The Flying Imams

Jawa weighs in...

2007-08-08T19:17:00.001-05:00

The American Krystalnacht has begun!

JYB scoop

2007-08-08T19:15:00.000-05:00

Of course, if this was intended to injure or scare Muslims, then it was a moronic and evil thing to do. It ought to go without saying that I condemn that sort of thing, but in case it doesn't, I absolutely condemn that sort of thing and insist that Muslims and all religions should be free to practice their religion freely and without harassment. And I think this ought to be thoroughly and fairly investigated to see whether the perpetrators were politically motivated, or just regular garden variety moron/vandals. I'm sure CAIR's mind is already made up--they desperately need a new membership booster--but the rest of us might like to see what this investigation turns up. (Maybe it's Buddhist Vigilantes?)

Now, that said, the JYB News Bureau has actually obtained hideous, shocking footage of these devices--which CAIR dubbed "Acid Bombs"-- at work, and the horrible consequences of the unstable mixture. Our report is here.

Mentos and Coca Cola

2007-08-08T18:09:00.000-05:00

An Arizona mosque frequented by an imam involved in a high-profile lawsuit against airline passengers was hit by vandals early Monday with what police describe as a "pop bottle bomb."

Imam Didmar Faja says he was standing outside of the Albanian American Islamic Center of Arizona, just west of Phoenix, when the incident occurred at 1 a.m.

The plastic bottle contained pool-cleaning fluid and strips of aluminum foil, and was thrown from a red car driven by two persons. It landed about 20-25 feet from the imam, police said.

In a 10-page press release issued by the Council on American Islamic Relations, Muslims were warned to review their personal security and to "develop a list of attorneys who are willing to be consulted by the Muslim community in response to backlash incidents."

"Ask Muslim attorneys to volunteer their services to community members during this time of crisis," said the "community safety kit" issued by CAIR.

CAIR called the device an "acid bomb" that targeted the imam specifically because of the lawsuit, and called on "local and national law enforcement authorities to investigate the incident as a possible bias-motivated attack."

Glendale police Officer Matt Barnett said at least six similar incidents were reported over the weekend but none was directed at religious targets.

"Calling it an 'acid bomb' is kind of misleading," Officer Barnett said. "It was a plastic bottle with pool cleaner that expands and pops and squirts the pool acid. It's kind of like the Menthos [mints] and Coca Cola thing you see [on YouTube] -- the pressure mounts and it pops. It's not like a stick of dynamite was placed there."

"We're not ruling anything out. We've had a few more pop bottle bombs in the area, and we're concerned and want to see if there is a motive against religion or just a bunch of yahoos driving around and tossing these out the window," Officer Barnett said.

A sergeant with the Glendale Police Department said the incident is under investigation. "We are treating it as a hate crime. We are taking it very seriously," Sgt. Jim Toomey told Reuters News Agency.

Mr. Faja and five other clerics are suing U.S. Airways and "John Doe" passengers claiming they were discriminated against when they were removed from a flight last year. The passengers are named in the suit for reporting suspicious behavior.

The imams' attorney has asked a federal court in Minneapolis to close the court proceedings to the public claiming the men have received death threats.

It was not clear what the imam was doing outside of the center at 1 a.m., as prayers were scheduled for 4:30 a.m.

Must Read

2007-08-08T06:11:00.000-05:00

That is, unless Mr. Sandler tries to stop me beforehand.

Holy Land Foundation Trial

2007-08-08T06:07:00.000-05:00

Dallas Morning News has a good round-up of the week's events:

A 1991 document the government entered into evidence this week from the Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas' parent organization, outlines its goals in America as "a kind of grand jihad in eliminating and destroying the Western civilization from within and sabotaging its miserable house by their hands and the hands of the believers so that it is eliminated and God's religion is made victorious over all other religions."

Hate crimes charged for Koran abuses

2007-07-31T04:46:00.000-05:00

A former Pace University student faces hate-crime charges for taking paperback copies of the Koran from the campus library on two occasions last fall and disposing of the Muslim holy book in toilets.

Stanislav Shmulevich, a Ukrainian immigrant, was arraigned Sunday in New York Criminal Court on two charges of criminal mischief in the fourth degree as a hate crime.

"The defendant, as a hate crime, intentionally damaged property of another while having no right to do so nor any reasonable grounds to believe that he had such a right," said the complaint filed by the New York County District Attorney's Office.

University officials filed a vandalism complaint with police after the first incident on Oct. 12, when "a copy of the Koran was found in a public toilet" at the Manhattan campus that "was covered in feces." A second copy of the Koran was found in a toilet Nov. 21.

When questioned by police, Mr. Shmulevich, 23, "admitted to committing said acts" and "that he committed the acts out of anger toward a group of Muslim students with whom he had had a recent disagreement," the criminal complaint said.

"We reported it initially as an act of vandalism, then the police hate-crime unit came over and decided to pursue it as a hate crime," said Chris Corey, Pace University spokesman, adding that he was "not at liberty" to discuss the investigation or how Mr. Shmulevich was implicated.

Mr. Shmulevich was arrested Friday after police found a surveillance photograph of him leaving the reading room where the books are kept, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education.

He was released from jail after a Sunday arraignment in New York City Criminal Court. Mr. Shmulevich has no criminal record, and works for a European banking firm. Straley M. Thorpe, Mr. Shmulevich's attorney, declined to discuss the specifics of the case, but said the law his client is charged with violating was challenged in past lawsuits on constitutional grounds.

"This may very well be protected speech," Mr. Thorpe said. "The statute is way too vague and broad and includes that of simply annoying people. But this is a free country, and you can't run the risk of annoying people and be charged with a felony."

Asked whether someone was ever charged with a hate crime over the Bible, Mr. Thorpe said "that would take a paralegal a couple of days to research, but this whole situation is fraught with this kind of question."

A search of Lexis/Nexis did not disclose any hate-crime prosecutions for destroying a Bible.

Winfield Myers, director of Campus Watch for the Middle East Forum, called the arrest a step toward the implementation of Islamic law in America.

"One could take a copy of the Bible, the Torah ... abuse it in any way one liked, and never face a criminal penalty for the act of desecration," Mr. Myers said. "Anything goes — unless the keepers of Islam are offended, and then the power of the state must be brought to bear and the offender punished in a criminal court of law."

"The Supreme Court has ruled that Americans can burn the flag and remain immune from prosecution because it is considered to be an act of protected speech. But turn your wrath on the Koran, and you risk arrest and criminal charges. This is Shariah, plain and simple," he said, referring to strict Islamic law.

Mr. Corey said university officials have not been contacted by the Council on American-Islamic Relations; however, the New York chapter released a statement commending the New York Police Department "for its appropriate handling of this case" and said the organization is working with the college's Muslim Student Association and the Association of Muslim American Lawyers "to promote tolerance on the Pace campus."

"JOHN DOE" SAVED

2007-07-28T02:47:00.000-05:00

Congress yesterday sent President Bush legislation that heightens airport and seaport security and includes a "John Doe" provision to protect airline passengers from retaliatory lawsuits for reporting potential terror activity.

The measure that implements the remaining major September 11 commission recommendations passed the House yesterday 371-40. It had cleared the Senate 85-8 late Thursday night.

"It was our highest priority to make the American people safer and we passed it on our first day in our first legislative act," said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, California Democrat.

"With this bill we will be keeping our promise to the families of 911 victims," she said.

The homeland security bill requires 100 percent inspection of air cargo and maritime cargo within three years, and changes the formula for the distribution of grant money to ensure high-risk areas such as New York and Washington get a larger share of funding.

The White House said the president would sign the bill.

The John Doe provision was introduced by lawmakers in response to a suit filed by a group of Muslim imams who were removed from a November flight after the flight crew and passengers reported the men were behaving suspiciously.

The suspicious activity, first reported by The Washington Times, included changing seats, the pattern of their seating, moving about the cabin before takeoff, criticizing the Bush administration and the removal of Saddam Hussein in Iraq, and asking for seat-belt extensions that flight attendants said were not needed.

Bus driver fired

2007-07-27T06:29:00.000-05:00

The school bus driver arrested in May after he allegedly cursed and spit at Muslim children in a local fast-food restaurant has lost his job at Bay District Schools.

The School Board voted at Wednesday’s meeting to support Superintendent James McCalister‘s recommendation that Thomas Eugene Plaisted, 60, be suspended without pay and terminated. Plaisted did not attend the meeting.

“I talked to him and informed him, and he knows that I was going to make this recommendation,” McCalister told the board. “I told him he and his counsel could talk to the board, but he indicated to me that he would not be present and would not dispute it.”

The Council on American-Islamic Relations has deemed the alleged incident, which occurred at Taco Bell on State 77 in Lynn Haven, a hate crime. According to the Bay County Sheriff’s Office, Plaisted was in the restaurant when 36-yearold Asma Sidani, wearing a traditional Muslim head scarf, entered with her two children. When she went to the counter to order, Plaisted cursed and made threatening gestures at the children, deputies reported. He also allegedly spit on one boy and shoved the other.

Plaisted is due back in court Aug. 22 to face two counts of evidencing prejudice while committing an offense. He has pleaded not guilty.

A win for John Doe

2007-07-27T05:16:00.000-05:00

This week's "John Doe" episode in the House's "9/11 bill" conference negotiations ended well, thanks to a drumbeat of pro-tipster sentiment and an eleventh-hour cave-in by House Homeland Security Chairman Bennie Thompson, Mississippi Democrat. That it took House Democrats so long to come to reason says much about both the pressure groups in opposition and the difficulty Democrats have in saying no to the far left.

ho would have benefited? Aside from ending some inconveniences, the real beneficiaries would be trial lawyers and pressure groups like CAIR eager to pull down the nation's homeland-security procedures. Of course, trial lawyers and far-left anti-antiterrorism groups happen to be important sources of money and policy support for Democrats.

The frightening part is how close we came to open-season on citizen tipsters. As recently as Tuesday, the tipster-immunity language appeared to be dead.

Suing John Doe

2007-07-27T05:14:00.000-05:00

The goal of the lawsuit is not just revenge for their experience, but to send a message to anyone who associates Muslims with terror -- no matter how reasonable their suspicions might be -- they should think twice before saying anything.
The possibility of such lawsuits, not to mention the certainty that Cair will label them as "racists," will deter those who report questionable activity to the authorities, and thus potentially make it easier for terrorists to operate in the open.

Giuliani v CAIR

2007-07-26T04:41:00.000-05:00

The Washington Times had this:
Republican presidential hopeful Rudolph W. Giuliani yesterday endorsed a provision to protect citizens from being sued for reporting potential terrorism-related activity and criticized congressional Democrats for blocking the legislation.

"Congressional Democrats are once again showing they just don't get the terrorists' war on us, by attempting to strip important protections for those who report suspected terrorists on airlines," said Mr. Giuliani, who was mayor of New York City during the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

The provision is the sticking point in a conference committee between the House and Senate to settle differences in legislation that will enact the final recommendations of the September 11 commission. A final draft report could be released as early as tonight.

Primarily sponsored by Rep. Peter T. King, New York Republican and ranking member of the House Homeland Security Committee, the provision would put an end to lawsuits such as the one currently filed by a group of Muslim imams who were removed from a US Airways flight in November. The Islamic scholars sued, among others, the "John Doe" passengers who reported the men were behaving suspiciously.

"Peter King is doing the right thing by putting our national security first and political correctness run amok second," said Mr. Giuliani, who also criticized Democratic presidential candidates for failing to acknowledge "Islamic terrorism" in public debates, including Monday night's YouTube gathering.

"The terrorists are at war with us — whether or not Democrats in Washington and on the campaign trail choose to acknowledge it. And we must stay on offense to prevail," Mr. Giuliani said.

The comments prompted the Council on American-Islamic Relations to issue an action alert to its members urging them to contact Mr. Giuliani's campaign "to express your concerns about his promotion of linking the faith of Islam to terrorism."

ACLU vs John Doe

2007-07-26T04:36:00.000-05:00

ACLU weighs in, hat tip to Hot Air

“It certainly immunizes anybody who says, ‘I don’t want someone who looks Arab on my plane,’” said Caroline Frederickson, director of the Washington legislative office of the American Civil Liberties Union. “It goes really, really far in legitimizing racial profiling.”

Ibrahim Hooper, a spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said the group has concerns with language encouraging citizens to target people who are Muslim or are perceived to be Muslim. But the group does not have a problem with the provision’s language that says it only affects those acting in “good faith,” he added.

The provision stems from a lawsuit lodged by several Muslim men who were removed from an airplane last year because a passenger complained about suspicious activity.

“Taking aim at one pending case is treacherous, since such measures can widely undermine or even eliminate the legal rights of ordinary Americans in ways that aren’t always easy to predict,” said the Leahy aide.

For their part, supporters have pointed to the foiled attack at Fort Dix, N.J., earlier this year, in which a citizen reported suspicious activity that eventually led to the arrests of suspected terrorists.

Go Rudy

2007-07-26T04:29:00.000-05:00

From LGF

You had to know this was coming.

The Council on American Islamic Relations, the Saudi-funded radical Islamic front group named as an unindicted co-conspirator in the Holy Land Foundation Hamas funding trial, has put out one of their infamous “Action Alerts” on Rudy Giuliani—because he used the words “Islamic terrorism:” Action: Contact the Giuliani Presidential Committee.

Saving John Doe

2007-07-26T04:27:00.000-05:00

A late-night agreement Tuesday guaranteed that so-called "John Doe" protection — to prevent airline passengers from being sued for reporting suspicious behavior — will get a floor vote in the House and Senate.

"This is a huge win — a hard-fought victory for House Republicans and, more importantly, for the American people," said Peter T. King, New York Republican and ranking member of the House Homeland Security Committee.

