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Sunday, November 15, 2009

Muslims, Christians Unite To Put Roof Over Family’s Head

Muslims, Christians Unite To Put Roof Over Family’s Head
Sunday, November 15, 2009 7:46:56 AM

Reported by Mark Jenkins

WINTER GARDEN -- Christians and Muslims may be hammering out their differences elsewhere, but at a local construction site, their relationship didn’t need repair.

Just one week after the tragic shootings at Fort Hood, Texas, members from both groups teamed up with Habitat for Humanity to build a home for the needy.

“Every time something like that happens, it raises the angst in our community,” said Imam Abdula Sykes, president of a local branch of the Islam Society. “We have to get out there and let people know this is the act of one person, which we do not agree with, which we don’t condone, and is not a part of Islam. Which is why we’re out here, so people can see who we really are.”

The Muslim and Christian groups were among 60 people working side by side, hammering, shoveling and raising new walls for a family in need.

“I think it’s beautiful,” said volunteer Mike Rettstatt. “Every wall that goes up, those people are that much closer to having their house.”

The new wall represented the framework for Mercedes Andrews’ new life. While she has been working to become a nurse, Andrews has had problems providing a stable home for her children.

“We’ve moved a lot, and trying to keep up with the economy, and things have been hard. So this is a light at the end of the tunnel,” Andrews told News 13.

Andrews has already performed more than 100 of the 500 labor hours required by Habitat for Humanity. In return, she will get a new home and a 20-year, zero-interest mortgage.

During all the work, Andrews said one thought was replaying in her mind.

“Oh, my God, I’m getting a house!” Andrews said. “I’m getting a house, and I don’t ever have to move again. I’m just overwhelmed.”

With all the manpower, workers said the framework should be finished in two weeks, and Andrews can move in to her new home in March.

The project was a collaboration between St. Luke’s United Methodist Church and West Orange Habitat for Humanity.

Habitat said they are not a charity for participants, and families qualify for their mortgage through showing adequate income and good credit history.

http://www.cfnews13.com/News/Local/2009/11/14/muslims_christians_unite_to_put_roof_over_familys_head.html

Thursday, November 12, 2009

"The King's Torah"

Israeli Rabbi's Guide On The Killing Of Gentiles Causes Firestorm
November 10, 2009 4:03 p.m. EST

The Media Line Staff
The 230-page book, "The King's Torah" was released over the weekend by Rabbi Yitzhak Shapira and gives theological backing to Jews killing those perceived to be violating Jewish commandments or threatening the Jewish nation. A theological treatise based on Rabbi Shapira's interpretation of passages from the Jewish bible, "The King's Torah" is an extensive guide to when it is permissible for Jews to kill non-Jews.
Rabbi Shapiro's book argues that Jewish law allows the killing of "non-Jews who demand the land for themselves", those from a nation which "helps a murderer of Jews," those spreading "hostile blasphemy" and "those who, by speech, weaken our sovereignty."
"Any case in which the life of the civilian endangers Israel," the book states, "it is allowed to kill a gentile."
"The permit also applies when the persecutor is threatening to kill indirectly rather than directly," Rabbi Shapiro's book reads. "If the civilian is aiding fighters it is permissible to kill... Any citizen who supports the war or the fighters or expresses satisfaction with their deeds - the killing is permitted."
Rabbi Shapira's book argues that revenge is a necessity under Jewish law.
"To defeat the wicked one should be vengeful, tit for tat," the book reads. "Revenge is a necessity... and sometimes doing savage things intended to create a true balance of terror."
The book further states that Jews are permitted to kill children "If it is clear they will grow up to harm us."
"If hurting an evil leader's children will pressure him to stop acting maliciously," Rabbi Shapira wrote, "you can hurt them."
The book discusses the laws regarding such killings in theological terms, never specifically mentioning Palestinians, Arabs or Israeli soldiers sent to remove Jewish settlements. Its release comes weeks after the arrest of Yaakov Teitel, a Jewish Israeli settler of American origin who is understood to have admitted to killing Palestinians and attacking progressive and messianic Jews.
Rabbi Shapira is head of the Od Yosef Chai Yeshiva, a religious school for Jewish boys based in the Yitzhar Jewish settlement a few miles southwest of the Palestinian city of Nablus. Rabbi Shapira's followers adhere to a radical form of Jewish religious nationalism and call for a Torah-based theocracy to replace the State of Israel, which they see as having abandoned core Jewish principals.
The school is best known for its former leader, American-born Rabbi Yitzhak Ginzburg, seen as the spiritual heir to the late Rabbi Meir Kahane, the American-Israeli founder of the extreme-right political party Kach, classified by both Israel and the U.S. as a terrorist organization. Rabbi Ginzburg was imprisoned for an article praising Baruch Goldstein, an American-born Israeli physician who killed dozens of Muslim worshipers in Hebron and injured 150 others in 1994.
Both Rabbi Ginzburg and Rabbi Ya'akov Yosef, another prominent leader of the radical Jewish religious nationalist movement, have recommended Rabbi Shapira's new book, which was first released over the weekend at a Jerusalem memorial for Rabbi Kahane.
Rabbi Hank Skirball, the chairperson of Hiddush, an Israeli organization dedicated to religious freedom and equality, said Rabbi Shapira's book represented only the far right fringe of religious Jews.
"It's a perversion of Jewish law and I don't think it's taken seriously by most," he told The Media Line. "It's giving people tremendous latitude to kill people they disagree with and opens itself up to violation of much more important prohibitions in Jewish law."
"In Israel we did not kill the murderer of Prime Minister Yitshak Rabin and we didn't kill any of the people who created sedition at the time," he said. "We have freedom of speech and its very difficult to know what is dangerous and what is not. Jewish law does not provide for us to go out and kill someone for what he's saying. You are only allowed to kill someone if it is very obvious that he's about to kill you and you have no other way to save your life other than by killing him." Rabbi David Hartman, founder of the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem and a philosopher of contemporary Judaism, said that the rabbis of the Od Yosef Chai Yeshiva were not taking into account the consequences of their teachings.
"Has the Jewish tradition ever created a distinction based on race, gender, etc? Of course, there is no doubt that there are serious Jewish sources that do not look at the non-Jew with full equality," he told The Media Line. "But they have lots of sources they could use, and which sources you choose to read and don't read is important."
"One of the interesting things about Jewish law is that perception is a part of the criteria," Rabbi Hartman said. "Jewish theologians aren't pure academics nor are they spokesmen, so they are not writing in a vacuum. The most serious Jewish theological figures are very careful about the implications or consequences of their writings."
Rabbi Hartman argued that while such books touched a cultural chord, they were mostly ignored in the mainstream Jewish theological community.
"I make a distinction between a cultural fringe and what is fringe in terms of Jewish theological thought," he told The Media Line. "On the one hand, this is not fringe, and you have mainstream kids talking this talk. But in terms of Jewish law, there is no significant Jewish theological movement to permit the blood of non-Jews. If you're looking at the major thinkers, nobody is talking with that language, whether they are ultra-orthodox, Sephardic or Ashkenazi, and these kinds of things are ignored."
"The problem is that if you ignore something it doesn't mean it doesn't have any influence over students," Rabbi Hartman said. "Beware of that which you ignore, what is a cultural phenomenon today may become acceptable to major Jewish thinkers tomorrow."
"For example, when it comes to Israel, our return to power and the desire to strengthen the claim to the land has created a push for a new Jewish theological creativity and a cultural phenomenon in which certain Jewish theological positions are given more significance than what the major Jewish theological authorities would allow."
"Forty years ago there were no major Jewish theological figures who said the land of Israel was more significant than Pikuach Nefesh, the concept of the saving of a life," he said, in reference to Jewish theological debates over exchanging land captured by Israel for peace. "Today in the religious Zionist community there are major theological figures for whom this is now a self evident truth."Read more: http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7016955691?Israeli%20Rabbi

