Muslim Voice April 2011

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Vol.15 Issue No.175

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April 2011 Rabi Al-Akhar / Jumada AL-Awwal 1432H

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King and Jasser are wrong Muslim Vioce The congressional hearing on “Muslim Radicalization” that took place on March 10th received much attention from the media, government and the Muslim Community in the United States. Congressmen Peter King who orchestrated the hearing brought four witnesses to the table in which one of them was Dr. Zuhdi Jasser from Arizona. Jasser is a long time outspoken critic of Muslims in Arizona. He founded his own organization American Islamic Forum for Democracy (AIFD).

Primarily, he was able to attract a few well intended Muslims who were seeking reform in their community. After a few years Jasser grew more isolated and closer to the right wing conservatives and pro-Israel groups in the Valley.

Poll: Do you fear backlash from the Congressional hearing raising fear of radicalization among American Muslims?

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Last month’s results: Do you believe that Arab revolutions will change U.S. foreign Policy ?

Vote on www.azmuslimvoice.com

6

Silence is Compliance

On Friday, Utah’s legislature passed one measure requiring police to verify the immigration status of anyone who is detained for a serious offense, and another measure proposing a two-year work visa for “guest workers” from Nuevo León, Mexico, and sanctions for businesses that hire undocumented immigrants outside of that program.

To enter the guest worker program, undocumented workers and their families

Jasser practices his right of speech in America but he doesn’t want Muslims to have the same rights. We spoke to a number of community members and leaders but few were aware of who is Jasser. Therefore, we decided to have these excerpts form his testimony in front in

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Interfaith Leaders Meet at Tempe Mosque

Utah Sets Itself Apart from Anti-immigrant Current WASHINGTON – The state of Utah, where approximately 110,000 undocumented immigrants live, wants to show the world that it “is not Arizona,” by approving measures that benefit underground foreign workers, according to an EFE report in La Opinión. Congress’s unwillingness to enact comprehensive immigration reform has left a vacuum, leading some states to take on the issue themselves, enacting laws that may be considered unconstitutional. Now Utah is taking on the issue of immigration.

Jasser, who is not a regular to any local Mosque, claims in all of his writings that he is a “devout Muslim”. He is against political Islam and criticizes Palestinian rights but does not criticize Christian or Jewish political groups who support Israel.

On many occasions Jasser put the Muslim community on the spot by criticizing them and accusing them of supporting radical movements. He went as far as criticizing former

Yes 66.7% • No 33.3%

Peter King’s McCarthy like Hearings

Governor and current Secretary of HomeLand Security, Janet Napolitano (Democrat) for attending Eid prayers with Muslims in the Valley. He even worked with Mayor Phil Gordon to remove a Muslim from the Humman Relations Commission because he disagreed with him.

Furthermore, Jasser wrote extensively to the Arizona Republic and other local and national media pointing fingers at the Muslim Community.

must first pay a fine of up to $2,500 and have no criminal record. For those who entered legally, but have let their visas expire, the fine would be $1,000.

While a dozen states are considering enacting laws like Arizona’s SB 1070 in 2011, similar measures have been defeated in at least six state legislatures so far in 2011, due in part to economic, social and political pressures.

This may allow more moderate measures to prevail in states like Colorado, New Hampshire, South Dakota and Wyoming.

1. “One camp refuses to believe that any Muslim could be radicalized.” Muslims worked in Arizona with authority for many years to educate their community and encourage them to point out any illegal activities within.

2. Jasser starts out by saying that he believes that most Muslims are law abiding citizens then he goes on to state: “We see an exponential increase in radicals in our community that may not mean from our community that we know but they are Muslims nevertheless.”

3. He said, “I personally didn’t meet a Muslim that wouldn’t report someone who commits an act of violence.” If he didn’t meet any Muslim who would not report an act of violence Continued on page 2

U.S. Arab Media Worry Hearings Will Create Fear

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The Generational Gap in Islam: Another View

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ACCIDENTS & SERIOUS INJURY

MEDICAL MALPRACTICE & WRONGFUL DEATH

State legislators say these measures set Utah apart from Arizona, which has been criticized as being racist for enacting the law SB 1070 last year, which made it a state crime to be undocumented in Arizona.

In 2010, Utah became the first state in the nation to grant a special type of driver’s license to undocumented immigrants, although they can’t be used as a means of identification to enter federal premises.

the congressional hearing last month to make everyone aware who is working against the Muslim community in Arizona from within. The italic format is some of Jasser’s testimonies and non italic are our comments on them:

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TERMS USED IN THIS PAPER Alhamdulilah: Praise God Allah: Arabic word for God Fatwa: Islamic decision based on Shari’a Hadith: Sayings of the Prophet Mohammad Hajj: Pilgrimage to Mecca Halal: Allowed in Islam Halaqa: Group study Haram: Prohibited in Islam Hijab: Head cover for women Hijra: Migration of the Prophet from Mecca to Madina Imam: Islamic scholar Iman: Faith Inshallah: God willing Madina: City near Mecca in Saudia Arabia Masjid: Place were Muslims gather for prayer and studies Mecca: City in Saudi Arabia where Prophet Mohammad was born Pbuh: Peace be upon him Quran: Islam’s Holy book Shahadah: Is saying “I accept Allah as the one God and Mohammad as his messenger” when someone accepts Islam.

Sharia’: Islamic law Shura: A council of Muslim scholars (SWT) Subhanahu Watala: Praise be to Allah Taqwa: God consciousness

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Continued from page 1

King and Jasser are wrong

then what is he basing his information on and who are the radicals?

4. Here is another contradiction: “The vast majority of Mosques they will report things as they see. Having said that, we have a problem… its an ideology that exists in some Mosques, not all Mosques, and it’s a significant number.”

5. Then he turns on one of the Valley’s Mosques by saying, “I’ve seen one of the largest Mosques in Phoenix. They held a picture that said something extremely insulting to American soldiers in Iraq.” He doesn’t say which Mosque he is talking about and what was in the offensive picture he mentioned?

6. “It’s like treating cancer without saying the word cancer; it’s not Islam its Jihad.

We surrendered the constitution to the Jihadists.” Jasser is clearly not only against Jihadist but he has a problem with Islam itself.

7. On Islamic organization Jasser said, “They became enablers of ideas like telling Muslim kids don’t take US citizenship if you don’t have to.” He made many similar statements without any evidence or proof.

8. “I hope we can introduce a new book, a new school of thought that isn’t in conflict with this society.” Jasser wants to change Islam all together to fit Western standards rather than strive to find a way Islam can exist in harmony with Western standards and thereby not jeopardize its values like many other faiths. He stressed

this over and over in his testimony by adding, “The problem is far deeper… it’s ideological.”

Yet, Muslims should accept words that may be offensive just because he believes so.

9. When asked if he was an expert on the topic of radicalization he said, “It’s interesting that the theocrats ask the same question.” Looking at his testimony Jasser gave very little evidence, i.e. statistics or research done by experts. It was his own opinion concerning what Muslims should do and not do.

14. Even though Sherif Baca showed that attacks on the US were greater by nonMuslims Jasser claimed that, “We have seen exponential increase in attacks by Muslims.” He repeated this statement numerous times during the hearing.

10. Jasser showed his lack of knowledge even in the Arabic language when said “Imam means teacher not leader.”

Neither meanings are accurate. Imam means the one who leads prayer in Islam or the spiritual leader of a Mosque. Yet, he presents himself as an expert on Islam and Muslims.

11. He also said: “Being an ally to a government that is based on Sharia is impossible”. Well, what does he call Saudi Arabia?

12. “Intellectual Islam still has not absorbed ideas of Western society based under God rather than under Islam.” This is clearly a false statement because Islam and Sharia laws do believe that Muslims should conduct themselves under God by abiding to laws of the places in which they reside.

13. “As a Muslim I don’t think the language is offensive. Sometimes we have to say things that may not be right but not get offended.” Jasser is laying the grounds for others to attack Muslims.

We spoke to a number of leaders, Imams and individuals from the Muslim community and this is what they thought of the congressional hearing: Imam Ahmad Shoqirat: “I feel proud of how some of the witnesses testified like sheriff Baca and Keith Ellison. I strongly support such hearings if it is about violence and attacks by all in general not just Muslims only. Sheriff Baca credits the majority of Muslims who collaborated with authority. Disappointment with witnesses who really didn’t provide any evidence of the imaginary radicals they are talking about without credit or truthfulness. My concern is that such hearings will create more discriminations and targeting of Muslims and Islamic centers. I call on Zuhdi Jasser to read the basics of his religion to educate himself.”

Imam Didmar Faja: “My main concern is that most Muslims and Mosques are so called radicalized. It doesn’t only defame the image of Muslims, but it also harms the community by giving a chance to the Islamophobics to be more aggressive toward Muslims.”

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APRIL 2011

“How was your Spring Break?”

Muslim Voice By: Sumbal Akhter “The week I had off for Spring break was very relaxing. I didn’t do any traveling but I would have loved to visit California. I spent my break with my friends and family. I’ve been taking advantage of the breezy weather recently by going on hikes. I recommend going outside for walks before the unbearable summer heat comes by – we all know how that gets.” –Noor Bhatti “Thankfully, as a graduate I am no longer limited to celebrating a week-long spring break. Despite that was elated to spend time with family and friends who were! Having my brother home from college was the highlight of my month: we visited LA and settled sibling rivalries through tennis and bowling. Hopefully everyone had a fantastic time over their break -- study hard and make the Ummah proud.” –Basima Latif “My spring break passed before my eyes just as the ephemeral tides of the sea that crash on the shoreline, never to be seen again. Without a school schedule to direct me, the events of my days were blurred in a shroud of confusion as a salty seadog pirate lost in the azure waters, not cognizant of what time it was until the moon, lustrous as a pearl, descended from her heavenly abode to grace my eyes with her beauty. I ate, I slept, I ate some more, surviving on infusions of salan from Curry Corner as I had my daily bread in the form of naan.

I had to imbibe several vials of an orange juice and tiger blood concoction to prevent scurvy and a lack of winning. So I stayed trapped in that morass of laziness, biding my days until the eminent return of school,

which I would no sooner renounce on the first day of coming back. I pined back for those days of slackjawed simplicity, but I think the bleakest depths of my tell tale heart knew back then that It nothing but a foolish wish. The stream of times runs unilaterally, and cannot be slowed down nor returned to its previous junction. To quote the raven my spring break was “Nevermore.” -Osman Salim “My Spring Break went pretty well. I basically spent my break at home, playing video games, sleeping late, sleeping in, just lying around the house. Hey, it’s been a pretty tough quarter this year (I’m in 7th grade). I went to a few peoples house and I went to the park. I went out to eat, and didn’t worry about school or homework till Sunday night. It’s Sunday, and now I have a bunch of homework to do. But that won’t get me down cause my break was epicly awesome!” –Safa Akhter “My spring break was pretty relaxing. I didn’t do anything exotic, just had more time to catch up from the minutes taken by school with family and friends. I kept myself pretty busy during the week with a few events that occurred and enjoyed my time with people I hadn’t seen in a while.

It would have been nice to head over to California for a few days, but other than that I wouldn’t change it for anything!” – Hufsa Bhatti “Spring break was good, alhamdulilLah. It’s definitely nice to get some time off, although I kind of prefer having a little something to do at all times. I mostly utilized the spring break to catch up on some leisurely reading - I finally read Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice and started a book on the life of the Prophet Muhammad (saws). Other than that, I caught up with friends, went to some Islamic lectures, hung out with my parents, and ate some good food! Overall, I would say this week was a success ”- Zoya Ahmad

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Arizona Senate nixes birthright citizenship bills Received by Newsfinder from AP PHOENIX (AP) _ The Arizona Senate on Thursday defeated bills intended to force a Supreme Court ruling against automatic citizenship for U.S.-born children of illegal immigrants.