The provision survived a contentious congressional process before a House-Senate conference committee agreed just before midnight to include the measure in the final draft of the September 11 commission bill.

The move ensures that the provision cannot be amended on the floor. It is expected to come to a vote in both houses of Congress before the August recess. If passed, the measure will nullify, in part, a lawsuit filed by six imams against US Airways and unnamed "John Doe" passengers. The legislation was initiated after the imams filed the suit in March, claiming that passengers and the airline violated their rights by removing them from the flight.

The suspicious activity included changing seats, moving about the cabin before takeoff, criticizing the Bush administration and the ouster of dictator Saddam Hussein in Iraq, and asking for seat-belt extensions flight attendants said were not needed.

The lawsuit can still go forward against the airline under the proposed law, but the "John Doe" passengers cannot be sued for reporting their concerns to the flight crew.

"I'm pleased that Democratic leaders finally decided to do the right thing and agreed with Republicans that we should be encouraging Americans to report potential terrorist activity to the proper authorities," said House Minority Leader John A. Boehner, Ohio Republican.

Democrats initially refused to vote on the language last week when congressional leaders met in the conference committee to draft the final recommendations of the September 11 commission. However, Mr. King pledged to work with leading conferee Sen. Joe Lieber

man, Connecticut independent, to insert the provision in the final written report.

DEMS BLOCK JOHN DOE BILL

2007-07-19T08:06:00.000-05:00

Democrats are trying to pull a provision from a homeland security bill that will protect the public from being sued for reporting suspicious behavior that may lead to a terrorist attack, according to House Republican leadership aides.
The legislation, which moves to a House and Senate conference committee this afternoon, will implement final recommendations from the 911 Commission.
Rep. Pete King, New York Republican and ranking member of the House Homeland Security Committee, and Rep. Steve Pearce, New Mexico Republican, sponsored the bill after a group of Muslim imams filed a lawsuit against U.S. Airways and unknown or “John Doe” passengers after they were removed for suspicious behavior aboard Flight 300 from Minneapolis to Phoenix on Nov. 20 before their removal.
“Democrats are trying to find any technical excuse to keep immunity out of the language of the bill to protect citizens, who in good faith, report suspicious activity to police or law enforcement,” Mr. King said in an interview last night.
“This is a slap in the face of good citizens who do their patriotic duty and come forward, and it caves in to radical Islamists,” Mr. King said.

It's all Bush's fault

2007-07-17T19:35:00.000-05:00

A Muslim civil rights group today blamed Bush administration policies for promoting "Islamophobia" and said the "war on terror" won't stop terrorists.

"The new perception is that the United States has entered a war with Islam itself," said Parvez Ahmed, chairman of the national board of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR).

"Terrorism is a tactic. You cannot eradicate it by declaring a war against it. The war on terror is causing us infinitely more harm than the terrorists could have ever imagined."

Mr. Ahmed, who spoke at CAIR symposium at the National Press Club, said the war against terrorists is driven by an "irrational" fear that the Bush administration has inculcated in the American public. The chance of being killed in a terrorist attack, he said, is 1 in 80,000 over a lifetime.

"It is important to bear in mind that terrorists cannot destroy America," he said as a member of a panel discussing the symposium theme, "Attacking Islam: Implications for Social Cohesion and U.S. Relations with the Muslim World." The U.S., he said, is too powerful and too resourceful for terrorists to destroy.

The Bush Administration's policies in Iraq has driven a deep wedge between Muslim's and non-Muslim people in the United States, he said.

"Policies driven by fear will be naturally irrational. Thus in this state of irrationality the Bush administration often through their surrogates have resorted to fear-mongering. This has unleashed a vicious cycle, one in which fear leads to bad policies and bad policies lead to more fear.

"The popular discourse in America today remains mired in stereotypical denouncements about Islam. As a result Muslims and their faith remained misunderstood, feared and shunned."

CAIR's big day

2007-07-17T05:26:00.000-05:00

It will be interesting to see what David Keene has to say today, stay tuned.

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) - On Tuesday, July 17, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) will host a panel discussion at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., entitled "Attacking Islam: Implications for Social Cohesion and U.S. Relations with the Muslim World."

The panel will address the increasing anti-Muslim rhetoric within the conservative movement in the United States, focusing on the negative impact of such views on religious tolerance in America and on relations with the Muslim world.

Presenters:

* David Keene, President, American Conservative Union
* Parvez Ahmed, Chairman, Council on American-Islamic Relations

Plane diverted

2007-07-12T06:32:00.001-05:00

(CNN) -- An American Airlines flight bound for London was diverted to New York's John F. Kennedy Airport early Thursday after a crew member uncovered a possible security breach, an airline spokeswoman said.
According to Sonja Whitemon, a crew member aboard Flight 136 -- scheduled to travel non-stop from Los Angeles International Airport to London Heathrow Airport -- questioned a passenger who the employee saw bypassing security by traveling on an employee-only bus from a parking lot to the LAX airport.
Following that conversation the decision to divert the Boeing 777 was made, Whitemon said.
The plane landed in New York at about 2:30 a.m. ET.
Meanwhile, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff told CNN's "American Morning" an initial report he received indicated the passenger in question was actually an employee traveling in a private capacity.
"I think they're still in the process of sorting this out," he said of airport officials. "It may very well turn out that this is nothing more than a misunderstanding with an employee who used an employee bus to get on a plane for a private flight." (Posted 7:02 a.m.)

CAIR and Cal

2007-07-12T04:07:00.000-05:00

While the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) has been busy attacking syndicated columnist Cal Thomas recently for supposedly "Islamophobic" comments, the media-hungry group did not condemn the foiled terrorist plots in London or the successful one in Glasgow, Scotland.

Though CAIR's Web site has a video clip of the Chicago chapter director lamenting the events in Britain and the group helped coordinate a St. Louis press conference of Muslim doctors who spoke out against the terrorists, CAIR itself did not condemn the actions of the Islamic terrorists in Britain.

Given that CAIR played a role in promoting its Chicago director and the Muslim doctors, some might wish to give the benefit of the doubt. The organization's history, however, shows that this artful dodge is simply part of its modus operandi.

CAIR has mastered the art of appearing to oppose terrorism, while at the same time leading the charge against those who seek to thwart it.

A case in point is its curiously neglecting to condemn Britain's Islamic terrorists, while during the same week blasting as "Islamophobic" Mr. Thomas' remarks on local radio station WTOP expressing concern about fundamentalists from the "Middle East and South Asia" who are integrating into the broader Muslim society.

In a story for WTOPnews.com, WTOP quoted CAIR spokesman Ibrahim Hooper claiming, "We condemn extremism. We've condemned terrorism... We've issued dozens of condemnations on dozens of terrorism attacks."

CAIR has, in fact, condemned what it considers to be extremism and terrorism — when targeted at Muslims. If a Muslim is the victim of a possible hate crime or has been subjected to a religious slur, CAIR is there. There is nothing wrong with that, of course. And the group is well within its rights when it routinely rails against the United States and Israel.

What CAIR does not do, though, is denounce Islamic fundamentalists who promote a paranoid worldview in which America and Israel are the enemies of Islam, achieved by manufacturing mythical massacres that whip their followers into a lather.

The Courier

2007-07-10T06:21:00.000-05:00

CAIR never fails. During the week following the foiling of a terrorist plot by 45 Muslim doctors, the Council on American-Islamic Relations e-mails us an op-ed column proclaiming that prejudice and fear toward Muslims is irrational."U.S. can ill afford the perception that we are at war with Islam," says Parvez Ahmed, chairman of the board of CAIR, citing a recent Pew poll that found most American Muslims are "decidedly American in their outlook, values and attitudes." He conveniently fails to mention the most significant finding of the poll, which is that 26 percent of American Muslims under age 30 think that suicide bombings are justifiable under some circumstances.
Ahmed also cites a Gallup poll from last August that found that four in 10 Americans admit feelings of prejudice toward Muslims.
"This irrational fear, or Islamophobia, leads to discrimination against Muslims, the exclusion of Muslims from the sociopolitical process, guilt by association and even hate crimes," he writes, noting a significant rise in acts of discrimination and hate crimes reported by Muslims to CAIR since the terrorist attacks of 9/11.
"Irrational" means senseless or contrary to reason. It's hardly irrational to believe the overwhelming evidence presented in the world's news media almost daily. The vast majority of conflicts in the world today are generated by Muslims.
The most recent terrorist plot, by the 45 doctors in Great Britain, is in some ways the most frightening. Despite everything, somehow we'd hoped that those who've sworn to "first, do no harm" would be trustworthy. But now our rational minds tell us that all Muslims must be suspect — even the hijab-wearing pediatrician in Columbus who eloquently denounced the doctors' plot on Fox News the other day.
Ahmed insists that throughout its history, Islam has flourished because it has "adapted to new realities," and that it "shares common values with other major faiths, favors peacemaking over violence and unequivocally rejects killing innocent people, even in warfare."
If that is true, why are Muslims worldwide plotting terrorism and killing innocent people? Why have Muslims historically spread their faith by the sword?
Since 9/11, CAIR's refrain has been that it's the Americans who need to adapt to Islam. This strikes us as a variation of the "dhimmi" status enforced on conquered nations by Muslim armies of the past. CAIR seems to be trying to force us into submission by browbeating us with our own values of peace and tolerance.
We truly sympathize with the many American Muslims who suffer because many Americans associate them with the extremists of their faith. But accusing Americans of Islamophobia and irrationality is not going to solve the problem. Neither will it help to ask us to believe that black is white.
Only when Muslim leaders worldwide honestly face the fact that their religion is being interpreted to justify terrorism and slaughter of the innocent, will it have a chance to change — to truly "adapt to new realities," as Ahmed writes.
Americans aren't at war with Islam — only with Islamofascism. We don't want to destroy Islam. What we really want is for Muslims to stop all the plotting, violence and killing — at which point, we will happily embrace them as our fellow Americans, in peace.

Shut-Out

2007-07-10T06:17:00.000-05:00

Though Mr. Bush's remarks were intended for all American Muslims, the administration left the invitation list to Washington Islamic Center's authorities. Predictably, they excluded the truly moderate, who are not Saudi-founded or funded: the Islamic Supreme Council of America, the American Islamic Congress, the American Islamic Forum for Democracy, the Center for Eurasian Policy, the Center for Islamic Pluralism, the Islam and Democracy Project, the Institute for Gulf Affairs, the Center for Democracy and Human Rights in Saudi Arabia and many others.

These organizations are frequently shut out of U.S. government events and appointments on the basis that they are considered insignificant or "controversial" by the petro-dollar-funded groups. The administration makes a terrible mistake by making such Wahhabi-influenced institutions as the Washington Islamic Center the gate keepers for all American Muslims.

The actual substance of Mr. Bush's mosque speech -- particularly good on religious freedom -- was overshadowed by the announcement of its single initiative: America is to send an envoy to the Organization of Islamic Conference. Based in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, the OIC was created explicitly to promote hostility to Israel, and its meetings largely consist of ritualistic Israel-bashing. At one last year, Iran's president called for the "elimination of the Zionist regime." It has no mechanism for discussing the human rights of its member states, and thus has never spoken out against Sudan's genocide of Darfuri Muslims. It is advancing an effort to universalize Islamic blasphemy laws, which are applied as often against speech critical of the governments of OIC member states as against profanities. Last month the OIC council of foreign ministers termed Islamophobia "the worst form of terrorism." Currently no Western power holds either member or observer status at the OIC.

The Bush administration is now actively considering whether its public diplomacy should reach out to Muslim Brotherhood groups. While such groups may pay lip service to peace, they do not denounce terror by Hamas, a Brotherhood offshoot. It keeps as its motto: "Allah is our objective, the Prophet is our leader, the Koran is our law, jihad is our way, dying in the way of Allah is our highest hope." By choosing those whose definition of terror does not include the murder of Jews, honor killings and lethal fatwas against Muslim dissidents and reformers, the U.S. government makes them look strong -- particularly in the shame-and-honor culture of the Middle East -- and strengthens their hand against the real moderates and reformers.

Great Britain, as we were reminded over the past week, has much work ahead in defeating Muslim terror, as well as in overcoming the misguided form of multiculturalism of its recent past. Not all of Britain's measures will be right for America, with our First Amendment. But the British Labour Party socialists appear to have done one major thing right that this American Republican administration has not: Reach out to Muslim leaders who are demonstrably moderate and share our values, even though they may not have petrodollar-funded publicity machines.

While we don't have a Queen to dub knights, Americans do have distinct way of honoring our heroes. Mr. President, confer the Medal of Freedom on one of our own outstanding Muslim-American citizens. For a selection of honorees, look at who was not invited to your recent speech. If Islamists charge "Islamophobia," repeat after Tony: "Loopy loo. Loopy loo."

All in favor

2007-07-07T05:38:00.000-05:00

An interesting bruhaha developed over the July 4th holiday when Cal Thomas, well known syndicated columnist and author, chose to speak out on WTOP FM Radio about CAIR (the Council on American Islamic Relations) and the other Muslim Brotherhood groups operating in the United States. CAIR cried foul, as it is wont to do, and demanded listener reactions.

A source at WTOP reports that they have moved beyond the brief tempest created, after determining that email generated in response to CAIR's caviling demands for an attack campaign ran 10-to-1 in favor of Cal Thomas. Perhaps CAIR underestimated Americans' commitment to free speech, or they overestimated the willingness of listeners to pay much attention to a group now formally outed as an un-indicted co-conspirator in yet another Federal terrorism trial and a U.S. body of the Muslim Brotherhood. Or both.

Curse crime

2007-07-06T02:12:00.000-05:00

"Mommy this guy wants to break my neck;" that’s what a 5-year-old told his mother as they waited in line at a Lynn Haven Taco Bell back in May.

