September, 01 2010, 12:20pm EDT
For Immediate Release
Contact:
CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper,
202-744-7726,
E-Mail: ihooper@cair.com;
CAIR Communications Coordinator Amina Rubin,
202-488-8787
E-Mail: arubin@cair.com
CAIR National PSA Campaign Challenges Growing Islamophobia
Public service announcements feature Muslim 9/11 first responders, interfaith leaders
WASHINGTON
A prominent national Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization
today launched a national public service announcement (PSA) campaign
featuring Muslim 9/11 first responders and designed to challenge the
growing anti-Muslim bigotry in American society.
[SATELLITE FEED FOR PUBLIC SERVICE AND NEWS DIRECTORS:
Feed Dates are Wednesday, September 1st, 2010, and Thursday, September
2nd, 2010. Both Feed Times: 1:00-1:30 p.m. ET (Fed in Rotation)
Coordinates: Galaxy 19/C07 Slot B, FEC: 3/4/ Symbol Rate: 6.1113 / Data
Rate: 8.448 / Downlink Freq: 3835.500V, Synaptic Digital Satellite
Operations Trouble Line: 212-812-7134]
CAIR's PSA campaign is also designed to offer an implicit
challenge to the Florida church that plans to burn copies of the Quran,
Islam's revealed text, on September 11.
CAIR '9/11 Happened to Us All' PSA, Firefighter (30-Second)
CAIR '9/11 Happened to Us All' PSA, Firefighter (60-Second)
CAIR '9/11 Happened to Us All' PSA, Medical Responder (30-Second)
CAIR 'We Have More in Common than We Think' PSA, Interfaith (30-Second)
The PSAs are also available at: www.thenewsmarket.com/CAIR (Registration is required.)
Two of the three PSAs, which will be distributed today and
tomorrow by satellite to television stations nationwide and online
through social media sites, feature Muslim first responders to the 9/11
terror attacks, with the theme "9/11 happened to us all." Copies of the
PSAs will also be mailed to selected television stations, with a focus
on stations in New York and Florida.
The third PSA features Muslim, Jewish and Christian leaders
describing the "golden rule" as expressed by their respective faiths --
and ends with the phrase, "We have more in common than we think." That
PSA is designed to show the commonalities between faiths and to
challenge those who -- like the members of a Florida church who plan to
burn Qurans on September 11 -- would divide America along religious
lines.
A 2005 CAIR public service announcement (PSA) rejecting
terrorism and religious extremism and was seen by some 10 million
television viewers nationwide. That PSA, called "Not in the Name of
Islam," featured ordinary American Muslims stating "that those who
commit acts of terror in the name of Islam are betraying the teachings
of the Quran and the Prophet Muhammad."
SEE: CAIR 2005 'Not in the Name of Islam' PSA
Other national American Muslim organizations took part in the
news conference outlined each group's individual and joint initiatives
designed to promote religious freedom, challenge growing anti-Muslim
bigotry in American society and to mark the anniversary of the 9/11
terror attacks.
The other Muslim organizations that took part in the news conference included: (in alphabetical order)
- Coordinating Council of Muslim Organizations in the Washington Area (CCMO)
- Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA)
- MAS Freedom
Earlier this month, CAIR released an online toolkit
designed to help Muslim communities organize proactive local
educational and outreach initiatives tied to events such as a "National
Day of Unity and Healing" on the upcoming anniversary of the 9/11 terror
attacks.
SEE: 'Teachable Moment Community Response Guide' Toolkit
The toolkit, called a "Teachable Moment Community Response
Guide," offers guidance, tools and resources to help Muslim communities
respond to specific current events such as the end of Ramadan Eid
al-Fitr holiday occurring near September 11, the upcoming "Burn a Koran
Day" by a church in Florida, the anti-Muslim bigotry generated by the
smear campaign against a planned Islamic community center in Manhattan,
and the ongoing tension and misunderstanding surrounding the building or
expansion of mosques nationwide.
