www.ccun.org

    Muslim American News Briefs, September 11, 2007

Opinion Editorials

News

News Photos

* Hadith: Ramadan is a Month of Generosity
            - Ramadan in the Workplace - Tips for Employers
* 200 Turn Out for First CAIR-NV Fundraising Dinner
            - 500 Attend Sold-Out CAIR-Sacramento Dinner
            - 400, Including TX Reps, Attend CAIR-Houston Banquet
            - CAIR-SC Community Picnic a Success
            - CAIR-OHIO Team Participates in Race for the Cure
            - CAIR-MO: Muslims Raise Funds for Fallen Officers
            - Job Opportunity: CAIR-CAN Executive Director
* Brawl Over Islam on Facebook (New York Times)
            - Muslims Parade in NYC, Face Hecklers (Newsday)
* OH: Cartoon Disrespectful of Iran, Its People
* TX: Islam's Nonviolent Teachings Inspire March
            - DC: Interfaith 9/11 March Spreads Message of Peace
            - WA: Islamic Center Celebrates 25th Anniversary
            - CT: Muslim Woman Starts Business as Personal Trainer
* Evangelicals Make War on Terror Look Like a Crusade
* 'Anti-Semitic' Label Curbs Talk About Israel (Inquirer)
            - NY Rep Tries to Block Talk by 'Israel Lobby' Author

-----

HADITH OF THE DAY: RAMADAN IS A MONTH OF GENEROSITY - TOP

Ibn 'Abbas said: "The Prophet (Muhammad) was the most generous of people, but he would be his most generous during Ramadan. . ."

Sahih Al-Bukhari, Volume 1, Hadith 5

SEE ALSO:

RAMADAN IN THE WORKPLACE - TIPS FOR EMPLOYERS - TOP

-----

200 TURN OUT FOR FIRST CAIR-NV FUNDRAISING DINNER - TOP

(LAS VEGAS, NV, 9/10/2007) - The Nevada chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-NV) hosted its first fundraising dinner in Las Vegas on Friday, September 7.

More than 200 people turned out for the event, themed ""Planting the Seeds of Justice: Empowering Las Vegas Muslims."

CAIR-Florida Chairman Atif Fareed delivered the keynote address at the event and CAIR-Tampa Executive Director Ahmed Bedier encouraged the attendees to do their utmost to support the recently-established chapter.

CAIR, America's largest Muslim civil liberties group, is headquartered in Washington, D.C. and has 33 offices and chapters nationwide and in Canada. CAIR's mission is to enhance understanding of Islam, encourage dialogue, protect civil liberties, empower American Muslims and build coalitions that promote justice and mutual understanding.

CONTACT: CAIR-NV, Yasser Moten, Executive Director, 702-448-8601, or 702-824-3553, Email: ymoten@cair.com

SEE ALSO:

500 ATTEND SOLD-OUT CAIR-SACRAMENTO DINNER - TOP

(SACRAMENTO, CA, 9/10/07) - Some 500 people, including interfaith leaders and public officials, turned out on Saturday for the 5th Annual CAIR-Sacramento Valley Fundraising Dinner.

Professor David Cole of the Georgetown University Law Center was the keynote speaker at the sold-out event.

---

400, INCLUDING TX REPS, ATTEND CAIR-HOUSTON BANQUET - TOP

(HOUSTON, TX, 9/10/07) - Some 400 people turned out on Saturday for the 6th Annual CAIR-Houston Fundraising Dinner.

CAIR-Southern California Executive Director Hussam Ayloush was the keynote speaker at the event. Attendees included Reps. Al Green and Sheila Jackson Lee, who both praised CAIR's civil rights work.

---

CAIR-SC COMMUNITY PICNIC A SUCCESS - TOP

(LEXINGTON, SC, 9/10/07) - CAIR-South Carolina hosted its first ever Community Picnic on Saturday, September 8. An enthusiastic crowd of more than 150 turned out at Meadowlake Park facility where enjoyed great food and played sports like basketball, volleyball and cricket. Children enjoyed art competition and fun games.

Community members who attended the picnic were informed of CAIR's national and local activities, including the upcoming CAIR-SC Annual Banquet scheduled for Saturday, November 10.

"We would like to thank all those who volunteered their time and energies to make the community picnic such a success," said CAIR-SC President Chaudhry Sadiq.