The bills were defeated on votes of 12-18 and 11-19 as majority Republicans split on the issue.

The Senate also defeated a bill to require hospitals to contact federal immigration officials or local law enforcement if people being treated lack insurance and can’t demonstrate legal status. Also defeated was a bill to require schools to file reports on enrollments of illegal immigrant students.

The Senate was poised to vote on a sweeping bill dealing with other public services and everyday activities ranging from driving to registering vehicles.

Supporters said the measures would provide relief to taxpayers while opponents said passing new laws on the contentious issue would damage the state’s still-ailing economy. ``If we are trying to re-create Arizona’s economy and bring jobs, this is not how to do it,’’ said Democratic Sen. Steve Gallard.

The legislation is being considered a year after Arizona enacted an illegal immigration law on local enforcement. It resulted in protests, boycotts and legal challenges that caused a federal judge to put key provisions on hold.

Arizona should instead push for federal action on immigration and border issues, according to the letter signed by heads of construction companies, hospitals, real estate developers and US Airways. ``Arizona’s lawmakers and citizens are right to be concerned about illegal immigration,’’ the letter said. ``But we must acknowledge that when Arizona goes it alone on this issue, unintended consequences inevitably occur.’’

One of the new measures is a wide-ranging bill sponsored by Pearce, who sponsored the 2010 law. ``Enough is enough,’’ said Republican Sen. Russell Pearce, a supporter of the hospitals bill and the other measures. ``Why are we afraid to enforce the law and report criminal activity?’’

Pearce’s new bill would make it harder for illegal immigrants to live, work and get an education in Arizona. It would require the parents of students at K-12 schools to prove the citizenship of their children, bar illegal immigrants from attending public universities and prohibit illegal immigrants from driving in the state.

It also would require the eviction of public housing tenants who let illegal immigrants live with them and make applicants for vehicle titles and registration prove they are in the country legally.

Earlier on Thursday, Gov. Jan Brewer refused to wave off legislators from taking up the contentious issue of illegal immigration again.

Under the bill, it would be a crime for illegal immigrants to drive in Arizona, The bill would suspend business licenses of employers who purposely ignore a state mandate to use a federal identification database to check new hires’ eligibility.

Dozens of CEOs of major employers and business groups signed a letter distributed Wednesday by the Greater Phoenix Chamber of Commerce, saying that passage of additional legislation on illegal immigration would damage the economy and tourism.

Two bills would set new criteria to get Arizona birth certificates and form a compact with other states, both in an attempt to force a U.S. Supreme Court ruling on whether U.S.-born children of illegal immigrants are entitled to automatic citizenship.

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Arizona’s Latino Population Up 46 Percent New America Media, News Report

with a string of hard-line laws, including SB 1070.

PHOENIX—Arizona’s Latino population grew by 46 percent, according to U.S. Census data released Thursday.

The estimates were off by the most in the state’s major urban areas of Pima, Pinal and Maricopa counties, said Arizona State University demographer Tom Rex.

in 2010, Latinos made up nearly 30 percent of the state’s 6.4 million residents, up from slightly more than 25 percent in 2000. The rate of increase, while substantial, was significantly slower than the 88 percent growth rate in the state’s Latino population during the decade from 1990-2000.

“There’s lots of things that may have caused all that, but clearly the thought was how much of the influx of Hispanics was into the major urban areas,” Rex said. “Therefore it would make sense that the combination of the recession and the employers sanctions law bear that out.”

Arizona’s overall population growth rate was 29 percent, second only to Nevada’s. The population gains means that Arizona will add another Congressional district to its current eight, and there are likely to be huge fights over how that dsitrict is drawn.

The state’s white, non-Hispanic population fell to less than 58 percent of the total, from nearly 64 percent in 2000.

The state’s white, non-Hispanic population as a proportion of the total population fell to less than 58 percent. from nearly 64 percent in 2000. The state’s white population increased 13 percent over the past decade.

The Census Bureau and state Commerce Department estimated in 2009 that about 31 percent of the state’s residents were Latino. Demographers attributed the lower total for 2010 to the recession and the state’s crackdown on illegal immigration

Among the state’s children under under 18, 43 percent are Latino. That’s a cautionary tale for Arizona politicians who are pushing crackdowns on undocumented immigrants, Arturo Vargas, executive director for the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials, told the Associated Press.

“I think it’s reasonable to assume that the anti-immigrant, which many Latinos perceive as antiLatino, sentiment, is having an effect on Arizona’s children,” he said. “I think that probably will affect their views on their political participation when they turn 18.”

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Arizona students to erect mock border wall on campus

APRIL 2011

5

IRS Warns from Tax Fraud Tactics Used by Dishonest Abusive Return Preparers Dishonest return preparers use a variety of methods to formulate fraudulent and illegal deductions for reducing taxable income. These include, but are not limited to, the following: * Preparing fraudulent Schedule C, Profit or Loss from Business, claiming deductions for expenses that have not been paid by the taxpayer to offset Form 1099, Miscellaneous Income, or income earned from outside employment, * Including false and inflated itemized deductions on Schedule A, Itemized Deductions, for: • charitable contributions • medical and dental expenses * Claiming false Schedule E, Supplemental Income and Loss, losses * Claiming false dependents

Helpful Hints when choosing a Return Preparer to ensure you don’t hire an Abusive Return Preparer IRS Criminal Investigation (CI) reminds you; * Taxpayers are responsible for the accuracy of all entries made on their tax returns, which include related schedules, forms and supporting documentation. This remains true whether the return is prepared by the taxpayer or by a return preparer. * Be careful in selecting the tax professional who will prepare your return. Some basic tips and guidelines to assist taxpayers in choosing a reputable tax professional are: • Avoid return preparers who claim they can obtain larger refunds than other preparers.

• Avoid preparers who base their fee on a percentage of the amount of the refund.

• Use a reputable tax professional that signs your tax return and provides you with a copy for your records.

Received by Newsfinder from AP

• Consider whether the individual or firm will be around to answer questions about the preparation of your tax return, months, even years, after the return has been filed.

of the Tucson campus.

TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) _ Students at the University of Arizona are planning to erect the largest mock border wall in the country in protest of border enforcement policies in Arizona and nationwide.

The students plan to use barbed wire to build a wall about 400 yards long, or the size of four football fields, in the middle

They plan to put the wall up Monday and have it there for 10 days, blocking a major traffic area on campus.

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Peter King’s McCarthy like Hearings Muslim Voice

By Mohammed W. Alzaidi Representative Peter King, chairman of the powerful committee on Homeland Security held hearings on “ The extent of Radicalization in the Muslim Community and that Community’s Response “ . The hearings were based on Mr. King’s bogus allegations that American Muslims had failed to cooperate with law enforcement officials to foil terrorist plots.

It was a dog and pony show in which Mr. King put the entire Muslim community on trial while he is the chief prosecutor and the judge. However unlike any trial in our justice system which is based on presenting evidence , Congressman King failed to present any evidence or data to make his case. He has been known to use slanders and misstatements against American Muslims for many years,statements such us : more than 80 percent of Mosques are run by extremist and too many American Muslims are sympathetic to radical Islam.

The only thing Mr. King could come up with to back up his claims is the uncle of one of the young Somalis who was recruited from the US to go to Somalia to fight with the group Al Shabab against the Ethiopians , who invaded the country, and the father of a young American who was radicalized leading to his involvement in the terrorist murder of a US solider in Arkansas. While tragic and condemnable these two cases can hardly make the argument of widespread radicalization among the more than 7 million American Muslims.

Furthermore, Mr. King cited no evidence for his main claim that American Muslims have failed to cooperate with law enforcement officials , a recent study issued last month by Duke University and the University of North Carolina found the exact opposite.

The study showed that American Muslims have been the single largest source of tips that have brought terror suspects to the attention of authorities.

In addition to his failure to produce any evidence or data , Mr. king failed to produce any law enforcement official to substantiate his unfounded and outrageous claims. It was the Democrats on

the Committee who invited Sheriff Baca, the top law enforcement official from Los Angeles county.

Sheriff Baca testified that there was no evidence that American Muslims would not cooperate with law enforcement officials, to the contrary he praised the Muslim community’s effort turning back the challenges from hostile Republicans committee members with specific examples.

To their credit, the Democrats on the the committee berated Chairman King for convening such unbalanced hearing that singled out and threatened to demonized an American religious community .

Some of them called King’s hearing “ MacCharthy- like “ and criticize him for his failure to examine other form of radicalization.

If Mr. King was genuinely concern about the security of this country he would have held hearings on all form of radicalization in the US . According to the Southern Poverty Law Center which tracks radical and violent groups, there are over 1,000 such groups that are considered a threat to our security.

The Oklahoma terrorist, Timothy McVeigh who slaughtered 168 Americans in 1995 was a member of one of those radical groups , the great majority of these groups are Christian and white.

Mr. King is playing the politics of division and hate which poses a real threat to the United States.

He want to stoke fear, hatred and bigotry against American Muslims.

He is playing that ugly game ,which sadly America’s history is full of examples. It is to single out some specific religions, races and ethnic groups for demonization, discrimination, incarceration and in few instances much worse than that. Native Americans were demonized and subjected to the most horrific treatment, the Blacks and Jews were demonized and discriminated against, and Japanese- Americans were put in concentration camps.

The hearings on the radicalization of the Muslim community is the equivalent of holding hearings on “ The Molestation of children in the Catholic Community and that Community Response “ ,.

Such hearings will be absurd and unwarranted. And I am sure, as a Roman Catholic, Mr. King will find it as offensive and insulting. This is exactly how American Muslims feel about Congressman King’s McCarthy like hearings.

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Silence is Compliance Muslim Voice

By Marwan Ahmad While we American Muslims try to lead our normal lives dealing with daily chores from hard working jobs to taking care of our family’s health, education and welfare we yet have to be fulltime defendants. It seems that we are guilty until proven guilty. Yes, we are guilty anyway! If we keep silent we are not doing enough.

Therefore, we are guilty and if we speak up we are very outspoken and guilty too.

The Congressional Hearing that took place on March 10th was nothing more than a gathering to put every Muslim on trial. The Hearing had four witnesses, three of which were Muslims, who accused other Muslims of wrong doing. In addition to Chief Baca who was most neutral. The three Muslim witnesses gave us stories from their experience in dealing with other Muslims and mostly accusations.

Some of these accusation maybe well founded however, this is not the dilemma.

Who of us doesn’t have some ill feelings toward someone else in our community? How many of us have been stabbed in the back by other Muslims? How many of us went through bad business dealing with other Muslims? This doesn’t mean we all have to go testify in front of a congressional team and say we need to put the entire community under a microscope. Two of the stories we heard were personal stories that can happen to any of us in our community. It could also happen to a Christian, Jew or Buddhist too.

The third witness was Zuhdi Jasser from Scottsdale, Arizona. He gave a very contradictory testimony throughout the hearing. He kept saying that he never encountered any Muslim who wouldn’t go to the authorities if he suspected wrong doing but repeatedly accused Muslims of “exponentially becoming radicalized”.

There are many examples of how he contradicted himself. In addition, he is not an expert on Islam or Muslims. He claims to know what is going on in the Muslim community while he is not involved in any Muslim community functions. He is a physician and not an expert on

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radicalization. By his own words that there are many forms of Islamic interpretations and he belongs to the radical right which in turn mean that he will see everything on his left as radical. How can such a misleading figure speak on behalf of Muslims in such a Hearing and be considered an “Expert”.

