Muslim Women Gain Higher Profile in U.S.

Yet in their quest to break stereotypes, America’s Muslim women have advantages. They are better educated than counterparts in Western Europe, and also than the average American, according to a Gallup survey in March 2009. In contrast to their sisters in countries like Egypt and Saudi Arabia, they are just as likely as their menfolk to attend religious services, which equates to greater influence. And Gallup found that Muslim American women, often entrepreneurial, come closer than women of any other faith to earning what their menfolk do.

Read on: NYT

Why We Have Too Few Women Leaders

Muslimah Super Heroes

Words of support from a colleague:

"Many superheroes allow their capes to hang off their back, but I love how you have chosen to wrap yours around your head."

History Lesson: How Hip Hop Was Used to Dumb Down Youth

My Interview on Keith Olbermann's 'Countdown' w/Guest Host Chris Hayes

Rep. Peter King, Bigotry and Hypocrisy All-In-One

If "IRA" were replaced with "Hamas," the sort of fundraising King did would these days earn you a lengthy prison sentence for material support for terrorism.

Read More: Salon

The Republican who will head the House committee that oversees domestic security is planning to open a Congressional inquiry into what he calls “the radicalization” of the Muslim community when his party takes over the House next year.
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Representative Peter T. King of New York, who will become the chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, said he was responding to what he has described as frequent concerns raised by law enforcement officials that Muslim leaders have been uncooperative in terror investigations.

Read More: NYT

Too Many Mosques

Shut Up!

After 35 years of practicing law in the trenches of state and federal courts, I have narrowed my advice for all my clients down to one, simple, direct sentence: "Shut Up."

No kidding. Really. Just shut up.

Living in Florida, I have come to love deep-sea fishing. Enter my law office, and on my walls, above my desk, staring and glaring at my clients, is a stuffed, six-foot steel blue Marlin. Below the fish is a plaque that reads: "Behold the beautiful, majestic Marlin. He would not be here if he had not opened his mouth."

When you are a 7-year-old kid growing up, and your mom catches you with your hand in the cookie jar, you inevitably and sheepishly try to come with an excuse. Mom pushes and prods you to confess, and you do. She then hugs and kisses you, and you make up as she tells you everything is going to be all right.

It does not work that way with a cop when he pulls you over. The police are not your parents. The sheepish lie you first tell him becomes a prior inconsistent statement that is going to be used in a court of law against you. The cop does not hug you, kiss you, and make up. He searches you, arrests you, and locks you up. So what you should do is just shut up.

Do not bargain with cops, negotiate with cops, or promise deals you cannot deliver on. The promises they make on the street are not binding in the courts where prosecutors charge you. Deal with the reality that if you are caught with drugs you are now the prisoner of a drug war. In war, you are only required as a prisoner to give your name, rank, and dog tag number. Do not give consent to search your car, your person, or invite cops back to your home. Do a Nancy Reagan: just say no.

As my friend William Panzer says, an Oakland, California based criminal defense attorney, also on the NORML Board of Directors, "If everyone kept their mouth shut, half the people in jail would not be there. The cop's job is to put you in a cage and anything you say beyond identifying yourself helps them put you there." His advice too: "Shut up."

Read On: Counter Punch

Aspirational vs. Operational

Although many argue that this was simply entrapment, evidence does indicate that Mohamud became increasingly radicalised and voluntarily continued with the FBI's fake terror plot. Regardless, CAIR attorney Zahra Billo told me, "The FBI seek out troubled people – nobody is arguing that some of these individuals aren't deeply troubled – and then enable and facilitate their aspirations. It is the FBI's job to stop operational terrorists. It is not the FBI's job to enable aspirational terrorists."

Read On: Guardian Online

Tension grows between Calif. Muslims, FBI after informant infiltrates mosque

In the Irvine case, Monteilh's mission as an informant backfired. Muslims were so alarmed by his talk of violent jihad that they obtained a restraining order against him.

More: Washington Post

Local Muslim Leaders See Portland Terror Plot Arrest As Possible Entrapment

San Jose: Local Muslim leaders said Monday they were concerned the Portland terror plot arrest over the holiday weekend could be possible entrapment by the FBI.

Watch Video: Here

My Interview w/Laura Ingraham of the O'Reilly Factor

TSA Receives Backlash for Body Pat-Downs

Interracial Love

Nadeah: "With more intermarriage, the world becomes more tolerant."

Yousef: "There is tolerance, then acceptance, and then the final jump: making family together."

Read More: SF Gate

Imperialist Barbie: The Case Against Rimah Fakih

When I see Rimah’s smiling face being carried into the air Iremember Iraq; I remember coming to terms at such a young age with the idea of war. I revive the knots which built upon one another in the pit of my stomach as I sat listening to the screams and cries, the wailing and supplication – through the haze and noise of a television screen. I remember the ashen children being carried into the air by their tormented parents. I remember the anguish, the hurt and the harrowing shame.

Rimah Fakih is the product of our shame, that of the Arabs. This is what is being promoted as deliverance for our occupied and subjugated people. The idea of uniformity and acceptance is touted and accepted without reluctance – we fear the sting of the slave-masters whip to such a degree that we ignore, brazenly, the cries of our brethren for help.

Full Piece: Ikhras

Is the FBI Using GPS Devises to Spy on Muslims?

Open Letter to Friends and Foes

Dear Readers,

I'm sure you've all heard about the controversy surrounding the mosque in New York City. Everyone has an opinion, but what concerns me is the alarming increase in anti-Islam and anti-Muslim rhetoric in mainstream media as well as the hate motivated actions the rhetoric has spurred ranging from mosque protests to violent crimes. Though based in the Bay Area these days, I see these incidents happening across the country daily because of my work with the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR). For example this coming weekend there's a group in Florida planning to burn Qurans (the Muslim holy book), and their leader has been given numerous platforms from which to spew hate. Some Muslims are saying that the current environment is more frightening than it was immediately post-9/11. It distresses and frightens me to see this kind of hate increasing, and I realize that one of the reasons for this is that a lot of people really do not know much about Islam and Muslims.

This letter is to encourage you to ask me any questions you have about Islam or Muslims. Seriously, any questions. I will make every effort to ensure you walk with an educated answer versus an assumption based on a sound bite. AND I hope that when you hear someone say something hateful about Muslims, you will remember me. Remember that I am a down-to-Earth activist with no intentions to take over the world. I pray you will stand up for me and let that person know that you know someone who is a Muslim and that she defies the stereotypes and hate mongering.

Lastly, CAIR has put together some great PSAs to address the increasing Islamophobia featuring faith leaders and American Muslim 9/11 first responders (http://bit.ly/cfHEBm). If you haven't yet had a chance to view them, please do.

Best,
Zahra Billoo
mailto: zahra.billoo@gmail.com

There Is No 'Ground Zero Mosque'

"...because this is America damn it, and in America when somebody comes for your neighbor, or his Bible, or his Torah, or his athiest manifesto, or his Quran, you and I do what our fathers did and our grandmothers did and our founders did. You and I speak up."

Comedy Central's Ramadan Gift to American Muslims

John Stewart Takes on Ground Zero Mosque Critics [and the Entire Anti-Mosque Movement]

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Municipal Land-Use Hearing Update
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Tea Party

Boy, Five, Begs Soldiers Not To Take His Dad

Does "Islam Inspire Nazism"?

Awesome. Pamela Gellar is finally being called out on her blatant bigotry.