Muslim American News Briefs, June 8, 2007
|
|
In the Name of God, the Compassionate,
the Merciful
* Hadith: God
Forbids Oppression
* CAIR-CA Trains CBP Supervisors on
Muslim Travel Issues
- CAIR-AZ
Hosts 'Immigration Night' at
Phoenix Mosque
- CAIR-NY
Participates in Interfaith Solidarity Event
* DC: Station May Hire Host Who
Doubted Muslim Rep's Patriotism
* Canada: Airport Ordeal Angers
Muslim Leader
- MA:
Imam's Legal Woes Leave Followers
Frustrated (Globe)
* 'Children of Abraham' Links
Muslim, Jewish Youth (VOA)
- DC:
Nearly 300 Muslim Exchange Students
Call on Congress
* VA: Faith, Service Fuse for Muslim
Teen (Virginian-Pilot)
* MI: Letter Writer Critical of
Steven Emerson's Anti-Muslim Bias
- CA:
Muslim Movie Explores Religious
Strength (InFocus)
* VA: Muslim Community Aids
in Plans for Flu Pandemic (Wash Post)
* Report: 39 Secretly Imprisoned by
U.S. (AP)
-----
HADITH OF THE DAY: GOD FORBIDS OPPRESSION - TOP
The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) quoted God as saying: "O My
servants, I have forbidden oppression for Myself and have made it forbidden
amongst you, so do not oppress one another."
Hadith Qudsi 17
-----
CAIR-SFBA TRAINS CBP SUPERVISORS ON
MUSLIM TRAVEL ISSUES - TOP
(SANTA CLARA, CA, 6/7/07) - The San Francisco Bay Area chapter of the
Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-SFBA) and the Asian Law Caucus (ALC)
yesterday held a training session for Customs and Border Protection (CBP)
staff supervisors focused on travel-related issues faced by American
Muslims.
At the training session, CAIR-SFBA Executive Director Safaa Ibrahim offered
a brief overview of Islamic beliefs and practices, including topics such as
typical Muslim attire, social etiquette and gender relations, prayer
rituals, handling of the Quran, physical searches, and travel during the
Hajj pilgrimage season.
"This training session is a step forward in building mutual cooperation
between government officials and the American Muslim community," said
Ibrahim. "We must all work together to ensure our nation's security
while preserving American values of equality and justice."
CAIR-SFBA Civil Rights Coordinator Azima Subedar presented statistics and
sample cases to highlight American Muslim civil rights concerns in
California and nationwide.
ALC Staff Attorney Shirin Sinnar noted that for travelers, challenges
primarily involve repeated detentions, length of detention, questioning on
political beliefs and religious practices, invasive searches of personal
property, and the attitude and demeanor of officials. She added that border
detentions challenge core American values of equality, freedom and
citizenship.
The training session concluded with an open discussion with CBP officials.
CAIR, America's largest Islamic civil liberties group, has 33 offices and
chapters nationwide and in Canada. Its mission is to promote justice,
enhance the understanding of Islam, and empower American Muslims.
CONTACT: Abiya Ahmed, CAIR-SFBA Media Relations Coordinator, 408-986-9874, aahmed@cair.com
SEE ALSO:
CAIR-AZ HOSTS 'IMMIGRATION
NIGHT' AT PHOENIX MOSQUE - TOP
(PHOENIX, AZ, 6/7/07) - Some 100 people turned out June 1 for an
"Immigration Night" organized by the Arizona chapter of the
Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-AZ) and hosted by Islamic
Community Center of Phoenix.
At the event, a representative of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration
Services (USCIS) gave a presentation on immigration issues of concern to
American Muslims and took questions from attendees.
CAIR-AZ Board Chairman Mohamed El-Sharkawy and CAIR-AZ Civil Rights Director
Mohammed AbuHannoud coordinated the informational forum.
CONTACT: CAIR-AZ Civil Rights Director Mohammed AbuHannoud, 602-262-2247 or
602-460-9987
---
CAIR-NY PARTICIPATES IN INTERFAITH
SOLIDARITY EVENT - TOP
(NEW YORK, NY, 6/7/07) - The New York chapter of the Council on
American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-NY) last night participated in an
interfaith solidarity event designed to express concern over the growing
bias faced by members of the local South Asian community. The event came in
the wake of an alleged bias attack on a 15-year-old Sikh student at Newton
High School in Queens, N.Y.
