CAIR: CA Muslims, Japanese-Americans to Visit Internment Camp / Hagel: Support for Israel

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

AMERICAN MUSLIM NEWS BRIEFS - 4/26/07

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VERSE OF THE DAY: REPEL EVIL WITH GOOD - TOP

"Those who patiently persevere in seeking the countenance of their Lord, establish regular prayers, spend out of (the gifts) We have bestowed for their sustenance secretly and openly, and repel evil with good - they are the ones who shall find their fulfillment in the hereafter."

The Holy Quran, 13:22

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CAIR-SV: MUSLIMS, JAPANESE-AMERICANS TO VISIT WWII INTERNMENT CAMP - TOP

(SACRAMENTO, CA, 4/26/2007) - On Friday, April 27, representatives of the Florin chapter of the Japanese American Citizens League (JACL-Florin) and the Sacramento Valley chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-SV) will journey together to a WWII internment camp in Southern California.

The groups will join the annual pilgrimage to Manzanar, a 38-year-old tradition, on Saturday for a tour of the camp grounds as well as an interfaith program and concluding with the Manzanar at Dusk, which features speakers, workshops or entertainment/educational segments.

"Visiting Manzanar gives American Muslims a unique perspective on what can result from a climate of fear in times of war," said CAIR-SV President Dr. Hamza El-Nakhal. "We appreciate the efforts of the Japanese-American community in standing in solidarity with American Muslims to educate others about the dangers of fear-mongering."

WHAT: Journey to Manzanar
WHEN: Friday, April 27 - Sunday, April 30 (begins at 8:30 a.m. on Friday)
WHERE: Begins from Buddhist Church of Florin at 7235 Pritchard Road, Sacramento, CA, to Manzanar Internment Camp, Independence, CA

CONTACT: CAIR-SV at dinae [at] cair.com, 916-441-6269, 530-219-2457

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U.S. IMMIGRATION OFFICIALS DISCRIMINATE AGAINST MUSLIMS - TOP
Omar Sacirbey, Religion News Service, 4/26/07
http://www.beliefnet.com/story/216/story_21696_1.html

U.S. immigration officials discriminate against Muslims when processing citizenship applications, according to a New York University Law School think tank.

Since 9/11, increased security checks of citizenship applications "have illegally delayed the processing of thousands of applications from Muslim, Arab, Middle Eastern and South Asian men," according to the NYU report.

"Americans on Hold: Profiling, Citizenship, and the `War on Terror,"' a 63-page report, was issued Wednesday (April 25) by lawyers at the Center for Human Rights and Global Justice at NYU's law school.

The report says several issues are behind the delays, such as the association of "terrorists" with men who are perceived to be Muslim, Arab, Middle Eastern or South Asian.

The report is also critical of a 2002 immigration law that requires non-citizen men from 25 countries -- 24 of which are predominantly Muslim -- to register with the government.

The U.S. practice of checking names against a list of suspected terrorists has also been problematic, the report says. Prior to the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, the list of individuals suspected of terrorism and banned from air travel had only 16 names. By October 2006, the "no-fly" list contained 44,000 names, according to the report. (MORE)

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MD: MUSLIM HOLIDAYS REJECTED BY BOARD - TOP
Tarron Lively, Washington Times, 4/26/07
http://washingtontimes.com/metro/20070425-105140-6054r.htm

Baltimore County public school officials have said that adding Muslim holidays to the school calendars is unlawful and "irresponsible," marking another setback in attempts across the region to add the holidays.

Muslim supporters wanted schools to close for Eid al-Adha, which marks the end of the yearly pilgrimage to Mecca, and Eid al-Fitr, the end of Ramadan, the month of fasting.

A few dozen members of the county's chapter of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee asked for the change at a school board meeting Tuesday night.

School officials, however, stood firm by a state law that disallows public schools from endorsing any religion, saying the school calendar can include scheduled closures only for holidays that cause low attendance rates countywide.

Kara Calder, school board spokeswoman, said yesterday that officials have adhered to Maryland law.

"The board's position has been -- and remains -- that the primary obligation is to educate students and meet requirements," she said.

The anti-discrimination committee has pushed its request for the past several years, calling it an issue of equality because schools recognize Jewish and Christian holidays. (MORE)

SEE ALSO:

CA: BALLY FITNESS MUST PAY SETTLEMENT - TOP
Associated Press, 4/26/07
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/fn/4751564.html

A federal judge has ordered Bally Total Fitness to pay $24,000 to a Sikh man who sued when the company denied him a job after asking if he was Muslim, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission said Wednesday.

