AMERICAN MUSLIM NEWS BRIEFS - 5/16/04 : Utah IMC

AMERICAN MUSLIM NEWS BRIEFS - 5/16/04

* CAIR-OHIO REP ENTERS LEADERSHIP HALL OF FAME
- CAIR-MD Head Joins ACLU Board
* CAIR-AZ: MUSLIM FAMILY POLICE FAIR A SUCCESS
* CAIR-AZ: MUSLIMS RALLY FOR PEACE (Arizona Trib)
- AZ: Police Panel Gives Voice to Muslims (AZ Republic)
- UT: Muslims Rally for Anti-Terror Petition (Star Trib)
* SIGN THE 'NOT IN THE NAME OF ISLAM' PETITION
* CAIR-TX: MUSLIM PETITION DECRIES TERROR (Express-News)
- CAIR-GA: Beheading Angers Local Muslim (Atlanta Journal)
- CAIR-FL: Beheading of American Condemned (Sun Sentinel)
- CAIR-FL: Muslims Condemn Execution (Tampa Tribune)
- CAIR-LA: Petition Says Terrorists Betray Faith (OC Register)
* NJ: MUSLIM TEEN ATTACKED WHILE ATTENDING PRAYERS (Pak Trib)
* CAIR-DC: BEHEADING CHANGES DEBATE OVER PRISONER ABUSE (NNS)
* CAIR-FL: ISLAMIC LEADERS GET FBI HELP (MIAMI HERALD)
* OKLAHOMA MINORITIES: MUSLIM-AMERICANS
- FL MUSLIMS: The Roots of a New Beginning (SP Times)
- LA Muslims to Build School and Mosque (Times-Picayune)
* RUMSFELD BACKED HARSH TACTICS (NY Times)
- Secret Pentagon Program Came to Abu Ghraib (New Yorker)
* CANADA: A COMEDIAN AND A MUSLIM (The Star)
* CHRISTIAN MISSIONARIES IN IRAQ (Washington Post)
* AL-ARIAN NOT PERMITTED TO ATTEND HEARING (TBCJP)

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CAIR-OHIO REP ENTERS LEADERSHIP HALL OF FAME

Ahmad Al-Akhras, head of CAIR-OHIO, has been inducted into the first Hall
of Fame for Leadership Columbus (http://www.leadershipcolumbus.org), which began
in 1974 as a program that trains future leaders in Columbus. The program
takes people that are highly motivated and immerses them in civic and
community projects to help shape them into future leaders.

CAIR-MD HEAD JOINS ACLU BOARD

Rizwan Mowlana, executive director of CAIR Maryland & Virginia was
nominated and accepted as a member of the ACLU of Maryland's Board of
Governors. His nomination was confirmed at an ACLU nominating committee
meeting.

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CAIR-AZ: MUSLIM FAMILY POLICE FAIR A SUCCESS

(PHOENIX, AZ) - The Arizona offices of the Council on American-Islamic
Relations (CAIR-AZ) said Saturday's "First Arizona Muslim Family Police
Fair" was a great success. Some 300 Muslims from all over Maricopa County
attended the fair, which was sponsored by CAIR-AZ, the Phoenix Muslim
Advisory Board, the Phoenix Police Department, and the Islamic Community
Center of Phoenix (ICCP).

Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon and newly appointed Phoenix Chief of Police Jack
Harris visited the fair to spend time talking to adult attendees and
playing games with the children.

CAIR-AZ also held a voter registration drive and passed out flyers for its
October 2nd Annual Banquet as well as information about CAIR and its
programs. The event ended with pizza and other refreshments, followed by
the noon prayer.

"It was an exciting day for adults and children alike," said Deedra Abboud,
Executive Director of CAIR-AZ. "Events like this help to break barriers of
distrust and fear that may exist on both sides. We look forward to
establishing Muslim community advisory boards across the state to build
mutual respect and understanding between our community and city police
departments."

There are an estimated 50,000 to 70,000 Muslims in Arizona, with the
majority residing in Maricopa County.

CAIR, America's largest Islamic civil liberties group, is headquartered in
Washington, D.C., and has 26 regional offices and chapters nationwide and
in Canada.

CONTACT: Deedra Abboud, 602-262-2247; E-MAIL: director@cairaz.org

SEE ALSO:

POLICE PANEL IN PHOENIX GIVES VOICE TO MUSLIMS
Yvonne Wingett, The Arizona Republic, 5/15/04
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/0515muslimpolice.html

Threats because of 9/11, the war in Iraq and a growing community have
prompted the Phoenix Police Department to create a board to hear Muslim
concerns.

