Islamophobia in the US, March 28, 2011: Anti-Islam Tea Party Speakers in Schools !

A man once said to the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him): "The laws of Islam are too heavy for me, so tell me something that I can easily follow." The Prophet replied: "Let your tongue be always busy with the remembrance of God."

The Prophet also said: "No other act is a more effective means for deliverance from the chastisement of God than the remembrance of God."

Fiqh-us-Sunnah, Volume 4, Number 99

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CAIR ASKS OHIO SCHOOL TO DROP ANTI-ISLAM TEA PARTY SPEAKER - TOP

(CLEVELAND, OH, 3/25/11) -- The Cleveland chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-Cleveland) today called on an Ohio school district to reject a Tea Party group's request to use a high school auditorium for an address by an anti-Islam extremist who claims all Muslims are "demons" and that "there are no good Muslims."

ACTION REQUESTED: (Be POLITE and respectful.) Contact Mansfield City Schools E-Mail: superintendent@mansfield.k12.oh.us Copy to: info@cair.com, info@bloodofpatriots.org Tel: 419-525-6400 (press 9)

CAIR-Cleveland said the address by Usama Dakdok, scheduled for Monday evening at Mansfield Senior High School in Mansfield, Ohio, has already drawn criticism from the local chapter of the NAACP.

Video: Usama Dakdok Claims Muslims are 'Demons' NAACP at Odds with City Schools Over Tea Party Speaker on Islam

The event, called "Freedom or Surrender," is sponsored by the Mansfield North Central Ohio Tea Party Association.

SEE: Freedom or Surrender

"We are strong supporters of the First Amendment right to free speech -- even the kind of hate-filled speech used by Mr. Dakdok -- but having this event in a public school creates the perception of official endorsement and will inevitably promote a hostile learning environment for students of diverse faiths, including Muslims," said CAIR-Cleveland Executive Director Julia Shearson. "If Mr. Dakdok feels compelled to attack the faith of other Americans, there are more appropriate settings that will not violate the school district's stated core belief that 'all children deserve a safe learning environment.'"

She thanked the NAACP for challenging the inappropriate location for Dakdok's speech. "I believe the district would rightfully never allow someone who claims there are no good Jews or African-Americans to speak in a school auditorium," said Shearson.

Shearson also called on national Tea Party leaders to repudiate the hate-filled actions of their local representatives.

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-Cleveland Executive Director Julia Shearson, 216-830-2247 or 216-440-2247, E-Mail: jshearson@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-744-7726, or 202-488-8787, E-Mail: ihooper@cair.com; CAIR Communications Coordinator Amina Rubin, 202-488-8787, 202-341-4171, E-Mail: arubin@cair.com

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MICHELE BACHMANN GOES ON BRYAN FISCHER'S SHOW AFTER HE CLAIMS MUSLIMS HAVE NO FIRST AMENDMENT RIGHTS - TOP Andy Birkey, The Minnesota Independent, 3/25/11

Watch the video.

Bryan Fischer, an analyst for the American Family Association, is well known for controversial statements about LGBT people ("gay sex is a form of domestic terrorism") and Muslims (inbreeding has caused "lowered intellectual capacity"), false or misleading statements that have landed the AFA on the Southern Poverty Law Center's list of "hate groups." On Thursday, shortly before he interviewed Rep. Michele Bachmann on his radio program, Fischer shared another opinion: That because of their faith Muslim Americans have "no fundamental First Amendment claims." Bachmann, who speaks at an AFA event in Iowa today, is not the first potential 2012 candidate from Minnesota to join Fischer; Tim Pawlenty met with him in January.

Fischer wrote on Thursday:

Islam has no fundamental First Amendment claims, for the simple reason that it was not written to protect the religion of Islam. Islam is entitled only to the religious liberty we extend to it out of courtesy. While there certainly ought to be a presumption of religious liberty for non-Christian religious traditions in America, the Founders were not writing a suicide pact when they wrote the First Amendment.

Our government has no obligation to allow a treasonous ideology to receive special protections in America, but this is exactly what the Democrats are trying to do right now with Islam.

From a constitutional point of view, Muslims have no First Amendment right to build mosques in America. They have that privilege at the moment, but it is a privilege that can be revoked if, as is in fact the case, Islam is a totalitarian ideology dedicated to the destruction of the United States. The Constitution, it bears repeating, is not a suicide pact.

Later Thursday morning Bachmann joined Fischer for his radio show and confirmed the CNN report that she would be making the decision whether or not to run for president early this summer. Here's the interview: (More)

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CAIR-CHICAGO: THANK SENATOR DURBIN FOR HOLDING HEARING ON MUSLIM CIVIL RIGHTS - TOP

On March 29, 2011, Senator Durbin will hold Congressional hearings on the status of American Muslims' civil rights. The hearing is scheduled for 10AM (EST) in Room 226 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building in Washington, D.C.

The release announcing the hearing said it is in response to the "pike in anti-Muslim bigotry in the last year including Quran burnings, restrictions on mosque construction, hate crimes, hate speech, and other forms of discrimination."

