AMERICAN MUSLIM NEWS BRIEFS - 8/1/06

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

AMERICAN MUSLIM NEWS BRIEFS - 8/1/06

* Hadith: Defend Your Brother's Honor
* CA: Assailant May Have Mistaken Sikh for Muslim (SJMN)
* ACLU, CAIR Demand End to Citizenship Delays (LA Times)
* Rabbinical Council: In War, Enemy Has No 'Innocents'
- CAIR: U.S. Protesters Condemn Israeli Strikes (Arab News)
- CAIR-OH Rep Engages in Muslim-Jewish Dialogue (Enquirer)
- CAIR-OH: Akron Professor Freed by Israel (Plain Dealer)
- Over 40 Civilian Bodies in S. Lebanon Rubble (Haaretz)
- Orthodox Church: 'The Water of Cana is Turned Into Blood'
- Lebanon Sees Environmental Devastation (AP)
* CAIR-MI: Arab-Americans Decry US Evacuation (Herald Trib)
* NY: Man Accused of Reporting Terrorist Hoax (NY Times)
- CA: Islamic Charity Fundraiser Released (AP)
* CAIR-LA: Wedding Makeup Goes Multi-Cultural (OC Register)
- DE: Making Room for Religion at Work (News Journal)

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HADITH OF THE DAY: DEFEND YOUR BROTHER'S HONOR - TOP

The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: "He who defends the honor of a brother, God will shield his face against the Fire on the Day of Judgment."

Al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 468

To learn more about the life and legacy of the Prophet Muhammad, go to: http://www.cair.com/Muhammad

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CA: ASSAILANT MAY HAVE THOUGHT SIKH VICTIM WAS MUSLIM - TOP
Sikh stabbed in driveway; neighbor is in custody; police say he believed victim was in Taliban
Leslie Griffy and Sean Webby, San Jose Mercury News, 8/1/06
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/local/states/california/the_valley/15170221.htm

The day after the stabbing of a Santa Clara grandfather left South Bay Sikhs reeling, prosecutors are weighing hate crime and attempted murder charges against his neighbor, who apparently believed the man belonged to the Taliban.

Iqbal Singh, 40, was waiting in his carport with his 2-year-old granddaughter around 10:50 a.m. Sunday when the suspect approached him and stabbed him in the neck with a steak knife, Santa Clara police Sgt. Kurt Clarke said.

Singh was still in the hospital Monday with serious injuries. The girl was unhurt.

"It's terrifying," his brother-in-law, Gurmeet Singh, said. 'Here he is standing outside of his home, and he is attacked."

That the stabbing might have been driven by hate doesn't surprise Gurmeet Singh.

"We Sikhs are the most targeted for hate crimes," he said. "People see us, and they don't understand who we are. They associate us with terrorists."

Santa Clara police arrested Everett Thompson, 20, of Santa Clara, later Sunday, Clarke said. He was booked into Santa Clara County Jail on suspicion of attempted murder and a hate crime, Clarke said.

Investigators are trying to determine why Thompson allegedly attacked Singh.

There are indications that Thompson, who may suffer from mental illness, believed Singh was a member of the Taliban, officials said Monday. Singh is not. (MORE)

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ACLU, MUSLIM GROUP DEMAND END TO CITIZENSHIP DELAYS - TOP
H.G. Reza, Los Angeles Times, 8/1/06
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/california/la-me-aclu1aug01,1,471735.story

Serving in the military has been the fast track for U.S. citizenship for many immigrants since the 2001 terrorist attacks. But not for Mustafa Aziz, an Afghan and Irvine resident who served a four-year hitch in the Air Force.

While on duty in 2003, he applied for citizenship and passed the naturalization exam the following year. More than two years later, Aziz is still waiting to pledge allegiance to the country he served, and he is turning to the courts for help.

