New CAIR-FL Website | Muslims Condemn Violence | Tampa Rejects Bigotry

CAIR Florida has a new website! Visit www.cairflorida.org to stay up-to-date on all the important issues effecting the Florida Muslim community, civil rights, and interfaith issues. Click the image below to visit the new website!

 

Muslim Community Condemns Violence

NBC: Why films can spark violence Orlando Sentinel: Florida Pastor Endorses Film Tampa Bay Times: Theocratic Thuggery Knows No Borders NBC (Video): CAIR Condemns Violence Fox (Video): Attacks do not represent Islam

Protesters Oppose Terry Kemple's Anti-Muslim Bigotry

TBO: Pro-CAIR Protesters Oppose Hatred Discussion about anti-Muslim attacks post 9/11 Tampa Bay Times: Anti-Muslim Group Faces Protesters Tampa Bay Times Editorial: A Lesson in Using Fear to Fuel Politics Tampa Bay Times: Terry Kemple Organizes Anti-Muslim Protest on 9/11 Temple Terrace Patch:Temple Terrace Resident Joins CAIR Advocates at Rally New Mosque Opens in Tampa  By KENNETH KNIGHT | The Tampa Tribune  A gleaming new mosque topped with two soaring minarets and a golden dome is open for daily prayer services on Morris Bridge Road north of Cross Creek Boulevard. Leaders of Dar-us-Salaam, which translates in English to House of Peace, want the center to serve as a place of worship for area Muslims and a gathering spot for people of all faiths to foster a better understanding of the Islamic religion. "We really hope the mosque will bring the community together," said Hassan Shibly, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations in Tampa, and a spokesman for the mosque at 15830 Morris Bridge Road. "We invite our neighbors to come to visit us. We have a lot more in common than what some (people) might think divides us." Members of congregations such as St. Mark the Evangelist Catholic Church say they welcome a chance to work with area Muslims on goodwill missions beneficial to the entire community. "Religious freedom has no meaning unless there is freedom for everyone," said Scott Paine, a deacon at St. Mark.... [Read Full Article]

RNC gambles with anti-Sharia platform

By A. Bedier, N. Ahmad | TBO.com | August 31, 2012 | [Original Article]

"On Tuesday, delegates to the Republican National Convention voted in support of the 60-page party platform that has been described as "the most conservative in modern history." An ultra-right wing ideology has overtaken the Republican agenda, evidenced by the platform's extreme positions on decisive issues, including immigration, women's rights, foreign policy and even Sharia law, the Muslim religious code.

While Democrats may have taken Muslim voters for granted, the Republicans have altogether discounted them to their detriment. In an election that could be decided by razor-thin margins, the proposed GOP platform is alienating undecided Muslim voters. The attempt to galvanize the party base with anti-Muslim rhetoric could backfire. Over the course of Mitt Romney's campaign, anti-Muslim bigotry has been used to extol votes and spur fundraising efforts.

... Deepa Kumar, professor and author of "Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire," said to Alternet: "The discourse about 'Muslim terrorism' is so dominant in this country, and Muslims have been so thoroughly vilified, that no savvy politician is going to come to the defense of Muslims. To do so, you would actually have to have principles and ethics, both of which have little place in our money dominated electoral system." She continued, "The Democrats at best stay silent and at worst tacitly add to this climate. At the broader level, this is because both Democrats and Republicans share a common vision for U.S. foreign policy."

The Republican delegates' official adoption of an anti-Muslim platform, will likely catalyze Muslim voters to cast a ballot against Romney. The GOP anti-Sharia position has led to a major uptick in Muslim voter registration campaigns across the country... [Read More]

...Incidentally, this election, like 2000, could be decided by a single state and a few hundred votes. If so, by pushing an anti-Muslim agenda on its party platform, the Republicans are purposefully sideswiping their Muslim constituents and gambling with potential votes. Perhaps the Republican National Convention should have been moved from the Forum to the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino because in this high-stakes election the GOP is betting on the wild card of ignorance and racism"

The GOP has a Muslim problem

By Dean Obeidallah | CNN | August 29, 2012 | [Original Article]

"(CNN) -- A Catholic priest, a rabbi, an evangelical minister, a Sikh, a Greek Orthodox archbishop and two Mormon leaders walk into the Republican National Convention.