Participants in the event spoke of the importance of maintaining dialogue
and good relations between people of different faiths, particularly during
times of crisis. Elected officials taking part in the event also stressed
the need for more involvement from the Department of Education in educating
students about cultural diversity.
"No child should feel threatened in school because of their faith, race
or ethnicity," said CAIR-NY Communications Coordinator Faiza N. Ali.
"We ask that the New York City Department of Education make cultural
sensitivity training a top priority, with allocation of appropriate
resources," said CAIR-NY Civil Rights Coordinator Aliya Latif.
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-NY Communications Coordinator Faiza N. Ali, Tel: 212-870-2002,
Email: fali@cair.com
-----
WASHINGTON POST RADIO CONSIDERS HIRING
GLENN BECK - TOP
Media Matters, 6/7/07
http://mediamatters.org/items/200706070006?f=h_latest
In a June 7 Washington Post article, staff writer Paul Farhi wrote:
"Faced with continuing financial losses and stubbornly low ratings for
Washington Post Radio," WTWP owner Bonneville International Corp. is
"considering" picking up "a show hosted by conservative Glenn
Beck." Farhi added: "However, both Bonneville and The Post must
agree on all programming decisions." As Media Matters for America has
repeatedly noted, Beck -- who hosts a nationally syndicated radio show and a
nightly program on CNN Headline News, and joined ABC's Good Morning America
as a regular contributor in January 2007 -- has repeatedly spouted
inflammatory comments about Muslims, Arabs, Mexicans, and female guests on
his radio and television programs, a tendency that went unmentioned by Farhi.
Beck has said of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY): "[S]he's the
stereotypical bitch, you know what I mean?" He once asked
then-Rep.-elect Keith Ellison (D-MN), the first Muslim ever elected to
Congress: "OK. No offense, and I know Muslims. I like Muslims.... [W]hat
I feel like saying is, 'Sir, prove to me that you are not working with our
enemies.'" (MORE)
ACTION REQUESTED:
Send POLITE comments to: joxley@washingtonpostradio.com,
gtantum@washingtonpostradio.com
COPY TO info@cair.com
-----
CANADA: AIRPORT ORDEAL ANGERS MUSLIM
LEADER - TOP
Jennifer O'Brien, Sun Media, 6/7/07
http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2007/06/07/4241284-sun.html
Detained without explanation for hours at the Detroit airport, a Muslim
leader says he feared for his family in London and couldn't stop thinking
about Maher Arar.
Critics yesterday demanded action from Ottawa and apologies from the U.S.
after Dr. Munir El-Kassem was questioned and fingerprinted during a stopover
in Detroit last month, while flying from Quebec City to Milwaukee.
While detained, an ordeal he said lasted four hours, the imam said he was
intimidated.
The Islamic scholar said he was asked if he knew Osama Bin Laden and Saddam
Hussein and whether he loved "God or Allah."
"You can't help but be intimidated, and the thought of Maher Arar when
he fell in the hands of U.S. authorities without any regard for innocence or
anything else," El-Kassem said yesterday.
"I did think in those terms and did fear for my large family in London,
Ontario."
A director at UWO's Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, El-Kassem
said he's still "quite upset and angry" about the experience but
hopes it can help so that such "things will never happen to me or
anyone else again simply because of their faith."
El-Kassem said his interrogation began after he told an immigration officer
he was Muslim. He had been travelling from Quebec, where he had lectured, to
Milwaukee to give a lecture on Islam at an interfaith conference.
When he told the officer he'd be talking about Islam at a conference, she
ordered him to accompany her to a room where he says he was questioned by
another officer at length in an ordeal he called "dehumanizing."
(MORE)
---
MA: IMAM'S LEGAL WOES LEAVE HIS
FOLLOWERS FRUSTRATED - TOP
Erin Conroy, Boston Globe, 6/7/07
http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2007/06/07/imams_legal_woes_leave_
his_followers_frustrated/
Just weeks after their imam, or spiritual leader, was arrested last fall by
federal agents and stripped of his work authorization, members of the
Islamic Center of New England in Sharon found themselves standing around a
body in the mosque, wondering who would lead the prayers for the deceased.
"Many members said Imam Masood should lead the prayer; half said he
shouldn't," said Omar Abdala, who attends the center. "At the end
of the day, he took someone aside and reminded him how to do a funeral
prayer, and that person did it. But that whole issue is just an example of
the type of resentment that is fostering."