The worst part is the fact that Muslims had no or little reaction to what that hearing did to their image. Few national organizations issued press releases but where are the other national organizations?

Why didn’t Muslims break their silence on this hearing? Do we realize the consequences of this hearing on us and our kids’ future in this country? How long are we going to pretend it is not going to affect us? If you think you are fully protected and will not suffer the impact of this hearing. If you think this is not an attack on all American Muslims then you are delusional.

American Muslims need to wake up and smell the roses. It’s all up in the air. I have said it many times before and I’m still repeating it until now. You let the small things go by then you are asking for trouble. Jasser and his likes are in every community. They are opportunists who look for a role to play. American Muslims and their organizations, Mosques, spokespersons, educators, business people, professionals need to speak up or we all will pay the price. There are forces in this country that don’t want us to live in peace. They want us to always be on the defense as if we all are criminals or harboring criminals.

It’s time to break this dead silence and organize and answer those who accuse us of every thing wrong that happened or might happen. Other minorities in the history of this country did not become recognized and respected when they were silent.

African Americans, Hispanics, Asians and all stood up and fought back for their rights.

No one will give you anything on a silver platter. We need to snatch it and say enough is enough! We are good people who came to this country to live in peace we respect the law and work hard for a better future for us and our kids. If there are any crazy people in our community or outside who want to harm this land we will turn them in ourselves. You don’t have to look at us with suspicion or fear because we are Americans too.

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APRIL 2011

Is An Intelligent Muslim Dangerous?

Muslim Voice

By Ahmad Daniels The late great historian Dr. John Henrik Clarke (1915-1998) was fond of saying, “An intelligent Black man is dangerous.”

Dr. Clarke, an African American, was proud of professing to be “his people’s historian.” And what an historian he was with scores of books, publishing and speeches to his credit. While he continues to be sorely missed, the world would have been fortunate to have had him even if only for a day.

Truly education, like time, is neutral and can be used constructively or destructively. Education can be a tool to advance the desires of a self-focused individual or champion the dreams and ambitions of a down-trodden people. It is when talents and skills are used to achieve the former that eye brows are raised and finger-pointing begins. Such was the case in Washington recently at a Congressional hearing called by Rep. Peter King of New York and Chairman of the Homeland Security Committee.

Ominous Title For weeks leading up to the Thursday, March 10 hearing, Muslims had been expressing profound anxiety over what Mr. King had titled “The Extent of Radicalization in the American Muslim Community and That Community’s Response.”

As if to implement some degree of damage control, Denis McDonough, Deputy National Security Adviser, was summoned by the White House to visit a mosque in Sterling, VA the Sunday preceding the Congressional hearing to reassure Muslims that “we will not stigmatize or demonize entire communities because of the action of

a few.” Clearly adviser McDonough was an emissary whose mission it was to lay out the administration plan to prevent violent extremism and to preempt Mr. King’s series of hearings.

Mr. McDonough, speaking to a mixed faith but mostly Muslim crowd of 200 at the All Dulles Area Muslim Society, remarked, “And let’s remember that just as violence and extremism are not unique to any one faith, the responsibility to oppose ignorance and violence rests with us all.”

Jasser goes on to say, “So many Muslim groups in the United States that are “leading” our communities allow these groups to define our identity through religion and not by Americanism.”

Americanism is very real for Mr. Jasser.

He served as an officer in the U.S. Navy and was the Congressional physician.

He is clean shaven and wears business suits. He in no way fits the stereotype of the stereotypical Muslim i.e., beard, thobe (long robe) or bisht (dressier men’s cloak worn over the thobe). He is a darling of Fox News and is a regular contributor to other right-winged conservative media. Why? Because the views and opinions he articulates are similar to theirs.

Intelligent Muslims Among the many that were invited to speak were Representative Keith Ellison, a Minnesota Democrat and the first Muslim in Congress and Zudhi Jasser, a Phoenix physician and founder of the American Islamic Forum for Democracy.

Rep. Ellison gave a very emotional presentation as he chronicled the life of a first responder, who was Muslim, and died on 9-11 endeavoring to save lives.

Mr. Ellison also alluded to the many other benevolent Muslims for whom 9/11 meant they would never see another tomorrow. Rep. Keith Ellison is an attorney by training and continues to represent Minnesota’s 5th District with uncompromising dedication and unswerving commitment.

Mr. Zudhi Jasser, who made considerable headlines in 2010, when he publicly criticized President Obama for having stated support of Muslim’s right to build a mosque and Islamic Center near ground zero, praised Mr. King for having called for such hearings and thus gave Mr. Jasser an opportunity to, “Come to you as a devout Muslim and to give you a so far little heard viewpoint from that Islamic space that shows our “diversity.”

One would be hard pressed to believe that because all Muslim take the same Shahadah (There is no God but Allah

and Muhammad is his Prophet) and follow the 5 pillars of the faith, that many…let alone all, would think the same. Such is not the case in any other faith and is certainly not the case in Islam. With this diversity that Mr. Jasser mentions comes a wide variety of views and actions largely stemming from how one sees his/her world and his/here position in that world. Many African Americans found Islam through the teachings of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad, founder of the Nation of Islam. Had an Arab oriented Islam been presented to them it never would have attracted the interest of the masses such as the Nation of Islam and it most renowned minister and spokesperson, Malcolm X. Mr. Jasser brings a view that should reserve him a “seat at the table” along with other Muslims; some of whom may very well be “radicals.”

What no one can take away from Mr. Jasser is the fact that he comes to the table prepared to discuss the topic at hand. He does it so well that he is disdained by many Muslims in the Valley and throughout the nation. The aspersion Munaafiq (hypocrite) is often associated with his name. Yet, Mr. Jasser has shrewdly stepped in to fill a void created by numerous Muslims… many who happen to be Imams, who are either unable or unwilling to discuss cutting issues of the day: Is there such an entity as Political Islam in the USA and what is Sharia law and are there significant numbers of Muslims clamoring for it to be substituted for the Constitution?

Mr. Jasser is just one man yet the mere mentioning of his name is enough to incur the rancor of the listener who is quick to dismiss him as a hypocrite and no representative of Islam. Jasser, like the radicals he denounces with every breath he breathes, too has something to say. The Muslim community would show its intelligence by giving an open mind and ear to both schools of thought, regardless of how diametrically opposed their ideologies may appear.

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Mooz-Lum film review

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One Voice

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Muslim Voice

By Noor Saied

By Aminah Shakoor Mooz-lum; a film directed by Qasim Basir, is a film about struggle, strength and growth.

The movie is mainly about a young American Muslim, Tariq, played by Evan Ross and his struggles to find out who he really is. After a rough childhood in which he was showed Islam in a way which lead him to believe that Islam was not a religion of peace and tranquility, he enters college resenting his identity.

Tariq tries to stay very low key about his religion, but when Muslims around the world were being harassed because of the 9/11 attacks, he is compelled to understand Islam once and for all and finally come to terms with his true self.

At a glimpse, many will think that Mooz-Lum is about every Muslim’s life in the west. Some may even feel offended because although they are Muslim, their life is completely different

than Tariq’s. However, Qasim Basir was clearly not trying to encompass every Muslim’s problems and struggles, if that were even possible. He was painting a picture that touched the hearts of those who truly understood the story. It was certainly not about every Muslim’s life. Yes, it did touch base with many Muslim’s as it described in detail about the discrimination that Muslims go through. Yes, it did touch base with the identity crisis many Muslims go through, however the story captured Qasim Basir’s life and by no means was it limited to the struggles that solely Muslims go through. The film encouraged everyone to deal with the past, and the demons inside that can haunt someone if they are not dealt with.

It encouraged every Muslim and Non Muslim to learn about and understand their identities. Mooz-Lum, a story that captured the importance of faith, personal growth and true identity is a definite must-see.

There has been an overwhelming amount of people standing in solidarity in support of the Middle-Eastern uprisings around the world.

Many protests have been held within the nation including right here in Arizona.

Wednesday March 23rd over a hundred supporters were present at the corner of Mill Avenue and University Road in solidarity with the Arab countries.

Men and women, the elderly and the young. Arabs of all nationalities were there, including Americans. A sea of several Arab nations’ flags covered the corner. Ali Alboloushi, a Kuwaiti PhD student in Environmental Engineering at ASU was asked by a group of MiddleEastern students to organize the protest.

“We felt that we are obliged to do something and responsible to bring up the voices of those obsessed people of the Arab world to the American society” Alboloushi stated. Ali has high hopes

for the Arab region and “What happens in one country affects others and we all saw that in Tunisia and Egypt and hopefully will see the same in Bahrain, Libya, Yemen, and all Arab countries.”

Hayder Alzubaidi an Iraqi medical student at St. Matthews University in New York refers to these uprisings as a “face-lift”. “The middle east is currently undergoing a figurative face lift in the political arena, where dramatically these regimes who ruled for decades are being toppled by the people they’ve oppressed for as long as they’ve been in power.” People of many nationalities and religious backgrounds were able to set aside their difference for one cause.

Alboloushi states “should never get fooled by those voices who call for divisions among them such as Shiites and Sunni’s, Arabs and non- Arabs.”

Supporters, internationally, nationally, and locally have united in one powerful voice against the ruling tyrants of the Middle-East. Their voices are finally being heard and changes are being made. This is a transition that will take time but, [Alboloushi] “The end result is the victory over these tyrants.”

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APRIL 2011

Interfaith Leaders Meet at Tempe Mosque and Sign a Historic Document Muslim Voice

By Marwan Ahmad Tempe - On March 10th Muslim Imams and Leaders joined over 50 other interfaith leaders from many different backgrounds to sign a historic document that respects all people’s choice of religion and practice.

historic beliefs and finds within those beliefs the resources to reach out to one another in love and respect. We encourage Jews, Christians and Muslims to work towards peace and justice together. We believe that our communities of faith should be a force for peace, justice and reconciliation, instead

The Torah teaches us “not to bear false witness against our neighbor” (Exodus 20:16).

The Gospel teaches us to “do unto others as you would have them do unto you” (Matthew 7:12). The Qur’an teaches us to

Against Prejudice, Hatred and Discrimination As Jewish, Christian and Muslim leaders, we adhere to a common core of ethical standards that compel us to speak out against all forms of prejudice, hatred, and discrimination that our faiths encounter. The following seven resolutions provide common ground for us as “children of Abraham.” We affirm these seven statements and resolve to share them with everyone, everywhere.

1. Our commitment to partnering for peace does not mean we dissolve our distinctive, historic beliefs into an imaginary “One World Religion.” Rather, it means each community seeks to be authentically faithful to its

5. We defend the right of Jews, Christians and Muslims to express their faith respectfully.

We affirm the right of religious freedom for every person and community in the world.

Many religious leaders from different faiths and denominations crowded the courtyard and spoke on unity and the need to have open door policies as well as be more understanding of others.

Seven Resolutions

not allow tiny extremist groups to become spokespersons of their faiths. We, the main stream followers of Judaism, Christianity and Islam, want to live in peace, justice and with respect for one another.

We stand against all forms of religious persecution against Jews, Christians, Muslims or anyone else. God desires all people to choose and practice their faith based on conscience and conviction rather than any form of coercion or violence. We denounce those who use violence in the name of religion.

The gathering took place at the Islamic Community Center in Tempe in the courtyard.

Large canopies over head and the smell of Middle Eastern food were covering the place that hosted all leaders. Imam Ahmad Shoqirat opened the evening with a welcome statement followed by Dr. Rick Love from Peace Catalyst who helped organize this event and prepare its document.