The Muslim Community Advisory Board, believed to be the first in Arizona,
will open communication between authorities and the Muslim community,
police and board members said.

Muslims and police will gather today for a fair at the Islamic Community
Center of Phoenix to support cooperation and communication.

"A lot of times the victims aren't comfortable coming forward, and
immigrants don't really feel comfortable going to authorities," said Deedra
Abboud, executive director of the Arizona office of the Council on
American-Islamic Relations. "The police advisory board would give them an
opportunity to make them feel more comfortable to (come forward)."

The panel will help guide police policy that affects the Muslim community,
similar to the Hispanic Advisory Board. Members could address hate crimes,
threats and workplace discrimination.

-----

MUSLIMS RALLY FOR PEACE
Kristina Davis, Arizona Tribune, 5/15/04
http://www.aztrib.com/index.php?sty=21637

In a show of solidarity, the Valley's Muslim community rallied Friday on
Mill Avenue, condemning the highly publicized abuse of Iraqi prisoners and
beheading of an American last week.

About 150 children, teens and adults lined the corners of Mill Avenue and
University Drive in downtown Tempe with signs denouncing violence and
called for peace.

Hundreds of drivers honked, smiled and waved as they passed the
demonstrators who held signs that read "Honk for Peace."

"We want to let people know what happened with Nick Berg is not of us,"
said Deedra Abboud, executive director of the local chapter of the Council
of American-Islamic Relations. "We don't condone it, we condemn it. We want
people to know how we feel instead of other people speaking for us."

Hani Rahal, 49, of Chandler, said the Muslim community condemns the
violence against Iraqis and Americans.

"They are ignorant extremists who think they are doing the right thing but
what they are doing is wrong," said Rahal, vice chairman of the Al Mahdi
Foundation mosque at 1016 S. River Road in Tempe.

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SIGN THE 'NOT IN THE NAME OF ISLAM' PETITION

CAIR has launched an online petition drive designed to disassociate the
faith of Islam from the violent acts of a few Muslims. The petition on
CAIR's web site (http://www.cair-net.org), called "Not in the Name of Islam,"
allows Muslims around the world to help correct misperceptions of Islam and
the Islamic stance on religiously-motivated terror.

TO SIGN THE PETITION, GO TO: http://www.cair-net.org
TO READ THE PETITION ACTION ALERT, GO TO:
http://www.cair-net.org/asp/article.asp?id=169&page=AA

SEE ALSO:

UT: MUSLIMS RALLY FOR GLOBAL ANTI-TERRORISM PETITION
Casper Star Tribune, 5/16/04
http://www.casperstartribune.net/articles/2004/05/16/news/regional/4e35207983a7cc2a87256e96000842d8.txt

WEST VALLEY CITY, Utah -- A group of Utah Muslims are supporting a global
Internet petition called "Not in the Name of Islam" that condemns acts of
terrorism.

The petition by the Council on American-Islamic Relations was started in
response to the beheading in Iraq of American civilian Nick Berg in
retaliation for the treatment of Iraqis detained by Americans at Abu Ghraib
prison.

Nora Abu-Dan, 11, wants peace in the world and feels that it's her duty as
a Muslim to speak out against war and terrorism.

"You have to stand up," said Nora, a fifth-grader at Stansbury Elementary
School. "Maybe one person can make a difference."

Islam means "peace," her father, Deeb Abu-Dan, said following a prayer
service and sermon at West Valley's Khadeeja mosque on the Quran's call to
treat prisoners of war "as if they are part of your family."

The petition by the Washington-based Islamic civil rights and advocacy
group reads, in part: "No injustice done to Muslims can ever justify the
massacre of innocent people, and no act of terror will ever serve the cause
of Islam."

While no official tally of signatures was immediately available, Muslims
from 45 countries had signed the petition since it started Thursday,
council spokesman Ibrahim Hooper said Friday.

Council on American-Islamic Relations spokeswoman Rabiah Ahmed said the
petition is a symbolic action to help dispel complaints her organization
receives that Muslims don't speak out against terrorism.

"This is one way people will be able to see Muslims from around the world,
not just in America, joining hands and condemning these types of acts," she
said.

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MUSLIM PETITION DECRIES TERROR
J. Michael Parker, Express-News, 5/15/04
http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/metro/stories/MYSA051504.5B.Muslim_petition.c8a1cb9a.html

An Islamic advocacy group is asking area believers to join a national
effort to say they disagree with violence committed by Muslims.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations began a petition Thursday in the
wake of terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's beheading of American contractor
Nicholas Berg in Iraq.

