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2011
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AMERICAN-MUSLIMS COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER
Monthly Newspaper
Vol.15 Issue No.177
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June 2011 Jumada AL-Akirah / Rajab 1432H
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Homeland Security tells Muslim group it will probe complaints of profiling at US-Canada border Associated Press SOUTHFIELD, Mich. — The U.S. Department of Homeland Security will investigate a Muslim rights advocacy group’s complaints that border agents have harassed dozens of U.S. Muslims who were returning from Canada.
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On March 24, the group filed complaints with the federal Homeland Security and Justice departments “seeking civil and potentially criminal investigations into dozens of reports from constituents who reported that (Customs and Border
Yes 75 % • No 25%
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The Council on American-Islamic Relations got a letter from a Homeland Security official saying the agency takes such civil rights violation complaints “very seriously” and will investigate, the group said Wednesday in a statement from its Michigan office in the Detroit suburb of Southfield.
Muslims and American Politics: Do they mix?
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U.S. Attorney Pushes for Dialogue with Muslim Community
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Kindly remain seated By Lamis Andoni, Aljazeera Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu must have felt more at home speaking to the US Congress than when he addressed the Israeli parliament: Had he made the same speech at the Knesset, he would have been repeatedly cut off by members - Arabs and Jews alike - objecting to the extremist positions and claims that could only appeal to the Israeli far right. But in the warm arms of the US Congress, he got away with alleging that Jewish settlers - living in illegal settlements - in the West Bank and East Jerusalem are not occupiers, that the West Bank (using the biblical Judea and Samaria) is not occupied territory, that a united Jerusalem is the eternal capital of Israel and that Israel should be recognized as «a Jewish state». In Israel, at least, a few of the Knesset members would have interrupted Netanyahu›s rhetorical hubris, reminding him that the West Bank and Gaza are under Israeli occupation, that settlers should leave the illegal settlements and that his talk about recognizing Israel as a Jewish state was downright racist. Sure enough, there was more criticism
of Netanyahu›s speech in the Israeli media than in any US newspaper. But in Washington, Netanyahu was the unchallenged king of Capitol Hill. Members of the US Congress reacted to every utterance Netanyahu made with warm applause, if not standing ovation. The representatives of the people of the US are either ignorant to the facts or immune to notions of equality and justice that would have otherwise guided them to react with outrage at Netanyahu›s brazen declarations. It was shocking, almost surreal, watching the smiling faces of Congressmen and Senators enthralled at Netanyahu›s glorification of the subjugation of another people under the yoke of military oppression. It was the equivalent of celebrating the war of extermination of Native Americans, slavery and racial segregation all at once. US president Barack Obama just loves to repeatedly stress «the shared values» between the US and Israel that create «an ironclad» American commitment to Israel. Of course, by making such assertions, Obama is extolling the values of freedom, equality and justice that he believes are part of the American heritage. But these are not the values that describe either US policy towards the Israeli-Arab con-
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The Department of Homeland Security “does not tolerate religious discrimination or abusive questioning — period,” Ortman said. Council lawyer Lena Masri said her group welcomes the federal government’s decision to investigate the allegations of “civil rights violations and ethnic and religious profiling.” Among other things, some people returning to the U.S. were asked how many times a day they pray, whether they pray in a mosque and who else prays with them, the group said.
American Psychiatrists Go Crazy Over Tutu
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Continued on page 5
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Homeland Security spokesman Chris Ortman said the department will investigate the complaints and take corrective action if needed.
flict or the Israeli dispossession of the Palestinian people - let alone the joint US-Israeli military partnership to ensure the continuity of a deadly occupation. The «values» of this alliance are not rooted in the American war of independence or the civil rights movement but rather invoke the darker side of US history and present world policies. Yes, there are shared Israeli-American «values» that Netanyahu understood so well when he was confidently making a speech that showed utter disdain to the humanity of the Palestinians. Netanyahu was invoking the imperial notions that led to the US wars in Korea and Vietnam, the war in Afghanistan and the invasion and occupation of Iraq - to list some American military misadventures. He was also appealing to the naked political ambition of members who want to ensure their re-election and to safeguard their seats on Capitol Hill. But the total disregard of the US Congress to the humanity of the Palestinians is not solely an indication of the influence the pro-Israeli lobby has in Washington. That was more than evident at the annual conference of the American Israeli Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) - where all key leaders of the Senate and the Congress unabashedly competed to prove their support for Israel. There is also no doubt that the last congressional elections produced some
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Protection) agents pointed firearms at them, detained and handcuffed them without predication of crimes or charges, and questioned them about their worship habits,” the group said.
Obama’s Mother and Pakistan
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