After a number of speeches dinner was served and an open microphone to all who wanted to make a statement. Many did and expressed their support and appreciation to the organizers by their own organizations.

The following is the document signed by those who attended this interfaith gathering:

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of discord and strife.

2. Dialogue between Jews, Christians and Muslims provides us with opportunities to understand one another, build relationships, and engage in peacemaking. Through dialogue, we work toward mutual respect, graciously bear witness to our faith and work toward religious freedom.

We emphasize the common core of ethical teaching about love of neighbor and peacemaking. Whether in wartime or peacetime, religious people must engage in “hospitality” toward each other. We must reach out in love and respect toward the alien and protect the stranger in our communities.

3. We seek to be accurate when we speak about one another’s faith. Overstatement, exaggeration and words taken out of context should not be the case among people of faith.

“stand out firmly for justice as witnesses to God, even though it be against ourselves or our parents” (Qur’an 4:135). Thus we strive to speak truthfully about one another’s faith, to respect each faith community’s own interpretation of itself, and not to compare the best interpretation and practice of our faith with the worst interpretation and practice of others. We encourage every person to be discerning regarding how media and literature portray the “other.”

4. We recognize that there is a difference between the teaching of any religion and the actions of misguided followers. No religion or religious community should be judged by the evil action of some individuals. Thus, we do not believe that Islam, Christianity, or Judaism is inherently a religion of violence. Without exception, proponents of each religion have extremists. We should

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6. Respect for all faiths, languages, colors, and ethnicities is an ideal that America has sought to achieve. Since America was founded, Quakers, Catholics, Jews, Mormons, Native Americans, African Americans, Chinese, and Japanese, and others have been persecuted for their faith or ethnicity. We do not want to repeat the same mistake with Muslims, or anyone else.

We do not believe that the vast majority of Muslims want to take over the world by force. We do believe that both Islam and Christianity want to win the world to their respective faiths by persuasion and not through violent means.

7. We pledge to work together for the constitutional right of Americans of all faiths, to build houses of worship anywhere in our nation as allowed by local laws and regulations; we stand against all forms of racism, hatred, religious intolerance, and ethnic bigotry and seek to preserve the human rights of all people as outlined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights; we call upon local and national elected officials to join their colleagues in denouncing and rejecting inflammatory rhetoric that endangers the lives of Muslims, Christians, Jews, and all faiths.

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www.AZMuslimVoice.com NATIONAL 10 APRIL 2011 U.S. Arab Media Worry Hearings Will Worsen Islamophobia

New America Media, Roundup, Suzanne Manneh

Ahmed Tharwat, Host, BelAhdan, Minneapolis, Minn.

New America Media surveyed Arabmedia journalists around the United States to glean their perspective on the hearings on Islamic terrorism being held

by U.S. Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., who chairs the House Homeland Security Committee. Here are their voices:

I’m not surprised by any of it. It all seems like a political circus, and a whole group is being singled out. Discussing extremism in Islam is becoming mainstream, and this is going against what the Obama administration has been trying to do, reaching out to the Islamic world and Muslims here.

Marwan Ahmed, Publisher, Arab and Muslim Voice, Phoenix, Ariz.

These hearings are going on to create more fear of Muslims. Our community is disgusted. It is obvious that these hearings are targeting Muslims, creating an environment of fear for every American to look at Muslims as suspects.

Whether it is a woman wearing a hijab [headscarf], a man walking down the street, or anyone who looks Arab or Muslim in the supermarket, or an airplane, they’re being treated as if they should be feared. That is what is reinforced here.

But this is also Republicans preparing for the election, suggesting, “We showed you Obama was too friendly with Muslims, and this friendliness allows for radicalization.”

I am happy to see the hearings questioned, however, and to see support of the Muslim community, by officials, such as Los Angeles County Sheriff Leroy Baca, who spoke of the good experiences he has had in his county with Muslims, how hardworking and helpful they are.

There are also people (non Arabs and Muslims) coming forward and speaking up, who would not in normal circumstances defend Muslims. They work with Muslims, have Muslim friends and [say] these hearings should not be taking place. There will be a meeting this weekend with religious and community leaders about this issue, and we are writing about community reactions to it.

It is actually ironic. Arabs and Muslims are toppling dictators, revolting for democracy in the Arab world. Muslims and Copts (Christians) are unifying in Egypt, and here we are in America doing the opposite.

King’s messages are misinforming people. Muslims are seen as guilty until proven innocent, and the community is psychologically and politically in internment. The United States is more threatened by right-wing Christian Radicalization, the Tea Party. This Monday we will have a show focusing just on these trials.

Warren David, President, ArabDetroit. com, Dearborn, Mich.

All of this is unnecessary and overblown.

We have to really question if this is more harmful than helpful. This is adding fuel to the fire, focusing only on a minute part of the Muslim community.

The vast majority of Muslim’s in the United States are hardworking professionals. They are members of the community. Our country is nonsectarian. Why is it that the Muslims are being questioned? Why not take on the Christian extremists or the Ku Klux Klan?

If there is such a thing as a radicalization, it is no more of a problem in the Muslim or Arab community than in any other.

The Anti-Arab Discrimination Committee has issued statements regretting the hearings taking place. Most people in our community are concerned. They want to know why this is being done;

they’re worried about the safety of their children. This will induce more prejudice.

I’m a Christian, but this is a serious issue of great concern to everyone in the community. The Arab and Muslim image is so misaligned. I have been active in our community for over 30 years, and there have always been negative images of Arabs and Muslims, whether through news media, films, textbooks or literature. It’s always been there, and the bigger issue is foreign policy, visa vie the Middle East.

Fatima Atieh, Publisher, Al Enteshar Al Arabi, Los Angeles, Calif.

Let the January 25 Egyptian Revolution answer any questions. These hearings are absurd. The concern, that Muslim American men ages 18-29 are likely to support or participate in terrorism in America is unfounded. They are also American, so how can they know about terrorism and be expected to practice it, when they have spent most of their lives in the United States?

This is the same generation that led the revolution in Egypt, a peaceful revolution, where demonstrators only held signs asking for the 30-year-long regime of oppression to come to an end.

No demonstrator used violence, no one even carried a knife. They relied on their unified determination, and the power of their songs, chants and signs.

This is the picture that King and any others supporting these hearings are missing. This is reinforcing Arabs and Muslims being targeted. Every culture, group, religion has extremism, and this is not unique to Muslims. An act of one or a few should not speak to everyone. Sheriff Baca testified about his experience with the Los Angeles Muslim community, and he spoke from experience. I have seen him at many community events and he knows and trusts the community.

Amani Ghouleh, Publisher, The Arabic Horizon Newspaper/Al Offok Al Arabi, Chicago, Ill. Our community is against these hearings because Muslims are being misrepresented, portrayed negatively and judged by the acts of a few. You can’t investigate a whole community based on that.

These hearings will result in more Islamophobia, and we want to see less Islamophobia in our community, not more. There has been discrimination against the Muslim community before 9/11, and now there is much more.

We want to be treated as any other community is. Community leaders and local organizations are writing and calling voicing their opposition to these hearings. These hearings undermine Muslims and their role in American society.

Muslims are doctors in America’s hospitals, teachers in our schools and owners of local grocery markets. Safety is a concern to the Muslim community as it is everyone else, but the way these hearings are being conducted will divide the American public.

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United States’s First-Ever Universal Period Review by the UN New America Media, News Report

and using the death penalty

By Peter Micek GENEVA -- Friday, March 18, is a big day for the United States, not that most Americans would know it.

It marks the first time the 47-member Human Rights Council will receive the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of the United States’s human rights record.

indiscriminately. A group called U.S. Human Rights Network put together videos and hosted the 10 town hall meetings across the U.S. where representatives from the State Department listened to activists’ concerns on human rights violations in the states.

It is the culmination of a long process to understand the situation of fundamental human rights in the country. It follows more than a year of town meetings throughout the U.S., an inquiry by a three-country panel, dubbed the “troika,” and a momentous effort by the United Nations to de-politicize the human rights review process.

The UPR studies every country member of the UN, some 192 currently, each four years. The process was initiated by the General Assembly of the UN in 2006, by the same resolution that established the Human Rights Council, and wiped out the previous Human Rights Commission. The aim was to treat every country equally, reviewing all, and not just the select few targets of whichever powerful political bloc in the Commission deemed worthy of scrutiny. While some countries, like Liberia, Jamaica, and Honduras, have undergone scrutiny this week, it is the United States that is generating buzz. After all, how can one scrutinize human rights in the United States -- their record is spotless, no?

Of course not. But the criticism of the United States by the Council members and observer states (a whole host of non-member countries) has largely centered on US foreign policy. Drone attacks and use of smart bombs on civilians, torture of detainees abroad, and support for “special measures” investigating only certain countries, like North Korea, to the exclusion of others, sums up most countries’ criticism of the United States. Our internal policies and human rights situations go unnoticed, for the most part.

That’s where the UPR comes into play. On the first round of review, last November, the U.S. received a slab of disapproval for discriminating against minorities,

take days before its first Universal Periodic Review.

A litany of countries made it onto the statement read by the United States Ambassador to the Human Rights Council Eileen Chamberlain Donahoe, a former affiliate at the Center for International Security and Cooperation of Stanford University. Appointed by President Obama, by presenting her cursory list of countries violating human rights, she not only made the U.S. look like the bully many countries say it is, but she also received a reprimand from the chair of the meeting, for calling Myanmar by another name. Burma is not the official UN name for the country, she was told after addressing the Council.

That was the low point for the U.S. delegation. Previous statements on the right to vote and on sustainable agriculture, delivered by lower level delegates, explored important issues in some depth.

But for Friday, it’s mostly Iranians who are lining up -literally -- to lob more critiques of the “regime,” as some Iranian representatives termed the U.S. government.

Thursday, March 17, was the morning when groups wanting to “intervene” or speak in the Council session on the UPR had to line up and vie for one of the coveted spots on the list. According to sources, Iranians lined up as early as 5:30 a.m. By all accounts, they appear to be so-called GNGOs, pronounced “gongos,” or activist groups paid by their own govenrments to take advantage of the civil society mechanisms at the Human Rights Council. NGOs, or non-governmental organizations, are supposed to represent civil society, but sometimes they appear to be closer to the government line. That’s when they get the derogatory term “gongo.” Regardless of their motivations, they are only some of interested parties in Friday’s UPR presentation.

Surprisingly, the U.S. really went out of its way to vilify a host of countries in its General Debate statement a few days ago, a very perilous position to

On Friday, the Human Rights Council will probably adopt the UPR report, becoming the first formal acceptance of a comprehensive review of the US human rights record in the history of the United Nations.

Community leaders from throughout the US spoke Thursday about a host of human rights issues, from anti-collective bargaining measures in North Carolina, police shootings and the Oscar Grant saga in northern California, and the failure of most US policy leaders to understand and accept our treaty obligations.

Organizer and University of Hawai’i professor Joshua Cooper took the opportunity to praise the role government officials, including the heads of various administrative agencies, played in the lead-up to the UPR. They answered the public, or “civil society,” at some of the town hall meetings nationwide. However, Cooper stressed that officials failed to follow up in those regions, preferring to stick with their East Coast-centric meetings. Cooper detailed the need for a national human rights institution, as many countries have created, to permanently investigate US implementation of its international obligations.

We’ll see if Friday’s UPR statements, where the U.S. responds to comments made by the rest of the world last November, take their concerns seriously. The world is watching.

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12

NATIONAL

APRIL 2011

www.AZMuslimVoice.com

Muslims find defending themselves exhausting

By JEFF KAROUB

reach out to law enforcement officials.

