‘I am not oppressed’

“I am a proud Muslim-American woman, and I am tired. I am tired of being told that I am oppressed. That I have no voice. That I need to be liberated.

“I am tired, and I am speaking out for the rights of my and other fellow Muslim sisters to be able to dress and be how they wish to be.”

Laila Alawa rejects FEMEN’s claim that they are working for her liberation.

Huffington Post, 10 April 2013

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Republican politician compares Islamic prayer to terrorism

Michele PresnellNorth Carolina state Rep. Michele Presnell (R-Burnsville) linked Islamic prayer to terrorism in an email sent to a constituent, the News & Observer reported Tuesday.

In an email exchange obtained by the Raleigh newspaper, Presnell was asked by a constituent if she would support an Islamic prayer being said before a state legislative meeting.

“No, I do not condone terrorism,” Presnell responded, according to the report. “We just need to start taking a stand on our religious freedom or it will be whisked away from us.”

Huffington Post, 10 April 2013

See also “GOP must repudiate NC lawmaker who compared Islamic prayer to ‘terrorism'”, CAIR press release, 10 April 2013

Hate speech has no place in a synagogue

Rabbis against GellerRabbi Michael White and Rabbi Jerome Davidson condemn the decision to invite anti-Muslim hatemonger Pamela Geller to speak at the Great Neck Synagogue in Long Island next weekend.

They write: “We state unequivocally that Geller’s inflammatory rhetoric does not represent us or the great majority of Jews in Great Neck and on Long Island. Hate speech has no place in synagogues. Synagogues should be places for worship, positive dialogue and reasoned political debate. The right of free speech is vitally important, but Geller crosses the line from political to hate speech. In sharp contrast, Judaism teaches us to respect the traditions and values of other faiths.”

Jewish Week, 9 April 2013

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Another racist graffiti attack on Le Barp mosque

Le Barp racist graffiti

Fascist graffiti attack on Le Barp mosque last September

The Muslim prayer hall at Le Barp, in Gironde, has once again been the target of an Islamophobic attack. Racist graffiti has been found on the front of the mosque. This is a new slap in the face for the Muslim community in this quiet town of 5,000 inhabitants.

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Vladimir Putin’s supposed speech to the Duma on minorities and sharia law

A widely circulated email claims that, in a speech to the Duma on 14 February, Vladimir Putin bluntly advised Russian minorities that they should speak Russian and adapt to Russian culture if they wish to live in the country and that, if they prefer sharia law, they should go and live somewhere else.

Did Putin make such a speech? Hoax-Slayer thinks not.

Bill banning Shariah law in Florida family cases passes Senate panel

Florida lawmakers are poised to pass a controversial law banning courts from using foreign law, after a split Senate committee signed off on the measure.

The bill (SB 58) would ban courts or other administrative authorities form using religious or foreign law in deciding matters related to family law, including divorce and child custody. The House approved a similar measure last year but it died on the Senate floor.

The Senate Children, Families and Elder Affairs Committee approved the bill by a 5-4 vote, with one Republican voting against it and one Democrat voting in favor, surprising opponents of the bill, who expected it to fail.

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