Aziz is the lead plaintiff in a lawsuit the American Civil Liberties Union and a Muslim civil rights group plan to file today on behalf of 10 Southern California immigrants who have been waiting two years or more for their citizenship. The lawsuit, to be filed in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, accuses government officials of illegally delaying their background checks and allowing applications to linger indefinitely.

The lawsuit says federal law requires government officials to approve or deny a citizenship application 120 days after an immigrant passes the naturalization exam. The suit asks that a federal judge review the files and administer the oath of citizenship. It also asks the court to certify it as a class action and include all immigrants who have been waiting six months or more for naturalization after filing applications at the Los Angeles office of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service.

Aziz, 25, said he was angered after watching President Bush last week attend a ceremony at Walter Reed Army Medical Center where three wounded soldiers were granted U.S. citizenship. White House officials said more than 26,000 active-duty members of the military have become citizens since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks under an executive order Bush signed in July 2002, which makes them eligible for immediate naturalization.

Foreign nationals can enlist in the U.S. military if they have a green card, meaning they have received permanent resident status. . .

Hussam Ayloush, executive director of the Southern California chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said the lengthy delays were due to "either incompetence or discrimination." The council, the ACLU's partner in the lawsuit, referred the 10 plaintiffs to the organization.

"Whether incompetence or discrimination, the process needs to be fixed. Either way, Muslims will not accept any longer being treated as second-class citizens by this administration," Ayloush said. (MORE)

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YESHA RABBINICAL COUNCIL: DURING TIME OF WAR, ENEMY HAS NO INNOCENTS - TOP
Y-Net News, 7/30/06
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3283720,00.html

The Yesha Rabbinical Council announced in response to an IDF attack in Kfar Qanna that "according to Jewish law, during a time of battle and war, there is no such term as 'innocents' of the enemy."

All of the discussions on Christian morality are weakening the spirit of the army and the nation and are costing us in the blood of our soldiers and civilians," the statement said.

SEE ALSO:

CAIR: AMERICAN PROTESTERS RALLY TO CONDEMN ISRAELI STRIKES - TOP
Barbara Ferguson, Arab News, 8/1/06
http://www.arabnews.com/?page=4§ionfiltered=0&article=75658&d=1&m=8&y=2006

Tens of thousands of demonstrators are expected to protest in Washington D.C. to denounce what organizers call "a war by the United States and Israel against the Palestinians and Lebanese." The "National Emergency March" on Aug. 12 is being organized by a coalition of Arab-Americans and US peace groups.

The Aug. 12 rally will begin at noon in front of the White House. "What you will see will literally be a sea of human protesters surrounding the White House," said Brian Becker, national coordinator of the ANSWER (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism) Coalition. "I expect tens of thousands to come to Washington to confront the Bush Administration about the policy in the Middle East," Becker told Arab News. He urged readers to log onto their site: Answercoalition.org.

Becker said the ANSWER Coalition, the National Council of Arab Americans and the Muslim American Society Freedom Foundation have jointly organized what they call "A National Emergency March" on Washington in two weeks, with coordinated marches other cities. The march, he said, has been organized in defense of the people of Palestine and Lebanon who are under brutal attack by the US-backed Israeli government. . .

"A big turnout at the rally will encourage the silent majority in our society to stand up and voice their disapproval of America's short-sighted policy in the Middle East," said CAIR (Council on American-Islamic Relations) Executive Director Nihad Awad.

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CAIR-OH: 2 WOMEN, 2 FAITHS, 1 GOAL: PEACE - TOP
Set against the darkening backdrop of Middle East tensions, Blue Ash resident Ellen Bloomfield's small gesture of goodwill casts a warming glow.
Cincinnati Enquirer, 8/1/06
http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060801/EDIT01/608010370/1090/EDIT

[NOTE: Zeinab Schwen is a member of CAIR-Ohio's statewide board and is chair of the CAIR-Cincinnati board.]

After reading a news account of local Muslims' concerns over growing Middle East violence, Bloomfield, a Jew, called one of the women quoted in the story. She invited Zeinab Schwen to come to her home and begin to sort through issues that threatened to divide the region, the world, and Jewish and Muslim women like themselves.