Associated Press

``No community is working more diligently than the Muslim community,’’ said Sally Howell, an associate professor at the University of Michigan-Dearborn and author of several books and essays on Arabs and Muslims in Detroit. ``Really, there is nobody in our society that is more concerned about this than the Muslim community. There have been instances of this coming from their community and they don’t want it to happen.’’

DEARBORN, Michigan (AP) _ Finishing law school is a challenge for Dewnya BakriBazzi, but being an American and a Muslim can be downright exhausting.

As she crammed before class this week, Bakri-Bazzi caught up on testimony from a congressional hearing on the radicalization of U.S. Muslims. She contends Rep. Peter King, the New York Republican who called it, is ignoring the positive steps Muslims have taken in fighting terrorism since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

Bakri-Bazzi, president of the Muslim Legal Society at Thomas M. Cooley Law School’s Detroit area campus, says she fears Thursday’s hearing will only spark a backlash against innocent members of her community just going about their lives. ``When people look at me walking down the street, they’ll feel like I’m an al-Qaida radicalist,’’ said Bakri-Bazzi, who lives in the Detroit suburb of Dearborn, home to one of the largest populations of Arabs and Muslims in the U.S. As the profile of American Muslims has been heightened by the 9/11 attacks and subsequent wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, many Muslims say they too have been inspired to protect their communities against terrorism. They are becoming more active in civic and political causes and more regularly

Emotions were strong in the hearing room in Washington. Framed by photos of the burning World Trade Center and Pentagon, two families argued Islam was responsible for luring young men to become radicals. On the other side, Democratic Rep. Keith Ellison _ one of two Muslims in Congress _ wept while discussing a Muslim paramedic who died in the attacks.

Jim Riches, a former New York City deputy fire chief whose son, Jimmy, was killed at the trade center, said he believes Muslims can do more. ``All people should be treated the same way, but the Muslim community has to step up,’’ he said. ``There are plots being hatched in mosques. It’s a major problem. Muslim terrorists are on our soil.’’

A handful of Somali and Muslim community leaders in Minnesota gathered to watch Thursday’s hearing, clapping and nodding their heads in agreement when one witness called the proceedings skewed.

Many said they feared the hearing would demonize Muslims, particularly in the wake of reports that around 20 men left Minnesota in recent years, possibly to join a terror group in Somalia. ``It’s unjust to single out one group from another,’’ said Hashi Shafi, head of the Somali Action Alliance. ``It’s really an emotional time. It’s just too much. . . . We cannot be on the hot spot all the time, every year. Just as we had in 2008, and 2009 and ‘10 and now 2011, Somalis are still in another hot spot.

It’s unfortunate.’’

Zuhur Ahmed, host of a local Somali radio show, said a hearing about radicalism is fair _ because certain individuals do pose a threat. But she says it’s wrong to single out the Muslim community. She says a threat to America is a threat to her as well.

Before Friday prayers at the Islamic Center of Long Island in Westbury, New York, retired physician Dr. Irfan Amin said he felt ``betrayed’’ by King. ``I have contributed to his campaign,’’ Amin said. ``I personally met him at one function and asked him to please come and at least talk to us: ‘You have been in our community so many times. Have you seen anything with your eyes?’ He didn’t give me an answer.’’

The hearing also was on the minds of people going about their business Thursday afternoon in Dearborn, where an Arab museum, prominent mosques and scores of Arabic-signed business make it one of the nation’s best known Middle Eastern

enclaves.

Even as a college basketball tournament played on the television in his family’s Arabica Cafe, Allen Ghamlouche couldn’t help but reflect on what people elsewhere were watching play out in Washington. ``They’re not trying to find the truth,’’ Ghamlouche said. ``The non-Muslims are looking for the boogeyman.’’

Cafe manager Mohamed Kobaissi took a break from preparing plates of falafel, shwarma and other Middle Eastern dishes to defend his loyalty to both his religion and country. ``We’re always under attack by the media,’’ said Kobaissi, who proudly points out that he served food to former President Bill Clinton and got to shake the leader’s hand in the mid1990s during a visit to Detroit Metropolitan Airport when he worked for a nearby hotel. ``Trust me _ I’ll be the first guy to defend the U.S., but at the same time I like to (say) Islam is nothing about terrorism,’’ Kobaissi said.

At the Islamic Center of America in Dearborn, one of the nation’s largest mosques, executive administrator Kassem Allie fears that the hearing and promised follow-ups will only drive those already susceptible to being radicalized further underground. ``The greatest fear is the people we don’t know about _ the people we don’t see,’’ Allie said.

Gulf markets rally on Saudi economic incentives

By TAREK EL-TABLAWY

to tackle some of the core economic and financial issues that have served as a catalyst for the protests, which have led to the ouster of Tunisia’s and Egypt’s presidents.

AP Business Writer CAIRO (AP) _ Major Gulf Arab stock markets rallied on Sunday, led by Saudi Arabia’s exchange after that nation’s king pledged roughly $93 billion in financial support measures in a move aimed at quieting discontent in the Arab world’s biggest economy.

Saudi Arabia’s Tadawul All Shares Index closed up 4.5 percent, at 6,343 points, while the Dubai Financial Market closed 2.6 percent higher at 1,509 points. Analysts said the gains reflected new confidence in the oil-rich region after massive protests in Bahrain had regional markets vacillating sharply over the past couple of weeks. ``It’s a confidence booster for the market, and the economy, because the (Saudi) government has the capacity and willingness to do what is needed,’’ said John Sfakianakis, chief economist at Riyadh, Saudi Arabia-based Banque Saudi Fransi, referring to the new measures announced by the Saudi monarch.

King Abdullah unveiled the massive financial package on Friday, in a second bid in under a month to allay rumblings of unrest in the oil-rich nation by pledging additional services, bonuses, housing and aid to his people.

The measures, which will cost the Saudi government about 350 billion Saudi riyals ($93 billion) are by far the most expensive and far reaching attempts by an Arab government

The Saudi stock market, which was closed on Saturday because of an official holiday, welcomed the new measures, which analysts say are equal to about 21 percent of the OPEC kingpin’s gross domestic product.

Shares of 145 companies climbed, representing all sectors of the Saudi economy, according to the Tadawaul’s website, and the latest rally narrowed the index’s year-to-date losses to just 4.8 percent. About two weeks ago, the TASI’s year-todate losses were well over 15 percent.

The gains, which were also reflected on the Qatari, Omani and Abu Dhabi stock exchanges to lesser degrees, demonstrated how the Gulf region’s main focus, at least for now, was on the developments closer to home. The imposition of a no-fly zone over Libya and the accompanying coalition assault on that North African nation appeared to carry little weight in Gulf markets.

and opportunities from the Sunni monarchy.

With the protests heating up, Gulf nations deployed a regional security force in Bahrain _ a move intended to show their resolve to act as a united bloc in the face of what they described as foreign interference. The phrase was a clear reference to Iran, which is seen as backing fellow Shiites in the predominantly Sunni region.

They also announced a $20 billion economic aid package for Oman and Bahrain _ the poorest of the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council.

Abdullah had about three weeks ago announced a roughly $36 billion package of incentives targeting Saudi Arabia’s lower-income bracket. The latest measures are more farreaching, and include 60,000 new jobs in the security forces, additional wages for government workers and payments to university students and raised the minimum wage.

The brunt of the funds, however, were aimed at building about 500,000 apartments for low-income residents.

Bahrain has, for weeks, been the epicenter of Gulf concerns.

Analysts said with the rise in oil prices _ currently over $100 per barrel _ and the kingdom’s more than $430 billion in foreign reserves, Saudi Arabia should have little trouble in funding the programs. But whether throwing money at a problem that is as rooted in political discontent as it is economic factors can succeed remains to be seen.

The tiny island nation linked to Saudi Arabia by a causeway has been embroiled in what has emerged as a largely sectarian conflict, with the majority Shiites demanding greater rights

``It’s clearly a case of do you spend or don’t spend,’’ said Sfakianakis. ``The cost of not spending is far higher than anything else.’’

Qatar’s benchmark was up 2.56 percent while the main index in Oman, another Gulf nation that has seen smallerscale protests, was up 1.33 percent. Abu Dhabi’s benchmark gained a moderate 0.67 percent.

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INTERNATIONAL

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Thousands protest in Syria where clashes killed many

By BASSEM MROUE Associated Press BEIRUT (AP) _ Thousands of Syrians protested Sunday in a tense southern city where security forces killed at least five protesters, a witness and activists said.

The witness in Daraa told The Associated Press by telephone that protesters were angry about the shooting Friday and mass arrests in the wake of the demonstrations calling for political freedoms, and called for officials involved in the violence to be fired. The witness spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of government retaliation.

The human rights group said that Syrian authorities have randomly arrested tens of people who participated in Friday’s protests in at least five cities, including the coastal town of Banyas, Homs and the capital Damascus.

Ammar Qurabi, who heads the National Organization for Human Rights, said those arrested were charged with writing anti-government slogans. He called on the government to immediately release the arrested and fire the interior minister.

A Syrian official said Saturday that President Bashar Assad was sending a delegation to Daraa to offer his condolences to families of the victims.

One of the activists in Damascus said Daraa residents were angered when the delegation went to offer condolences, and took to the streets in massive numbers.

He said thousands of people were chanting ``Those who kill their people are traitors!’’

Received by Newsfinder from AP

JERUSALEM (AP) _ A Palestinian man says he was attacked by masked men inside a Jewish West Bank settlement.

Palestinian laborer Sami Snobar at least eight Hebrew-speaking approached him at a construction where he was working Thursday asked him what he was doing there.

says men site and

He says he was hit on the head and body with a construction tool and a cinder

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) _ Tens of thousands of Kurds celebrated a spring festival across Turkey on Sunday with many chanting support for a Kurdish rebel group and its imprisoned leader, as clashes resurfaced between Kurdish guerrillas and Turkish troops.

About 30 Kurds, wearing khaki guerrilla uniforms and flashing victory signs, marched in unison amid tens of thousands of Kurds gathered in Istanbul to celebrate the Nowruz festival, which also drew large crowds in Diyarbakir, the largest city in the country’s Kurdish-dominated southeast.

Some demonstrators waved images of imprisoned rebel chief Abdullah Ocalan, which is illegal.

A Syrian official had acknowledged only two deaths in Friday’s violence and said that authorities would bring those responsible to trial. The official said that even if an investigation shows security officers were guilty, they will be put on trial ``no matter how high their rank is.’’

The violence was the worst since 2004 when clashes that began in the northeastern city of Qamishli between Syrian Kurds and security forces left at least 25 people dead and some 100 injured.

block, and also sprayed. Snobar spoke from a Palestinian hospital. The incident took place in the Shiloh settlement.

Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld says two Palestinian laborers and a Jewish man were attacked on Thursday with a screwdriver and pepper spray before fleeing. He says the motive was unclear.

There have been multiple cases of violence against Palestinians since five members of a settler family were killed over the weekend.

Kurds celebrate spring festival in Turkey Associated Press

One activist said police fired tear gas and bullets in the air to disperse the protesters, but the report could not be immediately confirmed.

13

Palestinian man attacked in Israeli settlement

By SELCAN HACAOGLU

The protesters were also demanding the release of 20 young men who were detained this month after writing prodemocracy graffitti on walls in Daraa, the witness said. Three activists in Damascus who are in contact with other Daraa residents confirmed that account.

Syrian police sealed off Daraa after security forces killed at least five people participating in demonstrations that were the first manifestation of the Arab world’s pro-democracy push seeping into one of the region’s most repressive countries. The activists said residents of Daraa were being allowed to leave but not enter the city.

