DC: Court Rules in Favor of Chinese Muslim Held at Gitmo
A federal appeals court ruled Monday that a Chinese Muslim held by the U.S. military was improperly labeled an “enemy combatant” by the Pentagon. It’s the first time a Guantanamo Bay detainee has been given an opportunity in a civilian court to try to secure his release. The decision throws into serious doubt the underlying […]
Controversy Closes ‘Anti-Israel’ Show at Museum
Maps and artwork that present competing views of the struggles in the Middle East have proved too provocative for Chicago’s only Jewish museum. Under intense pressure from angry Jewish patrons, the Spertus Institute of Jewish Studies on Friday abruptly closed the controversial “Imaginary Coordinates” exhibition, which explored Israeli and Palestinian concepts of homeland and how […]
Houses of Worship Cleansing and Healing
When Imam Wahid Khan of Des Moines first heard that the Mother Mosque of America, the oldest mosque in North America, was destroyed by floodwaters last week, he feared the worst. “I was really, really very sad,” said Khan, who was married in the mosque in 1966 when he and his wife were students at […]
CAIR-CAN: ‘See Through’ Security Scanner Sets Off Alarms
A new airport security scanner that can “see” through clothing is an “egregious” breach of privacy, says a civil rights advocate.A “millimetre wave” scanner that uses harmless radio waves to capture what look like naked images of travellers is being tested in a pilot project at Kelowna International Airport beginning this week, the first time […]
CAIR: Oil Prices, Market Regulation and the 2008 Elections
On June 6, 2008 crude oil futures surged to an all-time high of $139.12 per barrel, a doubling of price in the past 12 months. U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson rightly suggested that the increasing price of oil is “a real burden on American consumers.” The surge in oil prices is also threatening millions of […]
MA: Head Scarves and Hate
I wear a head scarf. When I read the story about Sen. Barack Obama’s volunteers telling two Muslim women they couldn’t sit where they would be on camera (“A little trouble with the image,” Pruden on Politics, Nation, Friday), I was not surprised at all. As I sat examining the news in a coffee shop […]
Video: Cleanup at the Cedar Rapids Mother Mosque
Volunteer crews lent a hand Saturday to clean up flood damage at the Mother Mosque in northwest Cedar Rapids. Numerous books and artifacts at the mosque were destroyed when the Cedar River left its banks earlier this month. The Cedar Rapids center is the oldest mosque in the United States.
MI: Arab Americans Shift Political Ties
Until a few years ago, N. Peter Antone was a loyal Republican. The Iraqi Catholic immigrant from West Bloomfield admired Ronald Reagan’s sunny optimism, shared the GOP’s views on abortion and family values, and donated at least $400 every year to the Republican Party. But, Antone, 56, has switched sides, donating his money and time […]
Muslim-American Magazines Explore Identity
They are not headlines one sees at the grocery store checkout. “A Jihad for Love” or “There’s Something About Rumi.” Flipping through the May edition of the glossy magazine, one also finds features about a graffiti artist; Nobel Prize winners; calligraphy in the Digital Age; and the usual magazine fare of recipes, travel tips, and […]
Survey Shows U.S. Religious Tolerance
Although a majority of Americans say religion is very important to them, nearly three-quarters of them say they believe that many faiths besides their own can lead to salvation, according to a survey by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life. The report, titled U.S. Religious Landscape Survey, reveals a broad trend toward tolerance […]