Deadline Approaching for CAIR Rosa Parks Scholarship

NY Town Seeks to Dig Up Muslim Graves

CAIR Video: Anti-Muslim Hate Graffiti in Nevada

CAIR-Chicago: Burned Quran Found Outside Muslim Center

NY: Quran Burner Booted From His Job at NJ Transit

CAIR-MI: $10K Offered Reward for Quran Burning Info

Texas Resolution Seeks Hostile Treatment of Islam in Textbooks

Video: Anti-Park 51 Rally Attendees Echo Islamophobic Rhetoric

CAIR-NY Included in ACLU/NYCLU Video Challenging Islamophobia

CAIR-LA: Media Coverage of Islam Unbalanced

CAIR-OK: 9/11 PSA Campaign Educates Populace

CAIR MI: Justice Department to Open Detroit-Area Civil Rights Unit

Arab-American Agent Sues the FBI

Muslims in Alaska: A Growing Islamic Community

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DEADLINE APPROACHING FOR CAIR ROSA PARKS CIVIL LIBERTIES SCHOLARSHIP - TOP

The application deadline for CAIR's annual scholarship honoring the life and work of civil rights pioneer Rosa Parks is approaching.

This year's awardee of the annual $1,000 "Rosa Parks Civil Liberties Scholarship" will be announced at CAIR's 16th annual banquet on Saturday, October 9 in Arlington, Va. A day-long leadership skills training conference is scheduled to precede the banquet on Saturday.

SEE: CAIR's October 9 Banquet and Leadership Skills Training Conference in Arlington, Va. SEE: Descriptions of the training sessions

The application deadline for the scholarship is September 17, 2010. To obtain an application form, e-mail: banquet@cair.com

Applicants must be enrolled in, or accepted by, a full-time undergraduate, graduate or professional program of an accredited college or university in the United States majoring in a field that promotes civil rights, social justice or the peaceful resolution of conflicts. They must have a grade point average of 3.0 or above for undergraduate students or 3.5 or above for graduate students.

The applicants must also have a demonstrated interest in civil liberties issues. Preference will be given to applicants with past employment or volunteer experiences indicating such interest.

All applicants must submit two letters of recommendation and an essay demonstrating knowledge of the civil rights movement and how it relates to the American Muslim experience.

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NY TOWN SEEKS TO DIG UP MUSLIM GRAVES - TOP By Patricia Breakey, The Daily Star, 8/14/10

The Sidney Town Board passed a resolution at its August meeting to begin legal proceedings against the Muslim Osmanli Naksibendi Hakkani Sufi Order on Wheat Hill Road in Sidney Center over a cemetery it has established on its land.

According to the minutes of the Aug. 12 meeting, the Sidney board voted unanimously to "an injunction prohibiting the burying of bodies on private property."

Hans Hass, of the Muslim community, said the cemetery is legal and two bodies have been buried in it.

Hass said before there were any burials in the cemetery, local laws and regulations and state laws were researched to ensure that the cemetery would be legal.

Hass notes that the cemetery was established before Supervisor Bob McCarthy and Town Clerk Lisa French were elected. He added that there is nothing in the Sidney zoning regulating cemeteries, but before anything was done he went to the previous clerk and to Dale Downin, code enforcement officer, to see if a permit was required.

McCarthy said Aug. 29 that the Sidney Town Board is contemplating two lawsuits. . .

"We will be seeking to have these bodies disinterred and stop future burials," he said. "Unauthorized cemeteries have the potential of placing a financial burden on the local government as well as dictating the use of the land for perpetuity. (More)

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CAIR VIDEO: ANTI-MUSLIM HATE GRAFFITI IN NEVADA - TOP KOLO 8, 9/9/10

View the video.

The anti-Muslim sentiment that has been sweeping across the nation has surfaced in a visible way here in Reno.

The KOLO newsroom got a call this morning about graffiti on a retaining wall near the corner of Hunter Lake and Webster. It reads, "Don't burn the Koran. Why? Just burn Muslims."

Once the city got word of the vandalism, a crew quickly covered it up. At this time, no one is under arrest.

SEE ALSO:

BURNED QURAN FOUND IN FRONT OF MUSLIM CENTER - TOP CBS, 9/15/10

Florida preacher Terry Jones threatened to burn the Muslim holy book, but it appears that someone on Chicago's Northwest Side actually did so.

A charred Quran was found in front of the Muslim Community Center at 4380 N. Elston Ave.

Two young people attending services at a mosque in the building found the burnt holy book on the sidewalk around 1 p.m. Sunday, police News Affairs Officer Veejay Zala said. . .

