Angry Protesters Descend on Conn. Mosque
Daniel Tepfer, Connecticut Post, 8/6/10

BRIDGEPORT -- About a dozen right-wing Christians, carrying placards and yelling "Islam is a lie," angrily confronted worshippers outside a Fairfield Avenue mosque Friday.

"Jesus hates Muslims," they screamed at worshippers arriving at the Masjid An-Noor mosque to prepare for the holy week ofRamadan. One protester shoved a placard at a group of young children leaving the mosque.

"Murderers," he shouted.

Police arrived on the scene to separate the groups, but said no arrests were made.

Flip Benham, of Dallas, Texas, organizer of the protest, was yelling at the worshipers with a bullhorn.

"This is a war in America and we are taking it to the mosques around the country," he said. (More)

[NOTE: CAIR received a report of a similar incident outside a mosque in Virginia on Friday.]

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Anti-Islam Hate Group Leader to Speak at Fla. Tea Party Event
Tom McLaughlin, Daily News, 8/6/10

A national Muslim organization asking local politicians and U.S. Senate candidate Marco Rubio to boycott an event being put on by the Emerald Coast Tea Party.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) is protesting the group's choice of Brigitte Gabriel as its speaker at an Aug. 21 event at the Emerald Coast Conference Center.

CAIR calls ACT! for America, the Pensacola-based group Gabriel heads, an "anti-Islamic hate group."

Geoff Ross, the leader of the Emerald Coast Tea Party, said he will not back off of his decision to have Gabriel speak.

Several politicians and candidates who also are scheduled to speak also say they will attend despite CAIR's call for them to step away.

"Are none of the Muslims going to vote for me if I do?" asked Rick Hord, a candidate for Okaloosa County sheriff. . .

CAIR spokesman Ibrahim Hooper said he was disappointed Northwest Florida's leaders will stand behind Gabriel's right to speak and not even question the content.

"Nobody has ever questioned her right to speak. We question her speaking on the same podium as people seeking public office. Given the nature of the content, those who do speak will be giving tacit endorsement to her bigoted views," he said. (More)

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Minn. Governor Says NY Islamic Center 'Unpatriotic'
Ellison said Pawlenty's opposition to a ground zero mosque is a divisive ploy to further his presidential campaign.
Jeremy Herb, Star Tribune, 8/6/10

The controversy over a proposed mosque near New York's ground zero memorial hit Minnesota on Friday, with Gov. Tim Pawlenty trashing the idea and Rep. Keith Ellison, the nation's first Muslim congressman, slamming the governor.

"I know he wants to be president really bad, and I know he's trying to appeal to the most extreme elements of his party to do that," Ellison said, "but I hope he doesn't want to be president so bad that he's willing to dishonor the First Amendment and our heritage of religious tolerance."

In an interview with Real Clear Politics on Friday, Pawlenty suggested it would be unpatriotic to build a mosque near the site of the 2001 terrorist attack on New York City. (More)

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Proposed Temecula Mosque Sparks Heated Emotions for, Against Plan
The Valley News, 8/6/10

An emotional standoff during a religious service last week has spotlighted tensions over plans to build a new mosque in Temecula.

A 90-minute rally by mosque opponents and an even larger show of support from religious rights advocates unfolded last Friday under the watchful eyes of about a half dozen Temecula police officers.

The standoff - which drew nationwide attention and widespread media coverage - came as Temecula officials added a new layer of study for what has become the most controversial house of worship to be planned in the city in about a decade. (More)

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Indian Muslims Protest Fla. Church's Plan to Burn Quran

Bhopal, Aug 7 (ANI): Stung by the blasphemous statements made by an US-based church against their holy text 'Quran', scores of Muslims vented their fury by staging a mass demonstration on the streets of Bhopal.

The angry protestors on Friday raised slogans, and issued a warning saying the global Muslim community would not tolerate any act of damaging Islamic faith.

Deeming it a 'crusade war' the Muslim community lashed out at western conspirators who were targeting Islam for political gains.

"We will not take this lying down. We will give a tit for tat answer to all those who try to hurt our religious sentiments. We have never made any derogatory statement about the holy texts of other religions, and we respect other faiths too," said Asif Khurram, President of the All India Muslim Festival Committee. (More)

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Challenging Islamophobia:

Video: CAIR-OK Hosts Muslim Youth Symposium
Carla Hinton, Oklahoman, 8/7/10

Muslim high school and college students recently gathered together to discuss their roles as leaders in their faith communities and beyond.

