Muslim Athletes face discrimination

MUSLIM ATHLETES ACCUSE FOOTBALL COACH OF RELIGIOUS DISCRIMINATION - TOP Associated Press, 8/29/06
http://www.kgw.com/sharedcontent/APStories/stories/D8JPOOIG0.html
Three former New Mexico State University football players - all Muslims - on Monday sued the university and coach Hal Mumme, alleging they were dismissed from the team because of their religious beliefs.The federal lawsuit was filed by the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of Mu'Ammar Ali and brothers Anthony and Vincent Thompson. The lawsuit alleges religious discrimination and violations of the athletes' right to freely exercise their religion.The suit claims that Mumme, who was hired by New Mexico State in January 2005, instituted a "religious brotherhood" within the football team and singled out Muslim athletes on the team."Universities are supposed to be places of evolved thinking and reason, not of base intolerance and bigotry" said Peter Simonson, executive director of ACLU New Mexico. "They are supposed to rise above the knee-jerk prejudices that sometimes afflict our society. In this case, the university failed its purpose and a coach indulged in those prejudices to assert his own religious preferences over the players and the team."Bruce Kite, the school's general counsel, said he had not seen the lawsuit."I really don't know what the allegations are. To say anything at this point and time would not be appropriate," Kite told The Associated Press.Besides Mumme, the lawsuit also names the NMSU board of regents and William V. Flores, the school's vice president and provost.The lawsuit said Mumme had players recite the Lord's Prayer after each practice and before each game. Ali and the Thompsons said that practice made them feel like outcasts and caused them to pray separately from the other players.According to the lawsuit, not long after Mumme learned that Ali and the Thompsons were Muslim, he prohibited the Thompsons from attending the team's spring 2005 training camp and questioned Ali about his attitudes toward al-Qaida.The lawsuit says the Thompsons were dismissed from the team on Sept. 2, 2005, allegedly because they moved their belongings to an unapproved locker and were labeled "troublemakers."

MUSLIM LEADERS REACT TO EL CAJON MOSQUE FIRE - TOP (SAN DIEGO, CA, 8/17/06) - On Thursday, August 17, the San Diego chapter of the Council on American Relations (CAIR-San Diego), along with local Muslim leaders, will hold a press conference in reaction to a mosque fire damaged the Kurdish Community Islamic Center in El Cajon early this morning.SEE: El Cajon Mosque Destroyed By FireSEE ALSO: Fire Rips Through Islamic Center Near San Diego (Press-Enterprise)WHAT: CAIR San Diego and Muslim Leaders will hold a press conference about Mosque fire.WHEN: Thursday, August 17, NoonWHERE: Kurdish Community Islamic Center, 511 South Magnolia Avenue, El Cajon, CACONTACT: Edgar Hopida, Director of Public Relations of CAIR San Diego, 619-913-0719, email: ehopida@cair.comCAIR, America's largest Muslim civil liberties group, has 32 offices, chapters and affiliates nationwide and in Canada. Its mission is to enhance the understanding of Islam, encourage dialogue, protect civil liberties, empower American Muslims, and build coalitions that promote justice and mutual understanding.

Christians Vandalize Masjid

VANDALS HIT MOSQUE - TOP Five windows broken at unfinished buildingDianna Cahn, Times Herald-Record, 8/18/06
http://www.recordonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060818/NEWS/608180329
For two years, Dr. Quazi al-Tariq reported on the proud but slow progress in building the Middletown Islamic Center and the fantastic support it gets from the community - Muslims and non-Muslims alike.Yesterday, al-Tariq stood, crying, on the balcony of the unfinished, two-story prayer hall filled with light and the smell of raw lumber.Five of the mosque's windows were broken overnight, apparently with rocks.Glass was shattered. So was something in the heart of this project that has always made up in spirit what it has lacked in steady finances."We are so peaceful. We have nothing to do with politics," al-Tariq said. "It never occurred to me that in this area, where we know everybody, something like this would happen."Sometime overnight, vandals struck the site on Ryerson Road that bears a sign, "Islamic Center."They broke five double-paned windows causing what al-Tariq estimated was close to $6,000 in damage. Rocks that missed their target tore holes in new stucco. (MORE)