In recent weeks, CAIR-Chicago has also received reports that a local Islamic charity has been the subject of threats, and that a Muslim woman from the southwest suburbs was followed and harassed by a man as she went to a mosque.

CAIR has also been documenting other anti-Islamic acts in recent weeks, including the burning of a Quran in front of an Islamic Center in East Lansing, Mich., Saturday. Torn pages of the Quran were found outside the Islamic Center, and some were smeared with feces, the Detroit News reported.

CAIR also reported a discovery of hate graffiti at a mosque in New York, and vandalism of a mosque under construction in Phoenix. Mosques have also been the subject of "vocal opposition" or hate incidents in California, Tennessee, Wisconsin, Kentucky, Texas, and Florida, CAIR-Chicago reported.

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KORAN BURNER DEREK FENTON BOOTED FROM HIS JOB AT NJ TRANSIT - TOP By Alison Gendar, Kevin Deutsch and Pete Donohue, NY Daily News, 9/14/10

The protester who burned pages from the Koran outside a planned mosque near Ground Zero has been fired from NJTransit, sources and authorities said Tuesday.

Derek Fenton's 11-year career at the agency came to an abrupt halt Monday after photographs of him ripping pages from the Muslim holy book and setting them ablaze appeared in newspapers.

Fenton, 39, of Bloomingdale, N.J., burned the book during a protest on the ninth anniversary of Sept. 11 outside Park51, the controversial mosque slated to be built near Ground Zero.

He was apparently inspired by Pastor Terry Jones, the Florida clergyman who threatened to burn the Koran that day but later changed his mind.

NJ Transit said Fenton was fired but wouldn't give specifics.

"Mr. Fenton's public actions violated New Jersey Transit's code of ethics," an agency statement said.

"NJ Transit concluded that Mr. Fenton violated his trust as a state employee and therefore [he] was dismissed." (More)

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CAIR-MI: E.L. TO OFFER $10K REWARD FOR QURAN BURNING INFO - TOP By Alanna Thiede, The State News, 9/15/10

A $10,000 reward fund for information leading to the identification of the person or persons involved in the recent Quran burning in East Lansing will be announced today, East Lansing City Manager Ted Staton said Tuesday.

Staton made the announcement at the East Lansing City Council’s Tuesday work session at East Lansing’s 54-B district court.

The money will be taken from the city’s general fund and the city will be accepting donations, he said. The amount of money given to any individual who comes forth with information will be determined based on the value of the information obtained, he said.

"We have used this before," he said. "We think oftentimes people who commit acts like this tend to talk about it. We might find out how extensive these conversations have been". . .

The pages were strewn up and down Harrison Road, said Dawud Walid, executive director of the Michigan chapter of the Council on American Islamic Relations, or CAIR-MI. . .

The Islamic Center was informed of the reward fund’s creation Tuesday morning, Islamic Center spokesman Abdalmajid Katranji said. Support from city officials and the local community has been tremendous, he said.

"This is exactly what we know of the community of East Lansing," Katranji said. "It’s a very welcoming community. It’s been a home to us for decades, and it will continue to be a home for us." (More)

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TEXAS RESOLUTIONS SEEKS MORE HOSTILE TREATMENT OF ISLAM IN TEXTBOOKS - TOP By Terrence Stutz, The Dallas Morning News, 9/15/10

Just when it appeared the State Board of Education was done with the culture wars, the panel is about to wade into the issue of what students should learn about Islam.

The board will consider a resolution next week that would warn publishers not to push a pro-Islamic, anti-Christian viewpoint in world history textbooks. . .

A religious freedom group that has battled with social conservatives said that none of the textbooks cited by sponsors of the resolution are being used in Texas schools and that the claims are superficial and misleading.

"This is another example of board members putting politics ahead of just educating our kids," said Kathy Miller of the Texas Freedom Network. "Once again, without consulting any real experts, the board's politicians are manufacturing a bogus controversy."

She argued that current books offer a balanced treatment of the world's religions.

The resolution states that pro-Islamic, anti-Christian half-truths, selective disinformation and false editorial stereotypes "still roil" some social studies textbooks nationwide, including "sanitized definitions of 'jihad' that exclude religious intolerance or military aggression against non-Muslims ... which undergirds worldwide Muslim terrorism."

Sponsors of the resolution cautioned that "more such discriminatory treatment of religion may occur as Middle Easterners buy into the U.S. public school textbook oligopoly, as they are doing now." They offered no specific evidence of such investments. (More)

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ANTI-PARK 51 RALLY ATTENDEES ECHO ISLAMOPHOBIC, MISINFORMED FOX NEWS, RIGHT-WING RHETORIC - TOP Think Progress, 9/13/10

View the video.

