CAIR: Boxer Gives in to Islamophobia
CAIR: BOXER GIVES IN TO ISLAMOPHOBIA A California senator’s decision to rescind an award to a Muslim leader after caving into pressure from Islamophobes has deeply disappointed Muslim, civil rights, and interfaith communities. In December, Senator Barbara Boxer withdrew the “Certificate of Accomplishment” her office had awarded to Basim Elkarra, executive director of the Council […]
PA: Media Cannot Keep Ignoring the Muslim Vote
PA: LOCAL MEDIA CANNOT KEEP IGNORING THE MUSLIM VOTE The word was out in mosques, community parties and Islamic schools, Ramadan feasts all over Pittsburgh: get the vote out. Why would a normally sleepy Muslim community thrust itself into the forefront of the most crucial election in recent history? Would it matter? Apparently it did. […]
CAIR-CA: Boxer Accused of Caving in to Anti-Muslim Fury
CAIR-CA: BOXER ACCUSED OF CAVING IN TO ANTI-MUSLIM FURY He doesn’t know exactly where the certificate is. It may be in a drawer, or it may be in a cabinet or a closet. “It’s locked up somewhere,” Basim Elkarra says. Elkarra, 27, who heads the Sacramento office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, lets out […]
CO: Identity Search: To Be Muslim in America
CO: IDENTITY SEARCH: TO BE MUSLIM IN AMERICA The food pantry occupies a storefront between a beauty salon and auto shop, a nondescript location off East Colfax Avenue that gives no indication the people volunteering inside symbolize a faith community in transition. Shirley Anderson doesn’t know who is helping her, doesn’t notice the framed Arabic […]
TX: Detained Palestinian Dad May Be Freed
TX: DETAINED PALESTINIAN DAD MAY BE FREED An immigration judge in Dallas set bail at $30,000 Thursday for a Palestinian businessman from Richardson who, along with his wife and children, was detained for three months. The ruling means that Salaheddin Ibrahim, 37, could be released as early as Friday from federal custody in Haskell, Texas. […]
FL: More Hispanic Americans Converting to Islam
FL: MORE HISPANIC AMERICANS ARE CONVERTING TO ISLAM The number of Hispanic Americans converting to Islam is growing rapidly — particularly in New York, California, Texas and Florida, which have the greatest concentration of Hispanic residents. Muslim leaders say interest in Islam has increased in the past few years, and they also note that Muslims […]
CAIR-Chicago: Lawsuit to End Citizenship Delays
CAIR-CHICAGO: IMMIGRANTS SUE TO END DELAYS IN GRANTING CITIZENSHIP When Sana Jalili of Fremont first applied for U.S. citizenship in December 2003, everything seemed to be going well. Jalili, who came to the United States from Pakistan on her parents’ work visas at age 15 and became a legal permanent resident in 2001, aced her […]
MA: Muslims Find Common Ground on Campus
MA: MUSLIMS FIND COMMON GROUND ON CAMPUS As the violence between Sunni and Shi’a Muslims in Iraq escalates into what many have labeled a civil war, students from the different sects on U.S. college campuses insist they are striving for unity, but admit meeting the needs of both can be difficult. Even as the conflict […]
CAIR-CA: U.S. Grants Residency to Immigrants
CAIR-CA: FACED WITH LAWSUIT, U.S. FINALLY GRANTS RESIDENCY TO IMMIGRANTS Mohamed Aboushaban isn’t bitter about the 16 years it took for the government to process his application for legal residency. He’s bewildered. “If my name was Boris or John, maybe it would have been a different situation,” said the 53-year-old Santa Rosa resident and auto […]
VA: Interfaith Dialogue Aims to Erase Barriers
VA: INTERFAITH DIALOGUE AIMS TO ERASE BARRIERS BETWEEN ISLAM AND CHRISTIANITY Omar Rabb, a member of the Clarence Sabree Islamic Center in downtown Roanoke, demonstrates the Muslim call to prayer. Along with Imam Ibrahim Hamidullah, Rabb and others have visited several churches and temples in the Roanoke Valley for discussions to help ease the barriers […]