VANDALISM SPURS CALL FOR UNITY -
TOP Bethania Palma, San Gabriel Valley Tribune, 8/19/06
http://www.sgvtribune.com/news/ci_4207793
LA MIRADA - Jewish, Christian and Muslim religious leaders called for unity and tolerance Friday at a mosque hit twice this week by vandalism."If you don't have unity, there is nothing," Rabbi Lawrence Goldmark of Temple Beth Ohr in La Mirada said at a news conference at the Muslim Community Services Inc. mosque in La Mirada. The conference was called by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR). (MORE)---

DECISION ON ATTEMPTED ASSAULT BY PRO-ISRAELI DRIVER PENDING - TOP Aatif Ali Bokhari, Arab American News, 8/18/06
http://www.arabamericannews.com/newsarticle.php?articleid=6116

DETROIT - Arab Americans who were almost run over by a pro-Israeli driver last month are complaining that their case has been dragged out by the Southfield Police and Oakland County Prosecutors' office, perhaps under pressure from the pro-Israeli lobby. . .

Mosque Ransacked by Christian Vandals

SCHAUMBURG MOSQUE ROBBED OVERNIGHT - TOP
http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?sectionfiltered=local&id=4477420
A mosque in Schaumburg was robbed overnight.Leaders at the Midwest Islamic Center arrived for prayer services Saturday morning to find broken glass and the door smashed in.Police say thieves broke in using a blunt object. Witnesses say it was a sledge hammer and crowbar. Money was stolen from desks and the collection box, but there's no word on how much was taken.Police are investigating. This is the second break-in at the mosque since June. (MORE)SEE ALSO:
MOSQUE RANSACKED, ROBBED - TOP
http://www.dailyherald.com/story.asp?id=218404-----

Christo-Facist Sentenced

ILLINOIS MAN WHO WRECKED MUSLIM FAMILY'S VAN GOING BACK TO JAIL - TOP Mike Robinson, Associated Press, 8/22/06http://www.belleville.com/mld/belleville/news/state/15335073.htmA man who went to jail for six months for setting off an explosive device that wrecked a van belonging to a Palestinian American family was sentenced in federal court Tuesday to an additional 15 months in prison."It is an unusually serious offense," U.S. District Judge Matthew F. Kennelly said in sending Eric K. Nix to federal prison for igniting the commercial aerial shell that ripped a hole in the floorboard, bent one of the steel doors outward and effectively made the vehicle a total wreck.So powerful was the blast - equivalent to at least half a stick of dynamite - that the van's owner, Abbas Salmi, 30, a computer technician, and his family in their nearby house at the time felt the walls shake.Prosecutors said the 30-year-old Nix felt enormous hatred for Arab Americans after they started moving into south suburban Burbank where he lives and it was intensified after his van was towed and Salmi's was not.Nix pleaded guilty in Circuit Court to arson and a hate crime as a result of the March 2003 bombing and was sentenced to six months in jail."It seemed like an eternity," Nix said. "It was a very, very harsh experience." He said he was sorry for wrecking the Salmi family's van.Kennelly said Nix appeared to have learned his lesson while in jail serving time for the state offenses. He received treatment to end his habit of smoking marijuana as well as training in anger management.But Kennelly said the sentence had to be stiff enough to deter others."We have an incredibly diverse society," Kennelly said. "We also have an unfortunate history of racial and ethnic intimidation." . . .With the nation at war in Iraq and the war on terrorism at home and abroad, the federal government plainly wanted to demonstrate that it would not tolerate acts of bigotry aimed at Arab Americans. It asked Kennelly to sentence Nix to as much as 87 months in prison but the judge refused. (MORE)