Sukdev "Devin" Singh Dhaliwal applied for a sales job with one of Bally's five Fresno fitness centers in 2004. An interviewer quizzed Dhaliwal, who was born and raised in California, about his religious and ethnic background, and then denied him a job and hired non-Sikh, non-Indian applicants with less experience, according to the commission.

"He was basically asked where he was born, where his parents were born, what religion he subscribed to and whether he was a Muslim," said EEOC program analyst Linda Li. "He's very American."

Under the consent decree approved by U.S. District Judge Jeffrey S. White, Bally must pay Dhaliwal $24,000 in damages and provide training in equal opportunity hiring practices to managers at its Fresno locations. (MORE)

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ME: ERRONEOUS NATIONAL NEWS REPORT OF HATE CRIME INVESTIGATION CAUSES TURMOIL - TOP
Chris Facchini, WCSH6, 4/25/07
http://www.wcsh6.com/news/article.aspx?storyid=58751

Lewiston has once again been thrust into the national spotlight after city officals say an error-laden news report about a potential anti-Muslim hate crime migrated to national television.

According to the city, a hate crime investigation at Lewiston Middle School was parodied on an Associated Press look-alike website, complete with fake quotes from the school superintendent.

The Lewiston Sun Journal is reporting that the fake story then aired as fact on a national Fox broadcast.

The controversy stems from an incident at Lewiston Middle School in which a non-Muslim student, goaded by peers, allegedly placed a ham steak on a table where a some Muslim students were eating lunch. Pork is considered offensive to Muslims.

That's not the way the story was presented on a website known as Associated Content. The first line of that story reads: "A middle school student in Lewiston, Maine is being investigated for a hate crime after he placed a bag containing a ham sandwich on a table where Somali students eat lunch."

The article also quotes school superintendent Leon Levesque as saying "these children have got to learn that ham is not a toy and students cannot be nonchalant about where you put your sandwich."

Levesque says that statement and several others were completely fabricated. (MORE)

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PISCATAWAY: FIRST ISLAMIC GAMES WILL BE HELD - TOP
Courier-News, 4/26/07
http://www.c-n.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070426/FRONT01/70426002

On May 26, more than 600 Muslim athletes will assemble to compete in the Annual Islamic Games presented by the Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA) at Crossroads South, South Brunswick.

The annual Islamic Games under the theme "Strong Inside … Strong Outside" will feature action in track and field, basketball, volleyball, soccer, cricket for males and females of all ages.

Many other fun activities, sports and games will be on hand for kids and grown-ups.

The Islamic Games is being launched in response to the growing needs of the Muslim communities. The purpose of the Islamic Games 2007 is to promote athletic skills and serious participation in sports and athletics among Muslims.

Many Muslims, male and female, participate in sports and athletics at all levels, the Islamic Games allows such athletes to meet, network and compete with each other.

The Islamic Games also seeks to provide the forum for Muslim Schools to participate in and compete with each other especially since there is no athletic program for them. (MORE)

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CARDINAL: AVOID USE OF CHRISTIAN AIRPORT CHAPELS FOR MUSLIM PRAYER - TOP
Cindy Wooden, Catholic News Service, 4/26/07
http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0702322.htm

Airports are obvious places for interreligious dialogue, but to avoid confusion it would be better if Christians did not offer use of their airport chapels for Muslim prayers, said the cardinal in charge of the Vatican's dialogue with other religions.

French Cardinal Paul Poupard, president of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, encouraged Catholic airport chapels to support the establishment of "meditation rooms" that can be used by any religious group, but he cautioned against opening dedicated Christian chapels to other religions.

In predominantly Christian countries, it is important that Christian chapels "maintain their character as a place for Christian worship," he told Catholic airport chaplains meeting in Rome April 23-27.

Cardinal Poupard said that working in the world's airports, places where the fear of terrorism is high, the chaplains have an important role to play, "to encourage dialogue and prevent fear and pessimism from damaging relations with persons of other faiths."

Dialogue, he said, is the only nonviolent weapon available for fighting terrorism, "one of the most absurd and painful evils of our age."

Every effort to promote dialogue plays a "preventive role" by decreasing tensions and promoting respect for others, he said. (MORE)

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FOX'S GIBSON: U.S. INVASION 'UNMASKED' IRAQIS AS 'KNUCKLE-DRAGGING SAVAGES FROM THE 10TH CENTURY' - TOP
Media Matters, 4/25/07
http://mediamatters.org/items/200704250008

On the April 23 broadcast of his Fox News Radio show, John Gibson argued that the Iraqi people -- whom he described as "knuckle-dragging savages from the 10th century" -- are at "fault" for the situation in Iraq. While discussing Iraq, Gibson said: "The one thing that drives me up the wall is [people] saying, 'Look at all the deaths you Americans have caused in Iraq.' No! 'Scuse me? We invaded the place, we knocked over Saddam, and then Iraqis began killing each other."