San Antonio CAIR chairwoman Sarwat Husain said local Muslims are being
asked to add their signatures to the petition either in writing at one of
the mosques or by going online at the national CAIR Web site,
http://www.cair-net.org.

"We hope that many will sign the petition," she said. "Many people know
that we as Muslims don't promote violence in the name of Islam, but certain
people have been misleading the community. We have repeatedly disassociated
ourselves from acts of violence."

The petition, "Not in the Name of Islam," says:

"We, the undersigned Muslims, wish to state clearly that those who commit
acts of terror, murder and cruelty in the name of Islam are not only
destroying innocent lives, but are also betraying the values of the faith
they claim to represent.

"No injustice done to Muslims can ever justify the massacre of innocent
people, and no act of terror will ever serve the cause of Islam.

"We repudiate and dissociate ourselves from any Muslim group or individual
who commits such brutal and un-Islamic acts."

The petition cites a verse in the Koran, 4:135, to support their view.

But Husain said the petition might not be enough for some people.

"They look for anything they can to blame Islam," Husain said. "We condemn
all acts of violence, whether by Muslims or anybody else. But often people
haven't seen this and have said we haven't apologized enough."

---

BEHEADING ANGERS LOCAL MUSLIM MAN
Rick Badie, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 5/16/04
http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/gwinnett/opinion/badie/051604.html

You have to speak out when someone beheads an American civilian in the name
of your God and your religion.

So be prepared for some serious conversation if you run into Mohammad
Inamullah. He's on a mission to disassociate his Islamic faith from the
violence practiced by a few who claim it's for religion's sake.

The recent decapitation in Bagdad serves as an example.

A group with ties to al-Qaida videotaped the killing of Nicholas Berg, a
self-employed telecommunications engineer from Pennsylvania. The killers
shouted "God is great!" after they put a knife to Berg's neck.

Then, they held his head up to the camera.

But Inamullah, said God had nothing to do with it.

"When I see something like that, it disturbs me on three levels," the
43-year-old businessman said. "It hurts me as a human being to see other
humans act worse than animals. I am an American, so to see something like
that happen to one of my countrymen hurts and frustrates me.

"Finally, I mingle with the Muslim community on a daily basis, and I travel
to the Middle East and all over the world. I don't know of a single Muslim
capable of doing, or even thinking of doing, something like that."

Since Sept. 11, a criticism of moderate American Muslims has been their
muted response to the terroristic acts of Islamic militants. Conservative
radio talk show hosts, especially, have pressed for moderate Muslims to
denounce the extremists, to be allies in the war on terrorism.

Inamullah blames some of the silence on the inherently insular nature of
Muslim communities. He realizes that in the battle for the soul of Islam,
the majority must speak up.

The northeast Georgia chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations
issued a news release condemning last week's decapitation.

"We haven't organized it yet, but we have been discussing a nationwide
protest of all the violence going on in Iraq," said Yusof Burke, a Lilburn
man who oversees the Georgia chapter of CAIR. "We have to get people to
understand that the insurgents do not represent what Islam stands for.
We've got to get that message out."

---

BEHEADING OF AMERICAN CIVILIAN CONDEMNED IN S. FLORIDA MOSQUES
James D. Davis, Sun-Sentinel, 5/15/04
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/southflorida/sfl-imam15may15,0,5004115.story

The grisly on-screen beheading of an American civilian in Iraq drew
condemnations on Friday from American Muslims, nationally and in South Florida.

While criticizing the abuse of inmates in Iraq by American forces, they
said nothing justified the kidnap and killing of Nicholas Berg by Islamic
militants.

"It was cold-blooded murder," said Maulana Shafayat Mohamed in his Friday
sermon at Darul Uloom mosque in Pembroke Pines. "You can't punish an
innocent civilian for what a few soldiers did."

The sentiments were echoed by Imam Ayman Shabana, who preached on the
killing during Friday prayers at the West Palm Beach mosque.

"We condemned it as heinous and brutal," Shabana said. "So have Muslim
scholars around the world. Any normal human being feels the same."

An Islamic militant group said it kidnapped and killed Berg, of West
Chester, Pa., as revenge for American humiliation of inmates at Abu Ghraib
prison. A videotape of the murder recorded militants crying, "God is great."

In his Friday sermon, Shabana took care to separate the prison and
beheading incidents.