APRIL 2011

Kurdish activists used the festival, which has ended in violence in the past, to highlight demands for autonomy and other rights such as education in the Kurdish language. Meanwhile, the autonomy-seeking Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, threatened to ``retaliate’’ against the military’s antirebel operations, pro-Kurdish Firat news agency reported.

This year’s celebrations come after the rebels ended a unilateral cease-fire, accusing the government of not responding to their demands for an end to the prosecution of elected Kurdish mayors and for improvement of prison conditions for Ocalan.

Turkish troops killed four Kurdish rebels

in a clash near the city of Bingol on Friday, increasing the number of rebels killed since the truce ended on Feb. 28 to seven, the military said. An officer and a progovernment village guard were wounded, it said. ``We are calling on the prime minister to stop these operations,’’ the Anatolia news agency quoted Gultan Kisanak, deputy chairperson of the pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party, as saying in an address to crowds in Diyarbakir. ``The Kurdish people want freedom, peace and brotherhood. Give an ear to the sound of this arena. Enough, enough, enough.’’

Mevlude Tanrikulu, a Kurdish mother whose son, Zubeyir, joined the rebel group a decade ago, echoed a similar call in an interview with AP Television News in Diyarbakir on Friday. ``We don’t want blood to be shed. Death is a cold feeling, we don’t want death,’’ Tanrikulu said. ``We don’t want young people to die, it does not matter if the person is a rebel or a soldier.’’

Turkey categorically refuses any cease-fire, vowing to fight the rebels, who are branded as terrorists by the West, until they lay down arms or are killed.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and President Abdullah Gul denied discrimination against the Kurdish minority. ``Whatever their ethnic roots, language, beliefs and political views, everyone is an integral and equal citizen of this country,’’ Gul said.

Politics of Disaster: Earthquakes, Tsunamis and Aid New America Media, News Analysis, Behrouz Saba Such news as Japan’s triple calamity of earthquake, tsunami and nuclear crisis, and the recent New Zealand earthquake, have generated millions of words and images across the proliferating range of media platforms, yet other news does not cease, it merely leaves the headlines for a brief interlude.

Iranian city of Bam in 2004, with a toll of 26,271, the United States was quick to fly military aircraft laden with emergency supplies into the disaster zone.

Even North Virginia’s Fairfax County sent in its Urban Search

are becoming denser with population, and threatening massive losses of lives once the inevitable disasters strike.

Istanbul, Turkey is a prime example. A city of 10 million,

Indeed, suicide bombings continue in Iraq and Afghanistan as usual, Qaddafi continues his efforts to shore up his regime on a bedrock of spent ammunition shells and Wisconsin voters go on to rage against their predatory state government (a talent lost to Californians).

Yet, as the same mean old world stays its course, calamities also inspire a honeymoon of sorts -- a kind of disaster diplomacy flourishes whereby opposing governments offer an olive branch or two. China has been Japan’s fiercest detractor since it was occupied by Japanese forces from 1937 to 1945 with a human toll of 20 million, yet the Chinese government has offered its formal condolences as well as a variety of aids in the face of the current disaster.

When an earthquake struck the

and Rescue Squad.

A look into the future reveals that disasters on the scale of the one currently unfolding in Japan are increasingly to be the rule rather than the exception. Urban centers on major earthquake faultlines , as well as on the paths of tropical storms and hurricanes,

and sitting near the North Anatolian Fault in one of the most seismically active regions of the world, it is due for a major earthquake. Replete with old brick structures, which do not comply with any code, it is a disaster waiting to happen.

Thirteen earthquakes with magnitudes between 6.5 and

7.9 have shaken the region since 1939. The 1999 events in nearby, far less populated, Izmir and Duzce killed 18, 374 people.

The same seismic pressure is now literally “moving” toward Istanbul.

America cannot go on with endless wars in Southwest Asia to ensure plentiful oil even as it fights people who resent the invasion of their land and the appropriation of their natural resources.

Closer to home, the California Coast is as vulnerable as ever to severe earthquakes that can result in major losses of life and property in the Los Angeles and San Francisco metropolitan areas. The 1906 San Francisco earthquake, with a magnitude of 8.25, resulted in 3,000 deaths while 300,000 people were left homeless after the ensuing fire, out of a population 410,000.

Today, the city’s population is fast approaching one million.

Fossil fuel as a dirty, dangerous and divisive commodity must become a thing of the past.

Indeed “sustainability” becomes more than a fancy word when its numberless, staunch defenders ditch their cars to clamor for clean, efficient mass transit. With images of reactors on fire filling our screens, we must look for sane lifestyles for which renewable, non-nuclear energy would suffice.

The ongoing and impending disasters, however, are not without their distinct opportunities. They should open our eyes to a globe which has become truly interdependent— politically, financially and environmentally. We are all in this together, regardless of geographic location, nationality, race, religion and political belief.

Instead of a mere honeymoon and an ephemeral olive branch, we have no choice but to adopt a truly global and humanitarian vision which is now essential to our survival.

Locally grown food with locally generated water supplies should take the place of Big Agribusinesses whose “factories in the fields” poison earth and water, and rely on exploited, undocumented labor even as it maintains slaughterhouses for the mass murder of genetically modified, crippled animals.

These efforts should be global and persistent, pooling together all natural, financial, technological and human resources. It may indeed be the case that we will go on fighting each other until we discover that banding together is our only way to survive.

14

INTERNATIONAL

APRIL 2011

www.AZMuslimVoice.com

World intervenes in Libya, with unusual speed

By ANGELA CHARLTON Associated Press

PARIS (AP) _ In diplomatic terms, international military action against Libya’s leader went from the brainstorming stage to the shooting-at-tanks stage with stunning speed.

Saturday’s launch of military strikes by French, British and U.S. forces with Arab backing and U.N. mandate was not universally endorsed. And it’s unclear whether it will be fast enough to do what its proponents want, to shore up rebel forces and oust Libya’s leader Moammar Gadhafi.

But the cascade of quick, weighty decisions getting there was unusual _ just one of the unusual things about this dramatic operation.

It has the backing of the Arab League, which has balked at other interventions in the Arab world and is known more for lengthy deliberations than action.

And it was initiated by the French, who famously opposed the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.

It was French President Nicolas Sarkozy who announced that 22 participants in an emergency summit in Paris on Saturday had agreed to launch armed action against Gadhafi’s military. And a French fighter jet reported the first strike Saturday afternoon, against a Libyan military vehicle in or near Benghazi, the heart of the uprising against the longtime leader, before over a hundred cruise missiles fired from U.S and British ships slammed into this north African nation.

The action in Libya came after the international community was slow to respond to swelling protests in Tunisia and then Egypt in January and February that toppled longtime autocrats and sparked uprisings around the Arab world.

Leaders and diplomats dawdled less when Libya’s Gadhafi started shooting at protesters.

On Feb. 26, the U.N. Security Council imposed sanctions on Gadhafi’s regime after just about two days of discussion, and as rebel forces gained ground against the Libyan military.

On March 10, France recognized the opposition Interim Governing Council as the ``legitimate representatives of the Libyan people.’’ The next day, the 27-nation European Union offered the opposition similar support.

Support in Arab countries mounted for a no-fly zone. Some members wanted to make sure there was no full-blown Western invasion, and hoped endorsing a no-fly zone would give them more leverage with the West on military plans.

With Gadhafi’s forces showing signs of a resurgency, the 22-member Arab League called March 12 for the U.N.’s Security Council to impose a no-fly zone.

That was a crucial moment, especially for the United States. Without Arab support, any intervention would have risked being seen as a Western occupation.

France and Britain pushed for a new, stronger U.N. resolution.

Washington, initially reluctant, said even a no-fly zone wouldn’t be enough, paving the way for

authorization of a draft calling for ``all necessary measures’’ to protect civilians.

That resolution won U.N. adoption Thursday, March 17.

On Friday, the U.S., France and Britain sent Gadhafi a letter telling him a cease-fire must begin immediately, or risk the consequences.

On Saturday morning, Gadhafi’s forces defied their own cease-fire, aiming new strikes on Benghazi.

Western warplanes and warships amassed around the Mediterranean, from Canada, Britain, Denmark, the United States.

Sarkozy hastily gathered 22 high-powered guests for a lunch summit Saturday: U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, British Prime Minister David Cameron, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa, and top officials from around Europe and Arab countries.

After lunch, Sarkozy announced that the political leaders had agreed to launch military action.

French planes, he said, were already in the air.

Ninety minutes later, French military officials reported their first strike.

This was all very different from past protracted, divisive U.N. debates over military intervention.

In 2002-2003, France especially was vehemently opposed to action in Iraq, and Britain was forced to withdraw a U.N. resolution authorizing force against Saddam Hussein. The United States then organized a coalition without U.N. approval.

On Saturday, the U.N. chief hailed

the Paris summit on Libya as a success.

It’s ``never too late’’ to undertake an operation like this, Ban said. ``Arab countries, Europeans, Americans _ they were all in one voice,’’ he said.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said ``we have every reason to fear that left unchecked, Gadhafi will commit unspeakable atrocities.’’

Cameron said after the summit: ``We have to make it stop. ... The time for action has come, it needs to be urgent.’’

Canada’s Prime Minister Stephen Harper, also in Paris, said Gadhafi’s claim of a cease-fire ``was an obvious lie from the beginning.’’

The Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), an umbrella organization representing 57 Muslim nations, called on member states to help implement the U.N. resolution and to establish contacts with the Libyan opposition.

But several countries remain cautious or openly critical about the risky operation.

Russia’s Foreign Ministry said it noted the launch of operations ``with regret,’’ and noted that the U.N. resolution authorizing them was ``hastily approved.’’

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who has longstanding ties to Gadhafi, said the U.S. and its allies simply want to ``seize Libya’s oil’’ and that the United Nations has ``infringed on its fundamental principles.’’

Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel said she backed the operation but added, ``We will not participate with our

own soldiers.’’ Cyprus, in the Mediterranean northeast of Libya, said it didn’t want to get involved.

NATO is divided over whether it should take a leading role or just provide support to air forces already engaged in the mission.

In Brussels, NATO’s top decisionmaking body appeared poised to decide on Sunday ``if and how the alliance will join’’ the effort, said Martin Povejsil, the Czech Republic’s envoy to NATO. While Qatar and the United Arab Emirates are taking part, according to French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe, it’s unclear whether bigger Arab nations such as Saudi Arabia could join in.

Sarkozy acknowledged the risks of the operation, and insisted it did not amount to an international occupation force. ``There is still time for Col. Gadhafi to avoid the worst by complying without delay and without reservations to all the demands of the international community.

The door of diplomacy will reopen at the moment when the aggressions cease,’’ Sarkozy said.

Canada’s Harper acknowledged that the diplomatic push will result in bloodshed. ``We should not kid ourselves,’’ he told reporters in Paris. ``One cannot promise perfection, or that there will not be casualties on our side.’’

But he added, ``We’re dealing with a regime that will not be satisfied with the reimposition of its authority. ... They will massacre every single individual they remotely suspect of disloyalty.’’

India Is Not Japan: Nuclear Reactors in Grave Danger New America Media, News Analysis, Sandip Roy India is not Japan. That’s the argument being put out by both sides of the nuclear debate in India in the wake of the disaster in Japan. The government of India is trying to reassure the public that Fukushima could not happen in India.

Japan lies squarely on a fault line. None of India’s 20 nuclear reactors are in seismic Zone 5 which is most vulnerable to earthquakes. The Madras Atomic Power Station safely shut down when the 2004 tsunami struck. The Fukushima reactor is a boiling water reactor while most of India’s reactors are pressurized heavy water reactors with passive cooling systems.