CAIR is America's largest Muslim civil liberties and advocacy
organization. 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.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) is a grassroots civil rights and advocacy group. CAIR is America's largest Muslim civil liberties and advocacy organization. Its mission is to enhance understanding of Islam, protect civil rights, promote justice, and empower American Muslims.
(202) 488-8787LATEST NEWS
Progressives Decry Repression of Student Protests on Kent State Massacre Anniversary
"The militarized repression of young people speaking out against a terrible war was shameful then and it's shameful now," said one state lawmaker.
May 04, 2024
As U.S. Republicans push for the deployment of National Guard troops to quell nationwide student demonstrations against the Gaza genocide, progressive lawmakers marked the anniversary of the 1970 Kent State Massacre by condemning police repression of peaceful protesters and reaffirming the power of dissent.
"On the 54th anniversary of the Kent State Massacre, students across our country are being brutalized for standing up to endless war," Congresswoman Cori Bush (D-Mo.) said on social media. "Our country must learn to actually uphold the rights of free speech and assembly upon which it was founded."
Fellow "Squad" member Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) said that "54 years ago, the Ohio National Guard opened fire on unarmed students at Kent State."
"Students have a right to speak out, organize, and protest systemic wrongs," she added. "We can't silence those expressing dissent, no matter how uncomfortable their protests may be to those in power."
On May 4, 1970, 28 Ohio National Guard troops fired 67 live rounds into a crowd of unarmed Kent State students rallying against the expansion of the U.S.-led war in Vietnam into Cambodia. They murdered students Allison Krause, Jeffrey Glenn Miller, Sandra Lee Scheuer, and William Knox Schroeder—all aged 19 or 20. Nine other students were wounded, including one who was permanently paralyzed.
"The militarized repression of young people speaking out against a terrible war was shameful then and it's shameful now," New York state Assemblywoman Emily Gallagher (D-50) said on Saturday.
Protests against Israel's assault on Gaza—which according to Palestinian and international officials has killed, maimed, or left missing more than 123,000 Gazans—have spread to dozens of campuses across the U.S. and around the world. Police have been called in to break up protest encampments at numerous schools. Hundreds of students, faculty, and journalists have been arrested, sometimes violently.
At the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), police stood by this week as a pro-Israel mob attacked a campus protest encampment before officers arrested peaceful protesters and supporters.
As law enforcement officials have tried to justify the crackdown by claiming "outside agitators" are behind the protests, some observers noted historical parallels.
"Watching what is happening at UCLA," Virginia state Sen. Mamie Locke (D-2) said on social media. "Old enough to remember Kent State, Jackson State, South Carolina State, and the dog whistles of 'law and order,' 'outside agitators.' So reminiscent of 1968."
On February 8, 1968, police shot 31 students—most of them in the back—at a protest against Jim Crow segregation at South Carolina State University in Orangeburg, murdering three young Black men: Samuel Hammond Jr., Delano Middleton, and Henry Smith.
Eleven days after Kent State, police opened fire on a crowd of Black students protesting the bombing of Cambodia at Jackson State College in Jackson, Mississippi, killing Phillip Lafayette Gibbs and James Earl Green and injuring 12 others.
"Our institutions must learn from these past mistakes to not use militarized responses against unarmed, peaceful student protesters by calling in the National Guard, bringing in state troopers, or deploying police in riot gear," Laurel Krause, the sister of slain Kent State protester Allison Krause, said in a statement marking the ignominious anniversary.
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While U.N. agencies have warned since March that famine was imminent in Gaza, McCain's remarks—which came during an interview with Kristen Welker that is scheduled to air on Sunday's edition of NBC News' "Meet the Press"—make her the most high-profile international official to date to publicly acknowledge a state of famine in parts of the Palestinian territory.
"It's horror," said McCain, who is American. "There is famine—full-blown famine—in the north, and it's moving its way south."
