CAIR: Chicago Imam Files Bias Suit Against State Police

CAIR: Chicago Islamic Group Sues Illinois State Police

CAIR-NY: Gov. Paterson Won't Apologize for Muslim Comment

CAIR Video: D.C. Interfaith Leaders Denounce Islamophobia

CAIR-Sacramento Video: Mosque Targeted with Ground Zero Hate

CAIR-NY Video: Anti-Muslim Backlash in NYC

CAIR-MI: Thomas Column was Fear Mongering

Fire and Gunshots at Tennessee Mosque Site Called 'Terrorism'

Report of Shots Fired Near Mosque Site Being Investigated

Radio Listeners Support Forcing Muslims to Register

Chris Matthews: More Republicans Feel Negative Towards Islam

The Misinformants: What 'Stealth Jihad' Doesn't Mean

NY Islamic Center's Struggle Echoes That of African-Americans

CAIR-CA Responds to Islamophobia with 'Share the Quran' Iftar

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CAIR: BIAS SUIT FILED AGAINST ILL. STATE POLICE FOR CHICAGO IMAM - TOP Suit claims discrimination against Sheikh Kifah in revocation of chaplaincy position

(CHICAGO, IL, 8/30/10) -- The Chicago office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-Chicago) today filed a discrimination complaint in federal court against the Illinois State Police (ISP) on behalf of Kifah Mustapha, a leading Muslim religious leader (Imam) based in Chicago.

The ISP had previously hired Imam Kifah as the first and only Muslim chaplain for its workforce after the completion of a thorough background check. Shortly after news of Imam Kifah's hiring, the ISP revoked its decision citing a dubious Internet report attacking Imam Kifah. The report was written and distributed by Steven Emerson, an anti-Muslim blogger notorious for fighting against American Muslim civic participation.

SEE: Steven Emerson's Crusade

Among other false allegations, Emerson's report claimed that Imam Kifah served on the "Palestine Committee of the Muslim Brotherhood," when no such committee exists.

CAIR-Chicago's lawsuit alleges discrimination based on race, religion and national origin. The suit also cites the denial of Imam Kifah's First Amendment right to freedom of association, which bars the government from imposing guilt by association.

"Imam Kifah is an upstanding citizen who has served this country and his community time and again," said Christina Abraham, CAIR-Chicago's civil rights director. "It is time to put an end to the fear-mongering and anti-Muslim rhetoric that has senselessly engulfed our nation."

"The ISP's actions here are reminiscent of Red Scare in the 1950s, when our nation smeared individuals based on suspicion and paranoia rather than evidence of wrong doing," said CAIR-Chicago Staff Attorney, Kevin Vodak. "The McCarthy era taught us that our government cannot engage in guilt by association."

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-Chicago Executive Director, Ahmed Rehab, 202.870.0166, E-Mail:arehab@cair.com CAIR-Chicago Communications Coordinator, Amina Sharif, 312.212.1520, 630.935.5562, E-Mail:asharif@cair.com; CAIR-Chicago Civil Rights Director Christina Abraham, 312.212.1520, 847-971-7989: E-Mail: cabraham@cair.com

SEE ALSO:

CHICAGO ISLAMIC GROUP SUES ILLINOIS STATE POLICE - TOP Breaking News Center, 8/30/10

The Chicago chapter of the Council on American Islamic Relations filed a federal discrimination lawsuit today against Illinois State Police on behalf of a local Muslim cleric whose appointment as chaplain was revoked last month. (More)

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GOV. DAVID PATERSON ISN'T APOLOGIZING FOR 'ALMOST WESTERNIZED' MUSLIM COMMENT - TOP Associated Press, 8/30/10

Gov. David Paterson said today that he doesn't need to apologize to Muslim groups who criticized him for comments last week in which he described developers of an Islamic center and mosque planned near Ground Zero as peaceful and "almost westernized" Muslims. ...