http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7016955691?Israeli%20Rabbi

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Judge says imams booted from flight can sue police

Judge says imams booted from flight can sue police

http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2009/07/24/imams-lawsuit/

http://www.startribune.com/local/51600797.html

Saturday, October 3, 2009

Video: The Analysis of Ardipithecus ramidus--One of the Earliest Known Hominids

Science 2 October 2009:Vol. 326. no. 5949, p. 60DOI: 10.1126/science.326_60b

Multimedia
Video: The Analysis of Ardipithecus ramidus--One of the Earliest Known Hominids
//
More than a million-years older than "Lucy," Ardipithecus ramidus and the associated fossils provide the most detailed snapshot of early hominid life. This video features interviews with Project Co-Director Tim White (University of California, Berkeley), Science correspondent Ann Gibbons, and paleoanthropologist Andrew Hill (Yale University). Produced by Robert Frederick and Michael Torrice.

http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/326/5949/60-b

Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Popular Imam presents 2 Face… by cal Thomas

Before you read

I ‘m very shocked by the way of using a person to attack all human being who believe in faith of Islam (only because of being Muslims!)...
I'm very concerned about this infinite Hatred...
We must know that People are people – no matter of what they follow-
And people must be judged by their actions not by what they pretend to be.......

The article:
Popular Imam presents 2 Face… by cal Thomas
http://townhall.com/columnists/CalThomas/2009/09/29/deception?page=full&comments=true

If you are an enemy of America seeking her destruction, you would add to your pursuit of nuclear, biological and chemical weapons the undermining of this nation from within. You would do this largely through deception, putting on a peaceful face while subtly plotting ways to bring America down.
That tactic was on display last Friday in Washington as a crowd estimated at 3,000 Muslims gathered to pray. The organizer of the rally, Imam Abdul Malik of Brooklyn, N.Y., told Americans what we like to hear: "What we've done today, you couldn't do in any Muslim country. If you prayed on the palace lawn there, they'd lock you up."

As reported by The Washington Times Sadara Shaw, a resident of Washington, D.C., was quoted as saying "It's a show of solidarity to show all Muslims are not terrorists but law-abiding citizens." That is probably true, but irrelevant since it takes only a small number of terrorists to cause havoc.
"We believe in America's possibilities," Malik told the crowd. "We didn't come to criticize our nation ... I want the American people to know that we love you."
The Imam's Facebook page tells a different story. But only The Times bothered to look at it. While Malik's Facebook shows him dressed in Western clothing, he attended the ceremony dressed as a sheik. That seems more appropriate to the real Imam Malik, because on his Web page he has written: "Democracy is not revelation, and democracy does not equal freedom, for in democracy you have apartheid, you have slavery, you have homosexuality, you have lesbianism, you have gambling, you have all of the vices that are against the spirit of truth; so no we don't want to democratize Islam, we want to Islamize democracy..."
Which Imam is telling the truth and which is practicing deception? One might debate whether apartheid (Jews and Christians), slavery (oppression of women) and homosexuality exist in Muslim countries, the claim of Iran's Ahmadinejad that homosexuals aren't present in his country notwithstanding.
President Obama says Iran has been building a second nuclear enrichment plant. Oh, but Iran will allow in U.N. and possibly even American inspectors. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says she expects the Iranians will tell us exactly what they are up to at a gathering of six foreign ministers in Geneva on Oct. 1. But hasn't Ahmadinejad already said? All of that nuclear material is to heat, cool and light the homes of peace-loving Iranians. What else is there to discuss?
Iran has about as much credibility as North Korea and Venezuela. Iran reportedly will help Venezuela's Hugo Chavez mine uranium in his country. Chavez denies it, of course. And when he is forced to admit it, he will claim it is for peaceful purposes. Memo to President Obama: radical, fundamentalist Muslims believe they have a religious duty to lie and deceive "infidels." Chavez has more secular motivations for his untruths.
Has anyone noticed the apparent uptick in terrorist activity? In addition to the above, the Justice Department has brought charges in three "unrelated" bomb plots. In the most serious case, Najibullah Zazi, an airport shuttle driver from Denver, was indicted in New York on charges of conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction against persons or property in the United States. Authorities last week also arrested a 19-year-old Jordanian citizen, Hosam Maher Husein Smadi, and accused him of trying to blow up a downtown Dallas skyscraper. And an Illinois man, Michael C. Finton (aka Talib Islam) was ordered held last week on charges he tried to blow up a federal building in the state's capital.
Are we being infiltrated and surrounded by people who want us dead and our country destroyed? Try a little experiment, Google "Islam near" and then type in the name of any city or town. When I tried the small town of Bryn Mawr, Pa., 10 Islamic-related sites came up. In larger cities, there are as many, or more. Deception is part of the terrorists' battle strategy. Who are you going to believe, the public Imam Malik of the prayer gathering, or the Imam Malik of the Facebook page?

