CAIR URGES RESPONSIBLE MEDIA COVERAGE OF FLA. 'BURN A KORAN DAY' - TOP

(WASHINGTON, D.C., 9/3/10) - The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) is calling on media professionals and commentators to be responsible in reporting on a planned Quran burning by a tiny extremist Christian congregation in Florida.

On September 11, the Dove World Outreach Center in Gainesville, Fla., a church with fewer than 100 members, plans to hold an "International Burn a Koran Day." Church leaders are encouraging others to follow their example in burning the holy text. This is the same controversial church that has been in the news for claiming that "Islam is of the devil."

SEE: Religious Leaders Call for Solidarity Against Quran Burning

"Just as all Muslims should not be blamed for the actions of a few extremists, neither should all Christians or all Americans be blamed for the intentionally offensive actions of the Dove World Outreach Center," said CAIR Executive Director Nihad Awad. "Pastor Terry Jones represents nothing but an extremist fringe."

He said the Dove World Outreach Center is only seeking cheap publicity and does not represent mainstream Christianity.

"Media professionals have a responsibility to put this publicity stunt in its proper context in their reports and commentaries," said Awad.

CAIR this week distributed a television public service announcement (PSA) that implicitly challenges the Quran burnings.

SEE: CAIR 'We Have More in Common than We Think' PSA

Awad noted that the National Association of Evangelicals, the largest evangelical group in the United States, said that the planned book burning shows, "disrespect for our Muslim neighbors and would exacerbate tensions between Christians and Muslims throughout the world." The National Council of Churches issued a similar statement.

SEE: Statement of the National Association of Evangelicals
Statement of Support from the National Council of Churches

Gainesville Mayor Craig Lowe condemned the church saying it is a "tiny fringe group and an embarrassment to our community." The town even denied the church the required permit for the burning.

SEE: Gainesville Denies Dove World a Permit to Burn Quran

Twenty-four interfaith leaders in the Gainesville area have planned activities as a positive response to Dove World’s planned Quran burning. In a statement announcing their plans, the leaders said, "We state clearly the act of burning the sacred scripture of Islam has no place in our faith, our religious communities, our town, or in our nation."

SEE: Statement of Interfaith Leaders

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.

CONTACT: CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-744-7726, E-Mail:ihooper@cair.com; CAIR Communications Coordinator Amina Rubin, 202-488-8787, 202-341-4171, E-Mail: arubin@cair.com

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CAIR-NY: MUSLIM STUDENTS SEEK SCHOOL HOLIDAY PARITY WITH OTHER FAITHS - TOP
By Nicole Neroulias, Religion News Service

NEW YORK -- For Nikhat Choudhury, the Muslim holidays of Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha mean picking out new clothes, getting together with her cousins and feasting on homemade samosas and other traditional South Asian dishes.

In recent years, these joyous occasions have come with a struggle: Can she afford to stay home? New York City public schools allow absences for religious reasons, but Choudhury, 15, says it's much harder to catch up on the work now that she's in high school.

"I have to weigh the pros and cons of missing a test versus spending time with my family," she said. "But these are big holidays. It's like having to go to school on Christmas"

Fortunately, Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of the holy month of Ramadan, falls Sept. 10 this year, when New York City schools will already be closed for Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year observance. . .

But the campaign continues, even as the 2010-11 school year gets underway, said Faiza N. Ali, community affairs director for the New York chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg should be given credit for defending the right of Muslims to build the Islamic community center, she said, but local Muslims do not want to conflate the Ground Zero issue with Muslim school holidays. "We are not a one-issue-only community." (More)

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CAIR-SACRAMENTO: VALLEY MUSLIMS URGE END TO HATE CRIMES - TOP
By Vanessa Rakis-Garabedian, The Fresno Bee
A week after menacing signs were left at the Madera Islamic Center, two federal prosecutors joined Muslims, law enforcement officials and other community members at the center in a show of unity.

"Any attack on one community is an attack on all, and we will all come together," said Basim Elkarra, executive director of the Sacramento Valley chapter of Council on American-Islamic Relations.

No arrests have been made yet in a series of incidents the Madera County Sheriff's Department is investigating as a hate crime. Early last week, a pair of signs were left at the center, including one that read "Wake up America, the enemy is here."

Days earlier, a brick nearly smashed a window at the center, and the previous week another sign had been left that read, "No temple for the god of terrorism."

Fresno-based Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Cullers said prosecuting hate crimes is a top priority for the U.S. Justice Department. (More)

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346,000 VIEW CAIR PSA ON YAHOO! - TOP

View the video.