The words allegedly came from Thomas Plaisted.

The child says Olaisted spit food at him, pushed his 11-year-old brother and cursed at their mother.

"This man not only called the children names like Muslim bastards, he cursed at them using the F-word."

No threat

2007-07-06T02:08:00.000-05:00

Computer files maintained by a "cyber-terrorist" gang in the United Kingdom included a threat by 45 Muslim doctors said to be planning an attack on the Mayport Naval Base in Jacksonville, Fla., and other U.S. sites using car bombs and rocket grenades.

U.S. officials, however, said they did not consider the group's plan to be a credible threat.

4th of July not about US?

2007-07-05T06:47:00.000-05:00

On this Fourth of July, Muslims should remind their fellow Americans that Islamic activists in America and across the globe have consistently condemned attacks on civilians -- most notably the terrorist attacks of 9/11.
To help reverse the growing trend toward Islamophobia and anti-Americanism, we must address legitimate grievances, whether by calling for stepped up condemnation of terrorism on the part of Muslims, or for justice-based solutions to international conflicts.
Equally important, our government should live up to American ideals in practice. Lofty Fourth of July rhetoric must be translated into actions worldwide that show people of all faiths that America is on their side, not against them.

Support Cal Thomas

2007-07-05T04:56:00.000-05:00

WTOP contact page

P.R. problem?

2007-07-05T04:54:00.000-05:00

On Wednesday, WTOP invited Ibrahim Hooper, a CAIR spokesperson and Cal Thomas, to separately respond to Thomas' previous comments.
In his response, Hooper said Thomas' comments undermined CAIR's effort to promote mutual understanding and social justice.
"For him, I would imagine that his next step is the expulsion of the Muslim-American community," Hooper said. "We condemn extremism. We've condemned terrorism....We've issued dozens of condemnations on dozens of terrorism attacks."
CAIR works to create proactive campaigns to promote awareness about Islam and the Muslim community.
"But guys like [Cal] Thomas come along and want to say every Muslim should be suspect and should be treated in a certain way. That's not just and that's not the American way," Hooper said.
When negative incidents occur, such as the Danish cartoon controversy and the desecration of Korans at Guantanamo Bay, Hooper said CAIR focuses on educational campaigns and "things that really explain who Islam is all about so that they don't have to take their misinformation from Islamaphobes like Cal Thomas."
Hooper said he feels as though the extremists are becoming the unwanted face of Islam.
"We have a real PR problem. We have a real problem with a tiny minority of people who are misusing the faith of Islam to carry out acts of violence," he said.
While the organization tries to reach out to the extremists, Hooper said more often than not, "the people who do these types of things aren't going even to listen to me."
"But we still have a role to play in trying to convince these people that they're betraying the faith of Islam, and we just do as much as we can. We try and think every day of new ways to help in the fight against terrorism."

Huh?

2007-07-04T04:04:00.000-05:00

(CBS) ANAHEIM, Calif. An Orange County Islamic group called on the FBI Tuesday to speed up a probe of a Muslim convert banned from an Irvine mosque, where members allege he preferred to discuss jihad rather than Islam.

Craig Monteilh, who started calling himself Farouk Monteilh in September when he began studying at the Islamic Center of Irvine, was served with a restraining order Friday based on allegations made by members of the mosque.

While the Council on American-Islamic Relations in Anaheim commended local Muslims for reporting Monteilh, it urged FBI agents to finish their probe to protect those who "courageously" stepped forward to make their reports.

Since the reports surfaced about a month ago, CAIR-LA said it has gotten complaints that Monteilh had tried to intimidate and threaten those who reported him.

The FBI does not comment on current investigations. According to CAIR, the FBI had not interviewed Monteilh as of last week.

CAIR-LA expressed concern that allowing threats or intimidation to go unchallenged might discourage people from reporting suspicious terror-related activities.

Monteilh could not be reached for comment.

The Path to ...

2007-07-04T03:58:00.000-05:00

In the wake of this weekend's spate of actual and attempted car-bombings in the United Kingdom, I watched the uncut version of "The Path to 9/11" — ABC's dramatic portrayal of the events that contributed to, and culminated in, the deadliest attacks on U.S. soil to date. As the brilliantly crafted segments (written by Cyrus Nowrasteh) rolled by showing addled thinking, failed policies and missed opportunities to prevent those attacks, I kept thinking: What mistakes are being made today that will form the backdrop to the next, possibly far more horrific, terrorist strikes in this country?
When they occur, the official investigation will doubtless chronicle similar sorts of problems. Warnings ignored or not acted upon in time. Failures by government agencies to learn from past mistakes and take corrective action. Decisions by the perpetrators, by those trying to defeat them and by innocent victims that produced tragedies, potentially on an unimaginable scale.

My guess is the single most important contributor to our vulnerability to future attacks, however, will prove to be the result of a systematic failure by our government to understand the nature of our enemies, and to deal with these foes appropriately. A case in point was President Bush's visit to the Saudi-underwritten Washington Islamic Center last week.

The occasion was the mosque's 50th anniversary. It amounted to a celebration of Saudi Arabia's effort to promote dawa in America: the inculcation of Islam in this country and the domination of the Muslim faith by the Saudis' totalitarian Wahhabi cult.

The president's participation in the rededication of this facility is a perfect metaphor for his administration's central failure in this War for the Free World. The Washington mosque has repeatedly been found to be disseminating hateful, anti-Semitic, anti-Christian and anti-American literature. Such material, and the indoctrination of which it is a piece, are at the core of the intolerant Islamofascist ideology promoted by the Saudi cult and practiced by its adherents, like Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda and myriad other terrorist groups.

Among the 200 invited Muslim and other guests were a number of Islamists like Ibrahim Hooper, communications director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR). As ever, the White House vetters were seemingly untroubled by the presence of an organization recently declared by the Justice Department to be a front for the Islamofascist Muslim Brotherhood and an unindicted co-conspirator in a terrorist-financing plot involving the notorious Holy Land Foundation.

Orders for the FBI and Transportation Security Administration to use CAIR to tutor agents on Muslim sensibilities and outreach infuriates line agents who understand the true nature of this and affiliated groups, and are working to defeat them.

Mr. Bush seemed to be following similarly abysmal advice as he announced at the mosque that he would be appointing a "special envoy" to "listen and learn from" the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC). This entity offers 57 countries with majority Muslim populations a platform for issuing joint statements and making common cause. Unsurprisingly, the OIC is, with scarcely any exceptions, sympathetic to jihadists, supportive of the nuclear weapons aspirations of member states like Iran and viciously hostile to the United States and other Western nations and peoples.

Pick me!

2007-07-04T03:54:00.000-05:00

Sounds like someone is lobbying to be selected as Bush's envoy to the OIC

JEDDAH, 4 July 2007 — The executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, Nihad Awad, attended a meeting yesterday with the secretary-general of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), Professor Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, discussing cooperation on future projects.
“I’m pleased to meet with Ihsanoglu to discuss the situation of Muslims in the United States and to work on future projects,” Awad told Arab News.
Last week, US President George W. Bush announced that he would be appointing a special envoy to the OIC in a step that is considered important in improving relationships between the US and the Muslim world. “This is the first time a president has made such an appointment to the OIC. Our special envoy will listen to and learn from representatives from Muslim states and will share with them America’s views and values,” said Bush in his speech at the Islamic Center of Washington on June 27.
Ihsanoglu welcomed the initiative, which follows the establishment in March of an OIC ambassadorial group in Washington.
“CAIR issued a statement welcoming the step by President Bush and we hope that this will help improve relationships in terms of communication between the largest body of the Muslim world and the US, and we hope that the selection of the individual would also be representative of the Muslim community and its views,” said Awad.
According to recent studies and polls in the US by CAIR and other organizations, incidents of attacks and discrimination against Muslims have increased as well as Muslims’ own feelings of apprehension and disapproval of US policies toward Muslims.
Awad puts some of the blame for that on the negative reporting of the Muslim world by some media outlets that tend to be selective and one-sided. Another factor is the “dedicated individuals and institutions that smear Islam and Muslims left and right for their political ends,” said Awad.
Muslims and Muslim organizations in the US have been criticized for not being effective in lobbying and standing up to smear campaigns compared to other US minorities. This is the most common criticism heard from the Muslim world, according to Awad, who added that Muslims in the US are heading in the right direction and that the Muslim community there is becoming more effective and gaining ground in building bridges.
“The American Muslims’ experience in terms of the political world has been recent and you can’t compare the Muslim community with others. We are not there to compete with anybody, we are just there to make sure that we live as Muslims in the US and if we can enrich and broaden the debate about legitimate issues it is our duty, we owe it to American society, we owe it to our faith and we owe it to the Muslim world,” he said.
The main challenge American Muslims face is ignorance about Islam and a lack of resources. “But I want to say that the Muslim community is well positioned in America to play a critical and constructive role and I think we have started to do that. So patience is needed and we want people in the Muslim world to pray for Muslims in the US, to encourage them and support them, and to fix their own situations because we are paying for the problems in the Muslim world every day. We support legitimate measures to remove injustice and resolve problems,” said Awad.
He gave some examples of how CAIR has been effective in addressing crisis situations. For example, after 9/11 CAIR launched a campaign to distribute selected books and videos about Islam in English, offering them free of charge to public libraries nationwide. “So far we supplied 8,000 libraries serving almost 120-130 million Americans,” he said.
Another example is when the Qur’an was desecrated, CAIR offered free copies of the Qur’an in English, and has received more than 45,000 requests, of which it managed to meet 40,000. “The reaction of those who received them has been tremendously positive, their perception of Islam started to shift from negative to positive,” he said.
After the cartoon crisis in Europe, CAIR launched a project called “Explore the Life of Muhammad,” and again offered free books and videos about the Prophet (peace be upon him). CAIR received around 25,000 requests and managed to meet almost 16,000 of them.
“Those who received them appreciated CAIR’s efforts to get out of crisis mode and into communication and education. I think in that area Muslims, through CAIR and others, have been doing our best and whenever we have a chance we try to present a balanced and pragmatic position on where we, as Muslims, stand on issues whether domestic or foreign policy related,” he said.

No Go Cups

2007-07-03T05:49:00.000-05:00

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) -- A Jet Blue Airlines flight was diverted from its original flight plan after a passenger became irate when the crew refused to serve him more alcohol, Department of Justice officials said Friday.
Assistant U.S. Attorney James Kennedy, Jr., said in a written statement that Roman made statements to the crew and other passengers that he was going to shoot and kill the flight crew when the plane landed in New York.

Poison in Islam

2007-07-03T05:06:00.000-05:00

Dr. M. Zuhdi Jasser, a Phoenix-based physician, formed the American Islamic Forum for Democracy in March 2003. The think tank, according to its Web site (www.aifdemocracy.org), "was formed as an unmistakable expression of American liberty and freedom in an attempt to take back the faith of Islam from the demagoguery of the Islamo-fascists."
The following are excerpts of an interview with Dr. Jasser:
Question: Are Muslims hearing more about politics than religion at local mosques?
Answer: While some mosques do protect their mimbar [pulpit] from the toxicity of politics, most mosques in my experience allow their pulpits to be used as a platform for specific domestic and foreign policy agenda. From Abu Ghraib to Guantanamo Bay to the Patriot Act to American imperialism to the so-called neo-con and Zionist conspiracy, the political imams have abrogated their spiritual leadership in exchange for the political aspirations within the Islamist community. Many mosques are no longer a place to leave the stresses of this world and get closer to God in humble community worship, but have become places for imams to give stump speeches decrying the U.S. government and claiming victimization.Until spiritual, morally courageous and humble Islam can reclaim the mimbar, the Islamist and Wahhabi agenda will continue to dominate our mosque-going community. If in doubt, just check out the Web sites of many of the major American Muslim organizations. You will not find a spiritual focus, but rather a political one in the name of Muslims.One of the most effective methods at establishing a counter-jihad would be for imams to spend their time focusing on the love of God and the love from God, rather than His wrath and their hate.

Protecting John Doe

2007-07-03T05:04:00.000-05:00

Security aboard flights into Glasgow Airport was beefed up two weeks ago with protection by U.S. air marshals who are now on board every inbound and outgoing European flight, according to a Homeland Security official.
Air marshals also began guarding flights into Prague at the same time, and in May stepped up coverage to guard all flights into and out of Germany, where terrorists are reportedly in the advanced planning stages of an attack. Air marshals are also guarding some flights into South Asia airports.
An official who asked to remain anonymous said suspicious events aboard flights have been reported and are being investigated but declined to reveal any details of the events.
"There is so much going on out there. We do know these guys are definitely in an operational phase right now," the official said.

From CAIR...

2007-07-03T04:57:00.000-05:00

INCITEMENT: CAL THOMAS COMPARES MUSLIMS TO 'SLOW SPREADING CANCER' - TOP
WTOP-FM, 7/2/07

LISTEN: http://www.cair.com/audio/Terrorism_Questions_Need_Answers.mp3

WTOP-FM's July 2nd morning radio show featured conservative guest Cal Thomas commenting on the recent terror attacks in Scotland and London.

In response to these attacks, Thomas asked: "How much longer should we allow people from certain lands, with certain beliefs to come to Britain and America and build their mosques, teach hate, and plot to kill us?"

Thomas also compared Muslims to a "slow spreading cancer" that must be stopped.

Blacklisting?

2007-07-02T05:38:00.000-05:00

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Malaysia dismissed on Monday possible U.S. sanctions over human trafficking and warned Washington of alienating Muslims after it blacklisted mostly Islamic countries.
The U.S. last month ranked Muslim states -- Bahrain, Kuwait, Iran, Malaysia, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria and Qatar -- as among the worst human trade offenders, and said they may face sanctions.