Sunday, September 27, 2009

Thursday, September 24, 2009

Pulaski student objects to film against the faith of Islam

Pulaski student objects to film on Islam
By Bill Estep - bestep@herald-leader.com
SOMERSET — A teacher at Pulaski County High School showed students a film that was hateful toward Islam and then inappropriately discussed female genital circumcision, the father of one class member has complained.
The film included images of dead bodies, beheadings, bombings and bloody children, said Bill Cruey.
Cruey said his daughter Amber, a 17-year-old senior, was so upset by the images and discussion that she couldn't even talk about it, but rather wrote down her reactions.
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"The video, in general, was terrifying, gruesome, disturbing, and hateful," Amber wrote. "Not only did the video permanently scar my brain, but also (the teacher's) descriptions over the genital mutilation tortured my thoughts."
Sonya Wilds, an assistant superintendent in the school system, said the teacher showed the film on Sept. 11 in order to commemorate the anniversary of the terror attacks in New York and Washington and generate discussion on the dangers of extremism.
What the teacher was trying to do wasn't a problem, and he had no bad intent, but school officials agree it wasn't proper to show the film to the class of 10 juniors and seniors, Wilds said.
"We absolutely agreed it was not an appropriate media clip to use," she said.
Wilds said school officials apologized to the parent who complained. She did not identify Bill Cruey, but he confirmed he was the parent who objected to the film being shown.
Only one parent complained, Wilds said.
Superintendent Tim Eaton also addressed the issue with the teacher. The school system would not identify the teacher or say what action Eaton took because it is a personnel matter.
Amber identified him in a statement as Michael Foncannon, a teacher in the Junior ROTC program. Foncannon was not available for comment Tuesday after school.
The 15-minute film at issue is Fitna, produced by Geert Wilders, a Dutch politician who has argued that Islam promotes hate and violence and warned that the "Islamic incursion" of Europe must be stopped.
It contains graphic images of the attack on the World Trade Center and other terrorist attacks, as well as a beheading, the execution of a woman, and children with blood on their faces. It says Islam seeks to destroy Western civilization.
"When I heard about it, it made me sick," Bill Cruey said. "I never would have expected that that film would be shown in public school."
Jenny Sutton-Amr, executive director of the Kentucky Islamic Resource Group in Lexington, said the film promotes false, inflammatory stereotypes that Islam promotes violence.
"Islam is definitely against violence," she said. "The notion of killing innocent people ... does not have a place in Islam."
Many religions, Islam included, are susceptible to being distorted, but the fact is that Muslim leaders the world over condemned the 9/11 terror attacks, Sutton-Amr said.
The subject of female circumcision — or mutilation, as many see it — came up in the discussion after the film because there were images of women with blood on them, Amber said.
Some people associate female circumcision with Islam because it is practiced in some areas with large Muslim populations, but it pre-dates Islam and is a cultural, not a religious, practice, said Sutton-Amr.
It is also practiced in some Christian areas, she said.
Amber said the film caused her to hate Muslims — exactly the kind of reaction Muslims worry about.
She said she got past that after talking with her parents, and she now thinks the film was wrong. Amber, who transferred out of the class after the film was shown, said she wants an apology from the teacher and the school to bring in someone to talk to students about a correct view of Islam.
Cruey said he would like the school to acknowledge Amber did the right thing to raise concerns about the film and to provide counseling for her.

Indictment claims Najibullah Zazi, 24, had recently bought bomb-making materials

US terrorism suspect faces conspiracy charges
Indictment claims Najibullah Zazi, 24, had recently bought bomb-making materials

Associated Press
guardian.co.uk, Thursday 24 September 2009 17.48 BST
Article history