UN World Food Program @WFPChief: “There is famine — full-blown famine — in the north of Gaza, and it’s moving its way south.”
pic.twitter.com/eyk0OeOEzr
— Waleed Shahid 🪬 (@_waleedshahid) May 4, 2024
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According to Palestinian and international officials, Israel's 211-day assault on Gaza—which many experts including Israelis call genocidal—has killed or maimed more than 123,000 Palestinians since the Hamas-led October 7 attacks, including an estimated 11,000 people who are believed to be dead and buried beneath the ruins of the hundreds of thousands of destroyed or damaged homes and other buildings.
In addition to not allowing adequate humanitarian aid into Gaza, Israeli forces have also repeatedly attacked both aid workers and desperate civilians trying to access the lifesaving provisions.
"What we are asking for and what we continually ask for is a cease-fire and the ability to have unfettered access, to get in safe through the various ports and gate crossings," McCain said during the interview.
On Saturday, Hamas spokesperson Osman Hamdan said there have been "some forward steps" toward a cease-fire agreement during negotiations in Egypt. Egyptian mediators proposed a six-week cessation of hostilities, the release of an unspecified number of Israeli and international hostages, and a partial withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza.
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The negotiations come as Israeli forces prepare for an expected ground invasion of Rafah, Gaza's southernmost city, where more than a million refugees forcibly displaced from other parts of the strip are sheltering alongside around 280,000 local residents. On Friday, the U.N.'s humanitarian agency
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"This is not about Israel, Palestine, or Gaza. This is old-fashioned American racism and misogyny," said one observer. "These are the types of young white men who will grow up to be Republican governors, senators, and members of Congress."
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Republican Georgia Congressman Mike Collins came under fire Friday over a social media post applauding video of white University of Mississippi students racially abusing a Black woman participating in a campus protest for Palestine.
Collins posted the video—in which numerous people can be heard grunting like apes and one young man is seen jumping up and down like a monkey in front of the Black woman—with the caption, "Ole Miss taking care of business."
Collins—or whoever's in charge of his social media accounts—sparred with Black leaders who called out his racism. When former Democratic Ohio state senator Nina Turner said the video showed "anti-Blackness," the congressman shot back, "*Anti-terroristness."
When Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.) accused Collins of "fueling white supremacy," the Republican retorted, "Don't take down any more signs at our workplace, please" along with a photo of the Democrat triggering a fire alarm in a House of Representatives office building last year.
Around 30 protesters were rallying in support of Palestine in the Ole Miss Quad when counter-protesters gathered near the demonstrators. Some booed and chanted, "We want Trump!" Others singled out the Black woman—who NBC Newssaid is a graduate student at the school—chanting "Lizzo, Lizzo, Lizzo," "take a shower," "your nose is huge," "fuck you, fat bitch," and "lock her up!"
The counter-protesters also sang the "Star-Spangled Banner." Republican Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves shared a separate video of the singing students on social media, captioning his post, "Warms my heart" and "I love Mississippi."
No racist language can be heard in the video shared by Reeves.
The Daily Mississippianreports the demonstrators were escorted off the Quad after counter-protesters threw water bottles at them.
Collins is no stranger to accusations of racism. Earlier this year, he suggested murdering migrants by throwing them from helicopters into the sea, in the manner of U.S.-backed South American dictators in the 1970s.
He also
introduced the Restricting Administration Zealots from Obliging Raiders (RAZOR) Act, which would ban the federal government from removing or altering "any state-constructed barriers installed to mitigate illegal immigration," such as the razor buoys installed in the Rio Grande by Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott.
Collins was also
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Ole Miss said Friday that "statements were made at the demonstration on our campus Thursday that were offensive and inappropriate."
"We cannot comment specifically about that video, but the university is looking into reports about specific actions," the school added. "Any actions that violate university policy will be met with appropriate action."
The Ole Miss incident comes amid rapidly spreading campus protests across the U.S. and around the world in response to Israel's genocidal assault on Gaza, which has killed, maimed, or left missing around 5% of the embattled strip's 2.3 million people, most of them civilians, while forcibly displacing nearly 9 in 10 people and driving hundreds of thousands to the brink of starvation.
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One Palestinian American Ole Miss student was teary-eyed as she thanked the protesters.
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