CAIR: HATE MESSAGE LEFT ON WASH. STATE MUSLIM'S CAR - TOP

(SEATTLE, WA, 5/24/11) -- The Washington state chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-WA) today said that a hate message was left on the car of a Muslim family.

CAIR-WA said a Muslim mother reported that she found the message -- which stated, "We don't [want] Muslims in America" in English and "We don't want Muslims in our country, go away," in Arabic -- stuck to the family's vehicle when she returned to it Monday afternoon after visiting a Redmond, Wash., Starbucks. The Muslim mother, who was with her 9-year-old daughter at the time of the incident, wears an Islamic head scarf.

According to the police report of the incident, the daughter began to cry because she was afraid they would be followed and attacked by the person who left the hate note.

SEE: Hate Note Stuck to Wash. State Muslim's Car

Earlier this month, CAIR's Michigan chapter called on state and national law enforcement authorities to investigate as a hate crime an incident in which a vehicle was vandalized and defaced with the phrase "f*ckin sand n*gger."

PHOTO: Mich. Muslim's Car Defaced with 'Sand N*gger'

"The targeting of ordinary Muslims going about their business in their daily lives is a disturbing trend that needs to be addressed by our nation's leaders," said CAIR-WA Executive Director Arsalan Bukhari. "We urge state and federal authorities not to view this as a 'minor' incident and ask that it be investigated as a hate crime that has had a negative impact on a Muslim family."

He warned of the "mainstreaming" of anti-Muslim hate and noted that a coalition of some 60 interfaith and community leaders recently asked Everett Community College in Everett, Wash., to drop an Islamophobic speaker scheduled to appear Thursday as part of an "Islam in America" lecture series.

CAIR-WA Commentary: EvCC Event Could Undermine Clear Understanding of Islam(Daily Herald)

Bukhari said that a growing number of hate incidents targeting American Muslims, those perceived to be Muslim and Muslim institutions have occurred in the days since the death of Osama bin laden.

CAIR: U.S. Muslim Community May be Target of Hate Crimes (CBS)
Attacks on U.S. Mosques Rise Following Bin Laden's Death

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-WA Executive Director Arsalan Bukhari, 206-367-4081 or 206-931-3655, E-Mail: abukhari@cair.com; 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

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CAIR: GOP GOES FROM COURTING MUSLIM VOTERS TO ANTAGONIZING THEM - TOP
Tim Murphy, Mother Jones, 5/24/11

In late January 2001, the day after George W. Bush was sworn into office, a group of conservative politicos including recently retired House Speaker Newt Gingrich gathered at Grover Norquist's Washington, DC, office for a meeting with influential faith leaders.

That, in itself, was hardly newsworthy. Bush had swept into office on the backs of values voters. But the gathering wasn't catering to evangelical Christians; the purpose was to discuss a variety of issues of concern to American Muslims--everything from political appointments, to civil liberties, to a Ramadan postage stamp. It was organized by the Islamic Institute, a think tank founded by Norquist, the conservative anti-tax crusader, and the guest list was culled from the ranks of Muslim–American organizations and community leaders. By some estimates, Muslims had turned out in huge numbers for Bush; at least one prominent Republican credited them with making the difference in Florida.

But those days are over, and if the rhetoric from the current crop of candidates is any indication, there's little hope for a rebound in 2012. Since 9/11, Republicans have turned a once-promising--and rapidly growing--voting demographic into a punching bag. Lately, Republican lawmakers across the country have further antagonized their Muslim constituents by pushing quixotic legislation to ban Islamic sharia law from being used in state courts. Even the founder of the group Muslims for Bush, Colorado GOPer Muhammad Ali Hasan, left the party, citing frustration with its newfound anti-Muslim "bigotry."

Now, as Republicans head full-steam into the nominating process, they face a choice: Tone down the rhetoric, or risk permanently alienating a community that's expected to double in size over the next two decades.

"[Republican candidates] have not reached out to me, and I'm not aware of any efforts that they have made to reach out to other community leaders," says Nihad Awad, executive director of the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR), who attended Norquist's meeting. "From 2000 until now, there's been a huge difference in terms of what kind of relationship we have with them. Their ability and desire to reach out to the Muslim community is almost like night and day." (More)

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CAIR: MUSLIM RIGHTS GROUP CRIES FOUL OVER STEREOTYPES IN AIRPORT DRILL (STAR TRIB) - TOP
Paul Walsh, Star Tribune, 5/24/11

A national Muslim civil rights group is asking the head of Homeland Security to investigate the use of stereotypes after a man who appeared to be of Middle East descent was used in a recent security drill at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) on Monday renewed a request that Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano review "the use of outside trainers who offer hostile, stereotypical and grossly inaccurate information about Muslims and Islam."

The organization has previously asked the Obama administration, the Department of Defense and Congress to provide oversight for apparent "widespread anti-Muslim bias in the training of law enforcement and security and military personnel nationwide." (More)

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DUBIOUS MUSLIM-BASHING 'EXPERT' HIRED TO TRAIN COPS (SALON) - TOP
By Justin Elliott, Salon.com, 5/24/11

The Department of Homeland Security this month paid $5,000 to anti-Muslim terrorism "expert" Walid Shoebat to speak at a conference for South Dakota law enforcement, despite Shoebat's history of dubious claims about the threat of Islam as well as his own background.

That $5,000 figure was unearthed by a public records request filed by Rapid City Journal reporter David Montgomery. Shoebat is an evangelical Christian whose website describes him as a "former PLO terrorist [who] now speaks out for USA and Israel."