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CAIR-NY: VIDEO RESPONDS TO INCREASE IN DISCRIMINATION AGAINST MUSLIMS AND ANTI-MOSQUE SENTIMENT - TOP ACLU, 9/14/10

View the video.

The American Civil Liberties Union and the New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU) today released a video featuring religious leaders from multiple faiths proclaiming that freedom of religion is a fundamental right. The video is being released in response to an alarming increase in anti-Muslim sentiment and efforts to prevent Muslim prayer spaces from being established across the country.

"In America, we don't play favorites with religious liberty," said Daniel Mach, Director of the ACLU Program on Freedom of Religion and Belief. "We cannot allow misguided biases to chip away at our fundamental principles". . .

"We reject the refrain of 'freedom of religion, but not in my backyard,'" said Donna Lieberman, Executive Director of the NYCLU. "To be true to the core values that make America special, we must respect everyone's religious freedom."

Featured in the video are Imam Abdul Baqi of the Islamic Leadership Council of New York, Rev. Dr. Donna Schaper of Judson Memorial Church, Father Michael Perry of Our Lady of Refuge, Rabbi Andy Bachman of Congregation Beth Elohim and Faiza Ali of the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

SEE ALSO:

CAIR-LA: MEDIA COVERAGE OF ISLAM UNBALANCED - TOP By Mona Shadia, The Daily Plot, 9/14/10

The Greater Los Angeles Area chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-LA) held a media breakfast at its offices Tuesday morning with reporters and editors from various Southern California news outlets to discuss how the American media portrays Islam and Muslims.

The regional office of the Muslim American advocacy and civil liberties group organized the event mainly to give media representatives information, resources and ideas on how to cover Muslims in a more positive light, as they are often typecast.

"Present Muslims like common people," said Ahlam Muhtaseb, assistant professor of communications studies at Cal State San Bernardino.

Since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, Muslims' loyalty to the United States has been questioned, and they have been scrutinized and lumped into one group that is seen as untrustworthy and not American enough, said Munira Syeda, CAIR-LA spokeswoman.

Lately, the coverage of the proposed building of an Islamic center, Park51, near the former World Trade Center site in New York City; the abandoned plan by a Florida church to burn the Koran on the ninth anniversary of 9/11; and the upcoming midterm elections has thrust Muslims into the national spotlight.

Typically when there is coverage of Islam or Muslims, it is done in a negative frame of mind, said Hussam Ayloush, executive director of CAIR-LA. (More)

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CAIR-OK: 9/11 PSA CAMPAIGN EDUCATES POPULACE - TOP By Cody Bromley, UCO360, 9/15/10

. . . With the anniversary of the September 11 attacks, many Americans remember their fallen brothers and sisters. But for some American Muslims, the anniversary is an all -too familiar reminder of the prejudices and judging that made them feel like part of a separate America.

Razi Hashmi, executive director for the Council on American-Islamic Relations in Oklahoma, has been working to fix that. CAIR has been in Oklahoma for three years, nationally since 1994. Hashmi said that the first time they really made their name heard was following the aftermath of the Oklahoma City Bombing.

"There were a lot of accusations made against the Muslim community, that it had ‘Arab’ or ‘Middle-Eastern’ characteristics. The guys that started CAIR came down here and started a press conference to try and stop anti-Muslim sentiments from rising in Oklahoma," Hashmi said.

"I don’t think many people are that informed about Muslims and Islam. I think that most people just kind of hear or see things in the news, and also on the blogs and elsewhere. There isn’t a primary source speaking or engaging the greater Oklahoma population, and that’s what we’re trying to do," Hashmi said. (More)

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CAIR MI: JUSTICE DEPARTMENT TO OPEN DETROIT-AREA CIVIL RIGHTS UNIT - TOP By Robert Snell, The Detroit News, 9/15/10

The Department of Justice announced today it is creating a civil rights unit for the Detroit region.

The unit will handle investigation and prosecution of cases involving police misconduct, housing discrimination, hate crimes, violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act, employment discrimination and violations of the Uniform Service Members Civil Relief Act.

The unit is headed by Assistant U.S. Attorney Judith Levy.

The move comes at a time of difficult relations among police agencies and a Muslim civil rights group that has sued for information related to the killing of a Detroit mosque leader, who died during a shootout with the FBI.

Thomas E. Perez, assistant attorney general for the Civil Rights division, made the announcement today in Detroit along with U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade and Andrew Arena, special agent in charge of the FBI in Detroit.

