* Hadith: Truth, Trust and Neighborliness
* Incitement: Cal Thomas Compares Muslims to 'Cancer'
            - Action: Contact WTOP-FM About Thomas' Islamophobia
            - Reminder: CAIR DC 'Islamophobia' Panel July 17
* CAIR-CA: Muslim Prayers in School Debated (Union-Trib)
* Video: CAIR-FL: Attack on Tampa Muslim Woman a Hate Crime
            - CAIR-FL: Argument Escalates - Is it Hate Crime? (SP Times)
            - CAIR-FL: Muslim Hate Crime Investigation
* CAIR-CA: Bias Against Muslims on the Rise (Argus)
* CAIR: Muslim Barred from GA Court for Wearing Scarf (AP)
            - WA: The Right to Wear Hijab in Court (News Trib)
* CAIR-CA: British Muslim Denied Entry to U.S.
* MN: Muslim Women Confront Clash of Cultures (MPR)
            - FL: Some Young Christians Convert to Islam
* Afghan Elders Say 45 Civilians Killed in Air Strikes (AFP)

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HADITH OF THE DAY: SPEAK THE TRUTH, FULFILL TRUSTS, BE A GOOD NEIGHBOR - TOP

The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: "If anyone is pleased to love God and His Messenger or to have God and His Messenger love him, he should speak the truth when he says anything, fulfill his trust when he is put in a position of authority and be a good neighbor."

Al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 1289

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INCITEMENT: CAL THOMAS COMPARES MUSLIMS TO 'SLOW SPREADING CANCER' - TOP
WTOP-FM, 7/2/07

LISTEN: http://www.cair.com/audio/Terrorism_Questions_Need_Answers.mp3

WTOP-FM's July 2nd morning radio show featured conservative guest Cal Thomas commenting on the recent terror attacks in Scotland and London.

In response to these attacks, Thomas asked: "How much longer should we allow people from certain lands, with certain beliefs to come to Britain and America and build their mosques, teach hate, and plot to kill us?"

Thomas also compared Muslims to a "slow spreading cancer" that must be stopped.

ACTION REQUESTED: - TOP

Please call or e-mail WTOP to express your concerns about the Islamophobic attitudes expressed in this commentary. As always, be POLITE.

CONTACT: Jim Farley, WTOP Programming Vice President, Tel: 202-895-5071, Fax: 202-895-5088, Email: jfarley@wtopnews.com
COPY TO: info@cair.com

SEE ALSO:

CONSERVATIVE LEADER TO SPEAK ON 'ISLAMOPHOBIA' PANEL - TOP

(WASHINGTON, D.C., 6/26/07) - On Tuesday, July 17, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) will host a panel discussion at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., entitled "Attacking Islam: Implications for Social Cohesion and U.S. Relations with the Muslim World."

The panel will address the increasing anti-Muslim rhetoric within the conservative movement in the United States, focusing on the negative impact of such views on religious tolerance in America and on relations with the Muslim world.

Presenters:

* David Keene, Chairman, American Conservative Union
* Parvez Ahmed, Chairman, Council on American-Islamic Relations

WHEN: Tuesday, July 17, 2007, 9:30 a.m. - 11 p.m.
WHERE: Holeman Lounge, National Press Club, Washington, D.C.

Refreshments will be served. Admission is free but seating is limited and reservations are required. Please RSVP via e-mail to events@cair.com or call 202-742-6409.

CAIR, America's largest Islamic civil liberties group, has 33 offices and chapters nationwide and in Canada. 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: CONTACT: CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-488-8787 or 202-744-7726, E-Mail: ihooper@cair.com; CAIR Communications Coordinator Rabiah Ahmed, 202-488-8787 or 202-439-1441, E-Mail: rahmed@cair.com; CAIR Communications Coordinator Amina Rubin, 202-488-8787, E-Mail: arubin@cair.com

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CAIR-CA: MUSLIM PRAYERS IN SCHOOL DEBATED - TOP
San Diego elementary at center of dispute
Helen Gao, San Diego Union-Tribune, 7/2/07
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/20070702-9999-1n2prayer.html

A San Diego public school has become part of a national debate over religion in schools ever since a substitute teacher publicly condemned an Arabic language program that gives Muslim students time for prayer during school hours.

