Government & Politics

Lipstadt: Aware of CAIR’s antisemitic past, giving them a chance to overcome Lipstadt's Combating Antisemitism Strategy was criticized for including CAIR despite it being known for its antisemitism and anti-Israel comments.

(Jerusalem Post) Deborah Lipstadt, United States special envoy for monitoring and combating antisemitism, knows that there are Jewish leaders who are upset about the way her historic Combating Antisemitism Strategy was launched a few weeks ago at the White House, but she […]

Government & Politics

US Muslim groups urge White House to apologize, make good after mayor rejection Groups say they have 'high expectations' Biden administration 'will promptly and publicly reject' anti-Muslim policies

(Anadolu) A coalition of dozens of advocacy groups called on the White House Friday to apologize to a Muslim American mayor who was disinvited from an Eid ceremony just moments before it was to begin. Mohamed Khairullah, the longtime Muslim mayor of […]

Government & Politics

Jewish groups question CAIR’s inclusion in WH antisemitism fact sheet 'They were listed in a supplemental document as one of the many independent organizations making commitments,' said a source with direct knowledge of the drafting of the strategy

(Jewish Insider) Several Jewish organizations on Tuesday questioned the White House’s decision to reference the Council on American-Islamic Relations in a fact sheet released last week alongside the U.S. national strategy to counter antisemitism. “We don’t agree with every decision the White […]

Academics & Education

US university condemned for removing pro-Palestine speech from YouTube Students and activists say commencement speech was removed for its pro-Palestinian content after some critiqued speech as being 'antisemitic'

(Middle East Eye) On 12 May, the City University of New York (CUNY) School of Law live-streamed its commencement ceremony where Fatima Mohammed was speaking. The student was draped in the famous Palestinian keffiyeh. But just hours after the graduation ceremony, the […]

Government & Politics

New research: $2 million in federal grants went to domestic Islamist groups 'The good news: That’s way down from the $16 million Trump sent them in 2018,' wrote Daniel Pipes, president of the Middle East Forum.

(JNS) Of 60 federal grants, worth $15 million, given to Muslim organizations in 2022, $2 million went to groups “controlled by Islamists or involved in Islamist networks.” That’s according to a May 3 article by Sam Westrop in Focus on Western Islamism. […]

Discrimination & “Islamophobia”

White House hosts listening session on Islamophobia Muslim leaders share recommendations for confronting Islamophobia, hate and bigotry during event

(Anadolu) The White House held a listening session Wednesday on Islamophobia, during which high-level Biden administration officials met with leaders from the American Muslim community. The event followed a White House reception Monday hosted by President Joe Biden for Eid al-Fitr, a […]

Government & Politics

NJ will celebrate its first ‘Muslim Heritage Month’ in 2024 New Jersey has the highest percent[age] of Muslim residents in the U.S. A resolution in their honor saw support from Democrats and Republicans.

(Patch) There is now a “Muslim Heritage Month” in the Garden State. Last weekend, Gov. Phil Murphy signed a joint resolution, SJR105/AJR194, which names the month of January as “Muslim Heritage Month” in New Jersey. The designation aims to “promote awareness and […]

Academics & Education

Muslim students lead protest for adequate prayer space at New York’s Baruch College Thursday's protest, coming on the final day of Ramadan, was one of the larger weekly protests students have organized over the past two months.

(Religion News) Loud chants carried through the main plaza at Baruch College in the early afternoon on Thursday (April 20) as a group of around 40 students protested near the Office of Student Life. The students, a majority of them Muslim, were […]

Government & Politics

Minneapolis mayor signs ordinance allowing Islamic call to prayer year round Muslim leaders say Minneapolis is now the first major U.S. city to allow broadcasts of all five daily calls to prayer.

(KARE) With the stroke of a pen, the more than 20 mosques throughout Minneapolis are now allowed to publicly broadcast the Adhan, the Islamic call to prayer, five times per day throughout the year. Mayor Jacob Frey officially signed the new ordinance […]

Government & Politics

The adhan, five times a day: Minneapolis City Council poised to vote on allowing a full daily set of Muslim prayer calls year-round Minneapolis has limited the broadcast of the Islamic call to prayer to three or four times a day. The City Council will vote next week on a proposal to expand that to five times a day.