However, as Hussein Ibish and others have documented, Shoebat's claims about his past are largely unsubstantiated, down to whether his real name is really Walid Shoebat. He, for example, claims that, in his Islamic extremist days in the 1970s, he threw at a bomb at a Bethlehem bank. But the bank says it never happened, and there are no news reports of any such terrorist attack. Surveying Shoebat's history of questionable claims, Ibish concludes that he is a "shameless fraud."

It is beyond dispute that Shoebat holds views of Islam well outside the mainstream. He told a Missouri crowd in 2007 (via Nexis) that "Islam is not the religion of God -- Islam is the devil." He has also said President Obama is "definitely" Muslim. (More)

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CAIR-SAN DIEGO: U.S. MUSLIMS WANT TO BE PARTNERS WITH LAW ENFORCEMENT -TOP
Kristina Davis, San Diego Union Tribune, 5/22/11

They do some of the most important, clandestine law enforcement work in San Diego County, yet most of their dealings never make headlines.

The more than 100 investigators, FBI agents and intelligence analysts who are part of the local FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force are fine with that because it means they're doing their job -- thwarting terrorist attacks on U.S. soil.

"We disrupt things day in and day out," said FBI Special Agent Matt Brown, a supervisor in the multi-agency task force. "The vast majority of what we do is prevention." ...

Some in the Muslim-American community have criticized tactics they say counterterrorism officers use -- spying on mosques, pressuring people to become informants, threats of deportation.

A report released Wednesday by New York University's Center for Human Rights and Global Justice raised concern about how the FBI and New York police targeted Muslims, including paying informants to pose as radical Muslims and push ideas of violence.

"We want to be partners with law enforcement that tackles terrorism, but it seems like they are looking at us as suspects rather than partners," said Edgar Hopida, spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations in San Diego. "We are the first line of defense with regards to extremism and terrorism." (More)

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AMERICAN MUSLIMS TO RECORD ORAL HISTORIES WITH STORYCORPS JULY 4TH -TOP

WASHINGTON, May 24, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- My Faith My Voice (MFMV), a platform dedicated to promoting the grassroots voice of Muslims in America, announced today it will partner with StoryCorps, a national organization dedicated to preserving and sharing the oral history of America, on July 4th weekend in Chicago, Ill. The partnership will seek to humanize the American Muslim community and reflect the growing diversity of our country's national landscape.

The recordings, which will cover a variety of different topics, are meant to give people insight into the lives of American Muslims by allowing them a chance to listen in to personal conversations taking place between Muslims around the country.

StoryCorps interviews are conducted between two people who know and care about each other. A trained StoryCorps facilitator guides the participants through the interview process. At the end of each 40-minute recording session, participants receive a copy of their interview and a second copy is archived at the Library of Congress. MFMV will also release clips of the interviews on its site and make them available to the media. (More)

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VIDEO: PRO-ISRAEL ACTIVIST KNOCKS CAMERA OUT OF HANDS OF ALISON WEIR (PRESS TV) - TOP

A pro Israeli advocate knocked a camera out of the hands of Alison Weir, President of the Council for the National Interest Foundation. The group just finished their press conference on what they call unjustifiable US Aid to Israel.

The two sides met when the Press Club scheduled a pro Israeli news conference to follow held in the same room. The altercation illustrates heightened tensions on differing views regarding America's relationship with Israel.

The Council for the National Interest Foundation wants Americans to know how much of their tax dollars are going to Israel.

Watch the video.

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21 LEADING AMERICAN MUSLIMS APPEAL TO AYATOLLAH KHAMENEI TO RELEASE AMERICAN HIKERS - TOP
American Muslim, 5/24/11

(Washington, D.C., May 24, 2011) American icon and boxing legend Muhammad Ali joined ISNA and other prominent U.S. Muslim representatives and clergy to make a public appeal today to Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Sayyid Ali Khamenei, to release American hikers Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal after nearly 22 months in prison.

Ali, a three-time World Heavyweight Champion, and his wife Lonnie joined some of America's most respected Muslim leaders, members of Bauer and Fattal's families and released hiker Sarah Shourd at a news conference in Washington, D.C., where they urged Ayatollah Khamenei to free the two men in the Islamic spirit of mercy and compassion. (More)

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HIKERS' MOTHERS ENLIST SUPPORT OF MUHAMMAD ALI, MUSLIM LEADERS - TOP
Michael Matza, Philadelphia Inquirer, 5/24/11

WASHINGTON - Fusing the piety of Islam with the celebrity of boxing champ Muhammad Ali, the mothers of American hikers Josh Fattal and Shane Bauer today beseeched Iran to release their sons after 22 months in prison.

The pair have been imprisoned in Tehran on charges of entering the country illegally to commit espionage.

Against a banner emblazoned "662 Days Without Freedom" - and with a mute but imposing Ali in dark glasses to their right - Laura Fattal, of Elkins Park, and Bauer's mother, Cindy Hickey, of Minnesota, said the charges against their sons are baseless.

"Shane and Josh are innocent and have suffered long enough," said Hickey, her voice thick with emotion. "Life has continued on around us while we remain frozen in time."

Said Fattal: "Iran's indecision and delay have taken a terrible toll - on them and on us."

But an Iranian Foreign Ministry official hinted today the prosecution of the two would proceed, saying that calling them hikers was a "joke," according to the Associated Press.

The mothers were surrounded by leaders of the Islamic Society of North America, the Muslim American Society Freedom Foundation, the Universal Muslim Association of America and the Council on American Islamic Relations, who in a letter to Iran's Grand Ayatollah Ali Khamenei asked for "compassion and mercy." (More)