The New York chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations called Paterson's broadcast comments "grossly misinformed" and derogatory. (More)

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CAIR VIDEO: D.C. INTERFAITH LEADERS DENOUNCE ISLAMOPHOBIA - TOP

View the video.

Religious Leaders Challenging Anti-Muslim Rhetoric, Violence By Robert Marus, ABP, 8/30/10

WASHINGTON (ABP) -- Against a background of mounting anti-Muslim rhetoric and violence, Baptist and other religious leaders spoke out Aug. 30 against Islamophobia and urged federal officials to take a more proactive role in safeguarding Muslims' civil rights.

A group of Christian, Jewish and Muslim leaders held a press conference at a Washington church denouncing the rhetoric and attacks – including a suspicous Aug. 28 fire at the construction site of a mosque that has stirred significant controversy in Murfreesboro, Tenn.; the Aug. 24 attempted murder of a Muslim taxi driver in New York; and a conservative Florida church's plans to burn copies of the Quran on Sept. 11 as an anti-Islamic protest.

"We're shifting from fear to fear-mongering, from misunderstanding to misinformation, from legitimate speech to hate speech to hate violence" said Nihad Awad, executive director of the Council on American Islamic Relations, in the conference at Washington's Western Presbyterian Church. The church was chosen as the setting for the briefing partially because its sanctuary hosts Friday prayer services for Muslim students at the adjacent George Washington University campus. (More) ---

CAIR-SACRAMENTO VIDEO: MOSQUE TARGETED WITH GROUND ZERO HATE - TOP Fox, 40, 8/29/10

View the video.

An area mosque has been drawn into the debate over a religious center near ground zero in New York City. A plastic pig was put in that mosque's mailbox, toxic messages were scribbled across it.

SEE ALSO:

CAIR-NY VIDEO: ANTI-MUSLIM BACKLASH IN NYC - TOP ABC 7, 8/30/10

View the video.

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CAIR-MI: THOMAS COLUMN WAS FEAR MONGERING - TOP By Raheem Hanifa, The Oakland Press, 8/29/10

Columnist Cal Thomas' "We are at war with radical Islam" is the epitome of hollow fear mongering wrapped in misinformation and McCarthyism.

He begins by asserting that the true threat to the U.S. is "radical Islamist." He then says mosques being built across the U.S. clearly show that "radical Islamists" are covering America with bases for terrorism to wage their offensive. To prove these claims, he quotes a former Israeli diplomat who begins beating the war drums against Iran in a strikingly reminiscent manner as did the neo-cons with their fantastical "evidence" of Iraq's WMD possession and about how war with Iraq was necessary to divert total annihilation of every American man, woman, and child. We all know how credible the "intelligence" was for that endeavor.

No one is denying that there are individuals across the world that will use religion to justify their violent aspirations. This unfortunate phenomenon takes place in every faith tradition as well as in multiple political ideologies. As pertaining to acts of terrorism committed by Muslims, Muslims across the world have consistently condemned, protested and exerted efforts to apprehend terrorists. There are FBI statistics detailing acts of terror explaining that the "Muslim threat" is exaggerated. (More)

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FIRE AND GUNSHOTS AT TENNESSEE MOSQUE SITE CALLED 'TERRORISM' - TOP By Robert Mackey, The Lede, 8/30/10

On Sunday, one day after a fire at the site of a planned Islamic center and mosque in the Nashville suburb of Murfreesboro, Muslim community members reported hearing gunshots as they inspected the damage.

Saleh Sbenaty, an engineering professor at Middle Tennessee State University who is on the Islamic center's planning committee, told The Daily News Journal of Murfreesboro that nine shots, in two volleys, were fired near the property while he and female family members looked at construction equipment burned in the fire. Mr. Sbenaty, who has lived in Tennessee for three decades, said, "It was nothing like a hunting rifle."

He added: We hope for the best, obviously, but this isn't hunting land. There's plenty of houses around here. ...To say we're nervous is a huge understatement. It's terrorism.