Terrorism suspect Najibullah Zazi, 24, arrives at the Byron G Rogers Federal Building in downtown Denver, Colorado with his attorney. Photograph: Marc Piscotty/Getty
Terrorism suspect Najibullah Zazi plotted for more than a year to detonate homemade bombs in the United States, had recently bought bomb-making supplies from beauty supply stores and was looking for "urgent" help in the past two weeks to make explosives, an indictment charged today.
Zazi, arrested in Denver last weekend on a count of lying to terrorism investigators, was charged in New York with conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction. He appeared in a Denver courtroom today on the lesser charge.
The two-page indictment offers few details, but a separate document, a government motion seeking to deny bail to the 24-year-old Afghan immigrant, lays out evidence gathered by investigators.
The airport shuttle driver began plotting to "use one or more weapons of mass destruction" between 1 August 2008 and September 2009 against the US, the papers say. The papers offer few specifics on where and when an attack might have been planned, but counterterrorism agents fear he and others might have been planning to detonate homemade bombs on New York City commuter trains.
The document says that on 6 and 7 September, Zazi tried to communicate with another individual "seeking to correct mixtures of ingredients to make explosives".
"Each communication," the papers say, was "more urgent than the last."
On those days, Zazi rented a suite at a hotel in his hometown of Aurora, Colorado, authorities charge. The room had a kitchen, and subsequent FBI testing for explosives and residue in the suite found the presence of residue in the vent above the stove.
In July and August, Zazi bought unusually large amounts of hydrogen peroxide and acetone products from beauty supply stores in the Denver metropolitan area, the document says. He searched the internet for home improvement stores in Queens before driving a rental car for a two-day trip to the city, the document says.
Zazi has publicly denied any terrorist plotting and the documents do not specify a specific time and place of a possible attack. The arrests were followed by a flurry of nationwide warnings of possible strikes on transit, sports and entertainment complexes. But a series of searches in Denver and New York City over the past two weeks including high-profile raids on Queens apartments that netted backpacks, cell phones and a scale have not found any evidence of explosives.
Law enforcement officials have said Zazi might have been plotting with others to detonate backpack bombs on New York trains in a scheme similar to the deadly attacks on the London subway and Madrid's rail system in the past few years.
John Choy, a salesman for 707 Beauty Supply and Fashion Plus in the Denver suburb of Aurora, said FBI agents came to his store about two weeks ago and asked him whether he sold hydrogen peroxide to anyone recently. Choy said that the store sells only a few small bottles a year and that no one who bought it fit the description of Zazi.
Authorities planned to transfer Zazi to the federal court in the New York borough of Brooklyn to face the new charge.
Zazi, his father, Mohammed and a New York City imam were appearing today in Denver and Brooklyn courts on counts of lying to terrorism investigators. The imam, Ahmad Wais Afzali, was released on $1.5m (£933,000) bond after a hearing today.
A second, unrelated indictment unsealed today in the same court charged a Brooklyn man with supporting terrorism. An indictment alleges Betim Kaziu travelled to Pakistan this year to try to receive training from a militant group linked to al-Qaida, and tried to go to Afghanistan and Iraq to fight against US forces there.
Kaziu was to be arraigned later today. Prosecutors did not have the name of his attorney.

Thursday, September 10, 2009

Shooting at Oregon Muslims' Home Motivated by Hate (Video)

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Obama’s speech to school children

http://www.jacksonnjonline.com/2009/09/09/obamas-speech-to-school-children-bad-or-good/

Destroyed schools deepen Pakistani children's woes

Destroyed schools deepen Pakistani children's woes
Reuters - Nita Bhalla - ‎2 hours ago‎
NEW DELHI (Reuters) - The destruction of hundreds of schools during fighting between the Pakistani army and Taliban militants has left more than half a million children with little hope of education, the United Nations said on Wednesday.
The army offensive against militants in North West Frontier Province (NWFP) resulted in one of largest internal displacements in recent times. About 2.3 million people fled their homes, most after fighting intensified in April.
But as displaced families leave the shelter of camps and host communities to go home, they are finding many of their children's schools in ruins.
"The impact of the fighting has been quite dramatic on schools and students in NWFP," Luc Chauvin, deputy representative for the U.N. Children's Fund (UNICEF) in Pakistan, told Reuters AlertNet in a telephone interview.
"Some of the girls' schools were blown up by the Taliban before the fighting, while other schools were destroyed during the active conflict," he said.
Chauvin said about 230 schools had been "completely flattened," while about 410 schools had been damaged with collapsed walls and roofs caused by mortar fire, rocket-propelled grenades or bombs.
The Taliban, who oppose female education, blew up girls' schools when they controlled the Swat area for about two years. They attacked other empty schools because soldiers often used them as camps.
Chauvin said more than 4,000 other primary and secondary schools also needed to be renovated. Many had been converted into shelters to accommodate people fleeing the fighting.
"Lots of schools need to be cleaned up, repainted and refurnished after so many people have been living there and things have been stolen or furniture burned as firewood," he said.
TARGETING SCHOOLS
Humanitarian workers, who are assessing how to help war-ravaged areas such as the Swat valley, say schools are amongst the worst-hit infrastructure.
Despite areas being declared safe, militants are still operating and have been carrying out revenge attacks by burning down more schools and attacking students.
Chauvin said a lack of schooling for more than half a million children would be a devastating blow to people desperate to get back to normal life.
"When children go to school it creates a sense of normalcy and this is what returning populations need," said Chauvin. "But this is impossible if the schools no longer exist."
Aid workers say it is imperative to invest in poverty alleviation and development projects in NWFP, which has become a fertile ground for recruiting militants, but the humanitarian community in Pakistan is struggling to find funds.
MORE: http://www.reuters.com/article/GCA-Afghanistan-Pakistan/idUSTRE5881UP20090909