"The killers [of Berg] said it was revenge for the dignity and honor of the
Iraqi people, but Islamic teachings do not approve that," he said. "Only
the people who fight you are the ones you should fight. And Berg was there
only for business."

On Thursday, the Council on American-Islamic Relations, an advocacy group,
reported dozens of threats and acts of vandalism, including acts against
three Islamic institutions in South Florida. Darul Uloom had a threat taped
to its front door on Wednesday, Mohamed said.

Also on Thursday, CAIR posted a petition on its Web site, denouncing
terrorism committed in the name of Islam. Terrorists, the petition said,
"are not only destroying innocent lives, but are also betraying the values
of the faith they claim to represent. ... No act of terror will ever serve
the cause of Islam."

Ibrahim Hooper, spokesman for CAIR, said numbers hadn't been totaled yet,
but the petition had already gained signatures from 45 countries.

Hooper said CAIR had considered a dual petition, on the prisons and the
terrorists, but decided against it.

"It might have looked like we were linking the two," he said.

---

MUSLIMS CONDEMN EXECUTION
Michael Dunn, Tampa Tribune, 5/14/04
http://tampatrib.com/News/MGA0D85U7UD.html

TAMPA - Muslims gathered across the country Thursday to condemn the slaying
of U.S. businessman Nick Berg, who was beheaded by Islamic militants last
week.

In Tampa, the Council on American-Islamic Relations issued a statement
calling the act a sin against Islam and saying it does not represent the
attitudes and beliefs of Muslims throughout the world.

"We join the millions of fellow Americans in condemning the beheading of
the American civilian in Iraq. No cause can be served by such injustices,"
CAIR spokesman Ahmed Bedier said.

"Those who committed this gruesome murder do not represent Islam any more
than those Americans who abused the Iraqi prisoners. The world of Islam
should not be held accountable for the un-Islamic and barbaric deeds of a
minority."

The Florida chapter of CAIR, formed in 1994, has offices in Tampa and Fort
Lauderdale. About 40,000 Muslims live in the Tampa Bay area, Bedier said.

Bedier said there has been backlash against Muslims. In the past three
days, he said, two mosques have been vandalized in Miami, and a threatening
letter was received at a mosque in Hollywood, Fla.

"We anticipate there could be a backlash [in the Tampa Bay area] in
response to the footage," Bedier said.

---

MUSLIM PETITION SAYS TERRORISTS BETRAY FAITH
ANN PEPPER, Orange County Register, 5/15/04
http://www.ocregister.com/

A national Muslim advocacy group this week launched an online petition
drive to give Muslims worldwide an opportunity to disassociate their faith
from acts of terrorism.

Called "Not in the Name of Islam," the initiative was announced by the
Council on American-Islamic Relations in Washington in response to the
decapitation of an American in Iraq by masked assailants shouting "God is
Great."

The petition, posted on CAIR's Web site at http://www.cair-net.org, states "no
injustice done to Muslims can ever justify the massacre of innocent people
and no act of terror will ever serve the cause of Islam."

"This is an opportunity for our community to let neighbors and co-workers
know how we feel about the maligning of our religion by these people who do
horrific things in the name of Islam," said Sabiha Khan, spokeswoman for
Islamic council's Anaheim office.

-----

YOUNG MUSLIM ATTACKED IN US WHILE ATTENDING PRAYERS
http://paktribune.com/news/index.php?id=65017

JERSEY CITY, NJ, May 15 (Online): Raza Muhammad, a young Muslim was
attacked by two unidentified teenagers while on his way to the Masjid for
Maghrib Prayers. Raza Muhammad who is a student of Ferris High School in
Jersey City, regularly goes to Masjid at Chopin Ct, was approached by two
unidentified teenagers and was asked for the time, when he looked at his
watch on his wrist one of the teens punched him on his face causing his lip
to bleed and shaking front teeth. The other teen started harassing him and
cursing him and his faith.

In the mean time some passer-by yelled on them causing the two teenagers to
flee. The police was informed about the incident and they responded
positively and came to the Muslim federation and discussed the problems in
the community. Muslim federation president Arshad Chatta, Hafiz Safdar, and
Qari Saif un Nabi briefed the police about the incident. Jersey City police
officials assured the Muslim community that security will be beefed up, and
police will be present at the Islamic centers and make sure their are
visible attendance to prevent any further hate crimes.

