Opinion Editorials, November 2014

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Photo: Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Tawakkol Karman at CAIR-LA Banquet

CAIR: U.S. Muslims Face Renewed 9/11-Style Scorn (NY Daily News)

From Europe to Canada to the United States, experts say Muslims have been the target of increased discrimination and recent waves of violence as ISIS continues its brutal campaign � in an environment seemingly more hostile than the one after 9/11.

Social media has also contributed to the invective against Muslims, more so than after 9/11, when Facebook and Twitter did not yet exist.

�The use of social media has grown exponentially in recent years,� said Ibrahim Hooper of the Council on American-Islamic Relations. �Even post-9/11, it wasn�t really there. But nowadays, everybody uses social media. When you have this constant stream of anti-Muslim polemics and false information, it has a corrosive effect on our society.�

The acts of bigotry also take on other forms.

Last month, an Albuquerque mosque was hit by a Molotov cocktail, which briefly ignited, according to local reports. Five shots were fired Tuesday at a mosque in Coachella, Calif., when four people were inside preparing for an early morning prayer.
CAIR Islamophobia Watch: An American State Has 'Banned' Sharia

The Council on American-Islamic Relations said Amendment One was part of an Islamophobic trend to �stigmatise Muslims as a group from which the US needs protection."
Being Arabic in America

Throughout my life, I�ve experienced the negative stigma attached to being Arabic. In fourth grade, my teacher read our class a fictional story from the local newspaper about a Muslim girl transferring to a school in America and asked our entire class, �Wouldn�t you be scared if a Muslim person came into our school? I know I would be.�
Video: CAIR-San Diego Rep Welcomes Inclusion of �Islamic Chant� in School Concert

CAIR-San Diego: School Drops, Then Includes �Islamic Chant� in Concert

A representative from the CAIR-San Diego attended a high school choir concert Thursday night to see if a so-called �Islamic chant� would be included or excluded.

After receiving a complaint, Mt. Carmel High School at first dropped �Zikr� as part of the concert, despite having been included in the program along with many other religious and spiritual chants from various different traditions. 

CAIR-San Diego Executive Director Hanif Mohebi immediately made it clear that �if one religious song is going to be included than all should be included, and if one is being excluded than all should be excluded.�
CAIR: How Did US Muslims Vote in Midterm Election?

According to exit polls conducted by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) which were taken in Virginia, Florida, Texas, California, Illinois and New York where there are large numbers of Muslims, up to 76 percent of registered Muslim voters cast their ballots Tuesday.
For Muslim Women at Hair Salons, a Room Without a View (Boston Globe)

Not long ago, in Cambridge, a salon opened on Massachusetts Avenue near Porter Square, advertising its studio as �hijab-friendly.� The studio, called Faron Salon, has a private room for women who cover their hair.
PA: 'Conflict Kitchen' Closes After Threatening Letter (AP)

It recently started serving Palestinian food and drew criticism from some, including the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh, which said that Palestine wasn't in conflict with the United States and that the restaurant only presented Palestinian viewpoints on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
PA: Conflict Kitchen Criticizes Paper Over Coverage of Palestinian Menu Controversy

Rubin says he's concerned with the lack of attention to Palestinian voices in the controversy. "No one has asked local members of the Palestinian community how they feel about this," Rubin says. "That's an important point."

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Video: CAIR-MN Asks FBI to Stop Recruitment of Informants in Mosques

Fourth Mosque Vandalized in Canada Quebec City Mosques Targeted by Anti-Muslim Posters

Action Alert: CAIR Asks Community to Contact Maryland School Board Before Muslim Holiday Vote

(WASHINGTON, D.C., 11/10/14) --

CAIR is urging American Muslims and other people of conscience in Maryland to contact the Montgomery County Public Schools' (MCPS) Board of Education to vote in favor of equality for Muslim school holidays.

[MEDIA AVAILABILITY: CAIR Maryland Outreach Manager Zainab Chaudry will be available for interviews at 10 a.m. on November 11 outside the board meeting location, 850 Hungerford Drive, Rockville, Md. CONTACT: CAIR Maryland Outreach Manager Zainab Chaudry, 410-971-6062, zchaudry@cair.com]

On Tuesday, November 11, that board will vote to decide if the Muslim holidays of Eid ul-Fitr and Eid ul-Adha will be placed on the 2015 school calendar. CAIR is also urging as many people as possible to attend the meeting.

[NOTE: Eid ul-Fitr (EED-al-FITTER), or "feast of fast breaking," marks the end of the month-long fast of Ramadan and is the first of the two major Muslim holidays. The second holiday, Eid ul-Adha (EED-al-ODD-ha), comes near the end of the Hajj, or pilgrimage to Mecca.]

WHAT: MCPS Board of Education Vote on Eid Equality WHERE: 850 Hungerford Drive, Rockville, Md. 20850 WHEN: Tuesday, November 11, 10:30 a.m. CONTACT: CAIR Maryland Outreach Manager Zainab Chaudry, 410-971-6062, zchaudry@cair.com

TAKE ACTION:

CONTACT MCPS Board of Education

MEDIA ADVISORY

Muslim Friday Prayers to Be Offered at National Cathedral Leaders explore hospitality and relationship while stressing message to people of faith across the globe

WASHINGTON -- Washington National Cathedral and five Muslim groups announced today the first celebration of Muslim Friday prayers (Jumaa) at the Cathedral on Friday, November 14.