Hugo Chávez accuses Israel of genocide

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/sep/09/gaza-hugo-chavez
Hugo Chávez accuses Israel of genocide
Israelis 'openly exterminated' Palestinians in Gaza offensive, says Venezuelan president.
Hugo Chávez , the Venezuelan president, has accused Israel of genocide against the Palestinians, saying the offensive in Gaza early this year was unprovoked.
"The question is not whether the Israelis want to exterminate the Palestinians. They're doing it openly," he was quoted as saying in an interview with the French newspaper, Le Figaro.
"What was it, if not genocide? ... The Israelis were looking for an excuse to exterminate the Palestinians." His comments came after a tour of Middle Eastern and Arab countries.
Israel has maintained that the three-week Gaza assault was a response to rockets fired from Gaza by militant groups. However, several human rights groups have said that both Israel and Palestinian militant groups, notably Hamas, breached international law and should be investigated for possible war crimes.
A key UN report on the conflict, led by the respected South African judge Richard Goldstone, is due to be published within weeks.
New casualty figures for the Gaza offensive, compiled after months of research by an Israeli human rights group, show 1,387 Palestinians died, of whom more than half were not taking part in hostilities. The research from B'Tselem, the Israeli human rights organisation, challenges figures produced by the Israeli military, which argued that far fewer Palestinian civilians died.
B'Tselem said that its field researchers in Gaza interviewed witnesses and relatives of the dead, cross-checked information with Palestinian and international rights groups and with Israeli military statements. "B'Tselem did everything within its capability to verify the data," the group said. It had asked to see an Israeli military list of fatalities but was refused. Israeli authorities also refused to allow Israeli and West Bank staff from B'Tselem to enter Gaza for the work.
The research found that 773 of those Palestinians killed were not taking part in hostilities; among them were 320 children under the age of 18. Field workers from the group visited the homes of the dead children, checking photographs, death certificates and other documents to establish the toll.
Another 330 of the dead were involved in the fighting and 248 were police officers killed at their police stations, most in a wave of air strikes on the first day of the conflict.
On the Israeli side, three civilians were killed by Palestinian militant rocket fire and 10 soldiers died, four of whom were killed accidentally by their own troops.
The Israeli military has released its own casualty figures for Palestinian deaths, saying 295 civilians were killed out of a total of 1,166 deaths, but has refused to publish its list of fatalities. The military said it believed that the B'Tselem report was "not based on facts or on accurate statistics".
Although the military defended its conduct in the war, it has emerged that officers have started taking witness testimony from some Palestinians whose relatives were killed and injured. On Monday, Israeli military officers questioned Khaled Abed Rabbo, who saw two of his daughters shot dead by Israeli troops during the war. A third daughter was severely injured. The troops then demolished the family's house, in Izbet Abed Rabbo, one of the worst damaged villages in Gaza

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Islamophobia in Perspective: The Curious Case of Fathima Rifqa Bary

http://muslimmatters.org/2009/09/07/islamophobia-in-perspective-the-curious-case-of-fathima-rifqa-bary/

