAD: I WAS DENIED CUSTODY OF SON FOR BEING Muslim - TOP
CBS New York, 12/22/10

PATERSON, N.J. (1010 WINS) -- A New Jersey father says he's being denied custody of his young solely because he's a Muslim.

At a news conference Tuesday, Muhammed Khalil told reporters including 1010 WINS' Steve Sandberg that a Division of Youth and Family Services worker unleashed a barrage of insults at him in a crowded Paterson restaurant.

1010 WINS' Steve Sandberg reports

Khalil, a green card holder originally from Egypt, said the case worker asked him "where is your knife? You'll slit my throat" and also asked "where is your bomb strapped on you?"

Another Muslim woman, Sandy Dahmra, who was with Khalil at the restaurant, was allegedly told "go back to your country."

Both Khalil and Dahmra said they had other comments directed toward them including "terrorist," "Bin Laden lover" and "why don't you call your Allah."

The case worker also publicly declared he would never get his boy back, Khalil said.

Khalil has not seen his 6-year-old son since he was taken from his mother's home a year ago and placed with foster parents for reasons unknown because of privacy laws. Khalil was not living there at the time and is separated from the boy's mother.

Khalil wants an investigation and said the worker also violated privacy laws by disclosing the case in public. Ultimately, though, Khalil said he just wants his little boy back. ...

The agency said it "continues to have an ongoing dialogue" with CAIR (Council on American Islamic Relations), which is supporting Khalil in his fight. (More)

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CAIR-NJ: NJ MUSLIM ALLEGEDLY CALLED 'TERRORIST,' 'OSAMA LOVER' BY STATE EMPLOYEE - TOP
By Brian Thompson, 12/22/10

Mohamad Khalil was eating dinner with a friend in a downtown Paterson, N.J. restaurant when chilling words were thrown his way, according to a police report.

"Terrorist," "Do you have your bomb belt?" "Are you going to slit my throat? Where is your knife?" were just some of the quotes cited in the police report.

Another was "Osama Bin Laden lover."

The man uttering the words then allegedly turned on Khalil's partner, Sandra Damrah -- an American-born woman who says her father fought in World War Two and her brother in Vietnam-- and told her to "go back to your country."

"Your people are ruining my country," the man allegedly said.

The verbal assault appears to have stemmed from a battle over Khalil's efforts to get custody of his young son.

The man who allegedly made those comments is, according to Khalil, a state Division of Youth and Family Services employee handling Khalil's case. That state worker just happened to see Khalil and Damrah at the restaurant. ...

According to James Yee, Executive Director of New Jersey's chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, the boy was put in a Christian home and is being raised with Christian cultural values, an instance the group said happens all to often with a state agency that is too often insensitive to keeping Muslim children in Muslim families. (More)

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MOHAMED SIGN IN DAKOTA CITY STIRS CONTROVERSY - TOP
Bret Hayworth, Sioux City Journal, 12/22/10

DAKOTA CITY, Neb. -- Dakota City councilman Bob Lane whipped up a controversy when he placed a sign on his property reading "Never Trust a Man Named Mohamed."

Lane, well-known in Dakota City for his strong opinions primarily on local and county government, placed the sign near a multiplex rental unit he owns in the 300 block of North 14th Street, a high-traffic route into the Dakota County town of 1,827. The sign led several residents to lodge complaints at City Hall.

Lane told the Journal he had removed the Mohamed sign after it had been up for more than a week and replaced it midafternoon Monday with a holiday message. He didn't specify what the Mohamed name referenced.

"It is freedom of speech. Whenever we have a problem in the nation, the first name, the middle name or the last name is often Mohamed," said Lane, a multi-term councilman who was re-elected this year. (More)

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VIDEO: CAIR DECRIES ANTI-MUSLIM POLICE TRAINERS - TOP
Press TV, 12/22/10

Watch the video here.

This is the letter CAIR has written to America's top law enforcement official Attorney General Eric Holder accusing the Department of Justice of using anti Muslim trainers to teach city and state police about how to deal with the Muslim community and demanding the practice stop.