Mosque Arson

TWO MEN SOUGHT AFTER FIRE AT MINNEAPOLIS MOSQUE - TOP Terry Collins,
Star Tribune,
8/26/06
Two Christian men are being sought in connection with an arson fire at a south Minneapolis mosque early Thursday that a City Council member labeled a hate crime.The blaze at the Abuubakar As- Sadique Islamic Center also has caught the attention of the FBI and two Islamic civil-rights groups, which are calling for the federal agency's assistance."There's no doubt this was clearly a hate crime," Council Member Gary Schiff, whose ward includes the mosque, said Friday outside the center. "It was a very deliberate offense."Minneapolis police Sgt. Sean McKenna said the fire at 2834 13th Av. S. apparently started about 5:30 a.m. More than two hours earlier, police think, someone pried open a bathroom window.McKenna said burglary or a bias crime could be motives.The fire damaged dozens of religious books, including copies of the Qur'an. . .This is the third reported arson fire at a mosque in the Twin Cities area in the past seven years, said Ibrahim Hooper, a spokesman with the Council of American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), an advocacy group from Washington.He said that a fire damaged a storage shed at a mosque in Columbia Heights in 2004 and that arsonists destroyed the Islamic Cultural Community Center in northeast Minneapolis in 1999.In a statement Friday, Hooper urged authorities in this latest case to find the "perpetrators and determine whether or not this incident was motivated by anti-Muslim bias." (MORE)

Muslims recieve Hate mail

CAIR-CA RECEIVED VENOMOUS E-MAILS ATTACKING MUSLIMS - TOP Valley's Muslims fear terror backlashArrest of Pakistanis in Britain leads to concerns about scrutinyK. Oanh Ha, Mercury News, 8/18/06
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/local/15303605.htm?source=rss Silicon Valley's close-knit Muslim community fears a backlash in the wake of the arrests of British Pakistani suspects accused of hatching a plot to blow up U.S.-bound airlines.Muslims worry that the Islamic background of the terror suspects might increase scrutiny of the community and direct anger their way. The thwarted plot, the latest in a string of terror incidents linked to Pakistan within the past few years, has also prompted angst and soul-searching among some local Pakistani-Americans."Muslims are bracing themselves for a backlash right now," said Sameena Usman, spokeswoman for the Bay Area chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations. "When I'm out driving, my husband tells me to be careful because I might be a target."Usman and other Muslims are taking personal precautions. Like many other Muslim women she knows, Usman pays special attention to how she dresses. "I don't wear all black. It makes you look very dark and strange," she said. "Every single time I leave the house, I make sure I look appropriate, so that people don't perceive me as a foreigner."The fears aren't unfounded. CAIR's Santa Clara office has received venomous e-mails attacking Muslims since the bomb plot was foiled late last week. A mosque in Southern California was vandalized for the second time this week. Recently, a local community leader and his wife, an Islamic school principal, were stopped at San Francisco International Airport after returning from Egypt, according to CAIR. The couple were questioned about money they had withdrawn for their son's wedding.CAIR advised local mosques to cooperate with law enforcement authorities to increase security. Leaders at the Muslim Community Association mosque in Santa Clara this week asked police to increase patrols of the neighborhood. (MORE)---

Christian Vandals hit Mosque

VANDALS HIT MOSQUE - TOP Five windows broken at unfinished buildingDianna Cahn, Times Herald-Record, 8/18/06
http://www.recordonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060818/NEWS/608180329
For two years, Dr. Quazi al-Tariq reported on the proud but slow progress in building the Middletown Islamic Center and the fantastic support it gets from the community - Muslims and non-Muslims alike.Yesterday, al-Tariq stood, crying, on the balcony of the unfinished, two-story prayer hall filled with light and the smell of raw lumber.Five of the mosque's windows were broken overnight, apparently with rocks.Glass was shattered. So was something in the heart of this project that has always made up in spirit what it has lacked in steady finances."We are so peaceful. We have nothing to do with politics," al-Tariq said. "It never occurred to me that in this area, where we know everybody, something like this would happen."Sometime overnight, vandals struck the site on Ryerson Road that bears a sign, "Islamic Center."They broke five double-paned windows causing what al-Tariq estimated was close to $6,000 in damage. Rocks that missed their target tore holes in new stucco. (MORE)