India is not Japan, agree antinuclear activists.

Japan’s much touted, highly advanced disaster preparedness couldn’t stop the radiation leaks.

India, on the other hand, is “disorganized and unprepared for the handling of any kind of even much less severity” says Dr. A. Gopalakrishnan, former chair of the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB), in an op-ed in the newspaper DNA. India has been lucky its systems haven’t had to face something like what happened in Fukushima. Environmental activist Praful Bidwai points out in the Hindustan Times that India also has boiling water reactors in its nuclear plant at Tarapur – “designed by

General Electric, the same as Fukushima’s, only smaller and one-generation older, probably with weaker safety systems.”

The government is standing its ground. While publicly saying that Japan is a wake-up call and ordering a review, it insists there will be no “rethink on the nuclear energy programme.”

India now generates only three percent of its energy from nuclear power. It wants to increase its nuclear power capacity fivefold in the next ten years to 20,000 MW and then to 40,000 MW by 2030. That would be one of the largest expansions in the world.

means neither the Indians, nor the French know very much about them. On top of that the radiation impact from a tsunami was not even covered in its Environment Impact Assessment. Nuclear plant safety isn’t included under the

Department of Atomic Energy (DAE). That closeness helped smooth the way for the Indo-US nuclear deal. But now it means the AERB is no watchdog. It’s just a “lapdog” of the DAE scoffs Gopalakrishnan.

CNN-IBN. The government, he said, is reviewing all projects that had been cleared on India’s coastline.

domain of the environment ministry says Jairam Ramesh, the Minister for Environment.

But to be frank, until Fukushima, there was little public interest. When the chair of Atomic Energy Commission addressed lawmakers about the Jaitapur project, television cameras showed several of them taking a nap.

another card. For years, India has been criticized for dragging its feet on climate change because it does not want to put any brakes on its economic growth. That means India needs its nuclear power, says Ramesh. “From a climate change point of view, it is the best source because it does not have any greenhouse gas emission,” he told the Business Standard.

But even as it concedes to a review as opposed to a rethink, the government is playing

It’s unlikely that any of the big nuclear powers are going to urge India to slow down.

Russia, France, the United States are all involved in building the new reactors. The US is planning to invest some $150 billion in the next thirty years.

Right now both sides are zeroing in on one of the new reactors - the 9,900 MW plant being proposed in Jaitapur in western India. Jaitapur is in a seismic zone. 3,000 social activists have already been arrested for opposing the project.

Srikumar Banerjee, chair of the Atomic Energy Commission told Samay that Jaitapur can withstand a tsunami of the magnitude experienced

by Japan. But former AERB chair Gopalakrishnan says the government just doesn’t know.

The reactors are being called state of the art. But that really

That’s the big problem, say opponents of the power plant.

No one knows where the buck stops when it comes to safety.

The Nuclear Power Corporation of India sets up nuclear plants.

The Atomic Energy Board looks at their safety. But both are under the government’s

If Jaitapur is seen to have violated environmental regulations it could be scrapped, Jairam Ramesh told

FAMILY

www.AZMuslimVoice.com

APRIL 2011

Abused and Deported: Immigrant Women Face Double Disgrace La Opinión, News Report, Pilar Marrero, Translated by Elena

if the couple doesn’t speak English and there is confusion about what happened.

María Bolaños has been fighting her deportation for more than a year, since a fight with her husband when she called the police to report that she was a victim of domestic violence. The police arrived at her home and, suspecting her of illegally selling phone cards, ordered her arrest.

Activists in defense of immigrant women say this shows how dangerous these programs are for public safety, especially in immigrant communities.

“Our poor neighborhoods are full of

to determine whether they have outstanding deportation orders or are in the country illegally. If someone is arrested and booked, even if the charges are later dropped, his or her fingerprints will end up in these databases and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) will be notified. ICE maintains

Her case is the most well known, but activists say all programs that mix police work with immigration enforcement represent a growing threat to immigrant women who are victims of domestic violence.

Undocumented immigrants who have been victims of domestic violence can apply for residency without a sponsor, through the U Visa and T Visa programs.

These are laws that benefit survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault and human trafficking, among other violent crimes.

But when a domestic violence victim calls the police to report a violent incident, police often arrest both the victim and the perpetrator, especially

Laborer Organizing Network, according to the organization’s director, Pablo Alvarado.

“They haven’t told the truth with respect to this program,” he said.

The case of women who have been victims of domestic violence is unique, not only because they have the right to immigration benefits – although many times they don’t know this – but also because the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has tried to implement measures to identify these women, although the program is so widereaching that this has been difficult.

At the urging of activists, DHS created a list with thousands of names of women who have received domestic violence benefits or are applying for them and have been approved.

“The Department of National Security hasn’t been very effective in identifying victims of domestic violence, even those who have already gotten benefits, such as suspension of deportation under the law VAWA (Violence Against Women Act),” Leslye Orloff, director of the immigrant women’s program at Legal Momentum, said recently before Congress.

With the expansion of the Secure Communities program, which is now operating in every county in California, along with 1,000 counties across the country, that danger is even greater, Orloff said.

15

“ICE isn’t supposed to touch these women, but with programs like 287(g) or Secure Communities, this list doesn’t seem to have much effect,” said Orloff.

“What we ask is that ICE is committed to ensuring that the person arrested is not the victim. Otherwise, this kind of program becomes very dangerous.”

immigrants; they don’t have the level of police protection. There is simply nothing more critical than the trust between the immigrant and the authorities,” said Enid Gonzalez, a member of the legal team at Casa de Maryland, the first organization to help Bolaños. Gonzalez said cases like this make communities think that they shouldn’t call the police for help.

The Secure Communities program matches the fingerprints of all arrestees against a federal immigration database

that it is focused on arresting dangerous criminals and prioritizing the most serious crimes over minor offenses.

However, it doesn’t always happen this way. A recent analysis of ICE’s own data showed that at least 28 percent of those processed under the program were not guilty of any crime; they were simply undocumented immigrants.

ICE recently released 15,000 documents and internal memos about its management of the program following a legal battle led by the National Day

In any case, the effect is to create more fear among women of the police than of the abusers themselves, said Judy London, an attorney with Public Counsel in Los Angeles.

“Ultimately, what concerns us most is not that there are many cases of this, but that it creates fear in the community ... this has definitely damaged the trust between police and the community,” said London.

In fact, as a result of cases like that of María Bolaños, some organizations that help battered women are recommending that they don’t call the police, and instead try to call someone else first.

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FAMILY

APRIL 2011

www.AZMuslimVoice.com

The Generational Gap in Islam: Another View Muslim Voice Fathiyyah Bashshar

“Generation gap” is a clever term that aims at giving scientific respectability to rudeness and rebellion. The idea is to create a wedge between generations and make it look acceptable for a young person to be indifferent to any wise counsel from one’s close and well-wishing elders. This reminds us of this special challenge faced by the youth today.

While temptations have always been strong in young age, today the problem is magnified by mega efforts targeting the youth, especially the Muslim youth in the Western world, at all levels including intellectual and philosophical. Some of the external factors that play a huge part in the migration of Muslims to America are jobs, education, and socio-economic statues. At what cost has the westernization of our values has set us apart in generational gaps from our children?

Allah states “Oh who you believe, save yourselves and your families from the hellfire”. Quran 66:6. A few of the major issues that our youth are faced with being American born Muslims are drugs , alcohol, pre-marital relations, pregnancy, and in some cases the abandoning of the mandatory prayers. Muslims that are born in Islamic countries typically don’t deal with these types of issues. If the life of this world is an illusion, the period of greatest illusion occurs during youth. It is a period of high energy and great enthusiasm, coupled with an air of invincibility and perpetuity.

The rules of Islam are strictly enforced in most Muslim countries. The intermingling amongst the sexes is not permitted. The generational gap becomes more prevalent as our children reach the age of puberty.

With this transition, a new identity is relevant. Several areas of concern are addressed; such as “What category do I fall in?” For the girls mainly: the issues of “How should I dress becomes important”? Not only is this identity crisis prevalent amongst the youth but also amongst the adults. The Generation Gap is a continual source of pain and confusion for every successive generation. It is often seen as the difficulties and struggles represented in the attitudes and experiences of older people and how they interpret the attitudes and behavior of young people. The generation gap occurs when:

• Older and younger people do not understand each other because of their different experiences, opinions, habits and behavior.

• There arises a lack of communication between one generation and another, especially between young people and their parents, brought about by differences of perspectives, tastes, outlook, ...

A favorite theme of these campaigns is to separate Islam from its culture. When in France, follow the French culture not the Muslim Algerian one, so the argument goes. This argument needs to be carefully deconstructed. Like all clever arguments this one also begins with a bit of truth. It is true that Islam is a universal religion and not restricted to a particular region. It is also true that many Muslim lands, during their period of decline, developed or adopted some cultural practices that were not based in Islam and need to be pruned. Certainly, not everything that has become accepted social practice in every Muslim country is Islamic. But it is a very long jump from there to conclude that everything being done in the Muslim world is un-Islamic and must be jettisoned. And it is even more bizarre to suggest that the replacement of all that with the pop-culture is just fine.

The Prophetic Example Generational Gap

of

Bridging

the

Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) taught to us bridge the gap through physical acts of intimacy and love. The young often feel intimidated by the old, authoritative members of their family or community.

Perpetuating fear and feelings of intimidation only widens the generation gap because the youth will never get close enough to the elders to be comfortable, to be at ease, and to learn. And at the same time the elders will not have direct contact with the youth to grasp their generation’s culture. Merely drawing in the youth through handshakes, embraces, and kisses reduces the physical distance and helps to minimize any feelings of fear or intimidation. Our beloved Prophet (peace be upon him) showed that the interactions between the youth and the elders need not be dry, almost lifeless, filled with a false sense of awe that the youth are expected to show towards the elders.

I spoke with Ashamed and Ghada Salah, who were visiting Phoenix this past weekend from Detroit, but are a generation of immigrants that moved to America from Egypt only 12 years ago. The question was posed “How do you deal with the generational gap with your

children?” Ashamed echoed the emotional sentiment “If the parents do their job properly, they should also look after the moral and spiritual development of their children in its initial stages. But the parents may themselves be ignorant in this respect. Or they may be remiss and negligent. And yet the moral and spiritual development of man is so important that it cannot be allowed to suffer by default. It is moral and spiritual values which distinguish man from the animals and other creatures. So the Merciful Providence has not left it to the parents to provide moral and spiritual guidance. He provided it through revealed books and prophets. Unfortunately that guidance is lost, as explained earlier, except in the case of the Holy Qur’an and the Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) whose teachings are fully preserved.

Moral and spiritual development of man is important.

So man’s moral and spiritual health and growth are of paramount importance. And the Merciful Providence has taken it upon Himself to look after it. He has not only provided the necessary guidance in black and white in the Holy Qur’an, illustrated in the life and example of the Holy Prophet (peace be upon Him) whose sayings and doings are also preserved, but also in the Islamic practices, which benefit man and not Allah.”

Conclusion Provide strong Islamic Values Parents are the avenues through which children enter this world. In the words of poet, Khalil Gibran: “They come through you, but belong not to you.” Parents are the first line of comfort and the last line of defense.

Love, cherish, empower and nurture your children as best you can. We have the responsibility of nurturing and caring for them, to prepare them for life, to inculcate in them good character as “the best thing a parent can provide for the benefit of a child is good moral training” as well as to be just and fair to them. Many children are deprived of true love, coming from homes where the important adults lack either emotional depth or emotional expressiveness.

