CAIR: Celebrate the 4th by Living Up to America’s Ideals
* CAIR Responds to Cal Thomas' Muslim Remarks (WTOP)
 
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IN CELEBRATION OF THE FOURTH OF JULY - TOP
A Test of Our American Values
A reminder to live up to the lofty ideals of our rhetoric
Mohamed Nimer, San Francisco Chronicle, 7/4/07
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/07/04/EDGNNQ4TPR1.DTL
 
[Mohamed Nimer is research director at the Council on American-Islamic Relations and author of the forthcoming edited volume, "Islamophobia and
Anti-Americanism: Causes and Remedies." He may be reached at: mnimer@cair.com]
 
There is a cause and effect correlation between anti-Muslim and anti-American sentiments. As Islamophobia increases, anti-Americanism is strengthened and as hostility to America grows, so does bitterness toward followers of Islam.
 
It is pointless to ask which came first. Instead, we must end the downward spiral of mutual mistrust and begin the process of building bridges of understanding and respect for differences.
 
Critical study of and comment on Islam or Muslims is not necessarily Islamophobic, just as criticism of American foreign and domestic policies is not always anti-American. It is when these mutual critiques descend to hatred and bigotry that the problem occurs.
 
Unfortunately, both Islamophobic and anti-American trends are growing. In the United States, the number of groups and commentators who spew hate against the Islamic faith is multiplying. One group is even calling for prison sentences for "adherence to Islam" in America.
 
Similarly, Muslim extremists blame America for all of the Islamic world's problems, even in areas in which America is not a key player. . .
 
Islamophobia and anti-Americanism have often been fueled by real grievances. Every act of terrorism pushes Islamophobes to new extremes, just as American policies that devalue the lives and rights of Muslims leads to more anti-American feelings. . .
 
On this Fourth of July, Muslims should remind their fellow Americans that Islamic activists in America and across the globe have consistently condemned attacks on civilians -- most notably the terrorist attacks of 9/11.
 
To help reverse the growing trend toward Islamophobia and anti-Americanism, we must address legitimate grievances, whether by calling for stepped up condemnation of terrorism on the part of Muslims, or for justice-based solutions to international conflicts. (MORE)
 
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GROUP RESPONDS TO CAL THOMAS' MUSLIM REMARKS - TOP
WTOP-FM, 7/4/07
http://www.wtopnews.com/index.php?nid=25&sid=1181004
 
WASHINGTON -- Recent remarks from WTOP commentator Cal Thomas have sparked controversy in the Muslim-American community. Now, an Islamic advocacy group is responding to Thomas' commentary.
 
In his weekly commentary on WTOP Radio Monday, Cal Thomas discussed the recent thwarted terror attacks in the United Kingdom.
 
"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 asked. "Okay, lets have the required disclaimer: Not all Muslims from the Middle East and southeast Asia want to kill us, but those who do blend in with those who don't. Would anyone tolerate a slow-spreading cancer because it wasn't fast-spreading? Probably not. You'd want it removed."
 
Thomas' commentary prompted the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) to urge its supporters to contact WTOP and voice their concerns. WTOP received many calls and emails from both sides.
 
On Wednesday, WTOP invited Ibrahim Hooper, a CAIR spokesperson and Cal Thomas, to separately respond to Thomas' previous comments.
 
In his response, Hooper said Thomas' comments undermined CAIR's effort to promote mutual understanding and social justice.
 
"For him, I would imagine that his next step is the expulsion of the Muslim-American community," Hooper said. "We condemn extremism. We've condemned terrorism....We've issued dozens of condemnations on dozens of terrorism attacks."
 
CAIR works to create proactive campaigns to promote awareness about Islam and the Muslim community.
 
"But guys like [Cal] Thomas come along and want to say every Muslim should be suspect and should be treated in a certain way. That's not just and that's not the American way," Hooper said.
 
When negative incidents occur, such as the Danish cartoon controversy and the desecration of Korans at Guantanamo Bay, Hooper said CAIR focuses on educational campaigns and "things that really explain who Islam is all about so that they don't have to take their misinformation from Islamaphobes like Cal Thomas." (MORE)
 
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* Hadith: Independence
* CAIR: Doctors Involved in Terror Betray Faith, Profession
           - Statement of Muslims Health Professionals
* CAIR-LA: Community Urges FBI to Investigate Muslim Convert
* CAIR: Head Scarf Still Barred from Georgia Court (WALB)
           - CAIR: Still No Response from GA City on Hijab Claims
           - CAIR-CA: Cases of Anti-Muslim Bias on Rise (CC Times)
* CAIR Director Meets with OIC Secretary-General (Arab News)
* CAIR Video: Cal Thomas Under Fire for Islamophobic Comments (Fox)
 
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HADITH OF THE DAY: INDEPENDENCE - TOP
 
The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) recommended the prayer: “(O) God, make that which is permissible sufficient for me so as to make me independent of that which is forbidden. And bestow on me enough of Thy grace to make me independent of all beside Thee.”
 
