• Action Alert: CAIR-NY Calls for Changes to 9/11 Museum Film 
  CAIR-New York today called on the National September 11 Memorial Museum to remove stereotypical and stigmatizing terminology from its "The Rise of Al Qaeda" film, which is scheduled to premiere when the museum opens on May 21.
  
• CAIR-MN Board Chair Kausar Hussain Receives Leadership Award
  CAIR-Minnesota today announced that Board Chair Kausar Hussain has received the Outstanding Contribution Award from the Council on Asian-Pacific Minnesotans (CAPM). CAPM is a state agency created by the Minnesota Legislature to advise the governor on issues pertaining to Asian Pacific Minnesotans.
  
• CAIR-FL: Gov. Rick Scott Could Sign Stupid 'Anti-Sharia Law' Bill
  What hit the legislature this year -- proposed by Sen. Alan Hays and Rep. Larry Metz -- was a watered-down version of what was originally proposed. Regardless, the fact that the legislation was a knee-jerk jingoist move prompted a strong response. Both the Anti-Defamation League and the Council on American-Islamic Relations fought the bill.
  
  
  • CAIR-FL: Claim that Democrats Voted to Impose Sharia Law is Wrong
    
• CAIR-Chicago Supports Appeal of Jewish School Denied Zoning Relief 
  
• Video: CAIR Seeks DOJ Probe of NYPD's Coercion of Muslims to Become Spies
  
  
  • CAIR Calls for DOJ Investigation into NYPD Recruitment of Muslims (Yahoo)
    "The Department of Justice must investigate the potential illegality of the coercive recruitment of Muslims to spy on their own faith community," Nihad Awad, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said in a statement in response to Sunday's New York Times report of an ongoing NYPD program in which detectives comb city jails for Muslims and persuade them to spy on mosques and Muslim businesses.
    
  • CAIR: The NYPD's Mistreatment of Muslims, Part II (The Atlantic)
    "Unlike longstanding informant programs in which those recruited are asked to provide information about crimes or criminals they know about, the NYPD team sought to recruit Muslims regardless of what they knew and apparently based solely on their faith and ethnicity," the Council on American-Islamic Relations complained in a press release issued Sunday. "Seeking information about crimes and criminals is appropriate. Coercing people who have no knowledge of criminal activity to spy on law-abiding members of their faith is not."
    
• CAIR-NY: Street Named After Muslim First Responder Killed in 9/11 Attacks(Video/Al Jazeera Arabic)
  
• Video: Tenn. Muslim Activist on CNN's 'Morgan Spurlock: Inside Man'
  
• Video: CAIR Rep Interviewed on CNN Espanol About Boko Haram Kidnappings

• CAIR-CT: Muslim Women Take Stand Against Nigeria Kidnapping (New Haven Register)
  In a statement by phone, Connecticut Council of American-Islamic Relations Director Mongi Dhaouadi said his organization is outraged and dismayed by the actions of Boko Haram. "This cult-like group is wreaking havoc with their inhumane and certainly un-Islamic actions," said Dhaouadi, who's been the director of the grass-roots civil rights organization for three years. "We call on the Nigerian government and the international community to do what it can to bring these innocent girls back to their families," he said.
  
  • A Response to the Question: "Why Aren't Muslims Condemning Boko Haram?" (Time)
• Right-Wing Media Try to Make Boko Haram the New Face of Islam
  Conservative media have largely ignored these outspoken Muslim scholars in favor of voices like Hirsi Ali's that help them demonize the entire Muslim faith by using the actions of a marginalized terrorist group.
• Ann Coulter's Plan to Mock 'Bring Back Our Girls' Backfires
• Megyn Kelly Wonders If Muslim Condemnation of Boko Haram Is Just 'Cover'
  
• Video: CAIR-MI Rep Dawud Walid Interview on NYPD Spying on Muslims
  
• NY Community Leaders to Address Controversy Over 9/11 Memorial Museum Film
• CAIR-NY Amplifies Concerns About Sept. 11 Museum Film as Opening Nears (AP)
  
  • CAIR Wants 'Islamist Extremism,' 'Jihadism' Removed from 9/11 Museum Video
  • CAIR-NY Calls for Changes to 9/11 Museum Film
    
• CAIR-SFBA: Muslim Women Changing the Narrative
  • CAIR-AZ: The Invisible Dimensions of Islamophobia
    
• CAIR-AZ Holds First-Ever Day of Justice
  The Arizona chapter CAIR-AZ in conjunction with Islamic Community Center of Tempe held the first ever "Day of Justice" event this past weekend.
  
