Wednesday, November 23, 2011

  • Video: Dennis Miller Ready to Hit Muslim on Plane (Daily Caller)
    MILLER: "I just flew five hours from L.A. to New York next to Islamic kid who was in his 30s. I couldn't even watch the movie. I just fantasized [about] hitting him in the head with an elbow if he went up."
    • Helpful Airline Passenger with Accent Causes Terror Scare (NY Post)
      A pilot who accidentally locked himself in the bathroom of his LaGuardia-bound plane caused a terror scare last night when a helpful passenger with an accent tried to come to his rescue by banging on the cockpit door.
  • CAIR-Chicago: TSA Employee Fired Over Anti-Muslim Facebook Posts
    CAIR-Chicago representatives met with Transportation Security Administration leadership in Chicago three weeks ago to voice the concerns of the Muslim community about the incident and to ask that more be done to prevent future incidents from happening.
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MEDIA ADVISORY --

CAIR: NY Muslims to Rally, Pray for End to NYPD/CIA Spying

(NEW YORK, NY, 11/17/11) -- On Friday, November 18, a coalition of more than 50 religious, social justice and community organizations will rally and hold Friday (Jummah) prayers from 12-4p.m. in Foley Square to protest the religious and ethnic profiling of Muslim communities by the New York City Police Department (NYPD), the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and other law enforcement agencies.

SEE: NYPD Spying on Muslims Likened to Spying on Free Speech Advocates

WHAT: Rally & Friday Prayer to Stop NYPD/CIA Spying on Muslim Communities
WHEN: Friday, November 18, Noon - 4 p.m.
WHERE: Foley Square, Worth St. between Lafayette & Centre St.
CONTACT: CAIR-NY Civil Rights Manager Cyrus McGoldrick, call/text: 203-206-6883, 212-870-2002, E-Mail: cmcgoldrick@cair.com; DRUM Legal & Policy Director Fahd Ahmed, call:940-391-2660, E-mail: fahd@drumnyc.org; AAANY Executive Director Linda Sarsour, call:917-306-3323, e-mail: linda@arabamericanny.org

The rally and prayer seeks:

1) An immediate end to all racial, ethnic and religious profiling.
2) The dismantlement and disclosure of all surveillance operations.
3) An independent commission to investigate all NYPD, CIA and FBI operations against the Muslim community.
4) The immediate protection of the right to freedom of worship, free speech, and free association.
5) The equal protection under the law of Muslims and all people of New York.

Speakers will include elected officials, community and religious leaders, CUNY college students and affected New Yorkers, and musical and poetic performers.

SEE: Facebook Event for Rally & Friday Prayer

An ongoing investigation by the Associated Press revealed that undercover NYPD officers in a so-called "Demographics Unit" targeted Muslim communities and houses of worship with the assistance of individuals linked to the CIA. NYPD officials initially denied the Demographics Unit existed, despite the AP's publication of an NYPD presentation that described the mission and makeup of the unit.

AP: NYPD Demographics Unit Presentation

Recent reports indicate that the NYPD even spied on Muslim leaders who figured prominently in community outreach efforts, and infiltrated Muslim student groups not suspected of committing any crime.

SEE: NYPD Even Spied on the Muslim Leaders Who Were Helping Them
SEE: NYPD Spying on Muslim College Students Now

Rally & Friday Prayer sponsored by:

Majlis Ash-Shura of Metropolitan New York, Arab Muslim American Federation, Council on American Islamic Relations -- New York (CAIR-NY), Muslim American Society (MAS-NY), Desis Rising Up and Moving (DRUM), Al-Awda NY: Palestine Right to Return Coalition, Mosque of Islamic Brotherhood, Social Justice Task Force of Muslim Alliance in North America, ICNA New York, Muslim Bar Association of New York (MuBANY), Muslim Defense Committee - National Lawyers Guild - NYC, Muslim American Civil Liberties Coalition (MACLC), Muslim Consultative Network (MCN)

Endorsed by:

International Action Center, Direct Action Working Group and Immigrant Working Group of Occupy Wall Street, United National Antiwar Coalition (UNAC), May 1 Workers & Immigrant Rights Coalition, BAYAN USA, Pakistan USA Freedom Forum, Project SALAM, Honduras USA Resistencia, SI Solidarity Iran, Jews for Racial & Economic Justice, CLEAR @ CUNY Law, Veterans for Peace - Chapter 34 NYC, NY Committee to Stop FBI Repression, Pakistan Solidarity Network, Brooklyn For Peace, Jews Against Islamophobia, Jews Say No!, Brooklyn Congregations United, Jewish Voices for Peace NY, Women Against Islamophobia & Racism, First Unitarian Universalist Church, Church St. Paul and St. Andrew, All Souls Church, Labor for Palestine and New York City Labor Against the War, Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund, New York Taxi Workers Alliance, South Asia Solidarity Initiative, Turning Point for Women & Families, International League of Peoples Struggle LOC, Malcolm X Museum, and others.

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 --

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CAIR-LA Welcomes DOJ Probe Into City's Denial of Mosque Rebuilding
City council denied mosque's application despite recommended approval by planning commission

(LOS ANGELES, CA, 11/18/11) -- The Greater Los Angeles Area office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-LA) today welcomed a U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) civil rights investigation of a decision last year by the City of Lomita to deny a local mosque's application to rebuild its facility.

