Workers Rights in Islam - A Khutba/sermon by Hussam Ayloush

Khutba (Islamic sermon) given on June 13, 2008 at the Islamic Institute of Orange County (IIOC) in Anaheim, California.

Topic: Workers' rights and worker justice in Islam

For more information on how your religious leader or organization can become part of striving for justice for all workers, visit:

http://www.iwj.org/outreach/labor_day.html

Ayloush speaking at the 39th Annual Manzanar Pilgrimage (2008)

Manzanar Pilgrimage 2008 Trailer

In April 2008, CAIR-LA organized a delegation of Muslim religious and student leaders to join the 39th annual Pilgrimage to Manzanar. Manzanar is one of the 10 concentration camps across the U.S. where more than 120,000 Japanese Americans were interned during WWII.
This is a trailer of the short documentary that will be coming out soon.

AIPAC conference 'no arena for debate' on Israel - 04 Jun 08

The inside story on America's most feared and most powerful "non-existent" foreign lobby

Ready for your virtual strip search?

Virtual Strip Search
Coming soon to an airport near you

How do you feel about being strip-searched for no probable cause? I can guess you would not like it.

Well, how about being viewed through a screen, semi nude, by security agents using a see-through body scanner, again, for no probable cause? I am sure you would not like it either.

Last week (on 6/5/2008), USA Today reported:

"Body-scanning machines that show images of people underneath their clothing are being installed in 10 of the nation's busiest airports in one of the biggest public uses of security devices that reveal intimate body parts.

"The Transportation Security Administration recently started using body scans on randomly chosen airline passengers in Los Angeles, Baltimore, Denver, Albuquerque and New York's Kennedy airport.

"Airports in Dallas, Detroit, Las Vegas and Miami will be added this month...

"The TSA says it protects privacy by blurring passengers' faces and deleting images right after viewing. Yet the images are detailed, clearly showing a person's gender...

"Passengers scanned in Baltimore said they did not know what the scanner did and were not told why they were directed into the booth...


"Passengers can decline to go through a scanner, but they will face a pat-down."


As you could imagine, groups worried about possible privacy and civil rights violations (such as the ACLU and CAIR) have expressed strong concerns about this new intrusive measure.


Excerpts from ACLU's statement:
"Body scanners produce graphic images of travelers’ bodies and are an assault on their essential dignity...Ultimately, we question whether the security value of these scanners is proportional to the cost to flyers’ dignity and privacy..."
http://www.aclu.org/privacy/gen/35558prs20080606.html





Here is a sample image of a scanned person (My apologies for the explicit photo, but it is important to show the extent of the violation of privacy)
(Photo Source: ACLU)




More to come on this matter soon.

How about Jon Stewart for President? See Presidential candidates pandering to the pro-Israel Lobby

Watch the disgusting and shameful pandering offered by all three presidential candidates, McCain, Hillary and, yes, Obama (the supposed candidate for change) to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC).

Peace in the Middle East as well as America's credibility and image in the world are being sacrificed at the altar of the Israel-first lobby to solicit the support of some of the most right-wing extremists in our country. This is political prostitution at best.

Watch this short video segment from the Daily News with Jon Stewart.



Now take action and sign this petition prepared by the American group Jewish Voice for Peace calling on Senators Obama and McCain to moderate their stances in the interests of a peaceful future.

http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/301/petition.jsp?petition_KEY=1262

The Keffiyeh Pseudo-Controversy: The blogger, the chef and the terrorist

The blogger, the chef and the terrorist
By Ahmed M. Rehab
ChicagoTribune.com

How could a chirpy TV host with such edible title credits as "30 Minute Meals" and "Tasty Travels" one day awaken to find herself in the middle of a terrorism-related media blitz -- all because of a Dunkin' Donuts ad, no less?

It's a tough recipe to cook up, but here are the ingredients:

• One paisley scarf that somewhat resembles the checkered pattern of a Palestinian national garment called the "keffiyeh," --a scarf that could be bought at Macy's


• One right-wing blogger who lacks any sense of cultural nuance


• A public opinion climate ripe with paranoia


• A slow news day for the media

Directions: Briefly expose the scarf to the blogger, scatter over the climate, let simmer on a slow news day, and voila!

Can you hear the world's laughter?

The blogger is Michelle Malkin, author of the universally ridiculed book, "In Defense of Internment."

One of many to find fame and fortune in the post 9/11 hullabaloo, Malkin has a strange but simple job: to whip up controversy. If she succeeds, she gets attention. If she gets attention, she gets paid. She is her own brand, and like any brand, hers must deliver on expectations to remain competitive in an increasingly saturated market.

Malkin continuously scours the world's hot button issues hoping to raise the heat. On Thursday, she hit the jackpot with the most unlikely of subjects.

Enter Rachael Ray, who also has a straightforward job: to whip up meals. She shows TV audiences how to find bliss through the art of food. Sound controversial yet? Patience.

Ray happens to do an iced coffee ad for Dunkin' Donuts. She dons a paisley scarf selected by the stylist for the spot.

OK, that's the end of the buildup.

No, really, that's it.

