Prominent Christianist Gary Bauer suggests in this editorial that US textbooks are flummoxed by political correctness in their portrayal of Islam, and that publishers are 'whitewashing Islam.'
One of the themes at the 2007 CUFI conference (whose attendees included Santorum, Delay, Lieberman, and Gingrich) was the threat of Islam and-in an appropriation of the language of fear promoted by neoconservative writers like David Horowitz and Daniel Pipes-"Islamofascism." "The lure of a sympathetic crowd and the chance to trade pieties with the most popular televangelists in the nation attracted Sen. Joe Lieberman and ex-senator Rick Santorum," the American Conservative reported. "Each preached to the converted: Islamic-fascism is the most dangerous threat facing the United States, and Israel is the frontline."'
In the editorial linked above, Bauer has pulled in his claws somewhat as he is engaged in advocacy to a general public that is more indifferent than sympathetic, but there is no doubt his agenda continues to be enemy-formation and war-mongering against Muslims.
In a gesture of religious tolerance, the Muslim Charitable Society for Social Welfare (CSSW) provided Yemeni Jews in Amran with clothes and gifts on the important Jewish celebration on Passover last Wednesday.
"During Muslim celebrations, the society donates clothes and food," said Mohammad Al-Qubati, the general manager of the CSSW. "Jews are part of Yemeni society and we are trying to reach all of society's needy groups."
When Citadel Broadcasting bought ABC News for $2.7 billion in 2006, there was some hope that the Islamophobes like Brian Sussman who lurk on some of the smaller outlets in ABC's stable of radio stations would exercise restraint because the new CEO was Farid Suleman. Many assume that Suleman is Muslim, but Suleman has never spoken of his religion. His place of birth is uncertain too, with some reports citing Egypt, and some Tanzania.
Unfortunately, whatever makes up the content of Suleman's life experiences and identity, it seems the steady anti-Arab and anti-Muslim beat has gone on, and on, and on...
COLLEGE STATION, Texas, March 24 (UPI) -- Former U.S. President George H.W. Bush is set to present the McLane Leadership in Business Award to film and TV star Chuck Norris.
Norris is to be recognized for his achievements as a martial arts legend, entrepreneur and humanitarian at an event Tuesday in the Annenberg Presidential Conference Center at the George Bush Presidential Library Center in Texas.
Put the word "humanitarian" in quotes. Here's Norris in one of the roles that made him a fantasy figure of Muslim-bashing for right-wing Americans.
The Pilibhit police on Tuesday registered a case against Bharatiya Janata Party candidate Varun Gandhi for his allegedly inflammatory speeches on the directions of the Election Commission.
Station Officer of the Barkhera police station registered the case against Gandhi for allegedly making speeches with an intention to create enemity among people on the basis of religion.
The case was filed under the provisions of the Indian Penal Code and the Representation of the People Act and for violations of the model code of conduct. Pilibhit SP R K Chaturvedi said a team has been sent to Bareilly to arrest Gandhi.
The three-member Commission which met today and discussed the speeches of Varun, a member of the Gandhi-Nehru family, in Pilibhit in which he had made inflammatory comments against the members of a minority community. The comments drew sharp criticism from within his party and allies and outside.
In a slew of decisions, the EC directed the Uttar Pradesh [Images] Chief Electoral Officer to file a case under Indian Penal Code and Representation of the People Act against Gandhi. It ordered issue of notice to BJP and Gandhi for alleged violation of Model Code of Conduct. The EC also ordered transfer of district officials and suspended two others for alleged dereliction of duty.
Earlier, the District Magistrate and the ditrict election officer had sent Gandhi a notice seeking his explanation on the speeches in which he had made allegedly made rabid remarks against members of a minority community. However, the official was not satisfied with the explanation, sources said.
Under the Section 153A of the Indian Penal Code and under Section 125 of the RPA, promoting enmity between different groups on various grounds including religion is punishable by imprisonment which may extend upto three years.
Any person convicted and sentenced to imprisonment for over two years shall be disqualified from contesting elections. The EC's action came as Congress met the Commission and complained about Gandhi's speech. Congress General Secretary Digvijay Singh said the speech "is highly deplorable and deserves proper action".
Apparently, if Jindal runs for the presidency in 2012 on the Republica ticket, the pro-Sarah Palin forces will run another religious smear campaign like the one against Obama.
