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Isramophobia in the US, March 1-7, 2016, CAIR
Reports
Al-Jazeerah, CCUN, March 13, 2016
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CAIR-AZ
Urges Lawmakers to Oppose Anti-Boycott Bill Targeting Free Speech
(PHOENIX, ARIZ. - 3/7/16) - The
Arizona
chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations
(CAIR-AZ) today called on Arizona lawmakers to oppose HB 2617, which
requires that the state's pension systems divest from any companies that
boycott Israel, because the bill would restrict freedom of speech. HB 2617
would require companies that wish to do business with the state government
to certify that they do not conduct boycotts against Israel.
Bills
like HB 2617 are designed to counter and undermine boycott, divestment, and
sanctions (BDS) efforts that protest illegal Israeli settlements in
Palestinian land. Critics say implementation of HB 2617 would alienate a
growing number of businesses, major church denominations, charitable
foundations, university student governments, labor unions, and investors who
have called to boycott or take other economic measures against companies and
institutions complicit in Israel's human rights abuses.
"The
proposed bill violates our right to engage in free speech," said
Imraan
Siddiqi, CAIR-AZ's executive director. "It would be
un-American to deny constituents the right to work to change the illegal and
discriminatory actions of a foreign government."
He noted that
boycotts supporting civil and human rights such as the Montgomery Bus
boycott against segregation or the boycott of companies enabling South
African Apartheid have been revered throughout American history as an
integral part of our political process and means by which to participate in
democracy.
CAIR-AZ also recently hosted Arizona Muslim Capitol Day
where Arizona Muslims met with state legislators to discuss their concerns
with HB 2617 amongst other issues.
SEE:
AZ Muslim Capitol Day
CAIR-Arizona is a chapter of America's largest Muslim civil liberties and
advocacy organization. Its mission is to enhance the understanding of Islam,
encourage dialog, protect civil liberties, empower American Muslims, and
build coalitions that promote justice and mutual understanding.
CONTACT: CAIR-AZ Executive Director Imraan Siddiqi,
480-704-3786, isiddiqi@cair.com
***
-
CAIR:
Educators Update Anti-Bullying Messages to Protect Muslims (AP)
While schools generally do not keep statistics on motivations for
bullying,
a survey of 600 Muslim students in
California by the Council on American-Islamic Relations
found in October, even before the latest attacks, that 55 percent
reported facing religion-based bullying
� a rate twice as high as the national
average of students who report being bullied at school. Officials with
the group say bullying reports spiked in recent months.
Parents say that incidents often go unreported, particularly among older
students, and that many families address the problem by changing schools
or home-schooling.
-
CAIR-Texas:
Speak Up on Anti-Muslim Sentiments (San Antonio Express-News)
Texans shouldn't be afraid because they are Muslims. But, as a recent
Express-News article by Adam Hamze of the Hearst Austin bureau details,
they are.
In
this, unfortunately, Texas is not an outlier. The FBI reports that
although hate crimes have dropped nationally, those targeting Muslims
have increased.
The
Council on American-Islamic Relations for Dallas-Fort Worth reported a call each
day on discrimination, violence or harassment
� up from two
to three a month.
Feces were smeared and a Quran defaced at the Islamic Center of
Pflugerville in November. A gun was pointed at two Muslim women driving
in Austin in December. Armed anti-Islamic protesters rallied outside a
mosque in Irving, also in November.
-
CAIR:
Idaho Newspaper Slams Anti-Islam Bill introduced in Legislature
The
only purpose this McCarthy-style bill serves is to spread the kind of
fear, hate and paranoia that represents the absolute worst about the
fringe far-right increasingly finding influence in our Capitol.
"It's completely disingenuous,"
Ibrahim Hooper, a spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic
Relations,
said of the bill. "It's 100 percent designed to target Islam and
Muslims. And it's driven by a cottage industry of Islamophobes that
introduce these things nationwide."
-
CAIR-MN:
Some Muslim Leaders See Double Standard in Case of St. Paul Cop
(MPR)
"I
think the Somali community, the African-American community, I think a
lot of the minority communities that have been asking really tough
questions of law enforcement would see that, 'Aha, yeah, this is what
we've been talking about,'" said
Jaylani Hussein, director of the Minnesota chapter of the Council on
American-Islamic Relations.
"There is a clear double standard."