"We are open for business," McQuade said today. "Nothing is more important than the freedoms we enjoy as Americans."

Last month, the Council on American-Islamic Relations' Michigan chapter filed Freedom of Information Act lawsuits in Wayne Circuit Court against the Detroit and Dearborn police departments. The group also has sued the Michigan State Police, which was part of a task force that conducted raids that led to the death of Imam Luqman Ameen Abdullah at a Dearborn warehouse in October. (More)

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ARAB-AMERICAN AGENT SUES THE FBI - TOP By Vic Walter and Mark Schone, ABC News

The FBI's highest ranking Arabic speaking agent opened his courtroom battle against his employer today in a Washington, D.C. federal court. Bassem Youssef is suing the FBI for job discrimination, saying he was denied a role in counterterror efforts after 9/11 despite his resume – and what he claims is a crippling shortage of qualified Arabic speakers and regional specialists

Youssef, born in Cairo and raised in Egypt and California, was passed over for promotion even though he was one of the FBI's few Arabic speakers and had been lauded for infiltrating the radical Islamic group whose leader masterminded the first World Trade Center bombing in 1993. He filed suit against the FBI in 2003, alleging that the FBI retaliated against him after he lodged complaints against the counterterrorism unit and met with director Robert Mueller.

The FBI declined comment on Youssef's allegations of discrimination, citing the ongoing litigation. In depositions taken by the Whistleblower Center, which is representing Youssef, FBI officials have claimed that neither Arabic fluency nor regional expertise is essential to leading the FBI's counterterrorism efforts.

"You need leadership," said ex-counterterrorism official Gary Bald in a deposition. "You don't need subject-matter expertise."

In 2005, Jeff Stein, national security editor at Congressional Quarterly, asked FBI spokesman John Miller to comment on Bald's assertion. Miller said that "the executive in a counterterrorism operation in the post 9/11 world . . . does not need to memorize the collected statements of Osama Bin Laden, or be able to read Urdu, to be effective."

In a separate deposition, former FBI counterterror chief Dale Watson conceded that he did not "technically" know the difference between the two main branches of Islam.

The trial, which is expected to last two weeks, will include such witnesses as former FBI Director Louis Freeh and current director Robert Mueller, who will testify by deposition. (More)

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MUSLIM IN ALASKA: A GROWING ISLAMIC COMMUNITY - TOP By Anchorage Daily News, 9/14/10

I sat in the back of the gym at the Fairview Recreation Center on Friday, counting the people lined up for prayers at Anchorage's Eid Day, the Muslim holiday that marks the end of Ramadan. Four hundred. Five hundred. Maybe, with children, close to 600.

I went to a similar gathering five years ago, then the group in the gym had been half the size. I tried to place the types of dress around me in the women's section. African women with their hair piled high, heads covered in jewel tone cloths. A rainbow of saris and scarves I guessed might be from Pakistan, India or Bangladesh. A kimono-type dress from Malaysia. A dark chador I thought might be from Iran. The room quieted down. I was sitting next to a woman in red sari, her wrist painted with a henna vine. When she moved, her gold bracelets jingled softly.

"Eid Mubarak," she said, meaning, "may you enjoy a blessed festival."

I was invited to the ceremony by Lamin Jobarteh and Sam Obeidi, the president and vice president of the Islamic Community Center of Anchorage Alaska. I know Jobarteh, who is originally from Gambia, from the years he worked at Wells Fargo bank. This year he opened a halal grocery in a strip mall off International Airport Road, selling meat butchered according to Muslim tradition and specialty foods from Africa and the Middle East. I knew Obeidi, who is originally Palestinian, from my previous Eid story. He owns a frame shop on Arctic Boulevard. They wanted me to come to Eid this year, they told me, because they wanted me to write about how their community is growing and complex, and about how they have experienced Anchorage as a welcoming place. . .

"Our positive experience (in Anchorage) far outweighs our negative experience," Jobarteh said.

But as we talked, it was clear they were aware, and not happy with, the portrayal of Muslims as un-American. "I have two boys that are born in Alaska. Providence Hospital," Obeidi said.

"My wife is in the military and she loves this country," Jobarteh added.

They believe Islam is being misrepresented, and they're trying to correct that by setting a good example in Anchorage, they said, welcoming of people with different religious beliefs, doing good work in the community.

"We want to spread the true word of Islam," Obeidi said. "Not Fox News Islam." (More)

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BREAKING: Muslim Prayer Blocked in Hartford

(CAIR-CT) "Cotto, with the council's approval, invited Kashif Abdul-Karim, resident imam at the Muhammad Islamic Center of Greater Hartford, to give the invocation, and a press release was issued to that effect. That's when the angry and hate-filled emails began."

