• Verse: None But God Can Remove Misfortune
• Senate Questions FBI Director About Muslim Relations
• CA: Muslim Cooks Claim Religious Harassment (Mercury News)
• NY: Documentary Explores Post-9/11 Muslim Identity
  • NY: Filmmaker Wins for Short on Muslim, Non-Muslim Friendship
  • A Muslim's Unique Take on Country Music
• CAIR-CAN: Every Canadian Must Be Afforded Due Legal Process
• Audio: Israeli Soldiers Affirm Palestinians' Accusations (NPR)
  • Rabbi Rejects Assassination Call at N.Y. Synagogue (JTA)

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VERSE OF THE DAY: NONE BUT GOD CAN REMOVE MISFORTUNE - TOP

"If God touches you with misfortune, none can remove it other than Him. If He blesses you with happiness, (you should know that) He has power over all things.”

The Holy Quran, 6:17

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SENATE QUESTIONS FBI DIRECTOR ABOUT MUSLIM RELATIONS - TOP

(WASHINGTON, D.C., 3/26/2009) - At a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing yesterday, FBI Director Robert Mueller was questioned about U.S. Muslim Coalition Considers Suspending Relations with FBI

Mueller was also asked about new Justice Department guidelines that took effect in December of last year, which lower the threshold for beginning FBI investigations and allow race and ethnicity to be factors in opening a probe.

SEE: Fact Sheet - New Attorney General Guidelines (ACLU)

Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI) asked Mueller:

“[W]e've discussed before the need for the FBI to gain the trust of the American Muslim community to assist in the effort to stop terrorism. And I was disappointed to learn of a recent statement from the American Muslim Task Force on Civil Rights and Elections signed by 10 leading U.S. Muslim organizations indicating that they are considering suspending their work with the FBI. According to a news report, quote, ‘The groups claim the FBI has sent undercover agents posing as worshippers into mosques, pressured Muslims to become informants, labeled civil rights advocates as criminals and spread misinformation,’ unquote. Can you determine and report to this committee whether mosques have been entered by FBI agents or informants without disclosing their identities under the authority of the attorney general guidelines and, if so, how many?”

Director Mueller responded in part: “I will say that we do not focus on institutions, we focus on individuals. And I will say generally if there is evidence or information as to individual or individuals undertaking illegal activities in religious institutions, with appropriate high-level approval, we would undertake investigative activities, regardless of the religion. But it would -- we would single that out as an exceptionally sensitive circumstance that would require much vetting before that occurred…”

Sen. Feingold then asked: “Do you think that the new attorney general guidelines are helping or hurting the FBI's relationship with the U.S. Muslim community? In light of this [AMT] statement, how do you plan to improve that relationship?”

SEE: FBI and American Muslims at Odds (Christian Science Monitor)

Mueller responded by saying his “expectation is that our relationships are as good now as before the guidelines” and he added that the Muslim community “has been tremendously supportive and worked very closely with [the FBI] in a number of instances around the country.”

To date, 27 groups and many community activists have endorsed AMT’s statement.

To endorse the AMT statement online, go here.

AMT is an umbrella organization that includes: American Muslim Alliance (AMA), American Muslims for Palestine (AMP), Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA), Muslim Alliance in North America (MANA), Muslim American Society-Freedom Foundation (MAS-FF), Muslim Student Association-National (MSA-N), Muslim Ummah of North America (MUNA), and United Muslims of America (UMA). Its observer organizations include: Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC), and Islamic Educational Center of Orange County (IEC).

Media Contact: AMT Chair Dr. Agha Saeed, Tel: 510-299-9313, E-Mail: aghaksaeed@yahoo.com

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MUSLIM COOKS AT INDIAN RESTAURANT IN SUNNYVALE CLAIM RELIGIOUS HARASSMENT - TOP
Lisa Fernandez, Mercury News, 3/25/09

A battle between two Muslim cooks and four Indian restaurant executives in Sunnyvale is brewing over allegations of ethnic slurs, religious powder and Hindu nicknames.

The setting for the dispute is Vaigai Restaurant, a popular eatery on East Arques Avenue where diners come for rava masala dosa, or authentic South Indian crepes filled with potato.