-
CAIR-LA
Joins Vigil for Social Justice (OC Register)
Local civil rights groups, including Los Amigos of Orange County, the OC
Human Relations Commission and the
Council on American-Islamic Relations
answered the call for peace. So did Clergy and Laity United for Economic
Justice and clergy from various faiths.
-
CAIR:
The FBI Has a New Plan to Spy on High School Kids Across the Country
(Salon)
The
first public iteration of the U.S. counterpart to this program emerged
five years ago to "address ideologically inspired violence in the
Homeland," uniting a broad array of government agencies, including the
FBI and Department of Homeland Security.
In
2015, Attorney General Eric Holder announced a CVE summit at the White
House and unrolled three "pilot programs" in Boston, Minneapolis and Los
Angeles. According to the
Council on American-Islamic
Relations,
these initiatives
solely target Muslims in each of these cities.
-
Will America's Olympic Flag Bearer
Be Wearing a Hijab? (The New Yorker)
***
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CAIR-WA Expresses Solidarity with Sikh Community After Desecration of Temple
Mistaken for Mosque
(SEATTLE,
WA, 3/4/16)
�
The Washington state chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations
(CAIR-WA) today expressed solidarity with the Sikh community in that state
following the vandalism and desecration of a Sikh temple in Spokane.
The Sikh Temple of Spokane was vandalized Wednesday night and early Thursday
by a man who "mistakenly thought the temple was a mosque" and that the house
of worship was affiliated with ISIS. [NOTE:
Sikh men who wear beards and turbans as part of their faith are often
targeted by bigots who mistake them for Muslims.]
Jeffrey C. Pittman, 44, was arrested Thursday morning inside the temple
after a short altercation with police. Police say Pittman admitted that he
broke into the temple through a side door because he was cold and hungry.
Once inside, he became convinced the temple was a mosque. He allegedly
defaced and ripped pages from the Sikh faith's holy text.
Pittman was charged armed burglary, malicious mischief and malicious
harassment based on religious discrimination.
SEE:
Spokane's Sikh Temple Vandalized, Holy Book Desecrated
In a statement, CAIR-WA Executive Director Arsalan Bukhari said:
"Hate speech leads to hate crimes. When hate speech and conspiracy theories
against an American minority are constantly spread by public figures, and go
unchallenged by fair-minded leaders, they foster an atmosphere that causes
hate crimes. Never before in our nation's history have reported hate crimes
or bias incidents targeting Muslims, or those perceived as Muslim, been as
high. During most of these attacks, attackers uttered or expressed the same
anti-Muslim views repeated daily by candidates and elected leaders.
"American Muslims stand with the Sikh community of Spokane and of Washington
state in rejecting the intolerance and ignorance that prompts such
incidents. We thank local law enforcement authorities for their prompt
response and swift apprehension of the alleged perpetrator."
Bukhari noted that CAIR has repeatedly condemned attacks on and
discrimination against American Sikhs.
CAIR:
Chicago, National Civil Rights Organizations Seek Hate Crime Charges for
Attack on Sikh American Called 'Terrorist,' 'Bin Laden'
CA:
Man Charged in Racially Motivated Attack on Sikh Metro Bus Driver,
Prosecutors Say
CAIR recently released a report on more than 70 incidents targeting American
mosques and religious institutions in 2015 that showed a greater frequency
of damage, destruction, vandalism, and intimidation than in any other year
since CAIR started tracking such cases in 2009.
FBI Investigates
Vandalism at Indiana Islamic Society Headquarters as Hate Crime
***
-
CAIR-SFBA
to Host Meeting Between Peninsula Area Muslims and Belmont, Burlingame
and Foster City Elected Officials
On
Friday, March 4, the San Francisco Bay Area office of the Council on
American-Islamic Relations
(CAIR-SFBA) will host an "Evening with Elected Officials" event in
Burlingame at the new Yaseen Foundation Center.
At
the event, members of the Muslim community from the Peninsula area will
meet with elected officials, including the mayors, councilmembers, and
chiefs of police from Belmont, Burlingame and Foster City.
-
Video:
CAIR-NY Urges Buffalo Muslim Teens to Come Forward Following Attack
-
Virginia Republican Leader
Delays Request for New Culpeper Mosque
Christensen did not reply when asked Monday night if he suspected that
the Islamic Center wanted the house for some kind of sinister activity.
