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| Will You Sponsor a Gift Quran for President Obama? |
 ACTION ALERT
Will You Sponsor a Gift Quran for President Obama?
One Quran sponsored at ISNA convention will be sent to the president
(WASHINGTON, D.C., 7/2/09) – As-salaamu alaykum.
CAIR is asking those who attend this weekend’s national convention of the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) in Washington, D.C., to visit booths 710 and 808-809 in the bazaar to sponsor a Quran through the “Share the Quran” campaign.
SEE: Share the Quran
http://www.explorethequran.com
One person who sponsors a Quran at ISNA for American opinion leaders and policymakers will be selected to send a gift Quran in their name to President Obama. The selection will be made July 5 at CAIR’s booth in the ISNA bazaar.
The “share the Quran” initiative is designed to distribute free copies of the Quran to 100,000 local, state and national leaders by the end of the year. It was prompted by President Obama’s recent address to the Muslim world in which he
quoted from the holy text and by data showing that anti-Muslim prejudice decreases as understanding of Islam increases. [According to CAIR public opinion surveys, only two percent of Americans say they are “very knowledgeable” about Islam.]
CAIR is asking Muslims to sponsor the distribution of the Qurans to governors, state attorney generals, educators, law enforcement officials, state and national legislators, local elected and public officials, media professionals, and other local or national leaders who shape public opinion or determine policy. |
| CAIR-NJ On Hate Crimes |
 Jersey no stranger to bias, hate crimes
By HEATHER HADDON
NorthJersey.com
11/10/08
Racial, religious intolerance spur most incidents
The Hope Reformed Church in Clifton is a century-old house of worship whose members pride themselves on their neighborliness. When their new pastor arrived from Minnesota last year, the 80 congregants pitched in to
restore the rambling clergy house next to the church.
But last month, parishioners did not feel so welcome on their quiet, tree-lined stretch of Burgess Place. During the night, someone sprayed a green pentagram — a symbol commonly referring to Satan — on their church's facade.
"Many of the older parishioners were upset," said Steven Wolters, 27, the pastor. "We had just painted the church white." Clifton detectives are investigating the vandalism as a hate crime.
According to FBI figures released last week, New Jersey had the second greatest number of hate crimes in the country last year, trailing only California.
The statistics show that bias crimes occurring in Passaic County are increasing. But reporting of the incidents are spotty and prone to inaccuracies, bias experts say, as local departments provide figures on a voluntary basis. The numbers then travel through several channels before reaching the FBI....
"Our community is not in the habit of reporting hate crimes," said Afsheen Shamsi of the New Jersey chapter of Council on American-Islamic Relations, an advocacy group. "They say, I'm Muslim, I expect that I would be targeted."
http://myheraldnews.com/view.html?type=stories&action=detail&sub_id=49725 |
| CAIR-NJ On OBSESSION DVD |
Heated film about Islamic terror shown at area church
By PHIL GARBER, Managing Editor
Mount Olive Chronicle
March 20th, 2009
MOUNT OLIVE TWP. - A controversial film about threats to the U.S. from Islamic radicals was shown on Sunday at a Flanders church not to fuel anti-Islamic sentiment but as an indication of the expected return of Jesus Christ, according to the church pastor.
“The intention is not to elicit any strong feelings but to educate what we evangelical Christians believe will occur at Christ’s return,” said the Rev. Paul Vander Vliet, pastor of Hope Baptist Church on Bartley-Flanders Road, where the congregation’s 30 members were invited to view the film on Sunday.
The film, “Obsession: Radical Islam’s War Against the West,” is a documentary made in 2005 that purports to show the extent of radical Islam around the world. Since then, an estimated 28 million copies of the DVD were distributed to organizations and newspapers around the nation, prior to the 2008 presidential election.
The film was made by an organization known as The Clarion Fund, based in Maryland. It starts with a disclaimer that the film does not depict the majority of Moslems. It then shows interviews with various purported experts about the threats posed by Islamic fundamentalists. A statement from a spokesman for the Clarion Fund says the film is not anti-Muslim
“Its intention is to bring to light a threat posed by the radical elements of the religion to the American and Western way of life,” said the spokesman, Nechama Abramson. “Our hope is that the film will mobilize all Americans, Muslims included, to protect our western liberties from this radical minority.”
Moslems Condemn
The film, however, has been sharply criticized by the Islamic community for inflaming anti-Moslem sentiments and for misrepresenting facts about Islamic fundamentalists.
Afsheen Shamsi, a spokeswoman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations of N.J. (CAIR), said the film exploits America’s unfamiliarity with Moslems.
“It is a propaganda piece,” Shamsi said. “It tries to bring people to believe that the Moslem world is an overall hot bed that wants to destroy the west. That is not so. These are people who are on the fringes of society.”
“There is no threat from mainstream Muslims or Muslim nations,” she said.
Shamsi also said she would offer to provide a 10-part educational DVD about Islam for parishioners of Hope Baptist Church.
