MATTRESS FIRM REFUSES TO SELL TO MUSLIM WOMAN - TOP
JESSE BOGAN, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 4/16/11

Syeeda Hussaini has suffered from neck pain the past few years, to the extent that it's difficult for her to drive and get a good night's rest.

So on a recent weekend, she, her husband, and their three kids loaded up the car and drove less than a mile to Mattress Firm. Her husband, Mohammad, encouraged her to lie on different beds to see which one felt best.

She said the store manager approached, but oddly didn't want to help. He told the family that he wouldn't sell them a mattress for security reasons, she said.

Hussaini, 27, who is Muslim, covers all but her hands, feet and eyes in public to show respect for femininity and her religion. She said the manager told her she needed to show her face for service. Mohammad, a pathology resident at Barnes-Jewish Hospital, tried to explain that his wife dressed this way to be modest, much like Catholic nuns. But the manager stomped off, they say.

Hussaini wrote a letter to a regional representative of the company after the March 12 visit to the store. An official at Mattress Firm headquarters in Houston said the company "has a zero tolerance policy on racial and religious profiling." Spokeswoman Sunni Goodman would not comment specifically about the manager, but she confirmed the encounter happened.

"As soon as we were informed of the incident, we took appropriate action to address the situation," she said.

The manager no longer works for Mattress Firm. . .

"A lot of this is generated by Internet hate," said Ibrahim Hooper, spokesman for theCouncil On American-Islamic Relations in Washington. (More)

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BULLIES HANG KENTUCKY MUSLIM BOY IN BATHROOM STALL - TOP
By Hortense M. Barber, BET, 4/1/11

The father of an 8-year-old Louisville, Kentucky boy, found hanging on a hook in his school's bathroom stall last week, wants answers and says the school could have done something to prevent the episode.

The incident occurred last week while Mohamed Hussein's class at Frayser Elementary school was on a bathroom break.

He told me that he was in the bathroom and that when he tried to get out, two boys pushed him in, his father told a Lexington television station via a translator. Kateba is a Somali immigrant whose family moved to Kentucky in 2005.

"They hold my neck and try to break my neck. When they tried to break my neck, they pulled me in and hang me up," Kateba said his son told him. (More)

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CA: SECOND SIKH VICTIM IN POSSIBLE HATE CRIME SHOOTING DIES - TOP
News 10, 4/15/11

ELK GROVE, CA - The second victim in an unsolved Elk Grove shooting has died.

The Sacramento County coroner said Gurmej Atwal, 78, died Friday afternoon. He had been on life support measures since the shooting in the area of E. Stockton Boulevard and Geneva Pointe Drive on March 4. Atwal's friend and walking buddy, Surinder Singh, 65, was also gunned down and died at the scene.

Elk Grove police investigators and the FBI have been looking into whether the shootings were hate crimes. The victims, who were Sikhs, wore traditional Dastar headwear. (More)

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A SHOW OF UNITY FOR MISSOURI MUSLIMS TARGETED BY THREAT - TOP
News-Leader, 4/16/11

The Springfield community is joining its voices in protest of recent incidents of vandalism and threats to the local Islamic Center. (More)

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CAIR-IOWA: MUSLIM WORKERS SEEK SENSITIVITY - TOP
Advocate explains some of the religious traditions and cultural
Telegraph Herald, 4/17/11

Although Islam is the fastest-growing religion in the U.S., it and its adherents often are misunderstood by the majority culture, said a Muslim woman working to dispel misconceptions about her adopted faith.

Lisa Zaynab Killinger, vice president of the Iowa chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, spoke to Loras College faculty and staff on "Muslims in the Workplace." She praised the school for its "emphasis on tolerance and diversity." (More)

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CAIR-MI: 'KNOW YOUR RIGHTS' FORUM EDUCATES YOUTH AT UM-D - TOP
Arab-American News, 4/16/11

The Muslim Student Association and Arab Student Union at the University of Michigan-Dearborn gathered representatives from federal agencies and civil right groups Monday on campus for a forum titled "Know Your Rights," that raised awareness on the rights and responsibilities students have as Americans.

"We are trying to address any concerns that students, neighbors or friends might have in regards to rights or responsibilities. We are in dire need for students to know about any new laws or policies that are going on," Sara Alrayyashi of the MSA said.

U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan, Barbara McQuade, says there's much fear surrounding Islam. "Blaming all Muslims and Arabs for the acts of the hijackers of 9/11 is like blaming all Catholics for the acts of Timothy McVeigh of the Oklahoma City bombing," McQuade said.

Executive Director of the Council on American Islamic Relations Michigan, Dawud Walid, said CAIR is receiving complaints about federal agents approaching and questioning citizens on their religious views and stance on the Arab revolution in the Middle East. (More)

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CAIR-MI REP JOINS PANEL ON CIVIL RIGHTS CONCERNS FACING IMMIGRANT COMMUNITIES - TOP

(SOUTHFILED, MI, 4/16/11) -- A representative of the Michigan chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-MI) recently joined a panel discussion about contemporary civil rights concerns facing Muslim and Latino immigrant communities both locally, as well as nationally, held at the 2011 National Association of Social Workers - Michigan Chapter, Annual Conference in Dearborn, Mich. (More)

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CAIR-OHIO REP ADDRESSES PROFILING, SURVEILLANCE IN NATIONAL SECURITY CONTEXT - TOP

(CLEVELAND, OH, 4/17/11) -- A representative of the Cleveland chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-Ohio) recently presented a seminar on profiling in the national security context at the "Save Our Communities" social justice conference inCleveland. (More)

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CAIR-AZ, CAIR-CA WELCOME RULING TO BLOCK ANTI-IMMIGRATION LAW - TOP

(PHOENIX, AZ, 4/15/11) -- The Arizona and California offices of the Council on American-Islamic Relations today welcomed a recent ruling by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to uphold a previous injunction by a lower court barring portions of SB 1070, an anti-immigration law that would have encouraged racial profiling in Arizona. (More)

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