It has been half a year since Hafiz Muhammed Masood was arrested on visa
fraud charges. The most serious charges against him have been dropped. But
he is still not allowed to work, leaving the Islamic Center struggling to
find ways to continue without its leader.
The situation poses daily difficulty and frustration not only for the
mosque, say those familiar with the situation, but also for Masood, a
Pakistan-born father of eight.
"The effect on the community has been terrible, especially for Friday
prayer and social gatherings. We are missing him," said Khaled Attia,
who is on the board of directors for the Islamic Center of New England.
"He's a very honorable man, and it's not easy for a man like him to be
put in a position where he can't support his family," said Hossam
AlJabri, Boston chapter president of the Muslim American Society and a
member of the mosque. His children attend the adjacent school, where Masood
taught before his arrest. Community members and local organizations have
been providing financial assistance.
Masood was arrested by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in
November during a nationwide sweep of an alleged scheme to provide
religious-worker visas for immigrants working secular jobs. The charges
stirred rallies of support for him outside of the courthouse in Boston
during a bond hearing, and criticism from leaders of churches and temples in
Sharon. (MORE)
-----
'CHILDREN OF ABRAHAM' LINKS MUSLIM AND
JEWISH YOUTH - TOP
Faiza Elmasry, Voice of America, 6/7/07
http://www.voanews.com/english/AmericanLife/2007-06-07-voa17.cfm
Although the Arab-Israeli conflict has helped portray Muslims and Jews as
bitter enemies, Islam and Judaism actually have more commonalties than
differences. An on-line effort is helping young people on both sides of the
religious divide recognize that, and reconstruct their relationship as
descendents of the same ancestor: the Biblical patriarch, Abraham.
When Ari Alexander completed his graduate studies in Comparative Ethnic
Conflict and Modern Middle Eastern Studies five years ago, he embarked on a
journey of self-discovery.
"I had studied Hebrew my whole life growing up, and I decided it was
very important for me to learn Arabic and to get to know a bit about Arab
culture and history, unbiased, from the point of view of the people
themselves," he says. "I spent a month in Beirut and 3 months in
Damascus. Those experiences for me really opened my eyes by being immersed
in Muslim societies, and getting to know people as individuals, it really
transformed me."
Alexander wanted other young Jews to experience the same transformation. So,
when he returned home to New York in 2004, he got involved with the
interfaith Children of Abraham project.
"We had a group of students from 23 countries who took photographs and
discussed Muslim-Jewish relations with each other on the Internet," he
says.
This one-time on-line interaction, Alexander says, expanded into a virtual
organization that recruits young people from around the world. (MORE)
---
NEARLY 300 MUSLIM EXCHANGE STUDENTS
CALL ON U.S. CONGRESS - TOP
Teens visit D.C., prepare to return to Middle East as leaders after year in
U.S.
http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/06-
07-2007/0004604028&EDATE=
For most Americans, news reports of conflict in the Middle East are simply
updates from a foreign land. Not so for hundreds of families across the U.S.
that opened their homes this year to Muslim teenagers participating in a
groundbreaking U.S. State Department program designed to build bridges
between the United States and predominantly Muslim countries in a post-Sept.
11 world.
Nearly 300 students from the Youth Exchange and Study program are in
Washington, D.C., next week after spending the past year studying and
learning about American culture with families in communities across the
country. They will cap off their year in the United States by meeting with
members of Congress, visiting historic D.C. sites, and learning about the
inner workings of American government. These experiences, along with the
lessons they have learned from their host families and as students in U.S.
high schools, will allow them to help foster understanding between cultures
when they return home.
The YES students will join two of the program's biggest supporters, Sens.
Edward Kennedy (D-MA) and Richard Lugar (R-IN), on Wednesday for a reception
and discussion of the role the program played this year in fostering
understanding between cultures.
"YES program scholars are extraordinary ambassadors for peace,"
said Sen. Kennedy. "The lessons they learn from their year in the
United States -- and the lessons they teach us about their countries and
cultures -- contribute to a deeper understanding between America and the
Muslim world."
Dana Aljawamis, YES student from Jordan who spent her year with a Minnesota
family, will return home with a new respect for Americans' tolerance and
appreciation of different religions and cultures. "The family that I
lived with made every effort to make practicing my religion here as easy as
possible," said Dana. "It made me very respectful of the freedoms
here -- particularly the freedom of religion in the Bill of Rights."