"Our Constitution protects the free exercise of religion for all Americans," Durbin said. "During the course of our history, many religions have faced intolerance. It is important for our generation to renew our founding charter's commitment to religious diversity and to protect the liberties guaranteed by our Bill of Rights."

CAIR-Chicago is sending a thank you letter to Sen. Dick Durbin, cosigned by local Muslim organizations.

ACTION: Please call Senator Durbin's office today to thank him for holding this crucial hearing:

Washington, D.C. office: (202) 224-2152 Chicago office: (312) 353-4952

Or write to his office here: http://durbin.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/contact

Senator Durbin recently sent a letter of support to CAIR-Chicago. Here is an excerpt from the letter:

"CAIR-Chicago advances a greater understanding of the Muslim culture and serves as an essential thread in the multicultural fabric of our nation. Your efforts to advocate for tolerance promote the civil liberties of all communities." - Dick Durbin

SEE ALSO: CAIR: SENATE TO HOLD HEARING ON MUSLIM CIVIL RIGHTS - TOP Andrew Stern, Reuters, 3/24/11

(Reuters) - A Senate hearing on anti-Muslim bigotry set for next week drew praise from American Muslims who see it as a "counterweight" to a congressional probe into Muslim radicalization.

Senator Dick Durbin, who will chair the March 29 hearing, said it was being held in response to recent incidents targeting Muslims such as Koran burnings and restrictions on mosque construction.

Representative Peter King, who convened hearings on March 10, said Muslim Americans must do more to combat Islamic radicalization as al Qaeda targets them to help carry out terrorism plots.

The New York Republican has accused the Muslim community of refusing to cooperate with law enforcement and charged that preaching in some U.S. mosques was leading to radicalization.

"We view the upcoming hearing as a very positive development and a counterweight to the very biased hearing put on by Representative King recently," Ibrahim Hooper, a spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said on Thursday. (More)

----- CAIR: MUSLIMS, SIKHS SUBJECTED TO REPEATED AIRPORT PAT-DOWNS - TOP Religion News Service, 3/24/11

(RNS) Air travelers want to feel safe, and federal security officials want to make sure they actually are safe. If only it were that simple.

Misunderstandings over religious expression have led to recent incidents that prompted apologies from airlines. On March 13, agents with the Transportation Security Administration removed a Muslim woman in a headscarf from a Southwest Airlines flight after airline staff deemed her suspicious.

Crew members thought the woman said "It's a go" into her cell phone, when she actually said, "I have to go" because the plane was about to take off.

That same day, Orthodox Jews triggered a security alert on an Alaska Airlines flight when they strapped on tefillin, or ritual straps for the arms and forehead, and began to pray in a foreign language.

Such incidents highlight an ongoing challenge for airlines and the TSA to allow for religious expression while also taking prudent security measures. The domain puts personnel in the sometimes uncomfortable position of assessing: When does a prayer, a garment, or religious paraphernalia constitute a threat? (More)

SEE ALSO:

VIDEO: MUSLIMS SAY THEY'VE BEEN HARASSED AT U.S.-CANADIAN BORDER (CAIR) - TOP

Watch the video.

SOUTHFIELD, Mich. (WJBK) - They say they're hard working Americans. They pay their taxes like everybody else, but they say they're also Muslim and that means they're being harassed at the border.

"The next two instances were both at gunpoint with six to nine officers," said Kheireddine Bouzid.

He's a 22-year-old calculus teacher, who says he was treated like a terrorist crossing the border into the United States from Canada.

"I actually said, 'What did I do?' His reply was, 'We don't know yet,'" Bouzid said.

He hadn't done anything and neither had the others.

"Before they handcuffed me, they asked me to place my hands on the wall and they searched me," said Imam Ali Suleman Ali.

"He insisted on me telling him where I go to, where I attend and where I pray," said student Abdulrahman Cherri. (More)

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VIDEO: CAIR-CHICAGO REP DISCUSES LOCAL NO-FLY LIST CONTROVERSY - TOP NBC 5, 3/23/11

CAIR-Chicago Communications Coordinator Amina Sharif talks to NBC 5's Christian Farr about a Chicago area man who was placed on the No Fly List as leverage by the FBI to get him to become an informant.

Watch the video here.

----- CAIR-LA: (AUDIO) RALLY TO STOP ISLAMOPHOBIA - TOP Ernesto Arce, KPFK News, 3/24/11

Listen to the report here.

Hundreds of people took part in what organizers called a rally to stop Islamophobia in a small Orange County city last night. Many Southern California Muslims are angered by a statement made by Villa Park City Council member Deborah Pauly.

The lawmaker was recorded at a protest outside of a Muslim charity event at the Yorba Linda Community Center last month.

The subsequent YouTube video went viral and led to last night's rally outside of the Villa Park City Council chambers. (More)

SEE ALSO: SOLEDAD O'BRIEN'S CNN REPORT ON MOSQUE CONTROVERSY OFFERS HOPE - TOP David Hinckley, New York Daily News, 3/25/11

Soledad O'Brien's new report on the controversy over a proposed Islamic center in Murfreesboro, Tenn., offers an encouraging sip of hope and a stiff belt of caution about how Americans are doing on the tolerance front these days.