Carver Elementary in Oak Park added Arabic to its curriculum in September when it suddenly absorbed more than 100 students from a defunct charter school that had served mostly Somali Muslims.

After subbing at Carver, the teacher claimed that religious indoctrination was taking place and said that a school aide had led Muslim students in prayer.

An investigation by the San Diego Unified School District failed to substantiate the allegations. But critics continue to assail Carver for providing a 15-minute break in the classroom each afternoon to accommodate Muslim students who wish to pray. (Those who don't pray can read or write during that non-instructional time.)

Some say the arrangement at Carver constitutes special treatment for a specific religion that is not extended to other faiths. Others believe it crosses the line into endorsement of religion.

Supporters of Carver say such an accommodation is legal, if not mandatory, under the law. They note the district and others have been sued for not accommodating religious needs on the same level as non-religious needs, such as a medical appointment.

Islam requires its adherents to pray at prescribed times, one of which falls during the school day.

While some parents say they care more about their children's education than a debate about religious freedom, the allegations - made at a school board meeting in April - have made Carver the subject of heated discussions on conservative talk radio. District officials have been besieged by letters and phone calls, some laced with invective.

The issue has drawn the attention of national groups concerned about civil rights and religious liberty. The Council on American-Islamic Relations, Anti-Defamation League, American Civil Liberties Union and the Pacific Justice Institute are some of the groups monitoring developments in California's second-largest school district. . .

The San Diego chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations supports the Carver program.

"Our country is transforming demographically, religiously," said Edgar Hopida, the chapter's public relations director. "Our country has to now accommodate things that are not traditionally accounted for before." (MORE)

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CAIR-FL: ATTACK ON TAMPA MUSLIM WOMAN A HATE CRIME - TOP

VIDEO: WTVT FOX 13: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCsSD1qXlUU
VIDEO: Bay News 9: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3jST_GyCJ8

SEE ALSO:

CAIR-FL: ARGUMENT ESCALATES; IS IT HATE CRIME? - TOP
Catherine Shoichet, St. Petersburg Times, 7/2/07
http://www.sptimes.com/2007/07/02/Hillsborough/Argument_escalates_is.shtml

Sabura Rashad and Tom Poyma agree about one thing: After her yard sale Saturday, the two were involved in an argument that got out of control.

Rashad, 33, who is Muslim and African-American, claims that Poyma yelled racial slurs at her, tried to remove her head-covering and almost ran her over with his car.

Poyma said the dispute began when he criticized Rashad's yard sale for cluttering up the curbside near the Lamplighter on the River mobile home park, where they both live. He denied allegations of physical violence.

Ahmed Bedier, executive director of the Tampa chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, described the incident as a hate crime. "There's no excuse for it whatsoever," he said on Sunday.

The group has contacted the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office and the FBI about the incident, he said. Because of conflicting evidence and witness statements, the Sheriff's Office plans to turn the investigation to the State Attorney's Office, spokeswoman Debbie Carter said.

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CAIR-FL: MUSLIM HATE CRIME INVESTIGATION IN HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY - TOP
ABC Action News, 7/2/07
http://www.abcactionnews.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_

id=2c0a83ea-825e-44c8-a3bf-ca7bdeeca91e

"It was terrifying... It was humiliating..."

Standing with her husband and 8-month old baby daughter... Sabura Rashad described, what she says happened to her near her home on Saturday afternoon -

"It was very upsetting to me to have someone in my community, yards away from my home," said Rashad, "to come up and to harass me and to curse at me simply because I'm wearing something different."

Rashad - a practicing Muslim - says she was wearing her head scarf or hajab as she cleaned up after a yard sale at the corner of Morris Bridge and Davis Road, when she says her neighbor, Tom Poyma, pulled up and started yelling racial slurs... Then tried to run her over with his SUV.