---

CAIR-OHIO TEAM PARTICIPATES IN RACE FOR THE CURE - TOP

(CINCINNATI, OH, 9/10/07) - On September 9, CAIR-Ohio's Cincinnati office organized a team to walk in the Race for the Cure charity benefit event. The CAIR-Ohio team raised $500 to help support breast cancer research.

The event was organized by the Greater Cincinnati Affiliate of Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure to help fund vital breast cancer education, screening and treatment programs in the community and to support the national search for a cure. It was part of CAIR's "Muslims Care" campaign to promote volunteerism in the American Muslim community.

SEE: http://cair.com/muslimscare/

Many of the Muslim women walking in this event wore pink head scarves as a symbol of their support for breast cancer research.

"This was the first year CAIR-Cincinnati organized a team for Race for the Cure and it was a successful beginning. The fund raising goal was achieved and team members participated in both the walk and the competitive run," said CAIR Cincinnati Executive Director Karen Dabdoub.

CONTACT: Karen Dabdoub, Executive Director, 513-281-8200 or E-mail

---

AMERICAN MUSLIM COALITION RAISES $10,000 FOR BACKSTOPPERS IN SAINT LOUIS - TOP
Sheila Musaji, American Muslim, 9/10/07
http://www.theamericanmuslim.org/tam.php/features/articles/american_muslim_coalition_raises_10000_for_backstoppers_in_saint_louis/0014585

The American Muslim Coalition of Saint Louis is a recently formed group to expand on the local Muslim communities' civic and interfaith activities through networking, cooperative effort, and organization. The coalition is dedicated to the goals of: increasing the active participation of American Muslims in the activities of our local communities in Saint Louis and in America in general; increasing our visibility so that our voice will be more likely to be heard by policy makers on issues affecting our community; and enhancing mutual understanding and friendship between the Muslim community and the rest of the Saint Louis community. We are a coalition bound by our common faith and commitment to participatory citizenship. The coalition hopes to bring together Muslims from all groups within the diverse 70,000 strong St. Louis Muslim community.

The first project of The American Muslim Coalition was a Memorial Day week-end BBQ for veterans and staff at the VA Hospital at Jeffersons Barracks. About 210 people were served on that day, and the event was well received.

The second event was a fund raising dinner to raise donations for Backstoppers to aid the families of police officers and fire fighters from greater St. Louis who have fallen in the line of duty. This was held on September 7th at Grbic Hall in South City.

The event was opened with an honor guard from both the police and fire departments, followed by a group of young Muslims singing the National Anthem. Brief statements were made by members of the Muslim community as well as: Mayor Francis Slay; Missouri State Representatives, Jamilah Nasheed, and Harry Kennedy; Missouri State Senator Jeff Smith; Fire Chief Sherman George; representatives of Police Chief Joseph Mokwa; and representatives of Backstoppers.

About 300 people turned out for this event, and the Muslim community raised $10,000 for Backstoppers. (MORE)

---

CAIR-CAN EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR POSITION - TOP

The Canadian Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-CAN) is seeking a highly-motivated and results-driven individual for the position of Executive Director, based at our Ottawa headquarters. CAIR-CAN is a national civil liberties and advocacy group focused on building mutual understanding and promoting justice within the Canadian milieu.

The Executive Director reports to the Board of Directors and is responsible for managing all operations, programs, and services provided by CAIR-CAN.

The Executive Director:

- Serves as the chief spokesperson for the organization
- Initiates, develops, and executes long-term and strategic plans in conjunction with Board directives and priorities
- Creates and maintains a productive and inclusive work environment; motivates and develops staff
- Develops and manages CAIR-CAN's budget and ensures sound financial practices
- Promotes and strengthens CAIR-CAN's profile by cultivating strong, positive, and supportive relationships
- Develops and implements public advocacy initiatives
- Maintains, develops and oversees internal and external communications, including workshops and presentations

The successful candidate will have the following qualifications and abilities:

- University degree in law, social sciences, or business
- Excellent oral and written communication skills in English and/or French; proficiency in the other official language is an asset
- Experience working with a volunteer Board of Directors
- Proven leadership, communication, interpersonal, team building and organizational skills
- Ability to prioritize multiple tasks and work under pressure
- Entrepreneurial outlook with a sound knowledge and competency in community program development
- Proven research and writing skills
- Willingness and ability to work evenings and engage in potential extensive travel across Canada

Salary will be commensurate with experience and qualifications.