Presented with that ad, most people may wonder if the iced coffee is any good. None is likely to wonder whether Dunkin' Donuts and Rachael Ray were promoting terrorism.

Malkin is a notable exception. She has a hungry career to feed.

And so, Malkin's pattern-recognition sensors kick in: Palestinians!

According to her, if Ray's scarf looks like a keffiyeh, the traditional scarf worn by Palestinians, then it must be a keffiyeh.

So what if it were?

Well, she further argues that, unbeknownst to the world, keffiyehs are actually a symbol of terrorism, hence her insinuation that the ad promotes terrorism.

Malkin then proceeds to educate the world about Palestinian keffiyehs, when they are worn, by whom, and why.

Not surprisingly, she gets it all wrong: In reality, the average Palestinian is much more likely to wear a keffiyeh than a terrorist.


Think about it: would the keffiyeh really be your preferred disguise if you were a terrorist and wished to walk incognito into a Tel Aviv bus or pizza parlor?

Probably not.

It is, however, your likely choice if you are an average Palestinian going to the mall, farming your land, walking to school, or -- yes -- hurling stones at an Israeli tank in the streets of your occupied hometown: hardly acts of terrorism.

So how does Malkin manage to discombobulate the facts? How does she find no shame in writing off a people's national dress as "a symbol of terrorism"?

There can only be one explanation: For Malkin, every Palestinian is a terrorist. To sell that point, she resorts to sensationalism, minimalism and obscene sweeping statements.

Sadly, this reductive approach is an old and tired trick when it comes to public discourse on the Middle-East, or Muslims.

But let's not kid ourselves. Malkin's anti-Palestinian message, by itself, is not newsworthy. It is only effective when coupled with a climate that is highly receptive to fear-mongering. Only then can it wreak havoc. After all, it is only because of the perception of a public backlash that Dunkin' Donuts, with curiously weak knees, felt pressure to yank the ad off the Internet.

Luckily most Americans know better than to drink Malkin's Kool-Aid. They will likely remember this tale only as one of 2008's silliest. Nonetheless, I am certain Malkin is gloating over the few prized conformists her antics were able to mobilize.

Come to think of it, I think I will wear a keffiyeh on my way to work tomorrow -- as I sip my iced Caribou coffee.

---

Ahmed M. Rehab is the executive director of the Chicago chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

20 Civil Liberties Laws Every American Should Know

By Heather Johnson

With over half of Americans not knowing what “due process” is, not to mention how it relates to civil liberties, it is apparent that despite Americans’ love for our civil liberties, more than a few of us need to brush up on the basic laws which provide the foundation of our civil liberties.

While there are literally hundreds of laws, not to mention constitutional protections under the Bill of Rights which comprise our civil liberties, we have chosen 20 laws which every American should know because of their current political importance and relevance. Understanding the basics of these 20 laws is an important first step for every American to know the extent and limitations of the civil liberties he or she is afforded.

Read about those 20 laws at:
http://www.criminaljusticedegreesguide.com/library/20-civil-liberties-laws-every-american-should-know.html

Corona Muslim among activists seeking probe of reported surveillance, theft of records from Camp Pendleton

By: Paige Austin, Press-Enterprise, 5/29/08


A civil-rights group and a coalition of Muslim activists headed by a Corona man called on Congress this week to investigate a report that surveillance records of Southland Muslims were stolen from Camp Pendleton by military and law enforcement officials.

The request stems from a news report that military officials and law enforcement members of the Los Angeles County Terrorist Early Warning Group illegally took the top-secret documents from the base's Strategic Technical Operations Center.

According to the San Diego Union-Tribune, Marine Gunnery Sgt. Gary Maziarz has been court-martialed and convicted for his role in the thefts.

While the details of the surveillance and the alleged theft remain largely unknown, the incident provides confirmation that the military and law enforcement groups have been gathering information about local Muslim communities, said Michael German, policy counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union's Washington Legislative Office.

Groups such as the ACLU have long been fighting for more restrictions on government surveillance of U.S. citizens. The Camp Pendleton theft provides them support in their calls for increased oversight of secret surveillance programs, he said.

"One of the fundamental touchstones of our democracy is that the American military isn't to be used against the American people," German said. "What is the military doing with records of domestic surveillance activity?"

Camp Pendleton officials did not respond to requests for comment Thursday.

Hussam Ayloush, a Corona resident and executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations of the Greater Los Angeles Area, signed the letter along with members of five organizations asking the Senate and House judiciary committees to investigate along with the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.

"It's not only a matter of protecting our civil rights -- it also hurts public safety by eroding the Muslim community's trust in law enforcement," Ayloush said.

As a Muslim and civil-rights activist, Ayloush believes he has been the target of government surveillance and is part of a lawsuit aimed at forcing the government to release records pertaining to the surveillance of American-Muslims.

"We want to know to what extent surveillance is being conducted on law-abiding citizens, and who authorized it," he said. "We want to make sure that the Legislature is providing the checks and balances required by our Constitution. The ultimate goal is to ensure -- even during times of war, fear and paranoia -- that our Constitution is always being upheld."

McCain's Spiritual Guide

A man is known by the company he keeps!