CAIR: Ohio Muslim's Business Targeted with Hate Graffiti

(COLUMBUS, OH, 9/13/10) --

The Ohio chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-OH) today called on the FBI to initiate a hate crime investigation of a recent incident of vandalism at a Muslim-owned business in that state. Late on Saturday, vandals spray-painted "9-11" on windows and countertops at the Jaffa Market in Columbus. Some cash and a laptop computer were stolen, while several display cases were vandalized.

SEE: Muslim Storeowner Says He was Victim of Hate Crime "Unfortunately, Saturday night's incident is emblematic of the increasing Islamophobia in our society," said CAIR-OH Legal Director Jennifer Nimer. "The manufactured controversy surrounding the proposed Islamic cultural center near ground zero in New York has resulted in an increase in hate crimes targeting Muslim institutions nationwide." Mosques in California, Tennessee, New York, Illinois, Wisconsin, Kentucky, Michigan, Texas, and Florida have faced vocal opposition or have been targeted by hate incidents in recent months.

Over the weekend, burned copies of the Quran were found outside mosques in Michigan, Tennessee and Illinois. CAIR has launched a nationwide "Learn, Don't Burn" educational initiative in response to an extremist Gainesville, Fla., church's now-canceled plan to burn copies of the Quran, Islam's holy text, on September 11.

The Washington-based Muslim civil rights and advocacy organizations also recently launched a national public service announcement (PSA) campaign designed to challenge growing Islamophobia in America.

SEE: American Muslims Speak Out: 9/11 Happened to Us All Anyone with information about the break-in is asked to contact Columbus police. CAIR is America's largest Muslim civil liberties and advocacy organization. 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.

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CAIR: Burned, Shot Quran Left at Tenn. Mosque Muslim civil rights group calls for stepped up police protection at mosques nationwide

(WASHINGTON, DC, 9/13/10) --

A prominent national Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization today called for stepped up police protection at mosques nationwide after a copy of the Quran that had been burned and apparently shot, was discovered yesterday at a Tennessee mosque.

The Washington-based Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) said the Quran desecration was just one of a number of similar incidents targeting American mosques in recent days.

An official with the Annoor Mosque (Muslim Community of Knoxville) in Knoxville, Tenn., said worshippers discovered the desecrated Quran at the entrance to the facility around noon on Sunday. The incident has been reported to Knoxville police (Report #10-036-084) and to the FBI.

In a similar incident on Saturday, CAIR reported that a burned copy of the Quran was found at a Michigan mosque.

SEE: Quran Burned in East Lansing CAIR-MI: Authorities Investigate Vandalism at Islamic Center (Video)

In other incidents, CAIR has called for federal hate crime charges to be brought against three men who allegedly painted a racist slur on a mosque in New York.

Last week, CAIR called on the FBI to investigate a possible bias motive for recent vandalism at a Phoenix mosque site.

Mosques in California, Tennessee, New York, Illinois, Wisconsin, Kentucky, Texas, and Florida have faced vocal opposition or have been targeted by hate incidents in recent months.

"Because of the recent targeting of mosques nationwide, we urge local law enforcement authorities to work with Muslim community leaders in stepping up patrols near Islamic institutions," said CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper.

He said that anti-Muslim hate has reached such a disturbing level nationwide that a Maine newspaper was forced to apologize for publishing a photo of end of Ramadan prayers on the 9/11 anniversary and a Connecticut city council was compelled to withdraw an invitation to have a Muslim religious leader offer a pre-meeting prayer.

SEE: Newspaper Apologizes to Those Offended CAIR-CT: No Muslim Prayers at Hartford Council During September

CAIR recently launched a national public service announcement (PSA) campaign designed to challenge growing Islamophobia in America.

SEE: American Muslims Speak Out: 9/11 Happened to Us All NY Anti-Mosque Protester Says Kill All Muslims

The Washington-based Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization also launched a "Learn, Don't Burn" educational initiative in response to an extremist Gainesville, Fla., church's now-canceled plan to burn copies of the Quran, Islam's holy text, on September 11.

SEE: CAIR Responds to Fla. Book Burning with Educational Campaign

CAIR is America's largest Muslim civil liberties and advocacy organization. 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-SFBA Programs and Outreach Director Zahra Billoo, 626-252-0885, E-Mail: zbilloo@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-744-7726, or 202-488-8787, E-Mail: ihooper@cair.com