(MORE)
-----
VA: FAITH AND SERVICE FUSE FOR MUSLIM
TEEN - TOP
Amy Jeter, Virginian-Pilot, 6/7/07
http://content.hamptonroads.com/story.cfm?story=126206&ran=148146
The day Zishan Hameed found out he had been accepted to the U.S. Naval
Academy was among the best of his 17 years.
After spending days checking the mail and nights praying for a letter, he
was called into the office of a Norview High School guidance counselor one
day in February.
His mother and father, who hail from Pakistan and spend much of their time
at their convenience store, 7 Brothers Food City, appeared. His father,
Abdul Hameed, had tears in his eyes.
"That look on his face there, that was all worth it," Hameed said.
He was finishing his fourth year in the school's Naval Junior ROTC program,
serving as the commanding officer. The unit had performed better than ever
before in competitions.
Hameed had prevailed in four push-up competitions. During one of them, he'd
been fasting during daylight hours for Ramadan, the ninth month of the
Muslim calendar, when it is believed the Quran was sent down to man. He did
100 push-ups and won.
Hameed's dream was to attend the Naval Academy. His conviction was to
continue his deep devotion to Islam.
Over the past year, Hameed came to terms with the fact that he was training
to join the U.S. military when many of its enemies share his faith.
"Islam is really about being a good person, morally, ethically and
physically," he said.
"That's what a naval officer is." (MORE)
-----
MI: MORE CONTROVERSIAL SPEAKERS IN
COUNTY - TOP
Press and Argus, 6/7/07
http://www.dailypressandargus.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/2007
0607/OPINION03/706070313/1014/OPINION
It's bad enough that the Livingston Economic Club, sponsored by this paper
and Cleary University, has hired Ann Coulter, an insulting, hateful
political pundit to speak in October, but the last speaker, Steven Emerson,
proved also to be controversial.
According to the Daily Press & Argus, Emerson said mainstream Muslim
groups are really fronts for radical militants. I wonder what credentials
Emerson has that allow him to make such a sweeping statement.
Now, it's perfectly understandable that we all harbor some bias against
Islamic groups after Sept. 11, 2001.
For Emerson, however, to promote prejudice and then be applauded by the
audience once again casts a negative impression upon Livingston County.
Emerson went on to say that what's needed is a "reformation" of
Islam in which there would be a "separation of church and state."
Now there is an excellent idea and one that ought to be applied to all
religions.
Ted Hysen
Howell
---
CA: MUSLIM MOVIE EXPLORES RELIGIOUS
STRENGTH, HUMAN WEAKNESS - TOP
Zaid Shakur, InFocus News, 6/7/07
http://www.infocusnews.net/content/view/15086/302/
Be it as indulgent harem-masters, wealthy oil sheikhs or bomb-plotting
religious extremists, most dramatizations of Muslims on the big screen have
done little in the way of presenting the realities of the faith or three
dimensional human characters with whom audiences could identify. But a new
independent film currently in production may provide the first real glimpse
of Muslims, their strengths as well as weaknesses.
"Oasis 7" is the working title of a new, full-length motion
picture scripted by Ahmed Nasir Kiyam and director Edreace Purmul and
produced by the San Diego based, Muslim-owned film company Scimitar
Productions. Laden with symbolism and heavy social relevance reminiscent of
a Spike Lee flick, Oasis 7 is a gritty look at the life of an urban youth, (
played by African American actor Chris Metcalf) fighting the past, uncertain
of the future and propelled by fate through an odyssey of emotions, violence
and self-discovery. Executive Producer Halim Mostafa Gabori clearly hopes
that audiences will take a similar path of discovery, leaving theatres
entertained but also unsettled.
'We're going to break some stereotypes," says Gabori, "Usually
Hollywood shows Muslims as being emotional, rude, ignorant-everything that
is opposite of peaceful. This film will show Muslims being intelligent,
knowledgeable-but also capable of making mistakes."
Gabori knows firsthand how media can shape perspectives. Born in Kurdistan,
he came to the US in 1978, studied film and theatre at the Milwaukee Area
Technical College and has himself appeared as a 'good Arab" in movies
such as "Three Kings" alongside George Clooney and Ice Cube and
also a 'bad Arab' in "Peor que los Peros" directed by Miguel A.
Saldana.
"I have always wanted to see the beauty of Islam portrayed in the
cinema," says Gabori. "For some reason, we've had this notion that
movies are associated with sin. But movies and television are not evil in
themselves. If you make films that explain the reality and show the morality
of people, it is a good thing."