It sounds like the beginning of a joke. But the Republican Party's decision to invite representatives from all of these faiths to speak at this week's convention, but to exclude a Muslim-American imam, is anything but funny.

The Republican Party has a problem with Muslims. Of course, American Muslims can take some solace in the fact that we are not the only minority group that the Republican Party hardly welcomes.

Let's be honest, if you don't like Muslims, blacks, gays, immigrants or other minorities, which political party would make you feel most comfortable? Sure, some Republican officials are minorities, but a recent Galllup survey found that 89% of the Republican Party is white..."

"... Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus still has time to correct this mistake. He could invite a Muslim-American imam to be a part of this week's convention. That would send a clear message that the Republican Party is truly welcoming of all major religions practiced in the U.S.

It also would send a message that there is no place for hate in the GOP against any American minority group. It's now up to Preibus to show whether the Republican Party stands for inclusiveness or division."

10 differences between white terrorists and other terrorists

By Prof.Juan Cole

1.  White terrorists are called “gunmen.”What does that even mean? A person with a gun? Wouldn’t that be, like, everyone in the US? Other terrorists are called, like, “terrorists.” 
2. White terrorists are “troubled loners.” Other terrorists are always suspected of being part of a global plot, even when they are obviously troubled loners. 
3. Doing a study on the danger of white terrorists at the Department of Homeland Security will get you sidelined by angry white Congressmen. Doing studies on other kinds of terrorists is a guaranteed promotion. 
4. The family of a white terrorist is interviewed, weeping as they wonder where he went wrong. The families of other terrorists are almost never interviewed. 
5. White terrorists are part of a “fringe.” Other terrorists are apparently mainstream. 
6. White terrorists are random events, like tornadoes. Other terrorists are long-running conspiracies. 
7. White terrorists are never called “white.” But other terrorists are given ethnic affiliations. 
8. Nobody thinks white terrorists are typical of white people. But other terrorists are considered paragons of their societies. 
9. White terrorists are alcoholics, addicts or mentally ill. Other terrorists are apparently clean-living and perfectly sane. 
10. There is nothing you can do about white terrorists. Gun control won’t stop them. No policy you could make, no government program, could possibly have an impact on them. But hundreds of billions of dollars must be spent on police and on the Department of Defense, and on TSA, which must virtually strip search 60 million people a year, to deal with other terrorists.

Spy on the Muslims!

Poll: GOP really dislikes Muslims

By Alex Seitz-Wald | Salon | August 23, 2012 | [Original Article]

"Anyone wondering why Rep. Michele Bachmann would launch a witch hunt against Muslims or why the Republican Party would add a plank to its platform opposing Shariah law need look no further than a new poll conducted by the Arab American Institute.

The poll, released today, asked Americans for their views on various religious groups, as well as on Arabs and Arab-Americans. It also asked respondents how confident they would be that a Muslim or Arab-American holding a position of influence in government could do their job without letting “ethnic loyalty … influence their decision-making.”..."

"... Not surprisingly, those who said they knew a Muslim-American or Arab-American held significantly more positive views than those who said they didn’t know any. Interestingly, a full 60 percent of both Republicans and Democrats said they don’t personally know someone who is Arab or Muslim.

The poll was conducted by JZ Analytics, the firm run by John Zogby, the brother of Jim, who is the head of the Arab American Institute. The online survey of 1,052 U.S. Likely Voters was conducted between Aug. 15 and 16, and had a confidence interval of 95 percent and margin of error +/- 3.1 percentage points."