In a lawsuit filed in late January in Santa Clara County Superior Court, Abdul Rahuman, 44, and Nowsath Malik Shaw, 39, both of San Jose, allege they were harassed for being Muslim by Vaigai's two owners, a manager and a top chef — a violation of the Fair Employment and Housing Act. They are seeking unspecified monetary damages.

From March to August 2008, the cooks allege:

- The chef called Rahuman a "Thulakkan,'' which, in their native state of Tamil Nadu in India, is a fighting word and is like calling him a foreigner in his own land.

- Both former cooks say they were forced to participate in a Hindu ceremony where their foreheads were rubbed with powder, called "tilak.''

- The managers called the cooks "Rajan'' and "Nagraj,'' which are traditional Hindu names, even after the cooks protested. One of the managers allegedly told them that some of "Vaigai Restaurant's customers would stop patronizing the restaurant if they heard plaintiffs referred to by their Muslim names,'' the suit alleges.

Conditions were so bad, attorney Steven Tidrick of Oakland said, the cooks "eventually quit'' in August. (More)

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NY: DOCUMENTARY EXPLORES POST-9/11 MUSLIM IDENTITY - TOP
Kelly Roberts, Washington Square News, 3/25/09

Iranian-American Justin Mashouf created “Warring Factions” to better understand his American upbringing and his Muslim heritage. But Mashouf’s methods weren’t conventional — he used breakdancing to bridge the cultural gap between American and Iranian youth.

The documentary, which explores Muslim identity post-Sept. 11, was screened last night as part of the seventh annual Shuruq Festival. Mashouf met and trained with Iranian breakdancers and asked them about their views on the Iranian government. He also explored the Iranian martial art Varzesh-e Bastani and its long cultural tradition.

Mashouf spent five-and-a-half weeks filming in Iran, only to have all his film confiscated by Homeland Security upon reentering the states.

“What happened to me at Homeland Security was a very, very terrifying experience,” Mashouf said. “My being at a military base in Iran and doing martial arts training was enough to say that I might have been doing paramilitary training. And there have been a lot of Muslims detained for much less who are still in jail.”

The film was returned five weeks later, after Mashouf met with several FBI agents. He hopes to use the documentary and his experience with Homeland Security to show others what Iran is really like. A rough version of the film was previously shown at Baylor University in Texas. (More)

SEE ALSO:

NY: BUDDING FILMMAKER WINS FOR SHORT ON MUSLIM, NON-MUSLIM FRIENDSHIP - TOP
Caitlin McNamara, Brooklyn Eagle, 3/26/09

A film that began as an NYU graduate course assignment became an award winning video seen by thousands last week when it won the “Two Faiths, One Film” category of a national online contest, “One Nation, Many Voices.”

Sponsored by Link TV and the nonprofit initiative One Nation, the annual contest aims to promote tolerance and respect for religious freedom. All five winning films examine what it means to be Muslim in America today.

With “LadyLike,” just 5 minutes 4 seconds long, director Safiya Songhai explores the theme of femininity, and the possibility of friendship between a Muslim and non-Muslim woman who come together under unlikely circumstances on a Clinton Hill/Bed-Stuy-area stoop.

“As Maya Angelou says, ‘We are more alike than we are unalike,’ and that is what I wanted to show with this film,” says Songhai. “No matter your faith, there is common ground to build a friendship. This type of cross-cultural interchange pays homage to the diversity of New York City.” (More)

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A MUSLIM'S UNIQUE TAKE ON COUNTRY MUSIC - TOP
In the genre of country music, Muslim musician Kareem Salama has found his niche. But he doesn't sing "Allah" with a guitar and a cowboy hat, he just sings of faith.
Hesham Hassaballa, Beliefnet.com, 3/26/09

I was never really a country music fan, and I never thought I would purchase any country music album. That was until I listened to Kareem Salama. I first heard this talented musician at the entertainment session of the Islamic Society of North America conference a few years in Chicago. I thought he was good, but initially I wasn't really that impressed. In fact, I was basically "forced" to buy his album from a friend of mine who wanted to promote him and his music.