Gabori adds that through the film he hopes to "show the greatness of
Islam as well as the weaknesses of some Muslims." Speaking about the
responsibility of Muslims, he says, "We've been mistreated in the
media, but we also want to hold Muslims accountable for not teaching others
about their religion and their culture."
A key component of the script is highlighting the current national climate
through the prism of the African American experience, "African
Americans, have dealt with the legacy of slavery and prejudice so they know
what Muslims feel like being under so much pressure today," remarks
Gabori. (MORE)
-----
VA: FAITH TAKES A FRONT SEAT IN
PLANNING FOR FLU PANDEMIC - TOP
Religious Groups Explore Responsibilities, Reservations in Managing a
Possible Health Crisis
Jacqueline L. Salmon; Washington Post, 6/7/07
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/06/AR2007060
600989.html?hpid=sec-religion
Fairfax County houses of worship are starting to plan for the unthinkable
but possible: a pandemic flu that could sweep the country, sickening and
killing millions.
More than 125 leaders from churches, synagogues, temples and mosques met
recently at the Fairfax County Government Center to grapple with questions
ranging from the practical to the theological as they began preparing their
communities for the possibility of a flu outbreak.
Houses of worship could play a crucial role in managing such an epidemic,
say religious leaders and health officials, because they have such large
constituencies and are intimately involved in the daily life of the
community. Not only are they gathering places for hundreds of thousands of
parishioners and groups such as Scouts and senior citizens, but they also
minister to the disadvantaged.
It is "a substantial religious network that, if properly organized with
the right kind of spirit, can have a tremendous positive impact on helping
to do our part to ensure domestic tranquility," said Lewis Saylor, a
member of Faith Communities in Action, a coalition of diverse religious
organizations that organized the meeting last month with the Fairfax County
Health Department and the county's Community Interfaith Office. . .
The Muslim community has begun to grapple with many of these issues. Leaders
want to ensure that preparations follow Islamic law and want to head off
misunderstandings and misplaced fears among Muslims, said Johari
Abdul-Malik, imam of the Dar Al Hijrah Islamic Center in Falls Church, who
attended the meeting last month.
For example, he said, some Muslims avoid hand sanitizers because of
religious prohibitions against the use of alcohol. However, he said,
exceptions can be made in extreme circumstances.
Islamic burial practices, which require the washing of a body and quick
burial, could also be modified. Many Muslims might not know that, under
Islamic law, the bodies of victims of a pandemic do not need to be handled
in such a way, he said.
"We are looking to say we have to begin the public education of our
community to tell them that the thinking will be easier, that rules will be
relaxed during the pandemic and what are the limits of that
relaxation," Abdul-Malik said. (MORE)
-----
REPORT: 39 SECRETLY IMPRISONED BY U.S. - TOP
Raphael G. Satter, Associated Press, 6/7/07
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/sns-ap-britain-us-
detainees,1,177551.story?ctrack=1&cset=true
A coalition of human rights groups has drawn up a list of 39 terror suspects
it believes are being secretly imprisoned by U.S. authorities and published
their names in a report released Thursday.
Information about the so-called "ghost detainees" was gleaned from
interviews with former prisoners and officials in the U.S., Pakistan,
Afghanistan, and Yemen, according to Amnesty International, Human Rights
Watch, and four other groups.
"What we're asking is where are these 39 people now, and what's
happened to them since they 'disappeared'?" Joanne Mariner of Human
Rights Watch said in a statement.
CIA spokesman Paul Gimigliano said "there's a lot of myth outside
government when it comes to the CIA and the fight against terror."
"The plain truth is that we act in strict accord with American law, and
that our counterterror initiatives -- which are subject to careful review
and oversight -- have been very effective in disrupting plots and saving
lives," Gimigliano said. "The United States does not conduct or
condone torture."
Information on the purported missing detainees was, in some cases,
incomplete, the report acknowledged. Some detainees had been added to the
list because Marwan Jabour, an Islamic militant who claims to have spent two
years in CIA custody, remembered being shown photos of them during
interrogations, it said.
Others were identified only by their first or last names, like "al-Rubaia,"
who was added to the list after a fellow inmate reported seeing the name
scribbled onto the wall of his cell.
But information for at least 21 of the detainees had been confirmed by two
or more independent sources, said Anne Fitzgerald, a senior adviser for
Amnesty International.
President Bush acknowledged the existence of secret detention centers in
September 2006, but said that the prisons were then empty. (MORE)
-----
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
|
|
|
|
|
|
||
|
||||||