The second annual Muslim Youth Leadership Symposium was held July 30 through Aug. 1 at Oklahoma City University, 2501 N Blackwelder.

Young people gathered to hear special guest speakers and participate in workshops designed to raise their awareness about their leadership potential and role in their community.

The event was sponsored by the Oklahoma chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR). Razi Hashmi, the chapter's executive director, said the symposium was held to empower the young people and prepare them to become the next generation of leaders. (More)

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BREAKING: Muslim Plant Workers Can Break Ramadan Fast The workers, backed by the Minnesota chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, had charged Electrolux with violating the 1964 Civil Rights Act. FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CAIR-CT Seeks Protection for Muslim Worshippers (HARTFORD, CT, 8/7/2010) -- The Connecticut office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-CT) today called on public officials and law enforcement agencies in that state to protect the right of Muslims to worship without intimidation by anti-Islam protesters. The Connecticut Post reported that right-wing protesters carrying signs and shouting "Islam is a lie"angrily confronted worshippers outside a Bridgeport mosque on Friday. Worshippers arriving at theMasjid An-Noor mosque were harassed by protesters shouting "Jesus hates Muslims." One protester reportedly shoved a hate sign at a group of young children leaving the mosque. SEE: Angry Protesters Descend on Conn. Mosque A number of other mosques nationwide have been targeted either by anti-Muslim protests or by hate crimes. CAIR is concerned that more anti-mosque incidents will occur during the upcoming Islamic fast of Ramadan. Video: Texas Mosque Vandalism May be Linked to NY Islamic Center Plan CAIR Video: Anonymous Hate Flyers Target Kentucky Mosque Plans CAIR Video: Protestors Denounce Planned Calif. Mosque Video: Fla. Mosque Attack Called Terrorism CAIR: U.S. Muslims to Begin Ramadan Fast Next Week On September 11, a Fla. Church plans to burn a copy of the Quran, Islam's revealed text, and extremist anti-Islam Dutch politician Geert Wilders will address an anti-mosque rally in New York City. SEE: Wilders to Join Ground Zero Mosque Protest "Our state's leaders must repudiate those who target houses of worship and should offer protection to Muslims who seek to exercise their constitutional right to religious freedom," said CAIR-CT Executive Director Mongi Dhaouadi. He said CAIR is urging American Muslim individuals and institutions to review advice on security procedures contained in its "Muslim Community Safety Kit." SEE: Muslim Community Safety Kit CAIR is America's largest Muslim civil liberties group. 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.

BREAKING: CAIR Asks Ariz. Jewish Group to Balance Anti-Islam Course
CAIR: E-Mail Mocks Name of Mich. Muslim Candidate
CAIR Video: Fla. Church Hosts Muslim-Basher
CAIR-NY: Commission Vote a 'Victory for American Liberty'
Neighborhood Flyer Rejects Kentucky Mosque

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CAIR: Coalition Concerned that Anti-Islam Leader Trained FBI
Groups seek response from FBI Director Mueller on invitation to prominent Islamophobe

(WASHINGTON, D.C., 8/3/10) -- A coalition of Muslim, Sikh, Asian-American, and othercivil liberties groups* today sent an open letter to FBI Director Robert Mueller seeking an explanation of why a leader of an anti-Islam hate group was recently invited to train state and federal law enforcement officers.

Robert Spencer, co-founder of the hate group Stop the Islamization of America (SIOA), claimed in a blog post that he "gave two two-hour seminars on the belief-system of Islamic jihadists to the Tidewater Joint Terrorism Task Force." Those attending the training reportedly included FBI agents.

In its letter to Mueller, the coalition outlined Spencer's bigoted views on Islam and Muslims, including referring to Islam's Prophet Muhammad as a "con man."

SEE: Coalition Letter to Director Mueller

The letter cited the independent national media watch group Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR), which identified Spencer as one of "Islamophobia's Dirty Dozen" who systematically "spread fear, bigotry, and misinformation."

In its report, FAIR said, "By selectively ignoring inconvenient Islamic texts and commentaries, Spencer concludes that Islam is innately extremist and violent."

SEE: FAIR Unmasks the Smearcasters - Robert Spencer

The coalition's letter also noted that Spencer joined with hate-blogger Pamela Geller to found a new organization named Stop the Islamization of America (SIOA):

"SIOA has come to prominence through shrill opposition to the building of American mosques, anti-Islam bus and taxi advertising campaigns, support for European far-right groups and Islamophobes such as the English Defence League and Geert Wilders, and bigoted anti-Islam statements by its co-leader, Pamela Geller.