It's all about the PR

2007-07-02T05:37:00.000-05:00

Outrage at the attack on Glasgow Airport echoed across Scotland's Muslim communities, along with determination that it should not damage relations with the wider public.

Religious leaders, police, and politicians stood shoulder-to-shoulder to condemn the incident and praise Muslims' place in Scottish society.

But there was also relief at early reports that neither of the two men arrested was a Scot. At a press conference at Glasgow's Central Mosque, Assistant Chief Constable John Neilson received applause when he informed the audience that the two suspects arrested had travelled recently to Scotland.

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He told them: "The people we have in custody came to Scotland a short while ago to seek work. I'm sure the community in Glasgow in particular will be reassured: these are not your young people."

Mr Neilson, who is responsible for community safety within Strathclyde, said Muslims and non-Muslims alike would be "horrified" by the incident on Saturday.

He was joined by First Minister Alex Salmond, who said communities should not be "dislocated or distracted" by the attack. "Scotland as a whole values this community. And this community values Scotland," he said.

Suspect arrest in reporter kidnapping

2007-07-02T05:34:00.000-05:00

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) — Hamas on Monday arrested the spokesman of a shadowy group holding British reporter Alan Johnston, a move that could give it a bargaining chip to secure the Briton's release.

Hamas has demanded that the Army of Islam, led by a violent Gaza clan, free Johnston, who was kidnapped on a Gaza City street on March 12.

But the group, whose formerly close relations with Hamas have soured, has demanded that Britain first release a radical Islamic cleric with ties to al-Qaida. It has vowed to kill Johnston if Hamas tried to free him by force.

Bomb attacks

2007-07-01T02:57:00.000-05:00

Three terrorist suspects were in police custody Sunday and a fourth man was under guard in a hospital after a flaming jeep crashed into a Scottish airport and two car bomb plots were foiled in central London.

Britain raised its terror alert to "critical" — the highest possible level — and the Bush administration also announced plans to increase security at airports and on mass transit in the United States.

"This weekend's bomb attacks signal a major escalation in the war being waged on us by Islamic terrorists," Lord Stevens, terrorism adviser to Britain's new prime minister, Gordon Brown, said in a column in Sunday's News of the World newspaper.

"Now al-Qaida has imported the tactics of Baghdad and Bali to the streets of the UK," said Stevens, who is London's former police chief.

London police said extra officers were being deployed at landmarks, airports, train stations and bus terminals across the capital Sunday, and had been ordered to step up the use of stop and search powers. Armed police would patrol at major rail stations, it said.

At least 450 officers would monitor a rock concert at London's Wembley Stadium on Sunday to mark the 10th anniversary of Princess Diana's death, police said.

The Jeep Cherokee rammed into Glasgow's airport terminal on Saturday, shattering glass doors just yards from passengers at the check-in counters. Police said they believed the attack was linked to two car bombs found in London the day before.

One of the men in the car was in critical condition at a hospital with severe burns, while the other was in police custody, said Scottish Police Chief Constable Willie Rae. Five bystanders in Glasgow were wounded, although none seriously, police said.

Rae said a suspect device had been found on a man wrestled to the ground by officers and hospitalized in critical condition with severe burns.

British media said the man was wearing a suicide belt and that police had found propane gas cylinders in the Glasgow Jeep. But police later said an initial inspection by explosives experts had not found a suicide vest. Rae made no mention of gas cylinders.

Police later arrested two more suspects in the London and Glasgow plots in Cheshire county in northern England, Scotland Yard said early Sunday.

"I can confirm that we believe the incident at Glasgow airport is linked to the events in London yesterday," Rae said at a news conference. "There are clearly similarities and we can confirm that this is being treated as a terrorist incident."

Police foiled the earlier plot Friday after two cars were found in central London packed with explosives — one outside a nightclub near Piccadilly Circus and another parked nearby.

A British government security official said the methods used in the airport attack and Friday's thwarted plots were similar, with all three vehicles carrying large quantities of flammable materials. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the information.

Police and MI5 had no specific intelligence warning of a plan to attack Scotland, but they have monitored a host of suspected terrorists and plots there, he said. It was not yet clear whether there was an international element to the planning or funding of the attacks, the official said.

The new terror threat presents Prime Minister Gordon Brown, a Scot who took office on Wednesday, with an enormous challenge and comes at a time of already heightened vigilance one week before the anniversary of the July 7 London transit attacks, which killed 52 people.

"I know that the British people will stand together, united, resolute and strong," Brown said Saturday in a televised statement.

The green Jeep barreled toward Glasgow's main airport terminal shortly after 3 p.m. Witness Scott Leeson said bollards — security posts outside the entrance — stopped the driver from driving into the bustling terminal, but the nose of the vehicle smashed the glass doors.
"If he'd got through, he'd have killed hundreds, obviously," he said.
AP photographs from the scene showed the car hit the building at an angle and was poking into the terminal. The Jeep struck the building directly in front of check-in counters, where dozens of passengers were lined up, police said.
Lynsey McBean, a witness at the terminal, said the driver kept trying to push the car forward after it got stuck, and "the wheels were spinning and smoke was coming from them."
She said one of the men then took out a plastic gasoline canister and poured a liquid under the car. "He then set light to it," said McBean, 26, from Erskine, Scotland.
Police subdued the driver and a passenger, both described by witnesses as South Asian — a term used to refer to people from India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and other countries in the region. The previous round of terrorist activity in Britain, in July 2005, was largely carried out by local Muslims, raising ethnic tensions in Britain.
Witnesses said one of the men was engulfed in flames and spoke "gibberish" as an official used a fire extinguisher to douse the fire.
On Sunday morning, the Glasgow airport was reopened to flights and to travelers who entered the terminal through a police cordon.
John Lennon Airport in the northwestern city of Liverpool was closed overnight after a suspicious vehicle found nearby. The vehicle was taken away for forensic examination and the airport was reopened at 4:40 a.m., police said.
Meanwhile in London, police were gathering evidence from closed circuit television footage, as forensics experts searched for clues into the foiled bombings. The two Mercedes cars had been loaded with gasoline, gas canisters and nails in one of the capital's busiest areas on a night when Londoners like to go out and party. Security officials and police denied an ABC News report that they had a "crystal clear" picture of one suspect from CCTV footage.
The vehicles were found abandoned in the early hours of Friday in what police believe was an attempt to kill scores or even hundreds of people. Detectives said they were keeping an open mind about the bombers' identities, but terrorism experts said the signs pointed to a cell linked to or inspired by al-Qaida.
In the United States, airports and mass transit systems also were tightening security, though the U.S. did not plan to raise its terror alert status, the Bush administration said.

Smells like Hamas Spirit

2007-07-01T02:43:00.000-05:00

THE terrorists who attempted to bomb central London last week deliberately placed the second vehicle to catch rescuers attending the injured from the first explosion, Scotland on Sunday can reveal.

The senior security source also said the primitive gas and petrol devices were most likely the work of determined terrorists struggling - because of the security crackdown - to get their hands on the ingredients needed to create high explosives.

Our fault, Again

2007-07-01T02:41:00.001-05:00

Davie It is politics, not Islam, that has driven suicide bombers to strike with increasing frequency in recent years, a specialist on international security said Saturday.

And nowhere is this grim phenomenon more apparent than Iraq, which led the world in the number of suicide attacks (350) from 2004 through 2006 after the U.S.-led invasion in 2003, said Robert Pape, a political science professor at the University of Chicago.

Speaking at an afternoon symposium on "Islamophobia," Pape told a mostly receptive audience that "the main cause of suicide terrorism is the presence of U.S. and Western combat forces on the Arabian Peninsula."

The symposium, attended by about 150 people, was organized by the Florida chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations and the International Muslim Association at Nova Southeastern University.

As director of the Chicago Project on Suicide Terrorism, Pape and other researchers have created a database tracking suicide attacks as they relate to geopolitical developments. Pape said while just three suicide attacks occurred each year in the 1980s, the deployment of U.S. and other Western military forces to the Middle East has fomented resentment and caused suicide bombings to jump to about 50 annually by 2002.

"Since 9-11, the pattern of attacks shows that victims are consistently Western civilians that have forces in Iraq and Afghanistan," Pape said. He predicted that as long as U.S. forces remain in Iraq, Al-Qaida could continue to recruit suicide attackers.

Pape likened the discrimination experienced by some American Muslims to the internment of Japanese Americans in World War II. He did not elaborate.

Another panelist, Mohamed Nimer, a CAIR research director in Washington, D.C., argued that Islamophobia is on the rise.

Nimer urged tolerance and underscored the importance of "dialogue to expose myths and increase understanding of one another."

Some critics have accused CAIR of advocating extreme Islamist goals and serving as apologists for terrorism. The organization's leaders say their critics are trying to fan anti-Muslim hatred.

Aisha Musa, assistant professor of Islamic Studies at Florida International University's religious studies department, blamed the mass media for fueling misconceptions about the tenets of the Muslim faith.

"Does the Quran talk about violence?" Musa said. "Yes, it does. But there are disagreements over when it is justified."

Bombs and Boys

2007-06-30T05:48:00.000-05:00

The gay pride parade today through Haymarket will not be postpond because of yesterday's double-bomb threat in London, Pink News reports.

Pride organisers are working closely with the police, and it is thought unlikely that the bomber or bombers wanted to target the gay events.

Better luck next time

2007-06-29T08:07:00.000-05:00

A mass casualty drill Wednesday turned into a minor disaster because firetrucks and ambulances couldn’t reach “injured” survivors of a mock plane crash.

American Medical Response ambulances and Colorado Springs firefighters didn’t reach the “crash” scene on Peterson Air Force Base until an hour after the drill began.

Doug McIntyre, a paramedic and disaster coordinator for AMR, said the delay was due to an escort’s failing to accompany the five ambulances and firefighters taking part in the drill through a security gate.

The main problem, said Cindy Litteral, Peterson’s deputy fire chief, was miscommunication.

Ohio mercury spill

2007-06-29T08:05:00.000-05:00

Authorities say the Morrow County courthouse in central Ohio is to remain closed today following yesterday's evacuation due to a mercury spill.

Sheriff Steve Brenneman says the poisonous substance was found in hallways on two floors of the building. Most of the building was slowly evacuated yesterday afternoon and people were asked to remove their shoes so they could be checked for contamination.

Some employees were asked to stay in their offices until clean up crews arrived at the site in Mount Gilead, about 40 miles north of Columbus.

Brenneman says the source of the mercury is unknown, and there are no reports of people being sickened.

Miami powder

2007-06-29T08:03:00.001-05:00

Security workers evacuated a portion of Miami International Airport's A Concourse Wednesday night after a powdery substance was found aboard an American Airlines plane departing for Peru.
Police dogs did not indicate a threat from the powder, but a bomb squad was checking the area about 9 p.m. to be sure, Transportation Security Administration spokeswoman Sari Koshetz said.
''When there is a concern like this, our protocol is to evacuate a certain area and use an abundance of caution in evaluating the situation,'' Koshetz said.
American Flight 917 was scheduled to depart from Miami to Lima's Chavez International Airport at 5:30 p.m. It was parked at gate A10 at Miami International when the suspicious substance was discovered.
The plane and surrounding gate area were evacuated as investigators checked things out. The flight was rescheduled to depart at 8 a.m. Thursday, according to aviation website flightstats.com.

Kansas City powder

2007-06-29T08:01:00.000-05:00

KANSAS CITY — The Kansas City area dealt with two scares on Wednesday, with a suspicious white powder found in an Internal Revenue Service mailroom, and what authorities called a pipe bomb — filled with fireworks sparklers — found in the Liberty, Mo., City Hall.

A letter containing a white powder and a note mentioning anthrax forced federal authorities to shut down the mailroom of the Kansas City IRS headquarters. The letter was sealed and sent to a lab in Jefferson City for further testing, said FBI spokesman Bob Herndon.

"We do not think this is going to be anthrax or any other biological agent, but we have to treat this to the Nth degree," Herndon said, adding that a field test found the substance likely to be talcum powder.

Saw something, Said something

2007-06-29T07:58:00.000-05:00

Police arrested a man on the MBTA's Red Line who was accused of threatening to blow up a train with a bomb.

A passenger on the train used a cellphone to report the threat to MBTA police, who arrested Troy Norman, 18, at Wollaston Station at about 10 a.m., Lieutenant Commander Joseph O'Connor said.

The special operations unit for the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority searched the train but did not find any weapons or explosives, O'Connor said. Service resumed in a half hour.

O'Connor praised the T's "See Something, Say Something" program that encourages passengers to report suspicious activity in the transit system to authorities.

Norman, of Quincy, was taken to MBTA police headquarters and booked on a charge of making threats, O'Connor said.

Lessons learned?

2007-06-29T05:27:00.000-05:00

"The Israel Police are on the front line constantly," said Micky Rosenfeld, spokesman for Israel Police, noting that since 2001, his department has dealt with some 120 suicide attacks. "The fact things are calm now is due to the fact that we are carrying out operations all the time."

Rosenfeld said that since 9/11, Israel has received dozens of delegations from the United States - including the CIA and FBI as well as local police officers - who are interested in learning more about methods to combat terrorism. The New York City Police Department has one officer based in Israel full time who participates in investigations of bombings and attacks so he can train members of his own department, Rosenfeld said. The deepening security relationship between Israel and the United States has some Muslim groups worried that American police officials may begin adopting profiling techniques of Israel.

"It's always a concern that people return with a very negative impression of Muslims and Arab culture, and is that going to be translated into police work in the United States?" asked Ibrahim Hooper, spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations in Washington.

"We've always been concerned when these kinds of trips become exercises in political indoctrination in which everything Israel does is good and just and everything Palestinians do is perceived as evil and unjust," Hooper added.

