VIDEO: DID YOU HEAR ABOUT THE HUNT FOR A TERRORIST IN AMERICA? - TOP
Thom Hartmann, RT News, 6/22/2011

Thom Hartmann asks why the mainstream media is not covering the manhunt for an at-large and armed terrorist in Montana. (Watch the clip.)

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CAIR: CHICAGO RALLY SEEKS FREEDOM IN SYRIA - TOP
Dawn Rhodes, Chicago Tribune, 7/3/2011

A crowd of about 500 gathered in a downtown Chicago parking lot this afternoon to support anti-government protesters in Syria, just as worldwide media reported that military action in a western city stoked fears of more violence.

Leaders from Syrian and Islamic organizations in Chicago urged people to continue their stance against President Bashar al-Assad’s regime, which has been widely criticized for brutally quashing anti-government movements throughout the country. ...

"We’re living in a world now where there is no room for totalitarianism, dictatorships and oppression," said Christina Abraham, civil rights director for the Council of American-Islamic Relations in Chicago. "When we see these movements happening, we need to support them. We don’t give leeway to governments that violate human rights, like the Assad government is doing right now." (More)

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CAIR-CHICAGO: SMALL MOSQUE EASILY WINS APPROVAL FROM DUPAGE - TOP
Bob Goldsborough, Chicago Tribune, 7/5/2011

The plans for the house of worship seem unremarkable: a one-story, 5,200-square-foot building, nestled on more than an acre in unincorporated Lombard.

But what was notable about the Proclaim Truth Charitable Trust's proposal was that the building would be a mosque -- a worship home for 150 or so Muslims.

Other recent zoning applications for mosques in DuPage County -- including ones in unincorporated Willowbrook and elsewhere near Lombard -- have run into significant opposition from neighbors. In those cases, few, if any, neighbors have cited the worshippers' religion as the reason for their opposition. Instead, they have cited issues like traffic, stormwater, the effect on property values and generally oversize buildings compared with their surroundings.

In the wake of such receptions, Proclaim Truth's plans sailed through the DuPage County Board last week with hardly a ripple of controversy. Without comment, the board voted 13-4 to approve the project, and not a single neighbor gave public comment on the plans. (More)

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CAIR-MI REP GIVES 'KNOW YOUR RIGHTS' WORKSHOP AT ISLAMIC CONFERENCE -TOP
Dawud Walid, CAIR-MI, 7/5/2011

(SOUTHFIELD, MI, 7/5/11) ­- A representative of the Michigan chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-MI) recently participated in a "Know Your Rights" presentation at the 7th Annual Muslim Congress Conference in Kansas City, MO.

CAIR-MI Executive Director Dawud Walid discussed travelers' rights in airports pertaining to opting out of full body scanning screening and not being subjected to invasive questions regarding religious practices by Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and Customs Border Protection (CBP) agents.

Walid also reminded attendees of their responsibility to report potential criminal activities to law enforcement authorities. (More)

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CAIR-MI: CONGRESSMAN PROUD TO BE SON OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT - TOP

U.S. Rep. Hansen Clarke (D-Detroit) told a crowd last night in Detroit that he was proud to be the son of an illegal immigrant.

Speaking at a forum about racial profiling of Latinos, Clarke -- whose late father immigrated from what is now Bangladesh -- said:

"I’m the son of an undocumented immigrant -- and I’m proud to say that."

Clarke spoke at the forum Thursday night along with U.S. Rep. John Conyers (D-Detroit). It was organized by AIR, Alliance for Immigrants Rights, to address concerns about profiling of local Latinos by federal agents. (More)

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CAIR: BURDEN REMOVED, MUSLIM WOMAN WILL LIFT AT U.S. CHAMPIONSHIPS -TOP
Philip Hersh, Chicago Tribune, 6/30/2011

Kulsoom Abdullah didn't waste any time.

One day after the International Weightlifting Federation's Wednesday announcement it had made changes in the sport's competition dress code at her behest, the 35-year-old lifter from Atlanta registered for the U.S. Championships July 15-17 in Council Bluffs, Iowa.

"This is a great victory,'' she said in an email.

The IWF decision, made at its congress in Malaysia, is a victory for Abdullah, Muslim woman athletes, the United States Olympic Committee and the international federation.

Abdullah had been competing in clothing that respected Muslim ideas of female modesty but did not meet IWF rules because it covered her elbows and knees. The sport's judges must see whether the knees and elbows are properly locked.