from MuslimMatters.org
by HaythamCo-Authored by AmadThe case of Fathima Rifqa Bary is interesting to say the least. The 17-year old, who arrived with her family from Sri Lanka less than a decade ago, ran away from home in Ohio to Florida, allegedly because she was afraid of being killed by her father after her decision to leave Islam for Christianity. Fathima, a cheerleader in her high-school, took a bus to Florida right after a fight with her mother. Conveniently the ticket was already purchased for her and paid for by a Blake Lorenz, a Florida pastor (and wife Beverly Lorenzo), who Fathima met on Facebook, and who was quoted as saying, "Christians are at war with Islam and that Islam is evil".Question: How can a minor have her inter-state travel arranged without her parents’ consent and with the aid of a total stranger, who might have as well been a pedophile? Isn’t this illegal? If Blake Lorenz was such a Good Samaritan, and was so concerned about Fathima’s life, why did he not just do the “normal” thing and contact the local authorities in Ohio (CPS and/or police)? Blake’s intervention, especially based on his views about Islam and Muslims, can easily be seen as carrying an agenda beyond the “kind pastor” shtick.Fathima’s claim about her father’s murderous appetite was also flatly dismissed by the Ohio authorities. In an article in the The Columbus Dispatch, Sgt. Jerry Cupp of the missing-persons unit of the Columbus police special-victims bureau, disputes Fathima's allegation saying[H]er father, Mohamed Bary, appears to be a loving parent who knew about her conversion to Christianity months ago.Wait, did he just say knew about her conversion to Christianity months ago?! Why wait till now to threaten to kill her? And if he threatened to kill her for some time, why wait until this point? So many questions and very few answers in this curious story.Back to our story then, like any concerned parent would do, Fathima's parents contacted the local police department to file a missing persons report. Except that Fathima was already on her way to Florida, where Lorenz was assisting in having a case filed in the State of Florida to gain custody of the Fathima.One of the beautiful things that is advertised about living in the United States is that the same law is applied to everyone, regardless of who they are or what they do. But not apparently in the case of Muslims anymore, as we see time and time again. As Mike Thomas reports in an excellent and objective piece in the Orlando Sentinel, aptly entitled, “Anti-Muslim bias obvious in Fathima Rifqa Bary case”,The case went to court last week. And in a rather surprising twist, rather than send Rifqa back to Ohio, Circuit Judge Daniel Dawson decided to investigate Ohio. And so the Florida Department of Law Enforcement is off to determine her survival chances there.What jurisdiction does Florida have in this case at all? Is the girl from Florida? No. Are her parents from Florida? No. Was any crime committed in Florida in this case? No. Is there a case for using tort law? No.So, what is this case doing in Florida? As Mike Thomas’s piece highlights,Left unanswered is what business Florida has involving itself in this matter. The people best suited to determine the threat level to Rifqa are the cops and social workers in Ohio familiar with the Bary family and the Muslim community. It appeared they had worked out a good compromise plan, allowing Rifqa to go into foster care while they ensured her safety.Thus, on Monday August 10th, a judge in the 9th Judicial Circuit Court of Florida placed the girl in the custody of the state's Department of Children and Families. To add salt to injury, the court also ruled that Rev. Blake and his wife are allowed visitation to the daughter along with her biological father. What legal custody does this Pastor have over this minor? If anything Blake should be charged with arranging for illegal inter-state transportation of a minor, not be rewarded for his role!One can’t help but consider Governor Charlie Crist’s intervention in the Florida court’s decision to keep Fathima in the state. Again Mike Thomas doesn’t let the politics slip by, noting that Gov. Crist is facing a strong challenge from Marco Rubio in the Republican U.S. Senate primary. Forget the relationship between this minor and her parents, forget civil and constitutional rights, as long as Crist can use his intervention to gain a few brownie points on election day. Of course Crist’s challenger couldn’t be left behind. Rubio also issued a statement in support of Fathima and spammed it all over the net. What happened to the America that I once knew?!Imagine, for a second, if an Imam was in the same position as the pastor, god forbid. Not only would he be crucified in the media, but it would not come as a surprise if he were accused of brainwashing, along with child abuse, and, if not a citizen, be deported! Such double standards are quashing all attempts by sincere people on both sides to close the gap between the minority Muslim Americans and majority non-Muslims.I am having a hard time believing that devoted Muslim parents with "claimed" ties to radical Islam allowed their 17-year old daughter to wear short-skirts, jumping up and down, cheerleading in her school. Putting this aside, there is no history, claim or knowledge of any physical abuse by her parents. These are the very same parents who were interviewed on their local news channel saying that their daughter was coached by this Evangelic Pastor to broadcast a violent image of Islam and her family.Everything about this case has been nothing more than drama, at least this is how I see it. Watch this video of Fathima, as she tries to cry but tears don’t cooperate! The cross that she shows off around her neck, the bible that she reads in the court, the claims that she was abused, and pretty much all of the rest, appear to be nothing but synchronized by the pastor-coach. Even her own brother makes the same judgment about her.And what irony, that her life was in no danger until the pastor decided to make her into a media spectacle, fronting her in front on national and international television. In my opinion, the safety of the girl is the last thing this Pastor had in mind; rather his goal was to use the girl as a way to defame Islam and Muslims.What bothers me the most is that Mohamed Bary, the girl’s father, is seen not as an individual, but somehow as a representative of a religion. I personally don't really care much for the girl, she has made her decision, and she will be bear the consequences for such decision, but the loss of a child for the parents, who came to America to live the American dream, and the public humiliation that the parents have had to endure is indeed heart breaking.What a story, don’t you think? It also provides a glimpse of a sad reality of some born-Muslims who leave their religion. We, as Muslims, are facing a great challenge as those before us, from the Irish, to the Italians, and even the Jews faced. That is how to keep our identity as Muslims while raising our children in this country. Lectures and programs have discussed this issue, and yet we fail to put together a compelling solution.Also, this should serve as a reminder for those who want to live in the United States or in the West in general: take care of your children! There appears to have been something seriously wrong within the family of Fathima, in how she would raise such a battle-cry against her own kin. It would seem that there was a communication breakdown and possibly lack of proper religious learning, wallahualam.Many a time, Muslims, especially new immigrants, who are trying to establish the American dream, get so caught up in this dream that they forget the very reason that they grabbed on to that dream in the first place: for the sake of their families' betterment. And betterment has to include not just materialistic issues, but spiritual and religious betterment. Otherwise, what good is the duniya when it forces you to give up on the akhira?So, talk to your children, teach them, and be role models for them. If you need to learn how, then take a class about raising your children, read a book on the subject, listen to some audio, but do something. I am not talking to my parent’s generation, rather I am talking to my generation. You are educated, you grew up here or spent substantial amount of years here, you already know the system... all what is missing is for you to own up to the challenge. I can’t help it but remember the hadith of the prophet, peace and blessings be upon him where he said, "You are all shepherds and you are responsible for your flock". Our parents already decided for us to live in this country, hence it is time for us to face the challenge of practicing our religion and keeping our heritage, while living the American way of life.Finally, about honor killings (the oxymoron it is), there is no sane Muslim who knows anything about his/her own religion, who doesn't also know that individual members of the society cannot take matters of life and death in their own hands. In fact, you would be hard-pressed to find one undisputed example of a Muslim-turned-non-Muslim being killed by a family member in the West. And since indisputably, there are a few "apostates" every year, it can mean only one thing: this whole issue about fearing one's own family is a joke, just like how the judiciary in Fathima's case has acted thus far. It is primarily and significantly motivated by Islamophobia and anti-Muslim bias.Matters of hadd (Islamic penal code) can only be applied by a state authority in an Islamic state, which certainly doesn't exist for Muslims residing in the West, and one could argue doesn't exist anywhere around the globe. Even the entire issue of apostasy and its punishment is complicated but suffice to say, it has absolutely ZERO relevance to the case of Fathima or any other apostate from Islam in the West.

Monday, September 7, 2009

Barack Obama Video:Pastor's prayer for Obama's death sparks protest AP

Barack Obama Video:Pastor's prayer for Obama's death sparks protest AP
http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/player/popup/?rn=3906861&cl=15439795&ch=4226713&src=news

Friday, July 10, 2009

UK 108th in new ‘Happy Planet Index’

