CAIR ACTION ALERT #634 - TOP
Action: Ask Elected Officials to Condemn Violence in Egypt
(WASHINGTON, D.C., 2/2/11) –- The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) today called on all people of conscience to contact their elected representatives and urge them to publically condemn the new violence targeting peaceful freedom protesters in Egypt.
[NOTE: There are many pro-freedom events nationwide in the next few days. Contact a local mosque or Islamic center for more information. You may also contact the nearest CAIR chapter by going to: http://www.cair.com/Chapters.aspx ]
SEE: World Leaders Denounce Attacks on Egyptian Protesters
Apparently government-backed armed gangs today attacked pro-democracy protesters leaving at least one person dead and hundreds injured. Human rights groups say the overall death toll from recent unrest in Egypt is as high as 300.
EGYPT: Rights Advocates Report Protest Death Toll as High as 300
"Our nation's elected officials should speak out against any violent actions targeting those who are currently seeking their own version of ‘life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness' in Egypt," said CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad. "America must be seen to be on the side of ordinary people in Egypt and worldwide who are seeking the freedom we hold so dear."
Awad welcomed President Obama's statement yesterday that an "orderly transition" of power must be peaceful and "must begin now."
SEE: Obama to Mubarak: Orderly Transition 'Must Begin Now'
IMMEDIATE ACTIONS REQUESTED:
1) Contact your elected representatives to ask that they condemn the new violence targeting peaceful freedom protesters in Egypt.
GO TO: http://www.congress.org/
On the right-hand side of the page, enter your ZIP code. On the resulting page, click the names of your elected representatives. Click the "contact" tab on the resulting page for your officials' phone numbers.
You may also contact the Capitol Hill Switchboard at (202) 224-3121 (have your Zip code ready).
2) Contact President Obama to express support for his call for an immediate transfer of power in Egypt.
President Barack H. Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500
Comments: 202-456-1111
Switchboard: 202-456-1414
Fax: 202-456-2461
E-Mail: http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/
Copy to: info@cair.com
3) Contact the State Department and ask for the relevant country "desk" such as the "Egypt Desk."
State Department Switchboard: 202-647-4000
4) Write editorials and letters to the editor and submit them to your local newspaper or publish them on your blog, Twitter or Facebook account. Send copies to info@cair.com.
5) Pup your cell phone to good use. Call your friends and family members and ask them to contact their elected officials. Act as a facilitator. You can enter their ZIP code into the congress.org website and help them get the phones numbers they need to call.
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STUDY: TERRORISM BY MUSLIM-AMERICANS DOWN IN 2010 - TOP
CHAPEL HILL, NC: A new study released today by the Triangle Center on Terrorism and Homeland Security shows that the number of Muslim-Americans who perpetrated or were arrested for terrorist acts declined sharply in 2010. The study, "Muslim American Terrorism Since 9/11: An Accounting," reports that while 47 Muslim-Americans committed or were arrested for terrorist crimes in 2009, the number dropped to 20 this past year.
The author of the study, Charles Kurzman, Professor of Sociology at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, said, "Of course, even a single terrorist plot is too many. But this trend offers a challenge for the American public: If we ratchet up our security concerns when the rate of terrorism rises, should we ratchet down our concerns when it falls?"
The study also reported that:
- The number of Muslim-Americans engaged in terrorist acts with domestic targets declined from 18 in 2009 to 10 in 2010.
- 75% of the Muslim Americans engaged in terrorist plots in 2010 were disrupted in an early stage of planning. This is consistent with the pattern of disruption since 9/11 (102 of 161 plots – 63% -- were disrupted at an early stage of planning).
- Less than one-third of the perpetrators did not come to the attention of law enforcement until after an attack was executed. However, a large majority of these Muslim American terrorist activities (35 out of 46 individuals) took place outside the United States.
- Domestic plots by Muslim-Americans are more likely to be disrupted than foreign plots. 48 of 69 individuals that plotted against domestic targets were arrested at an early stage of their activities.
- Eleven Muslim Americans have successfully executed terrorist attacks in the United States since 9/11, killing 33 people. This is about 3 deaths per year. There have been approximately 150,000 murders in the United States since 9/11. According to the FBI there were approximately 15,241 murders in the United States in 2009.
- Tips from the Muslim American community provided the source of information that led to a terrorist plot being thwarted in 48 of 120 cases involving Muslim Americans.
David Schanzer, Director of the Triangle Center on Terrorism and Homeland Security, said, "this study puts into perspective the threat presented by domestic radicalization of Muslim Americans." Schanzer noted, "Is this a problem that deserves the attention of law enforcement and the Muslim American community? Absolutely. But Americans should take note that these crimes are being perpetrated by a handful of people who actions are denounced and rejected by virtually all the Muslims living in the United States."
The author of the report, Charles Kurman, can be reached at kurzman@unc.edu
The Triangle Center on Terrorism and Homeland Security is a consortium between Duke University, the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, and RTI International.
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GROUPS SLAM ISLAM HEARINGS AS MODERN-DAY MCCARTHYISM - TOP
Politico, 2/2/11
A band of civil-rights, community and faith groups called Rep. Pete King (R-N.Y.) a modern-day Joe McCarthy in a letter to House leaders, for his plans to single out Muslims during hearings later this month on extremism which will examine the "radicalization of Islam."