But Arieh O'Sullivan, spokesman for the ADL, said the tour's goal was strictly focused on offering guidance in security techniques - nothing more.

"It's a homeland security mission, not a mission to learn about the Middle East conflict. We're not trying to indoctrinate anyone," he said.

Hijab not allowed in courtroom

2007-06-29T05:19:00.000-05:00

A prominent national Islamic civil rights and advocacy group reported today that a Georgia Muslim seeking to contest a speeding ticket was allegedly barred from a courtroom in that state because she wears an Islamic headscarf, or hijab.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) said the woman was prevented from entering the Valdosta, Ga., courtroom of Municipal Court Judge Vernita Lee Bender earlier this week by uniformed officers who reportedly demanded that she remove her scarf.

According to the woman, the officers barred her entry despite being told that she wears the scarf for religious reasons and after she offered to let a female officer perform a body search. One of the officers allegedly stated that the denial of entry to the courtroom was due to “homeland security” and that allowing her to enter would show “disrespect” to the judge.

The officers reportedly summoned the clerk of court who told the Muslim woman that she could schedule a future court date. After being told that she would be unable to enter the court at any future date while wearing her scarf, the Muslim woman felt compelled to agree to a plea of nolo contendere and was fined $168.

Through the clerk of court, Judge Bender communicated an apology for the denial of entry, but was quoted as saying that “we have rules that everyone has to follow.”

In a letter to Georgia Attorney General Thurbert E. Baker, CAIR wrote:

London Calling...

2007-06-29T05:16:00.000-05:00

Police defused a bomb in an abandoned car in London's theatre district on Friday and launched a counter-terrorism investigation.
The bomb, which Sky News quoted unidentified sources as saying was "potentially massive", was found inside a light green Mercedes left outside a nightclub in the early hours of Friday, a police officer quoted witnesses as saying.

Angolan Airline crash

2007-06-29T05:14:00.000-05:00

An Angolan Airlines plane crashed on landing at an airport in northern Angola, killing five people, on the same day the European Union said it was blacklisting the airline because of safety concerns.

The Boeing 737 plane broke in half at an airport in M'banza Congo, about 180 miles north of the capital, Luanda, national airports chief Celso Rosas said.

The airline, known by its Portuguese acronym TAAG, said 79 passengers were on board.

The plane bounced before hitting a house, the state news agency, Angop, reported.

The European Union announced it was adding the airline to a list of carriers barred from flying to EU nations because of safety concerns.

Flying imams seek to block media coverage

2007-06-28T01:41:00.000-05:00

A federal judge overseeing a lawsuit filed by six Muslim men who were removed from a US Airways flight last fall has declined to limit public access to the case.

Omar T. Mohammedi, a New York attorney for the six Muslim scholars, told The Associated Press on Wednesday that he sought limited media access because he felt some of the coverage of the case has been biased against his clients.

"When you think of the media, and the way they have been portraying this case, it has not been very helpful. It has been biased," Mohammedi said. "That has caused a lot of stress, a lot of stress on our clients, as well as made it difficult for us to handle this case ... in a manner that it should be handled."

Mohammedi's clients are six imams - Islamic religious leaders - who were removed from a US Airways flight in Minneapolis last fall after passengers reported what they thought was suspicious behavior. The imams, who were handcuffed and questioned, claim the airline discriminated against them and violated their civil rights.

The complaint seeks an undisclosed amount of money for punitive and compensatory damages. Besides US Airways, the lawsuit names other defendants including the Minnesota Metropolitan Airports Commission, which owns the airport, and John Does, who could later be identified as passengers.

In a letter dated Tuesday and addressed to Mohammedi, U.S. District Judge Ann Montgomery noted that Mohammedi had requested that the court remove members of the media from an electronic distribution list, bar members of the media from attending hearings, and hold proceedings in closed session.

"The Court declines to treat this case in the extraordinary manner that you request," the judge wrote. She added that the public and press have an interest in full access to judicial proceedings under the First Amendment.

"You have provided no legal authority supporting your request to limit public access to this case," Montgomery wrote. "While it is regrettable that anonymous individuals have threatened violence, the Court Security Officers will insure that the United States Courthouse here in Minneapolis is secure."

The judge's letter was entered in the case file, and it noted that further communications on the matter should also be filed through the court's electronic database.

The letters previously submitted on the issue were filed off the record and were not made public. Judge Montgomery said through a law clerk that she would have no comment beyond her letter.

An attorney for US Airways said the airline would not comment.

Mohammedi said he and his clients have received death threats, partly because of biased coverage by most media outlets. He cited a March 30 AP story and headline that he claimed did not accurately reflect his conversation with a reporter.

The AP story in question explored whether the lawsuit would discourage future airline travelers from speaking up when they see something unusual. The story included information from Mohammedi, as well as different points of view from security officials and from an attorney who offered to represent passengers who might be named as defendants in the lawsuit.

"We are just asking the media to be balanced and reflect what was said ... and to let justice take its course," Mohammedi said Wednesday. "I'm asking the media to be a little bit more responsible in reporting the facts of the case. That actually would prevent a lot of issues."

The imams had attended a conference in Minneapolis of the North American Imams Federation, and were heading to Phoenix. Five were from the Phoenix-Tempe area, while one was from Bakersfield, Calif.

The group has said that three of the men said their normal evening prayers in the airport terminal before boarding the plane, and that they entered the aircraft individually, except for one member who is blind and needed a guide. Once on the plane, the men did not sit together.

A passenger raised concerns about the imams through a note passed to a flight attendant. According to officials, witnesses reported some of the imams made anti-American comments about the war in Iraq and that some asked for seat belt extensions even though a flight attendant thought they didn't need them.

Hat tip Powerline

MUST READ...

2007-06-27T03:51:00.000-05:00

"IT was bad that Daniel Pearl got killed, but ..."

I strained to hear the conversation across the aisle at the Sherry Lansing Theater, but as the second part of the sentence began to roll from the movie-watcher's lips, my friend came bounding back to our seats, chattering. After we left the screening at Paramount, the "but" tore at me. What was the rest of the woman's sentence? Had she not been as affected as I was by the story of The Wall Street Journal reporter's brutal murder that had just unfolded on the screen before us? Worse, did the "but" signal a segue into justification, a tired refrain that the U.S. had somehow brought Pearl's fate upon him, to be followed by catchwords du jour "occupation" and "imperialism"?

The screening of "A Mighty Heart" that I attended Thursday was hosted by the Council on American-Islamic Relations. The film, although the product of less-than-conservative Hollywood talent, admirably resists descending into an anti-American screed, though both sides of the political aisle can find snippets of the script to make or break their preconceived assertions about war, terrorism and Islamic extremism.

Hussam Ayloush, L.A. executive director of CAIR; Rabbi Haim Beliak, founder of Jews on First; and Rev. Peter Laarman, executive director of Progressive Christians Uniting...

Laarman pegged the problem on "the number of Christians living in a bubble ... of naivete," stressing that we should "look at our own crusading mentality" and "look at how Christian America lets people escape from reality." He also said that the "next big thing from the Christian right's demonization of Muslims" could be the "next terror attack."

Ayloush said things won't change until we "change perceptions," and "not from what Fox News tells us."

"Violence is a cycle," he later said. "If the reaction to occupation is Sept. 11," and on and on. "Occupation" apparently refers to al-Qaida's stated objection to the pre-9-11 presence of U.S. forces on the Arabian Peninsula. But as we were invited there by the respective governments, it's not occupation.

The rabbi blamed "Islamophobia" in the Jewish community. "We have a problem in the Jewish community with our fanatics," said Beliak. "... It would be hard for me to imagine that a Jewish organization would have the parallel courage to put on an event like this."

These characterizations of the U.S. as ignorant crusaders and occupiers only exacerbate the problem and make work for journalists at home and abroad even more dangerous. It's not "dialogue." It's ideological warfare that brands those who want to fight terrorism as warmongers or religious bigots. At the risk of sounding trite, it's just what the terrorists want.

Conservatives support CAIR

2007-06-27T02:24:00.000-05:00

On Sunday, July 8, a prominent national Islamic civil rights and advocacy group will kick off a nationwide discussion of "Islamophobia," or fear and hatred of Islam and Muslims, with a panel discussion in Dallas, Texas. It is the first in a series of similar public discussions scheduled around the nation by the Washington-based Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR).

The Dallas event, entitled "Do U.S. Policies Fuel Islamophobia?" and hosted by CAIR's Dallas/Fort Worth chapter (CAIR-DFW), will seek to explain the historical context of the issue and provide resources for gaining a better understanding of the negative impact anti-Muslim bigotry has on American society and on our nation's interests worldwide. Panelists will also discuss the government's actions in the case against officials of the closed Texas- based Holy Land Foundation Muslim charity.

"Given the lamentable state of our nation's international image, it is imperative that American Muslims analyze the situation and advocate solutions that will help remove the perception that we, as a nation, are at war with the faith of Islam," said CAIR Board Chairman Parvez Ahmed, who is one of the panelists.

Other scheduled CAIR events designed to highlight the negative impact of Islamophobia include a symposium this weekend in Davie, Fla., and a July 17th panel discussion at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., entitled "Attacking Islam: Implications for Social Cohesion and U.S. Relations with the Muslim World." The July 17th panel features American Conservative Union President David Keene.

Catholics support CAIR

2007-06-27T02:22:00.000-05:00

TAMPA - White paint and religious art now cover the wall inside tiny Christ the Servant Apostolic Catholic Church on Nebraska Avenue.

But for Ahmed Bedier, the hate remains from a message scribbled on a church wall during the weekend.

Just before 6 a.m. Saturday, the church's pastor, Bishop Chuck Leigh, received a call from Tampa police that someone had broken down the front door to his church.

When Leigh arrived, he found framed pictures smashed on the floor and "Traitors Support Terrorist" written in black marker on the wall.

To Bedier, the executive director of the Tampa chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, the act was more than just vandalism - it was a hate crime.

During a news conference Tuesday, Bedier called the incident a "deliberate act" targeting a congregation and pastor who have supported the local Muslim community on local and international issues.

"The writing's on the wall," Bedier said. "This was not some sort of random act."

Leigh supported a failed proposal two years ago to add the Muslim holiday Eid Al-Fitr to the Hillsborough County school district calendar.

Leigh also supports the release of former University of South Florida Professor Sami Al-Arian, who is awaiting deportation and remains imprisoned on federal contempt charges for refusing to testify about Palestinian charities.

Don't need no stinkin' badges

2007-06-26T13:03:00.000-05:00

(CBS) CHICAGO “Fly At Your Own Risk” is a CBS 2 continuing undercover investigation at O’Hare Airport, and it just got even more alarming. 2 Investigator Dave Savini reports on exclusive details.

Officials at O'Hare International Airport are refusing to interview with CBS 2 about our latest findings. The 2 Investigators have found more security breaches and a failure by authorities to investigate.

O'Hare is one of the busiest airports in the nation, and may be one of the most vulnerable.

The 2 Investigators have learned that 47 more employee access badges are missing, bringing the total we've discovered to 3,807 – the biggest security failure involving access badges ever to be exposed.

Naked News

2007-06-26T07:18:00.000-05:00

GONZALES — State troopers chased a nude driver from East Baton Rouge Parish to Ascension Parish early Monday morning after the man tried to hit them with his pickup truck, a trooper said in a news release.

Sgt. Markus L. Smith said Monday afternoon troopers have no idea why the man was naked.

The chase began just after 2:30 a.m. near the State Fairgrounds on Airline Highway and ended when the driver, 25-year-old Bryan Batulis Jr. of Jennings crashed in a ditch on Coontrap Road near Gonzales, Smith said.

The incident began when state troopers were diverting southbound traffic off Airline Highway toward a turnaround in the median, Smith said. The troopers were investigating a fatality a few days earlier.

Batulis would not stop, so troopers tried to pull him over.

One trooper approached the Ford F-350 pickup truck to remove the driver but Batulis sped up and hit the trooper in the leg with his truck, Smith said.

At another point during the chase, Batulis tried to run over two other troopers attempting to get him to stop in the parking lot of Frank’s Restaurant in Prairieville, Smith said.

Instead of stopping, Batulis again stepped on the gas and tried to hit the troopers. The troopers fired at the truck’s right front tire and deflated it, Smith said.

Batulis was later booked with three counts of attempted first-degree murder of a police officer, two counts of aggravated flight from an officer, one count of resisting arrest, one count of driving while impaired by a controlled dangerous substance, and two counts of reckless operation of a motor vehicle, Smith said.

Batulis and the trooper who was injured was treated for minor injuries and released from St. Elizabeth Hospital in Gonzales.

Never Forget

2007-06-26T05:57:00.000-05:00

WASHINGTON -- A group of airline pilots who rode across the country to raise money for memorials to victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks awarded $45,000 Monday to each of the three projects.
Thomas Heidenberger, a US Airways pilot whose wife, Michele, was a flight attendant on the American Airlines plane that crashed into the Pentagon, presented checks to the World Trade Center Memorial Foundation and groups raising funds for the Pentagon Memorial and the Flight 93 Memorial in Shanksville, Pa.
The World Trade Center Memorial Foundation has raised more than $300 million toward its $350 million goal for a memorial and museum at the site where the twin towers stood. The project, which is expected to cost more than $700 million, is under construction and expected to open in 2009.
Construction is also under way at the Pentagon Memorial in Arlington, Va., which is scheduled to open in 2008. Organizers have raised about $13.8 million of the $22 million cost of building a park just outside the wall where American Airlines Flight 77 crashed.
Fund raising for a $58 million memorial to the victims of United Airlines Flight 93 has fallen well short of organizers' goals. Project officials hope to begin construction in 2008.