-----

BEHEADING CHANGES DEBATE OVER PRISONER ABUSE IN IRAQ
Mark O'Keefe, Newhouse News Service, 5/15/04
http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/news/1084701424102200.xml

For some Americans, the moral equation of the U.S. missteps in Iraq changed
this week with the videotaped beheading of a contractor from West Chester, Pa.

"There is too much media attention being given to our prisoner abuse," said
Joe Kincaid, who runs a cleaning business in Yorktown, Va. "When compared
to Saddam and the so-called peaceful Muslim religion, it seems pale."

On conservative talk radio, the Internet and some cable television outlets,
the point being made was this: While the abuse of Iraqi prisoners by U.S.
soldiers was wrong, it should be judged in light of the execution of
Nicholas Berg.

Just as passionate is another view, that another wrong does not make U.S.
actions right.

"To quote Shakespeare, 'Comparisons are odorous,' " said Anthony Mora,
owner of a public relations company in Los Angeles."As long as we're less
bad than the terrorists, does that mean we're OK? Or if they do it, we can
do it just as cruelly?"

Said Ibrahim Hooper, a spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic
Relations: "When you start torturing people, start abusing people, start
denying people their rights, it's a slippery slope that leads you down to
the level of terrorists. Fighting fire with fire only gets everybody burned."

-----

ISLAMIC LEADERS GET FBI HELP
Hilary Wasch, Miami Herald, 5/15/04
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/local/states/florida/counties/broward_county/8671588.htm

Islamic officials have asked the FBI to assist in the investigation of
three recent vandalism and threats against Islamic institutions in South
Florida.

Recent incidents of vandalism and threats against South Florida's Islamic
community have prompted the FBI to get involved.

Altaf Ali, executive director of the Florida Chapter of the Council on
American-Islamic Relations, asked the FBI to step in after three incidents
at Islamic institutions in Miami-Dade County and Pembroke Pines.

An FBI spokeswoman said the bureau has agreed to step in.

Last weekend in Miami-Dade, the Masjid Ihsaan mosque at 10180 SW 168th St.
in Perrine was broken into and ransacked.

On Wednesday, a swastika and curse words were spray-painted at the Islamic
School of Miami at 11699 SW 147th Ave.

And on Thursday, a note was found at the Darul Uloom Institute, an Islamic
Center at 7050 Pines Blvd. in Pembroke Pines. The note read, ``Kill them
all in the name of Allah.''

These crimes follow the recent beheading of American Nicholas Berg and the
revelation of abuses of Iraqi prisoners by American soldiers.

-----

OKLAHOMA MINORITIES: MUSLIM-AMERICANS
Jennifer Pierce, NEWS 9, 5/15/04
http://www.newsok.com/cgi-bin/show_article?ID=1239425&TP=getarticle

Their roots are in the Middle East, but the place they call home is Oklahoma.

It's a home they have found is not always understanding of their race and
religion, especially since 9/11 and even in the past few weeks.

Jennifer Pierce introduces us to three very different Middle Eastern
Oklahomans.

When you think of the Middle East, these are the images Americans see every
day: Fighting, war, and bloodshed.

But there is so much more about their race and religion that we don't know.

While these pictures seem a world away, the Middle East is actually closer
than we think -- and not so different.

Meet Houda Elyazgi and her sister Ameara, both University of Oklahoma
students and native Oklahomans.

A big part of Houda's life is her devotion to Islam. Her decision to wear a
head scarf, or hijab, came at an early age.

It is now part of who she is: Pakistani and Muslim.

At work, in public -- everywhere -- Warda Ahmad says she stands out, but
it's not always bad.

Despite her Middle Eastern roots, Nadia Albahadily doesn't consider herself
a minority even though she is one of only two Muslims at her school.

Nadia's family came from Iraq and settled in Edmond.

Nadia says she can't remember a time when she was not accepted in the
community.

And says for the most part people are very respectful of her culture.

It was a day that changed the lives of Americans forever.

After Sept. 1, Arab-Americans became the targets of hate crimes.

Concerned for her safety, Houda's parents kept her home from school for
several days.

The atrocity affected Houda in a profound way. She even visited ground
zero, but it wasn't a warm welcome.

Sept. 11 encouraged Houda to get politically involved, to teach others
about what Islam really stands for.

SEE ALSO:

THE ROOTS OF A NEW BEGINNING
Robert King, St. Petersburg Times, 5/16/04
http://www.sptimes.com/2004/05/16/Hernando/The_roots_of_a_new_be.shtml

For 25 years, Muslims in Hernando County have gone about the quiet business
of building their community and becoming pillars in the county's health
care system.