We thank all those who apply, however, only those candidates under consideration will be contacted. Candidates granted an interview will be asked to provide writing samples. The application closing date is September 30, 2007.

Send your cover letter and resume detailing how you meet the above position requirements by the closing date to:

Executive Search Committee,
CAIR-CAN
P.O. Box 13219, Ottawa, ON K2K 1X4
Fax: (613) 254-9810

-----

BRAWL OVER ISLAM ON FACEBOOK - TOP
NOAM COHEN, New York Times, 9/10/07
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/10/technology/10facebook.html

The social networking site Facebook from afar can look a lot like college, with cliques and the familiar range of personalities. In another imitation of college life, the Facebook campus is wrestling with the contentious issue of speech codes.

The latest concern centers on a group with a crude title denouncing Islam that had more than 750 members at last count. While the group takes pains to say it has nothing against Muslims, who "can be and usually are peaceful and respectful," it asserts at the start: "The Quran contains many lies and threats. Islam is false, no god exists, and someone should say that loud and clear."

In the month or so since the group was created, the reaction has been building across Facebook. As of the weekend, more than 58,000 Facebook members had joined a group that said that unless the anti-Islam group was removed, "we r quitting Facebook."

Facebook declined to comment on Friday on the subject of hate speech or on what steps had been taken. (MORE)

SEE ALSO:

MUSLIMS PARADE IN NYC, FACE PROTESTORS - TOP
EMERSON CLARRIDGE, Newsday, 9/10/07
http://www.newsday.com/news/local/manhattan/am-muslim0910,0,6017954.story

Thousands of Muslims from across the New York region marched down Madison Avenue in Manhattan Sunday, waving flags and flashing peace signs to protesters.

The 22nd annual United American Muslim Day parade was a peaceful affair on a warm, bright day that drew hundreds of beaming children. Though few people gathered on the sidewalk to watch the parade, the street was filled with proud participants.

A small but vocal contingent of hecklers taunted marchers at 41st Street, though police officers kept both groups apart. . .

Some of the pejorative comments from onlookers were inconspicuous; others were not.

A well-dressed elderly woman walking up Madison Avenue told a friend on a cell phone: "I'm the only one in the street without a schmata on my head," using the Yiddish word for rag.

A passerby who heard the remark muttered under his breath that she was also the only one with dyed hair.

Rita Thompson, 44, traveled with her boyfriend from their home in Redington Beach, Fla., to protest the parade.

Thompson later shouted expletives at marchers and said, "They're all going to be bin Ladens."

"I'm so appalled by this, two days before the anniversary of 9/11," she said later in an interview, adding that she called City Hall earlier in the week to urge Mayor Michael Bloomberg to cancel the event.

-----

OH: CARTOON DISRESPECTFUL OF IRAN, ITS PEOPLE - TOP
Columbus Dispatch, 9/10/07
http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/editorials/stories/2007/09/10/Jevrem_ART_09-10-07_A6_IA7RBL8.html?sid=101

The editorial cartoon by Michael Ramirez in Tuesday's Dispatch that pictured Iran as a sewer with cockroaches coming out of it was extremely offensive. Iran, once known as Persia, has a long and cultured history.

I am not a Muslim nor of Middle Eastern descent, nor do I like terrorists. But to reduce a nation of men, women and children to a sinkhole spewing out insects is disgusting.

CAROL JEVREM
Columbus

-----

TX: ISLAM'S NONVIOLENT TEACHINGS INSPIRE MARCH - TOP
Steven Kreytak, American-Statesman, 9/10/07
http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/local/09/10/0910march.html

Sharida McKenzie recently heard someone on a cable news show say that Muslims in the United States rarely stand to denounce terrorism.

Then McKenzie, who is Muslim, heard her non-Muslim in-laws say something similar.

The 29-year-old Round Rock accountant soon came to agree and began to recruit Austin-area Muslims to join her in what she called a Muslim Peace March.

On Sunday, about 130 people rallied at the Capitol to declare themselves peaceful and denounce acts of violence committed by extremists in the name of Islam.

"We as Muslims are responsible for making it known that Islam does not condone terrorism," McKenzie told the crowd. "This is about Muslims taking a stand for peace."

Lined up two-by-two behind a large white banner that said "Islam Is Peace," the demonstrators walked solemnly in a circular route that ran several blocks along 11th Street. They carried signs with phrases like "Embrace Peace, Reject Terror" and "Love Thy Neighbor."

