Muslims need not apply

“The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) is being sued for religious discrimination. And for good reason. The government watchdog agency was created in 1998 to officially promote and protect religious freedom abroad, but it actually suppresses religious freedom, rather than supporting it. It should be shut down.”

Elizabeth Shakman Hurd examines the case of Safiya Ghori-Ahmad and attributes her treatment to a world view that embodies “a toxic combination of Christian supremacy and flagrant bias against Islam”.

Boston Review, 24 January 2013

ACLU files lawsuit over woman’s terrifying incident at Detroit Metro Airport

Shoshana Hebshi (2)A 36-year-old Ohio woman who is half-Jewish and half-Arab is suing the FBI and other federal agencies, saying she was yanked off an airplane at Detroit Metro Airport on the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, strip-searched, and jailed for more than four hours in a dirty cell because of her ethnic background.

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Toledo mosque arsonist withdraws guilty plea

A former Marine who said he set fire to an Ohio mosque because he wanted to avenge the killings of American troops asked Tuesday to withdraw his guilty plea to federal hate crime charges.

In his request, Randy Linn said he was under duress and depressed when he entered his plea last month in the fire at a suburban Toledo mosque. “I made the wrong decision,” he wrote.

A deal between prosecutors and Linn had called for him to be sentenced to 20 years next April after he pleaded guilty to intentionally damaging and destroying religious property and two gun-related charges.

Associated Press, 22 January 2013

Allen West ‘NUTS!’ letter sold for $2,625 on eBay

Allen West NUTS letter framedThe Council on American-Islamic Relations Florida announced Tuesday that a letter in which then-Congressman Allen West wrote “NUTS!” sold on eBay for $2,625.

The eBay listing shows West’s brief note from Aug. 4, 2011, addressed to Nezar Hamze and Hassan Shibly of CAIR Florida. They had sent the South Florida congressman a letter that July expressing their concerns about his association and support of individuals they said “have been identified as anti-Islam extremist(s),” and urging West to cut his ties with them.

“I am writing to you with regard your recent letter: ‘NUTS!'” West responded, CAIR said. The letter concluded with the words “Steadfast and Loyal” above West’s signature, name and title. West still has not fully explained his meaning, CAIR said.

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Muslim, Jewish groups join Rebuild Joplin effort in demonstration of unity

Joplin mosque blaze
Joplin mosque burns to the ground after suspected arson attack last August

Among those assisting the Rebuild Joplin effort starting Monday will be Muslim and Jewish volunteers.

The volunteers will be from ICNA Relief, part of the Islamic Circle of North America; the Jewish Disaster Relief Corps; and Bridges, a Muslim-Jewish interfaith dialogue composed of New York University students. Shahid Farooqi, outreach director for ICNA Relief USA, said the groups are joining forces in a show of unity.

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Muslims, Christians to gather at Texas church

Hoping to nurture good will between two major faiths, Christians and Muslims will mingle Sunday at a Texas barbecue at a Keller church.

The Rev. Bob Roberts, pastor of the 3,000-member NorthWood Church, said the gathering is intended to create friendships and recruit Muslims and Christians who will work together on a series of community projects.

“We’ve got a big Muslim issue in America,” Roberts said. “There are 2 billion Christians in the world and 1.5 billion Muslims. If we don’t learn how to get along, we are going to have a very sick world.”

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Geller defends Carroll’s ‘fukin savages’ comment

Carroll with Geller“Joining the co-founder of the EDL in prison, Kevin Carroll has been arrested for a Facebook comment. This is part of the war on freedom and its champions.

“Kevin Carroll and Tommy Robinson are on the SION President’s Council and are true fighters for freedom. They oppose the oppression, subjugation and racism of Islamic supremacism. But the savages have succeeded in imposing the sharia – hence their arrests.

“Apparently Kevin Carroll used the word I made famous in our AFDI ads, ‘savage’. And got arrested. The savages didn’t like it. The [sic] is blasphemy enforcement by dhimmi law enforcment. But their instructions came from on high. Shocking. If the Brits don’t fight back, it’s over for them.”

Pamela Geller offers her thoughts on the arrest of English Defence League co-leader Kevin Carroll on suspicion of inciting racial hatred.

Atlas Shrugs, 15 January 2013

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And the winner is … Islamophobia

“America’s Middle East policy has been enthusiastically endorsed. Not at the UN or Arab League, however, but by the powerbrokers of Hollywood. At the Golden Globes, there were gongs for a heroically bearded CIA spook saving hostages and American face in Iran (the film Argo); a heroically struggling agent tracking down Bin Laden (Zero Dark Thirty) and heroically flawed CIA operatives protecting America from mindless, perpetual terror (TV series Homeland).”

Rachel Shabi in the Guardian, 15 January 2013

New Jersey mosque runs into opposition

Bernards Township anti-mosque signWhen a local Islamic organization hired Bernardsville architect Daniel Lincoln to design a new mosque, he set out to create a building that would serve its purpose as a house of worship and fit into the colonial and bucolic character of this township’s Liberty Corner.

He’s proud of the result. The 4,252-square-foot building with white siding and a gray roof could be mistaken for a large home. Remove the crescents, and the two 35-foot minarets could pass for chimneys.

But many of the people who would be neighbors of this mosque aren’t as appreciative.

“When they look at this building, all they see are the letters M-O-S-Q-U-E,” said Lincoln, who also is president of the Historical Society of the Somerset Hills.

MyCentralJersey.com, 13 January 2013

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