Schwen accepted on the spot.

There is much to commend in these women's actions, and much to learn from them.

Today's world is so small that a shot fired in Lebanon can ricochet all the way to Hamilton County. It can separate people here as fiercely as people there, halt communication, lead people to live in suspicion and fear, and feed bigotry. It can compromise the culture of a classroom, where Jewish and Muslim students sit side by side. It can steal goodwill from a diverse neighborhood. It can make for workplace tensions, social isolation and religious intolerance.

Americans can work for peace in the Middle East - staying informed on the issues, sending humanitarian aid - but they cannot wait for it to resolve differences of opinion with their compatriots.

"Pick up the phone or ring your neighbor's doorbell," Ellen Bloomfield recommends. Be brave enough and bold enough to let people of other faiths or ethnic backgrounds know you are interested in their perspective and care about the difficulties they or their families face. (MORE)

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CAIR-OH: AKRON U. PROF FREED BY ISRAEL - TOP
Jesse Tinsley, Cleveland Plain Dealer, 7/31/06
http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/medina/115433468487080.xml&coll=2

A University of Akron professor was released Sunday without charges after being jailed earlier this month by Israeli security forces on suspicion of spying for Iran and the Hezbollah terrorist group.

Ghazi Falah, a geography professor at the University of Akron, had been in custody since July 8 after he took photographs of military installations near the Israeli-Lebanon border. . .

Support groups and Arab-American organizations here applauded Falah's release.

"We are very pleased that he has been released and hope that he will be home soon," said Julia A. Shearson, director of the Cleveland chapter of the Council on American Islamic Relations.

"We felt it was preposterous that a professor from the University of Akron would be engaged in espionage," Shearson said.

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OVER 40 BODIES OF CIVILIANS UNCOVERED IN SOUTH LEBANON RUBBLE - TOP
Yoav Stern, Haaretz, 8/1/06
http://haaretz.com/hasen/spages/744783.html

Thousands of Lebanese civilians fled the battered border villages in the south Monday, taking advantage of a 24-hour window from Israel to leave the area and allow aid to reach the worst-hit villages.

Meanwhile, rescue workers on Monday began the gruesome task of digging up dozens of bodies from under the rubble of villages in south Lebanon. (MORE)

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THE WATER OF CANA IS TURNED INTO BLOOD - TOP
His Eminence Metropolitan PHILIP, Primate, Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America, 7/31/06
http://www.antiochian.org/water-of-cana

Cana (modern spelling is "Qana") is a little village in South Lebanon which was blessed by the presence of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, his Holy Mother and his disciples. Cana is the Village where Christ performed his first miracle by changing the water into wine at the marriage feast. (John 2: 1-11). Thus, Cana is deeply rooted in our Christian history.

Unfortunately, in modern times and due to the conflict between Israel and Arab nations, including Lebanon, Cana has been the victim of Israeli aggression twice: once in April 1996, when an Israeli rocket killed 105 Lebanese men, women and children. And second, on Sunday morning, July 30, 2006, when an Israeli rocket killed 60 people, including 37 children. This indiscriminate killing is against the Geneva Convention, the United Nations Charter and all laws of civilized nations.

This savage war is between Israel and Hezbollah. Lebanon has no air force, no navy and no large military force. As a matter of fact, the Lebanese army is not involved in this war at all. This war, then, is between Israel and Hezbollah. Why is Israel bombing Lebanese cities, villages, bridges, roads and killing innocent men, women and children - in the south and north, east and west of Lebanon? According to UN statistics, more than 800 civilians have been killed, many of them children, and more then 800,000 Lebanese have been made refugees in their own country. Israel knows very well where Hezbollah is. Why doesn't Israel fight Hezbollah on its own turf? Why is Israel bombing civilian cars, motorcycles and pickup trucks carrying food for hungry people and medical supplies for the wounded? Lebanon is a poor country; the devastated infrastructure will cost billions of dollars to rebuild.