Nazir and Nada Hamoui became the first Muslim family to settle in Hernando
in 1979. Nazir was a physician trained in urology, a specialty that didn't
exist in the county at the time. Soon, other doctors followed with their
families.

Now the Muslim community in Hernando County numbers at least 50 families
and more than 200 people.

Despite their prosperity, local Muslims are worried that their American
dreams may be threatened. The terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and the
subsequent war on terror have cast Islam in a negative light. Those events
brought changes in America that local Muslims find unsettling.

Over the past year, the Times has researched the story of Hernando's Muslim
community. The newspaper has interviewed more than 90 people and attended
30 weekly prayer services at the local mosque. This six-part series is the
result of that research and shows how, through it all, local Muslims remain
united by faith.

The American flag on the mailbox had always been a source of pride for
Tarek Elmansoury.

But a few days after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, Tarek, who
was 5 at the time, came home from school to find his American flag gone.

A neighbor had seen four men drive by the Elmansoury home in Lake in the
Woods, rip down the flag and drive off shouting "Death to foreigners."

All night, Tarek kept asking his parents - Muslims born in Egypt - the same
question: "How could they take my flag?"

Like so many other Americans, Tarek Elmansoury cried in the wake of 9/11.
Like the rest of America, something had been taken from him, and he wasn't
sure why.

The hijackers who struck at America's heart called themselves Muslims and
said they were acting in the name of Allah. And they died for their cause.

Left behind to live with the repercussions were millions of
Muslim-Americans, including a small community in Hernando County that
includes the Elmansoury family.

Muslim doctors, including Tarek's father, cardiologist Nasser Elmansoury,
had for years busied themselves with seeing patients and establishing
themselves as an important pillar of Hernando County's medical community.

But they had done little to define their Muslim faith and culture to the
larger community.

On Sept. 11, the hijackers defined it for them.

---

JEFF MUSLIMS TO BUILD SCHOOL AND MOSQUE
Bruce Nolan, Times-Picayune, 5/15/04
http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/index.ssf?/base/news-0/108460263530270.xml

Fifteen years after moving into their first newly built mosque, East
Jefferson's Muslim community today will break ground in Kenner for
construction of a larger place of worship -- and first, a new Islamic
school for their children.

Construction of the school and its gymnasium should begin this summer and
take about a year, said Furqan H. Siddiqui, president of the school's board
of directors.

Perhaps soon thereafter construction may begin on the new mosque. It will
be about three times the size of Masjid Abu Bakr al Siddiq, where 250 to
300 families currently worship at the corner of David Drive and West
Esplanade Avenue.

The work of the Jefferson Muslim Association, the new construction will be
financed by about $2 million in cash or pledges already in hand, said
Rahman Bhatti, the association's vice president.

The work has to proceed on a cash basis; the Quran forbids charging and
paying interest -- a dictate that prohibits the kind of construction loan
that would be the norm for other kinds of congregations, Bhatti said.

The mosque and school will be on a site bounded by Illinois and Iowa
avenues and 23rd and 25th streets. The association acquired the 7.5-acre
site seven years ago for $751,000. To help raise money, the association
subdivided 1.5 acres into 10 lots, which were purchased by member families
for $350,000, far above market value, Bhatti said.

------

RUMSFELD AND AIDE BACKED HARSH TACTICS, ARTICLE SAYS
David Johnston and Tim Golden, New York Times, 5/16/04
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/16/international/middleeast/16ABUS.html

WASHINGTON- Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld and one of his top
aides authorized the expansion of a secret program that permitted harsh
interrogations of detained members of Al Qaeda, allowing these methods to
be used against prisoners at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, according to an
article in The New Yorker.

The article, by Seymour M. Hersh, reported that Mr. Rumsfeld and Stephen A.
Cambone, the undersecretary of defense for intelligence, approved the use
of the tougher interrogation techniques in Iraq in 2003 to extract better
information from Iraqi prisoners to counter the growing insurgency threat
in the country.

Mr. Hersh's account, to be published in the May 24 issue of the magazine,
said that the expansion of the "special access program" allowed authorities
in charge of Abu Ghraib to engage in degrading and sexually humiliating
practices. It was posted on Saturday on The New Yorker's Web site.

"According to interviews with several past and present American
intelligence officials," Mr. Hersh wrote, "the Pentagon's operation, known
inside the intelligence community by several code words, including Copper
Green, encouraged physical coercion and sexual humiliation of Iraqi
prisoners in an effort to generate more intelligence about the growing
insurgency in Iraq."