• CAIR-FL Speaker's Message of Faith Nearly Lost Amid Fears (News-Journal)
  "I think (the event) reinforced the idea that there is a lot of ignorance about Islam and that we need to educate the public to clear up misconceptions," Hassan Shibly, executive director for CAIR-Florida, said Friday after participating in the final installment of this year's Embry-Riddle's President's Speaker Series. Shibly's appearance came more than two months after a discussion led by University of Central Florida Professor Jonathan Matusitz, known for his controversial views about Islam's connections to terrorism.
  • Video: CAIR-Chicago Rep Discusses Islamic Beliefs
    
• An Open Letter to Bill Maher From a Muslim American (Time)
  Hey there, Bill. You hate religion. You particularly hate Islam. We get it. Your liberal bigotry against Muslims and Islam is no secret. For a while now I've just avoided watching your show, which kind of stinks because for many years I was a great fan and really loved it. I wasn't even bothered when you called out Muslims doing stupid, criminal or horrific things. You do that with a lot of groups, and it's important to do. But I stopped watching when it became clear that you loathed a faith I was devoted to.
  
  • Why Bill Maher's Islamophobia Is More Dangerous than Right Wing Bigotry
• 5 Things Bill Maher Got Wrong in Latest Islam Rant
  
• The Random Muslim Scare Story Generator: Separating Fact From Fiction
  Halal meat is on every menu; sharia law is taking over; the niqab is undermining the nation. Ever noticed how often the same old stories keep appearing about Muslims in Britain? Here's the truth about these and other media myths.
  
• CAIR: Groups Call on Holder to Follow Court Order, Be Open about Targeted Killing 
  More than 20 organizations representing a broad range of interests have joined to urge Attorney General Holder to decline to appeal a recent federal court ruling that would provide the public with critical information about the legal analysis underpinning the targeted killing program.
  
• CAIR-NJ: How to Best Prepare for Law School - May 29

•  Reiterates Rejection of Apostasy Laws After Sudan Ruling
  CAIR today reiterated its rejection of state intervention in personal religious matters after a Sudanese court reportedly sentenced a woman to death for renouncing Islam.
  
• Video: CAIR Representative Speaks at D.C. Rally for Net Neutrality
  
• Video: CAIR-FL Questions Troubling Background of FBI Agent Who Shot FL Muslim
  
  • CAIR-FL: FBI Agent in Fatal Shooting Faced Brutality Allegations in California
  • CAIR-FL Demands Answers in Todashev Case (Boston Globe)
    CAIR-Florida's Hassan Shibly said the Justice Department and a Florida prosecutor should have disclosed that agent Aaron McFarlane was the subject of police brutality lawsuits and internal affairs investigations and that he pleaded the Fifth Amendment during a police corruption trial in their March reports exonerating McFarlane in the shooting.
    
• CAIR-MI: More Tech Should Be Deployed to Deter Police Misconduct (Det. News)
  
• CA: Syrian Orphans Can't Come to U.S. (Press-Enteprise)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CAIR Counters D.C. Anti-Muslim Ad with Free Qurans

(WASHINGTON, D.C., 5/15/14) -- The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation's largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today said it will offer a free copy of Islam's holy text, the Quran, to anyone who wishes to verify the inaccuracy of a new anti-Muslim bus advertisement in Washington, D.C.