Spate of attacks near Ramadan trouble U.S. Muslims

By Yasmin Amer and Moni Basu | CNN | August 22, 2012 | [Original Article]

"(CNN) -- To mark the end of Islam's holiest month, Iftikhar Ali will head not to a mosque but to a convention center guarded by law enforcement officers.

That's because this month, during Ramadan, the mosque in Joplin, Missouri, burned to the ground. Its rubble smoldered for two days as a shocked Muslim community came to terms with what had happened.

"I think there are a few people who don't like anybody," Ali said. "They don't like a different color than their color or different religions."

Ali, who is the president of the Joplin mosque, said the congregation rented a convention center so people would have a place to pray and celebrate Eid al-Fitr, the feast that marks the end of fasting for Ramadan..." [Read More]

"... Hooper, the spokesman for the Islamic Council, said Muslims in the United States have been asked to exercise caution. The council released a tip sheet on security: know your emergency responders, post observers, report threats, install surveillance cameras.

Hooper said anti-Muslim rhetoric has been building for years, especially from groups formed specifically to fight against Islam in the United States.

"Anti-Muslim hate groups are a relatively new phenomenon in the United States, most of them appearing in the aftermath of the World Trade Center terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001," according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks such groups..."
 

"...He said all Muslims have a right to practice their faith without fear.
On this Eid, that may not happen in some houses of worship in America."

GOP Platform Takes Hard Stance Against Imaginary Sharia Threat

By Ryan J. Reilly | TMP | August 21, 2012 | [Original Article]

"The Republican National Convention adopted an amendment to their platform supporting a ban on foreign law, with Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach (R) specifically stating that Sharia posed a threat to America.

"We see it from the top where the United States Supreme Court has repeatedly quoted foreign law in interpreting our U.S. constitution and it's actually coming in at the bottom as well, it's being raised as an argument in courts around the country," Kobach said.

"I'm not aware of any court that's accepted the argument, but in cases involving either spousal abuse or assault or other crimes against persons, sometimes defenses are raised that are based in Sharia law," Kobach said. "We actually put a provision affecting Kansas statute this year and I think it's important for us to say foreign sources of law should not be used as part of common law decisions or statutory interpretations by judges in the lower state courts as well.""

Jonathan Kay: North America is safe from Sharia

By Jonathan Kay | NationalPost | August 21, 2012 | [Original Article] 

"In a recent Daily Beast article, I criticized right-wing American activists who have become convinced that a network of influential Washington insiders is secretly conspiring to turn the United States into a Muslim theocracy governed by the laws of Shariah. The launching off point for my article was the recent letter-writing campaign by Michelle Bachmann, and four other GOP congressional representatives, aimed at sniffing out alleged Muslim Brotherhood operatives. But I also profiled American Center for Security Policy president Frank Gaffney, who served as an assistant defense secretary in the Reagan administration...

 ...In recent years, Gaffney has become an influential guru for Bachmann and other anti-shariah activists, and I held up his claims as an example of what I regard as paranoia. For example, his web site, muslimbrotherhoodinamerica, suggests that America is under attack from “a stealthy and pre-violent form of warfare aimed at destroying our constitutional form of democratic government and free society,” and that this secret force is the reason that America is “no closer to victory in the so-called ‘war on terror’ than we were on 9/11.” I wrote that Gaffney’s overall message, while well-intentioned, essentially amounts to a conspiracy theory — with the Muslim Brotherhood cast as arch-villain...

...That 1991 memo exemplifies the truth that there always will be isolated extremists within Western societies — whether Islamists, or white supremicists (like the Milwaukee shooter) who spend their days dreaming of revolutions that are never going to happen. When we discover them, they should be investigated and prosecuted. But I’d urge Mr. Gaffney not to puff up their revolutionary delusions to such a point that they become fuel for witch hunts."