Mr. Hersh's reporting focuses new attention on an important question in the
prisoner abuse scandal - whether senior military or civilian officials
ordered the mistreatment of Iraqi prisoners. Mr. Rumsfeld, who has
apologized for the abuses, has said that they were carried out by
lower-level forces without the approval of senior commanders.

The article suggested that Mr. Rumsfeld and Mr. Cambone had, in effect,
shifted the blame for the abuses away from top civilians at the Pentagon to
lower-level military police guards who are facing disciplinary proceedings
in military courts.

SEE ALSO:

HOW A SECRET PENTAGON PROGRAM CAME TO ABU GHRAIB
Seymour M. Hersh, New Yorker, 5/24/04
http://newyorker.com/printable/?fact/040524fa_fact

The roots of the Abu Ghraib prison scandal lie not in the criminal
inclinations of a few Army reservists but in a decision, approved last year
by Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, to expand a highly secret
operation, which had been focussed on the hunt for Al Qaeda, to the
interrogation of prisoners in Iraq. Rumsfeld's decision embittered the
American intelligence community, damaged the effectiveness of élite combat
units, and hurt America's prospects in the war on terror.

According to interviews with several past and present American intelligence
officials, the Pentagon's operation, known inside the intelligence
community by several code words, including Copper Green, encouraged
physical coercion and sexual humiliation of Iraqi prisoners in an effort to
generate more intelligence about the growing insurgency in Iraq. A senior
C.I.A. official, in confirming the details of this account last week, said
that the operation stemmed from Rumsfeld's long-standing desire to wrest
control of America's clandestine and paramilitary operations from the C.I.A.

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ISLAM'S SPANISH EYES
Blake Gopnik, Washington Post, 5/16/04
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?node=entertainment/profile&id=1094149

"Caliphs and Kings: The Art and Influence of Islamic Spain," a new show at
the Smithsonian's Sackler Gallery, has a few exquisite objects in it.

An ornamental silk brocade, covered in geometric patterns, is one of the
most gorgeous textiles I have ever seen. It was woven by hand 600 years ago
in the last years of the Muslim enclave of Granada. It is so pristine and
perfect, however, that it looks like it was made yesterday on the latest in
computer looms.

A carved ivory perfume box, about as big around as a coffee tin, was made
400 years before that, when Cordoba's Muslim caliphate controlled almost
all of Spain. Its domed lid is hinged in ornate silver and luxuriant
foliage crawls across its entire surface. It seems to celebrate the good
things in life. A lovely bit of Arabic verse runs under the half-sphere of
its top, letting the box speak for itself: "The sight that I offer is the
fairest of sights, the still firm breast of a lovely young woman. . . ."

Despite these and a few other gems, however, this exhibition isn't really
about art. It is about history. Guest curator Heather Ecker uses its
objects to open a small window onto a patch of the European past most of us
have barely glimpsed.

CALIPHS AND KINGS: THE ART AND INFLUENCE OF ISLAMIC SPAIN -- Through Oct.
17 at the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, 1050 Independence Ave. SW.
202-633-1000 or http://www.asia.si.edu. Metro: Smithsonian. Open daily 10-5:30.

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A COMEDIAN AND A MUSLIM
Martin Knelman, The Star, 5/16/04
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1084572619917&call_pageid=968867495754&col=969483191630

Bryan "Preacher" Moss, the imported headliner for next week's Muslim comedy
festival at Yuk Yuk's, likes to think of himself as "a pre-9/11" comedian.

"Even back then I had issues with society about being a Muslim," he
recalls, speaking from his mother's home outside Washington, D.C., in a
phone interview. "And I had issues with my government about how Muslims
were treated."

Preacher - a devout Muslim who prays five times a day and eschews the kind
of blue material considered normal at comedy clubs - has been compared to
Dick Gregory, the veteran black comedian who emerged more than 40 years ago
as a leading civil rights activist and social satirist.

"Dick Gregory is my hero," says the 37-year-old Moss. "He represented
something that's missing now in comedy."

For the past four years, Moss has been touring the U.S., playing 100
college campuses annually and turning racial tensions into comedy in the
tradition Gregory pioneered before Moss was born.

Moss, too, has a social mission - using comedy as a means of ending racism.
According to George Lopez, star of his eponymous TV series (on which Moss
has appeared), "Preacher is not just a comedian for the Muslim community
but a teacher for the world."