Leaders believe offering Muslim prayers at the Christian cathedral shows more than hospitality. It demonstrates an appreciation of one another's prayer traditions and is a powerful symbolic gesture toward a deeper relationship between the two Abrahamic traditions.

What: Muslim Friday Prayers at Washington National Cathedral When: Friday, November 14, 11:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m. Who:

The Rev. Canon Gina Campbell, director of liturgy for Washington National Cathedral South African Ambassador Ebrahim Rasool All Dulles Area Muslim Society Council on American-Islamic Relations Islamic Society of North America Muslim Public Affairs Council Masjid Muhammad, The Nation's Mosque

Where: Washington National Cathedral, North Transept Media RSVP: Natalie Butz, West End Strategy Team, natalie@westendstrategy.com, 202-776-7700, by Thursday, November 13

The opportunity grew out of a trusted relationship between the Cathedral's liturgical director, the Rev. Canon Gina Campbell, and South African Ambassador Ebrahim Rasool, who met while planning the national memorial service for Nelson Mandela.

Rasool, who is also an Islamic religious thinker and leader, brought together Muslim leaders from the All Dulles Area Muslim Society (ADAMS), Masjid Muhammad (the Nation's Mosque), the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), and the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC) for this historic event.

"Deep relationships come out of prayer," said Canon Campbell. "Different connections come out of being in prayer--beyond the political or academic."

Ambassador Rasool thanked Campbell for the Cathedral's generous offer to use Friday prayers as a beginning to a deeper conversation and partnership.

"This is a dramatic moment in the world and in Muslim-Christian relations," said Rasool. "This needs to be a world in which all are free to believe and practice and in which we avoid bigotry, Islamaphobia, racism, anti-Semitism, and anti-Christianity and to embrace our humanity and to embrace faith."

The Cathedral has welcomed Muslims in the past, often at interfaith services and events, as well as at the Interfaith Conference of Greater Washington's annual concert and specific programs such as the 2008 Ramadan Iftar at the Cathedral College. But this is the first time the Cathedral has invited Muslims to come and lead their own prayers in a space known as a house of prayer for all people.

Planners hope that the people around the world will take note of this service and the welcome extended by the Cathedral so that Muslims everywhere will adopt a reciprocal welcome of Christians by Muslims.

Media are invited to arrive by 11:30 a.m. Muslim and Cathedral leaders will be available before and after for interviews. Following opening remarks about this historic event, the prayers and sermons will begin at approximately 12:20 and conclude before 1 p.m.

Worshipers are being invited from the five Muslim communities. Limited seating will be available for invited observers and media.

The prayers will be offered in the north transept, an area of the Cathedral with arches and limited iconography that provide an ideal space--almost mosque-like--with the appropriate orientation for Muslim prayers.

The prayers will also be webcast live from the Cathedral's website, www.nationalcathedral.org.

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Video: CAIR-MN Asks FBI to Stop Recruitment of Informants in Mosques

Backgrounder: FBI Approaching U.S. Mosque Leaders for Questioning Fourth Mosque Vandalized in Canada Quebec City Mosques Targeted by Anti-Muslim Posters

CAIR ACTION ALERT:

CAIR Asks Community to Contact Maryland School Board Before Eid Vote

(WASHINGTON, D.C., 11/10/14) -- CAIR is urging American Muslims and other people of conscience in Maryland to contact the Montgomery County Public Schools' (MCPS) Board of Education to vote in favor of equality for Muslim school holidays.

[MEDIA AVAILABILITY: CAIR Maryland Outreach Manager Zainab Chaudry will be available for interviews at 10 a.m. on November 11 outside the board meeting location, 850 Hungerford Drive, Rockville, Md. CONTACT: CAIR Maryland Outreach Manager Zainab Chaudry, 410-971-6062, zchaudry@cair.com]

On Tuesday, November 11, that board will vote to decide if the Muslim holidays of Eid ul-Fitr and Eid ul-Adha will be placed on the 2015 school calendar. CAIR is also urging as many people as possible to attend the meeting.

[NOTE: Eid ul-Fitr (EED-al-FITTER), or "feast of fast breaking," marks the end of the month-long fast of Ramadan and is the first of the two major Muslim holidays. The second holiday, Eid ul-Adha (EED-al-ODD-ha), comes near the end of the Hajj, or pilgrimage to Mecca.]

WHAT: MCPS Board of Education Vote on Eid Equality WHERE: 850 Hungerford Drive, Rockville, Md. 20850 WHEN: Tuesday, November 11, 10:30 a.m. CONTACT: CAIR Maryland Outreach Manager Zainab Chaudry, 410-971-6062, zchaudry@cair.com

TAKE ACTION NOW:

CONTACT MCPS Board of Education

The board's superintendent has proposed three options for the school calendar. CAIR and the Equality 4 Eid coalition are urging the superintendant to support the option that offers equality for Muslim holidays without sacrificing the existing holidays for students of other faiths.