Creeping Counterterrorism: From Muslims to Political Protesters

By Sahar Aziz | Truth-out.org | August 21 2012 | [Original Article]

"Few Americans are surprised to hear that 9/11 shifted our domestic terrorism focus from neo-Nazis and white supremacists to Muslims in America. What may come as a surprise, however, is the pervasive use of anti-terrorism powers against non-Muslims as well, including white middle-class protesters - as we saw in the Occupy movement.

The 9/11 terrorists' warped misinterpretation of Islam triggered a maelstrom of expanded national security powers selectively enforced against American Muslims en masse. Mosques are infiltrated with dubious and highly paid informants, thereby chilling religious freedom. Mentally unstable young Muslim men are targets of overzealous counterterrorism sting operations, and Muslim student associations are under mass surveillance for no apparent reason other than the religious identity of their members. Despite the serious civil liberties implications of such selective enforcement, it has occurred with minimal opposition by the American public.

Our shortsighted forfeiture of civil liberties based on fears of the "Muslim other" now equips our government to quash political dissent..." [Read More]

"... By believing in the fallacy of the "Muslim terrorist other," we weakened our resolve to protect fundamental American values. As a result, post-9/11 counterterrorism authorities are used to spy, infiltrate, entrap, arrest and aggressively prosecute any protesters.

When we allow governments to forfeit our civil rights to protect "us" from "them," we lose sight of how quickly we can become the "them."

So, how many more Americans must be subjected to civil liberties violations before we realize that no one is immune from creeping counterterrorism?"

A Quiet Campaign of Violence Against American Muslims

By Peter Beinart | TheDailyBeast | August 20, 2012 | [Original Article]

"When muslim extremists attacked their third American church in three days, the cable networks cut away from regular programming to cover the news. When militants vandalized a Christian school in Illinois two days later, both presidential candidates issued statements denouncing the wave of jihadist violence. When terrorists shot up another church the day after that, President Obama flew to comfort the parishioners. By the sixth attack, Rush Limbaugh was demanding that the Obama administration ditch its politically correct pussyfooting and acknowledge the Muslim fifth column in our midst. After the seventh attack, lawmakers introduced legislation giving the feds additional powers to detain American citizens suspected of extremist views. After the attack, a group of congressmen suggested that the U.S. halt immigration from Muslim countries.

None of this happened. But in recent weeks, here’s what has. On Aug. 4, teenagers pelted a mosque in Hayward, Calif., with fruit. On Aug. 5, Wade Michael Page murdered six congregants and wounded a police officer at a Sikh temple in Wisconsin, quite possibly because he thought the Sikhs were Muslim. That same day, a man vandalized a mosque in North Smithfield, R.I. On Aug. 6, a mosque in Joplin, Mo., was burned to the ground. On Aug. 7, two women threw pieces of pork at the site of a proposed Islamic center in Ontario, Calif. On Aug. 10, a man allegedly shot a pellet rifle at a mosque near Chicago while people prayed inside. On Aug. 12, attackers fired paintball guns at a mosque in Oklahoma City, and a homemade bomb filled with acid was thrown at an Islamic school in Lombard, Ill. On Aug. 15, assailants threw a Molotov cocktail at the home of a Muslim family in Panama City, Fla..." [ Read More]

The Muslim populace, not America, is under siege

By S. Amjad Hussain | ToledoBlade| August 20, 2012 | [Original Article]

"Most Americans reacted with disgust and revulsion when a white supremacist opened fire in a Sikh gurdwara and killed six innocent people in suburban Milwaukee this month.

It is heartwarming that all segments of society condemned this wanton act of terrorism, and the bizarre philosophy that underpins such acts. But we seldom reflect on why such things happen. What compels a man such as Wade Michael Page to go on a rampage?