With the help of the Council for American-Islamic Relations, she made a proposal to the USOC for costume modifications that would respect both her religion and the rules. (More)

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CHRISTIAN BODY RECOMMENDS RESOLUTION OPPOSING HOSTILITY TO ISLAM - TOP
Eric Anderson, Worldwide Faith News, 7/3/2011

Working in a consensus model, [the United Church of Christ] Committee 12 recommended that [UCC] General Synod 28 adopt the resolution "On Actions of Hostility Against Islam and the Muslim Community" submitted by Wider Church Ministries.

Committee members universally supported the direction of the resolution and its call to the church to declare its "clear support for neighbors in the Muslim community," in response to highly visible anti-Muslim statements and actions in the United States over the last year.

Delegates and visitors to the committee deliberations told story after story, both about anti-Muslim activities in their home regions and actions taken by UCC churches in response. Matt Davis of La Crosse, Wisc., said the resolution is very timely for his community. A local Muslim congregation has been growing, and looks now to purchase land to build a mosque.

"We can already feel stirrings against it," he said. With Davis' encouragement, the committee added language to the resolution calling for documentation and publicity of actions taken "in support of Muslims and people of other faiths." (More)

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CAIR: ISLAMOPHOBIA ERUPTING – TOP
Paul Balles, Gulf Daily News, 7/2/2011

In an earlier article I noted that evangelic preacher Pat Robertson, David Gaubatz, Paul Sperry and Daniel Pipes are Islamophobic cult leaders who take every opportunity they can to vilify Islam and Muslims.

They were all particularly vindictive following the shooting at Fort Hood by the psychopath Nidal Malik Hassan who also happened to be Muslim.

The fact that he was Muslim had nothing to do with his maniacal action. It was no more related to the teachings of Islam than the paedophilia of a few priests is connected with Catholicism or the acts committed by Rabbi Meir Kahane of the ADL were related to Judaism.

Reports of a number of incidents in the past year or so strongly reveal a spike in anti-Muslim hate crimes. ...

A few days ago, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) published a benchmark report on Islamophobia in America.

Islamophobia is close-minded prejudice against or hatred of Islam and Muslims. An Islamophobe is an individual who holds a closed-minded view of Islam and promotes prejudice against or hatred of Muslims. (More)

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DR. JACK SHAHEEN TO CO-HOST TCM’S ARAB IMAGES ON FILM SERIES - TOP
Media Education Foundation

Internationally acclaimed professor, author and Middle East media consultant Dr. Jack Shaheen will join TCM Host Robert Osborne for Race & Hollywood: Arab Images on Film. This month-long movie event will focus on the diverse portrayals of Arabs in cinema. The series runs every Tuesday and Thursday night in July. (More)

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BLOG: PAMELA GELLER'S ANTI-MUSLIM CIRCUS IN FULL MELTDOWN – TOP
Charles Johnson, Little Green Footballs, 7/1/2011

The "anti-jihad" (read: "anti-Muslim") blogosphere is in full nuclear meltdown today, after the shocking revelation that there are Nazis in the English Defence League.

Who knew?

Pamela "Shrieking Harpy" Geller and Robert Spencer are now under attack from the rest of the anti-Muslim gang, for posting a statement denouncing the EDL because they could no longer ignore the open antisemitism and connections to neo-Nazi groups among the leadership. (More)

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CAIR: U.S. MUSLIMS SPOTLIGHT THEIR PATRIOTISM – TOP
Joel Schectman, The Republic (Columbus, Ind.), 7/3/2011

HACKENSACK, N.J. -- As Americans celebrate their open society, Lodi, N.J., resident Zehra Toor is doing so with an iPhone video message as one of the nation's 2.6 million Muslims: We're proud of our American freedoms, too.

"It is amazing the free speech that you have here. If there is a problem, you can send a letter to the mayor or the governor -- even the president," said the 27-year-old tax analyst, who was born in Jordan. "You don't have to fear that you will be put on some list, or thrown in jail."

Toor is one of many Muslims around the U.S. making home videos this Independence Day weekend, telling personal stories about what makes them proud to be American. My Faith My Voice, a Washington, D.C.-based non-profit, created the July 4th campaign to show the patriotic side of the Muslim community, which has been -- and has felt itself -- under renewed post-9/11 scrutiny because of events during the past year. (More)

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