Later in the show, Gibson agreed with a caller that the Coalition Provisional Authority's 2003 decision to purge the civil service of all former members of Saddam Hussein's Baath Party and disband the Iraqi army "was a mistake." Gibson then stated: "[B]ut who is doing this killing? Give me a break. These are Iraqis killing each other. So what did we do? If you're saying it's our fault that we unmasked them as knuckle-dragging savages from the 10th century -- fine! I'll take credit."

Gibson made his comments while criticizing Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's (D-NV) April 19 statement that "[t]his war is lost." (Reid went on to say that "the war, at this stage, can only be won diplomatically, politically, and economically.") Gibson was asking listeners to call in and help "expand my vocabulary of nasty things I can characterize Harry Reid as." (MORE)

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HAGEL: SUPPORT FOR ISRAEL NOT 'AUTOMATIC' - TOP
JTA, 4/26/07
http://www.jta.org/cgi-bin/iowa/breaking/101424.html

U.S. Sen. Chuck Hagel told an Arab-American audience that his support for Israel was not "automatic." Hagel (R-Neb.), who is considering a run for the presidency, told the Arab American Institute's annual dinner that he believes Israel and the United States have a "special relationship," but resented being told by a pro-Israel activist that if he wants backing from the pro-Israel community, his support for Israel should be "automatic."

"First, I am an American senator," Hagel told the AAI audience in Washington on Wednesday, to applause. He also said he would not sacrifice his friendships in the Arab world to please pro-Israel groups.

"No relationship should be founded on holding hostage other relationships," Hagel said. "Why can't I have that relationship" with Israel and its allies "not at the expense of my friends in the Arab world, in the Muslim world? Why must it be a choice? It is not a choice." (MORE)

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SOMALIA: MISSILE HITS HOSPITAL IN MOGADISHU - TOP
Salad Duhul, Associated Press, 4/26/07
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/25/AR2007042502951.html

A missile hit a hospital ward packed with civilians wounded in fighting between Islamic insurgents and Ethiopian troops allied to the Somali government, an official said. It was not immediately clear whether the missile caused additional casualties.

The ward housed 20 to 30 wounded adults, said Wilhelm Huber, regional director for SOS Children's Villages. Injured children had been evacuated earlier, he said.

Five missiles landed on the hospital grounds in the lunchtime attack, but only one struck a patient ward, Huber said.

He said he did not believe the hospital had been deliberately targeted, but added that the missiles clearly came from government forces because of their flight path. "People are desperate," Huber said. "This is a tragic situation."

At least 13 shells have hit the grounds of the hospital and a children's orphanage in the last six days, including the latest attack, he said.

Earlier in the day, civilians were caught in crossfire as Ethiopian troops used tanks and heavy artillery to pound insurgent strongholds, witnesses said. Hundreds of people have been killed in eight days of fighting. (MORE)

SEE ALSO:

US-ETHIOPIA BLASTED OVER SOMALIA - TOP
Press TV, 4/26/07
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=7466§ionid=3510205

A British report says the US-Ethiopian military intervention in Somalia has hampered international efforts to bring peace to the country.

A Chatham house foreign affairs report said, "Genuine multilateral concern to support the reconstruction and rehabilitation of Somalia has been hijacked by unilateral actions of other international actors - especially Ethiopia and the US - following their own foreign policy agendas."

The report labeled the installation of a new US-Ethiopian backed Somali government as "highly provocative." It was installed in 2007 to counter a rise in Islamist beliefs and the arrival of African Union (AU) peacekeepers.

Eight days of ongoing violence between Ethiopian forces and Islamist groups in the Somali capital Mogadishu has claimed at least 329 lives, according to a human rights group tally.

Similar battles at the end of last month claimed at least 1,000 lives while displacing thousands of civilians.

Chatham House researchers say support for the brief Islamic Courts government that came to power in Mogadishu in 2006 is likely to re-emerge. (MORE)

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CAIR
Council on American-Islamic Relations
453 New Jersey Avenue, S.E.
Washington, D.C. 20003
Tel: 202-488-8787, 202-744-7726
Fax: 202-488-0833
E-mail: info [at] cair.com
URL: http://www.cair.com

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