Perhaps the same reasons compelled U.S. Army Maj. Nidal Hasan, a psychologist, and Norwegian Anders Behring Breivik, each of whom faces charges in mass shootings, to kill innocent people in the cause of something they hold dear..." [Read More]

"...Last year, the Associated Press published a series of investigative reports about the New York Police Department and the FBI infiltrating Muslim communities and mosques. According to the reports -- which won a Pulitzer Prize -- the NYPD sent undercover officers into minority neighborhoods as part of a human mapping program.

The police also sent informants called "mosque crawlers" to monitor activities and sermons. This was done not as a result of specific information, but as part of a wide dragnet. Many of these mosque operations and infiltrations of Muslim student groups were put together with the help of the CIA.

The New York Times reported this month that the much-touted psychological profiling of passengers at Logan International Airport in Boston turned out to be the guise for indiscriminate racial profiling of Middle Easterners, African-Americans, and Hispanics"

‘It’s Not Islamophobia, It‘s Islamorealism’: Anti-Islamic Ads Go Up in N.Y. Suburb

By Madeleine Morgenster | TheBlaze.com | August 17, 2012 | [Original Article]

"An anti-Islamic advertisement is causing a stir in suburban New York with its message of “Islamorealism.”

It reads: “19,250 deadly Islamic attacks since 9/11/01 (and counting). It’s not Islamophobia, it’s Islamorealism.”

Signs with the message have gone up at several Metro-North Railroad stations in Westchester County, N.Y., according to the Journal News. They’re paid for by the American Freedom Defense Initiative, led by activist Pamela Geller — the same group behind similar anti-jihad ads that recently appeared in San Francisco.

But not everyone agrees: Greenburgh Town Supervisor Paul Feiner told the New York Daily News he says the advertisements “encourage hatred.” He wants to see the profits from the ad campaign donated to help fight discrimination.

“There are many Muslims residing in Greenburgh and in our villages,” Feiner said. “They should not be discriminated against. The posters encourage hatred, discrimination and do not help the efforts to fight hate crimes.”..." [Read More] 

Fazaga v. FBI: Eroding democracy, in two dimensions at once

By Shahid Buttar | ConstitutionCampaign | Aug 16, 2012 | [Original Article]

"On Tuesday, August 14, a federal judge issued a disturbing ruling allowing the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to evade public accountability for infiltrating faith institutions, monitoring law-abiding people, recording sexual encounters, and then lying about all of it. Carney’s decision erodes democracy in two dimensions at once, enabling ongoing constitutional violations by the executive branch while, at the same time, eroding judicial independence.

The ruling is especially surprising given the judge’s previous criticism of the FBI for lying to him in court.

Fazaga v. FBI addressed claims by a series of southern Californians challenging a long running secret infiltration of their faith institutions by an ex-convict and undercover FBI informant named Craig Monteilh. After being promised a six figure payment to infiltrate mosques across southern California—and even to record sexual encounters with women in those communities to enable subsequent blackmail—Monteilh blew a whistle and joined a case brought by the Council on American-Islamic Relations; Hadsell, Stormer, Richardson & Renick LLP; and the ACLU of Southern California..." [Read More] 

The US Government Can Track Your Location at Any Time Without a Warrant

By Adam Serwer | MotherJones | August 16, 2012 | [Original Article]

"Is law enforcement tracking your cell phone's GPS more like intercepting a phone call or tailing someone on the street? A federal court decision says it's more like following you—which means the authorities don't need to get a warrant to find out where you are at any given time.

The case involves a marijuana courier, Melvin Skinner, whose disposable cell phone was being tracked by the Drug Enforcement Agency as he moved his cargo from Arizona to Tennessee. The DEA got a court order (not a warrant) compelling Skinner's cell phone company to share his GPS information—the release of which led to Skinner's capture and arrest.

Skinner's lawyers argued the DEA tracking his cell was a violation of his Fourth Amendment rights against unreasonable search and seizure because the location information being given off by his phone wasn't publicly available..." [Read More]