But sometimes we’re put on a path that has a good destination, though we don’t know of it at the time. And so when I put Kareem Salama in my iPod, I became forever hooked ... maybe not on country music, but definitely on this country musician.

Born and raised in the small town of Ponca City, Oklahoma, Kareem Salama is the son of (like me) Egyptian immigrants. A chemical engineer and now lawyer by trade, Kareem Salama's his venture into music was long in the making. Writing on his website, Salama says, "I began writing songs when I was very young, but I became a more serious writer because of my love for classical poetry." His songs culminated in his first album, “Generous Peace,” which came out in 2006 and is currently available on iTunes.

The album is a wonderful collection of songs with deep meaning and messages. A soothing spirituality weaves throughout each song, but there is nothing overtly Islamic in this album either, which is exactly how I like Muslim music. You don’t have to be Muslim to listen to this. Kareem Salama doesn't sing "Allah" with a guitar and a cowboy hat.

But I can feel Allah throughout his music. (More)

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CAIR-CAN: EVERY CANADIAN MUST BE AFFORDED DUE LEGAL PROCESS - TOP
Kashif Ahmed, Star Phoenix, 3/26/09

Following is the viewpoint of the writer, a law student in Saskatoon and a national board member of the Canadian Council on American-Islamic Relations.

Due process is a longstanding Canadian principle, which is enshrined in our legal tradition as a safeguard against the denial of liberty. It's part of our liberal democracy that distinguishes us from the dictatorships scattered around the world.

Yet, certain Canadians are being apparently denied their basic rights as citizens.

Consider the case of Abousfian Abdelrazik, who has languished in limbo for six years in Khartoum, Sudan, and currently lives in the lobby of the Canadian embassy.

His ill-fated trip to Khartoum in 2003 to visit his ailing mother ended in secret detention under Sudan's notorious domestic security agency, which acted on the request of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, according to recently declassified documents.

He was repeatedly detained for a total of 19 months. No charges. No trial. No conviction.

He's a Canadian citizen who has been arbitrarily detained, at the behest of Canada, by a disreputable foreign regime whose president was indicted this month by the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity. Abdelrazik says he was tortured by his Sudanese captors, and has the scars to show it. (More)

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ISRAELI SOLDIERS AFFIRM PALESTINIANS' ACCUSATIONS - TOP
Eric Westervelt, NPR, 3/26/09

Click here to listen to the story.

Morning Edition, March 26, 2009 · Testimony from Israeli soldiers, as well as human rights groups and U.N. investigators, is bolstering claims made by Palestinian witnesses that the Israeli army needlessly killed and wounded civilians during the recent war in the Gaza Strip.

Some soldiers say they were given incredibly permissive rules of engagement and were urged to see the Gaza attack as a kind of holy war.

And, in a new report, Human Rights Watch alleges that the Israeli army unlawfully used white phosphorous artillery shells over densely populated civilian areas.

SEE ALSO:

RABBI REJECTS ASSASSINATION CALL AT N.Y. SHUL - TOP
JTA Wire Service, 3/26/09

A New York City rabbi condemned the call to assassinate Palestinian leaders issued at his synagogue.

Elie Abadie of Congregation Edmond J. Safra in Manhattan said the call last week by the leader of an Israeli pro-settler organization to kill Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and other “terrorist leaders” is “odious and repugnant.”

He added the sponsoring organization, Americans for a Safe Israel, is no longer welcome to host events at his synagogue.

“On a personal level, I am horrified at such hateful statements, and I have made this clear to the organization,” Abadie said in a statement Friday. “We did not sponsor or support that event, and neither I nor any member of our congregational staff was present.

“While the use of the premises has always been available on a non-discriminatory basis, the nature of the remarks made disqualifies the AFSI from any further use of the space.”

Nadia Matar, the co-chairwoman of Women in Green, called for Israel to assassinate “all terrorist leaders, starting with Mahmoud Abbas,” last week in the context of a comparison of England’s response to Nazi aggression and Israel’s response to Palestinian terror. Her remarks were greeted with applause. (More)