Category: Politics

Charity Politics Religion

Action Call: Ask Pres. Obama to keep his promise on Islamic Charities

islamoyankee

From Muslim Advocates: One year after President Obama pledged in Cairo, Egypt, to ease hurdles to charitable giving, American Muslims are asking President Obama to keep his promise and help them fulfill their religious obligation, while building bridges to Muslim nations for a more secure future. … On Friday, June 4th, Muslim Advocates is urging Muslims across the country to call the White House (202.456.1111) and tell President Obama to keep his promise and reform the many federal laws complicating our ability to give zakat freely. Download a PDF of the Action Alert!

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Art Politics

Asia Society Releases Report on the Arts

islamoyankee

The Asia Society has released a new report “Making a Difference through the Arts: Strengthening America’s Links with Muslim Communities in Asia.” I haven’t read the whole thing yet, but it looks very interesting. From the Executive Summary: This report offers examples of the diverse ways in which stakeholders in cultural development and ex- change initiatives in and with Asian Muslim communi- ties have built successful projects by drawing on cultur- ally grounded knowledge and strategies . The panoramic range of projects, the impressive degree of imagination and innovation with which they have been designed and carried out, and the…

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Current Affairs Politics

A Terror Trials Pep Talk

islamoyankee

There are two reasons I am utterly baffled by the possible reversal of the decision to try terrorists in federal court. First, it comes at a time when efforts to find, kill, and capture terrorists are having significant success. The key, it turns out, is to be dogged and professional, rather than going to “the dark side.” And that’s the other puzzling thing — that arguments based on fear-mongering and emphasizing the appearance of toughness still carry weight long after they were shown to do more harm than good. … We’ve got this totally backwards; this is a chance for…

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Politics

Akram’s Razor – Reflections on Islam, Muslims & America: “Black Like Me” in Germany

islamoyankee

This story is simultaneously sad and funny. A German puts on bad blackface to pretend to be a Somali, to prove Germans are racist. Philipp Lichterbeck, film critic for the Tagesspiegel newspaper, says that Mr Wallraff’s disguise made him look like a clown. The fact that nobody suspected that something was amiss, he says, “does not exactly testify to the worldliness of the Germans”. Akram’s Razor: “Black Like Me” in Germany.

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Politics

Important piece about Syed Fahad Hashmi …

islamoyankee

Important piece about Syed Fahad Hashmi by Chris Hedges: Syed Fahad Hashmi can tell you about the dark heart of America. He knows that our First Amendment rights have become a joke, that habeas corpus no longer exists and that we torture, not only in black sites such as those at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan or at Guantánamo Bay, but also at the federal Metropolitan Correctional Center (MCC) in Lower Manhattan. Hashmi is a U.S. citizen of Muslim descent imprisoned on two counts of providing and conspiring to provide material support and two counts of making and conspiring to…

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Politics Religion

Law and Cultural Purity

islamoyankee

Not all fundamentalism is about violence. Sometimes it’s about using the law. Unfortunately, some of our elected representatives are aiming to use the law to define what it means to be “American” by excluding Muslims. They seek to turn back the clock on American inclusion, forgetting that when you can exclude one group, you can exclude any group. We must accept that we live in a global village. Without that basic premise, we miss many of the political patterns emerging both in the US and around the world. We can react to the “new” in two ways: embrace it or…

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Politics

Q&A: Anwar Ibrahim discusses trial, Muslim issues – CNN.com

islamoyankee

Interview is conducted by my friend Wajahat Ali from Goatmilk. Malaysia’s opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim, who is on trial in Kuala Lumpur on sodomy charges for a second time, speaks to journalist Wajahat Ali about the controversy and discusses the country’s ethnic and religious conflicts as well as issues facing the Muslim world. Q&A: Anwar Ibrahim discusses trial, Muslim issues – CNN.com.

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Politics

Constituents Confront GOP Rep. Myrick Over Muslim-Bashing At Tense Town Hall (AUDIO) | TPMMuckraker

islamoyankee

Muslim constituents repeatedly challenged Rep. Sue Myrick (R-NC) at an emotional town hall meeting in Charlotte Thursday, with Myrick scrambling to distance herself from the Islam-bashing co-author of the book Muslim Mafia, whose foreword was written by the congresswoman herself. Myrick has had a tense relationship with her district’s Muslim community for many years, but it’s been aggravated recently by her campaign to investigate undercover Muslim intern “spies” on Capitol Hill. That effort arose from purported revelations in Muslim Mafia: Inside the Secret Underworld that’s Conspiring to Islamize America, written by Paul Sperry and David Gaubatz, with a foreword by…

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Inter-faith Politics

Media fuels Hatred of Muslims

islamoyankee

via Talk Islam, I found this article: A rise in the number of hate crimes against Muslims in London is being encouraged by mainstream politicians and sections of the media, a study written by a former Scotland Yard counter-terrorism officer, published yesterday, says. Attacks ranging from death threats and murder to persistent low-level assaults, such as spitting and name-calling, are in part whipped up by extremists and sections of mainstream society, the study says.

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