SEE: Montgomery County School Board is Expected to Review New Calendar Options Tuesday

In October, CAIR provided testimony at a Montgomery County Public Schools' Board of Education meeting in Rockville, Md., seeking inclusion of the Muslim "Eid" holidays on the public school calendar.

SEE: CAIR Testifies on Eid Holiday Issue at School Board Hearing

CAIR Maryland Outreach Manager and Equality for Eid Coalition Co-Chair Zainab Chaudry spoke on behalf of the Montgomery County Muslim community, advising MCPS Superintendent Dr. Joshua Starr and board members on the importance of fairness and equality in their decision to recognize religious holidays in public schools.

Members of the Montgomery County Muslim community � who account for up to 10 percent of the county's population � have been struggling for more than a decade to have the Eid holidays of Eid ul-Adha and Eid ul-Fitr be recognized by the school board, but their efforts have met with resistance.

In 2013, CAIR, at the behest of local Muslim leaders, led efforts to form the Equality for Eid Coalition � a grassroots initiative that has launched an organized campaign to raise awareness and support for this cause. Thousands of signatures, letters, and phone calls by county residents supporting the movement have so far been largely ignored.

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 Maryland Outreach Manager Zainab Chaudry, 410-971-6062, zchaudry@cair.com;

CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-744-7726, ihooper@cair.com

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CAIR: In a First, National Cathedral to Host Friday Muslim Prayers (Wash. Post) The event is being co-sponsored by the cathedral, Rasool and several Muslim spiritual and advocacy groups: ADAMS � whose full name is the All Dulles Area Muslim Society � the Council on American Islamic Relations, the Islamic Society of North America, Muslim Public Affairs Council and Masjid Muhammad mosque in Northwest Washington.

Washington National Cathedral Plans to Host Muslim Prayer Service

Video: CAIR-LA Rep Interviewed for Al Jazeera Doc on FBI Mosque Informants

Arizona Mosque Under Attack The Islam Center of Tucson is a place of worship and a community center for all Muslims in Southern Arizona. Within the last year, it has become a place that has been disrespected, which has left the members of this community humiliated.

CAIR: Maryland Muslims Seek Equality for Eid in School Calendar Last year, CAIR began an "Equality for Eid" campaign, including a petition drive, to urge Montgomery County Public Schools to close on Eid al-Fitr as well as Eid al-Adha. Now, CAIR is urging Starr to add Muslim holidays to the school calendar without removing other holidays celebrated by other faiths. The group is also calling on parents to contact the school board ahead of Tuesday's meeting to share their opinion on the issue, as well as attend the meeting itself.

Video: CAIR Rep Says Md. Schools Should Have Muslim, Jewish Holidays Video: CAIR Urges Md. School Board to Vote for Muslim School Holidays

CAIR COMMENTARY:

U.S. Muslims Honor Service Members on Veterans Day

by Robert McCaw

"Our country's Founders understood the best way to honor the place of faith in the lives of all Americans was to fight for justice and equality as well as liberty and freedom." - Deputy Secretary of Defense Bob Work, 2014 Pentagon Iftar Dinner

On Veteran's Day, American Muslims, like other communities, thank those who have served in our nation's armed forces.

The nation's military draws its service members from all communities including the American Muslim community, which has contributed more than 6,000 soldiers who have served honorably in overseas war deployments since 2001.

Out of those volunteer soldiers, at least 14 American Muslims have made the ultimate sacrifice having been killed in action.

In March, CAIR staff and board members who are U.S. veterans marked Memorial Day with the release of a video featuring Muslim veterans honoring the sacrifices Muslim soldiers have made for their country.

Today's celebration finds its origins in Armistice Day, a day of national reflection and gratitude for the hard fought victory that marked the end of World War I. As history marched forward each generation of Americans has responded with courage and bravery to the call of service and we as a nation have established Veterans Day to demonstrate our deep appreciation.

There is not a single faith or community that is not represented by our nation's soldiers in uniform. When Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon England helped dedicate the Marine Corps' first Islamic prayer center in 2006, he recognized that we are "a nation of people from all races and creeds who believe in liberty and freedom."

As a nation we are able to salute the service of our veterans while still publicly opposing the immoral political motivations that some administrations have used to justify sending our troops into harm's way. We are able to separate the service of volunteer soldiers from the decisions of policy makers and elected officials.

As a nation, we should better honor our veterans every day by empowering them through streamlining veterans' health care and benefits systems, securing more scholarships and educational grants for veterans, promoting veterans hiring programs, and ending the serious problem of veteran homelessness.

U.S. Muslims, like all other Americans today, will thank those who have served on our behalf and remember in our thoughts and prayers the ones who did not come home.

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Robert McCaw is CAIR's Government Affairs Manager. He may be contacted at rmccaw@cair.com.
 
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Council on American-Islamic Relations
453 New Jersey Ave, S.E., Washington, D.C., 20003

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