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CAIR-TX VIDEO: WE HAVE MORE IN COMMON THAN WE THINK - TOP
KENS 5, 9/2/10

View the video.

Local Muslims respond to the growing backlash against their community with a national public service announcement campaign.

Leaders with the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) say the planned Islamic center in Manhattan is the reason behind the backlash.

At the Thursday press conference, they announced the PSA's will feature Muslim first responders to the 9/11 attack. The PSA's message is "9/11 happened to us all" and that we have more in common than we think.

CAIR also says that a Florida church's plans to burn copies of the Koran on September 11 send the wrong message.

"If the poison is being given in young minds like that, what kind of tomorrow's leaders are we raising? We are very concerned because our children are born here. We have generations that have been born here. I am a fourth generation," says CAIR's Sarwat Husain.

The PSA's will be distributed to television stations nationwide and online through social media sites. (More)

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CAIR-SAN ANTONIO: MUSLIM FIRST-RESPONDERS WERE ALSO 9/11 VICTIMS - TOP
By Abe Levy, Express News, 9/3/10

Citing the contentious debate about the proposed Islamic center near Manhattan's ground zero, a Muslim civil rights group launched a national campaign Thursday aimed at countering hostilities and misperceptions about Muslims.

Violence against mosques and U.S. Muslims have escalated, they say, including in San Antonio, reviving the type of fears Muslims experienced shortly after 9-11, said Sarwat Husain, San Antonio chapter president of the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

CAIR is circulating online videos and CDs featuring Muslims who were 9-11 first responders. One first responder was among the 32 Muslims killed in the attacks.

"We were constantly asked after 9-11, ‘Why don't we denounce it? We keep denouncing it, and it is never enough,'" said Husain, who is vice chairman of CAIR's national board.

A proposed Islamic center has sparked a heated national debate between those who see it as fueling bigotry and weakening religious expression and others who see it as insensitive to victims of the nation's worst terror attack. Stoking the situation is a plan by a Florida church to burn Qurans on Sept. 11 to protest what it believes is the growing influence of Islam in America.

In San Antonio, Husain said two young boys at a public elementary school were verbally and physically attacked by classmates for being Muslim. And she said a Muslim woman who wears a head covering was fired last week from her job at an accounting firm because of her faith, despite a stellar employment record. (More)

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CAIR-SAN ANTONIO HOSTS 7TH ANNUAL INTERFAITH IFTAR - TOP

(SAN ANTONIO, TX, 9/3/2010) -- On Sunday August 29, The San Antonio chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-San Antonio) hosted its 7th Annual Interfaith Iftar, or Ramadan fast-breaking dinner. Some 90 interfaith leaders attended the dinner.

The program began with a welcome address by the CAIR-San Antonio chapter President Sarwat Husain, followed by a discussion of the importance of the month of Ramadan. Dinner attendees were also offered an informative presentation on the American Muslim community.

Welcoming the guests, Sarwat Husain said: "Along with strengthening many other vital practices during the month of Ramadan is also a chance to strengthen our interfaith relations by breaking the fast with our friends of different faith. According to Quran 49:13, God has made all of us into different tribes and nations for us to know and honor each other, and this is what this evening is about."

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.

CONTACT: CAIR-San Antonio President Sarwat Husain, 210-378-9528

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CAIR-CT VIDEO: INTERFAITH LEADERS ADDRESS 'ANTI-MUSLIM HYSTERIA' - TOP
By Mary E. O’Leary, New Haven Register, 9/3/10

View the video.

A number of clergy and Muslim leaders spoke out Thursday about their efforts to counter increasing harassment and discrimination against Muslims that they say reflect an ignorance about Islam.

Mongi Dhaouadi, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations in Connecticut, said the harassment has "metastasized," taking the form of bigoted comments by politicians, hate crimes against Muslims and mosques, a call to burn Qurans by an extremist pastor in Florida and opposition to a Muslim community center near Ground Zero. (More)

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CAIR-OK TO LAUNCH PSAS FEATURING MUSLIM 9/11 FIRST RESPONDERS - TOP
Public service announcements designed to challenge bigotry, Florida Quran burning

(OKLAHOMA CITY, OK - 9/3/2010) -- On Friday, September 3, the Oklahoma chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-OK) will hold a news conference in Oklahoma City, to continue a national public service announcement (PSA) campaign featuring Muslim 9/11 first responders and designed to challenge the growing anti-Muslim bigotry sparked by opposition to the planned Park51 project in Manhattan.