Bush Stooge gives interview to Christo-faciest Hate site

JOHN BOLTON GRANTS INTERVIEW TO ANTI-ISLAM HATE SITE - TOP Thomas Brock, Brock Log, 8/14/06
http://brocknet.net/WordPress/?p=909
Just a day after his failing negotiations over Lebanon were rescued by Condi Rice at the U.N., John Bolton granted an interview. It wasn't an interview with the New York Times - as Steve has pointed out here before, Bolton doesn't speak to Warren Hoge at NYT because of ideological differences and perceived media bias.Apparently, he will grant an exclusive 41-minute interview to someone who calls who believes Islam is a "religious rationale for Arab imperialism."Bolton granted the interview on Sunday with Pamela of Atlas Shrugs, a nearly-all-issue right-wing blog. During the interview, Pamela called Kofi Annan a "jihadi tool" and said that someone needed to slap Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Seniora. Bolton, for his part, allowed this rhetoric to stand, even sheepishly reaffirming some of it along the way. . .Pamela's remarks during the interview were inflammatory and outrageous - on par with, say, a Bill O'Reilly. But a quick look around Atlas Shrugs makes the O'Reilly Factor look like Sesame Street.AS has some pretty crazy policy prescriptions, like an immediate U.S. attack on Iran, but that alone doesn't make Bolton's interview condemnable. The problem is, AS is an anti-Islam hate blog

Miranda Mosque vandalized

LA MIRADA MOSQUE IS VANDALIZED - TOP Police say property damage not a hate crime.Bethania Palma, Press-Telegram
http://www.presstelegram.com/news/ci_4181937
When the Muslim Community Services Inc. mosque on the 15000 block of Imperial Highway was attacked by vandals Thursday night, mosque president Rezuar Rahman wasn't too worried.But when he arrived Monday morning and discovered the mosque had been struck a second time, he began to feel uneasy."This morning, when we went there, everyone felt like someone is trying to scare us out of this place," he said.Rahman pointed out two windows and a glass door that were destroyed. All three had Muslim symbols, such as a crescent and minaret, as well as the mosque's logo.The windows were shattered by BB gun pellets on Thursday night; the glass door was destroyed, also by BB pellets, early Monday morning.Rahman believes whoever shot out the windows and door intentionally targeted the mosque.Sheriff's officials, however, think the attacks were random - part of a spate of BB gun shootings that, besides the mosque, have targeted about seven vehicle and business windows since last Thursday. . .Laura Eimiller, spokeswoman for the Los Angeles branch of the FBI, said that the bureau is staying abreast of the sheriff's investigation."Once individual suspects are determined, we will follow up to determine whether or not the mosque was targeted and whether hate factored into the attack," she said. "Any time a house of worship is attacked, it's going to raise our concern."Munira Syeda, communications coordinator for the Council on American-Islamic Relations' Southern California chapter, said that the La Mirada mosque has been hit by bigotry in the past."That mosque has a history - they've received hate messages in the past," she said, adding that CAIR plans to contact the FBI to urge them to investigate the incidents as hate crimes."The Muslim American community is extremely scared of a possible backlash," she said. "Their sense of security has been lost and it will take time to get it back.

Speciall clothes for Muslims?

NEWS GUEST CLAIMS 'IT'S TIME TO HAVE A MUSLIMS CHECK-POINT LINE IN AMERICAN AIRPORTS' - TOPThink Progess, 8/16/06
http://thinkprogress.org/2006/08/16/muslim-checkpoint/
Yesterday on Fox News' Dayside, panelists Michael Gross, a constitutional law attorney, and conservative radio host Mike Gallagher debated whether profiling is the answer to fighting terror. As Newshounds first noted, Gallagher argued, "It's time to have a Muslims check point line in American airports and have Muslims be scrutinized. You better believe it." Gallagher's suggestion was met with tepid applause from the audience. Watch it. . .Shortly after 9/11, President Bush visited an Islamic Center in Washington, D.C. and sent the following message to the American public:America counts millions of Muslims amongst our citizens, and Muslims make an incredibly valuable contribution to our country. … And they need to be treated with respect. In our anger and emotion, our fellow Americans must treat each other with respect.Bush would do well to remind some members of his conservative base of this message.FULL TRANSCRIPT:GROSS: Don't discriminate based upon race, creed, color, country of national origin.GALLAGHER: Let's have a Muslim-only line.GROSS: What uniform you are wearing. What we want to do is look at behavior. We want to stop people who behave wrongly.JERRICK: Michael, I think you missed a Mike Gallagher line there. What did you just say about different lines?GALLAGHER: It's time to have a Muslims check-point line in American airports and have Muslims be scrutinized. You better believe it. It's time.GROSS: Of course, your prejudice, which means to prejudge when you say Muslims or any people of any faith should be treated unequally because of their faith. You are absolutely wrong. Most Arabs are not Muslims. Most Muslims are not Arabs. You don't have your facts straight. And Mr. Gallagher, how would you feel if we had a line for the Irish which English people were doing during the I.R.A. problems. (MORE)