On Saturday morning, the local sheriff's department informed members of the Islamic Center of Murfreesboro that one piece of construction equipment at the site had been burned and three others were doused with some sort of fluid but not set alight. (More)

SEE ALSO:

REPORT OF SHOTS FIRED NEAR MOSQUE SITE BEING INVESTIGATED - TOP The Tennessean, 8/29/10

Rutherford County Sheriff's deputies are investigating a complaint about shots being fired this afternoon near the construction site of the Islamic Center of Murfreesboro on Veals Road off Bradyville Pike.

The report came just hours after a fire of suspicious nature damaged construction equipment at the site.

A group of congregation members was at the site looking at the damage done to construction equipment by the fire overnight when they heard nine shots fired from two directions.

The incident occurred around 3:15 p.m. The congregation members reported hearing six shots coming from one direction, and about three minutes later they heard three more shots from another direction, said Saleh Sbenaty, a congregation member and MTSU professor.

He wasn't sure if the shots were being fired at the Muslim group, but in the aftermath of the fire, he said they felt it necessary to report, the Daily News Journal reported on its website. (More)

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70 PERCENT OF 760 AM LISTENERS SUPPORT FORCING MUSLIMS TO REGISTER ON A NATIONAL DATABASE - TOP By Davi Barker, San Francisco Muslim Examiner, 8/29/10

60 KFMB AM is a talk radio station hosting such conservative luminaries as Michael Savage, Sean Hannity and Mark Levin. Today, below the Wiener Dog racing and ads for Glen Beck's "Restoring Honor" rally is a fun little poll that asks listeners:

During a time of war, should we register as many practicing Muslims as we can find in a national database?

No - it's an invasion of privacy.

Yes - gun owners have to, why not Muslims?

Currently, 70% of those polled are in favor of forced registration for American Muslims. Granted, this is not a representative sampling of the general population, but it none the less contributes to a disturbing trend of national opinion about Islam.

Jenn Chou is the National Anti-establishment Examiner and a member of CopBlock, a decentralized project of writers and activists dedicated to holding rogue cops accountable by filming their behavior and publishing it online. Jenn writes:

"Forced registration is exactly what the Nazis did to the Jewish population of Germany. The Nazis did not kill 6 million Jewish people overnight and go from being perfectly amicable one day to burning them in ovens the next. It started with small steps. (More)

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CHRIS MATTHEWS: 54% OF REPUBLICANS FEEL NEGATIVE TOWARD ISLAM COMPARED TO 27% OF DEMS - TOP By Glynnis MacNicol, Mediaite.com

Chris Matthews revealed an interesting statistic on his show Sunday: More than half of Republicans polled say they have a negative attitude toward Islam, this compared to only 27% of Democrats. Asked Matthews: Is this negative feeling what's propelling American Muslims (i.e. the Times Sq. Bomber, and the Fort Hood shooter) to attack America? Joe Klein thinks it's a contributing factor.

Said Katty Kay: "The risk for America is if you start putting all of those extremists in with all of Muslims."

Reihan Salam thinks the differential in the numbers has to do with the fact that less conservatives identify with the Republican party than Liberals with the Dems. And Joe Klein thinks it's merely representative of a larger anxiety prevalent in the older generations about changing social values combined with the struggling economy. As for how much President Obama has to do with these numbers, the panel generally agreed it was less than people might conclude. Said Norah O'Donnell: "I do think if Hillary Clinton were president some of this would still exist." (More)

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THE MISINFORMANTS: WHAT 'STEALTH JIHAD' DOESN'T MEAN - TOP By Lisa Miller, Newsweek, 8/28/10

Here is the latest semantic assault from the party that brought you "Islamo-facism" (circa 2005) and "Axis of Evil" (2002). The term "stealth jihad" is suddenly voguish among politically ambitious right wingers who see President Obama's approach to terrorism as insufficient. If it sounds like a phrase from a military-fantasy summer blockbuster, that's on purpose: in its cartoonish bad-guy foreignness, "stealth jihad" attempts to make the terrorist threat broader and thus more nefarious than it already is. The only thing scarier than an invisible, homicidal, suicidal enemy with a taste for world domination is one who's sneaking up on you. In the words of former speaker of the House Newt Gingrich at a July speech at the American Enterprise Institute, "stealth jihad" is an effort "to replace Western civilization with a radical imposition of Sharia."