"I can be run down like a like an animal with my baby, you know, its just... Nobody deserves that."

Poyma tells a quite different tale.

"They're saying you tried to run this woman and her baby over with a truck? No. "

Poyma, who agreed to talk, if we didn't show his face, admits the argument got out of hand... He even admits racial words were exchanged... But he insists it wasn't racially motivated.

"This whole thing grew out... Of an argument that was about the corner where I live being glutted with merchandise." says Poyma.

Despite the conflicting stories... The Council on American Islamic Relations believes the incident should be considered a hate crime.... And have filed a report with the Hillsborough Sheriff's office. (MORE)

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CAIR-CA: BIAS AGAINST MUSLIMS ON THE RISE, GROUP SAYS - TOP
Incidents listed in report range from due process issues to slaying of Ansari
Rebecca Rosen Lum, Argus, 7/2/07
http://www.insidebayarea.com/argus/localnews/ci_6280705

Civil rights violations targeting Bay Area Muslims spiked last year, ranging from schoolyard taunts to deadly assaults to routine citizenship applications strangled by government red tape.

Reports more than doubled in 2005-06, according to the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

The nonprofit organization documented 246 incidents in 2006, up from 113 in 2005.

The Bay Area numbers reflect national numbers, which show episodes of anti-Muslim bias jumping by

25 percent. California accounted for nearly one-third of all the complaints.

The report chronicles verbal and physical harassment, and circumstances in which Muslims were singled out for questioning, subjected to lengthy delays in immigration or naturalization, or otherwise discriminated against. The crime scenes ranged from airports and government agencies to schools, work places, and mosques.

And cyberspace.

An e-mail from an angry Danville man to an East Bay blogger triggered one of the complaints.

"Hey, (expletive) bag, get the (expletive) out of my country," it read. "If I run across you in my daily tasks, I will get you."

Twenty-four hours and plenty of dialogue later, the Danville man apologized.

"Hate mail is actually quite common," council spokeswoman Abiya Ahmed said.

Alia Ansari of Fremont never got an apology. In October 2006 the Afghan mother of six was gunned down as she walked with her 3-year-old daughter. A suspect was arrested, but no motive has been determined. Family members and Muslim leaders suspect her head scarf marked her for a hate crime.

The rise in reported cases is partly due to the organization's Citizen Delay project, which documents instances in which immigrants are forced to wait beyond the legal limit of 120 days for their citizenship applications to be processed, Ahmed said. Many have been waiting for years, she said. (MORE)

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CAIR: MUSLIM WOMAN BARRED FROM GEORGIA COURTROOM FOR WEARING SCARF - TOP
Associated Press, 7/1/07
http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/stories/2007/07/01/0701scarf.html

A Muslim woman seeking to contest a simple speeding ticket in this south Georgia city says she was denied access to a municipal courtroom last week for wearing a traditional Islamic head scarf.

Aniisa Karim, 20, said she was stopped after entering Valdosta's municipal court building Tuesday and told she would not be permitted to enter the courtroom wearing her scarf.

"I said, 'No, I'm Muslim ... I wear this for religious reasons and if you don't allow me in the courtroom with my scarf on basically you are violating my civil rights and my right to a free religion,' " Karim told the Valdosta Daily Times.

Karim said an officer told her the denial was due to "homeland security reasons" and that allowing her to enter would show disrespect to Judge Vernita Lee Bender.

She said she offered to walk through a metal detector and allow officers to use a handheld metal detector to scan the scarf.

A national Islamic civil rights group has taken up the case. In a letter to Georgia Attorney General Thurbert Baker, the Council on American-Islamic Relations asks Baker to "take appropriate action to ensure that the legal, religious and civil rights of Georgians of all faiths be maintained."

Baker's office and the Valdosta municipal court were unable to be reached by The Associated Press for comment on Sunday.

Ibrahim Hooper, spokesman for the Washington D.C.-based group, said neither Baker's office nor the Valdosta city attorney had responded to his group as of Sunday afternoon.

