Government & Politics

Muslims win office in US municipal elections in 2021 Three years after the first Muslim women were elected to Congress, successful campaigns in Michigan, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey and Pennsylvania put Muslims in key local offices.

(Religion News) In Dearborn, Michigan, where the mayor once promised to do something about the city’s “Arab problem,” Abdullah Hammoud, a Lebanese American Muslim, was elected this month to fill that post. In New York, Bangladeshi American Shahana Hanif became the first […]

Demonstrations

‘War on terror’: US protesters urge release for Pakistani woman Aafia Siddiqui Protesters call for the release of the Pakistani neurosurgeon serving 86 years in prison for the attempted murder of US officials

(Middle East Eye) Dozens of protesters stood outside Pakistan’s consulate in New York City on Wednesday, calling for the release of Aafia Siddiqui, a Pakistani woman who is currently serving 86 years in prison in what civil liberties groups and activists say was […]

Government & Politics

Biden expected to visit NYC’s 9/11 memorial site for 20th anniversary of attacks The president will mark two decades since that grim day and the full drawdown of troops in Afghanistan.

(Politico) President Joe Biden is expected to attend the 9/11 memorial in New York City to mark the 20th anniversary of the terrorist attacks, four sources with knowledge of his plans told POLITICO. The White House recently indicated to officials in New […]

Law Enforcement

Lebanese sleeper agent loses challenge to 40-year sentence The Second Circuit on Tuesday upheld the terrorism conviction of man who claimed FBI agents had tricked him into incriminating himself while proffering evidence as a cooperator.

(Courthouse News) A Hezbollah-trained sleeper agent who scouted New York City buildings for possible targets of terrorism failed to secure a reversal of his 40-year prison sentence Tuesday. At oral arguments back in April, attorneys for Lebanon-born Ali Kourani [said he] only […]

Law Enforcement

Hezbollah sleeper agent looks to beat 40-year sentence Ali Kourani said the FBI tricked him into incriminating himself, landing him a sentence nearly three times longer than those handed down for more serious terrorism charges.

(Courthouse News) A Lebanese man who told the FBI he planned to become a suicide bomber for the terrorist group Hezbollah fought to overturn his 40-year sentence at the Second Circuit on Tuesday, saying agents led him to believe the information he […]

Government & Politics

Muslim candidate for Manhattan DA runs to give victims of system a ‘seat at the table’ ‘Tahanie is New York personified,’ said Aboushi’s friend Linda Sarsour. ‘She is kind, humble, but also unbought and unbossed.’

(Religion News) Tahanie Aboushi describes herself as “35, going on 50.” But friends disagree, calling her “bold” and “hilarious.” To survive the next four months, the civil rights attorney likely will need answer both those descriptions, and then some: Aboushi is one […]