Muslims being bullied

MUSLIMS IN AREA FEELING BULLIED - TOPDeborah Ziff, Tampa Tribune, 8/16/06
http://news.tbo.com/news/metro/MGBOCCH6XQE.html
The taunts exploded in Dhuha Hannah's ears."Drop the bomb!" "Drop the bomb!" Hannah remembers two men yelling at her, as they cruised past her in a pickup while she was waiting to pick up her 15-year-old granddaughter at King High School on Friday afternoon.She was wearing her hijab, or headscarf, when the men put a screaming police siren on top of the truck and began hurling hateful comments, Hannah said."For someone to imply, because I'm wearing a hijab, that I'm toting a bomb," Hannah trailed off. "It's ludicrous."The New York-born woman said she lowered her eyes, not wanting to provoke reaction. But she wished she would have taken note of the license plate number.It was the first time anyone made such comments in 17 years of living in Tampa, she said.According to anecdotal information, there has been an escalation of such incidents in the past weeks against area Muslims, said Ahmed Bedier, director of the local chapter of the Council on American Islamic Relations, though none has risen to the level of hate crimes.

THE CHRISTIAN RIGHT TRIES TO MUSCLE A POMPANO BEACH ISLAMIC CONGREGATION

THE CHRISTIAN RIGHT TRIES TO MUSCLE A POMPANO BEACH ISLAMIC CONGREGATION - TOPSam Eifling, New Times, 8/17/06
http://www.newtimesbpb.com/Issues/2006-08-17/news/feature.html
On a recent Tuesday, the air around Pompano Beach City Hall smelled of evaporated rain. It was the calm after one storm and before another. By 6 o'clock, people had begun to pool under an eave at the west side of the building, news crews were unspooling cables from their vans, and Altaf Ali, a diminutive, bearded man dressed nattily in a gray suit, answered questions under the tall portico at the north entrance. All awaited the arrival of the Rev. O'Neal Dozier, a politically connected firebrand who, days earlier, in terms more graphic than even the Miami Herald cared to repeat, had declared that Muslims such as Ali were bloodthirsty barbarians."I think he's grandstanding," Ali, head of the Florida chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said in a private moment before the circus began. "I don't think he really means it."The previous Friday, on the Steve Kane Show, a conservative South Florida AM commute-filler, Dozier had dubbed Islam "a religion that is designed to cut off your head." Almost as an afterthought, he labeled its followers "evil, corrupt, bad people."Not only were his remarks inflammatory but they were political nitroglycerin in this diverse coastal town, where modest plans for a new mosque on a vacant lot had been wending their way through the city and county committees that review plans for construction projects. Dozier and his flock suddenly threatened to ratchet up tensions between religious groups that had coexisted quietly in Pompano Beach for at least a generation.

many Americans Hate Muslims

POLL SHOWS PREJUDICE AGAINST MUSLIMS - TOP Americans admit to favoring IDs and other restrictions for them.Religion News Service, 8/12/06
http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/living/religion/15253634.htm
Almost 40 percent of Americans acknowledge having some prejudice against Muslims, but those with Muslim acquaintances are more likely to show favorable attitudes, a new USA Today/Gallup Poll shows.Thirty-nine percent of Americans asked to "honestly" assess themselves said they have "at least some feelings of prejudice against Muslims" while 59 percent said they did not.Respondents were fairly evenly divided about whether Muslims are respectful of other religions, with 47 percent agreeing and 40 percent disagreeing. There was clear disagreement about whether Muslims are too extreme in their religious beliefs, with 44 percent saying yes and 46 percent saying no.A substantial minority, 39 percent, of Americans favor more strict security measures for Muslims than other U.S. citizens, such as requiring Muslims to carry a special ID; 59 percent said they would oppose such a requirement. Forty-one percent favored Muslims undergoing more intensive security checks at U.S. airports, while 57 percent opposed such action.When comparing feelings based on whether respondents personally know a Muslim, pollsters found dramatic differences. Forty-one percent said they personally knew a Muslim.Nearly a quarter of those who said they know a Muslim - 24 percent - favored a special ID for Muslims; 50 percent who do not know someone of that faith favored the special ID. Ten percent of those who know a Muslim said they would not want a Muslim as a neighbor, compared to 31 percent of those who did not know one. (MORE)