Vander Vliet said on Friday that he showed the film as part of the church study on eschatology, in particular Revelations in the new testament. He said the growing threat of Islamic fundamentalists is a part of Biblical prophecy.
“According to the scripture, there will be at least one major battle involving Israel,” Vander Vliet said. “People understand the times, that we believe are an indication of Christ’s return.”
He said his intention is not to turn people away from Islam but rather to examine world events in the context of the Bible’s prophesies.
“This is not our calling to convert Moslems to Christianity,” Vander Vliet said. “My focus is what the times we live in relate to the time of Christ’s return. We’re not here to change anybody, we’re here to proclaim Christ.”
He said some consider the film to be “very inflammatory” but that the point of the film is to examine the radical faction of the Moslem world.
“We’re looking at radical Islam as opposed to the more mainstream practitioners,” he said.
Vander Vliet said he first saw the film in late 2007 and had heard of it from conservative talk show host Sean Hannity and other venues on Fox television.
A native of the Philadelphia area, Vander Vliet said he has been the church’s senior pastor since December. He also teaches at the Philadelphia Biblical University and has a background in psychology
On its website, the film’s producer, the Clarion Fund, also asks for donations to “help support the important work of educating people about the threat of radical Islam.” The website also offers screenings for college campuses and recommends activities for people to work against Moslem extremists.
The spokesman for the Clarion Fund said a new film, “The Third Jihad.” will be available in May.
The website says the film “will expose radical Islam’s multi-faceted effort to decapitate the U.S. Clearly showing how they are implementing their ideology inside our country, this documentary will wake up the U.S. - before it’s too late.”
“Obsessions” was sharply condemned by an organization known as Hate hurts America, a non-partisan interfaith and community coalition formed by a wide base of religious and civic organizations in an effort to address the rising problem of hatred against American minorities.
The Hate Hurts America website, Obsessionwithhate.com, says anti-Western militant ideology is being propagated by “those who have misused Islam.”
“Few would disagree that Al Qaeda and its imitators are ruthless enemies that the United States must deal with forcefully,” the website says. “But “Obsession” is not an honest critique of violent radicalism. Instead, it is a propaganda piece that seeks to cast a wide net of suspicion against Muslims by blurring the line between violent radicalism and mainstream Islam.”
The website says the film’s purpose is much more than educational.
“The film’s ultimate goal is to lay the grounds for a larger religious war that goes beyond our national security interests and has only two beneficiaries: radical evangelicals who hold an apocalyptic worldview, and war profiteers who gamble at the expense of thousands of American lives and trillions of tax-payer dollars,” the website says.
http://www.recordernewspapers.com/articles/2009/03/20/mt_olive_chronicle/news/doc49c2c59cde59a281071441.prt
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| CAIR-NJ On PRAYER IN SCHOOL |
Muslim prayer-in-school controversy might be solved
BY ANDREA ALEXANDER
NorthJersey.com
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
WAYNE — Four students knelt on a classroom floor during lunch at the Albert Payson Terhune Elementary School today and performed the afternoon Muslim prayer ritual.
It was the first time the students had prayed in the school during school hours. And it may end a controversy over what arrangement the district should make to ensure the children’s constitutionally protected right to exercise their religion during school hours.
School parent Rola Awwad has been seeking a private place for her 10-year-old son, Adam, to pray in school since the fall. The district offered to let him pray at recess — either outside or in classroom while his classmates are there. At first, Awwad called the offer “unacceptable,” and the situation attracted attention from Muslim advocates who suggested bringing the issue to the state for resolution.
But Adam decided on his own to pray at lunch, Awwad said. He joined three friends today in a classroom with other students present. They performed the ritual in the back of a room.
“If it continues like this, it will be very nice,’’ Awwad said.
She said her 7-year-old daughter, Amana, also prayed in her second grade class, and she thanked the teacher for the arrangement.
Her son had worried other students would make fun of him if they watched him pray, but schools Superintendent John Sico Jr. assured her the district wouldn’t let that happen. As the students prayed, classmates played games, he said.
Sico said he consulted the Imam of the Islamic Center of Passaic County and felt he received support for his position.
Imam Mohammad Qatanani told The Record he had had a good talk with Sico and will meet with Mrs. Awwad today “to understand the issue from her side more.”
“As far as I am concerned the issue is resolved,’’ Sico said. “We did the right thing. The kids did the right thing. No one was making fun.’’
Afsheen Shamsi, spokeswoman for the Council on American Islamic Relations, which has intervened with the district on Awwad’s behalf said the accommodation was a correct step.
“It’s a question of finding the right balance and making sure the student is comfortable and the district is comfortable,’’ she said.
She said CAIR had considered bringing the issue before the state Board of Education. But Awwad said she wants to wait and see if the accommodation continues to work for her children.
All students are constitutionally guaranteed the right to pray during the school day as long as it doesn't interfere with learning. Muslims pray five times a day to reaffirm their faith and submit to follow divine commandments. The prayer is said during prescribed times; in the fall, when clocks roll back at the end of daylight savings time, the afternoon prayer must be said during the school day, Awwad explained.
