The US-based Center for Constitutional Rights is petitioning various United Nations offices, of Palestinian families whose ancestors are buried in the Mamila Cemetery.
The cemetery better known as Mamilla, has been a Muslim burial ground since the 7th century, when companions of the Prophet Muhammad were reputedly buried there.
The Simon Wiesenthal Center, a Los Angeles based non-profit association, began to build a Museum of Tolerance on the grounds of the Maaman Allah cemetery in Jerusalem.
It is also houses the remains of soldiers and officials of the Muslim ruler Saladin from the 12th century, as well as generations of important Jerusalem families and notables. The cemetery grounds also contain numerous monuments, structures, and gravestones attesting to its hallowed history, including the ancient Mamilla Pool, which dates back to the Herodian period, or the 1st century B.C.
See:
"Museum of Tolerance" not so tolerant of Muslims nor their graves (including Prophet's Sahabas/companions)
L.A. Times Commentary: Desecrating a Muslim cemetery with a Center for Human Dignity
About Me
- Hussam Ayloush
- Hussam has been a lifelong human rights activist who is passionate about promoting democratic societies, in the US and worldwide, in which all people, including immigrants, workers, minorities, and the poor enjoy freedom, justice, economic justice, respect, and equality. Mr. Ayloush frequently lectures on Islam, media relations, civil rights, hate crimes and international affairs. He has consistently appeared in local, national, and international media. Full biography at: http://hussamayloush.blogspot.com/2006/08/biography-of-hussam-ayloush.html
Wednesday, April 07, 2010
Tuesday, April 06, 2010
Montana SU Islam In America 2010 Symposium - Keynote Speaker, Hussam Ayloush
The Keynote Speech from the Montana State University "Islam in America" 2010 Symposium, delivered by Hussam Ayloush, the Executive Director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR).
Project helps Jewish and Muslim teens cooperate, form friendships
Los Angeles Daily News
By Dana Bartholomew, Staff Writer
04/04/2010
VAN NUYS - Danielle Feuer and July Aye both study hard, share Facebook friends and worship the same God.
But one is Jewish, the other Muslim, working side-by-side among a dozen interfaith teens on Sunday to sort food at a Van Nuys food bank.
"The whole point of our group is to not be confrontational, but to learn about each other and to discuss issues in a friendly way," said Feuer, 16, of Temple Emanuel in Beverly Hills.
"We're not just learning about religions," added Aye, 15, of King Fahad Mosque in Culver City. "We go to each others' houses. We go to each others' places of worship. We go on Facebook."
After six months of praying, meeting, going to the movies and serving to help the poor together, the Teen Interfaith Project of both congregations has formed bonds between faiths at historical odds overseas.
The project - the first known group of its kind in Los Angeles - follows a national "twinning" movement to bring mosques and synagogues together, organizers say.
Both faiths share similarities, including values of required charity. And teens from both have worked to mutually respect their differences...
By Dana Bartholomew, Staff Writer
04/04/2010
VAN NUYS - Danielle Feuer and July Aye both study hard, share Facebook friends and worship the same God.
But one is Jewish, the other Muslim, working side-by-side among a dozen interfaith teens on Sunday to sort food at a Van Nuys food bank.
"The whole point of our group is to not be confrontational, but to learn about each other and to discuss issues in a friendly way," said Feuer, 16, of Temple Emanuel in Beverly Hills.
"We're not just learning about religions," added Aye, 15, of King Fahad Mosque in Culver City. "We go to each others' houses. We go to each others' places of worship. We go on Facebook."
After six months of praying, meeting, going to the movies and serving to help the poor together, the Teen Interfaith Project of both congregations has formed bonds between faiths at historical odds overseas.
The project - the first known group of its kind in Los Angeles - follows a national "twinning" movement to bring mosques and synagogues together, organizers say.
Both faiths share similarities, including values of required charity. And teens from both have worked to mutually respect their differences...
Turkey launches Arabic language channel
Today's Zaman
April 6, 2010
The state-run Turkish Radio and Television Corporation (TRT) launched a new Arabic-language channel on Sunday, a move that Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has hailed as a landmark in uniting the Turkish and Arab peoples...
“We have a mutual history and culture, and more importantly, we are members of a mutual civilization. We share a past on these lands. You should also know that our future is one, too,” Erdoğan said.
The new channel will broadcast in Arabic around the clock and is expected to reach 350 million people throughout the Arab world. Most of the programs will be presented by native Arabic speakers. According to the channel’s editorial policy, they will address the ethnic, linguistic and cultural diversity of the region...
“Nobody has had the power to separate bothers,” he added. “Even though we have turned our face to the West, we never turned our backs to the East.”
