|
CAIR – October 1, 2009
Michigan school district apologizes
for Bible study forms
SOUTHFIELD, MI, October 1, 2009 - The Michigan chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-MI) said today that a Detroit-area school district has apologized for handing out permission slips for Bible study classes to elementary school students.
CAIR-MI sent a letter to Roseville Public Schools after receiving a complaint from two parents of children who attend Huron Park Elementary School about distribution by teachers of permission slips for the Bible classes at a local Baptist church.
In his letter to the school district, CAIR-MI Executive Director Dawud Walid wrote in part:
“School staff and teachers are not to serve as advocates for one particular religion or congregation within a religion by passing out slips inviting parents to give permission for their children to attend religious instruction…According to the United States Supreme Court, the First Amendment clearly requires that public school students and their parents are never given the impression that their school/school district prefers a specific religion over others or sanctions religion in general.”
A school district official today apologized to CAIR-MI for the distribution of the permission slips and said district principals will discuss the issue at an upcoming meeting. “We thank school district officials for taking quick and appropriate action once this violation of religious neutrality was brought to their attention,” said Walid.
CBS4 - Oct 9, 2009
GOP members fire at Muslim targets at local range
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. (CBS4) ― A group of South Florida Republicans held a recent weekly meeting at a gun range. While that is not anything unusual, the fact that that the group of Republicans spent time shooting at targets including cut-outs of a Muslim holding a rocket-propelled grenade launcher surprised many.
The GOP candidate to replace U.S. Representative Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, Robert Lowry, was also a part of the group and fired at a full-body silhouette with "DWS" written next to its head.
Wasserman-Schultz declined comment, but the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee called the Tuesday event "extremist" and "sexist." Lowry initially described the target as a joke, but minutes later called it a mistake.
Others in the Southeast Broward Republican Club event refused to apologize for the target practice that featured both assault rifles and handguns.
http://cbs4.com/politics/republicans.broward.shooting.2.1237938.html
Oakland Tribune – October 16, 2009
Vandalism probe sought
NEWARK, CA — The San Francisco Bay Area chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) is asking local and state officials for a hate-crime investigation into the vandalism of a Newark City Council candidate's home.
Nadja Adolf, one of three candidates for two seats on the council, had her home egged Monday morning while she and her husband were not home, she said.
In a press release issued late Friday afternoon, CAIR said it wanted the hate crime probe because Adolf is Muslim and a picture of her wearing an Islamic head scarf appeared in a local weekly paper just days before the incident.
When asked for a possible motive earlier this week, Adolf said she suspected the crime was committed because of her participation in the election.
Police on Monday said they conducted an initial investigation and took a report for the incident. Officers then increased patrols in Adolf's neighborhood, police Commander Bob Douglas said.
http://www.insidebayarea.com/argus/localnews/ci_13579100
Houston Chronicle – October 16, 2009
Man apologizes for vandalism at mosque
LINDSAY WISE
Police have questioned a man who admits to writing derogatory remarks about Muslims on the walls of a mosque inside a southwest Houston cultural center, but no charges will be filed at the request of the center's leadership.
“We were able to identify a suspect both through video surveillance and through a business card that was left at the scene,” said Jodi Silva, a spokeswoman with the Houston Police Department.
“When we questioned the suspect, he did admit to his role in the incident.”
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2364422/posts
Star Tribune - October 21, 2009
Imams removed from flight agree to settlement
By PAUL WALSH and JAMES W ALSH
Three years after six Muslim men were arrested on a US Airways jet in the Twin Cities, the "Flying Imams" have reached a legal settlement they say acknowledges they were treated improperly because of their religious and ethnic backgrounds.
Few details of the settlement filed in U.S. District Court in Minneapolis were available Tuesday, but a New York attorney for the imams, Omar Mohammedi, called the settlement "satisfactory to the plaintiffs." Mohammedi added that money is involved, but he declined to elaborate.