The letter from CAIR argues that barring Karim from the courtroom violated Georgia's code of conduct for judges and the 1964 Civil Rights Act, which guarantees access to public facilities based on religious beliefs or practices. (MORE)

SEE ALSO:

WA: SHE HAD A RIGHT TO WEAR HER HIJAB - TOP
Kim Bradford, News Tribune, 7/2/07
http://www.thenewstribune.com/opinion/story/100879.html

Mujaahidah Sayfullah ducked into Tacoma Municipal Court on Jan. 25, 2006, trying not to be noticed.

That hasn't been an easy feat ever since the Puyallup resident converted to Islam in 2001. Her hijab, or traditional Muslim head scarf, inevitably attracts attention, often the wrong kind.

Reactions run the gamut - from name-calling and horn-honking to the palpable recoil Sayfullah, a real estate agent, sees on the faces of some clients meeting her in person for the first time.

It's not an experience she wants to visit on her loved ones, many of whom are not Muslim. So on that day last year when she went to court to support a young relative facing a misdemeanor charge, she kept her distance in the courtroom, slipping into the back row behind a tall man.

She might as well have saved herself the bother. Before the docket even got under way, Sayfullah had again attracted unwanted attention. This time, it came from an unexpected source: the judge, who told Sayfullah she would have to remove the scarf or leave.

The ultimatum dumbfounded Sayfullah. Americans - Sayfullah is a citizen by birth with six years of military service - don't expect to have to defend such a simple religious practice, at least not from the government.

Many of us leave the house every day wearing symbols of our faith - a crucifix pendant, a yarmulke, a nun's habit, a Hindu bindi - without a second thought. Sayfullah even had worn her hijab to jury service in two other Pierce County cases without incident. . .

But Tacoma Municipal Court Judge David Ladenburg wasn't thinking about constitutional issues last year when he told Sayfullah that she would have to remove her hijab in his courtroom. He was concerned with enforcing court decorum. As just about any lawyer will tell his client, you don't show up for court wearing a tank top, flip-flops or a hat. To Ladenburg, Sayfullah's hijab was just another head covering. As he told the courtroom after she left, no one had ever proved to him that the Muslim faith forbids removal of a head scarf in public.

That was news to Sayfullah. "To me, taking off my hijab would be like asking someone else to take off their clothes. I would feel naked, humiliated. The purpose is to protect my morals, my ethics, my modesty."

Ladenburg erred by substituting his interpretation of religious doctrine for Sayfullah's; he admitted as much almost immediately. After a Muslim advocacy group filed a complaint on Sayfullah's behalf, the judge publicly apologized and accepted an admonishment from the state's Commission on Judicial Conduct. "I have always tried to honor all the constitutional freedoms," Ladenburg says. "My mistake was not inquiring further" about Sayfullah's reasons for wearing the hijab.

The case prompted Tacoma Municipal Court to establish a policy that no one should be excluded from a courtroom because of attire worn for religious or medical reasons. (MORE)

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BRITISH MUSLIM DENIED ENTRY TO U.S. - TOP
CAIR calls for explanation of detention, removal of U.K. Citizen

(ANAHEIM, CA, 7/1/07) - The Greater Los Angeles area office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-LA) today asked for an explanation as to why a British Muslim citizen was barred from entering the United States and sent back to the UK less than 24 hours after his arrival.

According to his family, 57-year-old Rashid Ahmed Esakjee was detained after arriving at Los Angeles International Airport on Thursday evening. Family members reported to CAIR-LA that initially all five members of the family were escorted off the plane but later released, except for Esakjee.

The family was planning to visit their daughter Rashida Esakjee and her family on the occasion of the birth of a new baby boy. Esakjee has previously traveled several times to the U.S. without any problems, family members said. He has lived in the U.K. for 40 years and owns a business there.

"My father is a hardworking man and a respectable member of the community," said Rashida Esakjee. "He just came to see his grandchildren, but unfortunately, was deprived of that opportunity. We want to know why my father, a law-abiding citizen, was treated this way."

Esakjee was sent back to the U.K. Friday afternoon and arrived there safely. The British Embassy confirmed with CAIR-LA that no action on its part had led to Esakjee's detention or denial of entry to the United States.