When asked after Tuesday's meeting if the word "Islamic" had anything to
do with his concern, he replied,
"That was a piece of it."
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CAIR
Super Tuesday Poll Shows Muslim Voters Support Hillary Clinton, Concerned
About Islamophobia
Survey shows that more older Muslim voters back Clinton, while younger
Muslims support Bernie Sanders
(WASHINGTON,
D.C., 3/2/16)
�
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation's largest
Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today released the results of
a six-state "Super Tuesday" poll of
almost
2000 Muslim voters indicating that almost half of those
voters
(46
percent) support Hillary Clinton, followed by
Bernie
Sanders at 25 percent and
11
percent support for Donald Trump.
CAIR's poll also showed that growing
Islamophobia is the top issue for Muslim voters.
"American Muslim voters are worried about the unprecedented anti-Muslim
rhetoric being used by presidential candidates and are going to the polls in
increasing numbers at both the state and national levels to make their
voices heard by the candidates," said
CAIR
National Executive Director Nihad Awad.
An exit poll
of Muslim voters in
Texas
and Virginia indicated that Sanders narrowed Clinton's lead
in those states
� 34 to 40 percent in Virginia and 29 to 37 percent in Texas.
In upcoming primary elections in
California, Illinois, New York, and Florida Clinton's lead
over Sanders ranged from 22 percent (California) to 40 percent (New York).
The survey indicated that older Muslim voters - 65 percent of those 45 to 64
and 80 percent of those 65 and older - backed Clinton, while younger Muslim
voters (18 to 24) supported Sanders (78 percent). In the 25 to 44 age group,
support for Clinton and Sanders was more evenly distributed at 44 percent
for Sanders and 56 percent for Clinton.
CAIR
noted that Muslim support for Sanders may actually be higher because its
poll surveyed more voters over the age of 45.
Nationwide, Islamophobia continued to rank as the most important issue
of concern for all Muslim voters (24 percent), a partisan divide was evident
with Muslim Democrats ranking Islamophobia highest (27 percent) and then the
economy (19 percent), while Muslim Republicans ranked the economy (38
percent) highest followed by Islamophobia (14 percent).
Support for
the Democratic and Republican Parties mostly remained constant from previous
surveys with 67 percent of Muslim voters
supporting
the Democratic Party and 18 percent supporting the Republican Party. CAIR's
February 1 poll of Muslim voters showed 67 and 15 percent respectively
voiced support for the Democratic and Republican Parties.
CAIR's
survey of more than 1,850 registered Muslim voters was conducted March 1
using CallFire, an independent automated call survey provider and asked the
following questions:
Exit
Poll Questions of Muslim Voters in Virginia and Texas:
1. "What is your gender?" 2. "What is your age?" 3. "Did you vote
today in your state's primary election?" 4. "Which political party did
you support today in your state's primary election?" 5. "Based on your
party support which candidate did you vote for in your state's primary
election?" 6. "What is the most important issue to you in the 2016
presidential election?"
Pre-Primary Poll Questions of Muslim Voters in California, New York,
Illinois, and Florida:
1. "What is your gender?" 2. "What is your age?" 3. "Do you plan to
vote in your upcoming state primary election?" 4. "Which political party
do you plan to support in your upcoming state primary election?" 5.
"Based on your party support which candidate do you plan to vote for in the
upcoming state primary election?" 6. "What is the most important issue to
you in the 2016 presidential election?"
On April 18,
CAIR will join other members of the US Council of Muslim Organizations
(USCMO), a coalition of leading national and local American Muslim
organizations, at the second annual
National Muslim Advocacy Day on Capitol Hill in Washington,
D.C. USCMO recently announced a drive to register one million voters prior
to the 2016 presidential election.
SEE:
U.S. Muslims to Hold 2nd Annual National Capitol Hill Advocacy Day April 18,
2016
Video:
U.S. Muslim Leaders Announce Campaigns to Enhance National Security, Address
Islamophobia
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 Government Affairs Manager Robert McCaw,
202-742-6448, rmccaw@cair.com;
CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-744-7726,
ihooper@cair.com;
CAIR Communications Coordinator Nabeelah Naeem, 202-341-4171,
nnaeem@cair.com
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.
www.cair.com
Council on American-Islamic Relations 453 New Jersey Ave, S.E.,
Washington, D.C., 20003
***
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