In a letter to House Speaker John Boehner and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, the Council on American-Islamic Relations, along with 50 groups that co-signed, demanded that King, the chair of the House Homeland Security committee, tone down his rhetoric and hold "fair and objective" investigations that examine "all forms of violence motivated by extremist beliefs."
"Singling out a group of Americans for government scrutiny based on their faith is divisive and wrong," the groups wrote in the letter. "These hearings will almost certainly increase widespread suspicion and mistrust of the American Muslim community and stoke anti-Muslim sentiment." (More)
SEE ALSO:
CRITICS RAISE CONCERNS ABOUT HOUSE HEARINGS ON MUSLIMS - TOP
DANIEL BURKE, Religion News Service, 2/1/11
WASHINGTON (RNS) -- A coalition of more than 50 Muslim, human rights, and faith organizations is urging House leaders to raise concerns about planned hearings this month on the "radicalization" of American Muslims.
Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, plans to focus his hearing on homegrown terrorism, including the Fort Hood shooting and attempted Times Square bombing, both plots hatched by American-born Muslims.
King has accused U.S. Muslim leaders of failing to cooperate with law enforcement officials and said that 80 percent of American mosques are run by extremists, a figure that Muslim leaders and scholars sharply dispute.
"Singling out a group of Americans for government scrutiny based on their faith is divisive and wrong," the coalition wrote in a letter to House Speaker John Boehner and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi.
The 51-member coalition includes Amnesty International USA, the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty, and the Interfaith Alliance, as well as dozens of local and national Muslim groups.
"I don't believe it warrants an answer," King said of the letters. "I am too busy preparing for the hearings." (More)
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CAIR-FL: TEA PARTY CONGRESSMAN CLASHES OVER ISLAM AT TOWN HALL - TOP
Jim Acosta and Evan Glass, CNN, 2/1/11
Boynton Beach, Florida (CNN) -- Freshman Republican Congressman Allen West clashed with an advocate for Muslim-American civil rights at a sometimes-rowdy town hall meeting Monday night.
The tense exchange drew boos from a standing room only, largely Republican crowd.
The confrontation came as West, an Iraq War veteran who was backed by the Tea Party in last November's election, took questions from constituents. Nezar Hamze, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations in Miami, stepped to the microphone and accused West of making anti-Muslim comments in the past.
"Me and my children choose to follow the faith of Islam. You consistently insult it. How can we expect you to defend our right and practice Islam as far as the Constitution is concerned?" Hamze asked. (More)
SEE ALSO:
CAIR-FL: GOP REP. ALLEN WEST DRAWS FIRE FOR MUSLIM COMMENTS - TOP
Catalina Camia, USA TODAY, 2/2/11
Remember the name Allen West when the 2012 congressional elections are in full swing.
The Florida Republican has been in office for less than a month and already he's on the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee's target list, taken aim at a colleague who is Muslim and had a confrontation over the Islamic faith at a standing-room-only town hall meeting.
West, a retired Army colonel who served in Iraq, got into a confrontation Monday night with the Miami leader of the Council of American-Islamic Relations. Nezar Hamze accused West of making anti-Muslim statements in the past, saying West has "consistently demonized and insulted my religion." (More)
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RELIGIOUS LEADERS DEMAND APOLOGY FROM WEST FOR ANTI-ISLAM COMMENTS -TOP
Sarah Posner, Religion Dispatches, 2/2/11
An interfaith group of religious leaders has sent a letter to freshman Republican Allen West of Florida, calling him to apologize for anti-Islam remarks he made recently on an episode of "The Shalom Show."
On the program, he said that his congressional colleague Keith Ellison, who is one of two Muslim members of Congress, is the "antithesis of the principles on which this country was established."
The signatories to the letter include the Rev. Welton Gaddy, President of the Interfaith Alliance; Rabbi Jack Moline, Director of Public Policy for The Rabbinical Assembly; Rabbi David Saperstein, Director and Counsel of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, and the Rev. J. Brent Walker, Executive Director, Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty. (More)
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CA: MUSLIM ACTIVISTS TAKE GRIEVANCE TO O.C. SUPERVISORS - TOP
Brian Martinez, The Orange County Register, 2/2/11
SANTA ANA – About 25 community leaders, students, educators and residents on Tuesday took their grievances against the District Attorney's recent handling of a year-old, racially charged incident at UC Irvine to the Orange County board of supervisors.
The activists oppose the grand jury's recent subpoenas that forced six of the students arrested in the incident to testify before the panel as well as the potential criminal indictments that might be forthcoming. The subpoenas were issued just a few weeks before the one-year statute of limitations expires on the Feb. 8 arrests. (More)
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CHICAGOAN AHMED REHAB PROVIDES AN UPDATE FROM CAIRO - TOP
WBEZ, 2/1/11
Hundreds of thousands of protesters took to the streets across Egypt today in the largest demonstration yet. Estimates fluctuate between one and two million people. Though the exact number is uncertain, the demand for President Hosni Mubarak to leave office is clear. Ahmed Rehab, executive director of the Chicago chapter for the Council of American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), spent the day in Cairo's Tahrir Square, site of one of the largest gatherings. He tells us about the peaceful day of celebration.
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