Integration vs. Rights

2007-06-26T05:50:00.000-05:00

A better-integrated Muslim population would better serve the United States as it navigates critical domestic and foreign-policy challenges involving Muslim populations, a new report argues.
Sponsored by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, the report released Tuesday says that greater U.S. Muslim involvement in the public square is crucial to the nation's security and well-being, and that Muslims are largely responsible for finding ways to make themselves heard.

The report by a 32-member nationwide task force culled from academia, politics and the business and nonprofit worlds largely avoids sensitive questions about attitudes toward U.S. foreign and security policy.

"This is a group that is half-Muslim, half non-Muslim that came together because we believe that America is losing by not having the appropriate involvement of Muslim Americans in the civil discourse of politics," said task force co-chair Lynn Martin, a former Republican congresswoman and secretary of labor in the George H.W. Bush administration. "This is not whiny. This is not about what's wrong. What it says is, here are some potential solutions."

Among them: expanded counterterrorism partnerships between Muslim Americans and law enforcement, development of a leadership network of prominent Muslim Americans to work with youth and serve as "community ambassadors," building stronger Muslim American institutions and working with coalitions on common concerns like immigration and health care.

The report also calls on the media and government to fairly portray and involve Muslims in the national discourse, but suggests Muslims carry greater responsibility.

One of the American Muslim community's defining characteristics its diversity poses a challenge when identifying potential leaders and organizing, said Farooq Kathwari, another task force co-chair. Kathwari is chairman, president and chief executive officer of Ethan Allen Interiors Inc., one of the nation's largest furniture companies.

"It is not an easy situation for Muslim Americans because they are not one, they are not monolithic," he said. "The only reason now they're getting together like African-Americans got together is for civil rights."

The report maintains that a good foundation exists because most Muslims see no contradiction between their faith and American values and also makes clear the consequences of failure when tensions remain high over terrorism.

"The gathering climate of suspicion and mutual mistrust, exacerbated by the lack of engagement and dialogue, threatens to marginalize and alienate some Muslim Americans to the point where the danger of radicalization of a small minority could become a real possibility," the report says. "It would take only a single, significant act of terrorism in the United States involving Muslim Americans to cement the impression that rampant radicalism has taken root within the community."

The Chicago Council on Global Affairs is an independent, nonpartisan group that aims to influence discourse on global issues.

Attack on Muslim

2007-06-26T05:43:00.000-05:00

A man leaving a mosque in St. Cloud was assaulted in what police described Sunday as a crime motivated by bias.
A man leaving a mosque in St. Cloud was assaulted in what police described Sunday as a crime motivated by bias.
The victim, a 26-year-old man, was approached about 2:15 p.m. outside the mosque, in the 600 block of 7th Avenue S., by a white man, later identified as a 33-year-old Isanti, Minn., resident. The suspect has been arrested and was awaiting charges.
The suspect, police said, accused the victim of being a Muslim terrorist. The suspect then shoved the victim and elbowed him in the head, sending his glasses flying.
When the victim grabbed his cell phone to call 911, the suspect fled and was apprehended about six blocks away, police said.
Police said the suspect also fought with officers at the jail.

Yes, CAIR has responded:

We urge the FBI to determine whether federal civil rights charges may be filed in this case,” said CAIR-MN Communications Director Valerie Shirley. “Federal charges would send a strong message that anti-Muslim bigotry will not be tolerated in our society.”
Shirley also asked for stepped-up police protection for the St. Cloud mosque and called on state religious and political leaders to repudiate the Islamophobic attitudes that can lead to such incidents.

A good policy

2007-06-24T04:07:00.000-05:00

Chennai: Thai Airways yesterday said it was considering an overhaul of the system of checking the antecedents of passengers, a day after a man stripped inside one of its flights en route to the city from Dubai.

According to Mike Panatta, general manager of the airline's Chennai office, the move followed several incidents involving passengers with undisclosed psychological maladies.

The passenger in question, who hailed from Thanjavur district in Tamil Nadu, took off his clothes as the plane was about to descend at Chennai airport on Thursday.

Police sources said that he had worked in the Middle East for the past 18 months and pleaded "a temporary memory blackout." He has been sent for medical examination after being detained.

"An incident like a hugely built person dancing nude inside the plane is something we wish to avoid at all cost," Panatta told IANS yesterday.

Mosque targets own Muslim

2007-06-23T03:11:00.000-05:00

A Tulsa Muslim has filed a lawsuit saying he was assaulted and his name run through the mud at his own Mosque. On Friday Jamal Miftah filed a civil suit against the Islamic Society of Tulsa and several directors and officers of the Mosque.

Miftah wrote an op-ed piece to the “Tulsa World” last year urging Muslims to stop killing in the name of Islam, and claiming some Mosques in American raise money for terrorists. Miftah says after the article was published members of his Mosque threatened him and told him not to return.

CAIR demands apology

2007-06-23T03:08:00.000-05:00

A Monterey school principal today cited employee rights as the reason why a public apology would not follow a lunchroom incident Tuesday when a supervisor demanded that a Muslim student remove her Islamic head scarf.
Seaside High School Principal Sydney Renwick agreed to a face-to-face apology for the 13-year-old student who said she was humiliated when a lunchroom supervisor demanded she remove her hijab in front of more than 100 students.
But Renwick said a request by the Bay Area chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations to have the lunchroom supervisor publicly apologize would be a violation of the employee's rights.

He cited the creation of a hostile work environment as one of those violations.

"The school understands that this is an emotional issue and that religious practice is central to this community's beliefs and value system," Renwick said. "But on the same token, we cannot violate this person's rights while we attempt to rectify the situation."

CAIR is requesting a public apology because the student was humiliated in public, according to CAIR spokeswoman Abiya Ahmed.

"A public apology is important not just for this girl, it would offer closure to the family," Ahmed said.

She said her group has offered to provide diversity training at the school to prevent what she called "ignorance" and "misunderstanding" within the community.

Food fight

2007-06-22T12:56:00.000-05:00

A complaint about the harassment of Muslim students at a Blaine middle school has been resolved, with the school district being praised for its response.
The Minnesota chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-Minnesota) filed a complaint last month that a Muslim student at Westwood Middle School was called a "terrorist." Two other Muslim students alleged that food was thrown at them.
In an agreement announced Thursday, the school will incorporate information about world religions into its geography curriculum, assign a diversity coordinator and create a "school climate task force" of students and faculty.

Jasser for President

2007-06-22T04:10:00.000-05:00

Campaign message

Dr. Zuhdi Jasser founded the Arizona-based American Islamic Forum for Democracy in 2003 to articulate the ideas of "liberty-minded" moderate Muslims whose beliefs are in concert with American freedoms and citizenship.

"The American public has become increasingly attuned in recent months to terrorist threats after plots for violence at Fort Dix and JFK Airport were foiled, underscoring the fact that homeland security is still the No. 1 campaign issue for 2008," Dr. Jasser said during a meeting with The Washington Times editorial staff yesterday.

"This awareness is something for candidates on both sides of the aisle to keep in mind: The American voter is yearning for clarity, for strong, defining language about this threat. Those who aspire to be in the White House need to consider," he said. "And if the left ever gets educated about it all, you'll see the Michael Moores of the world running from the imams, not embracing them."

CAIR like David Duke?

2007-06-22T02:01:00.000-05:00

Controversy continued to dog "A Mighty Heart" on the eve of its bigscreen bow, as pic drew fire over a screening designed to promote religious tolerance.
Paramount Vantage initiated the Thursday evening event -- a screening followed by a panel discussion at the Sherry Lansing theater -- soliciting input from Muslim, Christian and Jewish orgs. The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) and Progressive Christians Uniting (PCU) ended up co-sponsoring with the specialty label; Plan B co-producer Dede Gardner and Rabbi Haim Dov Beliak were skedded to appear on the panel along with reps of CAIR and PCU. Café Intifada, Friends of Pakistan, USA and Muslim Public Affairs Council also lent their support to the event.
However, a Jewish activist decried the leanings of several of the participants, likening CAIR's involvement to "David Duke co-sponsoring 'Schindler's List.'"

From CAIR

2007-06-22T01:58:00.000-05:00

 SANTA CLARA, Calif., June 21 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The San
Francisco Bay Area chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations
(CAIR-SFBA) today called for a public apology and diversity training
following a June 19th incident in which a high school official demanded
that a Muslim student remove her hijab, or Islamic head scarf.
   According to the 13-year-old Muslim student, a supervisor in the
lunchroom of Seaside High School in Seaside, Calif., demanded that she
remove her scarf, despite being told that it was worn for religious
reasons. The student, who was visiting the school to take part in a summer
algebra program, says she broke down in tears after the supervisor
allegedly shouted, "You have to take it off now," in front of more than 100
other students in the lunchroom.
   Despite the shouted demands of the school official, the girl refused to
remove her scarf.
   CAIR-SFBA contacted the school principal who confirmed that the
incident occurred as described. He offered to arrange a face-to-face
apology with the supervisor and student but did not agree to a public
apology.
   "It is a gross violation of authority to demand that a student violate
his or her religious principles in order to receive an education," said
CAIR-SFBA Executive Director Safaa Ibrahim. "Because the student was
humiliated in public, it is only reasonable to make an apology or statement
in public to mitigate the damage caused by the supervisor's unacceptable
actions."
   Ibrahim also asked that the school institute diversity training for all
staff and that appropriate measures be taken to ensure that this type of
disturbing incident is not repeated.
   She said CAIR publishes a booklet, called "An Educator's Guide to
Islamic Religious Practices," designed to avoid just such incidents.

G Mo No More

2007-06-22T01:51:00.000-05:00

The Bush administration is nearing a decision to close the Guantanamo Bay detainee facility and move its terror suspects to military prisons elsewhere, The Associated Press has learned.

Senior administration officials said Thursday a consensus is building for a proposal to shut the center and transfer detainees to one or more Defense Department facilities, including the maximum-security military prison at Fort Leavenworth, Kan., where they could face trial.

President Bush's national security and legal advisers had been scheduled to discuss the move at a meeting Friday, the officials said, but after news of it broke, the White House said the meeting would not take place that day and no decision on Guantanamo Bay's status is imminent.

"It's no longer on the schedule for tomorrow," said Gordon Johndroe, a spokesman for the National Security Council. "Senior officials have met on the issue in the past, and I expect they will meet on the issue in the future."

Three senior administration officials spoke about the discussions on condition of anonymity because they were internal deliberations.

Expected to consult soon, according to the officials, were Vice President Dick Cheney, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, Homeland Security chief Michael Chertoff, National Intelligence Director Mike McConnell and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Peter Pace.

Who's got the secrets?

2007-06-20T15:48:00.000-05:00

Several officials at the company that manages security at the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) used unprotected e-mail networks earlier this year to share highly classified information related to the characteristics of materials used in nuclear weapons.
The incident occurred on Jan. 19 and was considered so serious that a U.S. Department of Energy official was notified of it in the midst of a White House event.
Now, Rep. John Dingell (D-Mich.), chairman of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, wants to know why a subcommittee investigating an October 2006 security breach at LANL was not told about the January compromise.

Identification Please

2007-06-20T13:54:00.000-05:00

Did Internet thieves steal Herman Munster's MasterCard number? Crooks in an underground chat room for selling stolen credit card numbers and personal consumer information offered pilfered data purportedly about Herman Munster, the 1960s Frankenstein-like character from "The Munsters" TV sitcom.

The thieves apparently didn't realize Munster was a fictional TV character and dutifully offered to sell Munster's personal details — accurately listing his home address from the television series as 1313 Mocking Bird Lane — and what appeared to be his MasterCard number. Munster's birth date was listed as Aug. 15, 1964, suspiciously close to the TV series' original air date in September 1964.

Gunfire at the W.R. Corral

2007-06-20T13:50:00.000-05:00

WASHINGTON -- An armed security guard at Walter Reed Army Medical Center opened fire at another guard Wednesday outside a busy entrance to the hospital, police said. No one was injured.

The guards had been arguing at about 8:30 a.m. when one of them fired as many as 10 shots, Lt. Jimmie Riley said.

The other guard, who was not hit, ran to a nearby house to call police, Riley said. The guard who fired the shots was taken into custody.

3-D Duh

2007-06-20T04:03:00.000-05:00

A computer simulation of the 2001 World Trade Center attacks supports a federal agency's findings that the initial impact from the hijacked airplanes stripped away crucial fireproofing material and that the weakened towers collapsed under their own weight.

The two-year Purdue University study, funded in part by the National Science Foundation, was the first to use 3-D animation to provide visual context to the attacks, said Christoph Hoffmann, a professor of computer science and one of the lead researchers on the project.

"One thing it does point out... is the absolute essential nature of fireproofing steel structures," Hoffmann told The Associated Press. "This is something that wasn't done originally in the World Trade Center when it was built. It wasn't code at that time."

Homeland Computer Insecurity

2007-06-20T02:42:00.000-05:00

The Homeland Security Department, the lead U.S. agency for fighting cyber threats, suffered more than 800 hacker break-ins, virus outbreaks and other computer security problems over two years, senior officials acknowledged to Congress.

In one instance, hacker tools for stealing passwords and other files were found on two internal Homeland Security computer systems. The agency's headquarters sought forensic help from the department's own Security Operations Center and the U.S. Computer Emergency Readiness Team it operates with Carnegie Mellon University.

In other cases, computer workstations in the Coast Guard and the Transportation Security Administration were infected with malicious software detected trying to communicate with outsiders; laptops were discovered missing; and agency Web sites suffered break-ins.

The chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., said such problems undermine the government's efforts to encourage companies and private organizations to improve cyber security.

"What the department is doing on its own networks speaks so loudly that the message is not getting across," Thompson said.

