CA: Mosque Incident Probed as ‘Possible Hate Crime’
A plastic “Star Wars”-style light saber tossed into the Islamic Center of San Diego parking lot Wednesday night caused brief concerns that it was an explosive. A man was arrested after the incident about 8 p.m. at the mosque on Eckstrom Avenue near Balboa Avenue and Interstate 805 in Clairemont. Witnesses told San Diego police […]
NY: Christians, Jews, Muslims Give Thanks Together
Christians, Jews and Muslims gathered in worship together Thursday in Rochester’s annual interfaith Thanksgiving service. It was the 133rd time leaders and followers of different faiths have come together to celebrate Thanksgiving. (MORE)
Muslim Scholars Seek Reconciliation with Christians
It is called A Common Word Between Us and You. It is a letter, signed last month by 138 Muslim scholars from around the world and addressed to Pope Benedict and other Christian leaders. It stresses the importance of finding common ground between the two faiths. From Friday prayers in a mosque in Iran to […]
CAIR-CAN Calls for Reasonable Debate on Religious Accommodation
A coalition of Muslim and Arab groups and peace advocates is expressing concern about “intolerant and discriminatory” remarks in the debate on reasonable accommodation of minorities.The group’s statement, issued at a news conference yesterday, did not criticize the Bouchard-Taylor commission, but did urge further debate in a serene climate.Titled A Citizens’ Statement for a Harmonious […]
MN: Muslim Women’s Modest Exercise
Nadia Huq grew up playing outside with her brother and other Apple Valley kids. ‘I played football, soccer, kickball, basketball—whatever the neighborhood was doing. And I loved it,’ she said. At age fifteen, Huq chose to begin wearing the hijab, the traditional modest Muslim dress. Now a junior at the University of Minnesota, Huq wanted […]
US Storm Over Book on Israel Lobby
The power of America’s “Jewish lobby” is said to be legendary. Commentators the world over refer to it, as though it were a well-established fact that US Jews wield far more influence than their numbers (2% of the population) would suggest. But this presumed influence is also a delicate issue in the US, and is […]
DC: GWU Instructor Quits Amid Charges of Pro-Israel Bias
Calls to Deering and to Bernard Reich, who filled in for Diskin last Thursday, were not returned. Diskin declined to comment via e-mail. A GWU spokesperson also had no comment. Berlin and a classmate, senior Elizabeth Kamens, both said that the problem with Diskin’s teaching was that she focused only on Israel in a course […]
CAIR-Chicago Dismayed by ‘Excessive’ Ashqar Sentence
(CHICAGO, IL, 11/21/07) – The Chicago office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-Chicago) today expressed dismay at the more than 11 year sentence given to Dr. Abdelhaleem Ashqar for refusing to testify before a grand jury looking into possible terror financing in the Middle East.Although a jury earlier acquitted Ashqar, a Palestinian-American and former […]
VA: Wiretap Issue Leads Judge to Warn of Retrial
A federal judge warned Tuesday that if the government did not allow lawyers to review classified material on possible wiretapping of an Islamic scholar convicted of inciting terrorism, she might order a new trial for him. The unexpected development is the latest legal complication involving the National Security Agency’s wiretapping program, which has produced challenges […]
CAIR-CAN: Compromise Over Muslim Woman’s Skirt
A compromise has been reached in the case of a Muslim woman suspended from her job at Pearson International Airport because of the length of her skirt.Halima Muse was suspended in August from her job as a screener with a security firm for wearing a skirt longer than the knee-length one supplied with her uniform.The […]