While Maher was just exploiting the irony of the story, his via satellite guest for the segment, Brigitte Gabriel, was given a forum to further her fear-mongering cause....This story is pure gold to someone like Gabriel, whose mission is to spread a message that no Muslim-American, no matter how "assimilated" they may appear, can be trusted. With her glee in proclaiming on Real Time that Muzzammil Hassan had called the police to "brag" that he had murdered his wife (this is not true), Gabriel came across to the audience as a funny, personable guest. To those of us familiar with Gabriel, however, her glee was taken as something quite different.
The real Brigitte Gabriel is a woman who has said that Muslim-Americans shouldn't be allowed to hold public office, instructs people to contact the F.B.I. if they see a mosque being built in their neighborhood, and has said that Muslim-Americans, "Are good at nothing but complaining about every single thing."
For the purpose of correcting misinformation introduced into the public sphere, let's reiterate: Muzzammil Hassan never called the police to "brag" about killing his wife.
As someone who appeared numerous times on the 700 Club with Pat Robertson, as someone for whom Jerry Falwell used to send his private jet to bring me to speak at his college, as an author who had James Dobson giveaway 150,000 copies of my one of my fundamentalist "books" allow me to explain something: the Republican Party is controlled by two ideological groups. First, is the Religious Right. Second, are the neoconservatives. Both groups share one thing in common: they are driven by fear and paranoia. Between them there is no Republican "center" for you to appeal to, just two versions of hate-filled extremes.
....
The problem is that when you deal with the Republican Party you're talking to the polished characters in Washington. I wish you could see the hate e-mail's that I have received over the last two years because I supported you, letters calling for God to kill me, telling me that I hate God because I supported you and that I am "an abortionist" and worse a "fag lover" because I've written that I believe that you will be a great president.
Of course, after Obama, all that fear and paranoia is directed at Muslims. US Muslims should be planning for the next national political campaign now as it will likely feature another huge media blast of anti-Muslim demagoguery. Consider your donations to Muslim organizations and individuals that respond effectively in the media to be an act of self-defense.
Vienna - Austrian far-right parliamentarian Susanne Winter was convicted Thursday of incitement because of her anti-Muslim statements, including the claim that Islam's prophet Mohammed was a paedophile. A court in Winter's home town of Graz also found the 51-year-old politician guilty of humiliating a religion.
She was sentenced to a fine of 24,000 euros (31,000 dollars) euros and a suspended prison term of three months, Austrian news agency APA reported.
The politician, who took a seat in parliament last fall for the Freedom Party (FPOe), made the anti-Islamic remarks in January 2008.
She also proposed in a discussion with students that Muslim men should commit bestiality rather than making "indecent advances" on girls.
The politician had pleaded innocent Thursday, claiming that she "did not want to insult anyone, but only to point out problems."
The verdict is not yet legally binding.
Winter's son Michael, a former youth leader in the Freedom Party, was convicted of the same crime last October. He had suggested in a newsletter that Turkish Muslims were in the habit of committing bestiality.
A BRISBANE radio station may have to explain why it should keep its licence after an announcer was accused of making anti-Islamic comments on air.
Former Victorian police officer, now 4BC drive-time announcer, Michael Smith called for Muslim women who wear an Islamic hijab in public to be fined for offensive behaviour.
He made the remarks on-air and on the 4BC website, saying: "Any reasonable person would find this offensive."
Islamic Council of Queensland president Suliman Sabdia said Mr Smith's remarks amounted to "a clear case of intolerance".
Under the Commercial Radio Code of Practice, a licensee must not broadcast a program likely to incite hatred against or vilify any person or group on the basis of age, ethnicity, nationality, race, gender, sexual preference, religion, or disability.
Christine Donnelly from the Australian Communications and Media Authority said Mr Smith's comments could be a breach of the Code of Practice.
One of the county's 290-bus fleet is seen here in the downtown area near the main bus terminal. The ad says: "ISLAM: The Way of Life of Abraham, Moses, Jesus and Muhammad." (Sun Sentinel/Lou Toman / January 14, 2009)
In Broward County, Florida, fifty of the county's 290-bus fleet have been chugging around area streets for the past several weeks with a message that might seem more oblique than inflammatory. Black letters on a white backdrop proclaim, "ISLAM: The Way of Life of Abraham, Moses, Jesus and Muhammad."
The $60,000 ad was paid for by the Council on American-Islamic Relations.