Al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 451
 
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CAIR: BETRAYAL OF OUR FAITH & PROFESSION - TOP
DR. ASMA MOBIN-UDDIN, New York Post, 7/4/07
http://www.nypost.com/seven/07042007/news/columnists/betrayal_of

_our_faith__profession_columnists_dr__asma_mobin_uddin.htm
 
[Dr. Asma Mobin-Uddin is a pediatrician in Columbus, Ohio, and the board chairwoman for the Ohio chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR).]
 
July 4, 2007 -- AS THE investigation of the terror plots in London and Glasgow unfolds, I am experiencing the emotions I often do in hearing that people associated with my faith are involved - incredulity, anger, and outrage that once again, these heinous acts are associated with people professing to be Muslims.
 
But this time, my sense of disbelief and betrayal reaches a new level as I learn that many of those accused share not only my faith but also my profession.
 
The thought of physicians treating patients while secretly plotting to kill innocent people sickens and angers me on a new level. . .
 
The stark contrast between my experience as a Muslim doctor and the news I am now seeing helps explain the disbelief and emotions I feel when learning that Muslim doctors are accused of such heinous actions that betray their profession and their faith.
 
I know these people are an aberration, people gone wrong as human beings sometimes do. If these doctors are guilty, they must be brought to justice.
 
I only hope that we remember to deal with these individuals as just that - individuals who chose evil on their own and not as representative of their faith or profession.
 
I hope we as a community refrain from generalizing the acts of suspected criminals to Muslim doctors in general.
 
SEE ALSO:
 
STATEMENT FROM THE ASSOCIATION OF MUSLIM HEALTH PROFESSIONALS (AMHP) REGARDING RECENT EVENTS UNFOLDING IN THE UNITED KINGDOM - TOP
 
It is with a heavy heart that we read about the affair in the United Kingdom. As we consider these events, we hope to remind ourselves and our peers in the health and the Muslim communities of several things:
 
We have faith in the British system of justice and hope and expect that all suspects will have a fair trial, without prejudice. These acts in the UK, if found to be truly done by health professionals, are inconsistent with all we believe in as Americans, as Health Professionals, and as Muslims. We call on all people of conscience, whether they be health professionals, Muslims, Americans, or British to consider seriously the damage their actions might cause to innocent people, the societies who would suffer from their actions, and the peoples and groups whom they will be labeled to represent when caught and identified.
 
If found to be guilty, these men will not be the first doctors to plan or perform heinous acts. If British justice system finds them guilty of these crimes, we put them in a pantheon of heinous physicians performing acts that go against the grain of all we believe in as Muslim Health Professionals. Josef Mengele, Mike Swango, Harold Shipman, and in the UK, John B Adams are small list of psychopaths with medical degrees who have harmed countless numbers of people in defiance of their professional oaths. We make no difference between health professionals who use their skills contrary to the human rights of any individual. Whether it is serial murder or genocide, medical torture for the military, or unethical research for profit, these people are not from us and we are not from them.
 
We especially call on all health professionals, from all ethnic and minority communities, to look for signs of social isolation within their community, and to openly discuss the issues of terrorism, vigilantism, and violence that have become a cancer in our midst. 
 
Indeed, we remind all health practitioners of their obligations under the Geneva Convention, which ask that we state that "[I, the medical practitioner] will maintain the utmost respect for human life from its beginning even under threat and I will not use my medical knowledge contrary to the laws of humanity.”
 
The Association for Muslim Health Professionals, founded in 2004, seeks to become a leader in improving public health, through methods inspired by Islamic Tradition.
 
Contact: Janice French, Association of Muslim Health Professionals, (240) 271-7692, jfrench@amhp.us, www.amhp.us
 
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CAIR-LA: COMMUNITY URGES FBI TO INVESTIGATE MUSLIM CONVERT - TOP
CBS 2, 7/3/07
http://cbs2.com/local/local_story_184174257.html
 
(CBS) ANAHEIM, Calif. An Orange County Islamic group called on the FBI Tuesday to speed up a probe of a Muslim convert banned from an Irvine mosque, where members allege he preferred to discuss jihad rather than Islam.
 
Craig Monteilh, who started calling himself Farouk Monteilh in September when he began studying at the Islamic Center of Irvine, was served with a restraining order Friday based on allegations made by members of the mosque.
 
While the Council on American-Islamic Relations in Anaheim commended local Muslims for reporting Monteilh, it urged FBI agents to finish their probe to protect those who "courageously" stepped forward to make their reports.
 