CAIR says openly Muslim bashing groups like this one run by neoconservative Frank Gaffney head of a right wing think tank in Washington have been hired to educate local state and federal cops about Muslims, but says CAIR director Nihad Awad who wrote the letter, the result is misinformation about Muslims paid for with taxpayer dollars. ...

Awad says the government should not be paying people who see Muslims as a suspect community to train police. And that self described experts, many of them openly contemptuous of the Muslim community that the government hires are teaching local police that so-called radical Muslims are conducting a quote stealth jihad in the United States to take over the country. Complete nonsense says CAIR which wants Holder to review the training programs and make sure what the cops are being taught is accurate.

The department of justice has not yet responded to CAIR's demands, but a spokesman says the government is protecting privacy, civil rights and civil liberties in the use of expert to educate police and legal professionals about a basic understanding of Islam in what it calls sensitivity training for law enforcement.

CAIR is drafting other letters to Dept of Homeland Security and Dept of Defense demanding same as DOJ not to use anti Muslim trainers.

SEE ALSO:

THREE ANTI-ISLAMIC SECURITY AND TRAINING COMPANIES - TOP
Chip Berlet, Huffington Post, 12/22/10

Three security and training companies need special scrutiny from the U.S. Justice Department for their role in spreading bigotry within the ranks of law enforcement and counterterrorism agents. Their seminars are so biased and ideologically-driven that not a single dime of tax dollars should be allowed to fund their seminars.

If tax dollars were being spent to train counterterrorism agents about the inherent violence of Christians or Jews, the public outcry and government response would be swift. Our nation's indifference and inaction writes its own indictment of our bigotry against Islam and Muslims.

In their version of the threat of "radical Islam" in American society every Muslim ends up being a scapegoat for our fears and anxieties in our post-9/11 nation.

Here are brief sketches of three firms spreading bigotry through trainings: (More)

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CAIR-NY: REP. PETE KING'S AMERICAN MUSLIM PROBE - TOP
Newsday, 12/21/10

In his recent commentary "What's radicalizing Muslim Americans?" [Dec. 19], Rep. Peter King (R-Seaford), incoming chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security, claimed law enforcement officials tell him "they received little or - in most cases - no cooperation from Muslim leaders and imams" on counterterrorism issues. He says he plans to hold hearings on alleged American Muslim "radicalization."

Maybe Congressman King should first check with FBI Director Robert Mueller, who testified to the Muslim community's patriotism, cooperation and support before House and Senate committees in 2008 and 2009. Mueller told the Senate Judiciary Committee that the Muslim community "has been tremendously supportive and worked very closely with [the FBI] in a number of instances around the country."

King has a long history of extremist rhetoric and baseless allegations against American Muslims, including claiming that most mosques nationwide are run by "radicals." In 2004, he said 80 to 85 percent of American mosques are controlled by Islamic fundamentalists."

King's stand on terrorism itself is less than consistent. According to Salon.com, "[King] spent years openly supporting the terrorist Irish Republican Army."

Another of King's false claims is that some American Muslim leaders "acquiesce in terror or ignore the threat." In reality, the American Muslim community has strongly and consistently condemned acts of terrorism and those who commit them.

Congressman King seems determined to go forward with his witch hunt targeting the Muslim community. But our nation might be better served if he would actually engage mainstream American Muslim leaders and organizations on national security issues.

He will find American Muslims already active in protecting the United States and preserving our long-standing traditions of freedom and tolerance.

Zead Ramadan
Manhattan

Editor's note: The writer is the board president of the New York chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, the nation's largest Muslim civil liberties organization.

Congressman Peter King's behavior has reached a new level of paranoia. In addition to seeing terrorists around every corner, now he says as soon as he becomes head of the House Committee on Homeland Security, he's going to open up investigations of Muslims and Muslim organizations. He's become our modern-day Joe McCarthy, who abused his position in Congress in the '50s to satisfy his paranoia of Communists.

If King is intent on investigating terrorists, then to be fair to all groups. I expect him to investigate all Christian organizations, because they have members who have murdered doctors who provide legal abortions, they bomb federal buildings killing thousands, and they fly their planes into federal buildings rather than pay their taxes.