Another attorney for the imams, Frederick Goetz, of Minneapolis, said a few details remained to be resolved before the settlement reached Monday is completed.
Officials with the Metropolitan Airports Commission (MAC), which operates the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport and is a defendant in the suit by the imams, issued a statement Tuesday afternoon announcing the settlement.
"Law enforcement officials did what they believed was appropriate to ensure the safety of travelers based on the information available at the time," said the commission's general counsel, Tom Anderson. "We will continue to be vigilant in maintaining the security of Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport and the safety of travelers who use it."
According to the Airports Commission statement, "the commission's liability insurance policy limits potential financial exposure in such cases to $50,000. The insurer has the right to assume control of the defense or settlement of claims and exercised that right in this case."
One of the imams, Marwan Sadeddin, of Phoenix, told the Associated Press that the settlement does not include an apology, but he considers it an acknowledgment that a mistake was made. He said he couldn't divulge the terms because both sides had agreed not to discuss them publicly. "It's fine for all parties. It's been solved. ... There is no need for a trial," Sadeddin said.
The imams were arrested in November 2006 while returning from the North American Conference of Imams on a jet bound for Phoenix. A passenger had passed a note to a flight attendant noting what he considered suspicious activity. The case sparked ongoing debate about the power of law enforcement to override personal rights in the name of security.
The imams -- Ahmed Shqeirat, Didmar Faja, Omar Shahin, Mahmoud Sulaiman and Sadeddin, all of Arizona, and Mohamed Ibrahim, of California -- argued that they were removed from the plane because of religious and ethnic bias.
In July, U.S. District Judge Ann Montgomery ruled that the suit could move forward. "The right not to be arrested in the absence of probable cause is clearly established and, based on the allegations ... no reasonable officer could have believed that the arrest of the Plaintiffs was proper," Montgomery ruled then.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations, a Washington-based civil rights organization, took up the imams' cause soon after they were removed from the plane. The group hailed the settlement….
http://www.startribune.com/local/65002357.html
The Stockton Record – October 22, 2009
Terror probe against Imam leads to tax evasion charge
By Scott Smith
STOCKTON - The Islamic Center of Stockton's imam and three of his associates may have been the subject of an FBI terrorism probe that netted little more than tax evasion charges, attorneys for the men said Wednesday.
Saeed Ur Rahman, 44, has been indicted on three counts of tax evasion, the U.S. Attorney's Office in Sacramento announced Tuesday. A separate indictment names three other members of the Islamic Center.
His brother, Obed Ur Rahman, 57, Mohammad Nasir Khan, 51, and Shaker Ahmed, 36, have been indicted on charges they conspired to avoid paying taxes on a 2004 duplex sale.
The indictments were unsealed Tuesday.
Each of the four men face the potential of spending time in federal prison if convicted. They're free for now after securing property bonds. The four are expected back in a Sacramento federal courtroom early next month.
Sacramento attorney Bruce Locke, who represents Khan, said he learned that an FBI joint anti-terrorism task force initiated the probe.
"It leads me to believe that the agents didn't have anything to charge them with," Locke said. "Rather than admit wasting time during the investigation, they charged them with tax offenses."
A man contacted at the Islamic Center of Stockton said only that Saeed Ur Rahman, who is from Pakistan, has been the imam there for a number of years.
A federal grand jury indicted him on charges of underreporting his income by $247,111 between 2004 and 2006, according to federal prosecutors.
Davis attorney Joseph Wiseman, who represents Ahmed, said he has never seen anybody prosecuted in such a case over his career of nearly 30 years.
He awaits evidence the FBI collected in the investigation that may have lasted for more than a year. He expects it to be voluminous. Wiseman called the charges strange.
"It certainly gives the government the opportunity to look into all aspects (of their lives)," he said. "I'm not sure if this is the end or if it's the end of the beginning."
http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20091022/A_NEWS/910220328/-1/#STS=g1lnqgxu.1mfy
|
