STATE BILLS ARE THINLY-VEILED ATTACKS ON U.S. MUSLIMS - TOP
Legislation Tries to Bar Foreign Influence
Critics say bills target Muslims
By Stephen Largen, GoUpstate.com, 2/4/11
Legislation recently introduced in both houses of the S.C. General Assembly by a pair of Upstate legislators seeks to bar international law from being applied in state courts, making the Palmetto State one of a half dozen states considering similar bills.
Critics of the bills in South Carolina and other states have assailed the legislation as thinly veiled attacks on Muslims, describing the bills as careful re-wordings of an amendment to Oklahoma's constitution barring state judges from considering Islamic law.
That amendment passed overwhelmingly in November, but a federal judge has since issued an injunction temporarily blocking it from going into effect.
The sponsor of the Senate version of South Carolina's bill, Sen. Mike Fair, R-Greenville, said Thursday that while he is not aware of any cases of foreign law being used in a South Carolina court, his bill is nonetheless necessary in order to prevent any potential future application of foreign law. ...
'Wink and a nod'
Ibrahim Hooper, a national spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said the South Carolina bills and others in Alaska, Arkansas, Indiana, Nebraska and Wyoming are targeting Muslims even though the bills do not specifically reference Islamic law.
"It's all with a wink and a nod," Hooper said.
"We all know what it's about. What we're seeing nationwide is an effort to stigmatize Muslims with the use of these bills."
Hooper said some of the bills "seem meaningless" because of "watered-down language."
Nonetheless, his group plans to mount legal challenges to the bills should they advance, he said. (More)
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CAIR: NEW FLA. REP. 'EMBARRASSED' BY OWN ANTI-ISLAM RHETORIC - TOP
Billy House, National Journal, 2/4/11
Tea party-backed freshman Rep. Allen West, R-Fla., is denying allegations that some of his recent remarks about a congressional colleague were anti-Islam and anti-Muslim. In an interview in January, West described Rep. Keith Ellison, D-Minn.--the first Muslim ever elected to Congress--as the "antithesis of the principles upon which this country was established."
Many people found the remark offensive, particularly since West has become one of the more prominent faces of the tea party movement, which has had to deal with a few episodes of religious and racial intolerance in its ranks. Several religious groups this week wrote a letter to West chastising him for the remark, saying that he should not use his public position to "proselytize for one religion or demonize another."
On Thursday, West fired back, clarifying but not apologizing: "My comments in regard to my colleague, Representative Keith Ellison, are not about his Islamic faith, but about his continued support for CAIR," the Council on American-Islamic Relations.
That organization, writes the congressman, is among groups that "have long histories of supporting violent anti-American and anti-Israel terrorist organizations such as Hamas, Hezbollah and the Muslim Brotherhood." They operate "within our borders" and "masquerade as more peaceful moderates," while posing threats to the United States, writes West of such organizations.
There was no immediate response from Ellison's office to West's letter, posted on West's congressional website.
CAIR spokesman Ibrahim Hooper on Thursday dismissed West's depiction of his organization. Rather, he said West is trying to deflect his own embarrassment over disparaging a fellow House member and his finding out that "the old hate rhetoric that played to the base before he was elected doesn't sound as good once in office, representing people."
"We often see that with these Muslim bashers," added Hooper. "When they get called out in a way that is embarrassing for them, they say, 'No! No! No! I meant radical Islam.' Their target keeps shifting."
This controversy erupted late last month when West was interviewed on a South Florida-based program on which he was asked how he'll manage in Congress associating with Islam supporter Ellison. (More)
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EX ARK. GOP OFFICIAL SAYS 'PRO-WHITE' GROUP BLOCKS 'ISLAMIC TAKEOVER' -TOP
Ex Ark. GOP official won't quit 'pro-white' group
Jeannie Nuss, Associated Press, 2/4/11
"It's the only organization in the United States that's actually actively -- internationally and in this country -- trying to save this country from communism, socialism and the Islamic takeover of this world," he said. (More)
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RUTGERS LAW SCHOOL CONFERENCE EXPLORES LEGAL IMPACT OF 9/11 ATTACKS -TOP
Kelly Heyboer, The Star-Ledger, 2/4/11
Ten years later, the 9/11 attacks are still raising complex legal questions. Rutgers School of Law-Newark opened a two-day conference at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark today exploring the lingering legal issues surrounding the terrorist attacks.
Nearly 150 scholars, students and attorneys are scheduled to attend the event, which organizers said is the first academic conference of its kind to document how 9/11 continues to change the law. ...
Today's sessions included panels on presidential power, prisoner detention and Congress' role in national security. Speakers included former U.S. Department of Homeland Security secretary Michael Chertoff and James Yee, the Army chaplain at Guantanamo Bay who was cleared of spying charges in 2004. (More)
[Note: James Yee is Executive Director of the New Jersey chapter of CAIR.]
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ARAB AND MUSLIM HATE CRIMES EXAMINED - TOP
USF and SUNY-Albany researchers explored the post-9/11 spike in hate crimes, but found some curious results.
USF.edu News, 2/4/11
TAMPA. Fla. (Feb. 1, 2011) – In the weeks and months following the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, hate crimes against Arab and Muslim-Americans spiked. However, hate crimes against other groups decreased during this time, says a newly published article authored by researchers at the University of South Florida and the State University of New York at Albany.