The prime minister also talked about the disasters in Haiti, Chile and Palestine.
“As Gaza burns and dark clouds form over Jerusalem, we can’t stay mute,” he said...
Read full story at:
http://www.todayszaman.com/tz-web/news-206532-100-state-run-trt-launches-arabic-language-channel.html
April 6, 2010
The state-run Turkish Radio and Television Corporation (TRT) launched a new Arabic-language channel on Sunday, a move that Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has hailed as a landmark in uniting the Turkish and Arab peoples...
“We have a mutual history and culture, and more importantly, we are members of a mutual civilization. We share a past on these lands. You should also know that our future is one, too,” Erdoğan said.
The new channel will broadcast in Arabic around the clock and is expected to reach 350 million people throughout the Arab world. Most of the programs will be presented by native Arabic speakers. According to the channel’s editorial policy, they will address the ethnic, linguistic and cultural diversity of the region...
“Nobody has had the power to separate bothers,” he added. “Even though we have turned our face to the West, we never turned our backs to the East.”
The prime minister also talked about the disasters in Haiti, Chile and Palestine.
“As Gaza burns and dark clouds form over Jerusalem, we can’t stay mute,” he said...
Read full story at:
http://www.todayszaman.com/tz-web/news-206532-100-state-run-trt-launches-arabic-language-channel.html
Monday, April 05, 2010
"Collateral Murder" - A Must Watch video from WikiLeaks
WikiLeaks has released a classified US military video depicting the indiscriminate slaying of over a dozen people in the Iraqi suburb of New Baghdad -- including two Reuters news staff.
Reuters has been trying to obtain the video through the Freedom of Information Act, without success since the time of the attack. The video, shot from an Apache helicopter gun-site, clearly shows the unprovoked slaying of a wounded Reuters employee and his rescuers. Two young children involved in the rescue were also seriously wounded. [Even those who tried to help the wounded were killed with no reason]
Reuters has been trying to obtain the video through the Freedom of Information Act, without success since the time of the attack. The video, shot from an Apache helicopter gun-site, clearly shows the unprovoked slaying of a wounded Reuters employee and his rescuers. Two young children involved in the rescue were also seriously wounded. [Even those who tried to help the wounded were killed with no reason]
BusinessWeek: End Israel’s U.S. Allowance So Both Can Gain: Celestine Bohlen
End Israel’s U.S. Allowance So Both Can Gain
March 30, 2010
BusinessWeek
Commentary by Celestine Bohlen
March 31 (Bloomberg) -- The crisis in U.S.-Israeli relations isn’t going away. If anything, it keeps getting worse, precisely because it has exposed and crystallized a gap between the goals, expectations and even the national interests of these old allies...
The advantages for the U.S. are obvious: It would save money at a time when the federal debt is zooming out of sight. The sums aren’t great -- a drop compared with the $1.4 trillion budget deficit in fiscal 2009 -- but it would take some of the sting out of Israel’s stubborn opposition to U.S. policies.
Severing the financial links could also correct the perception that the U.S., as Israel’s patron, can’t be an honest broker in the Middle East.
That assumption, widely held in the Arab world, was put on the record by General David Petraeus, head of the U.S. military’s Central Command, when he told the U.S. Congress that the festering Israeli-Palestinian conflict “foments anti- American sentiment due to a perception of U.S. favoritism toward Israel.”
Similar words have been used by James L. Jones, the U.S. national security adviser, and Defense Secretary Robert Gates.
The message is clear: Failure to reach a peace agreement with the Palestinians isn’t just about Israel anymore. It’s about U.S. national-security interests...
March 30, 2010
BusinessWeek
Commentary by Celestine Bohlen
March 31 (Bloomberg) -- The crisis in U.S.-Israeli relations isn’t going away. If anything, it keeps getting worse, precisely because it has exposed and crystallized a gap between the goals, expectations and even the national interests of these old allies...
The advantages for the U.S. are obvious: It would save money at a time when the federal debt is zooming out of sight. The sums aren’t great -- a drop compared with the $1.4 trillion budget deficit in fiscal 2009 -- but it would take some of the sting out of Israel’s stubborn opposition to U.S. policies.
Severing the financial links could also correct the perception that the U.S., as Israel’s patron, can’t be an honest broker in the Middle East.
That assumption, widely held in the Arab world, was put on the record by General David Petraeus, head of the U.S. military’s Central Command, when he told the U.S. Congress that the festering Israeli-Palestinian conflict “foments anti- American sentiment due to a perception of U.S. favoritism toward Israel.”
Similar words have been used by James L. Jones, the U.S. national security adviser, and Defense Secretary Robert Gates.