Since the reports surfaced about a month ago, CAIR-LA said it has gotten complaints that Monteilh had tried to intimidate and threaten those who reported him.
 
The FBI does not comment on current investigations. According to CAIR, the FBI had not interviewed Monteilh as of last week.
 
CAIR-LA expressed concern that allowing threats or intimidation to go unchallenged might discourage people from reporting suspicious terror-related activities. (MORE)
 
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CAIR: HEAD SCARF STILL BARRED FROM COURT - TOP
Alicia Eakin, WALB-TV, 7/3/07
http://www.walb.com/Global/story.asp?S=6743084
 
Valdosta -- No action has yet been taken to reverse a decision that barred a Muslim woman from entering the City of Valdosta Municipal Court for wearing a religious head scarf.
 
Twenty-year-old Aniisa Karim was trying to contest a speeding ticket when she was told she would not be allowed to enter the court without removing her scarf. Her religion prohibits her from doing so in public.
 
The Council on American-Islamic Relations wrote letters to city attorneys and the Georgia Attorney General. A week later, they've still had no response.
 
Ibrahim Hooper of the Council on American-Islamic Relations told us from Washington, D.C. "I really don't see that this policy can stand, but until we hear something from the judge, the city attorney and the Attorney General, we are a bit puzzled." (MORE)
 
SEE ALSO:
 
CAIR: STILL NO RESPONSE FROM CITY ON CLAIMS - TOP
Kelli Hernandez, Valdosta Daily Times, 7/3/07
http://www.valdostadailytimes.com/local/local_story_184224200.html
 
­ VALDOSTA ­ Five days after allegations of discrimination came out against the Valdosta Municipal Court after Judge Vernita Lee Bender denied access to a Muslim woman who was wearing a traditional head scarf, the city has yet to release an official statement.
 
“This is an unfortunate situation,” stated a brief press release from the city public information office. “We have been contacted by the appropriate parties and have been asked not to release a statement until further discussions can be completed. We are hopeful that an understanding will be reached that will be satisfactory to everyone involved.”
 
The Anti-Defamation League came out against the decision to deny access to the courtroom to Muslims wearing religious head scarves. . .
 
While trying to contest a speeding ticket, 20-year-old Aniisa Karim was informed that she could not enter the courtroom wearing her scarf, even after she explained that she wore the scarf for religious purposes.
 
Through the court clerk, Bender reportedly informed Karim that the denial of entry was due to “rules that everyone has to follow.”
 
Karim contacted a Washington-based civil liberties group, Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR). In a letter addressed to Georgia Attorney General Thurbert Baker, CAIR argued that denial of access to a public courtroom based on religious beliefs or practices was in violation of Title III of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and was an infringement on Karim’s First and Fourteenth Amendment rights to free religion and equal protection under the law. (MORE)
 
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CAIR-CA: CASES OF ANTI-MUSLIM BIAS ON RISE - TOP
Bay Area complaints more than doubled from 2005 to 2006, reflecting national increase
By Rebecca Rosen Lum, Contra Costa Times, 7/3/07
http://www.mercurynews.com/crime/ci_6288698
 
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 from 2005 to 2006, 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 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 venues 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. (MORE)
 
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CAIR: AWAD, IHSANOGLU DISCUSS FUTURE CAIR-OIC PROJECTS - TOP
Maha Akeel, Arab News, 7/4/07
http://www.arabnews.com/?page=1&section=0&article=98157
 
JEDDAH, 4 July 2007 ­ The executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, Nihad Awad, attended a meeting yesterday with the secretary-general of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), Professor Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, discussing cooperation on future projects.
 
“I’m pleased to meet with Ihsanoglu to discuss the situation of Muslims in the United States and to work on future projects,” Awad told Arab News.
 
Last week, US President George W. Bush announced that he would be appointing a special envoy to the OIC in a step that is considered important in improving relationships between the US and the Muslim world. “This is the first time a president has made such an appointment to the OIC. Our special envoy will listen to and learn from representatives from Muslim states and will share with them America’s views and values,” said Bush in his speech at the Islamic Center of Washington on June 27.
 
Ihsanoglu welcomed the initiative, which follows the establishment in March of an OIC ambassadorial group in Washington.
 
“CAIR issued a statement welcoming the step by President Bush and we hope that this will help improve relationships in terms of communication between the largest body of the Muslim world and the US, and we hope that the selection of the individual would also be representative of the Muslim community and its views,” said Awad. (MORE)
 
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CAIR: CAL THOMAS UNDER FIRE FOR ISLAMOPHOBIC COMMENTS - TOP
 
Hussein Ibish debates Cal Thomas on Fox’s “Your World with Neil Cavuto.”
 
View the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ux-cFljkp94 
 
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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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