Riaz Jafri, a medical researcher who lives in Northwest Austin, said that even six years after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, it is still important to counteract the image of Muslims as terrorists.

"Our religion does not teach to kill innocent persons," said Jafri, 47.

Addressing the crowd after the march, Sheik Mohammed-Umer Esmail of the North Austin Muslim Community Center quoted the Quran: "Whoever kills a person unjustly, it is as though he has killed all mankind."

He later said: "All acts of terrorism are prohibited by the Quran." (MORE)

SEE ALSO:

THOUSANDS MARCH TO MARK ANNIVERSARY OF SEPT. 11, HONOR THE TROOPS AND SPREAD A MESSAGE OF PEACE - TOP
Michael E. Ruane and Jay Mathews, Washington Post, 9/10/07

Margaret Young walked for her son, Edmond, who was killed in the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001, at the age of 22.

Retired Army Sgt. Sean Lewis walked on his artificial right leg, which replaced the limb he lost to an enemy mortar in Iraq three years ago.

And Ray "The Flag Man" DeFrees walked with the $5 American flag he bought in a supermarket after Sept. 11. He has padded the staff with insulation and loves to let others feel what it's like to carry the Stars and Stripes.

They were among thousands of marchers who joined the Defense Department's third annual America Supports You Freedom Walk yesterday, held to remember the victims of Sept. 11 and to honor those in uniform.

The participants, most wearing special white "Freedom Walk" T-shirts, assembled at the Lincoln Memorial and stepped off to the strains of a John Philip Sousa march at 9:15 a.m. for the mile-and-a-half walk to the Pentagon.

The event was one of two scheduled locally to mark the anniversary of the terrorist attacks.

Later in the day, about 800 people strolled down the sidewalk on the northeast side of Massachusetts Avenue NW for the 9/11 Unity Walk, an annual effort by more than 100 churches, temples, synagogues and embassies to recall what the program said was "the spirit of togetherness" that grew from the attacks. It was coordinated by the InterFaith Conference of Metropolitan Washington.

Many unity walkers wore bright green T-shirts as they went from the Washington Hebrew Congregation, paused at the Islamic Center and wound up at the Mahatma Gandhi Memorial at Massachusetts Avenue and 21st Street NW. (MORE)

---

WA: ISLAMIC CENTER CELEBRATES 25TH ANNIVERSARY - TOP
The celebration included guest speakers, a banquet and discussions about faith.
Megan Vigus, The Daily Evergreen, 9/10/07
http://www.dailyevergreen.com/story/23149

Visitors from across the country came to Pullman this weekend to help celebrate the Pullman Islamic Center's 25 years of success in the community.

The Pullman Islamic Center was built in 1982 and is named after Umar al-Khattab, the second caliph of Islam following the Prophet Muhammad's death.

A Muslim Woman To begin the commemorative weekend, Edina Lekovic presented a speech on Friday in CUE 419. Lekovic is the communications director for the Muslim Public Affairs Council and has been featured on CNN, BBC, MSNBC and the History Channel. Her position allows her to act as a national spokeswoman for the American Muslim community. In her speech "Muslim Women: The Challenge of Islamic Identity Today," Lekovic delved briefly into her own life, providing information on how she began her devotion to Islam. "While I was born Muslim" Lekovic said, "I chose to be Muslim when I was about 19." People often assume she has converted to Islam because she does not have an accent and is white. She said she is not the exception of her community - she is the product of her community. For years, she refused to talk about Muslim women because she didn't want to add to the stereotype that when a Muslim woman speaks, all she can speak about is Muslim women, but she recently changed her mind. (MORE)

---

CT: IN EXERCISE CLASS, SHE HAS IT ALL COVERED - TOP
Janice Podsada, HARTFORD COURANT
http://www.insidebayarea.com/sanmateocountytimes/ci_6850934

NEW HAVEN, CONN. - MUBARAKAH IBRAHIM has to work a bit harder than most personal trainers to convince her clients that she's serious about exercise.

"When they see my assistant, Leanora Harper, they think fitness. She wears tight clothes, she's toned," said Ibrahim, the owner of Balance Fitness in New Haven. "I have to prove myself."

The contours of Ibrahim's body aren't as readily apparent: She leads her exercise classes clad in a headscarf, a long-sleeved tunic that falls to her knees and long black pants - traditional Muslim attire.