"Geller has claimed that 'Hitler and the Nazis were inspired by Islam' and offered rhetorical support to both accused Serbian war criminal Radovan Karadzic and slain Apartheid-era leader Eugene Terre'blanche."

SIOA is an outgrowth of a similar group in Europe that seeks to block the construction of mosques. That group, Stop the Islamization of Europe, "considers Islamophobia to be the height of common sense."

SEE: SIOA is an Anti-Muslim Hate Group
Fox Opens Its Airwaves to Anti-Muslim Activist Geller

The United States Patent and Trademark Office refused to grant SIOA a trademark because: "The applied-for mark refers to Muslims in a disparaging manner because by definition it implies that conversion or conformity to Islam is something that needs to be stopped or caused to cease."

Spencer also co-authored, with Geller, the recently-published book, "The Post-American Presidency: The Obama Administration's War on America," which sounds a "wake-up call for Americans to stop the Obama administration from limiting our hard-won freedoms, silencing our democratic voices, and irreparably harming America for generations to come."

The conclusion of the coalition's letter to Director Mueller states:

"Mr. Spencer is entitled to his radical views and associations. We strongly believe that such plainly bigoted views, and those who hold them, should be relegated to the fringe of our nation’s discourse, not given a veneer of legitimacy by being invited to train the institutions and individuals charged with protecting our nation from violent extremists.

"We hope to distribute your response to our respective constituencies in order to alleviate grassroots concerns regarding individuals and groups with clear anti-Muslim motivations being used as trainers for our nation’s law enforcement."

*Signatories to the letter to Mueller include:

Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR)
Defending Dissent Foundation
Islamic Shura Council of Southern California
Islamic Society of North America (ISNA)
MAS Freedom
Muslim Advocates
Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC)
Sikh Coalition
South Asian Americans Leading Together (SAALT)

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.

Action: Ask NY Commission to Defend Religious Freedom
Urge board of the Landmarks Preservation Commission to reject attempt to block construction of Islamic community center

(WASHINGTON, D.C., 8/2/10) -- CAIR today called on American Muslims and other people of conscience to contact New York's Landmarks Preservation Commission to ask that its members defend religious freedom and reject efforts by Islamophobes to block construction of an Islamic community center in that city.

The commission will vote Tuesday morning on whether to grant protected status to the building that would be knocked down to make way for the community center. Sources say the existing building does not meet architectural criteria necessary for protection by the city.

SEE: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission Public Meeting

Opponents of the proposed Islamic community center sought to use the landmark process to block construction.

SEE: Landmark Preservation Committee Expected to OK Mosque Construction Near Ground Zero

"We either believe in the longstanding American value of religious freedom or we don't," said CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad. "Bigots and extremists should never be granted veto power over constitutionally-protected civil or religious rights."

He noted that CAIR recently called on the Jewish Anti-Defamation League (ADL) to retract its "shameful" statement against the construction of the community center.

SEE: CAIR Asks ADL to Retract Statement Against NY Islamic Center
CAIR: New York Mosque Controversy Fires Up National Campaign

"The opponents of construction or expansion of American mosques and Islamic centers are engaging in fear-mongering about Islam and falsely associating it with the 9/11 terror attacks," said Awad. "It is sad that after nine years, there are still those who fail to acknowledge that American Muslims condemned the 9/11 attacks and that mainstreamMuslims in America and worldwide have consistently condemned terrorism in all its forms."

SEE: CAIR Anti-Terrorism Campaigns

Awad said opposition to the New York community center and to Islamic centers nationwide is a symptom of growing Islamophobia in America.

SEE: Calif. Mosque Plan Sparks Protest
Texas Mosque Vandalized with Offensive Graffiti and Fire
CAIR Video: Opposition to NY Mosque 'Islamophobia Pure and Simple'
Video: CAIR Rep Debates Islamophobia, Opposition to U.S. Mosques
Fla. Church Plans Quran-Burning Event

IMMEDIATE ACTION REQUESTED: (As always, be POLITE.)

1. CONTACT the Landmarks Preservation Commission Chair Robert B. Tierney to request that he and his board deny the attempt by opponents of the Islamic community center to misuse the landmark process to deny American Muslims their constitutionally-protected religious and civil rights.

CONTACT:
Robert B. Tierney
Chair
Landmarks Preservation Commission

Online: http://nyc.gov/html/mail/html/maillpc.html
E-Mail: info@lpc.nyc.gov
Copy to: info@cair.com
TEL: 212-669-7817

2. DONATE to support CAIR's important work defending American Muslim rights.