CAIR's campaign will also include a PSA that features interfaith leaders offering an implicit challenge to the Florida church that plans to burn copies of the Quran, Islam's revealed text, on September 11.

WHAT: CAIR to Launch Muslim 9/11 First Responder PSA Campaign
WHEN: Friday, September 3, 2010, 11:00 a.m.
WHERE: Conference Room 212, 2nd Floor, Gold Dome, 1112 NW 23rd St. Oklahoma City, OK 73106

CONTACT: CAIR-OK Executive Director Razi Hashmi, 405-248-5853, E-Mail: rhashmi@cair.com

"There has been overwhelming levels of hate perpetuated by an orchestrated team of vocal bigots against the American Muslim community in recent weeks which has resulted in public and physical attacks," said CAIR-OK Executive Director Razi Hashmi. "CAIR decided to challenge this hate with positivity through public service announcements that seek to promote peace and pluralism."

Two of the three PSAs, which will be distributed to television stations nationwide and online through social media sites, feature Muslim first responders to the 9/11 terror attacks, with the theme "9/11 happened to us all."

The third PSA features Muslim, Jewish and Christian leaders describing the "golden rule" as expressed by their respective faiths –- and ends with the phrase, "We have more in common than we think." That PSA is designed to show the commonalities between faiths and to challenge those who –- like the members of a Florida church who plan to burn Qurans on September 11 –- would divide American along religious lines.

Other American Muslim organizations in Oklahoma will take part in the news conference to outline each group's individual and joint initiatives designed to promote religious freedom, challenge growing anti-Muslim bigotry in American society and to mark the anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks.

SEE: Muslim Leaders Seek to Unify Community in Wake of Hostility, Mosque Controversy (Washington Post)

The other American Muslim organizations taking part in the news conference include: (in alphabetical order)

• Islamic Council of Oklahoma (ICO)
• Islamic Society of Greater Oklahoma City (ISGOC)

Earlier this month, CAIR released an online toolkit designed to help Muslim communities organize proactive local educational and outreach initiatives tied to events such as a "National Day of Unity and Healing" on the upcoming anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks.

The toolkit, called a "Teachable Moment Community Response Guide," offers guidance, tools and resources to help Muslim communities respond to specific current events such as the end of Ramadan Eid al-Fitr holiday occurring near September 11, the upcoming "Burn a Koran Day" by a church in Florida, the anti-Muslim bigotry generated by the smear campaign against a planned Islamic community center in Manhattan, and the ongoing tension and misunderstanding surrounding the building or expansion of mosques nationwide.

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.

CONTACT: CAIR-OK Executive Director Razi Hashmi, 405-248-5853, E-Mail: rhashmi@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-744-7726, or 202-488-8787, E-Mail: ihooper@cair.com; CAIR Communications Coordinator Amina Rubin, 202-488-8787, 202-341-4171, E-Mail: arubin@cair.com

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FOR FAMILIES OF MUSLIM 9/11 VICTIMS, A NEW PAIN - TOP
By Rick Hampson, USA Today, 9/3/10

After that cruel day nine Septembers ago, Talat Hamdani felt twice victimized: first by fellow Muslims who killed her son, then by fellow Americans who doubted that a Muslim like her Salman died a hero at the World Trade Center.

Now, Hamdani says that with anti-Muslim feeling aroused by plans for an Islamic community center and mosque two blocks from the Ground Zero site, she again feels like a double victim.

"It's worse now than it was then," says Hamdani, a retired middle school English teacher who supports the project. Despite feeling an anti-Muslim backlash in the weeks after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, she says, "at least there was empathy then. I got tons of support. Now I'm getting hate mail." (More)

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ISRAELI SPIES WOOING U.S. MUSLIMS, SOURCES SAY - TOP
By Jeff Stein, The Washington Post, 9/2/10

The CIA took an internal poll not long ago about friendly foreign intelligence agencies.

The question, mostly directed to employees of the clandestine service branch, was: Which are the best allies among friendly spy services, in terms of liaison with the CIA, and which are the worst? In other words, who acts like, well, friends?

"Israel came in dead last," a recently retired CIA official told me the other day.

Not only that, he added, throwing up his hands and rising from his chair, "the Israelis are number three, with China number one and Russia number two," in terms of how aggressive they are in their operations on U.S. soil.

Israel’s undercover operations here, including missions to steal U.S. secrets, are hardly a secret at the FBI, CIA and other U.S. intelligence agencies. From time to time, in fact, the FBI has called Israeli officials on the carpet to complain about a particularly brazen effort to collect classified or other sensitive information, in particular U.S. technical and industrial secrets.

