CAIR: TEXAS MUSLIMS TAKE TRIP TO THE CAPITOL - TOP
Wardah Khalid, Houston Chronicle, 5/31/11

I am so not a morning person. So you can imagine how difficult it was for me to rub the sleep from my eyes at 4:15 AM last week so I could board a charter bus to Austin. It was for a worthy cause, though, so I dragged myself out of bed and got ready to join other Houston area Muslims (and a few non-Muslims) on a trip to our capitol for "Texas Muslim Capitol Day."

The event was organized by the Texas chapter of the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) to encourage civic participation among Muslims and show our representatives in Austin that we DO care about local and national issues. Like their fellow citizens, many Muslims don't keep abreast of local politics, let alone vote, so this was a prime opportunity to change that. Representatives from the Houston Peace and Justice Center (HPJC) and League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) joined us on our journey.

Once on our way, CAIR provided participants with summaries of bills of interest, including HB 274, which was signed into law by Gov. Rick Perry today. The bill originally included an amendment introduced by Rep. Leo Berman (R-Tyler) banning "foreign law" (including Jewish and Islamic law -- a.k.a. Shariah) in Texas. Thankfully, it was eventually shot down by the Senate. The ever relentless Berman, however, has since attached his amendment to HB 1717 in hopes that it will finally pass into law. Will someone please tell the Mr. Berman to quit wasting his time and our money on this, as there is no way foreign law can be applied in the U.S. due to our separation between church and state? But that is a story for another day. (More)

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CONGRESSIONAL REPORT SAYS ANTI-SHARIA BILLS VIOLATE CONSTITUTION - TOP
Cynthia Brougher, Penny Hill Press, 6/1/11

Critics have questioned the constitutionality of several recently proposed or enacted measures under the religion clauses of the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. The Establishment Clause prohibits the government from establishing an official religion or showing preference among religions or between religion and non-religion.

The Free Exercise Clause prohibits the government from burdening an individual's ability to exercise his or her religious beliefs if the burden does not arise from neutral law of general applicability but instead infringes upon a particular set of beliefs. Any bill that would specifically ban sharia may be challenged as a disapproval of Islam in violation of theEstablishment Clause or as an infringement on the ability of Muslims to freely exercise their beliefs under the Free Exercise Clause. Broader proposals that address religion generally would not necessarily comport with the First Amendment either, however. (More)

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CAIR-SFBA: PROGRAM EXAMINES JAPANESE AND MUSLIM WARTIME EXPERIENCES -TOP
Stephanie Rice, California Watch, 6/1/11

When Rascha Anayah first heard about a program to bring together Japanese Americanand Muslim high-school students, she thought "weird." But in a good way.

"You never hear about Japanese and Muslim people getting together and talking," said the 16-year-old Palestinian-American from Danville. "It's weird, it's different."

The Bridging Communities program was created three years ago by the Los Angeles chapter of the Japanese American Citizens League out of concern that Muslims were struggling with some of the same burdens Japanese faced in the years after the Pearl Harbor bombing.

Funded by a $150,000 grant from the National Park Service, the project is co-run with the Council on American Islamic Relations and the Nikkei for Civil Rights and Redress.

While organizers acknowledge the Japanese experience during WWII -- when more than 100,000 were forced into camps -- was much more intense than what Muslims have faced in a post-9/11 world, they say there are similarities in the fear and suspicion aimed at a specific group during wartime. (More)

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