"We owe it to our fellow Americans to let them know that Islam stands for peace," said Altaf Ali, director of CAIR's South Florida chapter. "Muslims are here and Muslims are part and parcel of the United States."
But the words have inspired opposition from a group called Americans Against Hate, led by Jewish activist Joe Kaufman. The group says the ad is misleading because it implies that Abraham, Moses and Jesus were Muslim.
"That's offensive to both Jews and Christians," said Kaufman, a resident of Coral Springs.
County officials have rejected Kaufman's request they remove the ads. Now he plans a rally outside County Hall at noon Friday.
Below, excerpt from an article about hatemongering blogs and Joe Kaufman's relationship to them
Kaufman is 35, clean-shaven, a lawyer's assistant. He goes inline skating and writes love songs on guitar. But his passion is his Web site, AmericansAgainstHate.com, where he monitors the activities of Florida's Muslim community, looking for terrorist links.
Kaufman's site is only one of a constellation of blogs with names like JihadWatch.com, MilitantIslamMonitor.org, and WesternResistance.com that are dedicated to the surveillance of American Muslims. The blogs link to one another, with more-traveled sites amplifying stories from more obscure ones, like Kaufman's.
He claims he has not found a single mosque in Florida that is not linked to terrorists.
A lot of people are listening.
Last month, after Kaufman called a Tampa Muslim religious retreat a "jihad camp for children" and wrote that the speakers were "linked to al-Qaida," death threats poured in to the Presbyterian camp hosting the event.
Muslims say the blogs breed hate.
"He's spreading lies, slandering individuals," said Ahmed Bedier, spokesman for the Tampa Bay chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations. "These are vigilantes."
Bedier of Tampa is familiar with the blogs. His name often appears as a supporter of terrorism on Kaufman's site.
"It's a clearinghouse for defamation and attacks against Muslims," Bedier said.
"I like to go out and reach out to folks and build bridges," he added. "These types of people, they want to be able to wedge a gap between Muslims and the rest of society."
'The conversation, as we were walking through the plane trying to find our seats, was just about where the safest place in an airplane is.'
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A Muslim family removed from an airliner Thursday after passengers became concerned about their conversation say AirTran officials refused to rebook them, even after FBI investigators cleared them of wrongdoing.
Atif Irfan said federal authorities removed eight members of his extended family and a friend after passengers heard them discussing the safest place to sit and misconstrued the nature of the conversation.
Irfan, a U.S. citizen and tax attorney, said he was "impressed with the professionalism" of the FBI agents who questioned him, but said he felt mistreated when the airline refused to book the family for a later flight.
AirTran Airways late Thursday said they acted properly and that the family was offered full refunds and can fly with AirTran again.
"AirTran Airways complied with all TSA, law enforcement and Homeland Security directives and had no discretion in the matter," the company said in a prepared statement.
Family members said FBI agents tried to work it out with the airline, but to no avail.
"The FBI agents actually cleared our names," said Inayet Sahin, Irfan's sister-in-law. "They went on our behalf and spoke to the airlines and said, 'There is no suspicious activity here. They are clear. Please let them get on a flight so they can go on their vacation,' and they still refused."
"The airline told us that we can't fly their airline," Irfan said.
The dispute occurred about 1 p.m. Thursday as AirTran flight 175 was preparing for takeoff from Reagan National Airport outside of Washington, D.C., on a flight destined for Orlando, Florida.
Atif Irfan, his brother, their wives, a sister and three children were headed to Orlando to meet with family and attend a religious conference.
"The conversation, as we were walking through the plane trying to find our seats, was just about where the safest place in an airplane is," Sahin said. "We were (discussing whether it was safest to sit near) the wing, or the engine or the back or the front, but that's it. We didn't say anything else that would raise any suspicion."
The conversation did not contain the words "bomb," "explosion," "terror" or other words that might have aroused suspicion, Irfan said.
"When we were talking, when we turned around, I noticed a couple of girls kind of snapped their heads," said Sobia Ijaz, Irfan's wife. "I kind of thought to myself, 'Oh, you know, maybe they're going to say something.' It didn't occur to me that they were going to make it such a big issue."
Some time later, while the plane was still at the gate, an FBI agent boarded the plane and asked Irfan and his wife to leave the plane. The rest of the family was removed 15 or 20 minutes later, along with a family friend, Abdul Aziz, a Library of Congress attorney and family friend who was coincidentally taking the same flight and had been seen talking to the family.