The most notorious operation employed Jonathan Pollard, the naval intelligence analyst convicted in 1987 and sentenced to life in prison for stealing tens of thousands of classified documents for Israel.

One of Israel’s major interests, of course, is keeping track of Muslims who might be allied with Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip, or Iran-backed Hezbollah, based in Lebanon. (More)

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CAIR: NEARLY A YEAR AFTER IMAM'S DEATH, STILL MANY MORE QUESTIONS THAN ANSWERS - TOP
By Sarah Cwiek, Michigan Radio, 9/2/10

On October 28th, of last year, Imam Luqman Ameen Abdullah and several followers from his Detroit mosque came to this non-descript warehouse, set back from the road in a busy industrial and commercial part of Dearborn.

They apparently thought they were here to move stolen goods. But it was a sting the goods provided by FBI agents, some of whom were undercover in Abdullah's mosque. The FBI contends Abdullah was a radical Muslim separatist who advocated "war against the United States and non-Muslims."

Exactly what happened next isn't clear. But we do know this: an FBI dog was shot and killed, allegedly by Abdullah. And then Abdullah was killed, shot more than 20 times.

In the almost 11 months since the raid, multiple investigations have sought to uncover what happened that day. But no information has been released to the public.

"It is tragic not only that a man died, but that in every single effort has been made to publicly information to which the public is entitled to know they have been stonewalled at every turn," says Julie Hurwitz, an attorney representing the Michigan chapter of the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR).

CAIR Michigan has filed lawsuits against the Dearborn Police, Detroit Police, and the Michigan State Police. They say all of those agencies have "unjustifiably suppressed public information" related to the raid by denying Freedom of Information Act requests for evidence.

CAIR Michigan Executive Director Dawud Walid says there's one piece of evidence that holds particular interest.

"It's standard operating procedure of the FBI, when they conduct a sting operation, that there is video footage of the warehouse," Walid says. (More)

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CAIR-MN: SOMALI-AMERICANS WORRY ABOUT HOW TO HELP THEIR LOVED ONES IN SOMALIA - TOP
By Mohamed Hassan, Madasha, 9/2/10

Many in the Somali community worry that they may be accused of supporting terrorist organization as they try to help families, relatives, and friends in Somalia. "If you send even as little as $100 to a relative... you might be accused of supporting a terrorist group," said Said Sheik-Abdi, a Minneapolis-based Somali writer.

Members of this community will now have to be extra careful when giving donations or sending money to Somalia. . .

"The law is clear and strict- if you send any amount of funds or goods that ends up going to a person or organization designated by the U.S. as a terrorist organization, you could be charged with supporting a terrorist organization." said Zahra M. Aljabri, Assistant Civil Rights Director of CAIR. "The best and safest option is to send funds to a known charitable organization rather than an individual. The organization should be a registered 501(c) 3."

While there aren't many registered charitable organizations, charity organizations do not collect and remit money intended for family members. It's unclear how Somalis will support immediate family. (More)

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HELP PEOPLE SUFFERING FROM FLOODS IN PAKISTAN - TOP

(Washington, D.C. - September 3, 2010) Helping Hand for Relief and Development (HHRD) is appealing to all Muslims to donate 'Fitra' for the flood victims in Pakistan.

In a press release issued today, Fazal ur Rahman, Country Director HHRD
Pakistan, said that HHRD has already delivered the ration for almost 1.1 Million meals for the victims in heavily flooded areas.

Dr. Farrukh Raza, Chairman HHRD, said, "Our humble request to all Muslims and especially to Muslim Americans is to encourage your friends, family and communities to designate this year's Fitra amount for the victims of Pakistan floods. Cell phones can be used to text "FITRA " to "27722" to donate $10 for this cause."

In his appeal to the Muslim community, Dr. Raza said, "We are in the last 10 days of Ramadan, when our good deeds and giving will benefit us the most inshAllah, we should think about those who are not as fortunate as us and are spending their days and nights in tents and shelters."

Mr. Rahman reminded, "Fitra is incumbent upon all of us; let’s give our Fitra early to help the brothers and sisters in Pakistan as they deal with one of the most devastating disasters in the history."

HHRD has made special arrangements for Fitra collection and disbursement. One can donate $10.00 Fitra by going to www.hhrd.org or by Texting FITRA to 27722.

Mr. Rahman said that all FITRA donations were going to Pakistan Flood Relief and the disbursement would take place before the end of Ramadan.

For more information on how to help those suffering from these floods, please visithttp://www.reliefforpakistan.org/