CAIR-LA is investigating the incident.

"We call on the government agencies involved to explain why Mr. Esakjee was barred from entering the United States without any explanation," said CAIR-LA Civil Rights Coordinator Affad Shaikh. "These types of incidents may be perceived as discriminatory and have the potential to further damage our nation's image in Europe and the Muslim world."

Shaikh also said British citizens are regularly granted visa waivers for entry into the United States. Esakjee's family has additionally contacted Congresswoman Lois Capps' office to assist with the investigation of this incident.

SEE: Visa Waiver Program (VWP)
http://travel.state.gov/visa/temp/without/without_1990.html

SEE: U.S. Losing out on International Tourism (AP)
http://www.mercurynews.com/travel/ci_6250542?nclick_check=1

SEE: German Man denied entry to U.S. (Bakersfield Californian)
http://www.bakersfield.com/102/story/92394.html

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security recently apologized to a Muslim traveler who was strip-searched at a Florida jail after being detained in April.

SEE ALSO: Muslim Gets Apology for April Strip Search (St. Petersburg Times)
http://www.sptimes.com/2006/12/28/Hillsborough/Muslim_gets_apology_f.shtml

CAIR, America's largest Islamic civil liberties group, has 33 offices and chapters nationwide and in Canada. 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-LA Civil Rights Coordinator Affad Shaikh, 714-305-3730, E-Mail: ashaikh@cair.com; CAIR-LA Communications Coordinator Munira Syeda, 714-851-4851, E-mail: msyeda@cair.com.

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MN: MUSLIM WOMEN CONFRONT CLASH OF CULTURES - TOP
Minnesota Public Radio, 7/2/07
http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2007/07/02/midmorning2/?rsssource=1

Two Muslim women discuss the experience of maintaining their faith along with their American identity.

Guests:
* Imani Jaafar-Mohammad: attorney in the Twin Cities.
* Mallerie Shirley: is a student at St. Paul College.

SEE ALSO:

FL: SOME YOUNG CHRISTIANS CONVERT TO ISLAM - TOP
MyFoxOrlando, 7/1/07
http://www.myfoxkc.com/myfox/pages/News/Detail?contentId=

3648904&version=1&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=TSTY&pageId=3.3.1

Just as some Muslims have converted to Christianity, young Christians have also abandoned their faith to embrace the teachings of Islam.

Three young people in Chicago, who were raised as Christians, have decided to reject that religion. They each converted to Islam. For them the choice of Islam was personal and due to a sense that what they had was not fulfilling.

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AFGHAN ELDERS SAY 45 CIVILIANS KILLED IN AIR STRIKES - TOP
Agence France Presse, 7/1/07
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070701/ts_afp/afghanistanunrest

Village elders said Sunday they had recovered the bodies of 45 civilians, mostly women and children, killed in foreign air strikes as Afghan President Hamid Karzai ordered an investigation.

NATO's force, under fire over the number of civilian casualties, said however it believed fewer than a dozen villagers and a "significant number" of Taliban were killed in Friday's bombardment in southern Helmand province.

With tensions high, Taliban fighters attacked troops from the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in the same area, Girishk district, killing a British soldier and wounding four others, the defence ministry in London said.

Sunday's attack was followed by a suspected suicide bomb, ISAF said. Witnesses said a military vehicle was set ablaze. Three Afghan passers-by were also hurt, the government said.

Helmand province is among the most volatile areas of Afghanistan, with extremist Taliban militants said to be teamed up with foreign "jihadists" and illegal opium traders.

Friday's air strikes by ISAF and the separate US-led coalition were called in after troops trying to clear the Helmand River of Taliban fighters came under heavy attack, military forces have said. (MORE)

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CAIR
Council on American-Islamic Relations
453 New Jersey Avenue, S.E.
Washington, D.C. 20003
Tel: 202-488-8787, 202-744-7726
Fax: 202-488-0833
E-mail: info@cair.com
URL: http://www.cair.com

 

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