According to media reports, "Federal investigators are interviewing 13 past and present members of the Planning Commission, City Council and other officials this week."

CAIR-LA: Feds Launch Civil Rights Probe Into Rejection of Lomita Mosque Expansion(Daily Breeze)

In March 2010, the Lomita City Council considered the Islamic Center of South Bay's application to build a new prayer space and make other substantial improvements to its property, which currently consists of several disjoined small buildings used as prayer space and classrooms for a weekend school.

The city council denied the mosque's application, despite a recommended approval by the city's planning commission, public safety and traffic commission and city planning staff. That denial prompted accusations of anti-Muslim bias.

SEE: Lomita Rejects Plan to Expand South Bay Islamic Center (LA Times)

In denying the request, some of the council members also indicated potential loss of tax revenue if re-zoning to low-density residential -- a requirement for the mosque to rebuild its facilities -- took place. Some of the parcels the mosque had purchased were re-zoned for commercial use after 1989. The mosque, which was established in 1985 prior to the re-zoning, had worked diligently with the city's staff on the application and to allay any concerns about the improvements.

SEE: Minutes of a Regular Meeting of the Lomita City Council

"From day one, the mosque and its leadership have worked with the city to achieve desperately needed but neighbor-friendly improvements to the mosque's facilities," saidAmeena Mirza Qazi, CAIR-LA deputy executive director and the attorney for the mosque. "We are grateful that the Department of Justice has opened an investigation into the matter, because this community continues to be deprived of facilities that meet its religious needs."

"The mosque community is a valuable part of the City of Lomita," said the mosque's founding member Dr. Iraj Ershaghi. "We remain hopeful that the city council will reconsider its decision and approve our application, and keep our neighborhoods a welcoming place for everyone."

Qazi also pointed to the recent anti-Muslim climate -- promoted by a cottage industry of Islamophobes -- which has provoked opposition to mosque construction or expansion nationwide.

SEE: Islam: Not in My Backyard? (NY Times)
Temecula City Council Denies Mosque Appeal
CNN Documentary: Muslims Next Door

A number of recent reports have documented the disturbing growth and promotion of Islamophobia in American society.

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.

Become a Fan of CAIR on Facebook
Subscribe to CAIR's E-Mail List
Subscribe to CAIR's Twitter Feed
Subscribe to CAIR's YouTube Channel

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BREAKING: Hundreds of Muslims Pray, Rally to Protest NYPD Spying (AP)
Hundreds of Muslims gathered in lower Manhattan on Friday to pray and march in protest against a decade of New York Police Department spying on Muslim communities.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CAIR: TN GOP Rep. Tells Muslims to 'Go Back to Where They Came From'
CAIR says GOP leaders must demand Rep. Womick's resignation from Tennessee General Assembly

(WASHINGTON, D.C., 11/18/11) –- The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) today called state and national GOP leaders to demand the resignation of a Tennessee lawmaker after he suggested in a radio interview that U.S. Muslims should "go back to where they came from" if they objected to his recent call for the removal of all Muslims serving in the military.

CAIR, a Washington-based Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, said Republican State Rep. Rick Womick's "bigoted and un-American" views render him incapable of fairly representing the people of Tennessee.

In a radio interview, Rep. Womick sought to defend his call for a purge of Muslims from the American military and said that if Muslims object to his views, "They can go back to where they came from."

SEE: Womick: If Muslims Don't Like Being Banned From The Military, "They Can Go Back To Where They Came From"

"Responsible state and national Republican Party leaders must repudiate Representative Womick's bigoted and un-American remarks and demand that he step down," said CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper. "His understanding of the Constitution's Equal Protection Clause is obviously too flawed for him to fairly and effectively represent all the citizens of Tennessee."

The Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment prohibits a state from denying "any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws."

SEE: 14th Amendment

Hooper noted that Womick was a co-sponsor of a Tennessee bill that, in its original form, would have effectively outlawed basic Islamic principles (Sharia) and made the practice of Islam illegal in that state.

Earlier this year, CAIR called on state and national GOP leaders to repudiate a lengthy rhetorical attack on Islam and the Quran by Womick.

During a hearing of the Tennessee House Judiciary Committee, Womick claimed the proposed Material Support to Designated Entities Act was "not about religion," then launched into a lengthy attack on Islam and its revealed text, ultimately comparing the faith to Nazism and white supremacy.

VIDEO: Rep. Womick Smears Islam (Start at minute 55.)

The original draft of the legislation was reportedly written with the assistance of David Yerushalmi, head of the anti-Islam hate group Society of Americans for National Existence (SANE), who sent a video message to a recent anti-Sharia conference.

On its now password-protected website, SANE 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."

SEE: A SANE Act to Deal with the Islamic Threat to America's National Existence (SADITANE)
Meet the White Supremacist Leading the GOP's Anti-Sharia Crusade

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) recently noted that Yerushalmi has "a record of anti-Muslim, anti-immigrant and anti-black bigotry."

David Yerushalmi: A Driving Force Behind Anti-Sharia Efforts in the U.S.

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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