I resent him wasting my taxpayer money on discrimination-based investigations and witch hunts, when there are so many more pressing problems of homeland security to be solved.

Joanne Fanizza
Massapequa Park

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CAIR-LA: MUSLIM AMERICAN GIRLS TAUNTED, ASSAULTED AT SCHOOL FOR WEARING HIJAB - TOP
Tarice Gray, Change.org, 12/21/10

Some California schools get an "F" for teaching tolerance, an Islamic civil liberties group is saying. The Greater Los Angeles office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-LA) says it's hearing from students and their parents saying that children are being verbally harassed and tagged with labels like "terrorist" or "jihadi," just for being Muslim. Girls have reported being physically assaulted for wearing hijab, the traditional headscarf worn by Muslim women.

They're appealing to the public, asking Southern Californians to report school bullying against Muslims, whether they've filed a complaint or are just documenting the incident. Parents should educate themselves and their children about bullying, request and read school policies on bullying and harassment and know the complaint process, the group says. They can also request a copy of CAIR's "Educators' Guide to Islamic Religious Practices" (copies of the guide can be requested from CAIR's Washington D.C. office by calling 202-488-8787.)

CAIR-LA's call to action is one of many across the country. (More)

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VIDEO: FBI INVESTIGATING ALLEGED HATE CRIME OUTSIDE MOSQUE - TOP
Tom Brockman, 12/22/10

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The FBI has opened a preliminary civil rights investigation in the case of a 20-year-old woman who says she was the victim of a hate crime.

It all stems from an alleged incident that happened on the city's west side and was caught on camera.

The woman, who did not want to give her identity to NBC4, said the incident has left her terrified.

"I was attacked by a man I didn't know and he just wanted to hurt me," she said.

The alleged incident took place behind the Abubakar Siddique Islamic Center on Sullivant Avenue. Surveillance video shows the woman, who is a Somali immigrant, driving into the parking lot and parking her car. Then a second SUV drives up and parks directly behind her. Video shows a man getting out of the second SUV and walking up to the woman's car. That's where this story takes a violent turn.

"He threatened me," she said. "He said he will kill me and he said 'All you Muslims, go back to wherever you're from. Don't think you can rule this country. You can't.' He said, 'This is my country.'"

She said the man then sprayed her in the face with pepper spray. ...

"The reason we have surveillance cameras in the past couple years, the same incident has taken place, not a similar incident, where you basically have people attacking the mosque, breaking glass outside the mosque, writing 'kill all Arabs' across the mosque," said Romin Iqbal with the Columbus chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR).

Tuesday afternoon, CAIR called on the FBI to investigate. The FBI said they have spoken with the victim. (More)

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CAIR-OH: MUSLIM WOMAN REPORTS ATTACK IN CAR - TOP
FBI begins hate-crime inquiry after assault by man outside mosque
By Gina Potthoff, The Columbus Dispatch, 12/22/10

The FBI has begun a civil-rights investigation because a Muslim woman said she was harassed and pepper-sprayed outside a West Side mosque Monday afternoon.

The 20-year-old Somali native, who has lived in central Ohio for more than 10 years, met with FBI officials in Columbus yesterday morning. Yesterday afternoon, she gathered with supporters for a news conference at the Columbus chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations on Bethel Road. ...

Romin Iqbal, a lawyer with CAIR's Columbus chapter, said Said's ordeal is part of a pattern of hatred across the nation toward Muslims living in American society. (More)

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CAIR-WA: GROUP CALLS FOR INVESTIGATION INTO GRESHAM HATE CRIME - TOP
Muslim woman critical of police response
By Mara Stine, Portland Tribune, 12/21/10

A Muslim advocacy organization is requesting the FBI investigate a series of alleged hate crimes in Gresham.

The Washington state chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations on Tuesday, Dec. 21, sent a letter to the FBI asking for an investigation into a Gresham man's alleged verbal threats and physical intimidation against his Muslim neighbor.

The victim on Friday, Dec. 10, was granted a temporary stalking protective order against the man in the 17400 block of Southeast Stark Street.