UK 108th in new ‘Happy Planet Index’
A new global measure of progress, the ‘Happy Planet Index’, reveals for the first time that happiness doesn’t have to cost the Earth. It shows that people can live long, happy lives without using more than their fair share of the Earth’s resources. The new international ranking of the environmental impact and well-being reveals a very different picture of the wealth, and poverty, of nations.
The Happy Planet Index, an innovative new index from nef (the new economics foundation) launched on Wednesday 12 July 2006, is the first ever index to combine environmental impact with well-being to measure the environmental efficiency with which countries provide long and happy lives. The results are surprising, even shocking. The ranking unmasks a very different world order to that promoted by self-appointed global leaders, the G8. For example, the UK is a disappointing 108th and the USA fares still worse at 150th on the Index.
nef’s report, The Happy Planet Index: An index of human well-being and environmental impact, published in association with Friends of the Earth, moves beyond crude ratings of nations according to national income, measured by Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to produce a more accurate picture of the progress of nations based on the amount of the Earth’s resources they use, and the length and happiness of people’s lives.
The Happy Planet Index (HPI) strips the view of the economy back to its absolute basics: what we put in (resources), and what comes out (human lives of different length and happiness). The resulting Index of the 178 nations for which data is available, reveals that the world as a whole has a long way to go. In terms of delivering long and meaningful lives within the Earth’s environmental limits - all nations could do better. No country achieves an overall ‘high’ score on the Index, and no country does well on all three indicators.
“It is clear that no single nation listed in the Happy Planet Index has got everything right. But the Index does reveal patterns that show how we might better achieve long and happy lives for all, whilst living within our environmental means. The challenge is - can we learn the lessons and apply them? Governments the world over have been concentrating on the targets for too long. If you have the wrong map, you are unlikely to reach your destination”, says Nic Marks, head of nef’s Centre for well-being.
The HPI shows that around the world, high levels of resource consumption do not reliably produce high levels of well-being (life-satisfaction), and that it is possible to produce high levels of well-being without excessive consumption of the Earth’s resources. Key findings of the Index are:
Self appointed world ‘leaders’ – the G8 - score generally badly in the Index: The UK comes a disappointing 108th – with the remainder of the G8 faring little, if at all, better. Italy is 66th, Germany 81st, Japan 95th, Canada 111th, France 129th, United States 150th and Russia 172nd.
The UKmanages only 108th place in the Index: Just below Libya, but above Laos. The UK’s heavy ecological footprint, the eighteenth biggest worldwide, is to blame. But well-being in the UK is also unspectacular for a Western nation: it is beaten by countries such as Germany, the US, Costa Rica, Malta and, in top place, Switzerland.
Central Americais the region with the highest average score in the Index: The region combines relatively good life expectancy (an average of 70 years) and high life satisfaction with an ecological footprint below its globally equitable share. Central America has had a notorious history of conflict and political instability, but the last 15 years have been relatively peaceful, which perhaps, with traditionally high levels of community engagement, explain its success.
Countries classified by the United Nations as ‘medium human development’ come out better than both low and high-development countries: Only one ‘low-development’ country has a strong HPI score, whilst 21 per cent of countries classified as ‘highly-developed’ do. However, 44 per cent of countries with ‘medium-development’ score well. This is because, beyond a certain level, vastly increasing consumption fails to lead to greater well-being.
Well-being is not based on high levels of consumption: For example, Estonia - with high consumption - rates poorly on well-being. And, in the Dominican Republic where well-being is high, consumption is not above a globally equitable share.
Life satisfaction varies wildly country by country: Questioned on how satisfied they were with their life as a whole, on a scale of 1-10 (1 being ‘dissatisfied, 10 ‘satisfied’), 29.4 per cent of Zimbabweans rate themselves at 1 and only 5.7 per cent rate themselves at 10. By contrast, 28.4 per cent of Danes rate their satisfaction with life 10/10, with less than one percent rating 1.
Life expectancy also varies wildly: Babies born in Japan can expect to live to 82, but only to 32 and a half if born in Swaziland.
Overall, we are over-burdening the Earth’s currently available biocapacity: By consuming 22 per cent above our ecosystems’ ability to regenerate we are eating into and degrading the natural resources that our life-support systems depend on. In the process we are depleting the environmental goods and services that future generations will depend on, with potentially devastating consequences.
“We are used to comparing countries in terms of crude riches or what they trade. There are international league tables for performance on issues from corruption to sporting success. But, nef’s Happy Planet Index measures something much more fundamental. It addresses the relative success or failure of countries in giving their citizens a good life, whilst respecting the environmental resource limits on which all our lives depend. The order of nations that emerges may seem counter-intuitive. But this is because, to a large degree, policy makers have been led astray by abstract mathematical models of the economy that bear little relation to the real world,” says Andrew Simms, nef’s Policy Director.
Some of the most unexpected findings concern the marked differences between nations, and the similarities among some groups of nations:
Island nations score well above average in the Index: They have higher life satisfaction, higher life expectancy and marginally lower Footprints than other states. Yet incomes (by GDP per capita) are roughly equal to the world average. Even within regions, islands do well. Malta tops the Western world with Cyprus in seventh place (out of 24); the top five HPI nations in Africa are all islands; as well as two of the top four in Asia. Perhaps a more acute awareness of environmental limits has sometimes helped their societies to bond better and to adapt to get more from less. Combined with the enhanced well-being that stems from close contact with nature, the world as a whole stands to learn much from the experience of islands.
It is possible to live long, happy lives with a much smaller environmental impact: For example, in the United States and Germany people’s sense of life satisfaction is almost identical and life expectancy is broadly similar. Yet Germany’s Ecological Ecological footprint is only about half that of the USA. This means that Germany is around twice as efficient as the USA at generating happy long lives based on the resources that they consume.
As the HPI clearly demonstrates happiness doesn’t have to cost the Earth. It also reveals that there are different routes to achieving comparable levels of well-being. The model followed by the West can provide widespread longevity and variable life satisfaction, but it does so only at a vast and ultimately counter-productive cost in terms of resource consumption.
“The UKeconomy hoovers up vast quantities of the world’s scarce resources, yet British people are no happier than Colombians or Guyanese, who use far fewer. The current crude focus on GDPis outdated, destructive and doesn’t deliver a better quality of life. The UKeconomy must get much smarter and greener,” says Simon Bullock, Friends of the Earth’s economics co-ordinator.
nef proposes a Global Manifesto for a happier planet, outlining how we might begin to both live within our environmental limits and increase well-being. Necessary first steps include:
Eradicating extreme poverty and hunger. Increasing material wealth in ‘developed’ countries does not lead to greater happiness, while in ‘developing’ countries extreme poverty systematically undermines people’s opportunities to build good lives for themselves and their families. We urgently need to redesign our global systems to more equitably distribute the things people rely on for their day-to-day livelihoods, for example: income, and access to land, food and other resources.

