• CAIR Accepting Nominations for 2013 Muslim Community Awards 
• CAIR-CT: Protesters Object to 'Big Brother Spying' 
  The Connecticut chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union organized the demonstration with several other groups including the Council on American Islamic Relations and the Connecticut Coalition to Stop Indefinite Detention.
  • CAIR: Muslim Group Sues NSA Over Surveillance
• Video: CAIR-San Diego Seeks Hate Crime Charges for Threats Targeting Mosque Worshippers
  
  • CAIR-San Diego: Man Charged with Making Death Threats at Mosque 
  • CAIR-San Diego: Man Behind Bars on Suspicion of Threatening Mosque
• LA Times Editorial: Congratulations to Sadia Saifuddin, the Next UC Student Regent
• Growing Up Muslim in America (Financial Times)
• CAIR-MN to Host Community Ramadan Dinner Friday, July 19
  
  • Muslims Adapt for Holy Month in the Midnight Sun (Alaska Public Media)

CAIR ACTION ALERT #707:

Action: Urge North Carolina Governor Not to Sign Anti-Islam Legislation

(WASHINGTON, D.C., 7/19/13) - The Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) today called on Muslims and all those in North Carolina who value religious liberty to contact Governor Pat McCrory and urge him to veto an anti-Islam bill, HB 522, which may be adopted by the state's assembly by the end of the month.

TAKE ACTION: Contact the North Governor Pat McCrory and ask that he reject the anti-Islam bill.
EMAIL FORM
CALL: (919) 814-2000
FAX: (919) 733-2120

Framed as banning the "application of foreign law" in family law cases in state courts, HB 522 is similar in language to the dozens of other anti-Islam bills introduced in state legislatures nationwide. The bill itself is intended to marginalize and stigmatize North Carolina Muslims and will have a negative impact on the rights of people of all faiths and backgrounds.

Over the past legislative session the state's House and Senate each passed similar anti-Islam bills, however these bills were never formally adopted due to controversy surrounding amendments that placed restrictions on abortion services. 

During the bill's consideration, State Senator Thom Goolsby (R-New Hanover) equated foreign law to Muslim contracts, citing a 2012 case in which the North Carolina Supreme Court was petitioned to rule on the "legitimacy of an Islamic marriage and divorce."

SEE: Sharia Ban Resurfaces in Senate (WRAL)

In 2011, the American Bar Association (ABA) passed a resolution opposing legislation like HB 522, noting that it is "duplicative of safeguards that are already enshrined in federal and state law," and saying, "Initiatives that target an entire religion or stigmatize an entire religious community, such as those explicitly aimed at 'Sharia law,' are inconsistent with some of the core principles and ideals of American jurisprudence."

Last year, CAIR released a community toolkit designed to assist those seeking to preserve America's ideal of religious pluralism in the face of the unconstitutional anti-Sharia campaign.

CAIR's toolkit includes background on David Yerushalmi, the anti-Islam extremist who authored the template for the anti-Sharia bills.

Yerushalmi is head of the anti-Islam hate group Society of Americans for National Existence (SANE), which once offered a policy proposal that would make "adherence to Islam" punishable by 20 years in prison, called for the immediate deportation of all non-citizen Muslims and urged Congress to declare war on the "Muslim Nation," which SANE defined as "all Muslims." The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) named Yerushalmi a member of the "anti-Muslim inner circle."

Links to Background Information on David Yerushalmi:

CAIR Islamophobe Profile: David Yerushalmi
David Yerushalmi: A Driving Force Behind Anti-Sharia Efforts in the U.S. 
Meet the White Supremacist Leading the GOP's Anti-Sharia Crusade 
The Man Behind the Anti-Shariah Movement (NY Times)
Anti-Islam Activist Yerushalmi Measures Imams' Beards 
Profile of Anti-Sharia Extremist David Yerushalmi

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.

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