We deplore the killing and destruction on both sides. We know that Hezbollah has some weapons which are causing some unfortunate killing and destruction in Israel. But Hezbollah does not have American weapons such as F-16s, F-15s, Apaches and smart bombs, etc. (MORE)

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LEBANON SEES ENVIRONMENTAL DEVASTATION - TOP
Bassem Mroue, Associated Press, 8/1/06

Endangered turtles die shortly after hatching from their eggs. Fish float dead off the coast. Flaming oil sends waves of black smoke toward the city. In this country of Mediterranean beaches and snowcapped mountains, Israeli bombing that caused an oil spill has created an environmental disaster. And cleanup cannot start until the fighting stops, the U.N. says.

World attention has focused on the hundreds of people who have died in the 3-week-old conflict between Israel and Hezbollah. The environmental damage has attracted little attention but experts warn the long-term effects could be devastating.

Some 110,000 barrels of oil poured into the Mediterranean two weeks ago after Israeli warplanes hit a coastal power plant. One tank is still burning, sending thick black smoke across the country.

Compounding the problem is an Israeli naval blockade and continuing military operations that have made any cleanup impossible. And environmental officials say the longer the problem is allowed to go unchecked, the greater the lasting damage. (MORE)

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CAIR-MI: ARAB-AMERICANS UPSET BY U.S. HANDLING OF LEBANON EVACUATION - TOP
Brian Knowlton, International Herald Tribune, 7/31/06
http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/07/31/news/refuge.php

In a borrowed cubicle in the offices of the Arab American Institute, barely back from an exhausting 58-hour evacuation from Beirut, Radney Wood and a friend, John Orak, were working the phones and sending out e-mails to spread the word about the trials of Lebanon.

Wood, a 26-year-old New Yorker of Lebanese descent, had been working for a United Nations development program when hostilities erupted. Orak, 25, a South Carolina native with Slovak roots, was teaching English in a State Department program for poor youth who Washington feared would otherwise embrace Hezbollah.

Like many Lebanese-Americans and friends of Lebanon, they are deeply worried by the fighting, and fearful of a growing backlash among Arab-Americans and people in the region over the U.S. role there.

They are also upset about the way the U.S. government handled the evacuation of Americans, viewed as slow and disorganized, and about the State Department's original intent to charge them for it.

"I've never been so disappointed, never felt so abandoned by my government," Orak said.

Among Lebanese-Americans and others there is a widespread sense that the U.S. government would have reacted differently if, say, there had been 25,000 Americans under attack in Israel instead of Lebanon.

"Even if the government claims that they didn't deliberately evacuate American citizens at a slower rate," said Dawud Walid, executive director of the Michigan branch of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, "then the best construct that can be placed on it is that the process for evacuating Americans from a foreign land is a broken system." (MORE)

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NY: MAN IS ACCUSED OF REPORTING TERRORIST HOAX TO HOT LINE - TOP
Anemona Hartocollis, New York Times, 8/1/06
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/01/nyregion/01false.html

In a call to New York City's terrorism hot line in May, the informant described the plot in chilling detail: Syrians working in the jewelry business had hatched a plan to carry out a suicide bombing in the subway system on one of the most symbolic days of the year, Independence Day.

They had hidden explosives in hollowed-out jewelry, the informant said, and then used their professional know-how to import the jewelry and bring it to a store that one of them owned in New York.

To clinch the story, the informant, who identified himself as Jose Rodriguez and said he was from Israel, told the police officer answering the hot line that he had overheard the plotters use the Arab _expression ''Allahu Akbar,'' or ''God is great.''

The post-Sept. 11 antiterrorist law enforcement apparatus sprang into action, with city, federal and even Israeli officers following leads, conducting 24-hour surveillance and searching homes and businesses with bomb-sniffing dogs. A New York detective stationed in Jerusalem tried to track down the man called Jose Rodriguez.