Federal guidelines say schools can't prevent students from praying during school, but they can't sponsor religious activities or lead students in prayer. For instance, those guidelines specifically mention a student's right to quietly read the Bible during lunch. But they are not clear on what action to take when the religious expression is more demonstrative, as it is in Adam's case.
The answer in other North Jersey districts ranges from allowing a student to pray in the principal's office in Cliffside Park, to allowing a student in Passaic to pray privately in a classroom storage closet.
Wayne School board Attorney Nathanya Simon said “We recognize that the federal guidelines say we must permit the exercise of religion in school. However, it does have a limitation.’’
She said the district believed that elementary students must always be supervised.
“Right from the beginning, we were never going to ban it,’’ Simon said. “It was just a matter of how we were going to implement it and make it available.’”
E-mail: alexandera@northjersey.com
http://www.northjersey.com/education/Wayne_super_stands_his_ground_on_Muslim_prayers.html
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| CAIR-NJ On FORT DIX VERDICT |
Many Muslims frustrated with Fort Dix verdict
By: Wayne Parry
Associated Press
Monday, Decemeber 22, 2008
Muslim leaders reacted with frustration after five Muslim immigrants were convicted of scheming to massacre U.S. soldiers at Fort Dix.
The five defendants were found guilty Monday in federal court in Camden of conspiring to kill military personnel. But they were acquitted of attempted murder after prosecutors acknowledged the men were probably months away from an attack and did not necessarily have a specific plan.
The arrests in 2007 and subsequent trial tested the FBI's post-Sept. 11 strategy of infiltrating and breaking up terrorist plots in their earliest stages.
"It seemed to me as if the case was pretty flimsy," said James Yee, the former Muslim chaplain at the Guantanamo Bay military prison in Cuba who was arrested in 2003 and charged with mishandling classified material and other crimes in a suspected espionage ring. The criminal charges were later dropped.
"It seems like these guys under normal circumstances weren't going to do anything until a government informant initiates contact with them and incites them," Yee said.
"All of this doesn't help build trust with the American Muslim community, and that is vital if our law enforcement is going to fight terrorism," he said. "If anyone can improve security, it's our community, but we need to be seen as trusted partners, not potential suspects."
Mohamed Younes, president of the Paterson, N.J.-based American Muslim Union, voiced similar sentiments.
"I think they were acting stupid, like they thought the whole thing was a joke. They don't look like the type of people to do something like this," he said of the defendants.
The FBI asked two informants — both foreign-born men who entered the U.S. illegally and had criminal records — to befriend the suspects. Both informants were paid and were offered help obtaining legal resident status.
During the eight-week trial, the government relied heavily on information gathered by the informants, who secretly recorded hundreds of conversations.
Prosecutors said the defendants bought several assault rifles supplied by the FBI and that they trekked to Pennsylvania's Pocono Mountains to practice their shooting. The government also presented dozens of jihadist speeches and videos that the men supposedly used as inspiration.
Jim Sues, executive director of the New Jersey chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, attended five days of trial testimony.
"Many people in the Muslim community will see this as a case of entrapment," he said. "From what I saw, there was a significant role played by the government informant."
The defendants, who lived in and around Philadelphia for years, were Jordanian-born cab driver Mohamad Shnewer; Turkish-born convenience store clerk Serdar Tatar; and brothers Dritan, Eljvir and Shain Duka, ethnic Albanians from the former Yugoslavia who had a roofing business.
The men could get life in prison when they are sentenced in April. Four were convicted of weapons charges. A sixth man arrested and charged only with gun offenses pleaded guilty earlier.
Fuat "Mike" Mamo, of Cresskill, said the Albanian community in New Jersey feels ashamed of the three Albanian brothers who were convicted.
"I don't know what they were thinking," Mamo said of the Duka brothers. "They were just out of their mind and they should be put away for life. The Albanian community is nothing like this.
"We come from a country that has a reputation for religious diversity and tolerance. To go against the American government — that's unacceptable to our community."
Prosecutor William Fitzpatrick defended the government's handling of the case, telling the jury: "The FBI investigates crime on the front end. They don't want to have to do it on the back end."
Members of the jury would not speak to reporters after the verdict.
Sues said the case turned on the legal definition of conspiracy, which he said proved to be far broader than he thought.
"The evidence showed there was no real, honest-to-God planning for an attack on Fort Dix," he said. "The defendants were never all in a room at one time with a map of the fort, plotting what they were going to do."
___
Associated Press writers Victor Epstein in Newark and Geoff Mulvihill in Camden contributed to this report.
http://www.newsvine.com/_news/2008/12/22/2239369-many-muslims-frustrated-with-fort-dix-verdict |
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| Support CAIR-NJ |
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| CAIR New Jersey |
4475 S. Clinton Ave.,
Suite 202
South Plainfield, NJ, 07080
Tel: (908) 668-5900
Fax: (800) 815-1398
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| CAIR's Explore the Quran |
Sponsorship and donation to CAIR is tax deductible, CAIR is eligible for Zakat.
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