"Hate Crimes against Arabs and Muslims in Post-9/11 America," appearing in the February issue of Social Problems, reveals that, concurrent to the dramatic rise in hate crimes against Arab and Muslim-Americans in the wake of 9/11, the incidence of hate crimes against blacks, whites, Asians, and Latinos fell.
The team of sociologists, led by USF Associate Professor James Cavendish and doctoral student Ilir Disha and associate professor Ryan King from SUNY-Albany conclude that "9/11 created a climate in which many Americans felt united against a 'new enemy' and in which acts of hatred against Arabs and Muslims became 'normalized' behaviors." ...
The full report, Historical Events and Spaces of Hate: Hate Crimes against Arabs and Muslims in Post-9/11 America, is available athttp://www.jstor.org/stable/pdfplus/10.1525/sp.2011.58.1.21.pdf?acceptTC=true.
Media contact: Barbara Melendez can be reached at 813-974-4563. (More)
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CAIR-LA: IN DEFENSE OF UCI MUSLIM STUDENT UNION MEMBERS - TOP
Orange County Register 2/4/11
Editor's note from Letters Editor Betty Talbert: The Register received this open letter to O.C. District Attorney Tony Rackauckas from the Council on American-Islamic Relations, Greater Los Angeles Area (CAIR) about the district attorney bringing criminal charges against members of UCI Muslim Student Union who protested against Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren's speech at UCI, Feb. 8, 2010. For a refresher on the context of this letter see (video of the UCI incident) and see the recent Register article, [Feb. 2] "Muslim Activists protest handling of UCI incident." The organizations supporting the position taken in this letter appear at the end of the statement.
Feel free to write your pro-con thoughts about the controversy in our comments section.
Dear Mr. Rackauckas:
It is with deep concern that we, Orange County community religious and civic leaders, write to you regarding the pursuance of felony criminal charges against students who verbally protested a speech by Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren at the University of California, Irvine (UCI) in February of 2010. (More)
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CAIR DIRECTOR: 'EGYPT NEEDS IMMEDIATE CHANGE' (VIDEO) - TOP
Press TV, 2/3/11
After 10 days of nationwide protests, Egyptians are still demanding that President Hosni Mubarak step down by Friday, while the Muslim world is standing strong in support of the Egyptian people.
Executive Director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, Nihad Awad, joined Press TV to offer more insight into the developments.
Press TV: We are now joined by Nihad Awad, who is the Executive Director on the Council of American-Islamic Relations. He joins us via satellite from Washington. Mr. Awad, thank you for joining our broadcast. Your organization recently put out in action alert for people to appeal to their elected representatives, to ask for freedom, democracy and the rule of law in Egypt and throughout the Middle East. Are you confident that this will make a difference?
Awad: Of course it does. We are just adding our voice to the voices of so many people in the United States and around the world, but most of all to the voices of people in Egypt who have been calling for a possible peaceful change and that aspiration is well respected and we feel it's our moral duty as a human and civil rights organization in the United States to add our voice and do anything and everything we can do in our power to show them that we are on their side, not only here in the US far away but people all over the world. (More)
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CAIR-SACRAMENTO: RALLY SET TO SHOW EGYPTIAN SUPPORT - TOP
Cathy Locke, Sacramento Bee, 2/4/11
A news conference and rally are planned today by groups seeking to show their support for Egyptian democracy.
The Sacramento Valley Chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations announced that state Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento, along with community and faith leaders will hold a press conference at 11 a.m. in front of the Federal Building, 501 I St. (More)
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CAIR-CT: LOCAL EGYPTIANS, MUSLIMS SHARE VIEWS ON CRISIS - TOP
By Bryan Koenig, Bristol Press, 2/3/11
BERLIN -- Half a world away, Egyptian-Americans, Muslims and friends in the local community gathered Thursday at the Islamic Association of Greater Hartford on the Berlin Turnpike to discuss the tumultuous events in the Middle East of the last two weeks.
For the people fighting for democracy and suffering for it in Cairo and across Egypt, "my heart goes out for them," said Fatimah Aulaqi, a Waterbury resident whose family came from Yemen, which, like much the rest of the Middle East, is also seeing major political unrest. Aulaqi has family living outside Cairo.
The gathering was sponsored by the Connecticut Council on American-Islamic Relations. CAIR sought to "invite people with concern," in order to console and provide as much information and support as possible, said executive director Mongi Dhaouadi. (More)
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CAIR-OH: CLEVELAND: EGYPT 'SOLIDARITY RALLY' ON PUBLIC SQUARE FRIDAY -TOP
Kim Wendel, WKYC, 2/4/11
CLEVELAND -- The Egyptian Association of Greater Cleveland has called for a rally at 4:30 p.m. Friday (Feb. 4) to "support the struggle for freedom, self determination, and human rights in Egypt."
Co-sponsors of the rally include: Al-Awda Cleveland; Cleveland Nonviolence Network; Cleveland Peace Action; The Council on American Islamic Relations' Cleveland office; Greater Cleveland Immigrant Support Network; and the Middle East Peace Forum. (More)
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