Congressional investigators, expected to testify Wednesday during an oversight hearing about the department's security lapses, determined that persistent weaknesses "threaten the confidentiality, integrity and availability of key DHS information and information systems," according to a new report from the Government Accountability Office being released later in June.

Ohio CAIRS, Not

2007-06-19T17:36:00.000-05:00

(COLUMBUS, OH, 6/18/2007) - Ohio Governor Ted Strickland spoke last night at the tenth annual banquet of the Council on American-Islamic Relations chapter in that state (CAIR-OH).

Governor Strickland addressed the crowd of 350 people, saying: "On behalf of all Ohioans, [my wife and I] appreciate your vision to promote justice and mutual understanding. We gather under CAIR-Ohio's theme this year, 'American Muslims: Connecting and Sharing,' to do just that, to connect and share and get to know each other better."

Governor Strickland also expressed appreciation for "the Muslim traditions of strong family, hard work, and education,” and presented a proclamation honoring CAIR-Ohio’s work.

CAIR Chairman Dr. Parvez Ahmed and several prominent imams also spoke at the event. Imams, local elected officials, and members of the interfaith community were among those in attendance.
Hat tip to News Buster who has the scoop on coverage, or lack thereof.

From CAIR

2007-06-19T17:33:00.000-05:00

CAIR-FLORIDA & THE IMAN AT NOVA HOST ISLAMOPHOBIA SYMPOSIUM

Speakers:

* Dr. Robert Pape, 'Why the War on Terrorism is Heading South'
* Dr. Mohammed Nimer, Islamophobia & Anti-Americanism: An Action Agenda
* Dr. Aisha Musa, Islam in the popular media: The problem of pseudo-scholarship and misinformation

WHERE: Nova Southeastern University, Steele Auditorium in Terry Bldg. 19E, 3301 College Avenue, Ft Lauderdale, FL
WHEN: Saturday, June 30, 2007, 2 - 4:30 p.m.

RSVP: Free admission. Limited seating. RSVP mandatory at (954) 272-0490.

DR. ROBERT PAPE is a professor of political science at the University of Chicago specializing in international security affairs. His most recent book is dying to win: The Strategic Logic of Suicide Terrorism (Random House, June 2005).

DR. MOHAMED NIMER is research director at the Council on American-Islamic Relations in Washington, DC. His research has focused on Muslim politics and development and the American Muslim experience. His most recent publication is the forthcoming edited volume "Islamophobia and Anti-Americanism: Causes and Remedies" (Amana Publications, 2007).

DR. AISHA MUSA is an Assistant Professor of Islamic Studies in the Department of Religious Studies at FIU. She received her PhD in Arabic and Islamic Studies from the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations at Harvard University. Her forthcoming book, "Hadith as Scripture," explores the development of the doctrine of duality of revelation and issues surrounding the relative authority of the Quran and the Prophetic Traditions in Islam.

Fish and dynamite

2007-06-19T07:50:00.000-05:00

A man found last year at George Bush Intercontinental Airport with a stick of dynamite from a Bolivian silver mine was sentenced Friday to two years' probation.

Howard MacFarland Fish, 21, apologized to his parents and the 200 passengers aboard the Aug. 25 flight from Buenos Aires.

wow

2007-06-19T07:47:00.000-05:00

I go off on vacation for a week and all hell breaks out! Check back later, I need to play catch up and will post soon.

Bomb threat a hoax

2007-06-11T05:52:00.000-05:00

NEWARK, N.J. (AP)--A man who allegedly claimed he had a bomb inside his luggage was arrested at Newark Liberty International Airport on Wednesday night after being subdued by federal air marshals.
The threat proved to be a hoax, authorities said, and no passengers or airline employees were injured in the 7:30 p.m. (2330 GMT) incident. It occurred at a Continental Airlines ticket counter on the international departures level of Terminal C.
Osbalbo Mejias of Roselle, who is in his 40s, was charged with making a terroristic threat, said Alan Hicks, a spokesman for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates the airport.
Hicks told The Star-Ledger of Newark that Mejias told a Continental customer service agent that he had a bomb in his bag. Officials said the incident resulted in the brief closure of part of the ticketing area, but didn't impede screening or delay flights.
Michael Simons, a spokesman for the Transportation Security Administration, confirmed the incident occurred, but wouldn't say how many federal air marshals were involved. He told the newspaper that the matter didn't disrupt any checkpoints.

Over There

2007-06-10T06:44:00.000-05:00

A British Army officer has been abused by Asian women while on a hospital visit to troops injured in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Company Sergeant Major Neil Powell was surrounded and heckled by three young women in the unprovoked verbal attack at Selly Oak Hospital in Birmingham.
The women, in traditional Asian dress, ranted about the presence of British troops in Muslim countries.
The incident took place in a public area of the hospital used by both civilians and military personnel.
In recent months the standard of treatment for soldiers at Selly Oak has been widely criticised. Military personnel have called for greater protection and privacy away from civilian patients and visitors.
CSM Powell works as a welfare officer for soldiers wounded while fighting insurgents in Iraq and the Taliban in Afghanistan. He was on a regular visit to the wards when the incident occurred on May 10.
He told officers about the abuse but declined to lodge an official complaint. He feared such a negative report would adversely affect the morale of young soldiers who are flown to Selly Oak from the battlefield with horrific injuries.
A colleague said: "He is normally a very placid character, a gentle giant. But he was fuming, understandably, after what happened.
"He couldn’t believe it. CSM Powell just had to stand and take abuse from these screaming and very aggressive women. I don’t think a guy would have got away with it.
"A lot of soldiers are worried that something more serious could happen. There isn’t much security here."
But the Labour MP for Selly Oak, Lynne Jones, refused to back calls for more secure facilities for troops.
She said: "The soldiers seem to want a little empire consisting of their own designated staff and facilities, a fiefdom.
"The point of basing the Centre for Defence Medicine at Selly Oak was to make the most of the range of experience here. The priority should always be the standard of clinical care.
"When I’ve visited the military ward it has been cluttered with staff."
Conservative MP Patrick Mercer said: "We have reason to be extremely cautious about the security of wounded British soldiers and those who care for them.
"Earlier this year, we were told there was a detailed plan to capture a soldier in Birmingham and torture him.
"This incident demonstrates that our troops and their welfare staff are vulnerable. This is an issue we ignore at our peril."
CSM Powell said: "There was a minor incident. Sorry, I am not willing to talk about it. My concern is the morale of the fighting troops.
"I have my own opinions and part of my job is to address those opinions, but I also have a chain of command."
In recent years defence chiefs have closed military hospitals, which benefited from greater security, to cut costs.
As a result, all casualties from Iraq and Afghanistan are streamed through Selly Oak on their return to Britain.
One ward is dedicated to treating injured soldiers, and they are also cared for on other wards alongside civilians.
The Ministry of Defence segregates soldiers according to where they were wounded, either in Iraq or Afghanistan. There are single rooms for the most serious casualties and they are treated by military doctors and nurses.
An MoD spokeswoman said: "A military member of staff was heckled by a small group. He has no clear recollection of what was said and took no formal action.

"It would not be appropriate for me to comment on what Lynne Jones has said."

Also from CAIR Chicago

2007-06-10T06:39:00.001-05:00

CAIR-CHICAGO FILES BIAS COMPLAINT FOR MUSLIM WORKER - TOP

(CHICAGO, IL, 6/8/07) - The Chicago chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-Chicago) has filed a complaint with the Chicago Commission on Human Relations on behalf of a Muslim employee who allegedly suffered discrimination in the workplace.

The employee, who is of Indian heritage, says colleagues and a supervisor at Network Video Production in Chicago denigrated his faith and national origin through bigoted comments. He also alleges that his employer decreased his work assignments and delayed sending paychecks after he complained about one of those comments. According the Muslim worker, this alleged retaliation made it impossible for him to maintain a living wage, and he was therefore forced to resign.

Even after resigning from the company, the Muslim worker claims staff of his former employer harassed and intimidated him when they encountered each other at other work sites.

"Every American employee deserves a workplace free of religious or ethic discrimination," said CAIR-Chicago staff attorney Rima Kapitan. "Companies have a legal obligation to prevent a hostile work environment and to refrain from retaliating against workers who assert their rights."

Kapitan says CAIR offers a booklet, called "An Employer's Guide to Islamic Religious Practices," designed to prevent just such incidents.

CAIR, America's largest Islamic civil liberties group, has 33 offices and chapters nationwide and in Canada. Its mission is to promote justice, enhance the understanding of Islam, and empower American Muslims.

Employing Muslims -- from CAIR

2007-06-10T06:37:00.000-05:00

(SEATTLE, WA, 6/8/07) - The Seattle chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-Seattle) today expressed concern about a June 4 program on KIRO-AM radio in which host Dori Munson and callers discussed denying employment to American Muslims because of their faith.

To listen to the segment, go to:
http://www.cair.com/audio/06072007.asp

"Denying anyone employment because of their religion is un-American and illegal," said CAIR-Seattle President Arsalan Bukhari. "Debating such bigoted topics does a disservice to Americans of all faiths."

CAIR, America's largest Islamic civil liberties group, has 33 offices and chapters nationwide and in Canada. 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.

CAIR press release

2007-06-08T04:55:00.000-05:00

(SANTA CLARA, CA, 6/7/07) - The San Francisco Bay Area chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-SFBA) and the Asian Law Caucus (ALC) yesterday held a training session for Customs and Border Protection (CBP) staff supervisors focused on travel-related issues faced by American Muslims.

At the training session, CAIR-SFBA Executive Director Safaa Ibrahim offered a brief overview of Islamic beliefs and practices, including topics such as typical Muslim attire, social etiquette and gender relations, prayer rituals, handling of the Quran, physical searches, and travel during the Hajj pilgrimage season.

"This training session is a step forward in building mutual cooperation between government officials and the American Muslim community," said Ibrahim. "We must all work together to ensure our nation's security while preserving American values of equality and justice."

CAIR-SFBA Civil Rights Coordinator Azima Subedar presented statistics and sample cases to highlight American Muslim civil rights concerns in California and nationwide.

ALC Staff Attorney Shirin Sinnar noted that for travelers, challenges primarily involve repeated detentions, length of detention, questioning on political beliefs and religious practices, invasive searches of personal property, and the attitude and demeanor of officials. She added that border detentions challenge core American values of equality, freedom and citizenship.

The training session concluded with an open discussion with CBP officials.

CAIR, America's largest Islamic civil liberties group, has 33 offices and chapters nationwide and in Canada. Its mission is to promote justice, enhance the understanding of Islam, and empower American Muslims.

Imam demands U.S. apology

2007-06-08T04:54:00.000-05:00

LONDON, ONT.(Sun Media) - Detained without explanation for hours at the Detroit airport, a Muslim leader says he feared for his family in London and couldn't stop thinking about Maher Arar.
Critics yesterday demanded action from Ottawa and apologies from the U.S. after Dr. Munir El-Kassem was questioned and fingerprinted during a stopover in Detroit last month, while flying from Quebec City to Milwaukee.
While detained, an ordeal he said lasted four hours, the imam said he was intimidated.
The Islamic scholar said he was asked if he knew Osama Bin Laden and Saddam Hussein and whether he loved "God or Allah."
"You can't help but be intimidated, and the thought of Maher Arar when he fell in the hands of U.S. authorities without any regard for innocence or anything else," El-Kassem said yesterday.

Saving John Doe

2007-06-05T08:37:00.000-05:00

From Rep. Pete King in The Hill

In November 2006, six Islamic leaders were removed from a U.S. Airways flight in Minneapolis after they were observed acting suspiciously - including not sitting in their assigned seats, asking for seatbelt extenders although not needing them, and making anti-American statements. The men were questioned by authorities and then cleared.

This, of course, has become known as the infamous "flying imams" incident. And while the imams did not set out to hijack the plane, it turns out they had a larger attack in mind. In their sights: the common sense of every traveling American.

In March 2007, with the help of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the imams filed suit against the airline and - shockingly - also against the heroic "John Doe" passengers who reported their suspicious behavior. These lawsuits, however, are clearly nothing more than cheap attempts to intimidate everyday Americans from taking action to
help protect our country; and Congress must take action to ensure they do not succeed.

That is why I introduced an amendment, modeled on legislation written by Rep. Steve Pearce (R-N.M.), which will protect passengers and commuters against frivolous lawsuits such as those filed by the imams. The language was overwhelmingly adopted by the House, 304-121, as an amendment to H.R. 1401, the Rail and Public Transportation Security Act of 2007.
The bill is now part of conference discussions between the House and Senate, and it is imperative that these common-sense "John Doe" protections are sent to the president for his signature.

The amendment, as adopted, covers threats to transportation systems, passenger safety or security, and possible acts of terrorism, and also shields transportation systems and employees who take reasonable actions to mitigate perceived threats. The amendment is retroactive to activities that took place on or after Nov. 20, 2006 - the date of the Minneapolis incident - to ensure that the "John Doe" passengers aboard that plane in Minneapolis receive these protections.

Just last month, we saw a life-saving example of how important reporting suspicious activity can be. Authorities in New Jersey were able to disrupt an extremist plot to attack the U.S. Army base at Fort Dix, thanks entirely to a tip from a local video store clerk. The clerk had been asked to make DVD copies of a home video that apparently showed the group shooting assault weapons, discussing jihad and shouting "Allah Akbar!" Recognizing this as extremely dangerous behavior, the clerk rightfully alerted the FBI. After the arrests were made, the FBI revealed the group was allegedly in the final stages of preparing for an armed assault on Fort Dix, and possibly several other military installations.