According to court documents, the series of threats began in early November when the suspect reportedly pushed the alleged victim, trapping her with his body against a wall in their apartment complex's laundry room.

Two weeks later, he allegedly threatened to shoot her dog and rape her "while you pray with your head on the ground." He also reportedly confronted her in the parking lot and threatened to kill her, adding, "You snitch, called the cops on me." ...

The woman lived at the complex for a year without any problems until she converted to Islam and began wearing a headscarf, wrote Arsalan Bukhari, the chapter's executive director, in his letter to the FBI.

She also expressed concern that while police helped her, they did not "respond with the speed or fervor that indicated they recognized the seriousness of the threats," Bukhari wrote. One responding officer reportedly told her she should consider not wearing her religious headscarf to avoid angering the suspect.

"After countless calls to the police, and a stalking order, the police claim the perpetrator is a ‘nice guy,' and have failed to arrest him," Bukhari wrote. (More)

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VIDEO: METRO DETROIT MOSQUES RECEIVE HATE MAIL - TOP

Watch the video.

Everyone should be able to worship in peace, but it appears someone is targeting local mosques and sending them hate mail.

"You just wonder what's going through the mind of such a person who would take the time out to put together such material and then send it out to people," said Raheem Hanifa with the Council on American Islamic Relations Michigan.

The images on the hateful fliers are sick to say the least. They were sent to a Detroit mosque more than once. The most recent string of hate mail arrived last week, and that is not the only mosque that has been targeted.

"The United States Postal Inspection Office alerted us that a Koran was smeared with feces and sent to a local mosque, as well," Hanifa said.

The Detroit mosque gave the hate mail to the Council on American Islamic Relations.

"We sent them to the United States Postal Inspection Service," said Hanifa.

They're determined to track down whoever is behind this string of vicious mailings. In the meantime, CAIR is urging all mosques and Islamic organizations to be extremely cautious when opening any mail that does not have a return address.

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CAIR-PA: PAKISTANI MAN APPROVED FOR BAIL - TOP
If his family posts $5,000, he can go home
By Sean O'Sullivan, The News Journal, 12/22/10

YORK, Pa. -- Moiez Masood is going home.

Immigration Judge Andrew Arthur approved a release on bail for the 21-year-old Newark-area resident, who has been detained since Nov. 12 by immigration officials.

"We've got a bond!" announced Masood's attorney John Vandenberg to a waiting room at the U.S. Immigration Court in York that was packed with friends, family and supporters of the University of Delaware student.

The crowd erupted in cheers, tears and hugs. ...

It is not over for Masood and his family. The deportation case against him is still pending.

But the ruling means he can now wait at home with his family rather than at a detention facility while immigration officials decide if he should be granted asylum or be sent back to Pakistan. (More)

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NY MUSLIMS TO EXPRESS 'DISAPPOINTMENT' AT DROPPING OF HATE CRIME CHARGES IN ATTACK ON IMAM - TOP

(NEW YORK, NY, 12/22/10) -- On December 23, the New York chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-NY), together with the Islamic Leadership Council of New York, will host a press conference to express "deep disappointment" that a physical assault against a Muslim religious leader (imam) during which he was called a "camel jockey" and told, "F*ck all you Muslims. All of you were terrorists," will not be prosecuted as a hate crime.

Albert Melendez, one of the assailants accused of attacking the imam near Canal Street earlier this month, was indicted on misdemeanor charges. Charges were dropped against Eddie Crespo, a Metropolitan Transit Authority officer.

WHEN: Thursday, December 23, 2010 at 11 a.m.
WHERE: Ahmad & Naqvi LLP, 22 Cortlandt Street, 16th FloorNew York, NY 10007
WHO: Faiza N. Ali, CAIR-NY; Hassan Ahmad, lawyer of victim; Imam Rod Peterson, victim; Imam Talib Abdur Rashid, Islamic Leadership Council
CONTACT: CAIR-NY Community Affairs Director Faiza N. Ali, 212-870-2002, 718-724-3041, fali@cair.com

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.