Crime

Woman admits to unwittingly funding effort to kidnap Iranian dissident Niloufar Bahadorifar was the conduit for money used to hire a private detective who shadowed the Iranian American journalist Masih Alinejad.

(NY Times) Four Iranians who plotted to kidnap a prominent Iranian American journalist in Brooklyn paid a private investigator to watch their target, using a woman in California as a go-between, the authorities said. That woman, Niloufar Bahadorifar, pleaded guilty in Manhattan […]

Law Enforcement

North York man arrested on U.S. charges of using bitcoin, GoFundMe to raise money for ISIS Khalilullah Yousuf, 34, allegedly raised and transferred money to a 'facilitator' for the Islamic State and was arrested by Canadian police Wednesday.

(Toronto Star) Using aliases and social-media fronts, Khalilullah Yousuf was allegedly the driving force behind fundraising efforts to help the desperate and downtrodden Palestinians of the Gaza Strip. But FBI investigators allege the 34-year-old North York man, who was arrested Wednesday, used […]

Arts & Entertainment

Bill Maher roasts ‘insane’ liberals for not calling out Islamic extremism The HBO host blasted 'the people who are purporting to uphold liberalism' for staying quiet on the issue

(Fox) Bill Maher used his “Club Random” podcast on Monday to slam those who will not defend free speech, hammering fellow liberals as “insane” and “backwards” for failing to call out Islamic extremism. Maher had evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins as a guest, […]

Banks & Banking

US lawmakers demand banking regulators address discrimination against Muslims Congressman Ilhan Omar and Senator Elizabeth Warren urge Treasury to adopt corrective measures to promote equal access to banking institutions

(Middle East Eye) US Congresswoman Ilhan Omar and Senator Elizabeth Warren are leading an effort to urge American banking regulators to reassess policies that discriminate against Muslim Americans and immigrant communities. The two lawmakers, along with Senator Ed Markey and Congresswomen Rashida […]

Discrimination & “Islamophobia”

Ron DeSantis: Republican rising star alarms Muslim, Palestinian communities As the Florida governor positions himself for a possible presidential bid, activists and organisers say DeSantis reminds them of bigoted rhetoric birthed in US-led 'war on terror'

(Middle East Eye) In 2006, then-Navy officer Ron DeSantis was an appointed attorney supporting the US military’s mission at Guantanamo Bay. Not much is officially known about his months-long stint at the prison, which at its peak held nearly 800 Muslim men […]

Government & Politics

‘Just a matter of time’ before a terrorist gets through border and kills Americans, Lindsey Graham warns Senator tells Harris Faulkner the Biden admin has 'surrendered the border'

(Fox) Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., warned Friday that “it’s just a matter of time” before a terrorist comes into the United States through the southern border and kills Americans. Graham joined “Faulkner Focus” to discuss the national security risk facing Americans and […]

Clerics & Preachers

Preacher accused of being ISIS marriage broker faces trial in New York Prosecutors say that Abdullah el-Faisal, who served time in Britain for inciting racial hatred, tried to find recruits for the Middle East extremist group.

(NY Times) In late 2016, Abdullah el-Faisal, a Jamaican preacher who was an outspoken supporter of the Islamic State, began communicating on WhatsApp with a woman in New York who claimed to be an aspiring jihadist with medical training. He offered to […]

Legal

Holy Land Five: Rights groups, families demand release over ‘miscarriage of justice’ Advocacy groups launch awareness campaign marking 14 years since the conviction of the Holy Land Five

(Middle East Eye) A coalition of advocacy groups have called for the release of the Holy Land Five, a group of Palestinian-American men who were convicted of funding terrorism in a case civil liberties groups say highlights the disproportionate targeting of Muslim charities […]

Clerics & Preachers

US Muslim delegation to visit Abraham Accord countries Israel and Bahrain Talib Shareef, a prominent imam from Washington, D.C., will speak about the role of religious leaders in promoting peace.

(JNS) A delegation of American Muslim community leaders plans to visit two of the Abraham Accords countries, Bahrain and Israel. Sharaka — a Middle East-based NGO that promotes people-to-people peace and engagement — and the American Muslim and Multifaith Women’s Empowerment Council […]

Internet

Former DePaul University student gets 7.5 years for trying to help Islamic State with computer program Thomas Osadzinski’s prosecution was believed to be the first of its kind when it began three years ago — a terrorism case brought against a U.S.-based defendant involving computer code.

(Chicago Sun-Times) An unusual terrorism case in Chicago came to a close Thursday when a federal judge handed a seven-and-a-half-year prison sentence to a former DePaul University student who tried to aid the Islamic State with a computer script. Before he was […]

Academics & Education

Why more Muslim Americans are choosing to send their children to Islamic schools Many Muslim parents are opting to send their children to Islamic schools because they feel secular schooling is heading in the wrong direction

(Middle East Eye) Abdullah Khan attended public school his entire life. The truth is, his parents had wanted to send their kids to a private Islamic school, but they just couldn’t afford it — and Abdullah believes he suffered because of it. […]

Government & Politics

US Muslim organisations see bright future for community’s candidates Though there are no new Muslim faces in public office at the national level from the latest US midterms, organisers from Muslim groups expect that to change in the next decade.

(New Arab) Looking at the long-term prospects of political leaders in their community, organisers with Muslim groups see a bright future for Muslim candidates. While this year’s midterms didn’t see the slew of wins for Muslims that the previous two elections did, […]

Government & Politics

Muslim Americans make historic gains in 2022 midterm elections 'When Muslims run for office today, in 2022 and beyond, ... it's rewarded by voters,' said Mohammed Missouri, executive director of Jetpac, a nonprofit that works to increase Muslim representation in US government and politics.

(Religion News) Nabeela Syed made history in this year’s midterms when she defeated a Republican incumbent in Illinois’ 51st District, making her the youngest member of the Illinois General Assembly and among the first Muslims elected to the state Legislature. “It is […]