The anti-Muslim ad, which is sponsored by a hate group led by Pamela Geller, falsely claims that the Quran encourages Muslims to hate Jews. Her organization, Stop the Islamization of America (SIOA), is designated as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC). SPLC also named Geller as a member of the "anti-Muslim inner circle."

Geller, who has bragged online that she uses a Quran as a doorstop, was the subject of a CAIR "Islamophobe profile"documenting the individuals and organizations involved in spreading anti-Muslim bias in the United States. CAIR alsolisted her as a member of the "inner core" of those promoting anti-Muslim bigotry.

Her group SIOA was recently denied a trademark after an appeals court ruled that the name disparaged Muslims.

"We encourage those who view Geller's false and inflammatory ads to visit CAIR's 'Explore the Quran' website to request a free copy of the Quran so they can read it for themselves," said CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad. "Anyone who reads the Quran will discover that it honors Jews and Christians for believing in one God and calls on all believers to live in peace and harmony."

Those wishing to obtain a free Quran should visit: www.explorethequran.com/request-a-quran/american-public.html

Awad said people who read the Quran would come across verses such as:

"Verily, those who have attained to faith [in this divine writ], as well as those who follow the Jewish faith, and the Christians, and the Sabians - all who believe in God and the Last Day and do righteous deeds - shall have their reward with their Sustainer; and no fear need they have, and neither shall they grieve." (2:62)

"Say: 'We believe in God, and in that which has been bestowed from on high upon us, and that which has been bestowed upon Abraham and Ishmael and Isaac and Jacob and their descendants, and that which has been vouchsafed to Moses and Jesus; and that which has been vouchsafed to all the [other] prophets by their Sustainer: we make no distinction between any of them. And it is unto Him that we surrender ourselves.'" (2:136)

"O humankind! Behold, We have created you all out of a male and a female, and have made you into nations and tribes, so that you might come to know one another. Verily, the noblest of you in the sight of God is the one who is most deeply conscious of Him. Behold, God is all-knowing, all-aware." (49:13)

In 2012, a broad-based coalition of 127 organizations sent a letter to the Washington Area Metro Transit Authority (WMATA) expressing concern about Geller's previous anti-Muslim advertisements.

A CAIR ad placed to counter Geller's 2012 campaign featured a verse from the Quran stating: "Show forgiveness, speak for justice and avoid the ignorant." (The Holy Quran, 7:199)

Video: D.C. Metro Riders React Positively to CAIR Quran Ad Text (Fox)

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.

- END -

• Registration for CAIR-Texas Annual Banquet Now Open
  
• CAIR-AZ Warns of Calls from Fake DHS, FBI, IRS, 'Officers' 
  CAIR-Arizona continues to receive complaints from community members who have received calls from individuals falsely claiming to be from the DHS, FBI and IRS.
  
• Video: CAIR Rep Says Muslims Worldwide Condemn Boko Haram's Actions (VOA)
  
• CAIR: Dem Lawmaker Dismisses U.S. Warnings of Israeli Espionage
  The Senate Foreign Relations Committee, meanwhile, is poised to take up the U.S.-Israel Strategic Partnership Act, a legislative grab bag of pro-Israel provisions, but it remains unclear if the bill's final language will admit the Jewish state into the visa waiver program, a move that would anger prominent U.S. Islamic groups. "If Congress does not drop its proposed Israel visa waiver exemption it will affirm Israel's treatment of U.S. Muslims and Arabs as second-class citizens," CAIR's Robert McCaw.
  
• CAIR: Thanks to Pamela Geller, One Group Will Give Out Free Qurans
  CAIR called the ad "false and inflammatory," and encourages interested people toobtain a Quran through their site. 
  
• 'It's Something That I lived,' Muslim Says of Reported NYPD Informant Program
  Hesham El-Meligy of New Springville, a Muslim activist and a member of Noor Al-Islam Society in Mariners Harbor, believes that an informant in the program attempted to entrap him in the years after the World Trade Center attacks.
  
