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 […]

Demographics

Advocacy group seeks Middle Eastern, North African category included in Census, other federal forms Advocates believe adding a MENA category will make a difference in schools, health care and more accurate data collection.

(WDET) The National Network for Arab American Communities (NNAAC) is working to get the Middle Eastern and North African designation added to the federal Office of Management and Budget. NNAAC is an advocacy arm of Arab Community Center for Economic and Social […]

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 […]

Government & Politics

Tlaib bodied by Twitter over ‘lies’ that teenage brawl was Israeli soldiers attacking Palestinians Michigan Democrat once again under fire for comments about Israel

(Fox) Far-left Michigan Rep. Rashida Tlaib, a progressive “Squad” Democrat, got bodied by Twitter for her “lies” that a brawl between Palestinian teenagers in Jerusalem was actually the “violent apartheid government of Israel” targeting Palestinians with the military. Tlaib, one of the […]

Government & Politics

North Texas state representative votes against celebration of Ramadan on House floor State Rep. Tony Tinderholt, a Republican whose district covers Arlington and other parts of Tarrant County, issued a statement on his vote.

(WFAA) A North Texas Republican state representative has said he voted against a resolution that was made in celebration of the holy month of Ramadan on the House floor as the legislative session continues. State Rep. Tony Tinderholt, whose district covers Arlington […]

Discrimination & “Islamophobia”

On the first day of Ramadan, Ilhan Omar introduces bill to condemn anti-Muslim hate The bill, first seen by HuffPost, honored the 51 Muslims killed in the terrorist attack in Christchurch, New Zealand.

(HuffPost) Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) is introducing a resolution on Thursday commemorating the anniversary of the terrorist attack in Christchurch, New Zealand, where 51 Muslims were killed in 2019, and condemning the rise of Islamophobia around the world. The bill, first seen […]

Discrimination & “Islamophobia”

US secretary of state marks International Day to Combat Islamophobia Muslims worldwide too often face discrimination, hatred based on their religious beliefs, says Antony Blinken

(Anadolu) US Secretary of State Antony Blinken marked the first International Day to Combat Islamophobia on Wednesday, saying each person has the freedom to manifest their beliefs. “Every person, everywhere has the right to freedom of thought, conscience, religion, and belief, including […]

Academics & Education

Va. board member brags about using taxpayers’ $3B for ‘Muslim power,’ pushing Palestinian agenda in schools Fairfax County school board member, Abrar Omeish, previously refused to vote on a motion that would commemorate Sept. 11 victims

(Fox) A controversial Fairfax, Virginia, school board member, Abrar Omeish, who previously refused to vote on a motion that would commemorate Sept. 11 victims, shared plans to use $3 billion available in the district’s budget for a Palestinian agenda before she was […]

Legal

NYC bike path attacker spared death penalty in rare trial The same jurors who convicted Sayfullo Saipov of eight murder counts eligible for the death penalty needed to agree on the penalty unanimously for him to face capital punishment.

(Courthouse News) The Uzbek immigrant who carried out a truck attack on a lower Manhattan bike path in 2017, killing eight, will spend the rest of his life in a U.S. federal prison after a federal jury was divided on whether he […]

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

McKinsey says it canceled sponsorship of Arab Conference at Harvard The consulting giant was a major corporate sponsor of the weekend gathering before learning of the antisemitic views of one of the speakers

(Jewish Insider) The consulting giant McKinsey & Company announced on Monday that it “stepped away” from last weekend’s Arab Conference at Harvard after learning of antisemitic views of one of its speakers. The firm’s statement followed a Jewish Insider report from the […]

Academics & Education

Controversial school board member endorsed curriculum that removes ‘Islamic terror’ from 9/11 history lessons School board member Abrar Omeish has previously been accused of 'cruel' and 'callous' rhetoric relating to 9/11

(Fox) A Fairfax, Virginia, school board member recommended curriculum materials for teachers to use for their lesson plans which opposed using terms such as “radical Islamic terror,” “Islamic terrorists” and “jihadists” when discussing the history of the Sept. 11 attacks. Abrar Omeish […]

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, […]

Legal

Family of truck terrorist testify in his defense at NYC death penalty trial The penalty phase of a trial underway since January hurtled toward its end with emotional testimony from the mother and the youngest sister of the Uzbek man convicted of a deadly 2017 truck attack in Manhattan.

(Courthouse News) Two family members of Sayfullo Saipov spoke in his defense Wednesday, giving jurors a tearful composite of the man they knew before he became radicalized by the Islamic State group and went on to kill eight people as they spent […]