The message is clear: Failure to reach a peace agreement with the Palestinians isn’t just about Israel anymore. It’s about U.S. national-security interests...
Ayloush on Aljazeera commenting on new radio station, One Legacy
CAIR-Los Angeles Executive Director Hussam Ayloush discussed the importance of having Muslim media outlets to accurately inform audiences about Islam and issues of importance to American Muslims
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Muslims join Jews in celebrating Passover and striving for deliverance from Pharaoh's oppression
Passover is the holy day and festival commemorating the biblical event of the Hebrews' escape from enslavement in Egypt.
Many Jews and Christians might be surprised to know that the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) instructed Muslims to also commemorate the Exodus of the Hebrews out of Egypt by fasting on the tenth day of the month of Muharram, the first month of the Islamic lunar calendar. The event is called Ashura, referring to the Arabic word for “ten.”
Muslims revere Prophet Moses (peace be upon him) as one of the most important Islamic figures and one of the five most important prophets in the history of humankind chosen by Allah/God.
The Quran details the stories of many of the Hebrew prophets and their early followers. In fact, Islam considers those early followers to be among the first muslims -- in the sense of the literal meaning of “ones who submit themselves to God.”
The Quran and Islamic teachings praise Moses and reminds Muslims and all people to learn from his courage, commitment to speaking the truth, and standing up for justice. Several verses in the Quran also emphasize Moses’ mother's strong faith and trust in Allah/God.
While Muslims and Jews, both tracing their roots to Abraham, commemorate this joyful occasion on different days, our common heritage and history should bring us together in expressing gratitude and thankfulness to our Creator, Allah/God Almighty for saving Moses and his people from the oppression of Pharaoh, and directing them to freedom in the Holy Land, in Palestine, over 3,300 years ago.
Sadly, it is the same Palestine and its long-standing indigenous people that are now subjected to a new form of oppression and bondage. The new Pharaoh is Zionism and its tools of occupation, ethnic cleansing, separation walls, siege, settlements, and land confiscation. This new Pharaoh is not only victimizing Muslims and Christians in the Holy Land, but also Jews by creating animosity and hatred among these three groups.
May the courage and faith of our shared and beloved prophet Moses (peace be upon him) inspire us to strive for justice and freedom for all people, especially those in Palestine.
May our common love for Allah/God and His prophets bring us together as one human race that strives for peace, dignity, and prosperity for all people.
On this day, I am wishing my Jewish friends and neighbors a peaceful and joyful Passover for them and their loved ones.
Many Jews and Christians might be surprised to know that the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) instructed Muslims to also commemorate the Exodus of the Hebrews out of Egypt by fasting on the tenth day of the month of Muharram, the first month of the Islamic lunar calendar. The event is called Ashura, referring to the Arabic word for “ten.”
Muslims revere Prophet Moses (peace be upon him) as one of the most important Islamic figures and one of the five most important prophets in the history of humankind chosen by Allah/God.
The Quran details the stories of many of the Hebrew prophets and their early followers. In fact, Islam considers those early followers to be among the first muslims -- in the sense of the literal meaning of “ones who submit themselves to God.”
The Quran and Islamic teachings praise Moses and reminds Muslims and all people to learn from his courage, commitment to speaking the truth, and standing up for justice. Several verses in the Quran also emphasize Moses’ mother's strong faith and trust in Allah/God.
While Muslims and Jews, both tracing their roots to Abraham, commemorate this joyful occasion on different days, our common heritage and history should bring us together in expressing gratitude and thankfulness to our Creator, Allah/God Almighty for saving Moses and his people from the oppression of Pharaoh, and directing them to freedom in the Holy Land, in Palestine, over 3,300 years ago.
Sadly, it is the same Palestine and its long-standing indigenous people that are now subjected to a new form of oppression and bondage. The new Pharaoh is Zionism and its tools of occupation, ethnic cleansing, separation walls, siege, settlements, and land confiscation. This new Pharaoh is not only victimizing Muslims and Christians in the Holy Land, but also Jews by creating animosity and hatred among these three groups.
May the courage and faith of our shared and beloved prophet Moses (peace be upon him) inspire us to strive for justice and freedom for all people, especially those in Palestine.
May our common love for Allah/God and His prophets bring us together as one human race that strives for peace, dignity, and prosperity for all people.
On this day, I am wishing my Jewish friends and neighbors a peaceful and joyful Passover for them and their loved ones.
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Sheriff Lee Baca Upset with Congressman Souder's Comments on Muslims
Read more:
http://ca.cair.com/losangeles/news/muslim_homeland_security_group_commends_la_sheriff_for_supporting_engagemen
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