  
  • Author Reports on Western Surveillance Policies Against Muslims
    Wiretapping was present throughout CUNY campuses, including Queens College. A few years ago, NYPD officers -- or paid informants -- spied on Muslim students as documented in the report "Mapping Muslims: NYPD Spying and Its Impact on American Muslims," which was released last year. Arun Kundnani, a QC adjunct professor, reported on the consequences of such policies in his book, "The Muslims Are Coming: Islamophobia, Extremism, and the Domestic War on Terror," released on March 18.
• Muslim, Woman, Bio-Chemist: Grad Refuses to Be Defined by Stereotypes

---

Faith Leaders to Protest Against Hate Speakers at Dallas Rally

(DALLAS, TX, 5/16/14) -- On Saturday, May 17, the North Texas chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-NTX) will join a group of multiracial and interdenominational pastors who will protest the inclusion of anti-Muslim hate groups speaking at a Dallas rally.

WHAT: Faith Leaders to Protest Anti-Muslim Speakers
WHEN: Saturday, May 17, 2 p.m.
WHERE: City Hall Plaza in front of Dallas City Hall, 500 Marilla St., Dallas, TX 75201
CONTACT: CAIR-NTX Executive Director Alia Salem, 817-538-8269, asalem@cair.com Reverend Peter Johnson, 214-636-7267

[NOTE: CAIR-TX said local Muslims sought to join the rally in support of Christian rights, but only if the anti-Muslim speakers were dropped. Rally organizers refused that request.]

Reverend Diane Baker, minister of outreach for the First Community United Church of Christ, said in a statement: "I believe with my heart and faith that hatred cannot win. Only love, peace and justice. If people respond to problems with hatred they become like them, like those who hate."

Reverend Wes Magruder, senior pastor at Kessler Park United Methodist Church in Dallas, said: "The best way to protect the rights of a persecuted religious group is to protect the religious rights of all. Christians around the world will be safe when Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists and others are also protected. I fear that this Dallas rally is a smokescreen for perpetuating a fear and hatred of Islam."

Organizers of the rally have invited Robert Spencer, David Gabautz and Walid Shoebat to speak.

Spencer is a co-founder of Stop Islamization of America (SIOA), which has been designated as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC). Spencer's Jihad Watch blog is also designated as a hate group by the SPLC, which named Spencer as part of the nation's "Anti-Muslim Inner Circle." Norwegian mass murderer Anders Breivik cited Spencer's blog 162 times in his manifesto. The independent national media watch group Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR) identified Spencer as one of "Islamophobia's Dirty Dozen" who systematically "spread fear, bigotry, and misinformation."

Backgrounder: CAIR Welcomes Catholic Group's Decision to Drop Islamophobic SpeakerSEE: The Radicalization of Anders Breivik

Dave Gaubatz has stated that "a 'radical Muslim' is a 'practicing' Muslim," "interfaith dialogue is very, very dangerous" and "every mosque throughout the world is a breeding ground for Islamic-based terrorism."

He has called for a "professional and legal backlash against the Muslim community" and for the destruction of the "Islamic ideology worldwide." Gaubatz once worked for an organization that advocated jail terms for "adherence to Islam." He also claims to have found Weapons of Mass Destruction in Iraq and that President Obama is a "crack-head."

Walid Shoebat, who has been exposed by CNN as an anti-Islam fraud, once told a Missouri newspaper that he sees "many parallels between the Antichrist and Islam" and that "Islam is not the religion of God -- Islam is the devil." (Springfield News-Leader, 9/24/07)

Video: CNN Exposes Walid Shoebat's Terror Training Scam -- Part 1 and Part 2

Shoebat claims that President Obama is a Muslim. In a YouTube video, Shoebat said, "[I]f Islam is not playing the major role in Antichrist spirit, why do you think the devil wants to appoint somebody connected to Islam in the White House?" He told radio host G. Gordon Liddy, "No one is called Hussein unless he is Muslim. So it is very clear that Barack Hussein Obama is definitely a Muslim."

Video: Shoebat Says Devil Wants Obama in White House
Walid Shoebat Falsely Claimed that Obama is "Definitely a Muslim"

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.