The generational gap does not give us free reign to make excuses for our actions. It`s the choices we make that create these gaps. The question is when will we learn that no matter what we want to call it; westernization, societal flaws, or generation gaps, we are all responsible and will be held accountable.

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HEALTH

www.AZMuslimVoice.com

APRIL 2011

17

Chef adds dash of health in recipe for good living Received by Newsfinder

eventually died from the disease.

DORIS MARICLE The American Press IOTA, La. (AP) _ A doctor’s office visit 11 years ago served as Molly Clayton’s wake-up call.

Then a personal chef living in Detroit, she went to see the doctor for flu-like symptoms.

The doctor ``started asking me about my family’s health history,’’ Clayton said. ``I told him that three of my four grandparents had heart disease combined with diabetes or cancer. The fourth had congestive heart failure ... ``He told me that was the worst family history he’d ever heard in his 30 years of practicing medicine. Then he told me I was a walking timebomb and I needed to watch my weight and make some changes or I wouldn’t live very long.’’

Until that time, Clayton thought dying from heart disease or diabetes was just a part of getting older, especially in south Louisiana, where it seemed everyone she k n e w

``I was only 23 at the time,’’ she said. ``I was scared. I knew I was overweight. I couldn’t even climb a flight of stairs without being short of breath, and my cholesterol was off the charts, but I didn’t know what to do about it. I remember hiking in Alberta (Canada), and I couldn’t breathe and was sweating.’’

Clayton had no idea how to change her lifestyle but knew she didn’t want to die young. ``I still wanted to get married and have children,’’ she said. ``I wanted to live a long and happy life, but he told me none of that would happen if I didn’t get control.’’

Now 40 pounds lighter, Clayton, 34, works as a dietary manager at a Jennings nursing home twice a week and as an executive chef preparing heart-healthy pre-prepared meals at her own business the rest of the week. She also holds healthy cooking classes, helps with meal planning and gives supermarket tours.

She’s also on a personal mission to fight

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She’s passing that healthy lifestyle on to her husband, Joey, and their four daughters _ 7-year-old twins, a 5-yearold and a 4-month-old baby.

Clayton has been chosen as one of 15 women nationwide to serve as a spokeswoman for the American Heart Association. Her story was featured in the February issue of Woman’s Day magazine ``I am the only one out of the 15 who is not an actual survivor of a heart event,’’ Clayton said.

But heart disease, diabetes, cancer and being overweight have always been a part of her family’s history. ``My daddy owns a meat market and makes hot cracklins and boudin every Saturday morning,’’ she said. ``That was a hard lifestyle to change. I love food. I think about it all the time, and people here (Louisiana) talk about food as if it’s a love affair.’’

With the right mindset, Clayton managed to look at food differently and is

``It’s a life commitment,’’ she said.

``They already know how to read food labels and what to watch for,’’ she said. ``We talk about sodium, hydrogenated oils and saturated fat.’’

As a rule, everyone must take at least one bite of everything on their plate. ``You have to at least take what we call a `no thank you bite’ at our table,’’ she said. ``You try it at least once, then if you don’t like it, you say no thank you.

Sometimes they like it.’’

Even her friends and father _ a colon cancer survivor _ are eating healthier, and her mom _ a breast cancer survivor _ has quit smoking.

She and her husband also recently began the American Heart Association’s Go Red BetterU, a 12-week online nutrition and fitness program.

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``Research shows that 80 percent of the cardiac events in women are linked to poor choices involving diet, exercise and smoking,’’ she said. ``It’s preventable if you eat healthy, exercise and know your numbers.’’

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The Muslim community has invested in a Muslim Cemetery to serve Muslims in the State of Arizona.

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APRIL 2011

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Food Recipes ALMOND CAKE

FALAFEL

BY CHEF OSAMA

BY CHEF OSAMA Ingredients 3 eggs, separated 2/3 cup sugar ¼ cup corn starch (sifted) 1 tsp orange zest ½ cup orange juice ½ tsp cinnamon

mixer in a mixing bowl until standing in soft peaks, then gradually whisk in half of the sugar and continue whisking until the mixture is stiff and glossy.

Ingredients 2 ½ Cup favabeans, skinless ¼ Cup fresh parsley

-Whisk egg yolk with the rest of sugar using electric mixer in a mixing bowl.

1 Onion (medium size), diced

-Fold egg white mixture with the yolk gently.

¼ Cup fresh coriander and dill

-Combine starch, orange zest, orange juice, and cinnamon with egg mixture.

8 Garlic cloves ½ Cup leeks 1 tsp coriander, dried ½ tsp baking soda

1 ¾ cup ground almond

-Add almond flour to egg mixture gradually, stir until combined.

For Decoration

-Pour the batter in cake pan.

Salt

Apricots jam homemade with chopped toasted almond

-Bake 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean (oven must stay firmly closed during baking).

¼ tsp chili

-Transfer cake to wire rack to cool completely.

Sesame for decoration

Method -Preheat oven to 180° degree.

-Butter round cake pan; dust with starch, and tapping out excess.

-Whisk the egg whites with electric

-Brush with apricot jam, and decorate with chopped toasted almond.

1 Tbs water

¼ tsp ground cumin ¼ tsp ground all spice Oil for frying

Method - Wash favabeans and soak for 8 hours (change water from time to time).

-Rinse well and drain.

- Combine all vegetables with favabeans.

- Mash all ingredients in a chopper or food processor, pulse twice or 3 times until smooth.

- Dissolve baking soda in water and add to the mixture, add spices, mix well.

- Shape falafel dough into small 3cm pâté, top with a pinch of sesame. Fry in hot oil for 3 minutes or until golden or balls.

- Falafel can be served separately or in sandwiches with salad and tahini.

Note - You can use ½ favabeans and ½ chickpeas or all chickpeas instead. Other portion of the ingredients remains the same.

- Can be filled with cheese or a mixture of boiled egg and spices or small pieces of dried beef.

CALENDAR / ANNOUNCEMENTS

www.AZMuslimVoice.com

Phoenix Prayer Times

APRIL 2011

19

Tucson Prayer Times

April 2011 • Radi Al-Ahkar / Jumada Al-Awwal 1432 H

April 2011 • Radi Al-Ahkar / Jumada Al-Awwal 1432 H

DIRECTIONS TO THE ISLAMIC CULTURAL CENTER CEMETERY

ISLAMIC WEEKEND SCHOOLS Islamic Community Center of Phoenix:

Sunday at 9:45 am-1:20 pm.

Islamic Cultural Center:

Sunday at 10:00 am

Muslim Community Mosque:

Sunday at 10:00 am until 2:30 pm.

Masjid Omar

Saturday & Sunday from 10:00 am until 1:00 pm.

ICNEV Weekend Islamic School

Tel: (480) 346-2081Classes held on Sunday

FROM THE ISLAMIC CULTURAL CENTER (ICC):

Check our website for up to date information www.tempemasjid.com

1) Go South on Forest to University Drive. Turn right.

2) Go West on University to the I-10 highway.

Take I-10 East.

3) Proceed on I-10 East (~12 Miles). Exit at Queen Creek Rd. (EXIT #164).

4) Turn right on route 347 South. Proceed for about 14 miles.

5) Turn right on route 238 West. Proceed for about 8.7 miles.

6) Turn right on unnamed/unpaved street after you see the street sign which reads “36 miles” and proceed to the cemetery.

K thru’ grade 12 from 10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.

ACA Weekend School

Sunday 10:00 am-1:15 pm. www.azacademy.org/weekend

Sultan Education in Chandler

Saturdays & Sundays - children/adults 480-593-7066

Greenway Islamic Academy

Tajweed, Islamic Studies, & Arabic Language 602-565-0500

IN CASE OF DEATH • Call Sandy at Angel’s Burial, at 480-962-6435 • Total cost is $1,800.00

COLORING CONTEST March Winner Karem Latef Send your coloring to the Muslim Voice to enter the drawing for the best picture.

Hint: If the paper is too thin to color, make a Xerox copy then color it.

Ages 3-12, please send a picture of yourself.

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ISLAMIC CENTERS IN ARIZONA

PHOENIX Arizona Cultural Academy 7810 S. 42nd Pl. • Phoenix 602-454-1222 Islamic Center of Arizona 9032 N. 9th St. • Phoenix

Islamic Center of N. Phoenix 13246 N. 23rd Ave. 85029 602-371-3440 Islamic Comnty Ctr of Phx 7516 N. Black Canyon Hwy. Phoenix • 602-249-0496 Muslim Community Mosque 1818 N. 32nd St. • Phoenix 602-306-4959 Masjid Al-Rahmah 2645 E. McDowell Rd. • Phoenix 602-275-5493 Masjid Muhammad Ibn Abdullah

5648 N. 15th ave.

Phoenix, AZ 85015 602-413-5279

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Phone: #

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Al Rasoul Mosque 5302 N. 35th Ave. • Phoenix 602-864-1817

CHANDLER Masjid AsSalam 1071 N. Alma School Rd.• Chandler 480-250-7522

PEORIA Greenway Islamic Center 6724 West Greenway • Peoria, Islamic Center of East Valley AZ www.greenwaymasjid.com 425 N. Alma School Dr. • Chandler TEMPE 602-388-9900 Islamic Comnty Ctr of Tempe 131 E. 6th Street • Tempe LAVEEN 480-894-6070 Islamic Center of Laveen P.O. Box 1107 • Laveen Masjid Al Mahdi 602-361-4401 1016 S. River Dr. • Tempe 480-557-9699 MARICOPA Masjid Bilal Ibn Rabah Masjid Omar Bin Al-Khattab 44240 W. Maricopa/Casa6225 S.McClintock • Tempe Granda Hwy 480-775-6627 Maricopa Arizona 85139 contact# (602)312-7913 MESA Masjid-el-Noor CASA GRANDE 55 N. Matlock • Mesa Masjid Sajda is located c/o: 480-644-0074 The Legacy Suites 540 North Cacheris Court SCOTTSDALE Casa Grande`, Arizona 85122 Islamic Center of N.E. Valley 480.332.8618 12125 E. Via Linda • Scottsdale 480-612-4044

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11 / 7

Tel.: (602)253-4727 Fax: (602)254-6889

Now you can view the entire directory online at www.myplink.com

Orthodontics for Adults & Children We also offer General Dentistry

We will match any orthodontic fee quote plus a 10% discount!

Reasonable Prices Mediterranean, European Foods

Free Consults

Culture Clothing - Accessories

• • • • • • • • • • • •

50% on all Abayas

HALAL MEAT

Halal meat Goat meat Spices Pita & Iraqi breads 3 kg Pickles $4.49

Tahini

5 lb Green olives $9.99

3/4 L olive oil $5.99

i-Braces (invisible braces) Invisalign Clear Braces Teeth Whitening Crowns Root Canals Tooth Colored Fillings Implants We offer 0% Financing Payment Plans Available Most Insurances Accepted Evening and Saturday Appointments Available

We also speak Dari, Hindi, Urdu, & Spanish!

$2.49

“Let us give you the perfect smile.

It will open many doors and help change your life.”

For the first week in April 4,1,11 till 4,7,11

602-942-1950

3515 W. Thunderbird Rd. • Phoenix, AZ 85053

10 03

Grape leaves 2.99 $

Durkin Orthodontics

Fazila Durkin, D.D.S., M.S.

We have Two Convenient Locations:

1641 W. Glendale Ave., Suite B | Phoenix, AZ 85021 2210 S. Mill Ave., Suite 2 | Tempe, AZ 85282

(602) 864–6400 www.DurkinOrtho.com