In the end, the investigators concluded that the call was a hoax, they said yesterday, perpetrated by a Syrian Jewish refugee named Rimon Alkatri, 34, the owner of a jewelry store in Brooklyn. The five conspirators identified by Mr. Alkatri were not Muslims but Christians and Jews, the police and prosecutors said. He had done business with four of the men, officials said, and had named them as terrorists because he had a grudge against them stemming from a business deal that had ended in a bitter disagreement. (MORE)

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ISLAMIC CHARITY FUNDRAISER RELEASED - TOP
Jeremiah Marquez, Associated Press, 8/1/06
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/01/AR2006080100064.html

The top fundraiser for an Islamic charity that the government claims has ties to terrorism was released Monday from a federal detention center where he had been held for more than two years.

Abdel-Jabbar Hamdan, 45, left the Terminal Island detention facility in San Pedro shortly after 9:30 p.m. after an emotional reunion with his wife and five children inside the prison gates. Earlier Monday the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected a last-ditch government request to keep him locked up.

"No words can describe how I'm feeling right now. I'm ecstatic," Hamdan said as he left the center with his family. A few dozen supporters celebrated as he exited the terminal gate.

Hamdan, who founded a mosque in Anaheim, was arrested on immigration charges in July 2004 when federal authorities unsealed an indictment against the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development. The government charged that the Texas-based charity funneled millions to the Palestinian militant group Hamas.

The Holy Land Foundation's president, chairman and director of endowments were also charged with terrorism-related crimes.

Hamdan himself was never charged with terrorism. Instead, he was convicted of overstaying a student visa he got 27 years ago. The month after the Holy Land Foundation was charged, he was ordered deported on the immigration charge. (MORE)

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CAIR-CA: WEDDING MAKEUP GOES MULTI-CULTURAL - TOP
A local makeup duo learn about customs and traditions to serve a diverse clientele
Danika Fears, Orange County Register, 8/1/06
http://www.ocregister.com/ocregister/life/homepage/article_1229560.php

Jeannie Jeffries and Madeeha Kibriya want their clients to look beautiful on their wedding day. But more importantly, they want them to reflect the traditions of their cultures.

So the co-owners of Couture Beauty and Bridal Services have become teachers of sorts, as well as makeup artists. Jeffries and Kibriya provide wedding services that help brides learn about their customs and achieve just the right look for their ceremonies.

The fusion of so many cultures in Southern California presents plenty of challenges for the pair - the correct presentation for a veil, stylized henna applications and more.

Jeffries and Kibriya started their business seven years ago. Their first client was a South Asian bride who wanted to capture the essence of her heritage in her wedding. Word-of-mouth recommendations have since brought them Chinese, Filipino, Jewish, Indian and Pakistani brides. . .

Munira Syeda, communications coordinator at the Southern California Chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations says that "in terms of marital traditions, each country has its own unique culture and ceremonies." (MORE)

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DE: MAKING ROOM FOR RELIGION AT WORK - TOP
Employers are taking steps to accommodate workers' faiths
Gary Haber, News Journal, 7/31/06
http://www.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060731/BUSINESS/607310319/1003

Lunchtime Bible study groups, flexible hours that allow Jewish employees to leave early Friday in time to light Sabbath candles and Muslim employees to leave work for Friday afternoon prayers and on-site meditation rooms: These days more employers are accommodating religious practices.

They're responding to a growing number of workers seeking to meld workplace responsibilities with religious observance.

Take Jamil Tourk, a New Castle resident who works as operations manager for a company that owns fast-food restaurants. Tourk, a Muslim, is required to pray five times daily and attend a worship at his mosque on Friday afternoons.

In the five years he's been with the company, which he did not want to name, Tourk has prayed in the office with his employer's approval.

He has a longstanding agreement with the boss that he can attend Friday prayer services. He either comes in early or stays late to make up the time. Tourk says the key was having an open discussion about his religious needs. (MORE)

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