Supporting meaningful lives. Governments should recognise the contribution of individuals to economic, social, cultural, and civic life and value unpaid activity. Employers should be encouraged to enable their employees to work flexibly, allowing them to develop full lives outside of the workplace and make time to undertake voluntary work. They should also strive to provide challenges and opportunities for personal development at work.

Identifying environmental limits and design economic policy to work within them. The ecological footprint gives us a measure of the Earth’s biocapacity that, if over-stretched, leads to long-term environmental degradation. Globally we need to live within our environmental means. One-planet living should become an official target of government policy with a pathway and timetable to achieve it. (The UK currently consumes at just over three times this level. If everyone in the world consumed as we do in the UK, we would need 3.1 planets like Earth to support us.)
But perhaps most importantly, nef calls for political organisations to embrace and apply new measures of progress, such as the HPI and properly adjusted GDP measures. Only then will we be equipped to address the twin challenges of delivering a good quality of life for all whilst remaining within genuine environmental limits.

http://www.neweconomics.org/gen/uk108thinhappyplanetindex120706.aspx

Thursday, July 2, 2009

IMAM DIES IN ‘SUSPICIOUS’ FIRE

CAIR-LA: CALIF. IMAM DIES IN ‘SUSPICIOUS’ FIRE - TOPMuslim civil rights group calls on FBI to probe death as possible hate crime(ANAHEIM, CA, 7/2/09) - The Greater Los Angeles Area office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-LA) today called on the FBI to investigate a Yermo imam’s death as a possible hate crime after the Muslim religious leader’s body was found inside a residence that burned down this past weekend. Family members told CAIR-LA that Imam Ali Mohammed, who founded a mosque in Yermo, went on Saturday afternoon to clean hate graffiti scrawled inside an unoccupied house that was once the family’s home, but he never returned. The family had recently moved out of the house because of alleged anti-Muslim harassment and prejudice by individuals in the area. According to authorities, an individual who was suspected of harassing the family was sent to prison in 2008.Local law enforcement authorities are calling the explosion and fire “suspicious” but have not yet made a determination as to the cause of the blaze. An autopsy is being performed today.SEE: Former Mosque Owner Dies in Residential Fire
Graffiti written on the walls inside the house prior to the fire reportedly stated: “F*** you Arab,” “KKK, sand n**ger,” “go home Arab.” An American flag and a Nazi swastika were also drawn on the walls. SEE: Hate Graffiti at Yermo House
“My father was a deeply caring person who worked toward building peace, unity and harmony among residents of the High Desert,” said Hadie Mohammed, the imam’s son. “During this time of immense grief, my family is grateful for the condolences and community support and pray that those who committed this horrific crime will face justice.”The mosque founded by the imam and located near the burned house was the target of an arson attack in 2007. Imam Ali Mohammed was a respected community leader in the High Desert and helped establish other mosques in the area. “We are deeply troubled by the tragic death of Imam Ali Mohammed and ask that the FBI and local law enforcement authorities immediately conduct an investigation into the possibility of a bias motive in his death,” said CAIR-LA Staff Attorney Ameena Qazi. “We hope that any perpetrators are brought to justice and punished to the full extent of the law.” Earlier this month, a mosque in Cypress, Calif., was vandalized with graffiti, which stated: "F**k You, "we're going to kill you," and "US Military is going to kill you all." Police are treating the vandalism at the Cypress mosque as a hate crime. SEE: Islamic Center Tagged with Graffiti
Earlier today, CAIR’s south Florida chapter (CAIR-SFL) called on the FBI to investigate a possible bias motive for vandalism at a mosque in that state.SEE: Vandals Smash Windows of West Kendall Mosque (Miami Herald)
CAIR offers advice for reacting to anti-Muslim hate crimes in its "Muslim Community Safety Kit."CAIR, America's largest Muslim civil liberties organization, has 35 offices and chapters nationwide and in Canada. Its mission is to enhance the understanding of Islam, encourage dialogue, protect civil liberties, empower American Muslims, and build coalitions that promote justice and mutual understanding.- END -CONTACT: CAIR-LA Communications Manager Munira Syeda, 714-776-1847, 714-851-4851, E-Mail: info@losangeles.cair.com; CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-488-8787 or 202-744-7726, E-Mail: ihooper@cair.com; CAIR Communications Coordinator Amina Rubin, 202-488-8787, E-Mail: arubin@cair.com

Saturday, June 13, 2009

A Conversation with Ingrid Mattson

A Conversation with Ingrid Mattson

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LXzPV2G5PFg

Thursday, June 11, 2009

Got Rights?

Watch This Video: It will give you crucial Information about how to protect you and your family when approached by law enforcement.
Since the terrorist attacks of 9-11, Muslims, Sikhs, Arabs and South Asians have endured particular scrutiny by law enforcement -- and in some cases, questioning and searches that infringe fundamental rights at the core of the Constitution. In this climate, it is vital that members of our communities inform themselves about our rights as Americans.
http://www.muslimadvocates.org/get_involved/got_rights.html

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Monday, September 7, 2009

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Friday, July 10, 2009

UK 108th in new ‘Happy Planet Index’

Thursday, July 2, 2009

IMAM DIES IN ‘SUSPICIOUS’ FIRE

Saturday, June 13, 2009

A Conversation with Ingrid Mattson

Thursday, June 11, 2009

Got Rights?

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