Government & Politics

Dems mobilize to defend Omar in face of GOP defections McCarthy plans to hold a House vote to remove her from the Foreign Affairs panel, but it’s unclear that he’ll have enough support in his conference.

(Politico) House Republicans are already facing defections over a leadership push to oust Rep. Ilhan Omar from her committees. Democrats plan to make the vote even more painful. The Minnesota Democrat and her caucus allies have begun to mount a robust defense […]

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 […]

Immigration

Border Patrol nabbed 17 people on FBI terror watch list at southern border in December Customs and Border Protection's latest numbers mean that [there] have been 38 terror watch list encounters on the border since October

(Fox) Border Patrol agents stopped 17 people on the FBI’s terror watch list at the southern border in December, bringing the total of individuals arrested at the southern border to 38 already for the current fiscal year. Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP) […]

Academics & Education

CAIR says Hamline University teacher is not Islamophobic The statement comes after CAIR's Minnesota chapter said the classroom viewing of a painting of the Prophet Muhammad was bigoted and disrespectful.

(Religion News) The Council on American-Islamic Relations issued a statement Friday (Jan. 13), saying an art history instructor at Hamline University did not act with bigoted intent when she showed a 14th-century painting of the Prophet Muhammad in a class last semester. […]

Government & Politics

Ilhan Omar to be booted from House Foreign Affairs Committee, Kevin McCarthy says House Speaker Kevin McCarthy repeats promise to remove congresswoman with history of antisemitic comments from influential committee.

(JNS) House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) on Tuesday repeated his promise to block vocal critic of Israel Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) from the House Foreign Affairs Committee. In an interview with Punchbowl News, McCarthy said that he would also prevent Reps. Adam […]

Academics & Education

New House Homeland Security Committee chair has history of anti-Muslim comments During a 2016 tea party meeting, Mark Green told an audience that he didn’t want public school students in Tennessee to learn about the Islamic faith.

(HuffPost) Rep. Mark Green (R-Tenn.) is set to lead the House Committee on Homeland Security, which Muslim civil rights groups say is alarming because he has a history of making Islamophobic remarks. Green — a physician, Iraq War veteran and former GOP […]

News: North America

‘ISIS Beatle’ Alexanda Kotey disappears from US prison system records Less than a year after being handed a life sentence, 'ISIS Beatle' Alexanda Kotey has disappeared from federal prison records

(Fox) The notorious terrorist and member of the ISIS cell dubbed “The Beatles,” who was serving a life sentence for the kidnap, torture and murder of western journalists and aid workers in Syria, has disappeared from the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP), […]

Academics & Education

‘Only one solution: Intifada’: Pro-Palestinian activists protest Kamala Harris at University of Michigan

(Algemeiner) Pro-Palestinian student protestors at University of Michigan accused Vice President Kamala Harris of “genocide” for supporting Israel on Thursday. “Kamala, Kamala, you can’t hide, you’re committing genocide,” the students, members of the pro-Palestinian campus group Students Allied for Freedom and Equality […]

Interfaith

911 recordings reveal terror during tense hostage situation at Colleyville synagogue WFAA obtained 911 recordings and bodycam footage from Colleyville PD, days before the one-year mark since the hostage situation at Congregation Beth Israel.

(WFAA) The 911 calls poured in on the morning of Jan. 15, 2022. A British citizen who traveled to the U.S. and across the country entered Congregation Beth Israel in Colleyville while a Sabbath service was being livestreamed. Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker, the […]

Academics & Education

CAIR MN backs student who says she was hurt by instructor showing image of Muhammad At a press conference held by the Minneapolis chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, the student said she was shocked and pained by an art history instructor.

(Religion News) Hamline University senior Aram Wedatalla held back tears as she described how hurt she felt when her art history instructor informed the class she would briefly show a painting of the Prophet Muhammad last semester. Speaking at a news conference held […]

Legal

Suspect in bike path killing faces first death penalty trial under Biden Though President Biden campaigned against capital punishment, Attorney General Merrick Garland is charting his own course in pursuing the death penalty in the trial of Sayfullo Saipov.

(NY Times) On Halloween 2017, Sayfullo Saipov plowed a rented pickup truck down Manhattan’s crowded West Side bicycle path, smashing into pedestrians and cyclists, killing eight people and injuring more than a dozen, the authorities said. Soon after Mr. Saipov was charged, […]

Academics & Education

Academic freedom vs. rights of Muslim students An instructor at Hamline U showed an image of Muhammad in an art history class. The president criticized the instructor for doing so. Another professor, who tried to explain the situation with an essay in the student paper, had his piece removed.

(Inside Higher Ed) This fall, an instructor at Hamline University, in Minnesota, was teaching global art history. For one class, the instructor (who has not been named) was discussing Islamic art and included for a brief period (under 10 minutes) a screen […]

Government & Politics

Biden renominates board member at anti-Israel group to Small Business Administration Senate Republicans blocked Dilawar Syed's nomination in 2021 over affiliation with anti-Israel group Emgage

(Free Beacon) The Biden administration will renominate a board member at an anti-Israel group to help lead the Small Business Administration, one year after the nominee was blocked by Republicans, according to the Wall Street Journal. Dilawar Syed served on the board […]

Discrimination & “Islamophobia”

Favourable view of Muslims in the US ticks up, even as Islamophobic incidents rise Number of Americans holding Islamophobic and antisemitic views has flatlined, and may actually be shrinking, even as hate crimes increase

(Middle East Eye) The number of US residents holding Islamophobic and antisemitic views has flatlined, and may actually be shrinking, even as hate crimes increase, according to a 2022 poll conducted by Brookings Institute. Favourable views of Muslims in the US have […]

Academics & Education

An academic is fired over a medieval painting of the Prophet Muhammad The dismissal of an instructor at Hamline University on baseless charges of 'Islamophobia' raises concerns about freedom on campus

(New Lines) On Nov. 18, Hamline University’s student newspaper, the Oracle, published an article notifying its community members of two recent incidents on its campus in Saint Paul, Minnesota, one indubitably homophobic and the other supposedly Islamophobic. Both occurrences were placed under […]