HENRICO, VA (NBC12) - A Muslim group is taking legal action against Henrico County's Board of Supervisors for refusing to approve zoning for a new mosque.
The lawsuit says Henrico County has had four requests to build houses of worship since 1995 -- and the Muslim group's petition was the only one rejected.
The group's lawyer says it amounts to religious descrimination.
Henrico County board chairman defends the decision, saying it was based on zoning guidelines alone.
He also says officials are trying to help the group find a more suitable site.
'Taken as a whole, this article suggested that the claimant is a fanatical, sneering extremist who was inciting or, at the very least, condoning a terrorist attack upon Prince Harry.'
The Daily Express has apologised today in the high court and paid £45,000 damages to Inayat Bunglawala, an assistant secretary of the Muslim Council of Great Britain, after publishing an article linking him to death threats made against Prince Harry.
Before Mr Justice Eady in the high court in London today, Adam Tudor, the lawyer representing Bunglawala, said the front-page article published in the Daily Express on 1 March, headlined "Target Harry - British fanatics threaten him", suggested his client was a "fanatical, sneering extremist". Bunglawala subsequently pursued a libel action against the Daily Express's publisher, Express Newspapers.
Tudor, from London law firm Carter-Ruck, told the court that Express Newspapers had now acknowledged the article had carried a incomplete quote from Bunglawala and that the allegations were false and should never have been published.
Taken in the context of the article published by the Daily Express as a whole, he said, the incomplete quote would have been understood to suggest that Bunglawala, at the very least, condoned a terrorist attack upon Prince Harry, while the complete quote - which had been correctly reported in other media, had made it clear that Bunglawala hoped Prince Harry and his army colleagues would be brought home safely from Afghanistan.
"Taken as a whole, this article suggested that the claimant [Bunglawala] is a fanatical, sneering extremist who was inciting or, at the very least, condoning a terrorist attack upon Prince Harry, and that he considered the prince to be a fair and legitimate target for terrorists," he said.
Richard Silverstein writes at Tikun Olam: When you read stories like the one I'm about to tell, it makes you wonder about the editorial judgment of the staff of some American Jewish newspapers. The Five Towns Jewish Times published yesterday, "The Appropriate Response To Islamic Terror" by Lawrence Kulak. It's a long, rambling discourse on Islamism and Muslim terror that advocates killing Muslim civilians in retaliation for Islamists killing western civilians.
Apparently, some Arab American activists picked up on the article and noticed a few glaring statements that simply boggle the mind:
...The only way to deal with Islamic terrorists is the same way in which they deal with their victims. Muslims believe in the literal interpretation of the Biblical doctrine of an eye for an eye, and they do not have respect for anything perceived as a lesser standard of justice. They killed our innocents, and unless we kill theirs, they will go on killing ours. The Torah, however, preaches a doctrine which, if implemented by the West, could finally put an end to all Islamic terror: If somebody is coming to kill you, rise up and kill him first.
Hard to believe the newspaper's editor didn't stop when he saw the italicized phrase. Unfortunately for him, CAIR noticed it and the paper is going to be in a considerable amount of hot water.
In addition, the problem with Kulak's understanding of the Talmud's (not the Torah as Kulak claims) dictum, which he apparently believes is the equivalent of the Bush Doctrine's justification of pre-emption-is that he is wrong. The Talmud speaks of rising up to kill someone who is coming to kill you in the most literal sense. It does not mean for you to take the statement figuratively (though many on the Jewish far-right do). In other words, it would never justify murdering Islamists (even moreso innocent Muslim civilians) because they have expressed hostility to Jews or even, God forbid, attacked Jews in the past. Halacha would demand that you know that specific Muslims are coming to kill you before it would be permitted for you to kill those specific individuals (and certainly not other Islamists). And the statement is certainly not meant as justification for religious war against Islam or even Islamists.
The Arab-American community has rightfully called on New York's Jewish community to denounce both the column and the editors who endorsed the sentiments in allowing them to see the light of day. Let's see whether Abe Foxman and David Harris understand the impact that such Jewish racism has on the public discourse.
This blog has no relation to the 'Cheerleaders' group who have referred to this blog on their website as their own. The claim is an attempt at identity theft, one of several unethical or illegal acts they have engaged in.