If the clerk hadn't reported his concerns to the proper authorities, chances are we would now be reading headlines of a domestic terrorist attack. But the clerk had both the bravery and common sense to speak up when he saw something suspicious, and America owes him a sincere debt of gratitude for doing so. While CAIR might counsel the terrorist suspects to now turn around and sue the clerk, America understands the essential role reporting suspicious activity plays in the continued security of our homeland. That is why we cannot allow radical activist groups to intimidate American travelers and commuters into keeping silent about something common sense dictates as suspicious.

In a post-9/11 reality, passenger vigilance is essential to our security. It is important to remember that the TSA and the FAA rightfully urge passengers to report anything suspicious. Law enforcement agencies across the country have tip lines to report suspicious activity. And communities and mass transit systems nationwide have adopted "See Something, Say Something" campaigns. Given the variety of threats we face and terrorists' history of targeting mass transit systems, encouraging passengers to report strange behavior to authorities is really just common sense. Failing to report suspicious behavior could end up costing thousands of lives - and while the "flying imams" don't seem to understand this, the American people do. We must make certain that brave citizens who stand up and say something are given the protections they deserve. The King amendment does exactly that, and Democratic leaders must make certain it comes out of the conference committee intact.

King is the ranking member of the House Committee on Homeland Security.

Muslim scarf discrimination

2007-06-04T17:11:00.000-05:00

A federal jury has ordered Alamo Rent A Car to pay a Muslim woman $287,640 for firing her because she refused to remove a head scarf she was wearing during the holy month of Ramadan.

The firing of Bilan Nur, then 22, came just four months after the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks. The federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission sued the company for what it termed a "post 9/11 backlash," alleging that she was fired because of her religious beliefs in violation of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

U.S. District Court Judge Roslyn O. Silver ruled last year that the government had proven religious discrimination and Alamo had shown no proof that it had taken reasonable steps to allow Nur to follow her beliefs before firing her.

That left the jury in the trial that ended Friday with only the question of how much damages to award, said Mary Jo O'Neill, the regional attorney for the EEOC.

The jury in the three-day trial awarded Nur $21,640 in back wages, $16,000 in compensatory damages and $250,000 in punitive damages.

Muslims set us up

2007-06-03T03:46:00.000-05:00

PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad - Two men allegedly involved in a plot to attack New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport were in custody in Trinidad and Tobago on Saturday and the police commissioner said authorities were scouring the Caribbean country for a third suspect still at large.

Mosque replaces affordable housing

2007-06-03T01:42:00.000-05:00

POMPANO BEACH – A man who filed a lawsuit seeking to prevent an Islamic center from building a mosque near his home said the center’s representatives told him the city would take land he owns near the proposed mosque if he did not sell it. “The attorneys representing the Islamic Centers of South Florida sent my family a letter offering to buy land we own next to their proposed site,” Rodney L. Wright, 42, the plaintiff in the lawsuit, said in an exclusive interview with the Broward Times. “They threatened that the city would use eminent domain to take it from us if we didn’t accept their offers.’’

Imam overstays VISA

2007-06-01T06:56:00.000-05:00

The religious leader of the Alabama Islamic Education Center in Huntsville, arrested April 19 for a visa overstay, is still in federal custody in Louisiana in what his attorney calls an injustice.

"He just wants to go back to his wife and children (in London)," said G.R. Mahmood, a lawyer specializing in international and immigration law, speaking from his Birmingham office Wednesday. "For no fault of his own, he is paying a terrible price."

CAIR targets radio host

2007-06-01T06:54:00.000-05:00

Summary: Peter Boyles of 630 KHOW-AM is the most recent Denver-based Clear Channel Communications host to engage in anti-Muslim rhetoric, telling a caller on his May 30 show that "the enemy" is "radical, crazy, religious Islam." Boyles also agreed with the caller's suggestions that the United States should bar "Islamic immigration" and that Islam should be declared "a political ideology."

During a discussion about "radical, crazy, religious Islam" on his May 30 broadcast, 630 KHOW-AM host Peter Boyles agreed with a caller's suggestion that the United States "need[s] to say, 'No more Islamic immigration.'" Boyles also agreed with the caller's assertion that "for our purposes" Islam should be declared "a political ideology." Boyles' statements represent the latest in a recent trend, documented by Colorado Media Matters, of conservative, Denver-based Clear Channel Communications Inc. radio hosts engaging in anti-Muslim rhetoric.

John Doe airlines asks for dismissal

2007-05-30T21:14:00.000-05:00

US Airways is asking a court to dismiss a lawsuit filed by a group of Muslim imams, saying the airline followed government guidelines when it removed the men from a flight because of suspicious behavior.
The response to the lawsuit, filed March 12 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota, says the airline "is required to adhere to the main points of the Transportation Security Administration's (TSA) Common Strategy regarding security threats in the aviation context."
The strategy advises flight crew members to be "alert for odd or suspicious behavior during all interactions with passengers in the gate area, during the boarding process and during routine flight duties and passenger interactions," the response to the lawsuit states.
"Flight crewmembers are required to mentally assess each passenger's behavior and the potential for threat. Moreover, the common strategy notes that this is a subjective analysis, and recognizes that there is no key factor that applies in every situation," it states.
"Notably, the common strategy advises flight crews to "Presume the worst," and "Be suspicious about any passenger disturbance," the response states.

IG details Syrian dry run

2007-05-30T04:46:00.001-05:00

A newly released inspector general report backs eyewitness accounts of suspicious behavior by 13 Middle Eastern men on a Northwest Airlines flight in 2004 and reveals several missteps by government officials, including failure to file an incident report until a month after the matter became public.
According to the Homeland Security report, the "suspicious passengers," 12 Syrians and their Lebanese-born promoter, were traveling on Flight 327 from Detroit to Los Angeles on expired visas. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services extended the visas one week after the June 29, 2004, incident.
The report also says that a background check in the FBI's National Crime Information Center database, which was performed June 18 as part of a visa-extension application, produced "positive hits" for past criminal records or suspicious behavior for eight of the 12 Syrians, who were traveling in the U.S. as a musical group.
In addition, the band's promoter was listed in a separate FBI database on case investigations for acting suspiciously aboard a flight months earlier. He was detained a third time in September on a return trip to the U.S. from Istanbul, the details of which were redacted.
The inspector general criticized the Homeland Security officials for not reporting the incident to the Homeland Security Operations Center (HSOC), which serves as the nation's nerve center for information sharing and domestic incident management.
The report comes three years after the incident, which was not officially acknowledged until a month later, after The Washington Times reported passenger and marshal complaints that the incident resembled a dry run for a terrorist attack. After reviewing the report, air marshals say it confirms their earlier suspicions.

Police Unions back John Doe

2007-05-29T07:56:00.001-05:00

Police unions are offering lobbying muscle to push for language in a bill that would protect rail and airline passengers who report suspicious activities from being sued.
The support is concurrent with similar legislation introduced in the New York state Assembly last week to ban such lawsuits in state courts.
"When it comes to suspicious, potentially terrorist activity, New Yorkers are encouraged, 'If you see something, say something,' but before they do so, they have a right to know that they will not be sued for their efforts," said Assemblyman Rory I. Lancman, Queens Democrat.
Police unions say their officers cannot be everywhere to see everything and stop every crime. They offered their support in letters to Rep. Steve Pearce, New Mexico Republican and author of language added to a rail- and transportation-safety bill to protect airline passengers from lawsuits.

IRS Can't find Terrorists

2007-05-29T03:55:00.000-05:00

IRS screening of tax-exempt organizations for potential terrorist activities is inefficient and incomplete, a new federal government audit warns.

The tax agency fails to systematically match filings of tax-exempt groups against a comprehensive list of potential terrorists, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration audit found. Instead, the IRS manually compares the filings with an incomplete list.

As a result, "The IRS provides only minimal assurance that tax-exempt organizations potentially involved in terrorist activities are being identified," the audit released Friday concluded.

"A significant source of alleged terrorist support has been through charities and non-profit organizations, and the IRS needs to use all of its available resources to identify tax-exempt organizations with potential links to terrorist groups," said Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., who called the audit findings "disturbing."

Since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the Treasury Department has designated six U.S.-based Muslim charities as terrorism supporters. The action halted their activities and led to seizure of millions of dollars in assets.

Silence of the lambs

2007-05-29T03:45:00.000-05:00

Before the Duka brothers were accused in the Fort Dix terror plot, some of the people who live near them on a quiet Cherry Hill street say, they were bad neighbors.
They say lambs were slaughtered in the backyard with a kitchen knife.
Fetid diapers were tossed into an open trash Dumpster that sat in the driveway, near an array of cars and pickup trucks without license plates.
Roosters ran about.

Hat tip -- Hot Air

The Flying Syrian Musicians

2007-05-27T12:29:00.000-05:00

Breaking on the Washington Times web page:

The inspector general for Homeland Security late Friday released new details of what federal air marshals say was a terrorist dry run aboard Northwest Airlines Flight 327 from Detroit to Los Angeles on June 29, 2004.
Several portions of the report remain redacted. The release stems from a Freedom of Information request by The Washington Times in April 2006. The Times first reported on July 22 that this and other probes and dry runs were occurring on commercial flights since the September 11 terrorist attacks.
Look for the full report in Wednesday's edition of The Times.
Excerpts fom 51-page inspector general report:

Power Line has got it going on.
The comments at Little Green Football are a riot.

Poll results

2007-05-27T07:14:00.001-05:00

Out of 75 votes cast, 73 said Congress should pass legislation to protect John Doe passengers. Only two votes were cast against John Doe.

Terrorists?

2007-05-27T07:06:00.000-05:00

A Web site operated by the Alabama Department of Homeland Security that identified gay rights organizations and anti-abortion groups among those that could include terrorists has been removed from the Internet after the agency received complaints about the site.
The Web site listed different types of terrorists, including "single issue terrorists," which it said can come from groups that rally behind specific causes. Those listed as possibly spawning terrorists:
Environmentalists.
Anti-genetic activists.
Animal rights advocates.
Opponents of abortion.
Anti-war activists.
Gay rights supporters.
The director of the department, Jim Walker, said his agency received a number of calls and e-mails from people who said they felt the Web site unfairly targeted certain people just because of their beliefs. He said he plans to put the Web site back on the Internet, but will no longer identify specific types of groups.

Gore says Bush insults Muslims

2007-05-27T07:03:00.001-05:00

THE pursuit of "dominance" in foreign policy led the Bush administration to ignore the UN, to do serious damage to our most important alliances, to violate international law, and to cultivate the hatred and contempt of many in the rest of the world. The seductive appeal of exercising unconstrained unilateral power led this president to interpret his powers under the constitution in a way that brought to life the worst nightmare of the founders. Any policy based on domination of the rest of the world not only creates enemies for the US and recruits for al-Qaeda, but also undermines the international cooperation that is essential to defeating terrorists who wish to harm and intimidate America. Instead of "dominance", we should be seeking pre-eminence in a world where nations respect us and seek to follow our leadership and adopt our values.
With the blatant failure by the government to respect the rule of law, we face a great challenge in restoring America's moral authority in the world. Our moral authority is our greatest source of strength. It is our moral authority that has been recklessly put at risk by the cheap calculations of this wilful president.

Rise in black Muslims since 911

2007-05-27T07:01:00.000-05:00

PITTSBURGH (AP) -- Allahu Akbar, the Muslim call for prayer, rings out on a recent Friday and a group of black men and women gather to celebrate the Islamic day of rest.

The wooden house in Pittsburgh's rundown Homewood neighborhood looks like any other on the block. But the sign at the door, Masjid Mumin, and the rows of shoes lined up inside on gray, plastic shelves hint of the brand of Sunni Islam its members practice.

The mosque is one of seven in Pittsburgh, home to a vibrant community of about 8,000 to 10,000 Sunni Muslims -- some 30 percent of them black.

Following what appears to be a trend in cities nationwide, religious leaders in Pittsburgh say there has been a rise in black conversions to Sunni Islam since the Sept. 11 terror attacks.

Apple pie, suntan lotion, and terrorist prevention

2007-05-25T16:19:00.000-05:00

From the Washington Times website:

Forget bringing mom an apple pie and pack the suntan lotion into checked bags when traveling by air this Memorial Day weekend, advise Homeland Security officials.
With the terrorist threat level at orange, or "high" for all domestic and international flights, Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officials continue to crack down on what can, and cannot, be packed in carry-on bags.
During the Christmas holidays, snow globes were a no, no as it contains more than three ounces of liquid.
The same restrictions apply to suntan lotions, sunscreen, even food that contain liquid for travel this weekend.

SHUT DOWN ICNA

2007-05-25T06:19:00.000-05:00

(Coral Springs, FL) Americans Against Hate (AAH), the terrorist watchdog group, is calling on the United States government to shut down the offices and freeze the assets of the Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA) for its role in the financing of Hamas. As well, AAH is calling on the U.S. government to place the Muslim Brotherhood of Pakistan, Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), on the State Department list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs) for the same.

In August of 2006, just nine short months ago, JI announced on its website that it had presented, via its charity Al-Khidmat Foundation (AKF), a check for $99 thousand (six million rupees) to the head of Hamas, Khaled Mashaal. Mashaal thanked JI and stated that Hamas would continue to wage Jihad (war) against Israel.

ICNA was founded in 1971 as the American arm of JI. On AKF's website, ICNA is listed as the charity's two top donors, ICNA Relief USA and ICNA Relief Canada. Another of the listed donors is ICNA's charity, Helping Hand.

AAH Chairman Joe Kaufman stated, "We have incontrovertible evidence that ICNA is part of JI and that JI is funding Hamas through a charity that ICNA is the top donor for. Given this proof, there is no reason whatsoever for the future existence of ICNA. In addition, given JI's financing of Hamas and given JI's communiqués with the leader of Hamas, there are clear grounds for the placement of JI on the State Department list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations. We call on the United States government to take immediate action, with respect to both of these organizations."