(Sahan Journal) Minneapolis mosques would be able to broadcast the adhan — the Islamic call to prayer — five times a day under a proposed ordinance unanimously approved March 29 by the City Council’s Public Health and Safety Committee. The resolution would […]

Fasting

Muslim inmate files lawsuit claiming Virginia prison won’t accommodate Ramadan observances Green Rock inmate seeks damages, injunction; action claims 20 others also denied

(Washington Times) A Muslim inmate at the Green Rock Correctional Center in Chatham, Virginia, is suing for what he claims is the prison’s denial of accommodations during Ramadan, a monthlong religious observance that calls for fasting from dawn to sunset. Alexander Crichlow […]

Government & Politics

CAIR-MN, religious leaders support noise ordinance change to allow Islamic call to prayer in Minneapolis Dozens showed up to testify to allow the Islamic call to prayer to be broadcast from loudspeakers for all five daily prayers.

(KARE) It was standing room only, as dozens of people packed inside Minneapolis City Council chambers. “I want to thank Councilmember Aisha Chughtai and the two other Muslim councilmembers,” said Jaylani Hussein, executive director of the Minnesota chapter of the Council on […]

Academics & Education

Hamline files motion to dismiss lawsuit from professor fired in Prophet Muhammad controversy University attorneys claim Erika López Prater has failed to state claims upon which relief can be granted.

(KARE) Hamline University is asking a federal judge to toss a lawsuit filed by the former adjunct professor who lost her job and was called “Islamophobic” by school officials after showing her art history class a painting of the Prophet Muhammad considered […]

Academics & Education

Lawsuit concerning Hamline adjunct professor, Prophet Muhammad controversy moved back to federal court Erika López Prater claimed religious discrimination, reprisal, and defamation after Hamline dismissed her amid student complaints about a painting shown in class.

(KARE) After already ping-ponging between state and federal court multiple times, the lawsuit filed by former Hamline University adjunct professor Erika López Prater was moved back to federal court last week. López Prater’s suit alleges religious discrimination, reprisal, and defamation after she […]

Academics & Education

She pushed back her student’s hijab. Was it a mistake or an act of hate? Evidence of antisemitism competed against allegations of Islamophobia as an online debate divided this suburban community along racial and religious lines

(Washington Post) Tamar Herman knew that a Muslim girl in her second-grade class always wore a hijab. But one day, Herman thought she saw a hoodie covering it. She asked the girl to remove it, she says. Then, depending whom you believe, […]

Clothing

California senator announces bill to protect religious practices of incarcerated individuals Backers of the bill say that allowing religious detainees and prisoners to wear religious garb does not constitute 'coddling' them.

(Religion News) Rami Nsour, an advocate for the incarcerated, has seen firsthand how difficult it can be for those being held in California’s jails and prisons to practice their faith. As his clients are transferred from one facility to another, he said, […]

Government & Politics

US Muslim rights group calls on Biden to suspend use of ‘terror’ watchlist No-fly list leak reveals more than one million entries, mostly comprised of Muslim and Arab names, according to rights group

(Middle East Eye) Following a massive leak of the US government’s no-fly list, a leading Muslim rights group is calling on the Biden administration to stop the use of the “terrorist” watchlist the government has been utilising for decades, saying that the […]

Demonstrations

Muslim-American group urges Swedish government to condemn Quran burning Prime minister’s statement does not clearly convey that government 'unequivocally rejects Islamophobia as a form of hate and bigotry,' says CAIR

(Anadolu) The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) called on the Swedish government Tuesday to condemn the recent burning of the Muslim holy book, the Quran, outside the Turkish Embassy in Stockholm. ”While CAIR does not hold the government of Sweden responsible for […]

Academics & Education

Hamline U. faculty call on President Miller to step down over Islamophobia controversy Hamline’s full-time faculty say the dismissal of an adjunct professor has harmed the university’s reputation.

(Pioneer Press) Hamline University’s full-time faculty on Tuesday asked President Fayneese Miller to resign over her administration’s handling of a Muslim student’s complaint about an adjunct professor who showed ancient art in class that depicted the Prophet Muhammad. Various Hamline administrators have […]