Moreover, he inadvertently gave birth to the Muslim Comedy Festival, just
by sending a sample of his work to Yuk Yuk's czar Mark Breslin.

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CHRISTIAN MISSIONARIES BATTLE FOR HEARTS AND MINDS IN IRAQ
Ariana Eunjung Cha, Washington Post, 5/16/04
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A30001-2004May15.html

There's no sign on the rickety white storefront in central Baghdad, but for
Iraqis who live nearby it is already a familiar landmark. Word spread
quickly that those who enter the 1,500-square-foot expanse full of clothes
and toiletries donated from overseas can expect to find bargains -- as well
as answers to their questions about faith from the Christian staffers
manning the counters.

"We want to be respectful to the local religion," said the Rev. Sekyu
Chang, 45, of Light Global Mission Church in Vienna, who helped set up the
charity thrift store. "There is nothing outwardly Christian about the shop,
but most of the workers are Christian. They are going to share their
personal faith when there are occasions."

With a population estimated to be more than 95 percent Muslim and outbreaks
of violence in the name of Islam occurring on an almost daily basis, Iraq
is not a place where Christian missionaries can openly evangelize on street
corners, hold community prayer meetings or hand out stacks of Bibles. Many
say they entered the country as businessmen or aid workers, roles that let
them establish relationships with Iraqis about something other than religion.

Over the past year, Christian aid groups have played a significant, if
unofficial, role in the reconstruction, helping with various projects:
repairing water purification facilities, building a book-bag factory to
create employment and holding classes to teach people English. And some
have drawn criticism that they endanger the lives of secular aid workers
and the military because insurgents may associate Christianity with Western
domination, or because they disguise their intentions.

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Tampa Bay Coalition for Justice and Peace
5/16/2004

CONTACT: tampabayjustice@yahoo.com

DR. AL-ARIAN NOT PERMITTED TO ATTEND HEARING, HARSH CONDITIONS
CONTINUE

On Friday, Dr. Sami Al-Arian and his attorneys learned that he would not be
permitted to attend a hearing in his case taking place this Monday, May 17.

Dr. Al-Arian was denied the right to attend the hearing even though in a
previous hearing on March 11, the magistrate judge overseeing the case
stated that he would be brought back to Tampa within two months.

In fact, since his detention on February 20, 2003, Dr. Al-Arian has not
been allowed to attend most of the hearings in his case. So long as he is
not in Tampa, Dr. Al-Arian cannot examine the evidence located there in the
government's possession. Even though the judge has stressed publicly that
Dr. Al-Arian should be able to examine all of the evidence in a timely
manner, this has clearly not been the case. By repeatedly denying requests
by attorneys to bring both Dr. Al-Arian and Sameeh Hammoudeh to Tampa to
attend hearings and review evidence, Magistrate Thomas McCoun has placed
tremendous stress on the defendants, their attorneys, and their families.

Dr. Al-Arian has had to wait for over a year to receive summaries and
transcripts of phone calls and other evidence which have been in the
government's possession for years. He was given over 20,000 pages of
documents that were in no logical order, chronological or otherwise, all of
which will require at least a month just to organize. This systemic
inefficiency, along with the time it takes for the government to hand over
evidence in the case, is psychologically straining and debilitating to Dr.
Al-Arian.

It is part of a longstanding policy by the judge and the government to keep
Dr. Al-Arian from participating in his own defense and to isolate him from
his family, attorneys and evidence located in Tampa.

Moreover, recently the inhumane conditions in Coleman Federal Penitentiary,
75 miles away from Tampa, under which Dr. Al-Arian has been held have been
exacerbated. When he is granted a phone call with his attorneys, usually
after much pleading, his hands are cuffed and more recently, shackled to
his waist. This obviously makes it extremely difficult for him to hold the
receiver, let alone take notes. This action is especially unreasonable and
harsh considering he is locked in the room alone at the time, posing danger
to no one. Such conditions can only be described as physically torturous,
humiliating, and gratuitously punitive.

Although Dr. Al-Arian and his co-defendant Sameeh Hammoudeh are the only
pre-trial detainees in the entire facility, they are held under much
harsher conditions than the other detainees. Since March 27, 2003, they
have been held in the Special Housing Unit (SHU), a section of the prison
reserved to temporarily house convicted inmates who misbehave. While the
legal limit of placing regular inmates in the SHU is one year, Dr. Al-Arian
and Mr. Hammoudeh have been there for 14 months. The stark discrepancy in
treatment undoubtedly demonstrates that the men are being discriminated
against.

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CAIR
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