An Interfaith View: Driving Islamophobia
AN INTERFAITH VIEW: DRIVING ISLAMOPHOBIA In the 1950s, ultra-conservatives torpedoed their critics by calling them Communist. Today the same tactic is used against Muslim organizations by calling them apologists for terrorism. And like the 1950s, the intent of the ultra-conservatives today is to distract the public from their own undemocratic maledictions. As the French say, […]
PBS Series Accused of Political Manipulation
PBS BUYS A LOT OF ARGUMENTS FOR $20 MILLION LAST August, Richard N. Perle, the former Bush administration adviser who advocated strongly for the Iraq invasion, found himself surrounded by antiwar demonstrators on the Mall in front of the Washington Monument. He didn’t want to be there, but for “The Case for War,” a documentary […]
Muslim-Bashers Involved in Possible PBS Islam Doc
PRODUCER: PBS DROPPED ‘ISLAM VS. ISLAMISTS’ ON POLITICAL GROUNDS The producer of a tax-financed documentary on Islamic extremism claims his film has been dropped for political reasons from a television series that airs next week on more than 300 PBS stations nationwide. Key portions of the documentary focus on Dr. M. Zuhdi Jasser of Phoenix […]
HI: Feds Accuse Cruise Line of Illegally Firing Muslims
HI: FEDS ACCUSE NCL OF ILLEGALLY FIRING MUSLIMS The federal government is suing NCL America on behalf of six Muslim men who worked aboard a cruise ship in Hawaii and were fired apparently because their ethnicity gave rise to suspicions they were terrorists. The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Honolulu by the U.S. Equal […]
Jack Shaheen: A Life Dedicated to Fighting Racism
PROFILE OF SUCCESS: JACK SHAHEEN Offensive, inaccurate, demonizing depictions of Arabs in American media is one of the most frequently lamented, painful aspects of the Arab American experience. Most have only complained in helpless frustration. But for the past 30 years, one green-eyed, soft-spoken, animated man from a polluted, working-class Pittsburgh-area steel town, has made […]
MA: After 50 Years, Local Mosque Thrives
MA: KEEPING THE FAITHFUL Rafiq Akbar of Dorchester is one of the few people who can say they went fishing with Malcolm X. But it wasn’t fishing in the usual sense. “Fishing means going out and informing the African-American of his heritage and what he wasn’t taught while enslaved here in America,” Akbar, 80, explained […]
CAIR-FL: The End of Religious School Holidays?
CAIR-FL: THE END OF RELIGIOUS SCHOOL HOLIDAYS? On Friday, students in Florida’s Hillsborough County School District had the day off from school for Good Friday, no matter what religious faith they practiced. It’s the last time they will have Good Friday off as a districtwide day off from school. As part of the ongoing struggle […]
OH: Muslims Mistreated at U.S.-Canadian Border
OH: DO GUARDS AT THE BORDER CROSS A LINE? Toledo-area engineer Abe Dabdoub has been stopped and searched so many times by U.S. border officials that he now calls them in advance of his return trips from Canada. Dabdoub, a U.S. citizen who was born in Saudi Arabia, also uses a spreadsheet to record all […]
CAIR-AZ: More of Faithful Give Through Internet
CAIR-AZ: DIGITAL STEWARDSHIP Welcome to religious giving in the 21st century. No longer do Americans have to write checks or dig into their wallets for crumpled dollar bills when it comes time to make donations. These days, churchgoers and those of other faiths increasingly are wiring contributions via the Internet or making them with the […]
An Interview with Nahla Al-Arian
AN INTERVIEW WITH NAHLA AL-ARIAN SAMI AL-ARIAN is a victim of the U.S. “war on terror.” The U.S. government has gone out of its way to make an example of this outspoken advocate for Palestinian rights. Racist prosecutors, inhumane treatment and abuse in custody, the prospect of indefinite detention–Al-Arian has been subjected to this and […]