Mosque's windows shattered

MOSQUE'S WINDOWS SHATTERED - TOP http://www.montereyherald.com/mld/montereyherald/news/15264794.htm
LA MIRADA (AP) - Two large windows of a mosque were shot out with a BB gun, but authorities don't believe the vandalism was directed at Muslims. . .Police said the incident may be connected to a handful of BB gun shootings in the La Mirada area late Thursday. Islamic leaders were not convinced, claiming that pictures of minarets on the windows were targeted."We urge the FBI and other law enforcement agencies working on the case to investigate this incident as a possible hate crime," said Hussam Ayloush, director of the Southern California chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

Christian Nut

GUMAN ARRESTED AFTER 'DOWN WITH ISLAM' REFUSAL - TOP Central Florida News 13, 8/13/06
http://cfn13.com/StoryHeadline.aspx?id=17940
GUNMAN ARRESTED
A man who was armed with an AK-47 is in custody after a standoff with police on Rostock Circle in Palm Bay.Police say Jerry O'Neal Bonner was emotionally disturbed and possibly suicidal.They say he went out of control shortly after two o'clock Sunday afternoon after his wife refused to let him spray paint "down with Islam" on her car.Police say Bonner then rammed his truck into his wife's car and grabbed an AK-47.Neighbor Yvette Burgos says she heard shots being fired."I heard a loud noise, I thought it was a car accident and I ran outside and I saw these two cops in a corner".Police say Bonner hid in the bushes of a neighbor's home for about two hours, and shots were exchanged with police at least once. But no one was hit, and Bonner eventually surrendered.

Masjids Vandalized

ANAHEIM, CA, 8/14/06) -
The Southern California office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-LA) said today that an area mosque has been vandalized for a second time in just one week.An official of the La Mirada mosque told CAIR-LA that a door of the facility was damaged by projectiles sometime between 2 and 5 a.m. Monday. Last Thursday, vandals shot out two windows of the same mosque.CAIR-LA is calling on the FBI and the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department to investigate both incidents as possible hate crimes.The mosque has been a target of hate incidents in the past. It received written messages such as, "The Muslim religion is a cult and that Mohammed is a terrorist and an outlaw," and, "No future for Muslims in the U.S.A.""Those who target houses of worship must be apprehended and prosecuted to the full extent of the law, regardless of their motive," said CAIR-LA Executive Director Hussam Ayloush.Ayloush said a series of similar incidents has been reported in recent months by Muslim individuals and institutions nationwide. There has been particular concern in the Muslim community following reports of a plot in Britain to bomb airliners traveling to the United States and because of tensions caused by the conflict in the Middle East.As a response to anti-Muslim incidents, CAIR published a "Muslim Community Safety Kit." The safety kit may be obtained free of charge by e-mailing pubs@cair-net.org. (Include name, address and phone number when requesting the safety kit.)CAIR, America's largest Muslim civil liberties group, has 32 offices and chapters nationwide and in Canada. Its mission is to enhance understanding of Islam, encourage dialogue, protect civil liberties, empower American Muslims, and build coalitions that promote justice and mutual understanding.CONTACT: Munira Syeda at CAIR-LA, 714-776-1847 or 714-851-4851, E-Mail: socal@cair.comSEE ALSO:
CA: VANDALISM STIRS HATE FEARS - TOP
Giselle Sotelo, Whittier Daily News, 8/14/06
http://www.whittierdailynews.com/news/ci_4175666
Local Muslim leaders said Saturday they were afraid of a backlash in the aftermath of a thwarted bomb plot in Britain and said vandals who attacked a La Mirada mosque last week committed a hate crime.The mosque - which occupies a storefront in a strip mall at 15077 Imperial Highway - had two large windows shot out with a BB gun Thursday, said Rezaur Rahman president of the Muslim Community Service, Inc.Authorities don't believe the attack on the mosque was a hate crime, but may be connected to a string of BB gun shootings that took place within a two-hour time span in the La Mirada area that night, a Los Angeles Sheriff's Department sergeant said."The FBI was notified and deemed it not a hate crime," Sgt. Brian Doyle said. "Other than the fact that the BBs were shot at the window, there was nothing ... to show they were singled out."But Muslim community members were skeptical. Rahman pointed out that the pictures of minarets on the windows were targeted. The decorated windows will cost between $1,600 to $2,000 to replace, he said. The windows are now boarded up, he said.He urged the Muslim community to be extra vigilant in light of a recent thwarted terrorist bomb plot and unrest in the Middle East, Rahman said. (MORE)---