It's one of those specials where O'Brien may get criticized for making opponents of the proposed center look bad, because in some cases they do.

That is not, however, O'Brien's fault.

For example:

Soon after workers began clearing the site for construction, a suspicious fire damaged some of the equipment.

Shortly thereafter, O'Brien interviewed Realtor Sally Wall, one of the leading campaigners against the mosque.

"I've heard," Wall says, "that they do this everywhere. They start these fires themselves" to look like victims.

O'Brien presses her for any evidence and Wall says, "I don't know if it's true. It's just what I've heard."

It's a classic argument technique, hardly limited to mosque opponents. You float an anonymous, false and ignorant accusation in the hope that 1) some percentage of people who hear it won't know it's false and ignorant and 2) it could therefore help your side win.

And that's the real goal - to win. Truth is irrelevant.

Opponents of the mosque then file a lawsuit to rescind its construction approval, arguing first that Islam isn't really a religion and second that construction of this large mosque would be the first step toward imposing Sharia law on Murfreesboro. (More)

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CAIR-MI: MUSLIMS MEET WITH MICHIGAN GOVERNOR - TOP Karen Bouffard, Detroit News, 3/25/11

Gov. Rick Snyder today restated his call for increased immigration in the state in the wake of U.S. Census figures released Tuesday showing a steep decline in Michigan's population.

The governor told Muslim leaders gathered in Lansing for an annual "Michigan Muslim Capitol Day" that Michigan's diversity is a selling point for businesses that can spur economic growth in the state.

"If you look what's going on with our census, we are a state with many challenges," Snyder told participants in the yearly event to call on legislators. "We are the only state that lost population of all 50.

"We need to celebrate diversity; it's one of our strengths. One of the things I'm proud to say I'm already encouraging, that was in my state of the state message, is the idea of more immigration, particularly for advanced degree people." (More)

----- CAIR: U.S. MUSLIM LEADERS APPLAUD U.S. INTERVENTION IN LIBYA - TOP From NBC's Suzy Kianpour, 3/25/11

Former Libyan Ambassador Ali Aujali joined Council on American-Islamic Relations President Nihad Awad, American-Libyan Council President Fadel Lamen, Libyan Emergency Task Force Director Dr. Esam Omeish, and Muslim Public Affairs Council Washington Director Haris Tarim, at the National Press Thursday to express their support for the military action in the troubled North African nation.

They spoke about the need for allied forces to arm the opposition forces, cautioned against more "boots on the ground," expressed their desire for the Obama administration to stay involved in the conflict, and discussed the strategic role the city of Misurata plays in the Libyan conflict. Ambassador Aujali also offered some unique insight into his last interaction with Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi.

Oemish thanked the Obama administration for a "timely and swift" response, which came in the wake of Aujali's comments last week insinuating that the United States had taken longer than he'd hoped to get involved with the crisis. He called Obama "reminiscent of George H.W. Bush" for his efforts in Kuwait against Iraq's Saddam Hussein in 1991. "What the U.S. has done will never be forgotten by the Libyan people," Oemish said.

Awad called on President Barack Obama to increase U.S. support in Libya. "Now's not the time to weaken our resolve," he said. "It's our moral duty to do whatever is necessary to support the people of Libya." (More)

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CAIR: Muslims Welcome Senate Hearings on Civil Liberties "The Council on American-Islamic Relations, which helped lead the opposition to the House hearings convened by Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., welcomed the change in tone from the other end of Capitol Hill."

BREAKING NEWS

CAIR: Suspect Arrested in Murders of Md. Muslim, Sri Lankan Immigrant

(WASHINGTON, D.C., 3/23/11) –- The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) said today that a suspect has been arrested in a Maryland double murder case that caused concern in the local Muslim community about a possible bias motive for the slayings.

Rohan Goodlett, 35, was charged late Wednesday for two recent murders in Olney, Md. One of the victims was an 81-year-old Muslim of Pakistani heritage who was found shot in his home on Friday. The other victim was a 41-year-old native of Sri Lanka who was shot Monday while walking home from work.

SEE: Police Charge Olney Man with Two Counts of First-Degree Murder in Shootings

Members of the Maryland Muslim community had contacted CAIR with concerns that the murders may have been linked to the victims' actual or perceived religion and ethnicity.

CAIR representatives have been in touch with Muslim community leaders and law enforcement authorities about the murders. A police official tonight told CAIR that no motive has been determined in the case and that police do not know whether the shootings were random or the victims were specifically targeted. Montgomery County Police Chief J. Thomas Manger said he could not confirm whether race was a factor in the shootings. "We applaud the swift and professional action of the Montgomery County Police in taking a suspect into custody," said CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad. "We hope this arrest will restore a sense of safety and security in the local community."

CONTACT:

CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-744-7726, or 202-488-8787,

E-Mail: ihooper@cair.com; CAIR Communications Coordinator Amina Rubin, 202-488-8787, 202-341-4171,

E-Mail: arubin@cair.com

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

editor@aljazeerah.info & editor@ccun.org