In March 2006, after spending four years coaching clients in their homes, Ibrahim opened a personal training studio that caters exclusively to women.

"A lot of people think that Muslim women stay home and stay to themselves. We are out there doing just about everything, which includes owning our own businesses," Ibrahim said. (MORE)

-----

EVANGELICAL GROUPS MAKE WAR ON TERROR LOOK LIKE A CRUSADE - TOP
S. Amjad Hussain, Toledo Blade, 9/10/07
http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070910/COLUMNIST12/709100315

THERE is a widespread belief in the Muslim world that President Bush, under the guise of war against terrorism, is in fact waging a latter-day Crusade against Islam and Muslims. In the waning days of this administration, it is becoming more and more evident that there is some truth to that assumption.

An article published in the Los Angeles Times a few weeks ago outlined a disturbing relationship between the Department of Defense and Christian evangelists. The DoD has been delivering "Freedom Packages" to U.S. soldiers in Iraq containing proselytizing material both in English and Arabic as well as the apocalyptic video game "Left Behind: Eternal Forces." In the video, the soldiers of Christ hunt down enemies.

The packages were supplied by Operation Straight Up, a fundamentalist Christian ministry. This group was also planning to hold a series of entertainment programs for the troops called, symbolically, Military Crusade. (MORE)

-----

'ANTI-SEMITIC' LABEL CURBS TALK ABOUT ISRAEL - TOP
Michael Smerconish, Philadelphia Inquirer, 9/9/07
http://www.philly.com/inquirer/currents/20070909_Head_Strong___Anti-Semitic_label_curbs_talk_about_Israel.html

One year after 9/11, I visited Israel as a guest of the Jerusalem Post. In the midst of the intifadah, the hard-line newspaper arranged for me to broadcast my daily radio show from Jerusalem. At the time, I was also filing one-minute commentaries for KYW-AM (1060). One of them caused some consternation at home. Here is what I said: "Yesterday, an Israeli guide was anxious to show me the community called Gilo.

"'Look,' he said, 'at the sandbags that these people have to place in their windows to shield them from sniper fire from a neighboring village called Beit Jala.'

"Sure enough, there were sandbags in windows and bullet holes in walls. Thinking of my kids, I said, 'That's no place to raise a family.'

"Today, I had a different guide with a different perspective. He wanted me to tour an Arab neighborhood in the West Bank.

"'Look at where Israeli tank fire has destroyed these homes,' he said to me. I looked. The devastation was terrible. 'This is no place to live,' I said to myself.

"'Where are we?' I asked.

"'This is the village called Beit Jala,' he told me, 'and the tank fired from over there, in Gilo' - where I had been the day before."

I ended the commentary by saying: "And so it goes."

My intention was only to present a form of geopolitical glass half empty/half full, not to assert any moral equivalency. But that didn't spare me an onslaught of e-mail from Jewish listeners disappointed in what I had said, or what they thought I was implying. Some told me my "comparison" was anti-Semitic, which stunned me, given that my entire trip had a palpable, pro-Israeli tone. (MORE)

SEE ALSO:

ENGEL 'DISAPPOINTED' BY FORD FORUM FOR MEARSHEIMER - TOP
ANNIE KARNI, NY sun, 9/10/07
http://www.nysun.com/article/62283

The Ford Foundation, which came under congressional scrutiny in 2003 for supporting groups committed to destroying Israel, is again drawing censure from elected officials and watchdog groups, this time for funding a panel at Columbia University highlighting a professor who blames Israel and its American supporters for the Iraq War and for Al Qaeda terrorism against America.

Professor John Mearsheimer of the University of Chicago, co-author of "The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy" with Stephen Walt, a professor at Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government, is scheduled to speak at Columbia's Heyman Center for the Humanities next month on the issue of free speech in academia. The October 30 panel, titled "Freedom and the University," is funded with a $100,000 grant from the Ford Foundation for research and speaking events related to academic freedom.

Messrs. Mearsheimer and Walt's thesis is that a vast "Israel lobby," which includes the editors of the New York Times, "neoconservative gentiles," and even students at Columbia University, steer American foreign policy in a pro-Israel direction. They have argued that the lobby manipulates the American government to act in ways opposed to its national interest. And they have also argued that pressure, amounting to informal censorship, is put on those who are critical of Israel. (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

Opinions expressed in various sections are the sole responsibility of their authors and they may not represent ccun.org.

editor@ccun.org