Discrimination

PAKISTANI-BORN PILOT SUES JETBLUE, CLAIMING DISCRIMINATION - TOP Associated Press, 8/9/06
http://www.wcnc.com/news/local/stories/wcnc-080906-jmn-pilot_jet_blue.948cf2a.html
A Pakistani-born pilot now living in North Carolina is suing JetBlue Airways Corp. for discrimination, claiming the airline rescinded a job offer and told him it was because of his background.Faisal Baig, a U.S. citizen who was raised in Yonkers, claims in the suit that an airline manager told him in March that he was a "security risk."According to the suit, filed in Manhattan Supreme Court, Baig asked, "Are you saying that you are not hiring me because of my name or my religion? ... Are you saying you are not hiring me because of where I'm from?"The manager answered, "Yes, and JetBlue considers you a security risk," according to the suit.Baig claims he was offered the job in February and had already received a ticket to attend the airline's training school in Orlando, Fla. The 40-year-old, a Muslim, had previously flown for Independence Air for nearly six years."I was devastated," he said. "I've been living in this country since I was 7, and now somebody's telling me I'm not a good American." (MORE)

Terrorist Bombing

SARAJEVO (AFP) - The grave of Bosnia's wartime president Alija Izetbegovic, a one-time Muslim leader, has been severely damaged in an explosion that local leaders denounced as a "terrorist" act.
Izetbegovic's tombstone, at the Kovaci Cemetery in Sarajevo's old town, was blown up by Christian Terrorists at 3:00 am (0100 GMT), a police official told AFP.
"The explosion damaged Izetbegovic's tombstone, leaving a 70-centimetre (27-inch) crater, but his body itself was not damaged," prosecutor Miroslav Markovic told journalists, adding the likely motive was "political".
Police and other security services launched an investigation into the attack.
Friday's attack on his grave drew strong condemnation from Muslim leaders and the international community's top envoy in Bosnia, Christian Schwarz-Schilling, who called for calm and said he felt "shocked and saddened".
"This country has already experienced too much suffering and this act risks setting back moves towards reconciliation in Bosnia," said Schwarz-Schilling.
"I call on political and religious figures to demonstrate leadership to ensure that calm prevails," said the German diplomat.
The attack was a "loathsome terrorist and criminal act," said Bosnia's current president, Sulejman Tihic, who is also a Muslim.
"This is an attack on Bosnia, its peace and common life, and also an attempt to destabilise the situation in our country," Tihic, the chairman of the rotating tripartite presidency, said in a statement.
The incident was an attack on the whole of Bosnia, because Izetbegovic was a symbol of resistance whom some objected to, the Balkan country's wartime foreign minister, Haris Silajdzic, told journalists.
Although police blocked access to the graveyard, people gathered outside as investigators scoured the site in order to collect evidence.
"Someone wants to destroy the founder of Bosnia, but he will not succeed," one of the onlookers, a 52-year-old man who gave his name as Tarik, told AFP.
"This is the influence of forces who want to return Bosnia to a time of war to make people hate each other," said Mirza Hajdarevic.
An association of Izetbegovic's military units called the "Green Berets" warned Friday that the attack meant Bosnia's existence was still threatened.
"This is proof that enemy forces still exist and that they can prepare new attacks on Bosnian foundations, showing to what extent their hatred is towards a unique, inseparable and multi-ethnic" Bosnia, it said in a statement.
Bosnian Serb officials remained silent about the incident.
As many as 200,000 lives were claimed in the devastating 1992-1995 war and some 2.2 million people, or about half the country's population, were forced to flee their homes.