The term wasn't Gingrich's invention. It's the title of a two-year-old book by Robert Spencer, whose hyperventilating antiterror blog, Jihad Watch, is cited and circulated widely on the far right. But the recent vicious debate over the proposed community center and mosque near Ground Zero gives Gingrich an excuse to use "stealth jihad" and its variants frequently—not just at the AEI but in an interview with this magazine. (In an essay on the conservative Web site Human Events, he referred instead to "creeping sharia.") Gingrich's like-minded peers have seized on the language, too. "Muslim Brotherhood operatives, like [Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, the center's founder and leader] are extremely skilled at obscuring ... their true agenda," said Frank Gaffney, founder of the Center for Security Policy, on FOX's Glenn Beck show. "It's part of the stealth jihad." (More)

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ISLAMIC CENTER'S STRUGGLE ECHOES THAT OF AFRICAN-AMERICANS - TOP By Imam Johari Abdul-Malik, CNN, 8/30/10

My job as an imam and outreach director for the Dar Al-Hijrah Islamic Center, located minutes from the Pentagon and the U.S. Capitol, was created September 11, 2001, to convey a more accurate image of the American Muslim community and to create opportunities for interfaith cooperation and understanding distinct from the stereotypical image of Muslims as intolerant and violent religious anti-American extremists.

On the morning of the 9/11 attack, while I was calling my patients from the waiting room at Howard University Hospital, I saw the plumes of smoke in the distance coming from the Pentagon, and on the TV monitor watched the twin towers of the World Trade Center being destroyed.

I had been volunteering as the Muslim chaplain and imam at Howard University at that time, and the media began calling me for interviews.

By 2002, the Dar Al-Hijrah Islamic Center asked me to be their first outreach director. I left my work as a biomedical researcher, working on my doctorate studying sickle cell disease, and took up this work.

Much like the tradition of the black church, I believe I was "called" to this ministry to bring people back together, to try to heal a lot of the pain, fear and anger that persisted. (More)

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CAIR-SAN DIEGO: MUSLIMS RESPOND TO ISLAMOPHOBIA WITH 'SHARE THE QURAN' RAMADAN IFTAR - TOP Educational event counters anti-Muslim rhetoric and seeks to reach out to neighbors of all faiths

(SAN DIEGO, CA, 8/30/2010) -- La Jolla Cross Roads Muslims last night held a "Share the Quran" Ramadan fast-breaking dinner, or "Iftar," at the La Jolla Cross Roads clubhouse in San Diego. The purpose of the event was to invite neighbors of all faiths to come together and to get to know one another in light of the anti-Islamic rhetoric surrounding the New York City Islamic center project in Manhattan and the planned "Burn the Koran" in Florida.

CAIR-San Diego Public Relations Director Edgar Hopida, who was invited to be a guest speaker at the event, spoke about the rise in anti-Muslim rhetoric nationwide and the urgent need to get to know each other as neighbors. The program consisted of the Muslim sunset prayer, an iftar dinner, a short talk, and a question and answer session. More than 50 guests attended the event.

Several copies of the Quran that were also given out to guests as part of CAIR's "Share the Quran" campaign.

SEE: Share the Quran

"In the midst of the anti-Muslim rhetoric being stoked around the country, it is comforting that our local American Muslim community is taking the initiative in reaching out to their neighbors and inviting them to break bread in the spirit of friendship and mutual respect," said CAIR-San Diego Public Relations Director Edgar Hopida

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 San Diego Public Relations Director Edgar Hopida, 619-913-0719 or 858-278-4547, E-Mail: ehopida@cair.com