CAIR: Newt Gingrich's Sharia Law Stance Raises Questions
"His viewpoint is an extremist viewpoint that would lead to perpetual hostile interactions with the Muslim world," said Ibrahim Hooper, [of CAIR]. "It's truly frightening that a mainstream political candidate would hold such extremist conspiratorial views, and it would be even more frightening to see those views implemented in terms of foreign policy or domestic policy for that matter."
CAIR: Critics Call Pa. Bill Attack on Shariah (UPI)
"This bill feeds the perception that Muslims are anti-American foreigners," Moein Khawaja, director of the Philadelphia chapter of [CAIR]. . .
CAIR: Is Anti-Muslim Politics on the Rise in Florida? (BBC)
Hasan Shibly, the director of the Tampa chapter of CAIR, recently moved from New York to Florida. He says that he's never known Islamaphobia to be so rampant, but believes that for the most part, those attitudes belong to a vocal but small minority."
CAIR-MI: Faith Leaders to Protest Lowe's Over 'All-American Muslim' Flap
CAIR-OK: Lowe's Actions Outrage Muslim Community
CAIR: 32 Lawmakers Urge Lowe's to Reconsider Ad Decision
CAIR-LA: Lowe's and All-American Muslim (Huffington Post)
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CAIR Seeks Hate Crime Probe of Attack on Texas Muslim
Part of victim's ear bitten off by attacker who questioned his name and national origin
(HOUSTON, TEXAS 12/16/11) –- The Houston chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-Houston) today called on local law enforcement authorities and the FBI to investigate a possible bias motive for an attack on a Texas Muslim in which a portion of the victim's ear was bitten off.
CAIR-Houston said the incident occurred on Wednesday in Tomball, Texas, when the victim, a security system salesman, was meeting a homeowner who began asking questions and then attacked him. "He kept asking about his name, and where are you from so he just became very aggressive," the victim's wife told KTRK-TV in Houston.
Video: CAIR Seeks FBI Hate Crime Probe of Attack on Texas Muslim
In addition to a portion of his ear being severed, the victim has 10 broken ribs. The alleged attacker has been charged with aggravated assault involving serious bodily injury. Family members of the victim believe the attack should be treated as a hate crime.
"Because of the questions reportedly asked of the victim, we urge local, state and federal law enforcement authorities to investigate a possible bias motive for this attack, to bring appropriate charges and to seek hate crime enhancements to any sentencing in the case," said CAIR-Houston Executive Director Mustafaa Carroll. "We view this troubling incident as part of a pattern of attacks on American Muslims or those perceived to be Muslim or Middle Eastern."
Carroll said the rise in anti-Muslim hate speech in American society is contributing to the Islamophobia that can lead to such attacks.
Earlier this week, CAIR called for federal hate crime charges to be filed against a man who allegedly said "f*** Osama Bin Laden" during an attack on a Wisconsin man of Moroccan heritage.
SEE: Man Who Allegedly Beat Moroccan Arrested for Hate Crime
Last week, CAIR called for similar hate crime charges against a man seeking to "save his country" by allegedly stabbing a faculty member of the University of Illinois College of Law who he thought was "Middle Eastern."
Earlier last week, CAIR contacted the FBI and local police to seek the investigation of a possible bias motive for the stabbing of a Sikh man at Fresno Yosemite International Airport in California. (Sikh men who wear beards and turbans are often targeted by bigots who mistake them for Muslims.)
Video: CAIR Seeks Hate Crime Probe of Attack on Sikh in Calif.
A Hindu man was assaulted last month in San Jose, Calif., by a group of men who called him a "terrorist."
SEE: San Jose Man Punched, Called 'Terrorist' on Grocery Trip to Lucky
A number of recent reports have documented the growth and promotion of Islamophobia nationwide.
CAIR: Same Hate, New Target
Center for American Progress: Fear, Inc.
Southern Poverty Law Center: Jihad Against Islam
People for the American Way: The Right-Wing Playbook on Anti-Muslim Extremism
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.